288 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
500 much time for one day. So at the beginning of 1877 I received the 
deposits each day, fifteen minutes before the entrance of the class in the 
afternoon. I very soon saw the advantage of the daily receipts, and I 
have continued it ever since. By regularity and by perseverance one is 
»nabled to teach the children order and economy. 
[ often recall to the children the purpose of the school savings bank and 
she simplicity of its functions, encouraging them not to waste their sous. 
v let them feel that the operations of the school savings bank do not 
deprive them of certain fancy articles which are suited to their age, but 
snable them to put aside things that are unnecessary and often injurious. 
I try to keep away from the children the evil which egotism and avarice 
would work in their hearts; on the other side, I strive to make them com- 
prehend the good results of a just and reasonable economy. As nothing 
impresses the mind of a child so much as example, I avail myself of all 
opportunities in the life of the pupil, in his behavior, his work, and even 
in his plays, to make him acquire little by little, and almost unconsciously, 
all the virtues which belong to his age, and which will form the founda- 
tion of a regular and honest existence, satisfying all his needs. 
I have shown in different reports how great an influence the school 
savings banks have upon the behavior of the pupil. For this reason they 
»ught to be encouraged and extended also in the poorest districts, because 
their principal purpose is to diminish misery by economy and foresight. 
[ndeed, a pupil economical in his clothing and his school material acquires 
a spirit of order which is useful in his studies, while forming in him also 
the habit of saving. 
I will add that I keep to the spirit of the work, and that I seek only 
its educational effects, without desiring big deposits. The payments are 
made often cent by cent; and if parents will contribute to the account of 
sheir children, I advise them to bring the deposits themselves to the great 
savings bank. 
The means by which I try to make parents intercsted in the regular 
cconomical habits of their children are very simple : I receive all savings 
with the same interest, however small they be; I keep the individual 
papers in order, and I give back the depositors’ books very regularly. The 
individual papers and the depositors’ books serve to control the savings of 
she children in the families. 
My deposits in the great savings banks are made weekly. I make 
hem on Friday, and the books are given back to me the next Monday, 
sefore noon. Every Monday night they are distributed to the depositors, 
who keep them, so that the books are examined by the parents in a 
period of not more than eight days. 
I must say that I always have been satisfied with the earnestness of the 
persons employed in the school savings bank, and also with the care 
which is given to the depositors’ books.