Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1883-10-13
THE POsCAL NOTES.
Their Unpopuiarity Ascribed to Careless
Postmasters.


Postmasters.
st. Louis Globe-Democrat
The new postal notes do not appear
to quite fulfill the expectations of their
most sangune advocates, and it is
still considered an open question at the
postoffice in this city whether they will
demonstrate their fitness to retention
rs regular feature of the postal SER
vice, or soon be Withdrawn in favor of
something else. The postmasters of
country offices fail to "punch with
care" and as n consequence many Of
the notes are written for one amount
while the punch mark indicates an en-
tirely different sum. This, of course,
causes confusion, annoyance and pro
family, with other incidental evils.
1t is probable, however, that with
greater familiarity in the making out
oi the notes mistakes will become few
er, although there will always be enough
of them to greatly disturb the smooth
working of the system. The idea of
printing the amounts for which the
notes are drawn is said TO be taken
from the English. but En- lSh post
masters are, as n class, more inteli-
N. "A
other objection to the notes is found in
the fact that they have to be signed,
although made payable to bearer. The
object of doing this is to show that the
notes have been paid and can not be
realized on second time or more.
The banks of the city are divided in
their treatment of the notes, some of
them taking them while others refuse
to have anything TO do with them.
The payment of money orders is
greatly facilitated by the fact that the
banks take them from their customers
and turn them over TO the post office in
large lots, taking checks for the aggre-
gate sums for which they are drawn.
When mistakes are found in these or
ders the work of rectifying them is
largely done by the postoffice, while
the postal notes, being payable to
bearer, makes the correction more diff
ticult. 1t is not necessary that the
banks take the notes at all, but as q
matter of convenience to their patrons
they can hardly keep from so doing.
In spite of all the faults found with the
new notes, there is no doubt but they
have some elements of popularity, and
In time the system may, after having
been modified in some particulars, be-
come popular. The local post office
authorities are inclined to favor a
cheap money order for small amounts
say five cents for all sums less than
S5-in preference to the postal notes.
This, it is thought, would be simpler,
safer and more popular. The work of
issuing money order, with its accom-
panying letter of advice, would, it is
thought, require no more work than
the making out and punching of the
postal notes. An obstacle = found
however, in the fact that only about
one-tenth of the postoffices in the
country are money order offices Some
plan in connection with the registered
letter system, which extends to all Of
fees, has been suggested. Another
way in which the present difficulty in
sending small sums of money through
the mails might have been obviated
would have been to have kept in circu-
lation few million dollars of the old
fractional currency, which has now
been entirely replaced by silver.