In 1850 the rates were reduced to three cents for any distance less than three hundred miles, if prepaid, and five cents if not prepaid, and, for a greater distance, six cents if prepaid and ten cents if not prepaid. The prepayment of postage was finally made compulsory in 1855. In 1863 a uniform rate of three cents for single letters not exceeding one half ounce in weight was adopted for all distances, and twenty years later, in 1883, the two-cent letter was adopted. In 1917 the rates of three cents on letters and two cents for postal cards were adopted, the extra cent in each case being for war revenue. On June 30, 1919, however, the three-cent letter rate and the two-cent postal-card rate expired by limitation, and the two-cent letter rate and one-cent postal-card rate returned.
When the parcel post was established in 1913, and the air mail service was inaugurated in 1918, special stamps were issued, although they were soon discontinued. Our friends who collect stamps may be glad to know that a philatelic stamp agency has been established under the third assistant postmaster-general at Washington, which sells to stamp-collectors at the face-value all stamps desired which are in stock and which may have special philatelic value to stamp-collectors.
Emergency Measures During the War
As a war measure, on July 31, 1918, by executive order issued in accordance with a Joint Resolution of the House and Senate, the telegraph and telephone systems of the United States were placed under the control of the postmaster-general, and on November 2, 1918, the marine cables were also placed under his control. These utilities were conducted by a wire control board, of which the postmaster-general was the head. The marine cables were returned to their owners May 2, 1919, and the telephone and telegraph lines were returned to their owners in accordance with an act of Congress on August 1, 1919, having been under government control just one year.
When the telegraph was invented, in 1847, the first line between Washington and Baltimore was built through an appropriation authorized by Congress. Then, as now, there were public men who advocated government ownership of the wire systems as a means of communication, the same as the postal service. It was placed in private control, however, one year after its inauguration, and has grown up under that control. The Government's operation during the war of both the wire and railroad systems seems to have cooled the ardor of even the most enthusiastic advocates of government ownership of such utilities.
Early in 1919 the Post-office Department used the wireless telegraph in connection with air mail service. A central station is located in the Post-office Department Building at Washington, and other stations are located in cities near the transcontinental air mail route from New York City to San Francisco. Experiments are being made with the wireless as a means of directing airplanes in flight, especially during foggy and stormy weather, and it is expected planes will ultimately be equipped with either wireless telegraph or telephone outfits. On April 22, 1921, the Post-office Department adopted the use of the wireless telephone in addition to the wireless telegraph service, and is now using both in the air mail service, and also for the purpose of broadcasting to farming communities governmental information such as market reports from the Agricultural Department and the big market centers. It is not contemplated, however, that the Post-office Department will maintain the wireless telegraph and telephone except as an aid in the development of the air mail service; only when not in use for this purpose is it utilized to broadcast the governmental information referred to for the benefit of farming communities and without expense to them.
The Post-office in the War
As may be imagined, the work of the Post-office Department consequent upon the war was enormous; it participated in and did war work for practically all other departments of the Government. Besides the great increase of ordinary mail as a result of the war, it assisted in the work of the draft, the Liberty Loans, the Red Cross service, food, fuel, and labor conservation, the enforcement of the Alien Enemy and Espionage laws, and nearly every war activity placed upon it some share of the burden. The Post-office Department, whose function is purely civil, with responsibility for a business service that must not be interrupted, kept open channels of communication upon which the vital activities of the Nation depended, and unquestionably made material contributions toward the successful prosecution of the war.
The department was of assistance to the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Intelligence of both the Army and the Navy; the Department of Labor, in collecting data relative to firms and classes of labor in the country; the Department of Agriculture, the Shipping Board, and various independent bureaus of the Government. Under proclamation of the President, postmasters of towns having populations of 5000 or less had the duty of registering enemy aliens. The department collected all the statistics and lists of aliens for the Department of Justice. A similar work was performed with respect to the duties of the Alien Property Custodian. Nine million questionnaires were distributed for the War Department, each being handled three times during the first draft; about thirteen million questionnaires were distributed in the second draft. The department distributed literature for the Liberty Loans and the Red Cross, and assisted in the sale of War Savings Stamps and Internal Revenue Stamps. New postal service was established for the soldiers at nearly a hundred cantonments in this country. When the American forces went abroad an independent postal service was established in France by the Post-office Department which was later turned over to the military authorities. That the United States postal service was the only one in the world that did not break down during the war might well be cause for pardonable pride.
Beginning of Registered Mail, Postal Money-orders,
Savings, Free Delivery, Special Delivery,
Parcel Post, and Air Mail