POSTAL SERVICE. 



235 



The eross expenditure of the postal service of the several 

 countries was as follows: 



United States, year ending June SO, 1888 $55,795,357 



Germany, year ending Mar. 31, 18SS 44,348,939 



Great Britain, year ending Mar. 31, 1888 28,876,935 



France, year ending Dee. 31, 1887 * 28,327,666 



* These amounts are 5 per cent, over the actual expendi- 

 tures of the preceding year. They also include the cost of 

 the telegraph service. 



There are several branches of the postal service of 

 the United States which deserve special description : 



1st The Mmiey- Order System, created by act of 

 Congress of May 17, 1864. The object of this system 

 is to provide the public with the means of making 

 small remittances of money by mail cheaply and 

 safely. This is accomplished through the issue of 

 orders by one postmaster upon another, the orders 

 being issued upon written applications therefor, the 

 purchaser in every case being required to deposit with 

 his application the amount of money which the order 

 calls for, in addition to the fee. The order, after de- 

 livery to the purchaser, is usually sent by him to the 

 payee through the mails, though it may be, of course, 

 Bent by any means. Money orders are limited by law 

 to $100, the fees for amounts up to that being as fol- 

 lows : For an order not exceeding $5, five cents ; over 

 $5 and not over $10, eight cents; over $10 and not 

 over $15, ten cents : over $15 and not over $;{0, 15 

 cents ; over $30 and not over $50, 25 cents ; over $50 

 and not over $00, 30 cents ; over $60 and not over $70, 

 35 cents ; over $70 and not over $80, 40 cents ; over 

 $80 and up to $100, 45 cents. The order is always 

 upon a designated postmaster, and therefore can be 

 paid by no other, and it is invalid if not presented 

 within one year from its date. It is assignable to only 

 one payee beyond the first, and cannot be paid unless 



the presenter be known to the paying postmash i or be 

 properly identified. The principal security in the 

 money order, however, lies in the leaving out of the 

 order the name of the payee, and in the sending by 

 the issuing to the paying postmaster of a secret letter 

 of advice, giving the payee's name and all the other 

 particulars of the order, which renders it almost im- 

 possible to make a mistake in payment. If an order 

 be lost or invalidated by improper assignment or lapse 

 of time or otherwise, it may be duplicated ; if it be 

 paid to the wrong person, the government is liable to 

 the owner. The system on June 30. 1 888, existed at 

 8241 post offices. It has upon the whole been profit- 

 able to the government, the fees amounting to more 

 than the expenses ; besides which a very large amount 

 has been gained probably over a million dollars 

 through the loss or non-presentation of orders from 

 the beginning of the system to the present time. As 

 the system is carried on without any working capital 

 except such as accrues from unpaid orders, it is nec- 

 essary to keep the funds in constant circulation, and as 

 rapidly as possible to accumulate at paying centres the 

 receipts of offices where the issues of orders exceed 

 payments. Every postmaster is therefore required to 

 remit daily to some post-office designated as his de- 

 pository' all his surplus money-order funds an arrange- 

 ment which also tends to prevent defalcations. To 

 the country at large the money-order system has been 

 of immeasurable benefit ; for it has given a great 

 stimulus to many branches of trade ; it has been a not 

 inconsiderable agent in the ceaseless and necessary cir- 

 culation of money ; and it has materially aided through 

 its international branch that wonderful migration of 

 |>eople from the Old to the New World that has made 

 the progress of America one of the marvels of historv. 

 Table L shows the growth of the money-order busi- 

 ness from its establishment Nov. 1, 1S64, to June 

 30, 1888. 



TABLE I U. S. Money- Order System. 



^ Money-o'rder arrangements exist between the United 

 States and the following named countries : Great 

 Britain. France, (ieruiuny. Switzerland, Belgium. 

 Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Netherlands, Canada, Ja- 

 iu:iiea. Windward Inlands, Leeward Islands, Hawaiian 

 Islaii.ls. New Zealand, New South Wales, Tasmania, 

 Victoria, Queensland, Japan, India, Cape Colony, 

 Norway, and Denmark. 



By act of March 3, 1883, a new form of money- 

 order has been added to the system's issues known 

 as the "postal note." These are limited in amount 

 to $4.99. The fee for issuing them is three cents. 

 They are payable to bearer, but only at the post-office 

 on which drawn, and they are transmitted always at 

 the risk of the purchaser, and not of the government 

 If not presented within three months from the last 



