Universal Postal Congress 1891

IV. Universal Postal Congress
Venue	Vienna ,, Austria-Hungary
Period	May 20 to July 4, 1891

Registered letter from the Universal Postal Congress Vienna to Tasmania , Australia

The fourth Universal Postal Congress took place in Vienna (then: Austria-Hungary) in 1891 . Before that, there was a short conference in Brussels in 1890 that served as a preparation. On a gala evening that was organized on June 25, 1891 by the men's choir of the Imperial and Royal Postal and Telegraph Officials and the Postal Officials Association in Vienna on the occasion of the Universal Postal Congress for the members of the Universal Postal Union, the association member Heinrich Müller conducted the self-composed piece, the "Congress Overture".

Attendees

In addition to the previous Universal Postal Union members, Australia took part as a new member.

decisions

The Congress of Vienna worked with great thoroughness on all parts of the treaty provisions, supplemented them and aimed to simplify and uniform the provisions. He adopted a new addition to agreements on newspaper subscription by post, led a new shipment type the box with a value temporarily and left at the registered items and insured items the cash to. The Congress also instructed the International Bureau to publish a list of all postal locations in the world in alphabetical order and to keep it updated. Finally, the Congress accepted a German proposal, according to which this office mediates the comparison and adjustment of the accounting of the administrations relating to the postal service, whereby this is considerably simplified. The question of the transit of mail has been a particular problem at all congresses since the foundation. The German administration campaigned from the beginning and again and again for the fundamental free of charge for transit services. However, these services were different in the transit countries, exceptionally high for individual administrations and, in particular, in the case of sea transport only burdensome for that part of the administration, so that, given fair consideration, the free execution could not be demanded without further ado. Only a gradual dismantling was possible, which was then discussed at every congress and gradually implemented to a tolerable degree.

There were agreements and treaties on the subject: Wertbrief- and value box agreement Parcel contract , money order agreements , postal order agreements treated and Mail newspaper deal.

Heinrich von Stephan declared that the Universal Postal Union served "mutual understanding with the ultimate goal of peace on earth" and modestly refused the "honorary presidency" intended for him.

“The ideas are not the property of a mortal person. They float in the atmosphere of the entire epoch, at first indefinitely, then in a certain way, until they condense and are reflected in that they take shape and come into life. The idea of ​​unification corresponds to the endeavors of our century, it dominates many areas of the activity of today's human race and forms a true driving force of modern civilization. Moreover, it was promoted for the great engine of international postal traffic by the irrefutable fact that the enormous masses to be set in motion, which grew more and more from day to day and spread from border to border to the most distant seas and shores, an imperative simplification of the whole mechanism required the only means to meet the needs, which had grown almost beyond measure, and to maintain the indispensable speed and regularity. These are the elements of nature that were the true creators of the Universal Postal Union. This is also the reason for its strength. "

- Heinrich von Stephan

In order to reduce the number of signatures, it was decided that only one copy of each contract should be signed and this should be deposited in the Vienna State Archives . All other versions of the contracts were certified by the State Chancellery in Vienna with the official note "For correctness" , since otherwise 25,366 signatures would have had to be provided. The number of authorized representatives who had to sign was 74. They first had to sign the main contract for the Universal Postal Service, which had to be updated after Paris in 1878, as well as the corresponding implementation regulations and a final protocol. This resulted in 3 × 74 = 222 signatures. Now there were five additional contracts:

1. via the parcel post service
2. for the money post
3. via the postal order
4. via mail order traffic (collection of funds)
5. via the newspaper service.

Each of these five subsidiary contracts also had implementation regulations. In these five subsidiary contracts, however, not all 48 states were involved, but only a certain number, which those branches of service allowed. This circle expanded with each congress, for example the parcel service, which began in 1875 with 10 states, was increased to 23. The number of signatures under the five subsidiary contracts and the implementation regulations, of which a copy was also required for each country, was 14,710, plus the above 10,656 makes a total of 25,366 signatures.

