, 1870-12-30

1
are necessary to restrain the railway Off
cers within their psope. limits; to look
after and protect the legal rights Of tho
public; to thwart and da.eat railway com-
binations, and promote competition,
PRINTED HA11 MATTER. i
Congress and the Post Office authorities
have, within The past few years, shown
commendable desire to make the
postal service OF this country
meet, in the highest degree,
the wants Of the people. The increasing
importance OF the letter, registry, money
order. and free delivery systems evinoes
what had recently been accomplished in
this direction. To those convcssant with
the facts, it is apparent that another ssep
should be taken in the way of postal im-
provcment that shall secure greater celebrity
md certainty in the delivery Of valuable
printed matter. It is estimated that for
every ton Of letters passing through TIE
mails, there are fifty tons Of printed mat
ter. Some of this printed matter, con-
sisting of books, sheet music, etc, is very
valuable, but the bulk Of it is less go.
With reference to the latter, it is not sur
prisang that, among Post Office employees,
feeling bordering On Indifference should
grow up. The delay of a day or two in !!
forwarding such matter, or its loss By the |
bursting OF defacement ct wrappers, Is |
naturally regarded Of small importance.
The difficulty is that the valuable matter
shares the same fate with that which is
less valuable. The customer of music |
publisher, for example, eucloses money
for certain pieces Of music, which are
wanted for concert near at hand. On
receipt Of the order, the publisher
promptly mails the music, and. under
cover of a letter Of the same date,
notifies his customer that his
order has been filed. The letter comes to
hand promptly, because it has the prece-
dence in being forwarded from the Post
Office where it was mailed. The music, in
most cases, arrives iii it arrives ut lll)
frcm one to three days later This gives
time for the customer to gather up the
curses Of lhescore Of musical people who are
waiting, and forward them to the publisher
with his own benediction aided. When it
is remembered that single music house in
Chicago often sends through the mails over
hundred Of these parcels in single day,
1;sha-s ,,a sn,,;ec,ad nnt oonovonre ia
not the worst of it. Too large percent
age of this valuable printed matter never
comes TO mana at aA' II Is oI no a'a'' 'oa@ 'p
tho Pubhshex Knows mat suen parcels "e'e
properly directed, promptly mailed, and
that he has, " abunaantly stamping them,
paid The postal department Tor delivering
them with certainty and depatch+ His
customers assume that by some neglect Of
his they have never been sent. He has no
Ieceint from the Postmaster. or other means
of provind g The contrary, and, if he wishes
! to retain his customers, he must duplicate,
and in some casez even triplicate his or.
ders, aeerecatine, in the course of the ycar,
a large loss to himself md untold yexatiou
TO him and his customers.
Since The hoax and music houses of this
country send onlv xa1uat,le matter through
the mails. and nav fuliv one-eichth of al
: the revenue derived by The Post Of1ce Dc
! ,,art,nan+ fron, t1,e .,anso,;ss;o,, of 1r;nte,
mat,cr. thew arc deep1v interested in find
| inc some remedy for this evil, The Boar,
of Music Trade of the United States. cor
sIsting of twenty-five of the leading music
,,,,,,;sh;,, bo,eae ~ tha;- ,oe+ .nrrc
. l'eo'A6 NoAe, -. NA sS 0tAue
meeting instructed their President to e1
st1.4 ua :e.o,,;,J
: am1ne tue suo1ec1s auu. IL l'oosioie' suBBes
q remedy ne mas gwen II cons'aefab'
4 niteauon, anu Delesea thae' IN tne man
r the Post Office officials are doing all ths
e can be expected Of them under the prese1
4 postal laws. 4 circular from tho depa1
# ment at Washington, addressed to Pos
, Office officials throughout the country, in
~ pressing upon them tho sanctity and valu
ia of the printed matter passing throug
n their hands, might mitigate, but could NJ
cure, the evil. 1t is believed that, by mai
NJ ing larger proportion Of printed matte
,e prepay even smaller rate than is now Of
10 ta'ned, md Then cstahl.shing rse'ssz
al system 'ot Inc more saoaole pseAss'
y ta@lht 70 ,ne 'e'tes .eg.suy system WI,
s" Is now "ors'hg so aoa'3ao'sh "nefe'
as paying scarcely, II any, mofo INA" Il
present rates, persons VINO cnoose 70 20
u can taKe receipt 1to1n tne 1os'n'aat
cr the packages 50 registered to be t1ansm
be ted with gtcater celebrity IN separate bass
he the postal service can thus DO made me
.e. profitable to the department, and vas