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1

POSTAL  SAVINGS

CHAPTER  I
The  Movement  For  Establishment  of  a
Postal  Savings  System  in  the  United
States
On  June  25,  1910,  the  bill  creating  the  United
States  postal  savings  system  was  signed  by  President ­
  Taft.  Thus  after  nearly  forty  years  of  discussion, ­
  occasionally  rising  to  heights  of  agitation, ­
  as  during  the  administrations  of  Postmasters-General ­
  Creswell,  Wanamaker  and
Meyer;  after  eight  Postmasters-General  had
recommended  the  establishment  of  postal  savings ­
  banks 1  and  ten  times  as  many  bills  had  been
introduced  into  Congress  for  this  purpose, 2  the
United  States  found  itself  in  line  with  most  of
1  The  recommendations  of  Postmasters-General  from  1871
to  the  present  time,  together  with  other  valuable  material
illustrating  the  movement  for  postal  savings  banks  in  the
United  States,  are  summarized  in  a  speech  in  the  House  of
Representatives  by  George  Edmond  Foss  of  Massachusetts.
Cong.  Rec.,  June  20,  1910,  pp.  8709  et  seq.
2  For  a  list  of  bills,  see  Report  No.  1445,  H.  R.,  61  Cong.,
2  Sess.  (June  7,  1910),  pp.  63-66.