78 
POSTAL SAVINGS 
Mr. Carter B. Keene, Director of Postal Sav 
ings, informs me that the opinion of postmasters 
throughout the country, as revealed by their let 
ters and reports, is almost unanimous in the con 
clusion that the great bulk of the deposits come 
from hoards, and from funds that formerly were 
sent abroad for deposit in the postal savings 
banks and other banks of Europe. The tarnished 
condition of much of the coin deposited, and the 
receptacles in which the money is brought for de 
posit, show that much of it has been buried or 
otherwise hoarded for long periods. Director 
Keene said in an address before the American 
Bankers Association Convention in Boston in 
October, 1913: “A systematic canvass was once 
made by the Department to ascertain where the 
postal savings deposits were coming from, and no 
depositor was found who had transferred his ac 
count under normal conditions from a bank to 
the post office. On the contrary our files are full 
of reports from postmasters who explain the fall 
ing off of deposits by the fact that accounts are 
being transferred to local banks, and letters from 
bankers urging the extension of the service to 
points where they are unable to reach hoarded 
savings are now too frequent to occasion com 
ment. The postal savings system is a fitting 
school for other savings institutions. Our de-