THE  POSTAL  SAVINGS  BANK  ACT

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sufficient  to  meet  administrative  expenses.  (2)
The  proponents  of  postal  savings  banks  were
very  positive  in  their  claim  that  these  banks
would  he  feeders  of  other  banks  rather  than  competitors. ­
  Had  not  this  contention  been  widely
accepted  as  true,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  a  postal
savings  bank  act  could  have  been  passed.  If
postal  savings  banks  were  not  to  compete  with
other  banks,  and  if  individual  deposits,  as  soon
as  they  reached  substantial  amounts,  were  to  be
transferred  to  other  banks,  the  interest  rate  paid
by  postal  savings  banks  must  obviously  not  be
so  high  as  that  paid  by  the  best  savings  banks  in
the  most  populous  sections  of  the  country. 16
(3)  If  the  rate  of  interest  should  be  fixed  too
10  The  National  Monetary  Commission,  in  its  Special
Report  from  Banks  of  the  United  States  as  of  April  28,
1909  (pp.  36-46),  tabulated  the  average  rate  of  interest
paid  on  savings  accounts  by  the  different  kinds  of  banks  in
the  various  S%tes.  These  figures  show  the  average  rate
paid  by  mutual  savings  banks  in  all  States  to  have  been  3.85
per  cent,  the  lowest  average  in  any  State  having  been  in
Pennsylvania,  3.32  per  cent,  and  the  highest  in  West
Virginia  (only  one  bank),  4.5  per  cent.  The  average  rate
paid  by  national  banks  in  all  States  was  3.34  per  cent,  the
average  local  rates  having  ranged  from  4.66  per  cent  in
North  Dakota  to  2  per  cent  in  the  District  of  Columbia.
The  average  rate  paid  by  State  banks  was  3.71  per  cent,
the  average  local  rates  having  ranged  from  5.14  per  cent  in
North  Dakota  to  2.62  per  cent  in  Delaware.  The  average
rate  paid  by  stock  savings  banks  was  3.60  per  cent,  the
average  local  rates  having  ranged  from  4.35  per  cent  in
Georgia  to  2.71  per  cent  in  the  District  of  Columbia.