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SAVINGS BANKS.*
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. SAVINGS BANKS.* '
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MODERN CAIUCATUltE.* [Continued.]
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domestic happiness . The postman alone is our friend and faithful ally . And how does a grateful country requite him ? With nineteen shillings a week , and a new red coat once a year . Let us not understate his"advantages ; he is also the recipient of an annual hat . It may be said that we cannot always measure out our rewards accord in jj to our love . But , at least , let the postman have a wage in some decree proportionate to his labour , his capacity , and his responsibility . „ ,, . ,. , , A meeting of London postmen was held the other day at St Martin ' s ° Hall , for the purpose of agitating for an increase of pay . One thousand two hundred members of the body were present , and their spokesman stated their grievances with temperance and moderation . Mr . Chaki , es Coopek said that lie was appointed
a letter carrier in 1854 . He began at the low scale of nineteen shillings a week . He was told that there should be a rise ot a shilling a year until he reached twenty-three shillings . That , then , seems to be the maximum pay of a letter carrier—a man who works from five o ' clock in the morning till ten at night ; who must possess a lair education ; who must trudge the streets in all weathers ; and who is expected to be honest , with every temptation and every facility to be otherwise . A large proportion of the letter carriers :, " however , receive only nineteen shillings a week ; and ; pro-StMartmleGrand
motion does not seem to go by merit at . 's-- . The veteran Havelock complained of boys being constantly put over his head in India . Merit has the same struggle under the administration of Sir Rowland Hiia . Mr . Shaw , a letter carrier , states that he knew a man who was made a first class sorter who could not spell words of three syllables . Before he could spell the word " honour , " he had to buy a dictionary . He could not do the simplest sum in arithmetic , and yet he was passed over the heads of men to whom multiplication was no vexation whatever , and who could do fractions , and still preserve their sanity . We are not told whether this man ' s name was Grey or Elliot , but we will say Grey .
Now fi ' . r Elliot . He had been passed over the heads of older and better qualified men , and he was obliged to buy a dictionary before he knew the difference between "to" arid " too . " There was another case within the experience of Mr . Shaw . It was that of a picture-frame' maker who did some private business for the authorities , and was promoted . ~ IF"this statement is true—and the speaker openly challenges contradiction—it is quite clear that the motto upon which the authorities of the Post-office act is not that which country gentlemen are so fond of quoting at cattle show dinners— Palmam qui merxtitfetfat . But that is not the whole of the postman ' s grievance . He must actually give ah account of the Christmas'boxes he receives . And this adds hypocrisy to the other nrinies of the Postmaster-General , or whoever the person is who
does this nigger driving . An order was issued some two years ago forbidding the postmen to ask for Christinas boxes , and yet the authorities require each man , as a matter of course , to give in ah account of what he gets in gratuities . What does this mean ? Clearly that the authorities look upon these Christmas boxes as part of the postman ' s pay . We have evidence enough here to show that the Post-office authorities are neither very liberal nor very just to their men . ^_ _____________ Now , as regardiTlie post which the Duke of Akgyle maintains in the metropolis , we cannot by any means say ' God bless his grace . ' It is not a counter-irritant which at all tends to allay our itching for something like a perfect system . The business of the establishment lias outgrown the establishment itself . Mr . Gladstone was never lessjlogical than when he argued the other evening in the House , that the only remedy for this was to reduce our postal business . The riirht . honourable gentleman was for excluding newspapers from
the letter post , and placing them in the category of " other printed matter . " Does a merchant or manufacturer decline orders when ho finds his business increasing beyond the capability of his premisos or machinery ? Does he not rather build new warehouses , and set up new steam engines ? But who is it that fails us here P Is it the letter carrier , who brings round pur letters for nineteen shillings a week , nnd an annual coat and hat ? Certainly not . He is here every hour of the day almost , with our letters and papers ; and on the whole ho is rarely lato , and rarely disappoints us of the inissivo that has been duly posted . Considering the nineteen shillings a week , it is very rarely indeed that he feels called upon to appropriate our remittances , or , being wet through and wearied out with his day ' s labour , feels it convenient to go homo an hour or two before his time , nnd boil his kettle , with our " important and immediate " advices . If a delay ocours , in nine cases out of ten it is not his fault , but the fault of the mail trains , or the defective organization
at the offices . The postman now appeals to us , the public . Ho has appealed to his masters in vain . They have offered to hear him , and they have heard him ; but they vouchsafe no reply . He now knocks at our doors for justice . Let us bo as ready to nnswer the summons as when ho bringa ns that post-office order , that invitation to dinner , — —those tickets for the opera , —that tinted , scented , warmly-expressed assurance that Matilda is ours till death , and thut melancholy , but on the whole satisfactory , communication , to the effect that tho cousin seven times removed has gone to another and better world , leaving us comfortably provided for in this .
