POSTAL SYSTEM

institution, usually under the control of a governmental or quasi-governmental agency, that makes it possible to send a letter, packet, or parcel to any addressee, in the same country or abroad, with the expectation that it will be received. The earliest references to postal systems are from Egypt in about 2000 BC and the Chou dynasty in China 1,000 years later. China is also believed to have developed the first posthouse relay system. Various centralized systems for relaying messages were also instituted in the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages there were no centralized postal systems, but royal houses, municipalities, religious orders, and universities maintained corps of messengers. During the Renaissance the growth of trade, as well as the development of the printing press, gave rise to private postal services-most notably that of the Thurn and Taxis family in the Holy Roman Empire-that were speedy, efficient, and highly profitable. The organization of nation-states led to government monopolization of these services and to the establishment of national systems. The efficiency of these systems improved steadily, especially after the extensive road building of the 18th century made way for the introduction of the stagecoach. Another major milestone in postal progress was the idea, first proposed by the British educator and tax reformer Rowland Hill in 1837, of charging a single uniform rate for delivery based on weight rather than distance and using prepaid adhesive postage stamps. The implementation of these and other reforms during the mid-19th century vastly simplified postal organization and were the key to the speed and economy of modern postal systems. The introduction of steamships and railroads in the 19th century greatly facilitated the delivery of mail between nations. Until mid-century, however, there was no real international cooperation: postal relations between states consisted of a bewildering array of bilateral treaties, which were further confused by the diversity of currencies and units of weight. Serious steps toward reform began in the 1860s, culminating in the establishment by treaty of the General Postal Union in 1875 (in 1878 the name was changed to the Universal Postal Union). Each member country was allowed to retain the postage it collected on international mail while agreeing to treat foreign mail the same way it treated its own. A major alteration of this convention was made in 1969, when it was decided that redress payments would be made to certain countries where there was an imbalance between incoming and outgoing mail. The two most significant advancements of the 20th century have been the development of reliable airmail service and the introduction of automated mail handling. After some experimentation in air delivery before World War I, regular international service (between Paris and London) began in 1919. In the United States regular transcontinental service began in 1924. On the eve of World War II regular service across the North Atlantic had been inaugurated, but the boom in global airmail service did not begin until after the war. The improvements in mail transport and the expansion of industry and commerce that accompanied the Industrial Revolution have resulted in a tremendous increase in the volume of mail that postal systems must handle. Beginning with the introduction of the railway post office in England in 1838, in which mail was sorted en route to its destination, postal services have sought to implement technology to speed up mail handling. In the 20th century mechanical equipment has been developed that can handle mail in bulk form, cull letters from other mail, face and cancel letters, and code and sort letters. Machines have also been devised that can read elements of a letter's address electronically. Further advances in computer and data-transmission technology have given rise to new methods of postal handling and delivery. Since 1980 electronically produced facsimile transmission has become available in a number of countries. Teleimpression services have also been developed to transmit bulk correspondence in electronic form to regional postal printing centres. the institution-almost invariably under the control of a government or quasi-government agency-that makes it possible for any person to send a letter, packet, or parcel to any addressee, in the same country or abroad, in the expectation that it will be conveyed according to certain established standards of regularity, speed, and security. The service is paid for in advance by the sender according to a relatively simple scale of fees based on weight and, in some countries, on speed of service required. Prepayment is ordinarily made by means of postage stamps, franking machine impression, or printed indication of postage paid; payment is not usually required of the addressee. It may seem tedious to catalog at such length characteristics that are familiar to everyone. Their very familiarity, however, and the consequent unthinking acceptance of them make it important to emphasize that until recently postal systems lacked many of these features. Although the basic need for a system to exchange written communications has been felt by all human societies and has been met in many ways, the evolution of