DEPOSITORS  AND  DEPOSITS

87

took  the  course  through  Congress  usually  taken
by  important  bills  which  ultimately  receive  Congressional ­
  approval.  It  was  debated  at  intervals
from  December  15,  1913,  to  August  28,  1914,
was  amended  in  the  House  and  in  the  Senate,  referred ­
  to  a  conference  committee  by  which  the
differences  were  compromised,  and  was  finally
passed  by  Congress  at  the  end  of  August.  In  its
final  form  the  bill  removed  the  limitations  on  the
amount  that  could  be  deposited  by  a  person  in
any  month,  left  the  maximum  interest  bearing
deposit  $500,  and  authorized  the  Board  of  Trustees ­
  in  its  discretion  to  “accept  additional  deposits
not  to  exceed  in  the  aggregate  $500  for  each  depositor, ­
  but  upon  which  no  interest  shall  be  paid.”
The  bill  was  sent  to  the  President  for  his  signature ­
  September  1,  but  was  vetoed  by  him  because
of  one  of  its  provisions  authorizing  the  deposit  of
postal  savings  funds  in  banks  not  members  of  the
Federal  reserve  system.  “With  most  of  the  provisions ­
  of  the  bill”  the  President  in  his  veto  message ­
  declared  himself  “in  hearty  accord.” 26
Inasmuch  as  two  years  later  legislation  providing ­
  for  the  lightening  of  the  restrictions  upon
postal  savings  deposits  was  passed,  and  as  the
chief  debate  over  the  question  of  policy  occurred
28  House  Doc.  No.  1162,  63  Cong.,  2  Sess.  This  document ­
  contains  the  bill  and  the  President’s  veto  message.
Cf.  infra,  pp.  114-115.