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/~ 1 RUIKSHANK , when a young man , abandoned the path ot a poll-^ tical" caricaturist , and engaged in the safer and more profitable occupation of a book illustrator , but ere he abandoned it he threw great force into his pictures of social life . It does him honour , however , to
Savings Banks.*
without a round sum in the Three per Cents . But ^ hoighJJ * " elegant simplicity * ' of bur stocks is most desirable , the interest they bear is too low to afford anything like an adequate income , unless a large amount ' is invested . What we want for our saving poor are soiuid and liberal investments for them . Moreover , every facility and inducement should be allowed them to put by their hard-earned shillings and pounds . The pence should not be torgotten , and we hail the instituting of Penny Banks as one ot the most hopeful signs of the times . Savings will grow , however small may be the original " nest-egg . " A thousand careful proverbs are ready on the lips of those who seek to ameliorate the condition ot ¦
the poor by making them help themselves . --. " - The most simple mode of putting by small sums for future use is afforded by the Savings Bank . No expense is incurred by depositors ; and , viewed in their integrity , the security they afford is unquestionable . A depositor is , in fact , a creditor of the nation . He hits a stake in the country . The defalcations which take place from time to time in these banks , though they affect the progress of savings among the poor—thus doing incalculable harm—are not to be taken as a radical defect in their organization , but as mishaps
common to all human institutions . ... , , . n . Savings banks are , unquestionably , in a flourishing state at the present time . In 1828 , the deposits amounted to fourteen millions ; in 1860 , they stand at forty millions . The increase is immense , and most encouraging . The more independent working men become , the better it will be , in the long run , for the " Upper Ten Thousand . The way to make the employers truly great is by raising the character of the employed . And there is only one way by which this can be done . It is an old saying , that your democrat softens wonderfully under the influence of an improved exchequer . Why should not the remark hold good in the lower ranks of life ? Alarmists used to shudder at the idea of educating the masses . ^ " What do operatives and ploughmen want with learning ? n \ f t unwashedbut had
gentlemen used to joke about the " grea , " they every desire to deny all helps to amendment . The filthy should remain filthy , was their argument fifty years ago . Now , though their language is less violent , it is nevertheless determined . ' Investments for the million , " they tell us , will never do . \ 'Our workmen , &c , will be able to stand out for higher wages , whenever they choose , and where shall ^ vve-be ? " We argue , that by giving each man , let us say , a deposit of some thirty pounds in the savings bank ^ heavill be far more disposed _ to work more steadily on , in order to keep it there , ami even to increase it . There is an honest dignity in self-dependance which is far more likely to make men frugal and hard-working , to maintain their position , than ^ wretched haud-tomouth way of living , when , in a moment -of-frenzy , ' men will combine and starve rather than give in to their masters . - _
ibr ^ heuir J ; hatJs ^ utjo £ jUi ^^ , , , ,-, ~ It is , we think , much to be regretted that the admirable work the appearance of which has caused these , remarks was not published earlier / Mr . Scratchley has proved himself an authority on the matter , by his able treatise on Industrial Investments . His present book , on savings banks , is , in every respect , worthy of his experienced pen . From it we may glean many useful facts and much information respecting these banks . Their history is minutely sketched , and a thorough exposition of the working of them is given . Mr . Scratchley strongly urges our own view of the in the matterand he
necessity of Government legislating , very justly observes that were Government inspectors employed and auditors changed every ten years , there would be a far less chance for misappropriation and swindling . It is no use urging people to pinch themselves , in order to put by against " a rainy day , " if , when they present their bethumbed pass-books " no assets" meets their ears . When the Rochdale Sayings Bank was found minus to the extent of upwards of £ 70 , 000 through the rascality of its late manager , the people declared that they would rather spend their money in future than save it for another George Hawarth .
It is , undoubtedly , the duty of Governments to encourage frugality in their people , and they are also bound to find secure investments for their savings . The allurements held out by hungry adventurers in the shape of mines , Scot , should not bo allowed to attract , for tho artisan should bo convinced of the extent to which interest and deposits can securely be granted ; and he should ulso feel that , in putting his sovereigns into the savings bank , he was in all respects justified in doing so . This book of Mr . Scratchley ' s shduld be attentively studied by all who ( whether from reading Mary Barton ' ¦ ' ¦• or any other cause ) take an interest in the condition of the poorer classes . To them we cordially recornjnenU it . .
Feeling this , we most strongly urge on Government to take the matter of savings banks into their earnest consideration . Individual Members of Parliament treat us to excellent speeches onthe subject . Personally , they will do any thing to improve their stability and working . They are persuaded that they cannot be made too secure , and that It is the best thing in the world lor poor men to have a pass-book , if only in a penny bank . But , as for legislating
RETIRED leisure is , after all , not so much to bo envied by the workers as some of us fancy . Retirement is a sorry existence
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* A Practical Treatise on Savhit / a lhtnka , &o . By ARTHUR gCKATOHLEY , M . A . London ; Longmans . 1800 .
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• Punch . Vol . XXXIX . Bradbury and Evans , Whltefriaru .
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472 The Leader andSaturdayAnalyst . L ^ ay 19 , I 860 .
. Savings Banks.* '
. SAVINGS BANKS . * '
Modern Caiucatulte.* [Continued.]
MODERN CAIUCATUltE . * rnrtNTiviinn . !
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Leader (1850-1860), May 19, 1860, page 472, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2348/page/12/
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