The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-03-06
MONEY IN THE MAILS.
MISTAKES MADE, ,THEFTs PERPETRAT-
ED AND REMEDIES SUGGESTED.

SuTFthC4s
Twelve hundred letters without n word |
on the outside Of the envelopes reach the |
dead letter office every month. 1t is certain
ly remarkable fact that these are among !
the most precious missives lost in the mails,
containing the most valuable enclosures.
AS rule, they are from business men in big
cities. 1t is supposed thnt in many cases
the senders are interrupted when about to
address them. The boy comes in, sweeps
them of the Office desk, carries them away
to the postoifice or letter box and drops
them in without noticing that the onvel-
opcs are blank. Not long ago an envelope
containing s. 900, without address or writ
ten inclosure, came in among the dend
letters. The sum was in bank notes. The
Chicago man to whom it belonged got it
back after much trouble in proving own
ership.
Greater precautions against stealing are
taken now than formerly in the dead let
ter office, because there have been good
many thefts. In one instance a girl was
tine guilty party During the last so years,
since women were first employed by the
government, only two cases Of dishonesty
in petticoats have been recorded. The other
one was that of female clerk in the treas
ury who earned money at the rate of Sl0,-
600 to SIS, 900 a year for awhile by prac-
ticing patchwork system Of her own in
vention for making ten bank notes out of
nine. General Spinner asserted that the rea-
son why women did not steal was not be-
cause they were too good, but because they
lacked the requisite nerve Probably he
was mistaken. At all events, their temp
tations are greater, their salaries being
smaller. Their opportunities are uneX-
celled, inasmuch rs they do all the count
ing of the cash
II a bill must be sent in a letter, the
safest plan is to roll it tightly in the shape
of a lamplighter and lay it in the fold OF
the sheet inclosed. Arranged in that fash
ion, the fact that it is money cannot well
be distinguished by the feel" A thread
with a knot at the end will not be so likely
to fetch telltale fragment Of the fiber pa
per when drawn by means OF needle
through the envelope, and the smell of it
will be less perceptible. So peculiar is the
efluvium belonging to the bank or treas
ury notes that experts at the bureau OF en-
craving say they can distinguish them
when sealed in envelopes by the nose every
time. A thief once showed to government
Detectives who had caught him that he
could pick out from pile of 400 letters
every one of seven which contained paper
cash, blindfolded, merely by scent. All
postofiice buildings, by the way, are pro
vided with peepholes, through which clerks
may be watched while at work. Out of
$4,000 900 registered missives and pack
ages transmitted annually through the
United States mails less than 300 are stolen
by dishonest postal officials.
During one congress five bills for the es-
tablishment of a postal fractional currency
were offered. None of them passed. All
of them were declared unsatisfactory by
the postotfice department, which regards
the plan as open to many objections. To
begin with, several thousand small post
offices are burglarized every year. II they
kept sums in postal currency on hand, an
additional incentive to robbery would be
furnished. The postmasters would have
to give larger bonds, and they would hard
ly be able to do so. In 5000 offices the
business transacted is so small that the
compensation is less than 5000 per annum.
In &c. 900 the pay does not exceed 500,
and there are great many in which the
remuneration of the postmaster is not over
$40. If the currency was made purchas-
able and redeemable only at money order
offices, the purpose in view would be de-
feated to n great extent
The matter of expense must be consid-
cred. The fractional notes would have to
II ha hnct honlr
with first rate engraving, and they would
cost So per 900. Estimating the issue for
the first year at 12 900, 900 pieces of postal
currency, the expenditure thus involved
would be S35 900 Commissions to post
masters on sales would amount to $50, 600.
There would have to be an agency for dis
tributing the notes, just as there is for
postage stamps, and for its support not less
than s., 900 per annum would have to be
appropriated. Counting the pay for an
extra clerical force in Washington, sta
tionery, etc, the entire cost of the busi-
ness would be at least $1,000 for the
year. or 2 per cent of the face value Of the
notes, supposing that they averaged 30
cents. It is more than probable that the
fractional notes would be cOunterfeited,
and rural postmasters could not be eX-
pected to detect clever limitations by
skilled engravers. The currency would
drive the subsidiary coins out Of circul1-
ton to a large extent. It's establishment
would multiply the present money order
accounts threefold Money in that SHAPE
would be transmitted by mail with no Sc
curity unless sent in registered letters ir
fact, it would be no safer in the post thar
treasury or bank notes. Finally, the post
Office department asks; If a fractional cur
rency is wanted, why should not the treas
ury issue it'
AS substitute for the plan described th'
postoifice department offers n recommen
dGtion. II the redemption Of stamps will
money at postolfices be authorized, thert
is n postal currency ready made. They
might be redeemed ut a reduction equal t.
the commissions allowed to postmasters OF
sales Of stamps. In the United Kingdom
postage stamps are redeemed This priv
ilege is limited TO stamps in strips. Singlt
stamps are not redeemed, lest people should
steal them from letters for the purpose o
exchanging them for money, The stamps
offered for redemption must not be soled o.
torn, and they are taken only at discount
of 2H per cent. Great Britain issues posta
notes from shilling to 30 shillings, th
difference In no case being less than six
pence, but they are made to answer for re
lnittances or intermediate sums by attach
ing stamps to them, which are redeemet
with the notes. The same system might b
adopted in this country, though it woult
add to the temptation to steal letters
This, in the opinion Of the postoiIice de
pnrtment, is the best solution Of the prob
lem thus far offered. Postage stamps cal
be got everywhere Being unsuitable TO
currency, they could not circulate far
Boston Transcript.