Galatz

Postal network    

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Author: ARDELEANU KONSTANTIN

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During the 18^th century, the postal service, limited to the carriage of official mail, was improved by the Phanariote princes who relied on it to spread the information which many times proved vital during the complicated political circumstances of the area. The route from Galaţi to Iaşi, via Bârlad, was extremely important and well provided with postal stations and horses. The service was administered by the central authorities, but its expenses were covered at a local level. In certain periods the postal system was operated by private entrepreneurs who received subsidies from the central government, which also appointed the head of the service[1].

During the Russian military occupation of 1828–1834 the postal service was once more leased to private enterprisers, the contract being granted in Moldavia to Nicolae Privileghie in 1830. The “Organic Statutes” introduced a modern organisation of this service[2], which besides mail also carried private and public money. By the middle of the century the institution was greatly improved and the transport of official mail between county capitals was carefully regulated. A modern statute was introduced in 1857, when the service was organised by western standards, with post boxes, postal stamps, trained postmen, etc. However, it was limited to the carriage of domestic correspondence and parcels, as the Austrians and Russians had parallel postal services, established with the authorisation of the Sublime Porte. A new postal law was introduced in 1865, together with a regulation of tariffs for mail and telegraph, as the two institutions had a common direction. By conventions concluded in the next decade with Austria and Russia, the Romanian postal service also undertook the carriage of international mail. The tables below show the great development of this service during late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

The post office in Galaţi was one of the oldest and most important branches in Romania. By the end of the 19^th century there existed 40 mail boxes placed in different areas of the city, the correspondence being collected four times a day by two postal carts[3].

Table 4.2.5.1_1

Incomes of the postal–telegraph office of Galaţi, 1887–1891[4]

Year	Post	Telegraph	Total	National income
1887–1888	177,323	152,673	329,996	3,644,640
1888–1889	181,987	168,067	350,055	3,780,480
1889–1890	203,748	196,785	400,553	5,100,000
1890–1891	201,979	187,576	389,555	5,300,000

In 1889–1890, 134,031 lei were charged for postal stamps, and the rest came from taxes on the delivery of money, parcels and orders. In the same year, the telegraph–postal office of Galaţi had total expenses amounting to 125,404 lei[5]. A Palace of the Post Office was built in 1906–1908 to host post, telegraph and telephone services, as well as the postmaster’s residence[6].

Picture 4.2.5.1_1 The Palace of the Post Office (contemporary picture)
Source: http://www.galati.djc.ro

Table 4.2.5.1_2

Domestic correspondence sent, by categories of objects, 1867–1915[7]

Year	Total	Letters	Postcards	Prints and other objects	Tax free	Registered correspondence
1867	1,390	859	-	-	531	-
1868	1,290	789	-	-	501	-
1869	1,909	1,375	-	-	534	-
1870	2,320	1,820	-	-	500	-
1871	2,725	2,130	-	-	595	-
1872	3,092	2,399	-	-	693	-
1874	4,726	2,155	78	1,355	1,013	125
1875	5,125	2,281	101	1,647	956	140
1876	4,515	2,278	130	1,203	765	139
1877	8,104	3,223	190	3,487	955	249
1878	9,575	4,245	348	3,783	1,010	189
1879	6,441	3,205	628	1,292	1,097	219
1880	8,227	3,576	686	1,782	1,961	222
1881	9,007	4,104	700	2,112	1,847	244
1882	9,801	4,394	946	2,177	1,915	369
1883	10,267	4,707	995	2,199	1,985	381
1884	10,336	4,932	1,057	2,574	1,493	280
1885	12,816	5,601	1,295	3,370	2,052	498
1886	13,217	5,845	1,315	3,426	2,130	501
1887	13,575	6,021	1,386	3,351	2,211	606
1888	14,085	5,713	2,023	2,852	2,908	589
1889	14,944	6,478	1,901	3,170	2,798	597
1890	15,053	6,540	2,188	3,285	2,430	610
1891	17,295	7,438	2,505	3,691	2,697	964
1892	17,767	7,476	2,812	3,709	2,710	1,060
1893	22,722	7,870	6,986	3,895	2,845	1,126
1894	29,675	8,675	6,181	11,248	2,861	710
1895	41,728	8,271	6,808	22,412	3,512	725
1896	44,129	8,217	7,154	23,662	4,312	784
1897	55,622	10,276	12,259	26,208	6,012	867
1898	50,573	10,084	8,944	23,850	6,734	961
1899	55,512	10,372	8,273	29,221	6,452	1,194
1900	47,105	9,754	8,799	23,171	4,493	888
1901	43,080	9,062	9,941	18,166	5,142	769
1902	57,592	12,058	14,148	25,485	5,086	815
1903	60,678	12,520	15,270	25,181	6,623	1,084
1904	76,844	14,552	18,232	35,739	7,227	1,094
1905	192,399	14,688	20,598	147,619	8,206	1,288
1906	194,556	16,150	25,096	139,559	12,412	1,339
1907	121,266	15,911	26,461	69,980	7,152	1,762
1908	132,347	20,138	20,580	70,793	10,656	2,180
1909	126,096	16,436	26,567	68,719	12,129	2,245
1910	137,656	19,835	29,672	74,148	11,998	2,003
1911	140,389	19,491	32,682	72,846	13,187	2,183
1912	149,386	23,666	35,787	74,156	12,943	2,834
1913	171,471	27,367	38,671	88,608	15,128	1,697
1914	133,333	24,141	32,885	58,458	14,755	3,094
1915	153,626	26,133	32,082	77,072	15,628	2,711

