National Republican., 1881-10-29
NEARLY TWO MILLIONS LOST.
Paid Into the Post-Omcc In Seventeen
Years for Money Orders Never Cashed.

The postal money order system was es-
tablished seventeen years ago by an act Of Con-
gross, and its devisers claimed that II was the
cheapest, Safest and speediost method Of trans
miting money ever invented. However, the
weak point in the system Is illustrated by the
large amount of money deposited in the post.
offices all over the Union, and through one blum
der and another never paid to the persons who
ought to have received it. The post. office in this
city Is the general headquarters Of the system
and there is now unclaimed at the disposal Of this
Office 81 S25 49, which Is the result OF seventeen
years accumulation All of the money unclaimed
in the post offices all through the country is sent
to the New York post-ofiico The country post
masters are required TO account weekly to Post
master Pearson. When their deposits exceed
their needs for the business rs they usually do ex
ceed II, inasmuch as more money comes to the city
than goes away from It by this system, then the
country postmaster sends his surplus in draft to
New York.
"As early as 1872" said Assistant Superintendent
Joseph Elliott jr in the post. Office building this
accumulation began to be large. II was half
million of dollars then, and by direction Of the
superintendent of the system an account was
opened in our books with the Assistant United
States Treasurer in the sub-treasury building, un.
der the heading Postmaster. Generals Money
Order Account Every week since then the cx-
cess over $4,000, which we keep to transact
business with, has been deposited In the
Sub. treasury This accumulation of nearly
two million dollars Is largely due to
tho miscarriage of sendcrs' orders, or
to their loss by the sender or by the
pnyce. Many of the lost or miscarricd orders
might have been paid IL the payeo or the remitter
had applied to his postmaster for a duplicate
order Perhaps Il has been through ignorance,
perhaps through carclcssncs5 that this has not
| been done, but usually the rcmiiter appears to
| sippose that the payce receives his money, and,
| on The other hand the puyce thinks Il has not
| been sent The surplus innd Ia increasing all the
while, and, of course, we do not know 10 whom
| the money belongs Postmaster Pearson few
General James, and asked him II II would not be
advisable to transfer the money TO the Treasury
and use 1t in the service OF the PostOhicc Depart
"What power controls the fund.-
| "Congfess, of course, because Congress created
tire money order system. bill would have to be
introduced in the House to dispose Of the fund.
| The entire surplus would not be disposed OF, as
| some of the missing money orders may yet be
| presented. We sometimes pay them when they
| are five or six years old. The payecs have slowed
them away in safe OF. pigeon-holc, forgotten
| them, aud then stumbled ncrosS them accident
ally 1t is safe to say that million dollars of the
| present accumulation will never be reclaimed"
"HOw are errors made by which so vast sum
| rcmuius on the Governments hands"
| "Well, remittcr may, by slip of the pen, draw
up mn order Oh the wrong city, aud when the pnyee
IN city In the far West gets an order to be paid in
| Boston he is Hstonshed. The correction takes
| time, aud sometimes II Is never brought about.
| Then, too, u merchant having the same amount Of
| money TO send TO two payces may accidentally put
the orders in the wrong letters. Again, the sender
may put one set of initials of the pnyces name In
the letter of advice to be sent by the postmaster,
while he changes the initials In the other order
sent"
Is any one set Of people more apt than another
| to lose money In this wayY
| "Yes; the theatrical people who travel are very
| much given to sending back part of their salary
to New York, aud payable 10 their own order
Their life is hard, and their hNrdShips sometimes
cause sickness and death. If there are no assigns
of the dead actor to call for It, then the money
goes to the Government fund The custom of the
actors who return Is to draw out their money III q
| lump, and put IL into Government bonds"
"Whut is the amount of money handled las
year in this systemY' -
al For the year ending June 80. Sj3,G0S, ,T0522, en-
bracing ld0OA2S transactions in this city alone
The years revenue was S205 5Sl 3D"-NCU York San