88

POSTAL  SAVINGS

in  connection  with  the  above  mentioned  vetoed
bill,  it  will  be  well  to  summarize  briefly  at  this
point  the  arguments  advanced,  during  the  various ­
  Congressional  debates  (1913-1916),  on  both
sides  of  the  question.
Arguments  for  Lightening  Limitations  on
Deposits
The  chief  arguments  advanced  in  favor  of  the
change  were  as  follows  :
1.  The  presumption  is  in  favor  of  freedom
from  artificial  restrictions  in  such  a  matter  as
permitting  the  public  to  deposit  its  savings  in  any
legally  authorized  and  safe  agency  for  receiving
deposits.  In  the  original  legislation  the  restrictions ­
  were  imposed  to  protect  banks  from  what
many  feared  would  prove  a  dangerous  competition ­
  when  the  postal  savings  banks  were  opened.
The  fact  that  experience  showed  that  the  bulk  of
the  postal  savings  deposits  had  come  out  of
hoards  and  from  persons  who  were  not  depositors ­
  at  all  in  the  regular  banks  made  it  clear  that
the  raison  d’etre  of  the  limitations  was  not  a
sound  one,  and  that  they  should  be  removed,  or,
at  least,  greatly  lightened.  It  may  be  pointed
out  in  this  connection  that  there  are  usually  no
legislative  limitations  on  the  size  of  interest  bearing ­
  savings  accounts  in  commercial  banks,  and