Table 4.2.5.1_3

External correspondence sent, by categories of objects, 1872–1915[8]

Year	Total	Simple correspondence			Registered correspondence
		Letters	Postcards	Prints and other objects
1872	709	516	-	-	193
1874	870	638	-	141	91
1875	1,167	900	-	163	104
1876	1,438	1,081	36	233	88
1877	2,099	1,654	53	278	114
1878	2,378	1,740	67	430	141
1879	929	543	42	226	118
1880	1,396	833	67	299	197
1881	2,160	1,248	165	470	277
1882	2,503	1,390	216	550	347
1883	2,644	1,591	193	536	324
1884	2,558	1,516	188	538	316
1885	2,488	1,483	200	603	202
1886	2,500	1,479	204	611	206
1887	2,540	1,497	204	631	208
1888	4,867	2,493	856	1,169	349
1889	4,562	2,379	792	1,044	347
1890	4,758	2,506	816	1,072	361
1891	5,626	2,905	997	1,307	417
1892	6,196	3,020	1,233	1,429	514
1893	6,509	3,170	1,294	1,500	545
1894	4,708	2,484	900	932	392
1895	5,146	2,796	936	1,036	378
1896	5,661	2,787	1,133	1,348	393
1897	6,153	3,072	1,156	1,461	464
1898	6,623	3,666	1,124	1,250	583
1899	7,082	3,986	1,214	1,405	477
1900	6,972	3,561	1,643	1,304	464
1901	7,812	3,945	1,939	1,497	431
1902	8,829	3,845	2,550	2,035	399
1903	12,412	5,497	3,780	2,701	434
1904	10,673	4,711	3,438	2,099	425
1905	12,088	5,661	3,675	2,273	479
1906	11,826	4,394	4,177	2,606	649
1907	11,365	4,514	3,846	2,351	654
1908	10,310	4,356	3,527	1,825	602
1909	9,046	3,879	2,716	1,834	617
1910	10,696	4,726	3,227	2,079	664
1911	16,532	7,723	4,913	3,188	708
1912	17,232	8,248	4,792	3,473	719
1913	13,779	5,920	4,406	2,599	854
1914	13,632	7,019	5,049	1,036	528
1915	7,053	2,662	3,152	837	402

Table 4.2.5.1_4

External correspondence received, by categories of objects, 1872–1915

Year	Total	Letters	Postcards	Prints and objects	Registered correspondence
1872	674	599	-	-	75
1874	1,519	786	-	654	79
1875	1,665	861	-	721	83
1876	1,657	846	16	714	81
1877	1,671	725	36	820	90
1878	2,131	1,021	38	955	117
1879	1,697	744	54	819	80
1880	2,352	1,129	80	1,017	126
1881	3,104	1,751	97	1,100	156
1882	3,011	1,489	108	1,234	180
1883	3,163	1,528	112	1,330	193
1884	3,122	1,496	111	1,324	191
1885	2,945	1,361	169	1,250	165
1886	2,960	1,371	168	1,258	163
1887	3,052	1,440	172	1,273	167
1888	5,312	2,248	569	2,115	380
1889	5,121	2,082	612	2,038	389
1890	6,122	2,313	935	2,383	491
1891	6,657	2,297	1,040	2,775	545
1892	7,182	2,742	1,055	2,822	563
1893	7,536	2,878	1,103	2,963	592
1894	6,760	3,019	1,095	2,314	332
1895	6,522	2,794	698	2,716	314
1896	8,110	3,293	845	3,622	350
1897	8,144	3,381	971	3,354	438
1898	7,998	3,589	1,083	2,849	477
1899	8,264	4,402	1,471	1,909	482
1900	9,761	4,297	1,622	3,453	389
1901	7,283	2,878	1,514	2,468	423
1902	11,076	5,121	2,213	3,397	345
1903	15,162	6,096	2,882	5,836	348
1904	11,263	4,623	2,585	3,675	380
1905	13,501	5,521	3,272	4,345	363
1906	15,299	6,789	3,823	4,275	412
1907	12,571	5,147	3,065	3,922	437
1908	13,181	5,037	3,769	3,919	456
1909	12,345	4,887	2,684	4,298	476
1910	13,250	5,249	2,860	4,661	480
1911	15,223	6,630	2,914	4,957	722
1912	15,388	6,915	3,005	4,493	975
1913	15,822	6,282	3,570	5,235	735
1914	14,284	6,597	5,058	2,092	537
1915	9,749	3,993	2,513	2,840	403

