New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-27
MAIL SERVICE "MYSTERIES'
HOW ONE GOVERNMENT GETS MONEY
FOR SERVICE PERFORMED
BY ANOTHER

Less is used by the people In America
than by those in European countries In the
preparation Of mail matter. and as a result the
United States Government Is losing money,
while foreign Governments get paid for service
they do not perform. Short paid matter IN
large quantities is sent abroad every week and
when 1t arrives at the point Of delivery it 10
rated up to double the deficiency. About two
hundred souvenir postal cards, for instance ad-
dressed to people in Germany were mailed on
Friday. and there was only two-cent stamp on
each card. II they were regular Government
cards they would go for two cents each. but
since they printed by a private concern
and are written upon the postage Is five cents,
the same as for letter. Had the sender been
known to the postoffce men. he would have been
notified. but In this case each card had to be
stamped with IT. to indicate that postage was
not fully paid. and then forwarded. because the
sender. a Cambridge person. had signed his in-
tails only. and could therefore not be found
When these cards arrive in Germany the cquiv-
alent for six cents just double the deficiency
Will be collected for each card Thus the Ger
man Government will receive three cents on
each card for nothing.
This kind OF mail is a good deal larger than
Is generally supposed. as Is shown by the fact
that 500 may be collected at the Boston Office
one single mail from Europe, and the United
States sends about fifty times as much as 1t re-
ceives. Most OF the unpaid or short-patd mat
ter comes from Armenia and Turkey although
England and Ireland contribute fair portion
of it. Just before st. Patricks Day the mails
are flooded with packages Of shamrocks from
Ireland. picked and mailed by people who know
lltte about the postal regulations anu VINO ire
quenty neglect to find out how much postage is
required. Anxious to have the precious twgS
we'll preserved. they even sprinkle them with
water before wrapping them up. which not
merely increases the weight at the time of mail
ing. but also serves to spoil the wrappers.
Christmas time and Easter. when friends inter
change gifts. equally profitable in this re-
spcct; but the United States does not collect as
much foreign mail the foreign govern
mcnts collect on United States mail.
There is such a wide difference in the amount
III. H., b.. hat Nnnr q ~
1t led 10 negotiations for new regulations result
ing in the adoption in this country OF the due
stamp" and now each Government keeps the
money Il collects for due postage. Those due
stamps serve. in reality. merely to show how
much is collected as they are put on and can
cccd in the postofficc. and no person connected
with the service can by honorable means obtain
one that has not been cancelled In spite OF the
law, such stamps have come into circulation,
probably through burglars who have broken
into postofIices or through dishonest postmasters;
but il matters little tn a private citizen how he
has obtained such stamp. whether he has paid
for it or not. for the stamp IS not acceptable as
postage. If an attempt were made to use it,
postoicc inspectors would be At once put on the
trail Of the offender.
1t is \ matter Of principle with some individ
uals TO refuse undergrad matter. says one who ID
in position whore he s"es refused letters when
they return letter may be sent To some for
cign country without any postage on it; the adj
drcssec may refuse it, and in that case it must
Toe returned 30 the sender. mo has TO pay
double rate f0r it if he accepts II: but he. too.
may refuse it, and then its final destination will
be the Dead Letter Office in Washington. if the
letter originated in the United States. Uncle
Sam gets nothing for all this trouble. Occasional
y there appears a postal card that is evidently
travelling around the world 10 gather pOstmarks
FOR IT, sender. Eat Uncle sam proposes not to
be imposed on to that extent when h" can help
IT,. and If h. sees the scheme he will put on
mark that ends the postal cards mission.
Counterfeit postage stamps we're in circulation
in the United states 4 few years ago, but what
has become ~ hem Of 10 what extent they We're
used is not known. They were su-h good copies
II the tWo-ccut stamps that only an expert could
detect the difference. As guard against them
the Government secured a large amount Of them
and sent sample sets to the large postoflicas in
TIE country 10 be used for comparison. The
set that was sent to the Boston office is still
preserved there. but it has never been used rs
no counterfeit stamps have been seen passing
through that office.
1t might be expected that IN ar office as large
as the Boston pOstOtfce the postal employees
have about as varied experience as ii IL
possible to obtain in the postal service. but
$. hen the mail from Ia Champagne arrived ut
he Union Station the other dav the three men
that were sent down TO receive it saw a sight
that had not pr scented itself before in Boston
postal cXpcricu"e-l contamination Of foreign
mail sacks containing mail made up for places
hat were almost unh"ard Of here, as the general
foreign mail FOR - West an South - not sent
10 Boston but goes 10 NeWYOrk