The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1897-05-06

The Progress of the Cheap Postage
System in Sixty Years.

Syst, in Sixty Years.
in 1887, Mr.. Rowland II II first pro-
posed cheap Postage. Alter Two years
hard struggle with the government
and with parliament, he succeeded in
getting tho penny postal system car
ried into the statute book in 1889 In
December, in that year, IL uniform
charge Of eight cents for every half
once conveyed in the mails was iusti-
tuted. Ga JANUARY 10, 1910, a uniform
rate OF two cCnSs per half-ouncr prrma
u"ntly came into operation. In 1917,
this postal reform was adopted by tn..
Unit: ID States, and every civilized
country has 70 WED SUIT. There are
no" III 'usands OF postal stamps in va
rlous parts Of the world.
Mr. Hill vas rewarded by q life pen
sion OF SlO 600 n year, parliamcn cntary
grant Of 500 900, and about the same
| amount by IL general subscription
throughout the British islands.
Ills purpose from the first was to re-
form the general post, flee system and
management. aud also to institute IA
uniform and low rate Of postage, with
prcpaymcnt' and moderate charge by
weight. The prepayment was to BE-
clthor by stamped envelopes, or by ad-
hesivc stamps.
This was by no means an original
creation, thus realizing the truth Of
the ca n1arc that "Therc is nothing
new under the sun" Att,r NJ. Ulil
had suggested the srcat po,tutlicc re.
form, 10 DC cnrctrd by Il low and uni
form charge for the transmission Of
lcttcrs ANA newspapers through tht
mails, but before the pro ject had passed
into Il law, it WAS Gained. in a pam
phlct, written by ont OF the officers of
the postal department in Paris, that
the proposed payment, by means Of
penny stamps ElliYcd to postal matter,
was a mere reproduction, in essential
points Of II ptan which had been adopt
cd and acted upon, in France, in the
reign Of Louis xiv.
Al that time and place, NJ. De We
layer, who had friends in the roval
household, was permitted tn establish
Il pcnnypost, through witch envelopes,
obtalnablc for one cent each, were de
livcred, according to their addresses,
in town or country, If "postpaid :"
printed slips were tied or fastened
around them.
These eiip5 were on sale at the kings
palace, and the turntables Of the prin-
cipal converts, and by the portcrs OF
colleges.
The practice was to drOD all letters
thus frankcd into locked boxes. placed
at tho corners of the principal streets
! in Paris.
The postal strcct.pilars, which were
not adopted until lS51, would appear
10 have been, whether dcsgnedly or
not, reproduction OF what was in us.
In 'aris two centuries earlier.
Nj. Do Nclayer also introduced Il
species OF letter paper, for the use of
persons IN business, partly printed with
blanks for the insertion Of figures, to
show the days prices, with a blank
space below for ordinary correspond
| cncC.
In the general postoflico, in Paris,
one Of these h'N"ts, so filled up by Pc
! lisson. FOntan, - 80 li.,nrio~ nnd nd
dressed to Mnuu,aolsolic oouuury, ,nu
romancist, na been carefully prcs.rv.
! ed, and is som !tim4s shown, by special
favor, to curious inquircrs. This il
presumably the oldest Of all existing
| pcnny-post letters and prepaid envcl-
| opos.
With De Nclaycrs death his postal
| service cnacd. Nearly a century later
| (tn 1893 M. Do ChamUusct t., q rich Par
islan, rc-estabishcd il, selling twocent
stamps, much resembling those o. he
present day, for The free delivery, in
tarls, OF letters under two ounces in
weight.
hat was In Inc reign OF Louis Nv,
whose minister OF finance, regarding
such an establishment as a source of
public revenue, bought it up by grant.
ing considerable pension to its pro-
prctor.
In the hands Of the government |
however, lcttcr-stamps soon fell into |
disusc.
The next country to issue postal
stamps was Spain. From l7l6 to 1900
OhcS were useG G--cA-.u..V .Vely, however,
upon Nfjcial letters. In the kingdom
OF SIrdlnia, stamp ed postal paper ana
envelopes were in use from 1878 to
1886
For few months, what were known
rs the Mulready envelopes" because
their somewhat pictorial design had
b1on drawn by Mr.. w. Mulready, an
eminent artist, had to be generally
used by tho British public; but as
they were expensively gotten up, on
iine paper, for which slight extra
charge had to be made, there waa q |