the Egyptian post office subsequently arranged for the adoption
of this rate with many of the British colonies. On the 1st of
October 1908 penny postage was established between Great
Britain and the United States on the same lines as the imperial
penny post.
At the 1897 conference it was proposed that the parcel rates with British possessions should be lowered and simplified by the adoption of a triple scale for parcels exchanged by sea, namely, 1s. up to 3 ℔, 2s. from 3 to 7 ℔, and 3s. from 7 to 11 ℔. This scale has been adopted by many of the British colonies. The parcel post has been gradually extended to nearly the whole civilized world, while the rates have in many cases been considerably reduced. The United States remained an exception, and in 1902 an agreement was concluded with the American Express Company for a parcel service. In April 1904 an official service was established with the United States post office, but the semi-official service is still maintained with the American Express Company. By the official service the limit of weight was 4 ℔ 6 oz., and the postage 2s. per parcel; by the semi-official service parcels up to 11 ℔ in weight may be sent, the rates ranging from 3s. to 6s. On the 1st of July 1908 the rates were revised. The limit of weight was increased to 11 ℔, the rate for a parcel being 1s. 6d. for a parcel up to 3 ℔ in weight, 2s. 6d. up to 7 ℔, 3s. 6d. up to 9 ℔ and 4s. 6d. for 11 ℔.
On the 1st of January 1885 the post office at Malta was transferred from the control of H.M. postmaster-general to that of the local administration, and a similar change was made as regards Gibraltar on the 1st of June 1896.
Remarkable improvements have been effected in the speed and frequency of the mails sent abroad, and contracts are Foreign entered into from time to time with the various mail steamship companies for additional or improved services. The transit charges for special trains conveying mails through France and Italy for Egypt,Foreign Mail Service. India, Australia and the Far East have been successively reduced until they now stand at the ordinary Postal Union transit rates.
Mention should be made of the Army post office, which is now an essential accompaniment of military operations. On the outbreak of hostilities in South Africa in 1899, the British post office supplied 10 officers and 392 men to deal with the mails of the forces, sell postage stamps, deal in postal orders, &c. Contingents were also sent by the Canadian, Australian, and Indian post offices. Including telegraphists and men of the army reserve, 3400 post office servants were sent to the front.
Money Order Department
The money order branch of the post office dates from 1792.[1] It was begun with the special object of facilitating the safe conveyance of small sums to soldiers and sailors, the thefts of letters containing money being frequent. Two schemes were put forward, one similar to the present money order system. There were doubts whetherMoney Orders. the post office had power to adopt the system, and it was not officially taken up. Six officers of the post office, however, called the “clerks of the roads, ” who were already conducting a large newspaper business with profit to themselves, came forward with a plan, which was encouraged by the postmaster-general, who also bore the cost of advertising it, and even allowed the advices of the money orders to go free by post under the “frank” of the secretary to the post office. In 1798 the clerks of the roads gave up the scheme, and three post office clerks known as “Stow and Company” took it over. The death of Stow in 1836 left one sole proprietor who had a capital of £2000 embarked in the concern. In 1838 the government determined to take over the business and compensated the proprietor with an allowance of over £400 a year. The rates of commission fixed by the government were 1s. 6d. for sums exceeding £2 and under £5, and 6d. for all sums not exceeding £2. In 1840 these rates were reduced to 6d. and 3d. respectively. The number and aggregate amount of the orders issued (inland, colonial and foreign) in different periods from the reorganization until 1905 is as follows:—
| Years. | Number. | Amount. |
| £ | ||
| 1839 | 188,921 | 313,124 |
| 1849 | 4,248,891 | 8,152,643 |
| 1861–1865 (average) | 8,055,227 | 16,624,503 |
| 1875 | 16,819,874 | 27,688,255 |
| 1880–1881 | 16,935,005 | 26,003,582 |
| 1885–1886 | 11,318,380 | 24,832,421 |
| 1890–1891 | 10,260,852 | 27,867,887 |
| 1895–1896 | 10,900,963 | 29,726,817 |
| 1900–1901 | 13,263,567 | 39,374,665 |
| 1905–1906 | 13,596,153 | 44,612,785 |
The decrease in the number of inland money orders till 1890–1891 was due to the competition of postal orders, and to the reduction (Jan. 1, 1878) of the charge for registering a letter from 4d. to 2d.[2]
In 1862 the issue of orders for larger sums was allowed: not exceeding £7, 9d.; not exceeding £10, 1s.
On the 1st of May 1871 a scale of charges was fixed as follows: orders not exceeding 10s., Id.; not exceeding £1, 2d.; not exceeding £2, 3d.; and so on, an additional penny being charged per £. For sums of £10 the rate was 1s. It was found, however, that the low rate of Id. for small orders did not provide a profit, and the rates were raised on the 1st of January 1878 to: orders not exceeding 10s., 2d.; not exceeding £2, 3d. On the 1st of September 1886 the rates were altered as follows: orders not exceeding £1, 2d.; not exceeding £2, 3d.; not exceeding £4, 4d.; not exceeding £7, 5 d.; not exceeding £10, 6d. On the 1st of February 1897 new rates were introduced; on orders not exceeding £3, 3d.; over £3 and not exceeding £10, 4d.
The cost of a money order transaction (at least 3d.) is very little affected by the amount of the remittance, and it was thought undesirable to continue the unremunerative business of sending small sums by money order at less than cost price at the expense of the senders of larger orders. The needs of smaller emitters appeared to be sufficiently met by postal orders and the registered letter post. It appeared, however, that the new charges fell with great severity upon mutual benefit societies, like the Hearts of Oak, which sent large numbers of small money orders every week, and on the 1st of May 1897 the 2d. rate was restored for orders not exceeding £1. This society and others now use postal orders instead of money orders. In 1905 the limit for money orders was extended to £40, and the rates are: sums over £10 and not exceeding £20, 6d.; sums over £20 and not exceeding £30, 8d.; sums over £30 and not exceeding £40, 10d.
Money orders may be sent to almost an country in the world. The rates are as follows: for sums not exceeding £1, 3d.; £2, 6d.; £4, 9d.; £6, 1s.; £8, 1s. 3d.; £10, 1s. 6d.; and for countries on which orders may be issued for higher amounts (limit £40), 3d. for every additionalForeign and Colonial Money Orders. £2 or fraction of £2.
The money order system is largely used by the British government departments for the payment of pensions, separation allowances, remittance of bankruptcy dividends, &c.; and free orders may be obtained by the public. under certain conditions, for the purpose of remitting their taxes. The cost of management of the money order office was reduced by the substitution, since 1898, of a number of women clerks for men and boys.
On the 2nd of September 1889 the issue of telegraphic money orders between London and seventeen large towns was begun as an experiment, and on the 1st of March 1890 the system was extended to all head post offices, and branch offices in the United Kingdom. Two years later it was extendedTelegraph Money Orders. to every office which transacts both money order and telegraph business. The rates, which have been several times revised, are (1) a poundage at the ordinary rate for inland money orders, (2) a charge for the official telegram of advice to the office of payment at the ordinary rate for inland telegrams, the minimum being 6d., and (3) a supplementary fee of 2d. for each order. The sender of a telegraph money order may give instructions that, instead of being left at the post office to be called for, it should
be delivered at the payee's residence, and that it should be crossed
