The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-04-04
.r,,.or,s.,r,,,t.inr smalI sums by Mall.


transmitting small Sums by Mail.
There has been Tor several years past .
GOOD deal said about the scarcity Of small
totes Of denominations less than five dol
hrs. Is web as o. the total absence OF any
,aethod Of transmitting by mail any sum
,,ss than one dollar. unless indeed In the
latter case by the use OF postage-stamps.
u Mich nobody was willing TO receive.
Two Of our cxchanges--the New
York Groplic and the CINCINNATI
Conmcrciol--hayc recently made what
s4.m 10 lie practical suggestions
on a Kindred subject. We say On a Kin.
s,cd subject. because II we get way OF
sending from one to ten dollars through
TIE mails without risk. VIC shall soon gel Q
wav OF scnding less than dollar. The
Commercial claims that the suggestions
originated In Cincinnati, and tells what
they arc. They arc that the Post-onicc
Department shall issue postalcards Tor
fxed sums: the odd cents to be made upby
postage stamps; the sums TO be one, TWO,
f.ree. FIVE, and ten doliars--one dollar 10
cost two cents; two dollars, three;
hyc, four; and ten. five cents. Thus
money could be sent through tue
mails without risk. These cards are TO
~ for sale al every post-officc, and only at
,,ost-offiecs. and 70 be capable OF being sent
10 every post-oflicc and there payable. The
purchaser 10 write the address OF the per-
san and TIC post-ofiicc at which tho ordcr
Is 10 be payable; but the postmaster Is TO
eountersien each order, and TO stamp IT as
Is now done with postal-cards when
forwarded, the person purchasing TO
have opportunity to write on the back OF
fhe order any figures or remarks, the order
10 be paid only on identification OF the per-
son to whom the order Is payable, and who
is to receipt for IT on the face thereon.
When paid, the postmaster cancels the Or
der by clipping it. as Is done with railroad
tickets, and then TO be transmitted as
voucher TO Washington.
The Commercial adds that the Govern
ment fears that these cards will be coun-
t.r,eited; but cannot imagine any ground
for the fear. Nor can VIC. They are not
60 circulate rs money, but 70 be orders for
money, just as the money orders now issued
hv the Post-Oficc Department are. These
veal know are printed on cheap paper and
In the most ordinary OF styles; yet they can
not be couuterfeted. SO these new postal
cards arc not to he paid until the persons are
,,oth a.so hat tAoa Ia
~ that they could be used as currency.
This ought particularly to be guarded
against; for the worst currency always
drives out that which is better; and we
want no moro 10 aud b. or even 2j- and 90
cent postalstamps in circulation. When
Horace GREELEY asked a 1Ioosier for good
eounterfeits in preference to the wildcat
money the latter proposed to pay him for
lecture, the great editor entered vigorous
protest against irrcdeemablc notes. We
protest against all such-lMrge and small
Let us have postal-cards which will ati-
thorizc the postmaster TO pay any sum
too small to be sent through the banks;
and LET il be lawful for every postmaster in
the United States to furnish them. They
will tend TO cnlighten and lberalize the
rural districts, and to promote nationality
OF feeling patriotism, il YOU like the word
better. They will prove TO lie q much
needed convenience to our brethren OF the
weekly press, whether in the city OF the
country, and will no doubt add few
thousand subscribers to the list OF the Dis
patch. They are needed by our city mer-
chants; or rather by their country custom
ers, who constantly see advertised
in the Dispatch articles OF merchandise
which they would send for il they could
do 90 without any risk whatever OF losing
the remittance. In fact, until the Post-Of-
ice Department shall try this experiment
of becoming responsible, at Z merely nomi-
nal price, for the safe transmission through
the mails of any sum from ten cents to ten
dollars. that department will not know
how useful il can become to the public,
nor until then will It cause the public TO
hold that ii Is an absolutely indispensable
DEPARTMENT Of the Government. The sub
feet grows upon us; and so we stop. But
let no congressman suppose that he can
nc elect this matter without being uniaith-
full 10 his constituents.