the Treasury, and the Attorney-General, severally, acting ex officio, and shall have power to make all necessary and proper regulations Regulations, etc. for the receipt, transmittal, custody, deposit, investment, and repayment of the funds deposited at postal savings depository offices. Annual report to Details. The board of trustees shall submit a report to Congress at the begin- congress ning of each regular session showing by States and Territories (for the preceding fiscal year) the number and names of post-offices receiving deposits, the aggregate amount of deposits made therein, the aggregate amount of withdrawals therefrom, the number of depositors in each, the total amount standing to the credit of all depositors at the conclusion of the year, the amount of such deposits at interest, the amount of interest received thereon, the amount of interest paid thereon, the amount of deposits surrendered by depositors for bonds issued by authority of this Act, and the number and amount of unclaimed deposits. Also the amount invested in government securities by the trustees, the amount of extra expense of the Post-Office Department and the postal service incident to the operation of the postal savings depository system, the amount of work done for the savings depository system by the Post-Office Department and postal service in the transportation of free mail, and all other facts which it may deem pertinent and proper to present. Postal service ex penses. Stamps for free mail SEC. 2. That the Postmaster-General is hereby directed to prepare matter! and issue special stamps of the neecessary denominations for use, in lieu of penalty or franked envelopes, in the transmittal of free mail resulting from the administration of this Act. Designation of post SEC. 3. That said board of trustees is hereby authorized and em- ofees. powered to designate such post-offices as it may select to be postal savings depository offices, and each and every post-office so designated by order of said board is hereby declared to be a postal savings depository office within the meaning of this Act and to be authorized and required to receive deposits of funds from the public and to account for and dispose of the same, according to the provisions of this Act and the regulations made in pursuance thereof. Each postal savings depository office shall be kept open for the transaction of business during such hours as the Postmaster-General, with the approval of the board of trustees, shall direct. SEC. 4. That accounts may be opened and deposits made in any postal savings depository established under this Act by any person of the age of ten years or over, in his or her own name, and by a married woman in her own name and free from any control or interference by her husband; but no person shall at the same time have more than one postal savings account in his or her own right. SEC. 5. That the postmaster at a postal savings depository office shall, upon the making of an application to open an account under this Act and the submission of an initial deposit, deliver to the depositor a pass book free of cost, upon which shall be written the name and signature or mark of the depositor and such other memoranda as may be necessary for purposes of identification, in which pass book entries of all deposits and withdrawals shall be made in both figures and writing: Provided, That the Postmaster-General may, with the approval of the board of trustees, adopt some other device or devices in lieu of a pass book as a means of making and preserving evidence of deposits and withdrawals. Opening accounts. Limitation. Pass books, etc. Proviso. Other devices. posits. SEC. 6. That at least one dollar, or a larger amount in multiples Restriction of de. thereof, must be deposited before an account is opened with the person depositing the same, and one dollar, or multiples thereof, may be deposited after such account has been opened, but no one shall be permitted to deposit more than one hundred dollars in any one calen Proviso. dar month: Provided, That in order that smaller amounts may be Cards for small accumulated for deposit any person may purchase for ten cents from amounts. any depository office a postal savings card to which may be attached Savings stamps. Credited on posits. Cancellation. specially prepared adhesive stamps, to be known as "postal savings de stamps," and when the stamps so attached amount to one dollar, or a larger sum in multiples thereof, including the ten-cent postal savings card, the same may be presented as a deposit for opening an account, and additions may be made to any account by means of such card and stamps in amounts of one dollar, or multiples thereof, and when a card and stamps thereto attached are accepted as a deposit the postmaster Preparation of cards shall immediately cancel the same. It is hereby made the duty of the Postmaster-General to prepare such postal savings cards and postal savings stamps of denominations of ten cents, and to keep them on sale at every postal savings depository office, and to prescribe all necessary rules and regulations for the issue, sale, and cancellation thereof. and stamps. Interest on deposits. Proviso. Balance limited. Withdrawals. SEC. 7. That interest at the rate of two per centum per annum shall be allowed and