INVESTMENT  OF  FUNDS

117

Abolition  of  Postmasters'  “Emergency  Credits”
Each  postmaster  now  as  heretofore  is  instructed ­
  to  apportion  his  deposits  of  postal  savings ­
  receipts  among  all  the  banks  in  his  city  or
town,  which  are  qualified  as  postal  savings  depositories, ­
  substantially  in  proportion  to  their  respective ­
  capitals  and  surpluses. 18  All  of  the  postal
savings  funds  so  deposited  are  to  be  entered  to  the
credit  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  postal  savings ­
  system.  Prior  to  July  1,  1913,  however,
there  was  one  exception  to  this  latter  rule,  and
that  was  described  as  follows  in  the  official  regulations ­
  :
“[This  rule  applies  except  for]  an  amount
which  will  be  specified  by  the  board  as  an  emergency ­
  credit  for  use  by  each  postmaster  in  meeting ­
  withdrawals  by  depositors  when  he  has  insufficient ­
  funds  on  hand  for  such  purpose.  The
18  This  system  which  is  apparently  essential  to  the  meeting ­
  of  two  of  the  postulates  of  American  postal  savings—
“keeping  money  at  home”  and  satisfying  “competing”
banks—often  becomes  exceedingly  cumbersome.  Why  this
is  true  will  be  evident  when  one  bears  in  mind  that  in  most
cities  and  towns'  the  postal  savings  deposits  each  day  are
small,  while  in  a  large  proportion  of  places  there  are  several
banks  among  which  the  postal  savings  funds  must  be  apportioned. ­
  As  early  as  1912,  for  example,  there  were  40  qualified ­
  depositories  in  Chicago,  30  in  Philadelphia,  19  in  New
York,  and  between  10  and  12  in  a  number  of  other  cities.
Com.  &  Fin.  Chron.,  A.  B.  A.  Conv.  SuppL,  Sept.  21,  1912,
p.  191.