The National tribune., 1881-11-05
UNPAID MONEY-ORDERS.

The postal money order system was established
seventeen years ago by act of Congress, and its
devsers claimed that is was the cheapest, safest,
and speedcst method of transmitting money ever
invented. However, the weak point in the sys-
TEN is illustrated by the large amount of money
deposited in the post-offices all over the Union,
and through one blunder and another never paid
to the persons who ought to have received it.
The post-of1ce in this city is the general head
quarters of the system, and there is now I'M
claimed at the disposal of this Office 81 ,S25 19749,
which is the result of seventeen years accumula-
ton. All Of the money unclaimed in the post
offices all through the country is sent to the New
York post-office. The country postmasters are
required to account weekly to Postmaster Pear
son. When their deposits exceed their needs for
the business, as they usually do exceed it, mas
much more money comes to the city than goes
away from it by this system, then the country
postmaster sends his surplus in a draft to New
York
"As early as 1872" said Assistant Superintend
ent Joseph Elliott, jr, in the pOst-ofice building
this accumulation began to be large. 1t 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,
under the heading, 'Postmaster-GenerafsM Money
Order Account Every week since then the ex-
cess over 5000 which we keep to transact bust
ness with, has been deposited in the sub-treas-
ury. This accumulation of nearly two million
dollars is largely due to the miscarriage of send
ers orders, or to their loss by the sender, or by
the payee. Many of the lost or miscarried orders
might have been paid if the payee or the remitter
had applied to his postmaster for duplicate Or
der. Perhaps it has been through ignorance, per-
done, but usually the remitter appears to suppose
that the payee receives his money, and, on the
other hand the payee thinks it has not been sent.
The surplus fund is increasing all the while and,
of course, do not know to whom the money
belongs Postmaster Pearson few days ago con-
tided his perplexity to Postmaster-General James,
and asked him if it would not be advisable to
transfer the money to the Treasury and use it in
the service of the Post-Of1ice Department"
What power controls the fund.-"
Congress- of course, because Congress created
the mOneyOrder system. A 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 payees have slowed
them away in a safe or pigeon-hOle, forgotten
them, and then stumbled across 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 a sum
remains on the Governments hands?"
"Well, remitter may, by slip of the pen
draw up an order on the wrong city, and when
the payee in a city in the far West gets an order
to be paid in Boston he is astonished. The cor
rection takes time and sometimes it is never
brought about. Then, too, a merchant having
the same amount OF money to send to two payees
may accidentally put the orders in the wrong let
tiers. Again, the sender may put one set of mi
tials of the payees 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 way?"
Yes: the theatrical people who travel are very
much given to sending back part of their salary
to New York and payable to their own order
Their life is hard, and their hardships 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
in lump, and put it into Government bonds"
what is the amount of money handled last
year in this SYSTEM"
For the year ending June 80, S53,69S, 706.22
embracing 1,400,428 transactions in this city
alone. The years revenue was S295,5Sl 80
Nelr York SIN.