§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he has considered the question of supplying something in the nature of a cheque book, where required, to any depositor in the Post Office Savings Bank, so as to enable such depositor, under sufficient guarantees against fraud or mistake, to pay at a moment's notice any debt or demand up to the value of his deposit; whether he would be prepared to recommend the issue for this purpose of books of postal orders, each order having a counterfoil bearing the same number and stamp, or whether any other system would seem to him preferable; and whether, by way of experiment, he will supply such cheque books, or equivalent facilities, to the treasurers of small friendly societies who may keep no banking account, and who wish to avoid the present liability to the expense of a telegram of withdrawal, or to the delay of two days?
§ MR. J. G. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether his attention has been called to a scheme for Savings Bank Postal Orders, which proposes to empower the Post Office Savings Bank to issue in books of eight, at a charge of 1½d. each order, Savings Bank Postal Orders bearing a face value of 10s., 15s., £1, or £2, payable to the depositor only on demand at any Savings Bank Post Office on production of his deposit book; and whether in view of the statement of the late Postmaster General in his last Report that the system of withdrawal by telegram had met an un-undoubted want, efforts will be made to enable Savings Bank depositors, who are not prepared to pay the cost of telegrams, to place themselves in a position of being able to withdraw on demand sums up to £2 at any Post Office instead of awaiting correspondence by post?
§ MR. HANBURYYes, Sir. The question referred to by the hon. Member for Canterbury has been carefully considered, and the Postmaster General is not prepared to introduce any such machinery as is suggested for facilitating the withdrawal of deposits from the 811 Post Office Savings Bank. It must be remembered that the Post Office Savings Bank was established in order to encourage thrift, and the Government has no intention of converting it into a banking institution. This answer will also serve as a reply to the question asked by the hon. Member for Ross and Cromarty.
§ MR. J. G. WEIRI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether, seeing that depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank only receive interest on each complete pound which has been on deposit for an entire month, he can state to what extent this system of computing interest, as applied to the six million accounts open, reduces the rate of interest below 2½ per cent., the amount nominally paid to Post Office Savings Bank depositors?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Postmaster General has had a careful calculation made on this subject and finds that allowing for the circumstance mentioned by the hon. Member the average rate of interest actually received by depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank during the last three years has been £2 7s. 9d.