Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-18
ITS MANIFOLD DUTIES
Curious Features of the
French Post Office.
AS A SAVINGS BANK
ALSO HAS CHARGE OF TELE-
GRAPHS AND TELEPHONES.
Life Insurance and Annuities-In the
Collection Business - Head
of the Department.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
PARIS, February 4, 1905.
Alexandra Berard is a French cabinet
member, yet not a minister He was the
first of the new subsecretaries of state, of
whom there are now three-finance, beaux
arts and posts and telegraphs. Each one
depends upon a minister, and yet is prac
tically Independent in his work.
Thus Alexandra Berard is chief of the
whole French post and telegraph depart
ment. He was appointed to his place in
1902, under Troullot, minister of commerce
Now Trouillot has quit, with the fallen
Combes ministry. and Dubief takes his
place. But Alexandra Berard remains on.
tho real chief of a vast and complicated
service that, to the American mind, pre-
sents many curious and admirable details.
I stood yesterday with a newly arrived
American in one of the sub post offices of
Paris, and he expressed himself as struck
very much struck.
AT each of the four windows a little crowd
waited in turn They were servant girls
with their savings bank books. There were
old folks drawing their pensions There
were clerks paying up their life insurance.
There were little capitalists clamoring for
details about investments. There were boys
with express packages and men who wanted
to telephone to Berlin and London.
"They seem to be doing everything but
post office business exclaimed the Ameri-
can. We observed a very taking young SER
want girl in a machine lace edged toy apron
at the next wicket. She pushed her bank
book into the window together with three
gold pieces and four scent postage stamps
THAT beats mel" exclaimed the Amer-
can. The clerk is pasting the stamps into
her bank book. Is it moral? She gets credit
for the StamDS blIt where did ha pat ba
stamps?"
Mystery and discretion! The pretty SOU
brette now modestly undid two buttons of
her waist and fetched out a folded paper
with ten-dollar note pinned to it. ITO pay
my second subscription she explained, and
the postal clerk nodded.
Good girl" l explained to the tourist
'She is paying by installments for a share
of the last issue of the Metropolitan Under
ground-which proves she has at least one
share of a previous issue, old subscribers
having been given the preference 1t is al
ready at premium of 40 per cent
Many Admirable Features.
AS subsecretary of states Berard has
been so much attacked Of late, particularly
for his administration of the telephone SER
vice and the alleged dirty condition of the
Paris suboffices, it is a pleasure to dwell
On these admirable features of the French
post Office department.
The clerks credit even postage stamps in
savings bank books, because no sum, how
ever small, may be refused. Any one may
open an account for himself or for any one
else, and make deposits up to 500, on which
the government pays "a per cent interest.
A child may open an account without the
Intervention Of it's parents; and school
teachers are authorized to open branch
postal savings bank offices for their pupils
pennies.
1t is all in the interest of petty saving
secret saving. Subsecretary Berard who
came in as a radical republican and not as
socialist, strongly favors gratuitous stock
operations for the poor. Even before his
time the postal clerks were always ready to
accept little orders for gilt-edged stocks
and bonds; now written and verbal advice
is given as to the choice Of investments
particular attention being paid to the new
loans of cities and communes. Here it is
not a question even of $50 share or bond
there are 81 bonds and IS bonds! Then, to
make the service complete, there is postal
loan service, with which the little invest
ors may safely hypothecate such holdings
at per cent a year interest.
But" observed the American, that
pretty chambermaid had both bank book
and stock subscription. Was she buying
stock before she had got to her savings
bank limit?"
Fever of Speculation.
They all do tit is the fever of specula-
ton that accompanies the high pressure
of Partisan thrift. Two and three-quarters
per cent a year in the savings bank seems
small interest. Stocks are often issued
slightly below par, and often they go up;
while most bonds have lottery attachments
to make them attractive. OF course, it is
really sharp practice-an extra half per
cent year interest on whole issue would
amount to, say. 100000 francs; but the
municipality knows that if it
offers half that amount, 100000 francs a
year, to be won by free lottery tickets, the
public will buy the bonds more eagerly!
Really, when one comes to study II, the
French post Office Experimentation and
without noise-seems to be experimenting
with all kinds of social effort. Before
French mutually had begun hurrahing for
contents itself with promises of old-age
pensions whose premiums will mostly come
out of the workingman himself in the end,
the post Office was doing a f1ourishing life
insurance and annuity business.
NY American friend picked up one of the
leaflets in the sub post office. 1t showed a
choice OF plans, all under government guar
antee, the most novel to the American mind
being a kind Of children's tontine. by which
a father, beginning with his baby, pays SO
much year while it is growing up against
a lump sum when and II it reaches its
year. Then the boy can go into
business with it, or the girl can marry. If
they die meanwhile they will not need it.
adapted to men of twenty-five or thirty, or
even older, who want to go In for old-age |
pensions. You pay so much year up to a |
certain age and then the post Office begins |
paying, you SO much a year SO long as you |
1--we.
Head Of the Office.
Do not forget that am speaking OF the |
general French post Office service. posts