El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-03
English Postage Cheaper
BrittOns Pay Less For Letters and
Fixed Charge Of L Cent Each
on Newspapers.
By Frederic j, Haskfu-
D3 L FeueIlc % lisHLH

/ HTAsHINGTON D. C. Dec st
] w has been generally conceded
heretofore that European mail
! systems have had certain advan-
tages over the American system, in that
! they provided certain functions for the
promotion of intercourse among the
! States. Latterly, however, these crI-
I ticisms to the advantage Of the Aherl-
/ can postal service have been largely
| overcome, and if present plans are car
/ ried out, our system viii be as ef-
! ficaciOUs as that of any country in the
/ world.
The English mail system is easily the
/ most interesting of all foreign mail
( systems from the American point Of
/ view, since it is the mail system of a
I people of kindred tongue and kindred
| ancestry. The first thing that impresseS
/ the student of that system is the
/ low letter rate Where we pay 5E
] cents pound for handling our letters
I in the United States, at the lowest. and
/ perhaps so cents pound at the high
! est, since the fraction Of an ounce
( counts as an ounce, the user Of the
] mails in England may mail heavy let
/ ters for the same amount that We mail
/ light ones Two cents for four ounces
/ and one cent for each additional two
! ounces is the rate that the Britisher
( paws on his letters. In other WOrdS,
I a letter that would cost eight cents TO
/ mail in the United states costs two
( cents in England.
Advantages and Disadvantages
1 OF course on the bulk of the mail
that goes through the British postal
/ service, in letter form. the charge is
/ approximately the same as in the
] United States, since the average letter
! weighs under an ounce, and therefore
I takes the two cent rate; but when We
/ come down to the business house which
/ wants to send some printed matter
/ along with the letter itself, the al
I vantage is greately in favor. OF the
/ British postal service.
The newspaper rate in England
! also is interesting The charge Is one
/ cent for each newspaper, no matter
/ what its size or weight; and if they
/ are bundled together it is still the
I same rate. with the exception that
/ where a bundle in this way would take
| a higher rate than if the package were
! sent through as ordinary printed mat
} ter the latter rate may be applied
Provides for Phone AGViees-
Another interesting provision Of the
! British postal service is the railway
I letter service Suppose you are IN
/ London and you want to get letter
/ to a man in Southampton in quick
! order You may go down to the rail-
way station, buy q four cent stamp,
| put il on your letter in addition TO the
regular postage. and turn II over &c
the first railroad 1t has to carry that
letter to Southampton by the first
I train and there mail il to the
! addressee.. Or. with an additional pre-
I paid fee it will telephone the address
see that il has the letter at the rail-
| road station for him
This telephOning BUSINESS may be
carried further than this. If you wish
| to send Il letter through the ordinary
mail YOU may prepay the cost ana
when the letter arrives at the post
office to which il is addressed, the
postmaster viii promptly telephone the
addressee that it is there subject 10
his call
Penalty for Non Payment.
1t very often happens in every eOun-
try that mail is sometimes dispa tched
without the prepayment Of postage,
mostly by accident. and that II some
1 times is undeTpaid. In our country We
hold that kind of mail, except in Few
cases. and notify the addressee that II
is held at the office of mailing until
he forwards the necessary postage In
England the mail is forwarded as
promptly IS any other mail, and douoie
postage is collected in the case of I'M
paid postage. and double the deficiency
in the case of a deficient prepayment
The ha'penny post is a feature OF
the British service If a person " ants
to mail a manuscript. for instance, or
any other piece of writing that is not
in the nature of a letter. ne gets q rate
of one cent for two ounces. If an
American writer sends n manuscript
weighing four ounces through the mail,
he must pay two cents.
The English system has but one kind
of stamps. and they are the same as
are used in collecting the revenues. the
problem of accounting simply icing re-
versed to. meet the conditions. 1t also
operates the telegraph and the tele-
phone business and runs a parcel post
service as outlined in another article
in this series.
Germany Has Modern system.
Perhaps the most progressive of ali
the countries in the world in postal
matters is Germany. 1t was here that
the parcels post system had its origin,
and that many another innovation ii
the art of promoting the interchange
OF correspondence and merchandise
had its inception. Here the govern
ment win act even as bill collector for
sums up to about 5000. Suppose for
instance. q tradesman in Berlin has
bill fO- 500 against a citizen of Pots
DAM He goes to the pOstOfGce, siSns
receipt. turns it over to the postal
authorities. and they transmit it to
Potsdam, when a representative of the
postal service calls on the debtor and
asks for the settlement of the account
He gets the money. delivers the re-
cetpt and RENTS the proceeds to the
creditor, deducting very small COM
mission for the Service-usually about
q cent on every 81 This service has
been made a part of the postal estab-
lishments of nearly all the countries
of Europe; England. Denmark. and
sweden being the notable exceptions
Has Special Book Service.
In Switzerland there is n special
book service between the bookseller
and the bOokbUyer. The bookseller
pays cent OF two for having a book
carried to q prospective purchaser for
inspection. If the purchaser decides to
buy il the postal service has finished
its mission in the case: but if he de-
cldeS he does not want it, the post Of
flee returns it to the bookseller with
out additional charge. Switzerland al
so has provision in its postal laws
whereby leSal summons may be issued
and served by mail
Issues Letters of Credit.
Italy has been 4 progressive couE-
try in the Development of its postal
service. It issues letters of credit for
small fees. SO that the residents OF one
community travelling in strange COM
munity, may get funds TO meet their