THE SAVINGS BANK IN THE SCHOOL.

Evening Star, Issue 4063, 4 March 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SAVINGS BANK IN THE SCHOOL.

Mr Dalrymple, of Port Chalmers, requests our publication of the following papers; We have pleasure in giving them Insertion A public meeting was recently held in the 'Board-room of the Liverpool Savings Bank, bn the invitation of the School Board, with the view of .establishing penny Banks in connection with the various public elementary ; schools in Liverpool. Mr S. (G), Bathbone Eided; and the Rev. T. I}. Crallan, ebapof the County Asylum, Haywards Heath, Sussex, attended to explain the results of his labors towards the establishment and conduct of penny banks in Sussex and Wiltshire. -Mr Crallan mid a system of Savings Banks had been tried in connection with the schools in the town of Ghent, in Belgium, and oh the 3lst of July,’ when there were 16,658 scholars in the Ghent schools, 10.135 children had made deposits, and had saved, - during the previous twelve months, L 5,000. --(Hear, hear.)' He thought that if that could be'done in Belgium it could also be done in England. He had brought the before-the notice of the Education Department, and had received a reply which had. induced fiim tq try to bring it into ■ popular favor.—(Hear, hear.) At present, English society was pretty well saturated with extravagance, and the result was a great »deal of waste, squalor, and misery, full unions,, crowded gaols, and gin palaces. If they could educate- the people to be ' thrifty, -then Instead of waste, squalor, And misery, there w°nld be economy, decency, an<k comfort; instead of poverty, dripk,. and vice, there would be genera,! Sobriety, prosperity, and honesty; the drinking shops would be. shut, the unions and gaols would be half emptied, and our present heavy local rates would be very much diminished. To teach people to become thrifty, it was necessary to begin with ’ them while they were children; they could not induce grown people,: accustomed to self-indulgence, to save'. Thrift should be ■ made a part of the education in schools. If ' teachers would throw themselves heartily into the work, and if managers of schools would countenance such an effort, before many years were over they would not only have savings banks forming part of the machinery of all elementary schools, but |be : bnlk of the next generation.would be growing up iq thrifty habits, and’an entire Asocial revolution would be brought about. He suggested to teachers of schools that they should bpen fiyo minutes earlier eyery morning, and receive from the pupils any deposits they might have to make. The Chairman moved 3 vote pf thanks to J4r Crallan. - ; The Rev. MrPostance, in seconding tjie motion, spoke of the advantages of mcul- . 1 mfting habits of thrift in children, and said ; P® w ?hld endeavor to carry out Mr Crallan’s idea in tfie schools with which he was connected. The vote of thanks having been accorded td the lecturer, a committee was formed for the purpose of carrying the views set forth by Mr Crallan into effect. A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed

th® proceedings, . At the annual meeting of depositors in the Garelochhead School Penny Savings Baqk, held in the Schoolroom, Garelochhead, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, on October 12,1875 j[Mr R. B. Browne, of Bendarroch, iiji the phair), there was a good attendance, inchidjng the Bey John Paisley, Rev, D. Kilpatrick, David M'Phun, Angus. Cameron, William Kennedy, John MThun, John ; Connor, William Hamilton, and John Cruiokshank, The Chairman, in calling for the annual report, said he felt much gratified at the success of the past year, and hoped it would continue. , , Mr John Cruickshahk, Hon. Secretary 1 of ■ jbhe Glasgow' Penny Bank Association, read the report, which stated that the Bank had been Open fifty times, there had been 1,277 transactions, L 145 6s lid had been received, . <|nd D 9 6s lid repaid, and the balance fLI3S l9s) had been lodged in the National Security Savings Bank of Glasgow. The hjunber of open accounts is 99—about equal W the number of scholars ; although specii .Sr?- e “. or them, others also have lodged . ’ This experiment of attaching r ; 2? penny Batik to the nhblic school has • been a' cOmplete success. The work haS’been done on the Friday afternoons, at tfiecljbse the weekly lessons, by two lads, aged 14

and 17, tinder Mi* Connor’s (the head master’s) supervision. At the present day, with so many facilities for making money and spending money, how important is it that the young' should learn for themselves the duty of .saving, and the marvellous f tower of littles, and how certainly money ncreases with continuous care. We would not make our children misers

there is little fear of that—but would train I them to lay past a little store for the wisdom of the future to spend. The Bank also trains those who work it to habits of acc iracy, and gives them a clear and methodical style of counting money and keeping books— a valuable acquirement for advanced scholars and pupil teachers. Thus it blesses those who work the Bank, as well as those who save the money.’ It is a bond uniting all classes in the most honorable feeling of manly ind&pfedence—the humblest depositor is guaranteed by the wealthy trustee, and the trustee again is directly guaranteed by the British Government. _ Hitherto our Penny Banks have been carried bn in connection with missionary efforts ; how much more good will they do when free from the haphazard of this impulsive labor, and attached permanently to our public schools throughout the country. The scheme .has proved itself a fountain of blessing in the past, and only needs the opportunity of being more widely extended that it may be more intensely beneficent. Within the last' few weeks our association has invited the various School Board in Scotland to open a penny bank in each school. From many members of the Boards we have the reply that they are. taking the matter into consideration, and now from our Highland hamlet we throw back the echo of our success. We urge the thing can be done, and has been done, and has succeeded beyond what our experience of twenty years could anticipate. Rejoicing in our buc<mm, we all the more earnestly ask others to allay no longer, but make the Penny Savings Bank a reality in every school.

The Rev. John Paisley said that a debt of obligation was due to those who had carried out the scheme, and he awarded them a cordial vote of thanks

The Rev. D. Kilpatrick expressed himself hopeful that the influence so successful would continue.

Mr Connor said he had been greatly helped by his assistants in the work, who undertook the details with very little trouble to himself. Although half-an hour had been allowed, the work had been done in half that time.