The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-12

One of the last bills to be passed by
congress and become a law provided
for reasonable indemnity in case OF
loss of registered package in the
mails No official information regard
ing it has been received at the Salt
Lake office yet, although Postmaster
Barrett expects some word from the
postoffice department within the next
few days
1t is scarcely proba BILE that the new
law will go into effect at once. as it
may require some change in the blanks
and stationery used, and to effect such
change would require at least W
days, therefore Postmaster Barrett
does not think the new law will go
into operation before the beginning oil
the new fiscal year which is in July.
The indemnity provided by the law
is limited to SO. When letters or
packages of less value than that are
lost the owners will be reimbursed In
full, but when the value exceeds that
amount the limit of the reimbursement
will be $40. This of course only applies
to registered mail. the theory of the
law being that when the government
makes an extra charge for the safe
delivery of a package or letter II as
sumes s certain liability which must
be met in event of loss
In the past the patron of the post
office has had no recourse when
through theft or accidental loss his
registered matter has failed to reach
its destination. All the satisfaction
given him by the postoffice depart
ment was represented in its untiring
efforts TO recover the lost letter or
package. Thus in adopting this i'm
pOrtant improvement in the mail serv-
ice, the government not only protects
the party sending the mail, but has
followed the example of p other civil
lized countries which have recognized
the necessity of providing some pro-
lection for those who intrust the car
riage of valuable articles and money
to the mails.
The officials of our pOstoffice depart
ment think the registered mail bust
ness will increase tremendously under
the new law, some predicting that
business will be doubled in a short
time. They claim that the insurance
up to so Obtainable for small fee
will attract thousands of persons who
have never before used the registered
mail, as it gave no insurance. So it is
now thought that the new law Will
open up business with thousands of
postoffices where there are no express
agencies, and will increase the earn
ings of the pOstoffice department more
than enough to cover all losses
1t is a well known fact that the
registered mail is one of the most
profitable parts of the service, yield
ing remarkably large net returns in
proportion to the business done. where
other departments are either conducted
at a slight profit or a great loss. The
cases in which registered packages are
lost and not recovered form only a
small fraction of the whole, and it has
been estimated that even on the pres
ent basis of the registered mail serv
ice, indemnities can be paid and still |
leave a great surplus of the earnings. |
The registered mail service will I'M |
1oubtedly increase enormously under |
the new law" said Postmaster Barrett |
yesterday.
Il am confident that it will increase |
30 per cent in a very short time. Here
tofore thousands of people have been |
reluctant to trust packages to go 1
through the registered mall but now 1
that insurance up to so can be had |
FOR a very small sum they will surely |
be attracted to it. During the past |
year we have handled over 100 600 |
packages and under the new
aw the business of the postoffice de-
)artment will increase the revenues
more than enough to meet all of the
claims for indemnitieS. :