is responsible
for the full amount paid in; so that the money deposited with the Post
Office Savings Bank is as safe as if it were in the Bank of England. The
money saved may also be transferred from place to place, without
expense, and may be easily paid to the depositor when required, no
matter where it was originally deposited. All that is done, is done in
perfect secrecy between the depositor and the postmaster, who is
forbidden to disclose the names of the depositors.

We have frequently alluded to Mr. Charles William Sikes in connection
with Penny Banks and Post Office Savings Banks. His name must always
hold a distinguished place in connection with those valuable
institutions. He is the son of a private banker in Huddersfield. When at
school he was presented, as a prize, with a copy of Dr. Franklin's
Essays and Letters. He perused the book with avidity. It implanted in
his mind the germs of many useful thoughts, and exercised a powerful
influence in giving a practical character to his life. Huddersfield is a
busy manufacturing town. Although workmen were well paid for their
labour, there were many ups and downs in their business. When trade
became slack, and they had spent all that they had earned, numbers of
them were accustomed to apply for charity in the streets or by the
wayside. Young Sikes often wondered whether these people had ever heard
of Dr. Franklin, and of his method of avoiding beggary or bad times by
saving their money when trade was brisk and they were well off.

Early in 1833, Mr. Sikes entered the service of the Huddersfield Banking
Company. It was the second joint stock bank that had been established in
England. The prudence and success with which the Scotch banking
companies had been conducted induced the directors to select a Scotch
manager. One of the first resolutions the directors adopted, was to give
deposit receipts for sums of ten pounds and upwards, for the purpose of
encouraging the working classes in habits of providence and thrift. Mr.
Sikes, being somewhat of a favourite with the manager, often heard from
his lips most interesting accounts of the provident habits of the Scotch
peasantry, and was informed by him of the fact that one of the banks at
Perth paid not less than twenty thousand pounds a year as interest on
deposits varying from ten to two hundred pounds each.

In 1837, Mr. Sikes became one of the cashiers of the company. This
brought him into direct contact and interco