1912 William Howard Taft - Postal Savings Depositories

In 1912, William Howard Taft shared with Congress that he believed good banking and monetary policy benefited not just Wall Street, but also Main Street.  This followed President Taft's work two years earlier to help pass legislation authorizing the Post Office Department "to establish postal savings depositories".    These depositories were secured by the government.   This gave the average working man and even children a safe place to save their monies instead of hoarding it.   By 1912 there were 300,000 depositors with about $28,000,000.00 in deposits.  The minimum deposit in a US Postal bank was one dollar, but US Postal stamps could be bought in denominations as small as 10 cents.  These stamps could be collected, and when the card was filled with 10 stamps, it could be deposited into the bank, where it would earn 2.5% interest rate.  US Postal banks peaked in 1947 during WWII, and continued until 1966.

In his final address to congress in 1912, President Taft explained that good banking and monetary policy, benefits not just Wall Street, but man street America:

"A banking and currency system seems far away from the wage earner and the farmer, but the fact is that they are vitally interested in a safe system of currency which shall graduate its volume to the amount needed and which shall prevent times of artificial stringency that frighten capital, stop employment, prevent the meeting of the pay roll, destroy local markets, and produce penury and want."

Stamp collecting saved the US Postal banking system saved the US Post Office Department from financial ruin. Prior to 1910, the Post Office Department ran at a loss and was considered government expenditures. Today, some people are advocating bringing back this very idea.

References

About.usps.com. (2018). Postal Savings System. [online] Available at: https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/postal-savings-system.pdf [Accessed 6 Feb. 2018].

Inthesetimes.com. (2018). Return to Lender. [online] Available at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/16313/return_to_lender [Accessed 6 Feb. 2018].

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). William Howard Taft: Fourth Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29553 [Accessed 6 Feb. 2018].

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