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194

POST, AND POSTAL SERVICE

The comparative postal statistics for all France during the years 1900 and 1905 stands thus:—

	1900.	1905.
	No.	No.
Letters	980,629,000	1,213,090,000
Post-cards	62,591,000	450,889,000
Newspapers, printed matter, samples, circulars, &c.	1,390,246,000	1,441,713,000
Value of money French francs	1,422,736,000	1,834,360,000
⁠ orders Internatl. ⁠„	56,210,000	73,229,000
Value of postal orders ⁠„	40,688,000	54,582,000
Receipts ⁠ $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ „ £	209,982,000 8,399,000	261,454,000 10,458,000

The savings banks system of France, so far as it is connected with the postal service, dates only from 1875, and began then (at first) simply by the use of post offices as agencies and feeders for the pre-existing banks. Prior to the postal connexion the aggregate of the deposits stood at £22,920,000. In 1877 it reached £32,000,000. Postal savings banks, strictly so called, began only during the year 1881. At the close of 1882 they had 210,712 depositors, with an aggregate deposit of £1,872,938 sterling; in 1905 they had 12,134,523 depositors, with an aggregate deposit of £229,094,155.

The union of the telegraph with the post office dates only from 1878. The following table gives the figures for 1900 and 1905:—

	1900.	1905.
Length of line. kilometres miles	117,559 73,004	129,826 80,622
Length of wire kilometres miles .	388,824 241,453	418,331 259,784
Total gross receipts francs	43,977,000 1,759,000	46,490,000 2,860,000
Number of messages forwarded:
Home service.	36,723,000	39,433,000
International	3,374,000	3,686,000
Amount of International tele- graphic money orders:
From foreign countries to France. (Total francs)	6,145,455	10,239,546
From France to foreign countries.. (Total francs)	6,124,913	4,754,960

The postal telephonic system began in 1879. The following table gives the figures for 1901 and 1905:—

		1901.	1905.
Length of line	kilometres miles	30,142 18,718	46,992 29,182
Length of wire	kilometres miles	453,287 281,491	498,389 309,500
Messages		175,340,000	232,727,645
Receipts .	francs £	17,518,000 701,000	23,495,000 940,000

Bibliography..—P. d’Alméras, Réglement sur le port des lettres (1627); Le Quien de la Neufville, Usages des postes (1730); Rowland Hill, Report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the French Post Office (1837); Annuaire des postes (from 1850–⁠); M. du Camp, “De L’administration . . . et de l’hôtel des postes,” in Revue des deux mondes (1865), 3rd series; Revue des postes et télégraphes (pub. at various periods); A. de Rothschild, Histoire de la poste-lux-lettres (1875); “Entwickelung des Post- u. Telegraphenwesens in Frankreich,” in Archiv f. Post. u. Telegraphie (1882); “Die französischen Postsparkassen, " and other articles, in L’Union postale (Berne).

Austria-Hungary

The Austrian postal system is among the oldest on record. Vienna possessed a local letter post and a parcel post, on the plan of prepayment, as early as May 1772, at which date no city in Germany possessed the like. This local post was established by a Frenchman (M. Hardy) and managed by a Dutchman (Schooten).^[1] Thirteen years after its organization it became merged in the imperial post. The separate postal organizations of the empire (Austria) and of the kingdom (Hungary) date from 1867. In Austria the post office and the telegraph office are placed under the control of the minister of commerce, in Hungary under that of the minister of public works. The following table gives the figures for 1900 and 1904:—

Austria

	1900.	1904.
Post offices ⁠No.	6,895	8,327
Letters and post-cards ,,	1,193,418,000	1,421,107,000
Newspapers „		144,986,000
Packet post :
Ordinary packets. kilogs.	37,522,000	44,624,000
Registered packets and letters $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ kronen £	8,043,570,000 335,148,000	8,323,179,000 346,799,000
Receipts. ⁠ $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ kronen £	107,718,000 4488,000	123,919,000 5,163,000
Expenses ⁠ $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ kronen £	98,412,000 4,200,000	121,749,000 5,073,000

Hungary

		1900.	1904.
Post offices. No.		4,923	5,097
Letters, newspapers, &c. „		487,670,000	584,081,000
Packet post :
Ordinary packets . . „		17,730,000	21,367,000
Packets with		6 256 900 000	4,936,403,000
Glared value and money letters		260,704,000	205,683,000
Reimbursements and	korona	1,095,591,000	1,253,440,000
money orders	⁠£	45,649,000	52,226,000
Postal order	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ korona £	27,470,000 1,145,000	30,397,000 1,266,000
Receipt ⁠ $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ korona £		47,103,000 1,962,000	57,067,000 2,378,000
Expenses ⁠ $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ korona £		39,912,000 1,663,000	44,560,000 1,857,000

German Empire

The Prussian postal system developed mainly by the ability and energy of Dr Stephan, to whom the organization of the International Postal Union^[2] was so largely indebted, into the admirably organized post and telegraph office of the empire began with the Great Elector, and with the establishment in 1646 of a Government post from Cleves to Memel. Frederick, II. largely extended it, and by his successor the laws relating to it were consolidated. In Strasburg a messenger code existed as early as 1443. A postal service was organized at Nuremberg in 1570. In 1803 the rights in the indemnity-lands (Entschädigungsländer) of the counts of Taxis as hereditary imperial postmasters were abolished. The first mail steam packet was built in 1821; the first transmission of mails by, railway was in 1847; the beginning of the postal administration of the telegraphs was in 1849; and, by the treaty of postal union with Austria, not only was the basis of the existing system of the posts and telegraphs of Germany fully laid, but the germ was virtually set of the International Postal Union. That treaty was made for ten years on the 6th of April 1850, and was immediately accepted by Bavaria. It came into full operation on the 1st of July following, and then included Saxony, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Holstein. Other German states followed; and the treaty was renewed in August 1860. The following table gives figures for 1900 and 1905:—

	1900.	1905.
Post offices. . . . . . No.	32,135	33,105
Letters received. „	2,893,555,000	3,855,369,000
Letters and parcels received (value	10,508,000	10,518,000
⁠declared) 1000 marks	15,984,425	16,215,800
Parcels received (value not declared) No.	153,985,000	186,038,000
Postal orders re-⁠No.	126,217,209	162,800,261
⁠ceived. ⁠1000 marks	7,868,860	9,807,934

↑ Loeper, “Organisation des postes de ville,” in L’Union postale vii. 1 seq.
↑ The International Postal Union was founded at Berne in 1874. All the countries of the world belong to it, with the exception of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, China, Abyssinia and Morocco. Congresses have been held at Paris (1878), Lisbon (1885), Vienna (1891), Washington (1897) and Rome (1906).

[1] Loeper, “Organisation des postes de ville,” in L’Union postale vii. 1 seq.

[2] The International Postal Union was founded at Berne in 1874. All the countries of the world belong to it, with the exception of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, China, Abyssinia and Morocco. Congresses have been held at Paris (1878), Lisbon (1885), Vienna (1891), Washington (1897) and Rome (1906).

[1]

[2]