others are recorded, and (if not previously claimed by the owners) | 2,656,770; halfpenny packets, 12,439,377; newspapers, 473.346; their contents are sold by auction at intervals. If the owner applies after the sale, the proceeds are handed over to him. In addition to these ro millions of letters, there were many others disposed of at head post offices, whence they were returned direct and unopened to the senders, whose names and addresses appeared on the outside of the letters. The total number of post cards received in the various offices as undelivered was oo's omitted. and parcels, 248,526; 195,145 of these last were re-issued. Articles sent by the halfpenny post are destroyed at the head offices if they cannot be delivered; but the sender may have such articles returned if he writes a request to that effect on the outside of the packet, together with his name and address, and pays a second postage on the return of the packet. The number of registered letters and letters containing property sent through the post with insufficient addresses was 320,041. These letters contained £16,887 in cash and bank-notes, and £656,845 in bills, cheques, money orders, postal orders and stamps. The coin found loose in the post amounted to £1,380, as well as £12,272 in cheques and other forms of remit tance. Foreign Mails. The table in opposite column shows the estimated weight of the mails (excluding parcels) exchanged with the British colonies and foreign countries in 1905-1906. The number of letters and post cards may be roughly taken at 40 to the lb. During the same year 2,474,003 parcels were despatched out of the United Kingdom, and 1,431,035 were received from the British colonies and other countries. Germany, with 356,423, received the largest number of any one country, and easily heads the list of countries from which parcels were imported into the United Kingdom, with 474,669, France coming next with 254,490. The On the 1st of January 1889 a weekly all-sea service to the Australasian colonies was opened. The rates were 4d. per oz. for ietters, and 2d. for post cards, as compared Foreign and with 6d. and 3d. by the quicker route. In the Budget Colonial of 1890 provision was made for a lower and uniform Letter rate of postage from the United Kingdom to India Rates. and the British colonies generally. The rates, which had hitherto varied from 24d. to 4d., 5d., or 6d. per oz., were fixed at 24d. peroz. The change took effect on the 1st of January 1891, and resulted at the outset in a loss of £100,000 a year. fourth postal union congress, which met at Vienna in May and June 1891 (third congress at Lisbon, February and March 1885), took a further step in the direction of uniformity, and on the 1st of October 1891 the 24d. rate was extended to foreign as well as colonial letters from the United Kingdom. The Australasian colonies gave their adhesion to the Union at this congress, and the Cape signified its adhesion at the next congress (Washington, May and June 1897), while British Bechuanaland and Rhodesia entered in 1900, and the whole of the British Empire is now included in the international union. Abyssinia, Afghanistan, Arabia, China and Morocco are the chief countries which remain outside. The rate was 2d. the first oz., and 1}d. per oz. afterwards. Advantage was taken of the presence in England of special representatives of India and the principal British colonies to hold an imperial postal conference in London Imperial in June and July 1897, under the presidency of the Penny Post. duke of Norfolk, postmaster-general. Chiefly at the instance of Canada the duke announced that on and from Christmas Day 1898 an imperial penny post would be established with such of the British colonies as were prepared to reciprocate. The new rates (id. per oz.), which had long been advocated by Mr Henniker Heaton, were adopted then or shortly afterwards by the countries within the empire, with the exceptions of Australasia and the Cape, where the 2d. rate remained unaltered. The Cape came afterwards into the scheme, and New Zealand joined in 1902. Australia did not see its way to make the necessary financial arrangements, but in 19c5 agreed to receive without surcharge letters from other parts of the empire prepaid at id. per oz. and reduced its outward postage to 2d. per oz., raised to 1 oz. in 1907. In 1911 penny postage was adopted throughout the commonwealth and to the United Kingdom. Owing to the special relations existing between the governments of Egypt and the United Kingdom, penny postage for letters passing between the United Kingdom and Egypt and the Sudan was introduced in December 1905. and the Egyptian post office subsequently arranged for the adoption | foreign) in different periods from the reorganization until 1905 of this rate with many of the British colonies. On the 1st of is as follows: 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, Is. up to 3 lb, 25. from 3 to 7 lb, and 3s. from 7 to 11 lb. 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 tb 6 oz., and the postage 2s. per parcel; by the semi-official service parcels up to 1 lb 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 lb, the rate for a parcel being 1s. 6d. for a parcel up to 3 lb in weight, 2s. 6d. up to 7 lb, 3s. 6d. up to 9 lb and 4s. 6d. for 11 lb. 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 mail steamship companies for additional or improved Service. services. The transit charges for special trains conveying mails through France and Italy for Egypt, India, Australia and the Far East have been successively reduced until they now stand at the ordinary Postal Union transit rates. Office Mention should be made of the Army post office, which is now an essential accompaniment of military operations. On Army Post the outbreak of hostilities in South Africa in 1899, the British post office supplied 10 officers and 392 Corps. 