THE NATIONAL SAVINGS MOVEMENT 267 
If an individual saves £10 a year in Savings Certificates for 
seventeen years, he will have sufficient capital to yield, at the 
same rate of interest, £10 a year in perpetuity ; but, while he 
has been saving, his money has been spent by Local Authorities 
or others, has found its way into industry, and has pro- 
moted the development of trade and the increase of employ- 
ment to a far greater extent than if the savings had been 
frittered away in temporary gratification. It is in consequence 
of the recognition, more or less vivid and complete, that 
activity in the Savings Movement is one of the soundest and 
most effective forms of social service, that it retains the 
enthusiasm of a vast army of voluntary workers. 
At the same time it is both appropriate and necessary that 
so far as it is a Government Department, supported by a 
Parliamentary grant, its expenditure and its work should be 
critically examined. In spite of its great value as an educative 
influence, it is not unnaturally judged principally by a com- 
parison between the amount of money raised and the expendi- 
ture incurred. Excluding certain expenditure not charged to 
the Committee, such as that of the Post Office for handling 
certificates, and the general expenses of advertising Govern- 
ment securities, the work of the Committee at the present time 
increases the rate of interest paid upon the mean amount of 
certificates in force, excluding accrued interest, by about 9d. 
a year on each £100 invested. If at the present time the 
expenses are compared with the number of certificates sold, 
it is found that they work out to about three-eighths of a penny 
for each certificate. Considering that in October 1923 the 
interest on certificates was reduced from £4 19s. 6d. per cent. 
per annum for ten years to £4 2s. 9d., it will be seen how trifling 
is the expense incurred in proportion to the results achieved. 
For purposes of comparison it may be added that the allowance 
for expenses for Trustee Savings Banks is 7s. 6d. for each £100 
on deposit. 
Even when the expenditure of the Committee is compared 
with the Savings Certificates sold and in force, it is seen to be 
extremely moderate, but certificates alone do not represent