Omaha daily bee., 1906-06-01
POSTAL PROGRESS.
improvements In the Mail service Of
the world.


New York Tribune.
The International Postal Congress AT
Rome Is showing itself to be a practical
and businessliSe body and is giving prom
ise OF substantial improvement OF the
mail service Of the world. Especially
commendable is the increase OF the unit
OF weight Of first class matter from hair
an ounce to an ounce. That Is not quite
equivalent to a reduction OF postal rates.
but IT will in a large proportion Of cases
be tantamount to It. and il will obviate
one common and annoying fault Of the
foreign mail service At present the rate
Is cents half ounce. with double
charges at the other end for unpaid
postage. The result is that II the sender
puts only a scent stamp on a letter,
thinking It weighs less than half an ounce,
and It is found at the other end to ex-
ceed that weight by so much as the frac-
tion of a grain, the receiver must pay
10 cents before he can get It. Such oc-
currences are frequent being due some
times to carelessness, sometimes to slight
imperfections In scales and sometimes. it
may be, to the absorption OF moisture
by the letter They are the more likely
to happen, also, because. unless the very
thinnest and lightest paper is used, Il
is difficult 20 keep a letter from coming
dangerously close to the limit of half an
ounce.
With the limit for a single rate In
creased to an ounce the danger Of exceed
ing IT in ordinary correspondence will be
greatly reduced, and penalty postage will
seldom have to be paid by the receivers
OF letters. Moreover. in this country the
unit of weight will again he made the
same in both foreign and domestic mails,
a circumstance which will doubtless lessen
the cases of Misunderstanding through in
advertence. At present, we have no doubt
many persons, having in mind that the
domestic rate is two cents an ounce, care
lessly think OF the foreign rate as cents
an ounce. II is troublesome enough TO
have two different units Of value without
also two different units of weight. The
net result OF the new system. apart from
Its economy and convenience to patrons
of the mails, will. of course, be that the
government will have to carry heavier
mails for the same money that It now
gets for lighter ones. and II will have 10
carry part of them for less than It now
gets-that is to say, letters which under
the old rates would weigh less than half
an ounce each and would be carried for
cents will often weigh twice as much
and yet still be carried Tor cents while
those which weigh between half an ounce
and an ounce, and under the old rule pay
10 cents for carriage, will have to be car
ried for cents
1t may confidently be expected, however,
that the same experience will be had IN
this case that has marked other increases
or weight or reduction in price Tha
added facility of correspondence will in
crease the popular patronage Of the mails.
and thus. because of the greater volume.
the business will soon become as profita-
BILE to the government as before-or no
more costly. And, after all. the proper
aim Of the service is not to make as large
profits as POSSIBLE but to serve the pub
lie convenience as efficiently and as
cheaply as possible. There is scarcely a
more important department of public SER
vice. domestic or foreign. than that of the
mails, involving. as it does, so large a
share Of business. social and intellectual
intercourse, and every step toward making
1t more extended, more efficient and more
economical Is welcome