Evening star., 1902-02-24
A POSTAL CURRENCY
Unique Proposition Which
Congress Has Before It.
FOR USE IN MAILS
MONEY CAN BE TRANSFORMED
INTO INDoRsABLE CHECKS.
Plan Invented by q Citizen and Of
fered to Government Free
Of Cost.
FOR USE IN MAILS

A unique feature In congressional legisla-
tion this winter is presented in the promo
| ton OF a postal currency. The system was
| devised. perfected and patented by pri-
vate citizen, who offers the result of his eff
| forts to the government free of all cost.
| The system has the approval of many Off
cials. and is indorsed by long list of man
| ufacturers and business houses throughout
the country. Publishers and farmers are
! especially interested. in that the new cur
rency promises an easy way for man in
| the country to promptly send remittance
| for his favorfte publication. Under the
present inconvenient money order system
the individual desiring to send small sum
Of money through the mail is met by
the necessity for a time-killing journey
| to the post Office to obtain safe money.
This sets up barrier to the prompt trans
| action Of business and results in much loss
from the fact that many people never carry
out their original intention to subscribe or
purchase. The need Is for money in the
hands Of the people that can be safely and
instantly sent by letter.
The provisions of the post check cur
! rency bill, now before Congress, introduced
in the Senate by Mr.. Mcmillan. and in the
House by Mr.. Gardner Of Michigan, pro-
vides for printing tho one. two and five DOL
lar bills in the future with blank spaces on
the face. These bills, Of course, pass from
hand to hand before the blanks are filled.
When It il desired to send one in the mails
the blanks are filled in with the name OF
the payee, his city and state, a 2-cent post
age stamp is placed In another blank space
and Cancelled with the initials of the sender
In INK the name of the sender Is signed on
the back. and. presto! his money has sud-
denly ceased to exist as currency and has
| been transformed into a check on the
United States government. having all the
safety Of any bank check, and ready for
| inclosure In his letter. When the payee re-
ceives this check he treats it just as he
would any other check-indorses it. goes to
| the nearest bank or post Office and deposits
it or has 1t cashed.
The paid check finally reaches the Treas
| ury Department, when 1t is replaced by q
| new one with the spaces untitled. This
keeps the circulation at par. No change
whatever IL made In the financial policy Of
the government, the only change being in
| the character Of the printing on the bills
| Of hve dollars and under.
The bill also provides for the issue Of
SIS 100000 Of fractional currency, with
blank spaces similar to tho larger denomi-
nations, In place Of an equal amount of
money of larger denominations, presum-
ably twenty and fifty-dollar bills. The
provision under the new system for a con-
| tinual reissue tnsures clean money both in
| the fractional currency and in the larger
bills. The government fee on the five, ten,
| fifteen, twenty-five and f1fty-cent pieces Is
| to be one cent each.
BUSINESS Advantage.
Perhaps In no better way can the reader
come to understand the pressing need for
postal currency than to recall the times
| without number when he himself has been
desirous Of sending a small sum Of money
| through the mails with safety. Always in
such cases comes up the barrier, and only
| the persistent one will carry out his pur-
pose by using stamps. coin placed in holes
| In pieces OF pasteboard. or risking loose
money. The average person will not ex-
pend the valuable time required for the
journey to the post office for money or
der. Only the pressure of necessity in the
| absence OF a simple convenient system
brings to the money order system it's pres
ent patronage. Statistics show that from
ten to twenty times the number of letters
received by business houses. publishers,
and others who do large business through
the mails, contain stamps, loose money or
some other representative OF money, than
contain money orders, clear enough mark
| OF the disapproval Of the public
While 1t ts not thought that, If adopted
the proposed system would entirely super
sede the money order system because for
be slightly cheaper, it is thought by the
advocates of the pending bills that such
q system OF post checks would prove
great convenience to those desiring to send
small amounts OF money through the mails,
and would result in gain to merchants
publishers and business firms who now re-
ceive such remittances in the form of
stamps (often torn and mutilated), drafts
on small banks, or loose coin in letters
always temptation to postal EMPLOYEES
All Of these forms of remittance entail
some loss, In many cases to the receiver
and to that extent, perhaps creditor is
unjustly defrauded, innocently 1t may be-
by the debtor. Under the new system
these troublesome and unfair methods of
making remlttances would be done away
with. owing to the simplicity and conve-
niPnCP nd ha
sending the remittance would be placed
where 1t properly belongs-with the send
ing debtor or the person making the pur-
chase.
Always at Hand.
The main difficulty with the present
money order system is that less than half
the post Offices in the country are money
order offices, and even at these such evil
dences Of money can only be obtained at
the expenditure of much time and trouble
and during certain specified hours With a
post check note in his possession one has
but to fill in the blank spaces for the pur-
pose attach postage stamp, cancel it, in
close In an envelope. place in a mail box,
and the transaction is finished.
Unquestionably the intent of the postal
authorities Is to extend and increase the
usefulness and popularity of the rural free
delivery service. The adoption of the post
check notes will afford a most convenient
and safe money for the agricultural COM
munities, to whom banks. with their ia
cilities and safeguards cannot be utilized
with convenience. 1t Is claimed by those
who have investigated the subject that the
revenues of the Post Office Department
would be very materially increased by the
adoption Of the post check system.
A somewhat unusual feature of the post
check proposition is the fact that the in
ventor is a successful business man, who
has for years realized the urgent neces-
sity for simpler way of making small re-
mittances in the mails, and who has devot-
ed great deal of his time and means to
the perfection Of the idea, and offers. In
case of its adoption. to turn the patents,
and all rights under them over to the gov
ever. He considers that should the sys-
tenn be adopted the consciousness Of hav-
ing accomplished reform of such import
ance to the general public and business
men will more than compensate him for