Lewis, Dennis McCarthy, Andrew Morris, James Palmer, John Pintard, Abraham Russell, Jacob Sherred, Joseph Smith, Najah Taylor, Jeremiah Thompson, William Wilson and Samuel Wood" were "constituted a body corporate and politic by the name of 'The Bank for Savings in the City of New York.'"

On the 6th day of March the bill, duly amended, passed the Senate and was sent to the Assembly for concurrence. From March 6th to 22d the bill was repeatedly sent from one house to the other on the question of concurrence in the Senate amendments. Finally on Monday, March 22d, the Assembly received from the Senate the bill duly passed without further amendment. The Assembly thereupon ordered "that the clerk deliver the same to the Honorable, the Council of Revision," from whom the Assembly received a message on Friday, March 26, returning the bill "approved." And thus the "Bank for Savings in the City of New York" became an established fact in the legislative history of the State of New York. "From the beginning what great results were to flow? And who shall undertake to measure the sum of the good wrought by the savings banks since their first establishment seventy-five years ago? Who will undertake to state how much poverishment has been prevented and how much comfort has been realized us by this system of depositing the savings from labor in approved savings institutions?" The newly chartered bank's first report, covering a period of six months, was made to the legislature in the winter of 1820. Its success was assured. An accumulation of "more than $150,000" was reported as having been received from 1,527 depositors. Of these 840 were "mechanics, laborers, tradesmen and domestics; 287 were boys; 276 girls; 98 were widows; 20 were orphans; 15 apprentices, and 24 unclassified.'" The bank also reported that at the opening

This, the first savings bank established in the State of New York, commenced business on July 3, 1819, in the basement of a building on Chambers street, which was destroyed by fire in 1857, and is now the site of the County Court House. The trustees subsequently built a substantial banking house on Chambers street nearly opposite its first location, and afterwards disposed of that property and erected another banking house on the same street. From 1856 to 1894 it was located at 67 Bleecker street. The march of improvement and the convenience of depositors, however, induced the trustees to erect the present building at 280 Fourth avenue. Its assets July 1, 1909, aggregated $102,796,697.71.

of the institution the trustees appointed three of their number in rotation to attend at the bank for one month as a committee "to receive deposits, to see that the entries were duly made, and to make inquiries as to the situation of the depositors, and ask such further questions as might promote the welfare either of the individual or of the institution. By this means the whole of the board of trustees have become familiar with the depositors" and thoroughly acquainted with the methods of transacting that business of the bank, and with the condition of its affairs. The practice still obtains. The original charter of the bank restrained the trustees from investing moneys in any other debentures than in government securities, or in any stock created and issued under and in virtue of any law of the United States or of this State. Accompanying the report mentioned was a petition of the trustees asking the legislature to permit them to invest their moneys either in bonds of the city or to loan on bond and mortgage on real estate in the city of New York. The petition of the trustees in this respect was granted. The success of this institution led to the establishment of others. The second savings bank established was on a charter granted to Rev. William James and other citizens of Albany. The petition of Mr. James and others was presented in the Assembly on January 28, 1820, and referred to a select committee consisting of Messrs. James, McKown, Irving and Sharpe. There was no delay as formerly. February 4th this committee reported favorably on the petition asking leave to bring in a bill. Leave was granted. On the 18th of March the bill establishing the Albany Savings Bank passed the Assembly; five days later it passed the Senate. The bill was returned from the Council of Revision the 24th day of the same month with its approval, and became a law on that day, (ch. 100, Laws of 1820). This institution received its first deposit on June 10 of that year. March 27, 1821 (ch. 163), a bank for savings in the village of Utica was chartered but not organized.

Having given the foregoing account of the inception of savings banks, the subject of this chapter can be best continued by giving, separately, a summary of the course of legislation in connection with the leading features of what may be termed, at this time, the Savings Bank System of this State.

SAVINGS BANKS BENEVOLENT, NOT CHARITABLE.

Before doing so, however, it may not be considered out of place to state that under no proper construction of our statutes are the savings banks of this State charitable institutions; and the frequent designation of them as such has become odious. As constituted and regulated by law they are, strictly speaking, benevolent institutions, and while the two terms are to a certain extent synonymous, they have a widely different significance when applied to our savings banks.

He who has more than his necessities compel him to expend for the support of himself or family, and has a remainder to loan or save, though trifling in amount, is in no sense an object for charity.

A natural person who is liberal in benefactions to the poor, thus relieving them in distress, and an artificial entity which relieves the needy by the giving of alms, are properly termed charitable; while he who has a disposition to do good, who possesses a love for mankind and a desire to promote their prosperity and happiness, and a corporation based upon such disposition and desire, are accurately termed benevolent.

While the motives which primarily brought about the establishment of banks "for the savings of the poor," or to receive "the sur plus earnings of domestic servants," were in the beginning wholly philanthropic, yet the whole character of the institutions which followed these so-called banks has changed. The use of an expression which savors, however remotely, of the giving of alms, must needs be peculiarly offensive to the thousands of our citizens whose selfdenial is represented by the deposits of nearly a billion four hundred millions dollars held by the savings banks of this State.

The reports of the savings banks January 1, 1909, show an increase over any preceding year in the items of resources and liabilities. These facts give evidence of the most positive kind of the thrift and economy of the million and a half of depositors and their absolute confidence in the remarkably meritorious management of these institutions by their officers.

From small beginnings they have developed into banks of great proportions, and are entitled to the highest place among the financial institutions which are the pride of the State.

TRUSTEES AND OTHER OFFICERS.

We may first treat of changes of the laws relative to the officers of savings banks. The first savings bank, as we have seen, had twentyeight corporators. In 1834 a savings bank was authorized with fortythree trustees; and before and since then the number has varied from forty-three to nine, which represents the extremes; the average number being about twenty-five. In 1871 the legislature passed a general law authorizing any savings bank to reduce the number of its trustees designated in its charter to not less than fifteen, by omitting to fill vacancies. Here it may be said that the matter of a quorum was left to be expressed in the charter or formulated in the by-laws; no general law was passed on this subject until the year 1875 (§ 18, ch. 371), when it was enacted that a quorum should consist of not less than seven trustees. The smallest number fixed upon by charter was five, and the smallest relative number was six in a board of fortythree. April 15, 1853 (ch. 257, amended June 30, 1853, ch. 492), the legislature passed an act applicable to New York and Kings counties only, prohibiting any trustee of a savings bank to be a trustee of more than one savings bank, and forbidding trustees of any savings bank, thereafter to be incorporated, from being directors at the same time in any bank where any part of the moneys of the savings bank was deposited. The law was special in character, having no application outside New York and Kings counties indeed it was intended. for the cities of New York and Brooklyn- the theory being a tendency toward the centralization of monetary interests in these cities. In some instances savings banks are often only adjuncts to other banking institutions, the trustees in the one being directors in the other.

No person may be elected a trustee who is not a resident of the State, and removal from the State by a trustee after his election or appointment vacates his office. By the revision of 1882 and subsequent amendments, the minimum board of trustees was fixed at thirteen, and two-thirds of the board must be residents of the county where the bank is located, and the insolvency of a trustee vacates his office.

There have been but two exceptions to the usual mode of constituting the boards of trustees. The first may be found in the charter

The following comparative table shows the total amount of resources of the most important of the classes of State financial institutions, subject to the supervision of the Banking Department, on the first day of January in each of the last twenty-five years, viz.:]

Total Resources.

* November; the other bank reports called in December.