novelty has produced, and in the periodical works in which their merits have been discussed. What is wanted, is not the knowledge, of minute particulars regarding the plan and conduct of the establishment, which ought to be varied, perhaps, with any considerable difference in the number and character of the contributors, and in the tract of country over which it is expected to extend. I shall therefore content myself at present with a few remarks on the nature and purpose of Saving Banks in general, which after all that has been written on the subject, do not seem to be well understood even by some of those who have made the most meritorious exertions in promoting them.
It cannot be too frequently recommended to those who may take the lead in establishing banks for savings, to study to combine simplicity with security, and to give to them such a constitution as may not contain within itself the seeds of dissension and party spirit. While the security of the funds is not impaired, a preference should always be given to what is simple, and promises to be permanent, over what is artificial, of a remote or doubtful tendency, or merely calculated for producing a temporary effect. Upon this principle I would venture to suggest, that a Saving Bank should approach as nearly as possible in its character to a Mercantile Bank—that no inquiry into the character or conduct of the depositors should be tolerated for a moment—that the choice of managers should not in general be vested in the depositors, nor the managers themselves taken from that body, and that it should be kept entirely distinct from Benefit Societies, Annuity Schemes, Loan Banks; and its provisions strictly confined to its own proper object of safe custody and prompt payment with interest.
In hazarding this opinion, it is not necessary to deny the influence of great names on the list of honorary and extraordinary members, in giving a momentary eclat to a new institution, and in inspiring the public with confidence in its respectability. But it may well be doubted, whether, after the advantages of a Saving Bank have been generally understood, a parade of inefficient officers will contribute much to its permanency, and to its utility among the lower classes. My own opinion certainly is, that to place the Lord Lieutenant, the Members of Parliament, and the Sheriff of the county, for the time being, among the honorary members of so humble an institution as a bank for the savings of the labourers of a small district, is calculated to call down ridicule on the whole undertaking. But should these gentlemen, constituted members of the bank merely in virtue of their official situations, choose to interfere with the details of its business, either directly or indirectly, without having first acquired by their personal character, or the interest they may have taken in the prosperity of the institution, the confidence of the great body of the depositors, there is every reason to believe that the consequences would be most pernicious. The lower classes would be ready to suspect, whether with or without reason is of little consequence, that the knowledge of their circumstances, and the control over their funds, possessed by these official characters, might be employed in enforcing obnoxious measures of public policy. And on every occasion, when the popular feeling is opposed to the enactments of the legislature, how soon soever it may subside, we might expect to see such a run made upon our Saving Banks, as happens on a larger scale of business, whenever the creditors of individuals, of societies, or of the public, begin to lose confidence in the prudence or ability with which the affairs of their debtors are conducted. Add to this, the habitual jealousy which the lower classes have been taught to entertain of their rulers, so frequently kindled into phrenzy by the arts of the disaffected; and it may be laid down as a rule, that in these simple institutions, which ought to have no other object than the ostensible one, every ground for suspecting the influence of government should be carefully excluded, as not only unnecessary, but likely to be injurious.
With this impression, it is impossible not to feel some degree of alarm at the Bill introduced into Parliament last Session by Mr Rose. As I do not know the provisions of this Bill in its amended form, I shall only venture to observe, that the clause which requires the funds of the Saving Banks to be invested in government securities, ought on no account to be extended to Scotland, where banks of the most
