A Caution.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 29 July 1890, Page 2

A Caution.

• I As thei\> a large nntnher of persons I who use the Post Office Savings I'auk. and who put it there believin? they will g"t their tooney back again, we desire to call their particular ttts&tien to rnU 3, v pfmt«d in ihdr

deposit books. The effect of the rule is rather severe an by the following case reported below, it will be noticed how yovug people may lose the savings put bye, by their parents withoufctheir knowludgp, if they attempted to open an account for themselves. The doe avatiou to be made by a depos:tor sets out that he is not, direety or indirectly entitled i 9 " any sum standing in' the name" or names of any other persons in the books of the said Post Office Savings bank " save and except as a member -of & Friendly Society or Trustee. I. any part of such declaration be untrue, the depositor Trill forfeit and lose al. 1 right and title to his deposits. The following is recorded in ' Fairplay ' published in London on 18th June, and should give ample food for thought to lovers of red tape : — *' Mr Henniker Heaton may possibly think the following story of red tape worthy of his attention :— ' An En* glish gentleman opened accounts with the Post Offloa Savings Bank in names of 'he several members of his family, one of whom was sent to a well known public school in Scot* land for his education. The j'outh g'tting a quarterly allowance of pocket money, and being of a saving turn of mind opened an account in his own name through the local Post Office depositing five shillings as a nest egg, with the astoundig re 1 suit that in a few days iniimation was received from »St Martins le Grand that in consequ-uce of thin breach of th« Post Office Savings Bank Act, the sum at credit of the lad's home book, amounting to about £40, had been declared forfeited, the 5s book being graciously allowed to stand good It seems incredible that it should have been guilty of such an act of spoilation, and still rnors incredible that it should ha*e been countenanced and justified by the heads of the Department, as even admitting that tho boy had been guilty of a breach of the Act by opening a peennd account the penalty ought certainly not to have been more severe than the forfeiture of the* five shillings, the original account remaining intact. It may well be asked how many holders of Post Offic* Savings Bank books have read the notice attached thereto, and clearly understand that the opening or possession of a second account in any savings hank renders the amount at credit in the Post Office book liab'e to forfeiture ? "