The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1908-01-11
P%oSToFFIcEs IN CHINA.
Growth of Mail Handled Causes Exten-
ton Of Service.

Consul ,rhornwell Haynes, in the follow
ing report from Nankin, traces the de-
yeloprnent of the Chinese postofice, which
was established In 1896 by imperial decree:
The first attempt at anything ike a
postoffice service was begun nAnre than
thirty years before 1895, when, after
foreign representatives had taken up their
residences In Pekin, the legation and Gus
toms mail were exchanged between Pekin
and Shanghai under the auspices OF the
tsuneli yamen 1.-THE present or
foreign office) by means OF the government
cotriers. The customs undertook the maks
ing up and distribution OF these maiie. ana
immediately postal departments were
opened in the inspectorats and in the Gus
at Shanghai. The latter de-
P Rarn' mbs sEssne Ser & TafptS and C other i%.
portant cities. IN 1878 the customs postage
stamps appeared, and 1t was IN MS SAM
year that China was formally askeu 70
enter the International Postal Union, put
declined. a.,
Rome last year China announced her IN
tention to Join on a date to be hereafter
Fixed. The anal protocol signed by all me
other powers on May - was left open LOT
her adhesion, provided she n0tihed me
italian government of her intention Detote
July i last. Blu the date passed without
being taken advantage of, though emma
Is aware that isolation places her at 2 eer-
tain disadvantage napssnt .f mrsnoI has n9otined
the international Postal Bureau az berne
that she has opened parcel postoflces IN
forty-one towns in Manchuria. She, carries
her own mails free, or at nominal rates,
on her South Manchurian RAILWAY. ene
refuses to carry Chinese malls on the same
railway except by slow trains, ana sne
charges union rates for carrying Chinese
domestic mails through Chinese territory.
hSi7.ce the establishment OF the post
Office, ten years ago, no enterprise ~
China has shown such rapid DEVELOPMENT;
Its few struggling Offices have Increased
to COP siderabiy over 1000, and during the
year the articles handled increased from
z; 10000 to nearly x, d 1lS.ty,S% 900 far isos
have reached f,SSS,O00 while money-orSfe
transactions during the I'D Last ~ year nave
what peculiar, and does not seem TO
be quite clear to the business men OF the
United States. Briefly It Is as follows;
s%fnn1ents conducted the forwarding OF
their mails to the various treaty ports
icitLes opened by treatieS). Usually q
snostaI department was attached to each
Consulate OF the British, French, German
and Japanese governments. Since the es-
adjustment Of the postal system OF t the
Chinese government has been ANXIOUS 70
discontinue these offices, but up 70 nov
has been unsuccessful in its attempts Tne
Chinese ~postofice has never been con-
nected with the postal unicn.. but mas
transmitted all foreign mail matter gratu,
itouHly over its routes, and has forwarded
tn foreign mail through the French offices.
During the past ten years. however, a most
respectable postal system has been pnilt
up, which reaches most OF the interior
cities OF the empire, and apparently with
safety. 20 tina there Is not now the same
necessity for foreign ofiiees as previously,
SIT has been heretofore customary for
Europeans living in the interior OF China,
or al places where postoff1ces of foreign
nationality were not Iocated, 10 frank their
letters with stamps Of their respective ma
their postofice in Shanghai By this means
foreign postage was paid at the rate Of
two cents per ounce, while the rate by the
Chinese post would be five cents per half
ounce. and it is this irregulaT1ty to which
China il objecting. and which she Is now
e~ndeavoring to regulate by refusing to
allow mails of foreign offices to be trans
mitted over her railways.
'LTntil such time as the matter OF the
~ransnlssig OF foreign mails in China is
permanently settled business men in
America and other countries must expect
dolaNru -