It is difficult to determine the difference in the amounts of business done under the Spanish and American systems for the reason that the Spanish figures are in many cases obviously unreliable. The latest available statistics, for the fiscal year 1893, show an enormous discrepancy between the amount of mail matter claimed to have been transported and the revenue received, which should theoretically have been about twice as large as seems to have been collected. It is believed, however, that the following figures are fairly reliable.
The number of post-offices has increased from four hundred sixty-six to five hundred ninety. It is anticipated that one hundred fifty additional post-offices will be established in smaller municipalities and out-of-the-way places within the present year, and as it is these places are receiving postal service through the employment of competent letter-carriers, who are collecting and delivering their mails.
Only sixty-five of the Spanish post-offices were in charge of officials employed by the general government. The remaining four hundred one were looked after in a way by local municipal officials. All postmasters are now paid by the general government.
The mails are being carried with much greater frequency than ever before. During the last year there were 273 contract routes on which mails were carried a total of 873,957 miles at a cost of $40,440.75.
So far as can be judged from the figures available the mails despatched from the islands during the fiscal year 1912 were about five times those annually despatched during the late years of the Spanish régime.
In 1893 nine parcel post packages were sent to foreign countries. In 1912, 2640 such parcels went abroad. In 1893 the number of registered articles transmitted between Philippine post-offices was 29,078. In 1912 it was 535,137. The increased use of newspapers is shown by the fact that in 1893 the weight of the newspapers mailed for delivery within the Philippines was 121,070 pounds, while in 1912 it was 687,568 pounds. This difference is no doubt largely due to the severe restrictions imposed on the press under the Spanish régime as compared with the freedom which it enjoys to-day.
The Spanish postal administration paid little attention to complaints by Filipinos relative to losses of articles transmitted through the mails. Now the most trivial complaint is painstakingly investigated, and only in rare cases is there failure to recover the value of lost or stolen articles from the postal employee responsible. The sanctity of the mails which now prevails is an important factor in the increased use which the people make of them. It is claimed that under the Spanish régime few matters of importance were intrusted to the mails by Filipinos because their letters were so frequently opened and inspected by government officials.
The Spaniards had four subsidized mail routes after 1897. We have nine subsidized routes, and six others which are maintained wholly at government expense by the Bureau of Navigation.
The Spanish government provided no postal money-order service whatever, and the transmission of money by mail with safety was impossible. We have 265 money-order post-offices and during 1912 issued 160,524 money-orders payable in the islands, the total sum of which was $5,592,205.85. We also issued 68,229 orders amounting to $1,764,608.02 payable in the United States, and 2607 orders amounting to $68,364.83 payable in other countries. These amounts were transmitted largely by Filipinos, who now do a considerable mail order business with merchants in the United States.
A further great convenience not furnished by the Spanish government is the payment of money-orders transmitted by telegraph. During the last fiscal year there were forwarded 8333 such orders, covering payments amounting to $1,128,229.79.