Table 4.2.5.1_5

Internal and external postal orders, 1871–1915[9]

Year		Internal orders			External orders
		Issued			Issued				Received
		Number		Value	Number		Value		Number		Value
		Thousands		Thousand lei	Thousands		Thousand lei		Thousands		Thousand lei
1871		0,2		18	-		-		-		-
1872		1,7		80	-		-		-		-
1873		2,4		141	-		-		-		-
1874		3,4		174	-		-		-		-
1875		2,6		122	-		-		-		-
1876		1,9		89	-		-		-		-
1877		3,1		153	-		-		-		-
1878		2,7		182
1879		1,3		95	3,5		504		0,5		49
1880		7,7		564	9		1,255		1,2		121
1881		24		1,426	13		1,765		1,4		124
1882		72		3,822	19		2,294		2,2		171
1883	104		5,414		22	2,424		3,1		242
1884	127		6,519		22	2,280		3,9		270
1885	142		7,142		22	2,290		4,3		317
1886	152		8,100		23	2,445		5,0		359
1887	174		9,033		27	2,625		6,8		483
1888	188		9,759		34	2,747		8,1		602
1889	211		11,215		52	3,957		10, 4		805
1890	253		12,499		66	4,873		13		951
1891	250		14,882		87	6,644		15		998
1892	283		14,408		119	9,939		17		1,163
1893	307		15,191		160	11,543		19		1,399
1894	395		17,561		198	12,830		23		1,384
1895	481		20,998		239	14,811		25		1,550
1896	516		22,686		258	15,258		27		1,052
1897	557		26,750		283	10,129		31		1,879
1898	714		27,939		297	17,501		32		2,128
1899	886		25,127		244	17,221		31		1,582
1900	664		27,194		285	15,779		57		2,910
1901	776		28,028		316	16,243		56		3,289
1902	861		29,256		360	16,019		61		3,506
1903	941		32,343		330	13,634		69		3,854
1904	936		31,759		318	13,415		70		3,769
1905	1,106		39,516		394	20,039		74		4,159
1906	1,146		43,593		375	27,919		79		4,546
1907	1,396		51,476		372	31,676		78		4,720
1908	1,260		56,496		351	26,698		77		4,255
1909	1,579		61,738		377	20,161		82		5,083
1910	1,692		67,428		389	22,039		83		5,184
1911	1,729		68,386		392	21,782		89		5,584
1912	1,821		78,838		411	24,490		86		5,608
1913	1,944		81,305		416	30,952		98		5,006
1914	1,915		99,454		265	18,305		52		3,838
1915	1,058		80,322		27	3,011		24		1,413

Table 4.2.5.1_6

Postal staff, by categories, 1888-1915[10]

Year	Total	Higher staff	Lower staff	Postmen, postal agents
1888	1,474	727	747	-
1889	1,474	727	747	-
1890	2,333	760	794	779
1891	2,935	761	998	1,176
1892	4,912	791	1,049	3,072
1893	5,877	1025	1,262	3,590
1894	6,170	1149	1,395	3,626
1895	6,284	1274	1,405	3,605
1896	6,071	1287	1,438	3,346
1897	6,245	1351	1,443	3,451
1898	6,457	1517	1,483	3,457
1899	7,076	1441	1,481	4,154
1900	6,711	1433	1,491	3,787
1901	6,922	1,408	1,542	3,972
1902	6,886	1,413	1,560	3,913
1903	6,956	1,441	1,602	3,913
1904	6,954	1,442	1,604	3,908
1905	7,179	1,475	1,788	3,916
1906	7,459	1,731	1,855	3,873
1907	8,326	1,944	1,844	4,538
1908	8,612	2,399	2,055	4,158
1909	8,697	2,391	2,199	4,107
1910	8,713	2,406	2,206	4,101
1911	8,934	2,411	2,594	3,929
1912	9,187	2,406	2,743	4,008
1913	9,968	2,685	3,016	4,267
1914	9,584	2,617	2,607	4,360
1915	9,675	2,635	2,675	4,365

