The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1896-01-03
POSTAL CONGRESS.
Once in Five Years By the
Universal Union.
Next Meeting To Take Place In the United
States Capital in 1897 = Work
and Objects of the Asso-
citation.

The Universal Postal union holds a
congress once in ave years to determine
what changes are needed in regulations
governing the handling of international
mail. The sixth is to be held in Wash
ington in 1897. The director OF the
executive committee Of the Universal
Postal union, says the Philadelphia
Times, comes to the United States on
invitation of the postmaster general,
to make arrangements for the meeting
at Washington. The delegates will be
entertained in New York as well as in
Washington, for in New York they will
have the best possible opportunity for
examining the American system of
handling the foreign mails, which is
the most perfect system in the world.
1t is possible that they will be taken
west to see the operations of the postal
systems in the other citics-in St. Louis,
where the trolley car service origi-
mated, in Chicago and Cincinnati.
There are thirty-eight countries in
the postal union, and the mail from
more than 100000 local post offices is
handled in the international system.
The United States alone receives
81, $50, 600 for foreign postage each year
and pays out less than that sum for the
service. The international mail is car
ried at a profit, while the domestic mail
is carried at loss of $4,000, ,OCO year,
The fact that there is a profit in hand
ling international mail is the text of
good many postal reformers in Eng
land. We collect S250,000 a year from
recipients of letters from foreign points
on which postage has not been prepaid
This is equal to one-tenth of the sum
received for prepaid letters. Of the
sum received on letters bound outward
the United States gets only a share
Often there is actually a loss to
this country in forwarding letter to
remote point. Every country through
which the letter passes collects toll
from MS on these letters. On the letters
received not fully prepaid we collect
double postage, and the entire amount
belongs to us. We have no reason,
then, to complain of the number of let
ters which come to us unpaid; yet the
double postage is a peaalty intended to
be constant reminder to the people of
the necessity of preparing postage. In
spite of the penalty, one-tenth of the
foreign mail received in the United
States is not fully prepaid. Probably
this is because the man who sent the
letter is not subject to the penalty.
The chief question to be considered
at the congress of 1897 is the PROPOSE
tion to make the intermediate nations
handling letter transport it for moth
ing. This proposition is made in the
interest of simplifying the accounts of
the postal service. Under the conven-
tion now in force the nation by which
a letter is forwarded pays to each inter-
mediate nation 2 francs per llilo for all
mail in transit. This increases mate
rally the cost of forwarding letters to
distant points. For instance, letter
to Turkey will go from New York to
London, then to Belgium or Holland. to
Germany, to Austria, to Hungary and
then to Turkey. A liilo is two and one
fifth pounds or thirty-fve and one
fifth ounces. Although the postal
union carries half-ounce for cents,
the average of letter-weight is less
than that maximum. The estimates of
the postal union are made on basis of
three letters to the ounce. Therefore,
2 francs, or 1876 cents will carry 1906 let
ters through one intermediate country.
On 106 letters to Turkey the United
States post Office department would pay
3S,6 cents to each of the intermediate
countries five in all. This would
amount to more than ~ cents on each
letter--a considerable tax, and one
which would put penny postage" on
foreign mails quite out of the question.
This tax, of course, is supposed to be
balanced by other governments on let
ters set through the United States to
Canada, to Mexico and New Zealand.
There viii be $50 delegates to the
postal congress, and it has been said
they will be handsomely entertained
during their visit to America two years
hence. The form of their entertain
ment is now under consideration by
the post Office department.