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 Orders. 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 whether 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 An historical outline is given in the Forty-Second Report of Postmaster-General (1896), p. 26. | 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 à letter from 4d. to 2d. In 1862 the issue of orders for larger sums was allowed: not exceeding £7, 9d.; not exceeding £10, Is. 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 remitters 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. Foreign and Colonial Money orders may be sent to almost any country in the world. The rates are as follows: for sums not exceeding £1; 3d.; £2, 6d.; £4, 9d.; £6, 18.; £8, Is. 3d.; £10, 1s. 6d.; and for countries on which orders may be issued for higher amounts (limit £40), 3d. for every additional £2 or fraction of £2. Money Orders. The money order system is largely used by the British govern ment departments for the payment of pensions, separation allow ances, 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. Money Orders. 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 Telegraph in the United Kingdom. Two years later it was extended 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 The total sums remitted did not fall off to the same extent, showing that the small orders alone were effected. The average amount for ordinary inland orders is now £2, 198. 5d. for payment through a bank. He may also, on paying for the extra words, send a short private message to his correspondent in the telegram of advice. Telegraph money orders may also be sent to Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Egypt, Faeroe Islands, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, Monaco, Norway, Rumania, Sweden and Switzerland. A fee of 2d. is required in addition to the usual money order commission and the cost of the telegram. The system is being rapidly extended to The telegraph inland money orders in 1905-1906 amounted to 503.543. and the sums so remitted to £1,646,882, an average of 3. 1s. The number of telegraph money order transactions between the United Kingdom and foreign countries amounted to 18,787, representing £139,402. other countries. Orders. Postal orders were first issued on the 1st of January 1881. For some years before that date postmasters-general had considered the possibility of issuing orders for fixed Postal amounts at a small commission to replace money orders for sums under 20s., which had failed to be remunerative. When the plan was submitted to a committee appointed by the treasury, it was objected that postal orders as remitting media would be less secure than money orders. This was met in part by giving a discretionary power to fill in the name of the post office and also of the payee. Another objection which was urged, namely, that they would prove to be an issue of government small notes under another name, was quickly disproved. Parliament sanctioned the scheme in 1880. The first series were: In 1884 a new series was issued and a provision made that broken amounts might be made up by affixing postage stamps, to the value of 5d., to the orders. Postal orders have become increasingly popular as a means of remitting small amounts, especially since the introduction in 1903 of new denominations, rendering it possible to obtain a postal order for every complete sixpence from 6d. to 21s. From 6d. to 2s. 6d. the poundage is d., from 3s. to 15s., 1d., from 15s. 6d. up to 21s., 1d. Postal orders are also furnished with counterfoils, as a means of keeping a record of the number and amount of each order posted. Orders for amounts of 10s. and upwards are printed in red ink. A system of interchange of postal orders between the United Kingdom and India and the British colonies, and also between one colony and another, has been instituted. British postal orders are obtainable also at post offices in Panama, Constantinople, Salonica and Smyrna, and on H.M. ships. The following table shows the number and value of postal orders issued from the beginning to the 31st of March 1907 (000's omitted): It remains to be added that the various statutes relating to the post office, except those relating to telegraphs and the carriage of mails, were consolidated by the Post Office Act 1908. The act repealed and superseded 26 acts wholly and 10 acts in parts. Sections 1-11 deal with the duties of postage; §§ 12-19 with the conditions of transit of postal packets; §§ 20-22 with newspapers; §§ 23-25 with money orders; §§ 26-32 with ship letters; $8 33-44 with the postmaster-general and officers; 88 45-47 with the holding, &c., of land; §§ 48-49 with the extension of postal facilities and accommodation; §§ 50-69 with post office offences; 88 70-78 with legal proceedings, and $879-94 with regulations, definitions, &c. SAVINGS BANKS.1 Savings Banks. The establishment of post office savings banks was practically suggested in the year 1860 by Charles William Sykes of Huddersfield, whose suggestion was cordially received by W. E. Gladstone, then chancellor of the exchequer, to whose conspicuous exertions in parliament the effectual working-out of the measure and also many and great improvements in its details are due. Half a century earlier (1807) it had been proposed to utilize the then existing and rudimentary money