entered to the credit of each depositor once in each year, the same to be computed on such basis and under such rules and regulations as the board of trustees may prescribe; but interest shall not be computed or allowed on fractions of a dollar: Provided, That the balance to the credit of any one person shall never be allowed to exceed five hundred dollars, exclusive of accumulated interest. SEC. 8. That any depositor may withdraw the whole or any part of the funds deposited to his or her credit, with the accrued interest, upon demand and under such regulations as the board of trustees Payment by banks. may prescribe. Withdrawals shall be paid from the deposits in the State or Territory, so far as the postal funds on deposit in such State or Territory may be sufficient for the purpose, and, so far as practicable, from the deposits in the community in which the deposit was made. No bank in which postal savings funds shall be deposited shall receive any exchange or other fees or compensation on account of the cashing or collection of any checks or the performance of any other service in connection with the postal savings depository system. No charge for cashing, etc. Funds to be deposited in solvent banks. Reserve fund. Distribution of deposits locally. SEC. 9. That postal savings funds received under the provisions of this Act shall be deposited in solvent banks, whether organized under national or state laws, being subject to national or state supervision Interest required. and examination, and the sums deposited shall bear interest at the rate of not less than two and one-fourth per centum per annum, which rate shall be uniform throughout the United States and Territories thereof; but five per centum of such funds shall be withdrawn by the board of trustees and kept with the Treasurer of the United States, who shall be treasurer of the board of trustees, in lawful money as a Security from banks. reserve. The board of trustees shall take from such banks such security in public bonds or other securities, supported by the taxing power, as the board may prescribe, approve, and deem sufficient and necessary to insure the safety and prompt payment of such deposits on demand. The funds received at the postal savings depository offices in each city, town, village, and other locality shall be deposited in banks located therein (substantially in proportion to the capital and surplus of each such bank) willing to receive such deposits under the terms of this Act and the regulations made by authority thereof, but the amount deposited in any one bank shall at no time exceed the amount of the paid-in capital and one-half the surplus of such bank. If no such bank exist in any city, town, village, or locality, or if none where such deposits are made will receive such deposits on the terms prescribed, then such funds shall be deposited under the terms of this Act in the bank most convenient to such locality. If no such bank in any State or Territory is willing to receive such deposits on the terms prescribed, then the same shall be deposited with the treasurer of the board of trustees, and shall be counted in making up the reserve of five per centum. Such funds may be withdrawn from the treasurer of said board of trustees and all other postal Deposits with Treas urer. Withdrawals payments. for Amount to be invested in Government Residue to remain on deposit. Disposal. Application of in savings funds, or any part of such funds, may be at any time withdrawn from banks and savings depository offices for the repayment of postal savings depositors when required for that purpose. Not exceeding thirty per centum of the amount of such funds may at any bonds. time be withdrawn by the trustees for investment in bonds or other securities of the United States, it being the intent of this Act that the residue of such funds, amounting to sixty-five per centum thereof, shall remain on deposit in the banks in each State and Territory willing to receive the same under the terms of this Act, and shall be a working balance and also a fund which may be withdrawn for investment in bonds or other securities of the United States, but only by direction of the President, and only when, in his judgment, the general welfare and the interests of the United States so require. Interest and profit accruing from the deposits or investment of postal terest, etc. savings funds shall be applied to the payment of interest due to postal savings depositors as hereinbefore provided, and the excess thereof, if any, shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as a part of the postal revenue: Provided, That postal savings funds in the treasury of said board shall be subject to disposition as provided in this Act, and not otherwise: And provided further, That the board of Disposal of bonds. trustees may at any time dispose of bonds held as postal savings investments and use the proceeds to meet withdrawals of deposits by depositors. For the purposes of this Act the word "Territory, as used herein, shall be held to include the District of Columbia, the District of Alaska, and Porto Rico, and the word "bank" shall be held to include savings banks and trust companies doing a banking business. Provisos. Definitions. "Bank." Interest rate. Payable in gold. Provisos. Conditions of issue. SEC. 