The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-04-01
ENoLAND,s POSTAL SERVICE.
It's Enormous Extent and Varied Depart.
ment--Cheaper Rates than Here.

se American Postofice Department car
ries the mails proper, including {. certain
class of packets of merchandise, and pro.
vides means for the safe and convenient
transmission of money, by postal notes.
The Postoffice of Great Britain performs
these duties also, and in addition does q
general expressage business, operates all
telegraph lines, take care of the savings Of
the people, insures lives and grants annui-
ties. 1t does all these things and makes q
handsome profit out Of them. The profta-
bleness of the department to The govern.
ment will be seen from the fact that the
mail and money order services alone cost
about SIC, 900, 900, and receive about $S3,-
1000 yearly, showing an average surplus
to the government of about $13, 900, 900, or
nearly 40 per cent. of its receipts This is
better profit than almost any business
house enjoys, and contrasts strikingly with
the deficits that used to be SO regularly re.
ported in the United States. OF course,
however, England has the enormous advan-
tage OF o compact population. There are
no thousand-mile star routes there. A letter
cannot travel more than 500 miles In that
country.
English postal rates are very much lower
than in America. The unit of weight for
letters is one ounce instead of half an
ounce, and there is diminishing scale of
prices for overweight. To compare the
two systems:
The rate for postal cards is different. A
single card costs a cent and half or six for
seven or eight cents, according to quality.
Two kinds are made, one of thin and the
other of thick paper. There are also reply
cards in two sections with one cent stamp
on each. Registered letters are cheap. It
only costs four cents to register a letter
from London to San Francisco-in addition
to ordinary postage-end the domestic rate
Is still lower The cost of money orders is
much less there than here, and there are
two systems-money orders and postal
notes. In money orders the prices are al
most the same in both. countries. For an
order of $3.50 the price is four cents; not
above $40 six cents not above $50 twenty
five cents
In 1S40 the penny postage went into
force, and in that year 16S, 900, 900 letters
were carried, the first year of the reduction
making an increase of 1875 per cent. in the
number. The mail has been steadily grow
ing until now there are annually carried l.
25O, O0O,O 900 letters and 10000, 900 postal
cards. Nearly nine-tenths of these are de.
livered in England and Wales. In those
countries every man, woman and child gets
on an average forty letters each, in Scot,
land thirty, and in Ireland fifteen to eight
cen.
The money order system came in about
the same time as the penny postage. The
savings bank was added in 1871. Life in
surance and annuities followed in 1865, the
entire telegraph system in 1870 the postal
notes in 1881 and the parcels post in 1888.
In the telegraph department the rates are
twenty words for IL cents and G cents for
every additional five words Press rates in
the daytime are rs cents for rs words, a,
night 25 cents for one hundred words.
The leading papers however rent wires
from the government for their own exclu.
awe use.
In he savings bank deposits of two cents
are received. No person can deposit more
than $3.50 in one year, and $3.50 is the
maximum allowed to be deposited on any
one account. Interest is allowed at the
rate of q per cent. per annum on deposits !;
1850, 600 persons have accounts, their de-
posts aggregating nearly 5000, 900, 900.
In one life insurance department aperson
of either sex, and between the ages of 10
and 60, can be insured for any sum between
300 and $500. The cost is very small A
person 80 years old may secure n paid-up
policy for $500 by making single payment
of $2l5, or the assurance may be held by
annual payments of $11.75.