The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-20
POST CHECKS PROPOSED.

(From the New Haven Journal)
Those who have occasion to send small
sums of money by mail have also oc-
casion to grunt or swear over the IN
convenience and danger of loss which
attend the sending of them. Silver
coins! postage stamps, government
money orders and small bills all have
their drawbacks when used for pay
ment through the malls. What is
wanted. and badly wanted by many,
is something that is entirely safe for
transmission by mail and free from the
present annoyances. Mr.. G. W. Post,
we'll known business man of Battle
Creek, Mich, thinks he has q plan
which is adequate to the situation, ana
it is certainly we'll worth attention and
discussion His idea is to have form
of domestic postal currency Whlch ne
would call post checks" According
to his plan the post checks are simply
fractional currency in everyday cifcu-
lation. while spaces on the face are
left blank. They are intended to re-
Mace the silver coin, either partially or
wholly When the individual desires 70
send a small amount of money through
the mail, he takes from his pocketbook
perhaps a 50-cent piece and an one
dollar niece. fills in the name of the
firm or person TO whom he desires the
money paid. gives also the name of the
city and state. then affiXes a tWo-cent
postage stamp in the square indicated,
and thereupon signs his name in ink,
the signature traversing and cancelling
the stamp. BY this act, pieces OF
money that up to that moment nave
been negotiable and have passed from
hand to hand are instantly transferred
into pieces of exchange, payable only
to the payee named, and the toll or fee
must be paid by the sender and can
Celled bv his signature. 1t is then
ready for enclosure in letter, and
cannot be made use of by any dishonest
postal clerk or other person than the
one named as payee.
1t will be observed that the sender
must pay the fee, which is an important
feature to those merchants who have
been receiving small checks by mail,
upon which they have been competed
To pay 10 or is cents for collection. And
it is estimated that the governments
receipts for fees on post checks would
be Il very considerable amount in eX-
cess of the present fees obtained, Tor
the reason that practically all sums
sent by mail would, under the post
check system, pay a toll, whereas I'M
der the present arrangement 1t is es-
timated that not more than one case
in ten Yields an income to the govern
ment.
This plan would also dispense with
the need of money-order clerks and
the red tape attendant upon the present
clumsy methods. 1t is proposed to issue
the ost-checks in 5, 10, % and 50-cent
rieo es. also in one, two and five dollar
notes. their faces printed in suitable
form to allow proper entries in ink by
the sender and their backs in suitable
treasury note form. The faces will in
dicate in large figures the denomination
of the note. The post checks are to
he redeemable at any post office. The
postmaster pays out new post checks
" men he redeems the old ones. and this
II rthod serves an excellent purpose in
keeping the notes fresh and compare
lively clean. as is the case with Bank
of England notes.
a strong argument can be made in
favor of the post checks. The matter
has already been brought to the atten-