10. That any depositor in a postal savings depository may Issue of bonds to surrender his deposit, or any part thereof, in sums of twenty dollars, depositors. forty dollars, sixty dollars, eighty dollars, one hundred dollars, and multiples of one hundred dollars and five hundred dollars, and receive in lieu of such surrendered deposits, under such regulations as may be established by the board of trustees, the amount of the surrendered deposits in United States coupon or registered bonds of the denominations of twenty dollars, forty dollars, sixty dollars, eighty dollars, one hundred dollars, and five hundred dollars, which bonds shall bear interest at the rate of two and one-half per centum per annum, payable semiannually, and be redeemable at the pleasure of the United States after one year from the date of their issue and payable twenty years from such date, and both principal and interest shall be payable in United States gold coin of the present standard of value: Provided, That the bonds herein authorized shall be issued only (first) when there are outstanding bonds of the United States subject to call, in which case the proceeds of the bonds shall be applied to the redemption at par of outstanding bonds of the United States subject to call, and (second) at times when under authority of law other than that contained in this Act the Government desires to issue bonds for the purpose of replenishing the Treasury, in which case the issue of bonds under authority of this Act shall be in lieu of the issue of a like amount of bonds issuable under authority of law other than that contained in this Act: Provided further, That the bonds authorized by this Act shall be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury under such regulations as he may prescribe: And provided further, That the authority contained in section nine of this Act for the investment of postal savings funds in United States bonds shall include the authority to invest in the bonds herein authorized whenever such bonds may be lawfully issued: And provided further, That the bonds herein authorized shall Exempt from taxes. be exempt from all taxes or duties of the United States as well as from taxation in any form by or under state, municipal, or local authority: And provided further, That no bonds authorized by this Act shall be receivable by the Treasurer of the United States as tion. Investment of savings fund in. Not receivable for national bank circula Redemption of United States bonds for ment. security for the issue of circulating notes by national banking associations. SEC. 11. That whenever the trustees of the postal savings fund savings invest have in their possession funds available for investment in United States bonds they may notify the Secretary of the Treasury of the amount of such funds in their hands which they desire to invest in bonds of the United States subject to call, whereupon, if there are United States bonds subject to call, the Secretary of the Treasury shall call for redemption an amount of such bonds equal to the amount of the funds in the hands of the trustees which the trustees desire to thus invest, and the bonds so called shall be redeemed at par with accrued interest at the Treasury of the United States on and after three months from the date of such call, and interest on the said bonds shall thereupon cease: Provided, That the said bonds when redeemed shall be reissued at par to the trustees without change in their terms Redemption of reis- as to rate of interest and date of maturity: And provided further, That the bonds so reissued may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, be called for redemption from the trustees in like manner as they were originally called for redemption from their former owners whenever there are funds in the Treasury of the United States available for such redemption. Provisos. Reissue to trustees of savings fund. sued bonds. Separation of accounts, etc. SEC. 12. That postal savings depository funds shall be kept separate from other funds by postmasters and other officers and employees of the postal service, who shall be held to the same accountability under their bonds for such funds as for public moneys; and no person connected with the Post-Office Department shall disclose to any person other than the depositor the amount of any deposits, unless General laws ap- directed so to do by the Postmaster-General. All statutes relating to the safe-keeping of and proper accounting for postal receipts are made applicable to postal savings funds, and the Postmaster-General may require postmasters, assistant postmasters, and clerks at postal saving depositories to give any additional bond he may deem necessary. plicable. Additional bonds. Compensation to fourth-class postmasters. SEC. 13. That additional compensation shall be allowed postmasters at post-offices of the fourth class for the transaction of postal savings depository business. Such compensation shall not exceed one-fourth of one per centum on the average sum upon which interest is paid each calendar year on receipts at such post-office, and shall be paid from Presidential offices the postal revenues; but postmasters, assistant postmasters, clerks, or other employees at post-offices of the presidential grade shall not receive any additional