Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-04-26
POSTAL REVENUES OF NATIONS.
Many Governments Make Profits. but
Uncle Sam Sells at Cost or Below.


According to recent treasury bulle-
tins the revenue from the sale OF post
age stamps, stamped envelopes, and
postal cards in the United States DUR
ing the quarter ending Jan. /, 1900,
was Ss4,SOO,000, indicating a revenue
ior the whole fiscal year of nearly
Sivv'voo,oOO. For the last fiscal year
enuing July the postal receipts were
SSo'ooo,Ooo, The year before that they
were SS9,OO0,O00, and the year before
tnat they were sS20OO,O00. They have
peen increasing yearly from $4,000
900 at the close of the civil war to
$SS,O00000 in 1880 and $50 100000 In
1890.
Unlike the practice in most other
countries, the postal business OF the
United States is operated not as q
means of profit making, but as a pub
lie convenience, and the custom Of the
government is, whenever. as some
times happens, the postal revenues ex-
coed the expenditures, to make re-
duction in the postal charges or an
increase In the number of deliveries or
an enlargement of the districts served
by carriers in order that the post
Office should be. as nearly as practIc-
able, about self-supporting. with, per-
haps, small loss on the govern
ment side. In other countries, how
ever, no such rule prevails and The
postal business is regarded as a leglti-
mate source of public revenue, as are
taxes on certain specified monopolies,
which go to the enrichment of the
government. Indeed, the United
States is the only important country
in the world which does not make and
apparently does not seek 10 make a
profit on its postofiice business. The
Argentine Republic, Bulgaria, Uru-
quay, Bosnia, and Siam run their pos
tai business at a loss for the reason,
perhaps, that losses are unavoidable.
Great Britain, for instance, takes In
from its postoffices e1,000,000 a year,
the equivalent of s60,000,O00, and OK
Ponds es,000,000 year, showing
net profit of s20,0c0,000 1t should be
said, perhaps in part explanation Of
this that the distances In Great Britain
compared with those in the United
States are short: that few letters or
packages are delivered at loss; that
the means OF communication are
more generally uniform: that,the num-
Der of newspapers distributed by the
English postoffice is materially less
than the number in the United States,
and that letter postage is the most
profitable branch of the business. In
the United States the rate of postage
is the same from New York to Brook
Ign as 1t is from New York to San
Francisco, and in many parts of the
west and south and delivery of single
letter, for which the government re-
ceives two cents. costs So
England is not, however the only
country In which there is a large profit
in the postal business, France making
in year from this source OF public
revenue $10,000,000 and Germany 49,
100000. What is more curious, per-
haps is the fact that Spain In which
thrift Is not the universal government
rule, makes s2,500.000 on its postohice
department, the ordinary letter rate
in Spain being five cents. Hungary
makes profit of 100000 on It's pos
tai system; British India and Belgium,
$l,S00,0O0 each: Austria 81 900 900;
Japan. $1,000,000; Holland. $4,000;
Turkey, 100000; Switzerland. $780,
900; Portugal. s350000; New Zealand,
$350.000; Sweden, s250.000; Denmark,
100000; and Greece, $4,000. 1t Ia
inferred by some persons that In view
OF the length and completely OF Greek
names the charges for extra postage In
that country must account for the pro-
ut of $4,000, as communication be-
tween Greeks by letter Is rare.--New
York Sun.