EDITOR'S TABLE. 



269 



is no government on the face of the 

 earth deserving the name of civilized 

 that has not adhered to what is justly 

 styled the " Universal Postal Union." 

 Nearly all countries have voluntari- 

 ly abandoned their privilege of sur- 

 charging letters for remote destina- 

 tions; .so that, broadly speaking, the 

 whole world may be described as one 

 postal territory, while a five-cent 

 stamp is the talisman that will se- 

 cure for a letter conveyance, from 

 any point where it can be posted, to 

 any other at which it can be deliv- 

 ered by postal agency. For that 

 very low payment it may go half 

 round the globe; and if the person 

 addressed is not there, it may com- 

 plete the circle in order to find him. 

 The great empire of China is prepar- 

 ing to fall in with the scheme, and 

 has already adopted it to a consider- 

 able extent. Japan became a full 

 member of the union many years ago. 

 The task, therefore, of the postal 

 unification of the globe may be said 

 to be all but accomplished. One or 

 two difficulties in the working of the 

 system remain to be smoothed away, 

 and these are engaging the attention 

 of the present congress. The most 

 important question is that relating to 

 "transit" postage. Some countries 

 are so situated geographically that 

 they are required to handle far more 

 correspondence for other countries 

 " in transit " than those countries 

 have any opportunity of handling for 

 them, while the situation of others, 

 again, is the exact reverse. France, 

 Italy, and Belgium are countries of 

 the first class, a vast volume of cor- 

 respondence for the continent of Eu- 

 rope passing through France and 

 Belgium, and most of the correspond- 

 ence of Europe with the East passing 

 through Italy. Great Britain is an 

 example on the other side, the postal 

 business it does with foreign nations 

 far exceeding the use made of its 

 territory by mails in transit. The 



consequence is that every year in the 

 settlement of claims and counter 

 claims Great Britain has to pay out 

 nearly half a million dollars more 

 than she takes in. 



Heretofore these claims and coun- 

 ter claims have been established by 

 means of statistics taken periodically, 

 and the question now before the con- 

 gress is, Can these statistics, which 

 entail a vast amount of labor, and 

 more or less impede the postal serv- 

 ice while they are in progress, be got 

 rid of altogether ? The German post 

 office has a scheme by which this 

 object can be accomplished. The 

 plan is briefly this: As the taking of 

 the statistics costs a great deal of la- 

 bor, which, of course, means money, 

 it is proposed that countries having 

 a less claim in the general clearing 

 than ten thousand dollars a year 

 should forego it altogether in con- 

 sideration of getting rid of trouble 

 and expense to that (supposed) 

 amount, and that the same amount 

 should be deducted from all claims 

 exceeding ten thousand dollars. It 

 is estimated that the making of these 

 deductions would decrease the total 

 amount to be paid by the debtor 

 countries by twenty-five per cent; 

 and, taking the latest statistics as a 

 basis, it is proposed simply to assess 

 each debtor country accordingly, 

 and pay over to each creditor coun- 

 try the amount to which it is enti- 

 tled. If this scheme commends itself 

 to the congress, the international 

 postal system will have reached 

 nearly the acme of simplicity, all 

 postage accounts between the differ- 

 ent countries having been swept 

 away into the limbo of the obsolete 

 and the useless. 



To how great an extent such an 

 organization as the Universal Postal 

 Union makes for civilization and for 

 international unity it is needless to 

 point out. It is one phase of the fed- 

 eration of mankind, and gives ground 



