When the Commissioners of the National Debt came to speak of the former of these proposals, they reported "that in their judgment, the greater the extent to which the system of annuities can be carried, the greater will be the amount of benefit conferred on that class of the community on whose behalf and for whose security it was the pleasure of Parliament to authorize the grant of such Annuities through Savings Banks and by this department. The machinery of the Post Office will give the opportunity to Lord Stanley largely to extend these benefits, and the Commissioners will gladly unite with him in doing so." On the 11th of February, 1864, Mr. Gladstone took up this further scheme--the matter of Insurances and Annuities having been combined in the plan of operations prepared, during the interval. He then moved for leave to bring in a "Bill to amend the laws relating to the purchase of Government Annuities through the medium of Savings Banks." The Chancellor of the Exchequer briefly explained his object in bringing about the new measure. He wished, without any unnecessary interference with private establishments, to assist in offering increased facilities for the extension of frugal habits among the industrial population. This had been the principle upon which Postal Banks had been founded, and now this new scheme might be regarded as an extension of the principle. Mr. Gladstone wished, "under the altered circumstances of the times and the improved machinery at command, to further other measures intimately connected in their ultimate object with the Savings Banks themselves." Sums, he explained, could at present be received both for the purchase of annuities, and even for the granting of life insurance policies, but the arrangements were hampered by restrictions so as to render the law almost inoperative. Thus, Deferred Annuities could only be purchased in large amounts, and Insurances could only be effected where the persons had previously purchased these Annuities. He thought it quite possible to alter the system so that _small_ sums at frequent intervals might be received; and not only so, but the restriction as to effecting an Insurance, which was not only inconvenient, but unreasonable in itself, might be done away with. The person who wanted an Insurance was not the most likely person to want an Annuity also; they were, indeed, generally people of different classes, or at any rate different habits of mind. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, after stating that he would give these increased facilities and remove this unnecessary restriction, obtained leave to proceed with the measure.[196]