THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY. MAY 16, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2606, 16 May 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY. MAY 16, 1877.

The improvement in mining affairs on the lhames has considerably affected the business of the Post Office Savings Bank department. From a return published in a recent number of the New Zealand Gazette we find that for quarter ended 31st March, the withdrawals from the savings bank in this district the deposits.by the large sum of £4062 7s Bd. The «everal amounts were as follows : deposits, . £60,89 17s; withdrawals, £10,152 4s Bd. There is little doubt that this sum of four thousand pounds was withdrawn to enable the possessors to enter into scrip speculation : how they have fared will te

seen from the next quarterly return. If they have been fortunate the deposits for the current quarter will be large ; if the reverse—should the withdrawals again exceed the deposits, we may fafely assume that the savings are still locked up in scrip. We were aware that many persons had withdrawn their savings from'the bank for tbe purpose of "going into" scrip, so that the return now published does not surprise us. Should -there be an increase of depositors during this quarter it will show that the fortunate speculations have not been entirely con Sued to the people who deal in large transactions, for Post Office savings bank depositors are mostly provident people of the laboring or trading classes, whose savings or whose business do not require them to keep all ordinary banking account. From whatever cause—possibly thedullness of the times—the withdrawals exceed the deposits in eight postal districts out of the thirteen mentioned, and the total excess of withdrawals over deposits is £7,894 6s Id. The places where the withdrawals exceeded deposits are Auckland, Thames, New Plymouth, Napier, Wellington, Greymouth,liokitika and Irivercargill; where deposits exceeded withdrawals Blenheim, NelsoD, Westport, Cbribtchurch and Dunedin. In Christchurch the savings were in excess of the withdrawals by the considerable sum of £65319 11s Bd. It can scarcely be considered a healthy sign when depositors have to fall back upon their savings to such an appreciable extent as £7000 in one quarter of a year. It is true that £4000 of this amount was

taken out of the Thames oiEce, not from necessity, but with a view to do something more than four per cent, with it; and there is also' some consolation in the fact set forth in the return that the number of accounts opened was nearly 600 in excess of those closed, and the aggregate amount of withdrawals was £2000 less than for the same quarter of last year.