as left. His bill
amounted to $102.50. These instances do not indicate any collusion, of
course, between the undertakers and the insurance companies.

{122}

We have seen in another chapter that sickness is one of the most
persistent causes of distress, and only in rare instances does a death
occur that has not been preceded by weeks and often months of sickness.
The poor man needs sick benefits more than burial or life insurance,
and the children of the poor stand in need of many other things besides
decent burial. In fact, the money spent in child insurance, which can
be of no possible benefit to the child, is often needed to protect the
child's health or provide for its education. These should be a
parent's first care from no sordid motive, and yet it is a legitimate
view to regard children as an investment. The poor man has a right to
expect support from his children when he is no longer able to work, and
to neglect their best interests is to cripple his own future.

The beneficial societies and fraternal orders furnish a means of saving
for sick benefits, but they are of such varying degrees of merit and
trustworthiness that it is impossible to recommend them without
qualification. They have not gained the same position that the {123}
friendly societies hold in England, partly, perhaps, because they are
not subject in America to the same legal restrictions and official
inspection.

Though the savings banks are open to the objection that money is too
easily withdrawn from them, and is not, therefore, always available at
the time of greatest need, yet, after making every allowance for this,
the savings banks remain one of the safest and best means of putting by
small savings. Another way of saving, which is not open to the
objection of too easy withdrawals, is the purchase of shares in a good
building and loan association.

Some banks provide facilities for small savings by selling special
stamps of small denominations, and, in several cities, charities have
established stamp saving societies to promote the saving habit,
especially among children. When $5.00 has been saved in this way, a
bank account should be opened. One visitor has found that, in getting
children to save, it helps to have a stamp-saving card of one's own,
and show it. As a means of teaching children to save, visitors should
encourage the {124} introduction of stamp savings into our public
schools.

Another way to promote small sav