Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1857-12-19
WHAT no DO WITH DEAD LET.
TEnQ.

received in about 1900 letters at the
dead letter Office. Not quite $50, 900
q year is generally received in about
1O, 900 letters or about, on an average,
IS o letter. OF this it is calculated
that nine-tenths are returned to the
sender. So far good. 1t may also be
mentioned that there is no other coun-
try on the globe where so much care is
taken that every letter shall reach its
destination. The custom Of advertising
letters and taking real pains to find out
the person to whom the letter is address
sed, and send it after him if he has re-
moved, is not practiced in Europe as it
is here.
But in other countries there is more
effort made, even when there is no mon
ev enclosed, to restore the letter to the
writer, if the addressed party cannot be
found, so that he may know that his
communication has failed, and take
other means to reach his correspond
ent. In this respect there is serious
defect in our post Office system. The
plan here pursued is as follows: Eve
ry postmaster, once quarter, returns
all the letters, for which he can find no
claimant, to the Department at Wash
ington. A confidential clerk breaks
the seal of all these, and opens
them but does not read line. He
simply ascertains if there is anything
in them. If there is not, they are
without further trouble packed away
for burning, and all consumed wire
in an oven prepared on purpose, So chat
nothing shall escape. If, however,
there is any sum of money, or any val
liable, however triaing, the letter and
contents are handed over to another
clerk. who simply examines the name
and address, and then encloses the
whole back to the writer. If the wri-
ter cannot be found, the letter is then
carefully preserved, with its contents,
for years, until every chance Of its be-
ing reclaimed has died away
It is impossible not to admire the
scrupulous delicacy which characterizes
our Post Office laws in abstaining from
authorizing the perusal Of sealed let
ter under any circumstances, except as
the very last resort to restore q valua-
Bile to its rightful owner. All over Eu-
rope, each government makes terrible
use of the post Offices, occasionally, as
one of the most effective engines Of its
police. In France, the government
continually opens the correspondence
of suspected parties, AMI very ingeni-
Gus are their methods Of so sealing up
the letters again, that the suspected
party shall never be aware that his cor
respondence has been tempered with.
When q wafer has been used, the hot
steam of a tea kettle properly applied,
will soften it. Self-sealing envelopes
are yet more readily opened. But where
wax is employed, small piece Of
smooth lead is laid over it, and sud-
den blow given with a mallet. This de-
stroys the sealing wax, but makes so
perfect an impression Of it on the lead,
that it can at any time after be used as
a seal, and will stamp new wax per-
fectly. A gentleman, whose family
were for years connected with the Sc
crets of the French Government, show
ed us the whole process OF this, and
sured us that it was quite customary
for the government to send down an
order for every letter directed to such
and such a person from such another
place, to be opened, read, and if of i'm
portance, copy made Of it, while the
original is forwarded to its unsuspect-
ing recipient.
Even in England the same thing has
been done, though not to the same ex-
tent. In criminal cases information
has thus been obtained. Several years
ago a man was hung for forgery, whose
address was thus ascertained from a
letter he had mailed: to his wife. Even
foreign political conspiracies have been
ferreted out, by opening the letters Of
refugees as they passed through the
post Office.
Nothing, therefore, can be more
proper, in this land Of liberty, than
that the sacredness Of the seal Of every
letter should be guarded most carefully.
It is bulwark Of liberty that is thus
defended. And yet it would, we are
convinced, be a very great improve
ment If the measures taken to restore
money letters, and which are successful
in nine cases out Of ten, were also
adopted in regard to all other sealed
letters. That is to say, let the name
and address simply be taken, and the
letter restored to the writer. The trou-
BILE and cost would be something, but
the good done to the community would
be o hundred times more than the
cost.
Nine letters out of the ten might be
of Importance, but the tenth might be
priceless. No man now feels certain
that his letter reaches its destination
unless he receives an answer. But in
the other case, each one would be sure
that his letter was delivered, if he did
not ultimately receive it back again.
It would often enable person years af-
forwards to prove that he had fulfilled
the dictates Of friendship and duty, or
the directions Of a correspondent. Ma
ny false plea and painful suspicion
would thus be averted.
The post Office, for its own sake,
ought to be able to account for every