The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-25
MILLIONS WASTED IN POSTAGE
STAMPS.
New York Times.

New York Times
Foreigners tell nue. that We Ameri-
cans are just about the most wasteful
, people on the face of the earth,' said a
stamp clerk in an uptown branch pos
tai station the other day, and l guess
that is about the case. | know It's SO,
II we waste other things the way We do
stamps.
Considering the American instinct for
the requirement Of dollars, and the fact
that stamps are as good as money in
this country, it is hard to understand just
why such huge amount of money is lit
orally thrown away every year by vast
ing stamps.
Maybe you think I'm exaggerating
the truth when l say huge sums. but
that's just because you are not in a po-
sltion to see what goes on. Neither am
|, personally, but stamps are in my line,
and | take pains to ask the delivery su-
perintendent and the receiving clerks a
few things occasionally. and what they
tell me is astonishing.
Il don't think it can be saying too
much to say that Uncle Sam is much
more than $40 900 in pocket every year
as result of carelessness in the use
of stamps. The government never loses
anything by such carelessness, and al
ways gains.
How many do you put loose in a
drawer OF your desk or in corner OF
your pocketbook or wallet and never
think of again until you come across
maglng about, months later? OF course
nobody ever thinks of even trying to
redeem such stamps. They couldn't if
they tried it.
shouldn't wonder if you lost twenty
cents worth of stamps yourself in this
way every year. Now, the population of
Greater New York is approximately $500, :
wv. Surprising that the waste of the sort
l an. taking about averaged twenty cents
annually, the total would be something
IKE 100000 in Greater New York alone
You may think this is putting it pretty
high, and perhaps it is, for of course q
good part OF the population of the city
consists of children, and then there arc
other classes who seldom use stamps. but
IL Is pretty plain that several hundreds
OF thousands of dollars are lost to Uncle
sam in this city every year in stamps
that are paid for and never used.
Hot weather used to be responsibIe for
more gain for the postoffice department.
imam any other one cause. Stamps were.
ruined by the thousands because the gum
melted, and they stuck to one another
Inc little oiled paper books of stamps
that are sold now and that are getting 10
be so popular have interfered with this
source of governmental revenue They
separate the gtmmed edges so that they
Cannot stick together
Then there's another practice in1ulged
IN by many advertising and business
nTms that puts a good deal of coin into
Uncle Sans pocket in the course of
every twelve months, and that's the
practice of sending out unsolicited LET
tiers asking for trade or patronage of
some sort. These are often accompanies
By stamped. and addressed envelopes for
reply that in the majority of cases is
never made.
L suppose, as a matter of fact. not one
tenth of them ever elicit replies Thus
the stamp that has been paid for is n7t
used and the government is paid FOR
work not done. A few business iiouscs
that know of collect such eryaIoneS an1
redeem them when they have got enough
to make it worth their while. but very
few take tie trouble to do this. There
are thousands of reply postal cards. TOO.
that are never used
Lots Of people are careless abort ,.;,-
ting stamps on envelopes and paper
wrappers The result is that often be.
fore the stamp has been Cancelled II mas
fallen Off and the letter is. held =, at
the other end of the line Until hostage
is paid
"A great many more folks rut on too
much postage. They slap on two 6-cent
stamps to a package that needs only one.
They are too busy or too INCIDENT to
take the trouble to find out whether a
package requires 5 or 1c ents postage
1t is amazing how ignorant well edIcat-
ed and intelligent people often are about
such common matter of information
as the postal rates for different classes
of matter. They pay for their Ignorance,
too, and pay we'll. altogether
Of course there is no way in wilic %
tell just now much money Is wasted in
after what I've said that It's a pretty big
fortune every year. The beauty of it is
that the government always gets the ben
efit Of any mistakes. if too little post
age is put on letter Uncle Sara simply
holds 1t Up until the difference IS pail.
II too much is put on, Uncle Sam SIM
ply pockets the excess to which he is
entitled and says nothing