rpose of their withdrawal is frequently investment and this is
sometimes made through the agency of the bank which held the deposit
and may involve merely a transfer of securities.

Outside of the New England and middle states, savings banks were rare
in this country previous to the inauguration of our postal savings
bank system in 1911. The explanation of this condition is doubtless to
be found chiefly in the wide extension of private, state, and national
banks, and trust companies, practically all of which conduct savings
departments and solicit the patronage of savers. These institutions
have coveted this field and have not encouraged the establishment of
savings banks. There is reason to believe, however, that they have not
worked the field as thoroughly as savings banks would have done and
that, on account of the dominance of their other interests, they are
not as well fitted as savings banks to work the field thoroughly.
Moreover it is probable that they are not able to pay as high a rate
on deposits as well conducted savings banks would be able to pay.
There seems, therefore, to be room, and probably need, here for the
development of savings banks of some at least, if not all, of the
types above described.

_2. Trust Companies_

Within a comparatively short period of time the trust company has
developed into an institution of prime importance in the United
States. In the beginning of its history it was, as its name implies,
simply an institution for the administration of trusts of various
kinds, such as the execution of wills, the guardianship of minors and
other dependent persons, the administration of the estates of persons
either unable or unwilling to administer them for themselves, and
trusteeship under corporate mortgages, especially those of railroads.
In the latter capacity they became mortgagees in trust for
bondholders, registering the bonds, collecting the interest as it
became due, paying the bonds at maturity, and in case of default
taking the legal steps which were necessary for the protection of the
bondholders.

The execution of these trusts involved in most cases the custody and
investment of funds, so that investment banking became a part of their
business almost from the beginning, and, in time, in states in which
the laws passed for their regulation did not prevent, they added
commercial banking to their other functions. In some cases they have
also become promoters of enterprises, taki