86

POSTAL  SAVINGS

namely,  $100  as  the  maximum  amount  that  could
be  deposited  by  any  depositor  in  a  month,  and
$500  and  accumulated  interest  as  the  maximum
balance  which  a  depositor  could  have,  soon  proved
to  be  onerous,  and  a  number  of  bills  were  early
introduced  in  Congress  looking  toward  lightening ­
  them.  The  first  of  these  bills  to  come  into
prominence  was  the  Moon  bill, 24  which  contained
provisions  amending  the  organic  postal  savings
act  in  a  number  of  important  particulars,  one  of
which—the  most  controverted  one—was  concerned ­
  with  changes  in  these  limitations.  The
bill  as  originally  introduced  provided  for  the  removal ­
  of  all  limitations  upon  the  amount  that
any  person  could  deposit  in  a  postal  savings  bank
at  any  time  and  upon  the  balance  he  could  have
to  his  credit,  but  limited  the  amount  upon  which
he  could  draw  interest  to  a  maximum  of  $1,000.
The  privilege  of  making  non-interest  bearing  deposits ­
  in  postal  savings  banks,  in  unlimited  sums,
above  the  maximum  upon  which  interest  is  allowed, ­
  is  granted  in  a  number  of  countries,  notably ­
  Italy,  Sweden,  the  Netherlands  and  its
colonies  and  the  Philippines. 25  The  Moon  hill
24  H.  R.  7967  of  the  63  Cong.,  introduced  September
6,  1913,  by  Representative  Moon  of  Tennessee.
25  In  Belgium  there  is  no  limit  to  the  amount  which  can  be
kept  on  deposit,  at  interest,  but  when  the  deposit  balance
exceeds  3,000  francs  the  interest  rate  on  the  whole  balance
is  reduced  from  3  per  cent  to  2  per  cent.