order branch of the post office for the collection and transmission of savings from all parts of the country to a central savings bank to be established in London. A bill to that effect was brought into the House of Commons by S. Whitbread, but it failed to receive adequate support, and was withdrawn. When Sykes revived the proposal of 1807 the number of savings banks managed by trustees was 638, but of these about 350 were open only for a few hours on a single day of the week. Only twenty throughout the kingdom were open daily. Twenty-four towns containing upwards of ten thousand inhabitants each were without any savings bank. Fourteen counties were without any. In the existing banks the average amount of a deposit was £4, 6s. 5d. Gladstone's Bill, entitled "An Act to grant additional facilities for depositing small savings at interest, with the security of Government for the due repayment thereof, " became law on the 17th of May 1861, and was brought into operation on the 16th of September following. The banks first opened were in places theretofore unprovided. In February 1862 the act was brought into operation in Scotland and in Ireland. Within two years nearly all the money order offices of the United Kingdom became savings banks, and the expansion in the following table:of the business was continual. The growth of business is shown The code of the 1st of November 1888 did not enlarge the limits of deposits or make any great and conspicuous change in the general system, but the postmaster-general obtained power to offer certain facilities for the transfer of money from one account to another, for the easier disposal of the funds of deceased depositors by means of nominations, and in various ways for the convenience of the customers of the bank. Arrangements were made for reducing to is. the cost of certificates of births, deaths and marriages required for savings bank purposes. In July 1889 Local Loans 3% Stock was made available for purchase through the post office savings bank. "In July 1891," says the report of the postmaster-general in 1897, "another Act of Parliament was passed by which the maximum amount which might be deposited was raised from £150 to £200, inclusive of interest. The annual limit remained at £30, but it was provided that, irrespective of that limit, depositors might replace in the bank the amount of any one withdrawal made in the same year. The object of this provision was to avoid curtailing the saving power of a person who might be driven by emergency to make an inroad upon his store, but who might nevertheless, when the emergency had passed, find himself none the poorer and able to replace the money withdrawn. "The act provided also that where on any account the principal and interest together exceeded £200, intorest should cease only on the amount in excess of £200, whereas previously interest ceased altogether when it had brought the balance of an account up to £200. The next striking development of the Savings Bank arose out of the Free Education Act, passed in September 1891. The For a succinct account, of the history of the post office savings bank," so far as depositors and the general public are concerned," see Forty-third Report of Postmaster-General (1897), pp. 32 seq. government of the day desired that advantage should be taken | purchased in 1898 for £45,000 at West Kensington, and the of the opportunity to inculcate upon parents and children alike foundation-stone of a new building, costing £300,000, was laid by a lesson of thrift-that they should save the school pence which they were no longer bound to pay. The Education Department the prince of Wales on the 24th of June 1899. The entire and the postmaster-general worked in concert to realize this end. removal of the business was carried out in 1903. School managers were urged to press the matter upon all concerned, special stamp slips were prepared and issued, managers were supplied on credit with stocks of stamps to be sold to the children, and clerks from the nearest post offices attended at schools to open accounts and receive deposits. The arrangement began in January 1892; about 1400 schools adopted the scheme at once, and three years later this number had risen to 3000. A sum of nearly £14,000 was estimated to have been deposited in schools in 5 months, and about £40,000 in the first year. Concurrently with the spread of the stamp-slip system in the schools, the extension of School Penny Banks, connected intimately with the Savings Bank, was a conspicuous result of the effort to turn into profitable channels the pence which no longer paid school fees. "In December 1893 another Act of Parliament extended the annual limits of deposits from £30 to £50. The maximum of £200 remained unchanged, but it was provided that any accumulations accruing after that amount had been reached should be invested in government stock unless the depositor gave instructions to the contrary. In December 1893 arrangements were made for the use of the telegraph for the withdrawal of money from the savings bank. Postmasters-general had hesitated long before sanctioning this new departure. It was known that the system was in force abroad, and it was recognized that there might be, and doubtless were, cases in the United Kingdom where the possibility of withdrawing money without delay might be all-important, and might save a depositor from debt and distress. But, on the other hand, it was strongly held that the cause of thrift was sometimes served by interposing a delay between a sudden desire to spend and its realization; and it was also held to be essential to maintain a