Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1897-07-18
VOLUME .NXXI.
UNCLE SANS STAMP BUSINESS.

Uncle Sans wholesale. and retail
stamp business is of much greater
magnitude than many people would
imagine. Ia fact Uncle Sam has
trust that Is worth having and quite
frequently other parties start into the
business of printing stamps without
first securing license or even trying
to get one. The expense however and
the risk Of counterfciting stamps
makes il business that the counter
feitcrs do not remain with for any
great length Of time.
At the present time the department
mt Washington is unusually busy
owing to tlIc close Of the fiscal year
and tie commencement Of another
twelve months of business. The
fourth class postmn dcrs over the
country, and their uuUbcr Is thOTs-
unds forward iO the home office their
acquisitions for stamps to serve as
stock for tile ensuing year. The
month ot juno il the busiest month
for the postal authorities as it is the
time when the acquisitions for stamps
arc filled. The idea however that the
clerks OF the department handle the
stamps il erroneous ns the bureau OF
engraving and printing where the
stamps are made is the place that il
rushed. The postoilicc department
simply acts as Il clearing house for
the distribution Of the stamps.
1t costs the government now just D
cents for 1909 stamps, delivered any
where in the United States. One
thousand 2.ccnt stamps are sold for
$40.
During "a single Year the bureau Of
engraving and printing prints about
S5O.0O0,OO0 worth Of stamps. This il
over nn average Of Il per head for
every inhabituni Of the United States
and indicates that we are Il great race
oi letter writers. assuming that each
person writes one letter week. All
people who write letters however are
not thoughtful enough to prepay
them. Some idea Of tue number of
delinquent correspondents who like to
send their letters postage duc may be
obtained from the fact that during
the last fiscal year the value Of the
postage due stamps affixed to letters
without sufficient postage aggregated
SjjO,G5S mostly i'll ono and twJ-ccut
stamps.
Many people believe that thc
stumpcd envelopes are already things
Of the past, since only business firms,
and very few of them use them any
moro. But in the pnst fiscal year the
total value OF such stamped cnvcl-
opes amounted to Sl2,33i ,973, or not
quite onc-scvcnth Of the total bust
ness Of Of tue Post Ollicc Department.
or postal cards Sj,3OJ,O23 were used
during the same period. Tho Bureau
of Engraving and printing does not
maze the stamped envelopes or the
postal cards, but confines itself solely
Ia the man dfHcturc OF stamps.
Formerly these stamps wore made
in New York. but three years ago the
Government conceived the idea Of
having them mndc NJ the bureau. by
changing in this manucr lhc Govern
mcnt saved 2il cents II thousand
stamps and gets superior work. ~
first some difficulty was encountered.
NJ the local cmyloycs were new at the
work. Every one remembers, when
the first stamps came ont, with scarce
ly two sheets of tho same color. and
with mucilago that would not stick
After three years practical operation.
however. the bureau il printing tho
stamps better than they were over
dOno before.
The pay Of the f0urth.claas post
master il - variable quantity, M il
depends entirely on how much bug.
jncss hc does during the year.
Fourth class posiolllccs are those
whore the pay is less than $1,000 II
year. An others are Presidential. in
case tho rcccIpls for one ycnr nro lcRs
than 1900. the POBtmn9lCr has u ilrGt
lien on the whole amount. or fcvcry.
thing additional, between 300 md
and 5000 he gcts GO per cent nlso. Uf
everything between $500 and Sl,i0O
ho gets 30 per cent III addition. or
NIL the balance he rCccivca ~ per
cent. There are nearly 5000 Of these
fourth.clasa PostOlliccs. aud the dc.
pnrtment IL being 0vcrrun 10y appli.
cations for them. and IN apt to bc
bothered in tho same way for tho next
month or so.v Washington Star.