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In Great Britain and Ireland,
INCLUDING
A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF
MR. GLADSTONE'S FINANCIAL MEASURES FOR POST OFFICE BANKS,
GOVERNMENT ANNUITIES, AND GOVERNMENT
LIFE INSURANCE.
BY
AUTHOR OF HER MAJESTY'S MAILS.
LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON,
MILTON HOUSE, LUDGATE HILL, E.C.
[All Rights reserved]
LONDON:
PRINTED BY R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR,
BREAD STREET HILL.
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE, M.P.
CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER,
&c. &c. &c.
THE GREATEST LIVING AUTHORITY ON ALL MATTERS OF FINANCE,
WHOSE NAME IS NOW INTIMATELY AND DESERVEDLY
CONNECTED WITH ALL THAT RELATES TO
THE SUBJECT OF THESE PAGES,
This Work
IS BY PERMISSION
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
The present volume is offered as a contribution tothe history of a number of provident schemes, which,though quietly working in the country for manyyears, and affecting to no small extent the social conditionof great masses of the people, can scarcelybe said to have found an annalist. I think I mayfairly consider that the ground covered by this workhas not previously been occupied. In saying somuch, I do not forget the only book which hashitherto emanated from the British press on SavingsBanks. Mr. Scratchley's Practical Treatise onSavings Banks deals, however, with the questiontechnically, and is meant avowedly as a text-bookfor actuaries and those employed about SavingsBanks. The present volume, on the contrary, whileit may be supposed to possess some interest even forthis limited circle, is not meant to take the placeof the above, but seeks its public amongst generalreaders, and amongst those who, either from inclinationin that direction, or through connexionwith them as employers, take an interest in theprogress of the industrial classes of our country.
Treating as this volume does of useful practicalschemes and matter-of-fact topics, I have sought toavoid all matters of speculation, to speak in veryplain terms and without waste of words, and, whilstnoticing in their proper order all the different proposalshaving to do with the subject, to refrain fromventuring upon any myself. My aim has been togive a full and accurate account of the early historyof Savings Banks; and as subsequently to theirorigin the discussions in Parliament with regard tothem and kindred subjects were no incorrect reflexof the feeling in the country at different periods, Ihave also dealt fully with the parliamentary historyof these institutions. In this way Savings Bankreformers, both in and out of Parliament, and theirmeasures of reform—many of them ending in theestablishment of different kinds of supplementarybanks—are made to pass under review; and thenames of those who framed the original schemes, aswell as of