Daily globe., 1882-10-05
THE RUSSIAN PosTOFFICE.
PecNts@s.ities Of It's Management.

Russian Letter to the Manchester Examiner
In Russia a letter may be opened in its
passage thrG0gh the pos stoffice by anybody
and everybody. 1t is true that acts of this
kind usually have the will of minister for
their authority 1t is also we'll known that
certain times and seasons are chosen for
prying into correspondence for scraps of
sedition and threads of conspiracy. But
it is none the less true that there is nothing
in the regulations Of the Russian postofice
to prevent the arbitrary and irresponsible
acts of a minister from being initiated by
the postmaster or his clerk. The chances
of letter being allowed to pass without
interference are not visibly greater than
the chances of its being opened. Nor is
there much ceremony in the process. The
officials seem to dispense with that time
honored expedient of inquisitive lodging
house Keepers steaming tea-kettIe. The
letter is simply slit for half its length
more if necessary-the contents removed
and examined, and the envelope finally
fastened up with the gummed paper that
forms the margin of sheet postage stamps.
As there is not the slightest necessity for
c0ncealment, there is not the smallest at
tempt to disguise the act of inquisition,
and the opened letter reaches its destina-
tion with the evidence of its treatment
written broadly, even triumphantly, across
it's face.
Opened communications are not, how
ever, always reclosed. On the evening of
the assassination of the late emperor every
letter passing through the st. Petersburg
postofice was opened and subsequently
delivered-when delivery took place
with gaping slip in the envelope, indicat-
ing the feverish haste with which the scru-
tiny had been conducted. In the provinc-
es, perhapsl postoffices are less liable to
panic than in the capital, but their very
distance from the seat of government gives
precariousness to postal communications
from which the system does not suffer in
centers like st. Petersburg and Moscow.
In the capital there is at least dispatch,
even if accompanied by a disagreeable
form of espionage; in the provinces postal
traffic is beset with much slQwness and un-
certainty. Some of the postmasters have
habit OF OBTAINING correspondence for
days at time. From Astrakhan, for ex-
ample, have just received at the same
hour and moment two letters, one of which
was posted six days before the other. In
country towns postofice servants ale
strongly suspected what justification
I know not-of delaying and opening let
ters purely for the purpose of possessing
themselves of local secrets. If the address
is written badly, and does not at once dis
close its meaning to the postoffice employe,
it is put aside and ultimately consigned to
the flames. In this way many thousands
of letters are annually burnt in Russia
communications which think it safe to
say would, under better and more pains
taking system for the most part, reach
their destination. It is, of course, upon
books, newspapers and printed matter OF
all kinds that the Russian postofice CEN
sorship presses most heavily. To receive
a magazine with four or five pages of an
article obliterated by filthy sticking
compound of oil, beeswax and printing
ink; to have ones newspaper handed to
one with its first or second leading article
cut cleanly out by the censorial scissors
are experiences which in England could
only be conceived of as the preliminaries
and provocatives of some national agita.
ton, but which in Russia are treated be.
cause they have to be treated as everyday
occurrences.