This cheque will be sent by him to the Central Office at Vienna. There are special envelopes for the transmission of these advices which are sold by the Office to the possessors of cheque books. The Central Office will immediately transmit to the person designated an assignment of payment and the cheque will be paid to him on his returning this assignment, signed by him as a receipt. He will detach from it, in order to preserve it, a portion on which is noted the amount of the sum he has received, who the holder of the account is, the said portion bearing also the stamp of the Postal Office at Vienna.
A notice to the post office where it is payable will have been sent at the same time, giving authority to pay the cheque. (Fig. IV.)
Everyday 4,000 to 5,000 of these authorisations to pay cheques are issued. Ladies write out these authorisations by means of type-writing machines: their fingers work the machine with astounding rapidity. According to the data given me each of them prints every day 400 to 500 assignments of payment to the persons designated and authorisations to the post-offices to pay; and the hours of work averaging seven, they write about one a minute.
Thirdly. (Postanweisungen.)
The cheque can be drawn in favour of a person living in Hungary or a foreign country. It is enough that on the back is noted:—«for the issue of a post office order in favour of N ...», and that it is signed. The Central Office at Vienna will send immediately a post office order of corresponding import. The telegraphic order can even be used.
Statistics distinguish these three categories of cheques and enable us to follow their movement.
Payments effected
| By cheques payable to bearer (Cassa checks)[I] | By cheques to particular persons paid at the Post Offices[J] | By foreign Post Office Orders[K] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1884 | 13,639,555 | 25,791,497 | 83,834 |
| 1885 | 78,375,622 | 132,053,520 | 777,914 |
| 1886 | 141,052,319 | 220,198,781 | 1,420,668 |
| 1887 | 178,365,871 | 278,559,689 | 1,583,098 |
| 1888 | 180,295,982 | 280,241,673 | 1,705,948 |
| 1889 | 223,060,247 | 303,720,753 | 2,008,593 |
| 1890 | 271,660,264 | 335,293,896 | 2,469,268 |
| 1891 | 318,239,728 | 361,727,429 | 2,611,044 |
| 1892 | 347,410,842 | 398,456,797 | 2,558,398 |
| 1893 | 386,027,972 | 437,492,243 | 2,590,614 |
| 1894 | 433,377,459 | 472,345,574 | 3,028,639 |
| 1895 | 463,540,198 | 524,212,798 | 3,781,586 |