compensation for such service. excluded. for Appropriation expenses of establishing, etc. SEC. 14. That the sum of one hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to enable the Postmaster-General and the board of trustees to establish postal savings depositories in accordance with the provisions of this Act, including the reimbursement of the Secretary of the Treasury for expenses incident to the preparation, issue, and registration of the bonds Duties of postal offi- authorized in this Act; and the Postmaster-General is authorized to require postmasters and other postal officers and employees to transact, in connection with their other duties, such postal savings depository business as may be necessary; and he is also authorized to make, and with the approval of the board of trustees to promulgate, and from time to time to modify or revoke, subject to the approval of said board, such rules and regulations not in conflict with law as he may deem necessary to carry the provisions of this Act into effect. cials. Regulations, etc. Postal penal laws, etc., made applicable. SEC. 15. That all the safeguards provided by law for the protection of public moneys, and all statutes relating to the embezzlement, conversion, improper handling, retention, use, or disposal of postal and money-order funds and the punishments provided for such offenses are hereby extended and made applicable to postal savings depository funds, and all statutes relating to false returns of postal and money-order business, the forgery, counterfeiting, alteration, improper use or handling of postal and money-order blanks, forms, vouchers, accounts, and records, and the dies, plates, and engravings therefor, with the penalties provided in such statutes, are hereby extended and made applicable to postal savings depository business, and the forgery, counterfeiting, alteration, improper use or handling of postal savings depository blanks, forms, vouchers, accounts, and records, and the dies, plates, and engravings therefor. States pledged to pay ment. SEC. 16. That the faith of the United States is solemnly pledged Faith of United to the payment of the deposits made in postal savings depository offices, with accrued interest thereon as herein provided. Payments of depos SEC. 17. That the final judgment, order, or decree of any court of its under order of competent jurisdiction adjudicating any right or interest in the court. credit of any sums deposited by any person with a postal savings depository if the same shall not have been appealed from and the time for appeal has expired shall, upon submission to the PostmasterGeneral of a copy of the same, duly authenticated in the manner provided by the laws of the United States for the authentication of the records and judicial proceedings of the courts of any State or Territory or of any possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, when the same are proved or admitted within any other court within the United States, be accepted and pursued by the board of trustees as conclusive of the title, right, interest, or possession so adjudicated, and any payment of said sum in accordance with such order, judgment, or decree shall operate as a full and complete discharge of the United States from the claim or demand of any person or persons to the same. Approved, June 25, 1910. CHAP. 387.-An Act To parole United States prisoners, and for other purposes. June 25, 1910. Prisoners. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every prisoner who has been or may hereafter be convicted of any offense against the United States prisons. States, and is confined in execution of the judgment of such conviction in any United States penitentiary or prison, for a definite term or terms of over one year, whose record of conduct shows he has observed the rules of such institution, and who has served one-third of the total of the term or terms for which he was sentenced, may be released on parole as hereinafter provided. Condition. Clerk, meetings, etc. SEC. 2. That the superintendent of prisons of the Department of Board of parole. Justice, and the warden and physician of each United States penitentiary shall constitute a board of parole for such prison, which shall establish rules and regulations for its procedure subject to the approval of the Attorney-General. The chief clerk of such prison shall be clerk of said board of parole, and meetings shall be held at each prison as often as the regulations of such board shall provide: Provided, That in every case where a prison other than a United States penitentiary is used for the confinement of such prisoners it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to designate the officers of said prison who, together with the superintendent of prisons shall constitute such board for said prison. Proviso. In other prisons. Application. Discretion to re SEC. 3. That if it shall appear to said board of parole from a report by the proper officers of such prison or upon application by a prisoner lease. for release on parole, that there is a reasonable probability that such applicant will live and remain at liberty without violating the laws, and if in the opinion of the board such release is not incompatible with the welfare of society, then said board of parole may in its dis |