Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/603

American, and French post-offices established in the ports opened to foreign commerce. Since the establishment of a line of mail-boats between Japan, China, Corea, and Vladivostock, the bulk of international postal matter has constantly increased. The adhesion of Japan to the Universal Postal Union in 1878 still further facilitated foreign correspondence.

In 1878 the Japanese delegates were sent for the first time to the second Postal Congress, held in Paris, and Japan has been represented by delegates to the Congresses assembled at Lisbon in 1885, at Vienna in 1891, and in 1897 at Washington.

The postal service is not limited to the sending of letters; it deals also with the transmission of money and of parcels of small dimensions, to facilitate commercial and industrial transactions. The Administration of Posts inaugurated an inland parcel post in October, 1892. The post-offices opened for this service at first numbered only 287, and the number of parcels sent was only 40,975, but in proportion as the number of offices was increased, the charges reduced, and the methods of transportation bettered, the annual increase became considerable.

The inland service of parcel post began in 1879, and the first exchange with Hongkong was effected at the same time as those of postal orders. Later the Conventions relating to the interchange of parcel post were successively concluded with Canada in 1890, with Germany in 1894, with England in 1896, and with France in 1898. The limit of weight, the dimensions, and the volume as well as the charge on parcels vary, following the country with which the postal matter is interchanged. The employment of the service increases yearly.

Postal orders, being one of the important branches of postal service, the Administration of Posts desired to create a service in 1871, at the time of the establishment of the letter postal service, but was not able to do so.

However, the regulations for the service of postal orders were published in September, 1874, and were put into force in January, 1875. This was the beginning of the inland postal order service.

At first only one kind of postal order was employed—the ordinary money order—but so that the public could send