THE GOOD WORK OF THE BANK 47 
On January 1, 1866, six months after the bank 
had begun business, Alvord reported, “it has 
gone into successful operation in nearly all the 
states South, and promises to do much to instruct 
and elevate the financial notions of the freedmen. 
The trustees and friends of the institution be- 
lieve that the industry of these four millions 
furnishes a solid basis for its operations. Pauper- 
ism can be brought to a close, the freedmen made 
self-supporting and prosperous, paying for their 
educational and Christian institutions, and help- 
ing to bear the burdens of government by induc- 
ing habits of saving in what they earn. That 
which savings banks have done for the working 
men of the North it is presumed they are capable 
of doing for these laborers. I was privately and 
publicly told that the freedmen welcomed the 
institution. They understand our explanations 
of its meaning, and the more intelligent see and 
appreciate fully its benefits. Calls were made 
upon me at all large towns for branches of the 
bank.” 
Several years later Alvord stated, “the banks 
are doing more for the people than the schools,” 
which was doubtless quite true, since there were 
more depositors in the bank than there were 
children in the much over-rated Bureau schools, 
and the thrift education given to the holder of 
the bank book was probably more useful than 
the kind of education frequently given to the 
children in the schools.’® Robert Somers, an 
® Ho. Ex. Doc. No. 70, 39 Cong., 1 Sess. 
© Ho. Ex. Doc., No. 70, 39 Cong., 1 Sess.; Ho. Report, No. 121, 41 
Cong., 2 Sess., p. 53; Bradford’s Speech in Cong. Record, April 22, 1876;