tailieunhanh - The Origins and Early History of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank 1846-871

The idea of using CSAs explicitly to spur the social and eco- nomic development of children emerged from the conceptual framework of “asset building.” This perspective was initially described by Center for Social Development founder Michael Sherraden in his 1991 book, Assets and the Poor. 1 Since then, the paradigm of asset building has taken shape and become a widespread theme in social and economic development in the United States and a number of other countries. Savings and ownership of financial assets, particularly ear- lier in life, can not only reduce economic volatility but lead to the accumulation of other financial assets. Savings. | CCHA Report 13 1945-460 15-25 The Origins and Early History of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank 1846-871 by JOHN IRWIN COOPER . A century ago this midsummer the Montreal City and District Savings Bank assist the littlepeople theBankprobably played a more vital rôle in the lives of Montrealers than did many larger and better-advertized enterprises. The Montreal City and District Savings Bank was founded thesecond Roman CatholicBishop ofMontreal. This circumstance combined with others gave it the character ofa Catholic institution at least with the Bank warrants examination for it throws considerable light on their economicand social position in Montreal. The purpose ofthis paperis to trace the history ofthe Bank during thefirsttwenty-fiveyearsofits existence that is to say between 1846 and 1871. Throughout this period the City and District Savings Bank was constituted as a benefit society. The significance ofthis term will be explained later. It provides the key to the understanding of the Bank and it provides also a continuity to the study. In 1871 at the end of the period the Bankwas re-organized as ajoint-stock afterthatpoint fcrms no part ofthis paper for it becomes as they say quite another Thesavingsbankwasan old institution when theMontreal City andDistrict Bankwas formed. The earliest weresetupintheUnitedKingdomatthebeginning ofthe XIX century. As the operative word savings implies they were intended to safeguard deposits of money placed with them and to pay interest. Thus the savings banks represented the principles of security and thrift. They were intended specifically to serve the poor whose needs the great commercial banks did not touch. Banks in that age were for the rich. That they might aid the poor was scarcely thought of They wereengrossedinlarge-scaletransactions andnot in petty matters. This explains .