The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-03-25
Progress of The Postal Service ia England,
America nnd Hawaii.

NO. L.
Mr.. EDITOR, -Hawai being now fairly in the
Universal Postal Union, which numbers over
seventy nations, there is reason to hope that we
may soon secure all the benefits which other
nations are deriving from it. The Union places
every member in it on the same footing, applies
the same regulations, and guarantees to each all
the advantages which every other member de-
rives from it, no matter what may be its rank as
to population, wealth or territory. With her
small population of about 20, 1000, and area of
$500 square miles, Hawaii may enjoy the same
postal privileges that America does with her
fifty millions, if we will only improve the oppor-
tunity now offered, and introduce the postal
service as it is developing in other countries,
binding them more closely together in all their
commercial and social relations.
The British administration is the most perfect
and comprehensive of any; and we, as well as
other nations, can not do better than to study
her progress and copy her in the science of pos
tai service of the people. She has established
not only the lowest rate of letter tax-one penny,
or the same as our two cents with domestic and
foreign postal cards, but she provides money
orders of various kinds, of which an almost in
credible number are annually issued. She has
also numerous postal savings banks, in which,
during the last year reported (~1880-1) over
e8O0, 900 (or 81, 900, OOO) were deposited. They
were established for the benefit of the poor and
laboring people, who can stop at any post-office
and deposit to their credit the smallest sums,
even so small as a penny postage stamp. In
addition to this, the post-office controls the en-
tire telegraph operations of the kingdom, and all
telegraph messages go through it, and are trans
mitted and delivered like letters, by post-ofice
employees, at a trihing cost, as compared with
former charges. The latest innovation, intro
duced into the English post-office within a few
months, is the parcel post, by which packages
of a moderate size are received, despatched and
delivered like letters and kilograms, mt a small
cost to the sender. All these great branches of
the service are executed with the ordinary en-
ployees, and with but small increase in the ex-
pense, but with large increase in the revenue.
The secret of England's success is that every
thing posted must be prepaid, consequently, there
is no expense or loss in collecting. And this is
also the secret of the success and popularity
of the postal union, and there can be no charges
to make, no postage accounts to keep, and no
losses to embarrass the work in each country.
The question will naturally be asked by every
intelligent personally may we not enjoy more
- NAS CNACAso NAANN CNNN@
| from the postal service ? No good reason can be
given why we should not. The foundation Of
| our system is well Iaid-the department has been
| provided with first class accommodations and
central headquarters in Honolulu, where the
bulk of the postal business Of the country il
done. Our domestic rates for letters and papers
| are the lowest of any country in the postal
| union, Cetters two cents, newspapers to all dom
este subscribers, free, and on transient papers
one cent?, and they are rates well adapted to
encourage correspondence and a thirst for read
ing, both among natives and foreigners. Steam
ships carry our mails to and from San Francisco
and other foreign ports, and after the mails are
delivered in Honolulu, they are despatched,
chiefly by steamers, at little or no cost to rhe
| Government, to the various island ports, and
| thence 10y overland mail carriers through every
district on each island, at least once a week. As
! said above, the basis of our service is well laid,
! and thanks to owners of inter-island steamers and