io8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE ^MONTHLY, 



tions. Another matter to be considered is the distinction between 

 the maritime and terrestrial transits ; the former is ordinarilj^ more ex- 

 pensiv^e than the latter, in consequence of the subsidies granted by many 

 countries to steamers on their navigable rivers, and in some countries 

 the railroads transport mail-bags gratuitously. The treaties have 

 'therefore to regulate the transit, the manner in which it is to be effect- 

 ed, and the i-emuneration. It must also regulate a great many other 

 matters : for instance, what will be carried by the mails ? Formerly, at 

 great distances, letters only were exchanged ; now journals and pam- 

 phlets of every kind are carried, packages of merchandise, and even 

 monev and valuables. 



The system of isolated postal treaties between different countries 

 has had its day, and what progress was possible under it has already 

 been attained. Certain countries, which until recently remained outside 

 of the international movement, have now entered into it with ardor. 

 Thus in the year 1872 Russia, besides her postal treaty with France, 

 signed postal agreements with Germany, Belgium, Italy, Holland, Den- 

 mark, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland. By an examination of the 

 numerous arrangements which at this period were formed for postal 

 relations, it is easy to ascertain a uniform tendency toward the devel- 

 opment of international exchanges by lowering the rates of postage and. 

 by the simplification of operations. In 1862 the postal administration* 

 of the United States called the attention of foreign postal departments 

 to this matter, and indicated the number of obstacles to foreign corre- 

 spondence resulting from the difference in the principles as well as in 

 the detail of postal arrangements obstacles that could not be remedied 

 but by an international concert of action. Consequently, it invited the 

 members of the postal departments of the different nations to an inter- 

 national conference. This conference took place at Paris in May, 1863, 

 and was composed of delegates from fifteen countries ; its object, as 

 declared by its president, was " not to discuss or to regulate certain 

 practical facts which pertain to a sphere of negotiation beyond our 

 powers, but to argue, or at least to consider and proclaim, certain general 

 principles, certain speculative doctrines, which hereafter we may be 

 forced to adopt in the interest of the public and of the Treasuries of 

 our respective Governments." The different problems of the postal 

 exchanges were discussed with considerable acumen, and the result of 

 the deliberations was the enunciation of the general principles, which 

 were " of a nature to facilitate the relations of people with each other 

 by way of the post, and to serve as a basis to international conventions 

 looking to a regulation of these relations." This conference of 1863,"* 

 although bringing about no immediate result, had nevertheless a con- 

 siderable influence : it showed the possibility of an understanding and 

 the advantages of discussion. Some of the ideas recommended soon 

 afterward passed into practice. With the progress of time their prac- 

 ticability became more apparent ; and a new conference was called, 