 

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[1] Enciclopedia României, vol. IV, Economia naţională. Circulaţie, distribuţie şi consum, edited by Dimitrie Gusti at alii(Bucharest: Imprimeria Naţională, 1943), 139–140; Andrei Oţetea, Pătrunderea comerţului românesc în circuitul internaţional (în perioada de trecere de la feudalism la capitalism) (Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1977), 144–152.

[2] Tezaur documentar gălăţean, edited by Cezar Bejan, Alexandru Duţă, Stelian Iordache, Viorica Solomon (Bucharest: Direcţia Generală a Arhivelor Statului, 1988), 72, 125; Paul Păltănea, Istoria oraşului Galaţi de la origini până la 1918, second edition, edited by Eugen Drăgoi (Galaţi: Editura Partener, 2008), vol. II, 41–42, 44, 132.

[3] Moise N. Pacu, Cartea judeţului Covurluiu. Note geografice, istorice şi în deosebi statistice, (Bucharest: Stabilimentul Grafic I. V. Socecu, 1891), 273–275.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Valentin Bodea, Monumente istorice şi de arhitectură din oraşul Galaţi din a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea – prima jumătate a secolului al XX-lea (Galaţi: Pax Aura Mundi, 2011), vol. 2, 83–92.

[7] Victor Axenciuc, Evoluţia economică a României. Cercetări statistico–istorice, 1859–1947, vol. I, Industria (Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 1992), 368–369 (Table 339: Domestic correspondence sent, by categories of objects, during the period 1867–1938).

[8] Ibid., 370–371 (Table 340: External postal correspondence sent, by categories of objects, during the period 1872–1938).

[9] Ibid., 372–373 (Table 342: Postal orders, internal and external, during the period 1871–1944).

[10] Ibid., 376–377 (Table 346: Postal staff, by categories, during the period 1888–1915).

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References

Websites:

Archival sources:

Serviciul Judeţean Galaţi al Arhivelor Naţionale (The National Archives, Galaţi Branch), Primăria oraşului Galaţi (The Municipality of Galaţi), files starting with 1831.

Bibliography:

Axenciuc, Victor, Evoluţia economică a României. Cercetări statistico–istorice, 1859–1947, vol. I, Industria [Romania’s Economic Evolution. Statistical–Historical Researches, 1859–1947, vol. I, The Industry] (Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 1992).

Bodea, Valentin, Monumente istorice şi de arhitectură din oraşul Galaţi din a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea – prima jumătate a secolului al XX-lea [Historical and Architectural Monuments from the City of Galaţi in the Second Half of the 19^th – early 20^th Centuries], vol. 2 (Galaţi: Pax Aura Mundi, 2011).

Enciclopedia României, vol. IV, Economia naţională. Circulaţie, distribuţie şi consum [Romania’s Encyclopedia, vol. IV, The National Economy. Circulation, Distribution and Consumption], edited by Dimitrie Gusti at alii(Bucharest: Imprimeria Naţională, 1943).

Oţetea, Andrei, Pătrunderea comerţului românesc în circuitul internaţional (în perioada de trecere de la feudalism la capitalism) [The Coming of the Romanian Trade in the International Circuit (During the Period from Feudalism to Capitalism] (Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1977).

Pacu, Moise N., Cartea Judeţului Covurlui. Note geografice, istorice şi în deosebi statistice [The Book of Covurlui County. Geographical, Historical and Mainly Statistical Notes] (Bucharest: Stabilimentul Grafic I. V. Socecu, 1891).

Păltănea, Paul, Istoria oraşului Galaţi de la origini până la 1918 [The History of Galaţi from Its Beginnings to 1918], second edition, edited by Eugen Drăgoi (Galaţi: Editura Partener, 2008).

Tezaur documentar gălăţean [Tresure of Documents on Galaţi], edited by Cezar Bejan, Alexandru Duţă, Stelian Iordache, Viorica Solomon (Bucharest: Direcţia Generală a Arhivelor Statului, 1988).

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