Savings Banks.
TO TIlE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. Sir,-A. case ofmismaranagem ent on the par: of the i"intionsl Debt.. office, in relation to savitgs banks, hus lately occurred, to which . beg eave to request your attention. By an act of the last session of Parliament, (which act originated with the lNational Debt-office, and is full of obseurity and isaccu- racies), it is providel, that at'er the 20tl of November, 1824, ag per- sons shall be alowcd to make deposits in any one savings bank, with- out subscribinggadeclaration, that tboy arenot entitled o any-depoait in any othier barlc; and if the in(lividual whose deposits arereceived upon the faith of that deelaration, should aftcrwards be found to hiave made a false statemrent, the w hole of his deposits are lietble to t6rfeiture. The object of these provisiors is to limrit the amontult of tIe drpo. sits, in respect of which any one individnal mnay entitle himuselftco the largexate of interest granted by Government; but no considerate person, and no person in the least conversant -with zeneral princi ples of law, could put upon these provisions the coastructiort vwhich was pUt upon them by the Co,mmissioners for tbe National )ebt-namely, that deposits made in more than one savings bank previously to the 20th of Novem2ber, 1S24, and remaining thlere so b sequendlv to that period, wsere foribited ~izpso fleto. A seini-ofiicial notice to that prpnrt, refe7rinig to a ptxrtid extract from the act, was nevertheless inserted in all the Lonndon newcpapers, froau nthority, in thle month of October last, and a memorandaum to the same effect was insertetl in one of' the printed lotms with which the managers of savings banks have beenfurrnishedfor ehirguidance by the National Debt-office. These proceedirgs, as might have been expected, have prodluced considerable alarm among the depositors, nmany of whomr, although extremely deserving pleople, are poor and ignorant. Deposits to a large amount have been withdrawn ; confidence has been shaken; and the progress of these excellent instiutions in some measare rc- tard,d. But what will the public thii'k. Sir, of this official dogmatisn oan a subject upon which manv thousand individuals are interested when the y are informed ibht a circular printed letter issuet last week from the National Debt-offive, stating that the opi- nion of tho lav. officer. of the Crown had been taken, andt that the penalties of the act do not apply to deposits madle previonsly to the 20th of Noveinber, 1824 ? so that, provided an old deposi.or makes n1o new deposits after that period, reqtiring his slbscription to the declaration alreatly inentioned, hei may retain, without any risk to himself, the whole ot'the deposits tv which he mnay then have been entitled in two or mo, e ?savings banks. Any cosmment would be quite unnecessarv. AN OLD ,IMANAGER OF A liONDON SAVINGS BANK. ,Nov. 2M. P. S.-Some of yoar readers may na be aware that szvingr banlv are suzbject to such ordlers a'td regalations, isYuing from the National Debt-effie, as may not be inconsisteot with the legislative -,o- visionS relating to those establishments. SA VIAGS BI.NKS.