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Show SWISS ARE BIGGEST SAVERS More Than Half of the People Are Patrons Pa-trons of Savings Banks With Deposits De-posits of $S6,46 Per Capita. Ranking . in Switzerland is remarkable remark-able for the great confidence of the people in savings banks. The extent to which this form of banking has been developed in the country since 17o2 and the uniform success enjoyed en-joyed by Switzerland's bankers generally gen-erally is little short of marvelous. Tho total savings of the Swiss people peo-ple in. 19 10 was Frs. 1.596,975,114 ($r,0S,-216.197), ($r,0S,-216.197), which sum has increased to Frs. 1.923,503,043 ($371,247,667) in 1913. In 190S there were 1,047 savings sav-ings banks and 2,025,491 pass books. The population at the time was 3,647,-479. 3,647,-479. Thus, more than half of the population had savings accounts with the banks and kindred institutions of the country. The word confidence doubtless explains much of Swiss banking success. It is confidence in the banking institutions that banished to the limbo of lost things, the stocking, stock-ing, the mattress and the home strongbox strong-box as the repositories of the Swiss people, three elements that have long been the bane of the banker the worid over. The saving genius of the people peo-ple and their thrift is the other explanation. expla-nation. Switzerland has the proud distinction distinc-tion of being the richest country in tin worid in the savings hank sense. Whue the Pane. German. Norwegian, and American can only show $75.46, j $56.K". ri2.il. and $ S2.46 in deposits respectively, per unit of population, the people of Switzerland show $m.46 in such deposits. There is one tavins institution in Switzerland which has as a feature cf its organization a department to alleviate al-leviate the consequences of unemployment, unem-ployment, illness, or death, which, because be-cause of its originality and success, warrants attention. It is an adjunct of the Swiss Mercantile society, which was organized in 1S73. The membership member-ship of this society is 23.S19, but only 256 members belong to the unemployment unemploy-ment savings department |
