Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/363

POST-OFFICE. established, somewhat lower than those before in force. The present rates are a little higher than those of the regular life insurance companies, but on the whole somewhat lower than those of industrial companies.

The connection between the insurance department and the savings banks is the most characteristic feature of the institution. Every policyholder must be a depositor in the postal savings bank. He must deposit the full amount of his first premium, opening an account if he has not one already. Later premiums the Postmaster-General transfers from the deposits of the insured so long as they hold out, without notice from the insured. The insured may make his deposits in the bank at any time, and in any amounts, subject only to the general regulations of the bank. In the same way payments to the insured, whether arising from annuities or from endowment insurance policies, are first credited to his account on the books of the bank. Furthermore, the deposits in the bank, and the withdrawals from it, may be made at any one of the 13,000 postal savings banks in the country.

In spite of the more liberal conditions established by the law of 1882, the amount of life insurance business transacted by the Government is very small. Since the new law went into effect the number of policies issued has averaged less than 800 a year. The failure of the scheme is probably to be attributed partly to the great popularity of the Friendly Societies, partly to the rigidity of the Government system and its limited number of policy forms, partly to the lack of active effort to push the business through paid canvassers or otherwise, and partly to the antipathy of the English working people to Governmental institutions of this character. The experiment has had one beneficial result, however, if, as seems to be the ease, fear of the competition of the Government office has been partly responsible for the efforts the Friendly Societies have been making in recent years to establish their business on a sound financial basis.

An act of 1870 empowered the post-office to acquire the existing electric telegraphs; and the telegraphic communication of the country is now in the hands of the post-office. As a result of governmental control the rates charged have been greatly reduced and the number of messages sent greatly increased. Since 1885 the charges have been half a penny per word, with a minimum charge of sixpence for each telegram. Above 89 millions of telegraphic messages were sent in the year ending March 31, 1901, about ten times the number sent in 1870. The gross revenue was £3,459,353; working expenses, £3,812,569. By an act of 1898 the Post-Office Department was further authorized to assume control of the telephone service of the United Kingdom.

A fee of 2d.—in addition to the ordinary postage—prepaid in stamps, secures careful handling of any letter, newspaper, or book-packet, and renders its transmission more secure, by enabling it to be traced from its receipt to its delivery. Letters may be registered for a fee of twopence to any place in the British colonies, and for various rates of charge to different foreign countries. Letters containing coin, if not registered, are treated as if they were, and charged on delivery with a registration fee of eightpence; the same fee is

charged on letters marked ‘Registered’ and posted in the usual way instead of being given to a post-office servant. For the fiscal year 1899-1900, 16,256,852 letters were registered in the United Kingdom. Recently a system of insurance against loss or damage to letters has been established. The registration fee of 2d. entitles the sender to compensation up to £5, a fee of 3d. £10, and so on up to £120. Still more recently a railway and express letter service has been established by which letters may be intrusted to the railroad companies for dispatch upon payment of an additional fee.

Newspapers and books may be sent through the mails at the rate of one halfpenny for every 2 ounces or fraction of 2 ounces. Newspapers to come under the definition must be published at intervals not exceeding seven days and appear in unstitched sheets. Under book post are included manuscripts, maps, prints, and circulars. In 1900 the number of newspapers carried aggregated 167,800,000, and the number of book packets, circulars, etc., was 732,400,000. The parcels post was established in 1883. In 1897 the rates were made 3d. for parcels not exceeding 1 pound, and 1d. for each succeeding pound up to 10 pounds. During the fiscal year ending March 31, 1900, 75,448,000 parcels were carried for £1,580,508.

Prior to the American Revolution no provision had been made for free delivery except in a few of the larger cities and towns. Since then the free delivery system has become universal throughout the Kingdom. Corresponding to the American special delivery is the express delivery service of the British post-office, by which letters are sent out by express messengers in advance of the postman. The total number of deliveries of this kind in 1899 was 720,381. Rural free delivery service has been extended to all parts of England and is almost completed in Scotland and Ireland.

As far back as 1792 a money-order office as a private venture had been established for the transmission of small sums of money to different parts of the Kingdom. By an act passed in 1838 this business was incorporated in the Post-Office Department, but the commission charged was so high that it was only employed to a very limited extent. Inland money orders may be obtained at any of the post-offices of the United Kingdom, on payment of the following commission: For orders not exceeding £3, 3d.; over £3 and not exceeding £10, 4d. Money orders may now be issued to the colonies, to most European countries, the United States, Egypt, etc., the commission being about three to four times the above rate. A money order in the United Kingdom becomes void if not presented for payment before the end of the twelfth calendar month after that in which it was issued. Orders drawn on France or Italy must be paid within three months. The lower rates for inland money orders entail a loss on each transaction. Provision was further made for the issue of ten classes of ‘postal notes’ for small fixed sums, under the Post-Office Bill of 1880.

In October, 1874, a conference of representatives from all the States of Europe, the United States, and Egypt was held at Berne, and resulted in the establishment of an international postal union with a