From time to time, as the above-named statutes came into operation, the national debt commissioners have laid down rules for giving them practical effect, and the reg istrar of savings-banks has exercised the necessary supervision. The rules on the important subject of savings-banks annuities may be thus briefly noticed: The nomi nee's age must not be under 15; no annuity below £4, and the aggregate of annuities to any one person not to exceed £30; by purchasing two half annuities instead of a whole one, the annuitant may receive his money in four quarterly sums; on the death of the annuitant, a sum equal to one-fourth. part of the annuity will be paid to his or her next representative, if claimed within two years; if the purchaser of an annuity is unable to continue his installment of payments, he may either receive back the whole of his money without interest, or may have an immediate or deferred annuity equiv alent in amount to the moneys which he has paid; if the purchaser of a deferred life-annuity die befOre the annuity becomes due, the whole amount of his payments, but without interest, is paid to hii family; an annuity is not transferable, except by a bankrupt to his creditors, from whom it will be purchased by the national debt com missioners at its proper value.
These institutions have wrought vast benefit, by inducing habits of economy among the working classes. Let us compare two years thirty years apart, 1833 and 1863. On Nov. 20, 1833, there were 484 savings-banks, holding balances belonging to 475, 155 depositors; the sum in hand was £15,715,111, giving an average of more than £33 due and belonging to each depositor; these totals applied to England, Wales, and Ire land, but did not include Scotland. On Nov. 20, 1863, there were savings-banks in the United Kingdom holding balances belonging to 1.555,089 individual depositors,
charitable institutions, and friendly societies; the sum in hand (including interest) was £43,278,656, giving an average of about £28 due and belonging to each depositor. The charitable institutions and friendly societies which had accounts open with savings banks were so large a number as 28,334, having deposits of about £100 each on an average. About 300,000 depositors had accounts open of less than £5 each. There were 6,627 savings-banks annuities then in force, for an aggregate sum of £135,748 per annum; in other words, the annuities were more than £20 each on an average.
Just before the new post-office savings-banks came into operation, there were 1,609, 103 depositors in the old savings-banks; this number increased to 1,887.510 by Mar. 31, 1864—showing that the new system has been a positive benefit to the old. In subse quent years, many of the old, or trustee, banks arranged for a transfer to the postmas ter-general. The report issued in 1872 tells us of 1.404,078 accounts open with the old banks, on which was due to depositors the aggregate sum of the rate of interest averaging £2 19s. 5d. per cent. The different sections of the United Kingdom had contributed to the aggregate amount in the following proportions in 1878: It would appear that the post-office are suitable for smaller deposits than the others judging from the sums deposited since the two systems have been in opera tion together. That the changes have been in the increase of the post-office banks, rather than in the decline of the trustee hanks, is satisfactorily shown by a compara son of the deposits in each in 1S64 with those in 1874: a total increase of £24,524,727 in ten years.