The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-01
MILLIONS Remain UNPAID.
Uncle Sam Owes Vast Sums Which VIII
Never Be Collected.
b. Yet
The Unpaid Resi- Is
Copyright 1895

or paper out of the road TO currency re-
form II wear and tear were the govern
ment's only resource II congress does
not call IN the greenbacks, Mr.. Carlisle
remote successor in the year 5000 Will
nave so Few OF them 10 reckon with thai
they viii be in demand as museum curl
ositcs-l1 Tic museums have not been
oNercroWded with other curiOsities by that
time.
Another source Of income to the gov
eminent is its unred eerned money orders.
All money order funds are RENTED 10
the sub-reasury at New York. A few
years ago the postOffice department drew
IRON the suD-treasury a lump sum OF
N,ZyQOO, which was the balance to the
credit OF money order funds in excess
Of the demands of ecu trent business. Last
year, a check for $jl9.2H transferred to
the postofhce departments balance in the
the credit of the money or
der fund in New York. These two sums
and the working bal ance kept in New
Ork represent what the government has
made indirectly out of this business. Prob
ably its profits up to the present date
amount 10 2oDO00; bat no exact state
ment viii ever be made. There is time
limit of one year on tie money order Cor
the postal order as IL is now called but
there Is no limit of time on the issue of
a duplicate. Therefore the pOStoffice de-
partment receives every week for duplica-
ton postal notes and money orders which
are several years old. Eighteen hundred
and eighty money orders which had been
due for more than year were duplI-
Gated by the department in 1895.
II the difference betw the money
received and the money paid out by the
money order bureau was an Indication of
the governments Indirect profit on the
business, here is the way last years ac-
count would stand:
Amount received ........-...... 1856 700 OS9 n
Amount paid ...-.........s....... 156, 344 AGO p
Profits on lost money orders,
This would be in addition to the IbUs'I Gov %
ernments net revenue of 1861. 032H from
ices on domestic mo ney orders. But, as
! nave sad, there IS "A variation in the
balance from year to year, and the gov
eminent does not make S365.O00 a year
through the destruction of money orders
Even If 1t did, this sum would not keep
the postal service of the United States
running much more than a day and a
halI. IL costs nearly $4,000 an hour to
carry Uncle Sans mails.
NO one knows what the government
makes IN unused stamps every year but
the profit must amount to several thous-
amount Of this is due to stamp collectors
ana When the Columbian stamp were is
sued the Postmaster General calculated
mat the entire cost Of making new de-
signs and engraving new plates, as well
as the additional expense of printing the
larger stamps, would be paid by collec-
disappointed I'm this. but its receipts from
collectors in the Columbian year are es-
Iimated al more than a million dollars
me POSTMASTER General spoke freely of
this source of income in his report
though he was disposed to say very little
about his calculations before the stamps
were issued. He was afraid some incon-
siderate people might class the United
states with those SIN all nations and de-
tendencies which rely on the stamp col
lector as much as OH the tax collector
Every one of the eia hteen dependencies
OF France has full individual issue OF
stamps OF thirteen denominations: and in
siberia, Tonga, the Cook Islands, and
other small countries, the designs OF
stamps are changed whenever additional
revenue is wanted. 1'he philatelists pro-
test, but their prote& s avail nothing
Large amounts are made every year
by the government Through the destruc-
ton Of stamps and stamped envelopes
which have not been used. How few take
the trouble to remove a stamp from a
mis-addressed envelope? There is a good
margin of profit, too. in excess payments
on postal matter; fer the postofice de-
partment. while 1t always collects on IN
derpaid mail, never refunds when there
is too much postage paid.
10 reckon all the pr ofits which the gov
eminent has received unearned, ii would
be necessary to go over the records Of
congress and get the list of claims
which have been pronounced Just by treas
ury officials, and by senators and mem
bers who have investigated them. But
those are not profits yet, for congress may
develop a conscience some day and nav
them George Grantham Balm