The establishment of Post Office savings banks is naturally closely connected with the money order department since both of these departures from a purely postal character were adopted at about the same time, for much the same reasons, and were opposed on the ground of their infringement upon the banking prerogative. In 1859 the efforts of Mr. Sikes of Huddersfield to bring a Post Office Savings Bank into being were supported by Mr. Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Sir Rowland Hill, the then Secretary of the Post Office, and two years later it was established by Parliamentary sanction.[297] The main features of the system were that deposits could be withdrawn not later than ten days after demand; that accounts should be kept at London alone, all money being remitted to and from headquarters; that the total amount deposited should be handed over to the "Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt" for investment in government securities, and that interest on complete pounds at the rate of 2-1/2 per cent should be allowed to depositors. As the interests of the poorer classes were made the primary object in establishing the banks, deposits were limited in the case of individuals to £30 a year and £150 in all, later increased to £50 a year and £200 in all, but Friendly Societies were allowed to deposit without limit and Provident and Charitable Societies might deposit within limits of £100 a year and £300 in all or, with the consent of the Commissioners, beyond these limits.[298] [297] 24 Vict., c. 14. [298] _Rep. P. G._, 1897, app., pp. 32-36. In 1880 the savings banks were made a medium for investing in government stock at a trifling expense varying from 9_d._ to 2_s._ 3_d._ and with the privilege of having dividends collected free from further charge. These special advantages were confined to investments from £10 to £100 in value, the latter being the maximum sum in any one year, and the investments themselves might be sums especially deposited or transferred from a depositor's account. In 1887 the minimum amount of stock purchasable was reduced to 1s., and anyone who had purchased stock through a savings bank might have it transferred to his own name in the Bank of England. In 1893 the limits of investment were raised from £100 to £200 in one year, from £300 to £500 in all, and the Post Office was empowered to invest in stock any accumulations of ordinary deposits above the limit of £200, unless instructions were given by the depositor to the contrary.