The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-01-10
amount of postage formerly charged for
all written communications; End. The
present mode of compensating postmas-

amount OF postage formerly cnargeu JOE
all written communications; End. The
present mode;of compensating postmas-
terssat offices of the 4th class, Postmas-
tersi at Offices of this class (paying less
than $1,000 a year, are paid by commits
sions on their sales of postage stamps,
while postmasters at larger offices are
pid fixed salaries, and the proceeds
from sales of stamps at those Offices be-
long exclusively to the Department.
The result is that postmasters of Offices
of the 4th class, who are usually retail
country store-keepers, instead of limiting
their sale of stamps to persons within
the delivery of their respective offices,
not unfrequently carry on an extensive
traffic in stamps with wholesale mer-
chants in the larger cities, thereby in.
creasing, to an undue extent, their own
compensation, and greatly diminishing
the revenues of the Department. To
remedy this defect, Postmaster General
Key recommends the enactment of q
law which will require the compensation
of postmasters at Offices of the 4th class
to be based upon the stamps cancelled at
their respective Offices, instead of, as at
present, giving them percentage of the
proceeds of their sales of stamps.
A third source of loss to the Depart
ment is the dishonest reuse of postage
stamps that have not been effectively
cancelled. 1t is estimated by competent
postofice officials that the government
loses a million of dollars annually from
this source alone, millions of stamps be-
ing so imperfectly cancelled. that little
soap and water will remove the ink from
them. A great many novel devices have
been resorted to, or have rather been ex-
perimented with, to guard against this
fraud, but to no successful issue. Judge
Key has the matter now under advise
ment, and he will shortly publish an
order changing the appearance of the
one, two and three cent stamps, with 8
view to the protection, in measure at
least of the revenues of the Department.
Foreign governments have but little
trouble from this last named source ); but
their postage stamps are far inferior to
ours in strength of material, as well as in
hardness and beauty of finish. If we
should adopt the light fimsy stamp of
Denmark or of Prussia, it is safe to say
! that not one in, ten thousand could be
washed to look as good IS new, but they
would be very unpopular with business
men and the public generally, and the
number that would tear or become de-
faced in process of afixing to the en-
velope would be as large perhaps as the
number that are, now renovated after
they have been once used.
The tendency of legislation affecting
the Postofice Department has been. to
cheaper the rate ofpostage, while at the
same time the establishment of new post
offices in remote places, in many of the
States, especially in Texas, has added
enormously to the expense of transport
ing the mails. These are the. principal
reasons why. the Postofice Department,
which is more intimately connected with
the wants of the people than any De-
partment of the government. is not a self
sustaining institution.