The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-18 00:00:00

GENERAL BURNABY, M.P., ON THE
ARMY..

General Burnaby, M.P., attended the annual dinner
of the Loughborough (Leicestershire) Agricultural
Society the other evening; and, in reply to the toast
of the "Army and Navy," said he had responded so
often for the Army that there seemed little more left
to say; but he thought it would ill become them as
Englishmen and Leicestershire men if they did not
thoroughly and properly appreciate the great exploit
of General Roberts. That there was no decay in the
army was evident when they came to think that that
march, which would be an historical exploit, was
',performed in an enemy's country, extending over a
line of 350 miles, h.9.d no base of operations behind it,
was completed in a short time, and was speedily fol-
lowed by a victory-won with the finest strategy and the
utmost coolness and appreciation, and, thank God
with a very little loss of life. It was not only in Eng-
land that they appreciated the difioulties and the
success of their fellow-countrymen, but all the world
appreciated it. The German and French papers ex-
pressed a generous appreciation of that exploit, and
he sincerely hoped that it would lead t 3 the peace of
Asia. Mr. Childers, who had recently been appointed
to his office, had told them that next session he would
probably introduce some reforms which he believed
would be for the good of the Army, and one of these,
he believed, would be to bring the Militia to a higher
state of efficiency than it was in now. Since Lord
Cardwell's arrangement they had no proper second
line of reserve, and he thought that that might be
provided in the Militia, and, in connexion with that,
officers who had served in the Line might render
some service.

MR. FAWCETT'S NEW POST OFFICE
SAVINGS BANK SCHEME.
The Times of Monday published the following sugges-
tion : -
Sir,—l do not quite understand whether Mr. Fawcett
proposes in carrying out this scheme that the depositor
shall retain the form to which the postage stamps are
attached or whether it is to be retained at the post-office
till the sum of one shilling is reached. In either event
it opens the door to small peculations in stamps, which
would not as a rule be detected as readily as pecula-
tions on an equally small scale of hard cash. Would
not the following mode of carrying out the plan be
sufficiently simple and still avoid much risk of
robbery? _

At each post-office where the scheme is to be tried
let the authorities have a book, somewhat similar to
the book now used for registering letters, containing
a number of slips in duplicate. On each slip let there
be printed an acknowledgment of the receipt by the
postmaster from the person whose name and address
appear thereon of money in proportion to the number
of marks afterwards made on the paper. Below this
let there be twelve spaces, each large enough to allow
of a postage stamp being fastened on. But instead of
fastening a postage stamp on, let the postmaster, as
each penny is paid in, mark one space either with the
ordinary postmark of the day or with a special stamp
showing one penny in some shape or form; it might
be done having the disc encircled by the words "Post
Office Savings Bank" with a centre piece of "1.d."
Let the depositor keep this slip until all the spaces are
filled; then let the amount be entered in an ordinary
deposit book, the slip be given up to the authorities
and a fresh one issued. _

In registering letters the authorities write the ad-
dress only once, the copy being taken at the same
time by means of black paper plated between the
original and duplicate, and if each slip were numbered,
the postmaster or clerk at any receiving office might,
by simply turning to the book, stamp both the de-
positor's slip and his own duplicate in the same way,
and thus might have a complete record with very
little trouble.—l remain, Sir, yours faithfully,
J. PRIESTLEY, solicitor.
Accrington, Sept. 11.

The Times of Wednesday also published the following
letter, suggesting the use of perforated postage stamps :--,--

Sir, —Will you allow me to make a suggestion which
will meet the many objections that have been raised
respecting the increased pilfering of postage stamps
likely to result from the new and otherwise excellent
regulations of the Postmaster-General?
It is already permitted to have stamps perforated
with initials, but the number to whom this is practic-
able is for many reasons very limited; the cost, how-
ever, is so trivial that £5 worth are absolutely done
free of charges. Now, this being the case, how much
simpler it would be for the Postmaster-General to issue
postage (and receipt) stamps perforated in the form of
a ring a little smaller than a threepenny piece not to
be sold in less quantities than 10s. or 20s. sheets, and,
of course, only when so asked for; and to make a regu-
lation or general understanding that stamps so perfo-
rated should never be exchanged for money, or dealt
with in any way for or as cash, or received or allowed
for at the post-offices i that is, that such perforation
should act in a similar way to the crossing of a cheque
to j banker. -

The number who at present have their stamps per-
forated with their initials may be taken as 1 in 1,000;
whereas, if this suggestion were carried out, the vast
majority of those who have to buy stamps in large
Quantities would certainly take advantage of fr
In fact, this or some such simple plan is liftimbitnt