Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-14
MAILS FOLLOW THE FLAG.
American Methods and Principles Ap-
pIied, C0mditlOna Permitting.

Charles Emory Smith in Golfers Weekly.
The extension of the American postal ser
vice to Porto Rico and the Philippines as
our new possessions. and to Cuba as our
ward for the time being, Is one Of the most
interesting features of the new national
movement growing cut Of the war with
Stain. The mails, at least, follow the flag.
! he expansion Of the postal system is an
accomplished fact. 1t remains to be de"
veloped and perfected. but 1t has taken pos
session. The substitution Of American
methods. with their energy, integrity and
thoroughness. for the old corrupt. uncer-
tain. irresponsible administration, IS revo-
luton in itself
, No one realize the greatness ana
value of the change without understanding
the character of the former service. These
who are only accustomed 10 the cheapness,
regularity, reliability and completeness of
our mails can hardly comprehend the utter
lcoseness and Generalization which marked
the whole management or the mails N
Cuba and the other islands of Spain. A
single fact will tell more than page Of
general statement When the American
postal representatives took possession OF
the Havana post office on January l. 1879,
they found mass Of registered mail mat
ter embracing over two thousand pieces.
covering three or four years of accumula-
ton, and containing a declared value
equivalent to nearly $1,000 American money.
These pieces had collected through long
| period. and, though registered. apparently
no effort had been made to distribute them
li,ered all OF the letters addressed to
parties in Havana who could be found.
amounting in value to 1920, and returned
the remainder. to the value of S616, to the
senders in Spain.
But the story of the old regime which was
to be superseded is only just begun. There
vas no sacredness in the mails. There was
no assurance that letters would not be eX-
1minpd their
Stamps were sold, not at the offices. but at
outside agencies, and it is said that Excess
slVe charges were not uncommon stamps
were often torn off the envelopes and thus
purloined and the letters thrown away.
There was free delivery. the carriers
who made the delivery were paid by ices
which they were allowed to collect from the
recipients OF the letters. IN the smaller
places, when the mail arrived 1t was
dumped on a table and the people who went
to the office We're allowed to sort over the
pile and select their own
The plan was to model the postal service
of Cuba on that of the United States. ap-
plying our methods and principles Just so
lar as the conditions would permit Inc
flrst thing was to inspire confidence in the
integrity of the mails. Stamps were al
ways procurable at face value; distribution
was prompt: free delivery was established;
carriers were not allowed to charge any
fee; collections and deliveries were multi
pied; registration was simpl1fled and made
sacred; the money order system was intro
duced ana operated with remarkable sue
cess and great popularity; the railway mail
service was completely reorganized. and
the handling of the mails taken out of
turned seats id a passenger car and carried
on in a separate and secure compartment
constructed for that exclusive purpose
The introduction 81 the money order sys-
TEN especially was altogether new, and
proved eminently acceptable and advan-
tageous to penpe who mad greatly needed
such facilities, but had never enjoyed them.
outside of Havana there are few or no
banks in Cuba. The methods III vogue in
mere ADVANCED countries for money eX-
changes are not available. The merchant In
MatanZas whol- wanted to send money 10
Havana lacked the1mears with which we
are familiar. % The establishment of the
money order service on the lines OF the sys-
tenn in the United States supplied the chail-
mel which was 50 much needed. How adj
Vantageous it proved is shown by the sur
Fr1slnS extent of its use. For The first
quarter of 1899 $3.50 money orders were
issued, amounting in the aggregate TO S1i4,-
9S3.91, while for the second quarter the
number of orders was 1l,lO2. and the aS-
gregate amount $780, 2406. both number
This rapid and large increase indicated how
quickly general confidence vas inspired and
how ready the people were to avail them
selves of a plan which assured security,
promptneSs and cheapness. Indeed. the eff
fcfency and economy of the service were
such that, beyond its original design. 1t
came to be used for large banking eX-
changes.
The ruling principle which has guided all
this work has been to make a Cuban service
for the Cubans. 1t was necessary to send