varied postal systems adopted by different societies through the centuries into the basically similar pattern of today's state monopoly service has been a long and difficult process. Today the governments of many countries use their postal systems to provide a range of services that often have no direct connection with the traditional function of exchanging letters. To provide for the collection, transport, and delivery of letters throughout a country, it has been necessary to establish a network of post offices extending into the remotest areas. Such a network of offices, staffed by agents of the state, provides an efficient banking service in areas in which it would be uneconomic for a commercial or state bank to establish a branch office. Many governments also pay various social security benefits-such as pensions and family allowances-through vouchers that can be cashed at post offices. In some countries post offices also collect certain taxes, normally through the sale of licenses and revenue or tax stamps. In fact, a wide range of ancillary services is provided through the postal system. In some African and Asian countries, for instance, the postal system helps distribute antimalarial drugs. While the variety of such services clearly reflects the ever-increasing use made of postal systems throughout the modern world, they lie outside the scope of this article, which concentrates on the traditional postal or mail services. Additional reading Postal services are treated in official publications, such as legislative texts, manuals, working instructions, postal guides, annual reports, and commission reports; much of this material is available to the public. Many postal administrations publish periodical reviews or bulletins informing employees and users of recent events and trends. Rowland Hill, Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability, 4th ed. (1838), is a work by an expert whose reforms affected subsequent worldwide postal development; Rowland Hill and George Birkbeck Hill, The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of Penny Postage, 2 vol. (1880), provides a fuller account of Sir Rowland's innovations. Detailed studies of specific postal service aspects are A.D. Smith, The Development of Rates of Postage (1917); A.D. Little, The Market for Postal Services (1968); and Michael E. Corby, The Postal Business 1969-79: A Study in Public Sector Management (1979). International mail services are treated in George A. Codding, Jr., The Universal Postal Union (1964); and L. Zilliacus, Mail for the World: From the Carrier to the Universal Postal Union (1953), a popular treatment; both F. Staff, Transatlantic Mail (1956, reissued 1980); and Howard Robinson, Carrying British Mails Overseas (1964), provide detailed treatment of the expansion of international mail conveyance.General and historical literature includes Hans Rackow (ed.), Handwrterbuch des Postwesens, 2nd ed. (1953), a small but comprehensive encyclopaedia; HMSO, The Post Office: An Historical Summary (1911); Ivie G.J. Hamilton, An Outline of Postal History and Practice with a History of the Post Office of India (1910); Howard. Robinson, The British Post Office (1948, reissued 1970); and D. Norona (ed.), Cyclopedia of United States Postmarks and Postal History (1933-35, reprinted 1975). Studies concerning the United States include President's Commission On Postal Organization, Towards Postal Excellence, 5 vol. (1968), also known as the Kappel Commission Report; Carl H. Scheele, A Short History of the Mail Service (1970); G. Cullinan, The Post Office Department (1968); Robert J. Myers, The Coming Collapse of the Post Office (1975); Alan L. Sorkin, The Economics of the Postal System: Alternatives and Reform (1980); Richard J. Margolis, At the Crossroads: An Inquiry into Rural Post Offices and the Communities They Serve (1980); John T. Tierney, Postal Reorganization: Managing the Public's Business (1981); and Evaluation of The United States Postal Service (1982), a report by a panel of the National Academy of Public Administration. Somewhat dated but still useful are William Smith, The History of the Post Office in British North America, 1639-1870 (1920, reprinted 1973); and Wayne E. Fuller, R.F.D.: The Changing Face of Rural America (1964, reprinted 1966). The postal history of France is extensively described in Eugne Vaill, Histoire gnrale des postes franaises, 6 vol. (1947-53), and Histoire des postes franaises, 2 vol. (1946-47). Postal services in developing countries are treated in Union Postale Universelle, Memorandum on the Role of the Post as a Factor in Economic and Social Development (1969).The origins, development, and procedures of the Universal Postal Union are treated in George A. Codding, Jr., The Universal Postal Union (1964); see also the bimonthly review Union Postale, which is devoted to a wide range of questions concerning the UPU and various general aspects of postal activities; and "Collection of Postal Studies," a series by the UPU's Consultative Council For Postal Studies, comprising more than 150 reports on postal service modernization, mechanization, economics, transport, and working methods, available in French with much of the material also available in English. Andrew C. Brix The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica