Evening star., 1902-07-30
TO BE GIVEN TRIALS
EFFORTS TO SUPPLY REPLY POS
TAILS AND ENVELOPES.
Three Devices to Be Experimental
With for Fixed Period in
Several Cities.

and has directed the publication of the re-
port OF the commission appointed by him
| 10 devise some form of reply envelope
! which the department can give practical
! trial This commission included the four
| assistant postmasters general and the au-
| d!tor for the Post Office Department. 1t
| held half dozen sessions which were
| open to the public, heard three separate
| patented plans expounded by their invent
| ors or attorneys and finally gave the weight
OF its approval to a fourth plan devised by
| Mr.. W. S. Shallenberger, second assistant
| postmaster general, on the basis of the ar
| gument on behalf of and in opposition to
| the other three schemes. The recommends
| ton of the commission is that three of the
| TOUR devices be experimental with for a
| period of not exceeding two years and in
| not exceeding three cities, for the purpose
| of determining which is most convenient.
practicable and cheapest for the people at
| large"
Effort to Meet Demands.
A peculiar postal need is sought to be
| met by this scheme of reply cards. At
present when business men send out circu-
| lars of advertisement and inclose stamped
reply envelopes they pay postage on each
stamped envelope SO inclosed. The COM
| mercial estimate is that only one reply en-
| velope out of ten is used. For each reply
| therefore, the business man pays postage
| on ten letters, or 20 cents for each answer
| If some plan could be devised whereby the
| business man need pay postage only on
| the replies received it is thought this phase
| of the postal service might be widely and
| profitably expanded.
| Two such schemes have been on the mar
| ket for years in the form of stock offered
| for sale by regularly organized stock COM
| panies. These the devices of the Return
| Postage Clearing Company and the Reply
Postal Company. The third is the proposal
| of a local inventor, Mr.. George F. Cahill.
| The fourth, as has already been indicated,
| is outgrowth of the others and was sug-
| gested by Mr.. Shallenberger. BY the terms
| of the commissions report the schemes of
| the first two and last parties are to be
| given a trial. The commission states, how
| ever, that Mr. Shallenbergers plan is chief
| ly Encouragement of Mr.. Cahills plan and
| gives this adapted scheme of the Washing
| ton inventor its most hearty approval.
Return Postage Clearing Company.
The plan of the Return Postage Clearing
| Company is explained in the report as fol-
| lows:
! This company proposes to purchase from
| the Post Office Department large quantities
of stamped envelopes and postal cards bear
| ing special designs of postage stamps to
distinguish them from other mail matter
| not at the face value of the postage stamps
| impressed upon such envelopes and postal
| cards. but merely at the cost of production,
| plls 20 per cent, which is estimated to
| cover the other costs to the department in
| connection with furnishing them.
| These envelopes and cards are to be sold
| by the Return Postage Clearing Company
| to the public at a price fixed by the COM
pany. But they will be addressed to the
| Return Postage Clearing Company which
will maintain Office in every city where
| the business Is transacted
Periodically these envelopes and cards,
hn,-f
| ing been distributed to this company's
boxes, will be counted, and the actual post
age required for their transmission paid to
the postmaster at the office of delivery. The
envelopes and cards are then to be taken
to the company's office, where they are to
be redistributed and afterward delivered by
| the company's private carriers to the per-
sons who originally purchased them from
the company" The words "by the COM
panXs private carriers are italicized.
Mr.. Shallenberger, Mr.. E. c. Madden the
third assistant postmaster general, and Mr..
Joseph L. Bristow. the fourth assistant all
object to this plan decidedly.
Reply Postal Company.
"The Reply Postal Company project is
explained as being similar to that just de-
tailed, except that a coupon is attached
to each reply envelope.
They to be received as prepaid mat
ter and transmitted to the post office ad-
dressed, WneTe edcH cara ana enVeIOpe Will
be placed in a machine which will clip the
coupons therefrom. The Reply Postal Com
pany will! pay to the postmaster the postage
which those coupons represent"
All three officials who objected to the
plan of the Return Postage Clearing Com
pany object to that of the Reply Postal
Company with fully as much vigor and on
much the same grounds. Mr.. Madden hclds
that propositions Nos. 1 and would vio-
late every tradition and precedent Of our
postal system; either is as unnecessary to
perform the service as the fifth wheel to a
cart
The Cahill System.
The Cahill system provides for series of
check cards. When these envelopes and
cards reach the Office of address they are
separated to the boxes of the addresses and
before delivery are to be counted, and the
cards or tablets which were sold with hem
are to have erased therefrom numbers rep.
resenting the actual returns each Gay
When a fixed period has expired, and it is
presumed that no more of such envelopes
or cards will be offered for mailing, lie un-
Cancelled numbers upon the cards or tablets
may be presented at the post Office and will
be accepted for their value (Which is deter
mined by the number of cancellations
the same kind.
On this subject, Captain Henry A. Castle. |
the auditor for the department. makes the
following statement:
been found sufficiently important to war
rant the Incorporation of its leading feat
ures IN that presented by Assistant POST |
master General Shallenberger, and accepted
by the entire commission as worthy, with |
two others, of experimental trial. The rem
edleS ana Improvements suggested to the
commission by General Shallenberger have
removed objections made to the original |
plan. in regard to which it was claimed by
Mr.. Cahill in his first statement that 1t was
susceptible of various practical modifica- |
tlons to adjust 1t to existing postal regula- |
tions and conditions. The Cahill prepay-
ment and exchange principle has been com |
bihed by General Shallenberger with a con- |
pon-envelope and clipping machine, which. |
with certain added restrictions make mn |
one of the systems now to be recommended |
for trial.
''Since General Shallenberger is precluded |
by his official position from assuming re- /
sponsibility for the operation of the plan
suggested by him, and, in fact, expressly |
disavows any desire to do So it would |
seem eminently proper that Mr. Cahill to
whom the commission is indebted for its |
important features. ShouId IF SattsFootor,,