The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-12-16
= :. .''''Nt ''f'' 10 80 -
(: The Postal, Gard System..

card system has proven in mary; respects,
it has, during the short period it has 8,
been in operation, shown Itself liable to
MANY and grave dbuses. Seareely'a day
passes that there does net come! from
some quarter or another report of iti77}
cation or prosecution growing. out. of an
Improper use of the cards. In Detroit it
is complained by reputable citizen that
the cards: have BEEN made articles of
SANDER! scurriGty and indecency. In
Brooklyn, an eminent but unfortunate
clergyman is subjected TO daily annoy
jarice and insults by similar means; and
in all the large cities advantage is taken;'
more or less frequently; offthe- publicity
which the, cards have, in their transit
through the mails to persecGte and, NOR
tffy unhappy debtors BY exposing their
laxity in the matter of liquidation. The:
AMOUNT of litigation which, has: already
grown out of the system must be some
thing immense, while the bitterness and
ill-feeling to which it has given rise Is
t,i1ely ihcalculable:d i.2iiaT'.;'. -. '.,fii''
These evils and abuses are all, due to
ahe exposure of the writing on the cards ;
and in view Of this fact it becomes q
Yerry pertinent question whether all the
reafadvantages of the system cannot be
sfecured. without such exposure. >. IT. is:
certainly of no advantage to the govern;
inennt to be able to read the communica.
tions Of the people with each other: The
law in fact, expressly prohibits the read.I
ing of these postal cards by government
officials and clerks, though it would seen,
also, to expect such reading from the
provision which it makes for excluding
the cards under certain circumstances
f.om the mails. And even ifthe reading
could be deemed advantageous and were.
not prohibited, it would double the ex-.
pense Of carrying On the PostoHice De:
partment to provide for doing it'system-'
aically and thoroughly AS thei matter
now stands; the curious clerk, or inquisi:.
tive carrier is able to catch an occasional
glimpse Of the writing on postal card,
and on dull days, perhaps, may find time
to read one ordtno' in full. But if they,
are all 10 be read, the present forcs IN u,
the department must be more than
doubled, to which we do not believe the
people would consent. 7'ct5-et' i
/; But if,thei opportunity. of reading the
postals is of no value to the government,
to whom is it of value? Clearly not to
the recipient under any circumstance,
for he is always at liberty to give to such
communications as he, receives all the
publicity he1o desires. j Nor -does the
sender gain: anything by exposing the
communication except. in, those cases. asess.
where it is in the nature of an ADVERTISE
niehht and in these other cases, before re!
ferred to, wherein desires to expose the
recipient to annoyance Or aridicule;i and
as the advertiser enjoyed, even before the
advent of the postal card system, the same
privilege of sending open communlca-
tions by mail; it requires no special dis
cernment to see that. the system, 80 far as
it's publicity is concerned, benefits those
only who abuse it. .....,..
We have not lost sight of the assump-
ton upon which the system is in part
founded, that. the government derives
some benefit from the publicity to which
the cards are exposed in the unwilling.
ness Of the many to subject their commu.
nications thereto and the, increased reve-
nne derived from the consequent use Of
the sealed letters with their higher rate
of postage. But aside from the fact that
the system is thus made practical dis
elimination between those who are and
those who are not able t0,afford the
luxury. of privacy intheir correspondence,
there is no reason why the government
cannot reap substantially the same bene-;
fit without exposing the writing on the
cheap communication. If there were
substituted for the card q single sheet TO
be folded and signed with the ends un- n
closed, or some similar device. there
would still be large numbers who would
prefer the tightly closed envelops at the
high rate of postage, and the evils of the
card system would be entirely done away
with, except so far as: an effort should be
made wilfully to perpetuate them: That
the people, once having enjoyed the con-
Yenience of the card system, will readily
abandon it or change it we by no means
expect. But if those abuses of the sys-
tenn to which We have referred increase
and multiply in the future as they have
in the past, sit will become absolutely
necessary either to modify the system OF.
abandon it.-DetroH Free Press. ;,.,<