marked distinction between a bank of deposit for savings and a bank for keeping current accounts." On the whole, the balance of opinion was in favour of the change, and two new methods of withdrawal were provided. A depositor might telegraph for his money and have his warrant sent to him by return of post, or he might telegraph for his money and have it paid to him in an hour or two on the authority of a telegram from the savings bank to the postmaster. The first method cost the depositor about 9d., the second cost him about IS. 3d. for the transaction. On the 3rd of July 1905 a new system of withdrawal was instituted, under which a depositor, on presentation of his book at any post office open for savings bank business, can withdraw immediately any sum not exceeding £1. Depositors have availed themselves extensively of this system. During 1906, 4,758,440 withdrawals, considerably more than one-half of the total number of withdrawals, were made "on demand," and as a consequence the number of withdrawals made by telegraph fell to 122,802, against 168,036 in the previous year (during only half of which the " on demand " system was in force). By an act which came into force on the 1st of January 1895 building societies, duly incorporated, were enabled to deposit at any one time a sum not exceeding £300, and to buy government stock up to £500 through the savings bank. Savings Bank Finance.-The increase in the deposits lodged in the post office savings bank must be ascribed to a variety of causes. Numbers of trustee banks have been closed, and have transferred their accounts to the post office bank; greater facilities have been offered by the bank; the limits of deposit in one year, and of total deposit, have been raised; and, since October 1892, deposits may be made by cheque; while the long-continued fall in the rate of interest made the assured 21% of the post office savings bank an increasing temptation to a class of investors previously accustomed to look elsewhere. The high price of consols, due in part to the magnitude of purchases on savings bank account, proved a serious embarrassment to the profitable working of the bank, which had shown a balance of earnings on each year's working until 1896, after paying its expenses and 21% interest to its depositors. Economical working minimized, but did not remove the difficulty. The average cost of each transaction, originally nearly 7d., has been brought down to 5d. Down to the year 1896, £1.598,767 was paid into the exchequer under § 14 of the Act 40 Vict. c. 13. being the excess of interest which had accrued year by year. But since 1895 there have been deficits in each year, and in 1905, owing principally to the reduced rate on consols, the expenditure exceeded the income by £88,094. The central savings bank having outgrown its accommodation in Queen Victoria Street, London, a new site was Under the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1897, sums awarded as compensation might be invested in the post office savings bank. This arrangement proved so convenient that an act of 1900 authorized a similar investment of money paid into an English county court in ordinary actions at common law, and ordered to be invested for the benefit of an infant or lunatic. In 1906 a committee was appointed to go into the question as to whether the post office should provide facilities for the insurance of employers in respect of liabilities under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, but no scheme was recommended involving post office action either as principal or agent. Post offices, however, exhibit notices drawing attention to the liabilities imposed by the act of 1906, and sub-post masters are encouraged to accept agencies in their private capacity for insurance companies undertaking this class of insurance. in July 1893, the deferred pay of soldiers leaving the army was Inducements to Thrift.-By arrangement with the war office invested on their behalf in the post office savings bank, but it was found that the majority of the soldiers draw out practically the whole amount at once, and the experiment was discontinued in 1901. At the request of large employers of labour, an officer of the savings bank attends at industrial establishments on days when wages are paid, and large numbers of workmen have thus been induced to become depositors. The advantages of the savings bank appear to be now thoroughly appreciated throughout the United Kingdom, as shown by the following table: Totals 9,963,049 152,111,140 15 5 4 1 in 4.3. Between the foundation of the bank and the end of 1899, upwards of £648,000,000, inclusive of interest, was credited to depositors, deposits, 81,804.509 withdrawals, 27,071,556 accounts opened, of which £474,000,000 was withdrawn. There were 232,634.596 and 18.631,573 accounts closed. The cross-entries, or instances where the account is operated upon at a different office from that at which it was opened, amounted to 33%. It is chiefly in respect of this facility that the post office savings bank enjoys its advantage over the trustee savings bank. In 1905, 16,320,204 deposits were made, amounting to £42,300,617. In the same year the withdrawals numbered 7,155,283, the total sum withdrawn being £42,096,037. The interest credited to depositors was £3.567,206, and the total sum standing to their credit on the 31st of December 1900 was £152,111,140. assumed to be fairly typical, showed the following results: A classification of accounts opened for 3 months in 1896, and Occupation as stated by Depositors in opening Account. Professional Official Commercial Agricultural and fishing Railway, shipping and transport Married women, spinsters and children Percentage to Total. 