The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-22

MUCH dS the principal lottery concer1e
have been driven out of the Tni,a5
states, and those which remain make VEN,
small use Of the post for their nefari9.,s
purposes. But all funds handled in cor
nection with the money order svstar, a.
considered by the government tn IL
moneys received in trust, and if undo1f,.
cred the sender may always recover tbsr,
by submitting reasonably credible ey5.
dence of his right.
In 1887 congress made a law requiring tho
treasury department to ascertain the torsl
amount of money orders unpaid up to tbat
date. This, as may well be imagined. was
a tremendous task. Accounts for moro
than twenty years had to he
gone over, and, as a result, lists We're nre-
pared of the sums concerned and of Tho
senders thereof. These lists Were never
completed, because congress put stop TO
the work. 1t was realized that there COMA
be no satisfactory outcome of the b1sf.
ness, and orders were given that the a..
count books should be DESTROYED ar1
should not be kept in future longer than
seven years. In lieu of the account hooks
however, the unpaid money orders are kep+
now at the postoffice department. done nm
in bundles which are labeled with the
names of the postoffices in alpha betical or.
der. Thus, if any one of them is wanted. il
can be produced at moments notice.
Old money orders are constantly turning
up at the department Being recognized az
securities of the government they are
quite commonly kept and boarded bv saw
ing persons. Sometimes they are preserved
in this way for a generation, and event
ually are discovered by an executor 9r1ono
the papers of a defunct individual Not sci.
dom 1t happens that money orders held
back in this fashion are forwarded 10
washington quarter of a century after
the date of their original issue. OF course.
under such circumstances they are value
less on their face, a document of this SORT
being by law null and void after the laDse
Of one year. But it is always possible in
such cases to recover the money by filling
out printed form, so as to get a live
warrant on the treasury payable at SIGHT.
The government is still paying face value
for the old-time postal notes. specimens
OF which are constantly coming in for re-
dempton. 1t will be remembered that
these notes, unlike money orders, were
payable in such way that they could be
negotiated like greenbacks or bank notes
anywhere. 1t was for this reason indeed,
that the issue of them was stopped June
30. 1894. They were particularly easy 10
steal and get rid of. Postal clerks used
TO take them often, and employees who had
access to the letters of business firms
found them readily negotiable Great
numbers of them were burned or other
wise destroyed by pilferers, who mistook
them for bank notes by the feel" when
they were inclosed in letters. For il was
easily realized by any criminal Of inteii-
gence, amateur or professional. that the
spending of postal notes was extremely
apt to lead to detection.
All of the postal NOES thus destroyed
were so much to the good for Uncle sam.
He did not pay for them unless the
originals were presented; in this important
respect they differed from money orders,
Fires on railways wiped out great num-
bers Of postal notes in mail cars and they
represented so much profit to the govern
ment. 1t goes without saying that the
treasury earns a good deal on interna-
tional money orders which are never pall
When cash is sent from abroad 10 this
country by post. the address IS apt to be
more or less obscure, and delivery TO te
payee spondingly difficult 1t is te
same way when money is Forwarded 70
foreign parts, the remitters. as a rule. BE-
ing ignorant Italians or other untutofel
persons, and I'm such cases the amolnls
revert TO the possession of our govern
ment.
All of the money orders issued, whether
paid or not paid, are kept and filed away
not one is ever destroyed. More than 81
100000 worth of them. in value represent
ed, are stored in the buildings Of the posi-,
Office department occupying thousands Of
cubic feet of precious space. 1t is tae
same way with many million dollars
worth of postal notes. They are vouchers
for money paid out. and so 10 would ny
do to burn them Besides II is CONSTANT
necessary to refer to the back numneI
orders, so as 10 see if one or another his
been paid In due form and to the proper
person. Occasionally signatures for mon
ey orders are forged, and an invesusa
ton into the matter may be REQUIRE
years later Three hundred duplicates ~
lost orders are issued by the departnell
every year on an average. The Que
ways I'm which such papers are lost "o''t
furnish material for whole library "
romances.