Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-09-30
THE RUSSIAN POST OFFICE.
Pcculiarlties Of Its Management

Russian Letter to the Manchester Examiner
In Russia. letter may be opened in its pas
sage through the post Office by anybody and
everybody. 1t is true that acts of this kind
usually have the will of minister for their au-
thority. 1t is also we'll known that certain times
and seasons are chosen for prying into cOrrespon-
dence for scraps Of seditiOn and threads of con-
sp1racy. But it is none the less true that there
is nothing in the regulations ofthe Russian post
office 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
tlme-honOred eXpedient of inquisitive lodging
mouse keepers-a steaming tea-kettle. The let
ter is simply slit for half its length-mOre if
necessary-the contents removed and exam
ined. 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 cOncealment, there is not
the smallest attempt to disguise the act of
inqusition, and the opened letter reaches its des-
tinatiOn with the evidence of it's treatment writ
ten broadly. even triumphantly, across its face.
Opened communications are not, however, al
ways reclosed. On the evening Of the assassi-
nation of the late Emperor every letter passing
through the st. Petersburg post office was
opened and subsequently delivered-when de-
livery took place-with gaping slip in the en-
velOpe, indicating the feverish haste with which
the scrutiny had been conducted. In the prov
inces. perhaps, post Offices are less liable to
panic than in the capital, but their very distance
from the seat of government gives precariOus-
ness t. postal communications from which the
system does not suffer in centers like ST. Peters
burg and Moscow. In the capital there ie at
least dispatch, even If accompanied by disa-
greeable form Of espionage; in the provinces
postal traffic is beSet with much slowness and
uncertainty. Some of the postmasters have q
habit of OBTAINING correspondence for days at
time. From Astrakhan, for example, L
have just received at the same hour and mo-
ment two letters, one of which was posted six
days before the other. In country towns post
ONCE servants are strongly suspected-with
what justification know not-of delaying and
opening letters purely for the purpose OF pos
sessing themselves Of local secrets II the adj
dress is written badly, and does not at once
disclose Its meaning to the post Office employe.
1t is put aside and ultimately consigned to the
flames. In this way many thousands of letters
are annually burnt In Russia-cOmmunicatio
which think it safe to say would, under bet
ter and more painstaking system for the most
part, reach their destination. 1t is of course,
upon books, newspapers, and printed matter of
all kinds that the Russian post Office censorship
presses most heavily. To receive amagazine
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 cleany out by the censorial scissors
are experiences which In England could only be
conceived Of ~ the preliminaries and provoca-
GveS OF some national agitation, but which Ia
kueeiA axo treated because they haye to be
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