1.55 2.81 1.01 3.88 1.83 18.43 2.96 8.14 8.61 0.37 50.41 100-00 The division according to number of accounts, in the same groups, additional five words, the addresses of sender and receiver being sent free. In 1885 the charge was reduced to a halfpenny a word throughout, including addresses (a system of abbreviated addresses, which could be registered on payment of a guinea a year, being introduced), with a minimum charge of sixpence. To obviate the damage and interruption resulting from storms large numbers of wires have been laid underground. In 1891 the terms under which a new telegraph office was opened, on the request of a person or persons who undertook to guarantee the post office against loss, were reduced. In 1892 rural sanitary authorities were empowered to give such guarantees out of the rates. In 1897, as part of the Jubilee concessions, the government undertook to pay one-half of any deficiency under guarantees. During the six years ended in 1891 the average number of telegraph offices guaranteed each year was 77. From 1892 to 1897 the average rose to 167. In 1905 and 1906 it amounted to 152. The number of telegraph offices opened without guarantee has increased apace, and there are now 12,993 telegraph offices in all. As part of the Jubilee scheme the charges for porterage were reduced as follows: Up to 3 miles free; beyond 3 m., 3d. per m., reckoned from the post office; and arrangements were made for the free delivery at all hours of the day or night of any telegram within the metropolitan postal district. The cost of free delivery up to 3 m. was estimated at £52,000 a year. Total holding of Stock. Foreign Telegrams.-The sixth international telegraph conference, held at Berlin in 1884, effected a reduction in the charges to many countries. E.g. the rate per word was reduced for Russia from 9d. to 6 d., Spain 6d. to 4 d., Italy 5d. to 44d., and India 4s. 7d. to 4s. The cost of repeating a message £ was reduced from one-half to one-fourth of the 12,786,190 original charge for transmission. At the next con14,285.617 ference (1890) held at Paris, further considerable 16,165,548 reductions were effected. The rates to Austria17,357,950 17,877,644 Hungary and Italy were reduced from 41d. to 3d., Russia 6 d. to 51d., Portugal 51d. to 4 d., Sweden Annuities and Life Insurances.-The act of 1882, which came 5d. to 4d., Spain 4 d. to 4d., Canary Islands Is. 7 d. to Is., &c. into operation on the 3rd of June 1884, utilized the machinery The minimum charge for any foreign (European) telegram was of the post office savings bank for annuities and life insurances, which had been effected through the post office at selected towns fixed at 10d. The eighth conference (Budapest, 1896) succeeded in in England and Wales since the 17th of April 1865. Under the making the following reductions, among others, from the United act of 1882 all payments were to be made by means of money Kingdom: China 7s. to 5s. 6d., Java 6s. to 5s., Japan 8s. to deposited in the savings bank, and an order could be given by a 6s. 2d., Mauritius 8s. 9d. to 5s., Persia 2s. 5d. to 1s. 9d. At this depositor that any sum-even to 1d. a week-should be devoted to the purchase of an annuity or insurance so long as he retained conference it was made incumbent upon every state adhera balance in the savings bank. In February 1896 new life insuring to the union to fix in its currency an equivalent approaching ance tables came into operation, with reduced annual rates, and with as nearly as possible the standard rate in gold, and to correct provision for payment of sums insured at various ages as desired. and declare the equivalent in case of any important fluctuation. The following table shows the business done from 1901 to 1905:— TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES £ £ £ £ 1,365 23,630 1,075 14,17592044,296 | 21,972 22,647 380 12,992 1.353 21,764 1,164 17,172 | 722 34,646 22.553 23.045 389 14,646 1,366 24.489 1,210 14,689 592 31.413 22,672 23,063 387 13,126 1,366 21,011 1,297 16,167 517 28,629 22,323 23,031 465 16,878 1.386 24,287 1.347 16,965 741 37.011 21,836 23.376 449 15,593 The history of the development of telegraphy and the early proposals for the transference to the state of the telegraph monopoly will be found in the article TELEGRAPHY. Telegraphs. On the 5th of February 1870 the Telegraph Act of the previous year took effect. The post office assumed control of telegraphic communication within the United Kingdom, and it became possible to send telegrams throughout the country at a uniform charge irrespective of locality or distance. In 1885 sixpenny telegrams were introduced. The charge for a written telegram which came into force in 1870 was one shilling for the first twenty words, and threepence for every The limit of letters in one word of plain language was raised from 10 to 15, and the number of figures from 3 to 5. The International Telegraph Bureau was also ordered to compile an enlarged official vocabulary of code words, which it is proposed to recognize as the sole authority for words which may be used in cypher telegrams sent by the public. (See Appendix to Postmaster-General's Report, 1897.) See further TELEGRAPH. Ten years of state administration of the telegraphs had not passed before the postmaster-general was threatened with a formidable rival in the form of the telephone, which, assumed a practical shape about the year 1878, the Telephones. first exchange in the United Kingdom being established in No. Amount. No. Amount of claims on death and surrender. |
