Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-23
COIN IN ENVEEOPES
SHOULD NOT, FIND FAULT IF NOT
SAFELY DELIVERED.
Methods by Which Money May BE
Transmitted in the Mails With
out MOlestatiOn.

out MOlestatiOn.
Every few days" said the manager of
Washington publishing house to Star
reporter, II receive a letter like this:
Last week 1 sent you so cents in sill
yer coin for a months subscription to your
periodical Is it worth while to inform you
that you value my patronage so lightly
that you have not seen fit to send me even
a sample copy? 1 posted the letter myself
right in the post Office box, so you need
not reply that you failed to receive my
valuable favor" as you will no doubt do
when you find it convenient to reply at all.
OF course. you will put the blame upon
the Post Office Department, when in all
probability you have received the money
and spent it. Please send your publication
at once or return my 80 cents. I am ex-
ceedfngly provoked at your dilatorineSs.
of course, We never received the money
In this and similar instances. so we write
an apologize letter and wish it were in
our power to let ever patron Of the mails
who wishes to become one of our patrons
know that he should not send coin in en-
velopes and expect to receive in all in
stances the paper or goods for which it is
sent
in speaking to the managers of other
Washington business houses on this sub
ject 1 was surprised to learn to what a
large extent this practice prevails. The
big stores in Washington all maintain mail
order departments which have a large num-
Der of customers in the towns and rural
districts of Virginia and Maryland, and
many thousands Of dollars come into the
city annually from hits source. These gen
tlemen all stated that the letters they re-
ceived were of about the same tenor as
the one l have given you, and that the
monetary loss. to say nothing Of the vexa-
lions delay in filling the orders. must be
considerable"
Stolen and Loose In the Mails.
1.-THE Post Office Department receives an
nually thousands of inquiries concerning
such losses said postal official who hap
pened to be present, land there are sew
eral reasons other than the commonly
thought Of one of theft why these letters
do not reach their addresses.
OF course, nearly everybody SuppoSes
they are all stolen by dishonest postal en-
ployes, and most of them are purloined.
IT is very easy for the thief to detect the
coin, even If it Is so small as a 1O-cent
piece. Where there are several coins or a
quarter or 5O-cent piece it is like finding
money to the dishonest, employee into whose
hands it falls.
There are several methods of sending
coin through the mails to avoid detection,
and the most common Is to fit the pieces
into spaces cut out of paSteboard. When
the hand is run over the envelope the pres
ence of the coin cannot be detected but if
the letter is bent backward and forward
the thief from his long experience in
handling mail matter, detects the coins
therein and they go in his pocket forth
with.
LAS you stated. most Of this money comes
from the rural districts, where the quality
of envelopes is usually inferior. AS all
mail matter is more or less roughly han
died in transit. especially in rubbing and
coming in contact with heavy and bulky
pieces of matter in the mail bags the cor
nerS OF the envelopes are worn or become
torn. and the coins drop out in the mail
bags or In post offices, and cannot Of
course, be identified. So they are sent to
the dead letter office. and that is the way
money.
Money for Mailing Purposes.
IF the managers of business houses and
the public will bear In mind that no less
than $4,000 envelopes containing money
were found loose in the mails last year,
and that an approximate number are found
loose every year, the reason why l never
received my paper or why didn't those
goods Gomez will be answered.
These loose coins and envelopes pour
into the dead letter office from post offices
and railway mail post Office routes all
over the country and aggregate a large
sum. Postage stamps by the thousand are
also found loose in the mail bags and in
the mails. How they got there or where
they come from. or to whom they belong
none can answer with positive identifica-
ton, save that they got out Of letters or
packages In some manner. The department
had returned to it last year $500 worth of
these loose postage stamps, piecemeal,
from single stamps to q dozen or more in
lot. and there is no record Of the number
that were found by postal employees and
never turned in.
The question Of a special Issue of money
which has for a primary object use for
mailing purposes has been more or less
agitated Of late. If this money were to
be always in the hands Of those who
patronize the large stores of the great
cities or those who desired to send money
through the mails. 1t might accomplish its
purpose, but if 1t circulated as a general
medium of exchange it is questionable.
III the remltters didn't have it handy they
would send coin just the same As YOU
state, your house often receives letters
with several pieces of coin and pennies in
the envelope, some letters containing 81
and s.. That's the only money these peo-
pie have, SO they send it and trust to luck
that it goes through.
Postage stamps are Objectionable for
many famil lar reasons. There is consider
able time, penmanshfp, labor and small
additional sum of money necessary before
you may procure a money order and then
only at money order offices, and many of
your subscribers and the customers of the
large stores mail their letters at Offices
which are not money order Offices
1T will be seen, therefore, that there
are good reasons why special issue of
currency for use in the mails might be-
come popular If it circulates in the right
channels.
Reduce the Money Order Fee.
Another plan would be to reduce the
fee on money orders on sums under IS to
two cents and lower the fee on other
amounts up to the 500 limit. Such a re-
duction would undoubtedly cause a ire
mendous increase in the money order bust
ness. and whether 1t would yield as much
revenue as at present could be decided only
when the plan went into operation and
was tried for reasonable time
Government matters, postal and other
wise, should not in all instances. It seems
to me, be considered from the standpoint
OF the revenue end Of it. If the govern
ment should not consider 1t advisable to
issue special kind of currency. the prob
lem under discussion may be partially
solved by the reduction of the fee for
money orders to the lowest possible sum-
AT any rate. those who send money
through the mails. whether in coin or cur
rency, should remember that the govern
ment does not insure it's safe delivery, ex-