He then asked if the stagnation in the business of Savings Banks was not to be traced to the non-increase of their number, their absence in many very populous localities, the slight accommodation given, and the arbitrary routine, and restrictions imposed. If Savings Banks were worth anything, were they not worth improving? And would not those supplementary banks do much themselves, and very probably cause an improvement in existing ones? Having matured his plan in June, 1859, Mr. Sikes communicated it to Mr. Edward Baines, the member for Leeds, in the form of a printed Letter; and this gentleman, well known for his wide sympathy with the industrious classes, after studying its details, expressed his warm approval of the project, and engaged to bring it under the notice of Sir (then Mr.) Rowland Hill, the Secretary of the Post Office. That there was now no indisposition--if ever there was--on the part of the authorities to such a measure is evident from the reception it met with at their hands, as shown by the letter below.[163] Encouraged to persevere, Mr. Baines and Mr. Sikes had an interview with the Secretary and some of the principal heads of departments at the Post Office, when the draft of a plan was read to them for working such a measure, the official gentlemen concerned assuring them that this might be done "with great ease and simplicity." The next step which Mr. Sikes took was to place himself in communication with the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and as a preparatory step, he printed his scheme afresh, extending it somewhat, in the form of a Letter to Mr. Gladstone. The communication was met by a cordial acknowledgment, in which that right hon. gentleman promised his best attention in examining the scheme, not only on account of the interest attaching to the subject, but "of the authority with which it was invested," in proceeding from the quarter whence it did. The letter was then given to the public, and immediately attracted general attention, and warm expressions of approval. It was read before the Social Science Association which met in Bradford in the autumn of that year, Lord Brougham having also mentioned the matter in his inaugural address. For a few weeks it was a common subject of discussion, public opinion being somewhat divided as to its advisability as well as practicability. Several Liberal newspapers, however, went warmly into an advocacy of the principles of the measure, if not of the measure itself; and in the early part of November, 1859, the members of the Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce strengthened the hands of their townsman, by passing an unanimous sentence of commendation upon it; and not only so, but they resolved to send Mr. Sikes's tract to all the Chambers of Commerce in the kingdom, recommending them to support the plan, which several of them eventually did.