In 1865, one year after the conclusion of the Red Cross Convention, occurred the initiative of the International Telegraph Union upon the signature of the Convention of Paris. For a time the Union dispensed with a central administration, and at the conference held in Vienna in 1865 the policy of having a shifting administration, as between the capitals where the conferences took place, was seriously considered, but the necessity for a fixed and central administration was finally conceded, and the Swiss Confederation was asked to take charge of it. The central office was organized without delay at Bern. Correspondence was opened with thirty-seven telegraphic administrations, twenty-six of which belonged to the contracting states and eleven to private corporations. The last report from the bureau-director shows the number of state administrations corresponding with the central office to be forty; in addition to these are ten cable or submarine companies and eleven private land companies. The budget for 1888 reports the total expense of this bureau at 84,000 francs, or about $16,500, an incredibly small outlay for so important and responsible a work, involving an extensive line of correspondence and at times the adjustment of very technical questions. The bureau issues an official gazette, _Le Journal Télégraphique_. To this union the United States do not belong, having no government control over the telegraph companies. Next came the Postal Union in 1874, and immediately upon the exchange of ratifications of the convention a year later the central office was likewise organized at Bern. Correspondence opened with twenty-one postal administrations, which have now increased to forty-seven; the annual budget is $15,700, making the contributive share of a first-class state only a little over $600 per annum, and about half that sum for a second-class state; certainly a very inconsiderable tax for so essential a service. The chiefs or directors of the two above-mentioned unions possess administrative ability that would readily command in the United States three times the sums paid them. A journal, _L’Union Postale_, published monthly, in three languages, English, German, and French, is conducted by the bureau, and enjoys a large circulation among those interested in knowing something of this clearing-house process of international mail-matter.