Mr. Sikes observed that until the
working classes had more of the money power in their hands, they would
still be periodically in poverty and distress. He saw that if provident
habits could only he generally pursued by them, the face of society
would immediately be transformed; and he resolved, in so far as lay in
his power, to give every aid to this good work.
In 1850, Savings Banks were only open a very few hours in each week. In
Huddersfield, where more than L400,000 a year was paid in wages, the
savings bank, after having been established over thirty years, had only
accumulated L74,332. In 1850, Mr. Sikes addressed an anonymous letter to
the editors of the _Leeds Mercury_, to which, by their request, he
afterwards attached his name. In that letter he recommended the
formation of Penny Savings Banks in connection with Mechanics' and
similar institutes. In simple words, but with many telling facts, he
showed how the young men and the young women of the working classes were
growing up deprived of almost every opportunity of forming habits of
thrift, and of becoming depositors in savings hanks.
The letter was received with general approbation. The committee of the
Yorkshire Union of Mechanics' Institutes gave their cordial sanction to
it; and Penny Banks were established in connection with nearly every
Mechanics' Institute in Yorkshire.
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