The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-09-18
TIE MONEY ORDER POSTAL SYSTEM;

THE MONEY ORDER POSTAL SYSTEM,
Few Of oursreaders are apprized Of the workings
of the above system, and as Anderson has been re-
Gently designated as one of the "Money Order
Offices of this Sate,. brief review Of its practical
operations will doubtless be interesting to the Du
sincss men end others in this vicinity, as 1t VIII
also be to readers generally. An article recen,'
appeared in. the New York Herald that covers .n'
whole ground, and wo present the chief points iO'
the benefit of our readers. sit is a sSs.en''
that paper s.designed to benefit the Puphc 40 "eA-
as to be source of Prolific revenue 10 'hc oO'ein-
r,ant ond for business men, and all others VINO
,v;sb 70 send small sums of money to q distance,
- s.hone has ever been devised which provided
81 oaectualy for great public necessity. tits
,;rtnol,v impossible for thousands Of persons re-
siding in the country to obtain bank drafts, and
the express companies charge exorbitant rates for
the Transmission Of small sums. Many are in the
habit of sending money through the mails in regis
tered letters but it costs twenty cents to have q
letter registered and security whatever is guar
anteed the remitter; willie money order of any
amount from one dollar to twenty can be procured
for ten cents, and for any sum between twenty and
fifty dollars for twenty-five cents, and full security
for its transmission guaranteed. The great advan-
taecs of this system consist in its moderate fees
and the perfect security it affords against fraud or
loss. This security is effected by leaving out the
name of the person to whom an order is payable,
so in the event of its being stolen or lost by acc
dent in transt party in illegal possession cannot
get it cashed. Should an order be lost the owner
can obtain duplicate without delay OF difficulty.
So absolute, in fact, is the security afforded remit
tiers Of funds that even apostmastcr who might at-
tempt to defraud the government by altering the
amount of order or by forgery, is morally certain
TO be detected. The superiority of this system over
any other now in existence has been fully demon
stracd in Great Britain, where it has been in sue
cessful operation for number Of years. The sys-
tem was commenced upon the 1st of November,
1864 with one hundred and forty-two Offices, and
it appears on the 30th of juno, 1865 that 81 &c.,
122 had been transmitted, the revenue accruing
from which amounted TO Sll ,534. In 1866 the
number of offices had been incrcasd 10 four hun
dred and scyenty-three, and the amount of busi-
ness done that year amounted 10 an aggregate of
So, ,976, 257, and the fees S35,I79.
In this report for the fiscal year Of 1867, Fl. j.
Anderson, Auditor of the Treasury for the Post
Office Department, stated that the experiment had
evenuated satisfactorily, having paid all expenses
and left surplus in the hands of the Government.
With the addition of new offices and the increasing
popularity of the new system with the people, this
branch of the postal service has increased more
rapid ratio; and there can be no reasonable doubt
that it is destined at no distant day to add largely
10 the revenues of the Government. In 1867 the
number of Offices was seven hundred and sixty
scvcn except in the last quarter of the fiscal year,
when sixty-eight more were added. The precise
amount of business done during the last year has
not yet transpired, owing to unavoidable delay in
the Pacific mails; enough is known, however, to
make the estimate of Sl0,0OO,000a safe one, and
the amount will probably be in excess of that,
which is nearly treble the amount of the previous
year. By an act of Congress four hundred more
Offices will be in operation in the year 1868, max
ing atotal of twelve hundred and thirtyve Offices
and in the same ratio as heretofore, twenty millions
of dollars will be moderate estimate for the pre-
sent fiscal year $685."
..The departmental check is thorough in every
respect, and fraud is utterly impossible. Each
eposmaster is obliged by law tofurnishthe depart
ment with weekly atatement of business done at
his office, and if there be the slightest error in his
occonnte ho is Mt once notified thereof DR. C. F.
Mcdonald is superintendent of the'money order
Office of the Post Office Department, and with a
staff of six able clerks he makes preliminary ex-
animation of all statements received, and exercises
general supervision over the system. In the Au-
ditor's Office, John Lynch, of Indiana, is chief Of
the money order division, gentleman whose ex-
pcriencc and abilities cminently qualify him for
his responsible position. Associated with Mr.
Lynch ore twenty-five clerks. During the last
fiscal year the post Office of New York city has
issued II S17 orders and paid ST, 079 orders. For
ordore drorn A., {hot ofico 81 nST or hoe bonn