Is not the closing of the British Post Offices in China rather premature, considering that parcels for abroad are not yet accepted for transmission at inland offices? Your Shanghai correspondents from time to time call attention to postal anomalies of trivial import as compared with those connected with the parcel post from the interior. In the fast it has been necessary to send parcels for home to a friend or agent at the coast, who would re-post at the B.P.O. Surely those responsible for the matter have seriously overlooked the interests of residents away from railway lines, to leave us with such poor facilities for outward parcel post when the passing of the foreign Post Offices afforded improvement. the opportunity of demanding some
Then, too, there is the question of this squeeze of 5 per cent. ad valorem on parcels. Why should one sending a parcel to be posted home from the coast be mulleted that amount? More absurd still is the fact that, if you should, for instance, leave your overcoat behind at an inland city and send for it to be sent on by parcel post, in addition to postage you have to pay this fine. Should a man's conscience permit him to declare that his $20 coat is only worth $2 he saves $1, but he would be in difficulties to make a claim in case of loss or damage. Should you send a clock or your boots to be repaired, the duty has to be paid both ways, of course. And why?
These taxes are farmed gut and the collection is done in' characteristic ways, the office, of course, being just as far from the Post Office in some cities as it is possible to get. On the other hand, it should be noted that, in certain small places where there is no tax collector, you do not need to pay. so, if you have much parcel mail there is a way out of it for elastic consciences. One of your recent correspondents defined "'reason'' as "mathematics and logic universally applied." Would somebody tell us ow and.on whom to apply the test of reason with regard to Post Offices and tax offices?
To prevent misunderstanding, it must be added that the above references to "conscience" are purely hypothetical. Permanent resi dents in the interior are not often of that type. wonder to me is that' more do not get it. Quite a number of notices have been circulated warning the people of the danger of eating exposed melons, etc., but it does not seem to make much difference.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.