New-York tribune., 1922-01-29


nccted With China The decision of
President Hsrdingu coufcrrncs In
Washington to abolish the foreign postofaccs In
me celestial republic means to tho philstalist
that several thousand stamps arc botng pat
ON history's shelf and tho number Of stamp
Issuing countries Is being materially reduced
Sixty years ago China did not havo any pos
"a system, and foreigners IN that country
reeded ways Of handling both diplomatic and
private correspondence As ono country after
another gained political and economic foot
hold on Chinese soil each took advantage OF
tho opportunity to set up It's own postof1ces,
issue special stamp, for mail dispatched therr
and thus "horn in on business that In nearly
f other countriea is handled by the national
government. AS the years passed this foreign
nad traffic assumed gigantic proportions be-
causc the British, French Italian Portuguese
and other Offices wcrc located In the country's
chief ports and business centers and got con-
trol Of the bulk OF Chinsh commercial lctters
and parcels.
1T WAS this alien monopoly Of Chins's mail
that tho Washington conferences decided to
break, For China tho result will he eoveral
million dollars additional revenue Tor tho ma
f'onsl treasury. For stamp collectors tho re-
sult will bo to add SIX 10 the growing list Of
extinct countries postal agencies that no
lorgcr have their own distinctive stamps,
lhc stamps that FOR go long have been Yecog-
nzed rs tho French issues for Hongkonx,
anton or Shanghai. or tho British Issues for
THIS or that city, or those OF any ono OF half
4 dozen countries for their Chinese Offices will
now become obsolete. This will, Of course. In
crease their value measuraby, and collectors
t(,4g toit -.
sblo 70 end to their labors and be abl.
to say: "Whcn get all Of these there never
Will he any more issues to worry about"
A. present there are In China nearly 200
soreign postofiices, distributed thus among tho
powers: Japan, 1874; Great Britain. l5;
France, 10; United States, l. Before tho war
Germany had II Offices in the celestial republic
and Russia had %. Russia still has few and
= not party TO the Washington agreement.
lne number Of Japanese posts has moro than
doubled in tho last five years. These foreign
agencies, whose enormous business is to be
dumped suddenly into Chinese pouches. are
censered IN the big cities Every ono Of the
,owers including Germany and Russia before
tie war, have offices in Shanghai. In Tientsin,
Hanhow and Chefoo ali the aliens are repre
sentcd except the United States. The other for
over
ne first Chinese postage stamp, were
lssued in 1878. Ths powers had been dojne
business in the Far East for two decades prior
70 that and had to have mail facilities. Thus
! stamps were issued for Eongkong under Brit
'Sn corinion IN 1862, or sixteen years before
ne Poklng authorities tried to handle the
H'alls The Chinese government leaders were
aware Of the need Of some kind Of postal scrv-
he pFCr0 A> E.
ishcd. and they succeeded in setting up a
crude courier system in connection with tn.
customs department in the late '6os. This ex
pertinent proved boon not only to the Picking
government IN carrying messages between the
eantal and the seaports, but to foreigners as
vel. and in 1878 the imperial administration
authorized 4 Guasi-rcguar service. The French
and British governments at that time offered
n close the postoftices that thev had estab-
ls1ed IN China because their operation was
Dathcrsonie, but the Chinese government with
held acceptance of this offer, because Of the
t'5:atllty OF the new Chinese system, and the
.pre'sN ofices continued in operation
II was no. until 1896 that China undertook
re transmission Of mails serious national
proposition worthy Of the governments atten-
90: rs "a source Of revenue. The chief reason
ise! was that local courie- system had been In
'flStence N the country for hundreds of years
ard the establishment OF national mail sery-
Ice would have been too great change in tho
sge-o'd customary way OF exchanging dis
patches. In addition, the Chinese government
for hundreds of years had had its own body
q official courievs. To dispense with them
= auld have been to break precedent Con
sequently the PeAing government had to figure
ocs ~-y TO start national mail service
i 'Jsout altering too suddenly the antique way
4 corresponding.
The local courier system Is known as the
din-chu. Postage stamps for mail to he car
ed Hy th.s system have been issued by thou
aads by cities aud provinces in all parts Of
hi4a. Their use Is restricted to the local
rea in which they cnlanate, and they are not
rd;narily included in collections of Chinese
ostage stamps. They wcrc never authorized
: the central Chinese government, and the.