Closing session

The final session of the congress took place on July 4th. After the session opened, the North American delegate, Mr. Potter, read out a cable telegram from the United States Postmaster General, Mr. Wanamaker, in which he thanked Congress for choosing Washington for the next meeting. Then contracts and conventions were signed. In view of the fact that the execution of one copy of the contract with the signatures for each of the contracting countries would have required the exchange of 25,366 signatures, only one copy of each contract was signed, which was included in the k. and k. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the individual states received copies with printed signatures. After the documents had been signed, the President, Head of Section von Obentraut, gave a retrospective description of the course of the Congress and the results of it. He noted with satisfaction that the Congress of Vienna, after overcoming significant difficulties, brought the great ideas of the Universal Postal Union through the entry of the Australian colonies, and at that time the South African Republic in the near future, a significant step closer to their realization and indeed did so has almost brought it to completion. In addition, significant improvements had been introduced in the main treaty and the other conventions and new conventions had been concluded. The results of the Congress decisions benefited the public, whose interests the Congress was primarily called to protect. He described the unification of the representatives of all member countries for joint peaceful work in a country which did its best to receive them with open arms as a no less success of the congress. The President thanked all participants for their contribution from the offices. Afterwards, the Dutch delegate, Mr. Hofstede, as old-age president, expressed the thanks of the congress for the brilliant and warm hospitality. Mr. Hofstede asked the President to convey the thanks of the Congress members to His Majesty the Emperor, the Minister of Commerce and the Mayor of Vienna. He thanked the President for the dignified, elegant and impartial conduct of the negotiations. State Secretary Heinrich von Stephan thanked him for the honorable mention dedicated to him, but declined the particularly outstanding contribution to the success of the congress attributed to him on the grounds:

“That all participants contributed equally to this success. The building of the Universal Postal Union was founded in Bern, expanded in Paris and fortified in Lisbon. The Congress of Vienna completed and crowned the work and planted the flag on top of it, which now wafts across all five continents as a symbol of modern civilization and the brotherhood of peoples. The success of the congresses does not only consist in the introduction of new advances to perfect the great machine of international traffic, but their significance is higher and ideal: they reinforce the spirit of unity, the commonality of ideas, the harmony of feelings, in short everything those elements of a higher order which, so to speak, form the oxygen source of the Universal Postal Union. ... When the next congress meets across the ocean in five years' time, he will be faced with new tasks ... The big question of transit will remain reserved for the next congress. ... "

- Heinrich von Stephan

The President of the Lisbon Congress, General Director von Barros, the Russian delegate General Besack, the Italian delegate Chiaradia, the Uruguayan representative Sesviela Guarch and the Egyptian representative Saba Pascha also spoke to thank you for the hospitality enjoyed and the Expressing satisfaction with the successes of the Congress. President von Obentraut then, after thanking the previous speakers in his own name and in the name of the Austrian administration, declared the meeting and the Congress of Vienna to be closed.

literature

• Concise dictionary of the postal system :
  • 1st edition; 1926: pp. 683-684
  • 2nd Edition; 1953: p. 780 (same article as in the 1st edition with additions)
  • 1st supplement to the 2nd edition; 1956: Erwin Müller-Fischer: Timeline for the history of the postal system
• History of the Deutsche Post
  • Volume 3: History of the Deutsche Reichspost 1871 to 1945 by Karl Sautter ; Federal Printing Office; Frankfurt; 1951
• Archive for German Postal History (Ed .: German Society for Postal and Telecommunications History ):
  • Marc Moser: 100 years of the Universal Postal Union; Part 1 in volume 1/1974 and part 2 in volume 1/1975
• J. Jung: The Universal Postal Union and the Vienna Postal Congress ; Leipzig Duncker & Humblot , 1892, special print from Schmoller's yearbook for legislation, 26th year, 1st half.
• German traffic newspaper (DVZ)
• Union Postale

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DVZ, 15th year; No. 28, Berlin, Friday, July 10, 1891; P. 260
2. ^ Karl Sautter: History of the Deutsche Post - Part 3 - History of the Deutsche Reichspost 1871 to 1945; P. 290
3. ^ Karl Sautter: History of the Deutsche Post - Part 3 - History of the Deutsche Reichspost 1871 to 1945; P. 291
4. ↑ Concise dictionary of the postal system: 1st addendum to the 2nd edition; P. 189
5. ↑ DVZ, 15th year; No. 28, Berlin, Friday, July 10, 1891; P. 260
6. ↑ DVZ, 15th year; No. 29, Berlin, Friday, July 17, 1891; P. 267.
7. ↑ DVZ, 15th year; No. 29, Berlin, Friday, July 17, 1891; P. 268.