, 1874-11-28
THE PoSTAL.CAR SYSTEM.
WHAT IL BEING ACCOMPLISHED M Tn1a nRANCn

SorYlco, haa completed 1lfB annual report. From
this report 1t appears that, nt tho oloso OF tho
iiscnl yoar ending June 30. 1873, tloro were In
operation 50 lines Of railway post-ol1lco oars,
o1tunding oyOr ID, ,8GG m,loa Of railroad, on which
vnB performed %, ,925 milos Of service dnily, and
a. I'll. .025 miles Of soryico annually, BY 752 rail-
way post-olllco olcEks. Thoso clorks are
clansifcd ns follows. 2s3 head clorks,
879 clerks and ninety assistant cler1ts. BY tho
establishment Of NOW lines Of ratlroad. tho posta1
faciltioa have bccu greatly increased. During
tho throatoned refusal Of tho railroads to carry
tho malls, mn oifor Of tho baltimore i Ohio was
accepted by tho Department. This gavs daily
servIca hotwcen Cincinnati, O., aud Chicago, ILL.,,
$40 piios. Tllia completes
runouon LINE DETwEEH WASHINGTON AND ou1-
cAao.
and forms 4 connection betwecn tho ronda can-
toring A. Cincinnati, Indianapolis, aud Chicago.
OF tho plchent condition Of tho railway post
olllco service Mr.. lungs saya: Tho railway
post-ofllcp cars ara now In operation on most OF
tho most important connecting aud trunk litica
Of railroad, giving tho most direct and available
transit to tho malls botwoon The Office Of origin
aud destination, aud forming nearly a perfect
connection betwoon tho various railroads upon
Which sorrics IL performed by route agents.
TIE PENNSYLVANIA nA1LnoAD SYSTEM.
perhaps tho most extonded and important in tic
country for mail TRANSPORTATION, ls now liued
to gtont extent In tho forwarding OF through
and direct mails but. owing TO tho pour p"aIal
faciiitiea Ut present Furnished by that road, It
cannot be utilized to any great extent ID tho dis
tlibutiou Of rnailp in transit. AS this Company
Recommendations, the boliot to 10 dorirou would
fully warrant tho Department in :bo acceptancs
Of tho Same. Tho necessity of this addition 10
tho poata,car lines can best be judEoI by tae
following atascnlent Of tho bulk of nlas passing
hotwocn tho East aud Woht: Now York City
ollGtnntca
EiryY-fiYE 70 s1xTT TONE OF xAIf-stAYTHn
DAILY,
as shown by their official utaten1ent. Forty-nve
to fifty tnus 0f tls,fs IL orHar1ed I'm tho truuE
lines loadlng to the West and Southwest. Throh
Of tIlcso liucs-tha pennByyauia Railroad, New
York & Erlo Railroad, and New York Cou' raj d
Hudson River lfailrond--oarry duly oscr their
whole length an average Of 9J,0L0 pounds Of
,nnil, and Is thu bulk OF this mail il deposited
in tho oficeH Ut the latest hour possible to mako
tho tra.ns, or arrives on connecting trainB, 1t
inust DO distributed in truuait taxing THO Pros
ont accommodation to tho utmost, especially at
] the Eric Railroad is the only ona upon which
| the Department huyo auch accommodations al
| Rro required. Tho propfiety OF establishing
4 FAST AND EIGs4us1yE MA1L-T1!AtN
| bctwcen how York and Chiouso has boon dis"
cussed for homo tiulo, aud tflere appears to be
growing necessity for Tho aatno, thlB train to bo
nntlur thu control Of tho Department. far ae it
| Ia necessary for tho purposes designed, aud to
run tile dista.lco in about tTenty-fotr hours. 1t
| il conceded by railroad officials that this eau ho
doue. The itiipol tanco Of line like tLia cannot
] 10 oyorcntimatel Ii would roduco tho actual
tiole of tho mail bctwcon the ERst and WeHt frum
twetyo to twenly- y-four!Iours asst would necessar!~
ly DO established upon Que Or inore Of tho trunk
| ljuea having an extended sydtenl OF connections.
| 1ts benefits would be III no wse confined, but
extended to all pats of lilo country alike. II
| would also il this lne bo cstabllRlod, 10 prac-
t.cablo to rp!.lco to ono line daily, bcHide this
| through ine the service upon tho throo trunk
kueH to be Wcst. ThiB reduction would compeI-
| a4to for all the addiLloual oxponse incurred by
,he tast n.ailtsain, especially M BY tho operation
ofthe Inv goye mail transportation, tho moro
! mail concentrated upon suglo line OF railway
the loss 10 lie usgroEAte coHt of transportation
| per pound or tou per n,ilo
With reference TO tho complaints Of somo
| railroads TINT
TIE COMPENSATION IS INApEouArE.
MT. Bangs sAyH; :" lu tlls connertlon 1t would
| be advisable to recommend Legislation placing
| tho compensation to tn!lroads on Anuthor basis,
! that of weight ulouo. Mucn weight was first
mads the bHBiB Of compensation, tho mIilH wero
nluetly carried in bulk, anu the spaco required
Mus relatively 30 sn'a!l that 1t did not enter illlo
consideration, but with tho INCREASING railroad
| fucllities and closer conueution made ut
| ternllual points, caluo tho necessity OF
distribution III transit, or els9 delay. Thus has
| s{ace grown into primary Importance, aud taa
carried ara Becoming 80 varied OIL different ra'l-
roads, governed eutrely by the country through
| which tilo railroad paBnes aud itd connections,
that it worss uno4uaily, hnd is an increasing
source Of complaint upon thu part Of tho rall-
roads WHO furnish ample accommodations, and
! of embarrassment to tho Department. nhen rail-
roads rofass to lurnlFh ths sumo. Tue compon-
sat1on should be 30 b1Hed that It
tsainB run upon any ra}road. and
ample space for the proper worrying Of the mails.
| 1t snonlu bu su ti41,bie thAt lnAila could be
changed from ono road to anuther At tho option
! of tuu Dpt,nr.lnun Xheu uehaRluea by enAuEe
| OF cunlaccttu,is."
bir. bangs sny.ewn tho subject of
THE cosr or THE RAILWAY rosTALrsER7IoE,
| about which erroneous osinions obtain. He
says: "The aadltolal compensation giTon 10
| till railroads trr furnishing, and transporting
railway post-nfce cars III, as nearly AZ cAu bs
tiulateu 5GUo vUu annually. This compensation y.
clerka performing this service IL loss, 2Gu
annnn}ly tue cost Of tho Snpori,tonaoacy tos
snlary and per dom IL S34 40; tutal CUBE OF
sl,s5262V. Tint this cost III apparent, homsyor,
| aud MT real, will be Aaen iu tile fulloHlug Tbs
| railway p0st-oices, with three or tour excel,-
tiuns, perform tho way or local service tnat Is,
supply the oiiices along tho line Of tho ras'ioaa
tint to du tuis worA would alone 1equ1ro 81
clerks or r0lte-agents, ahich would Gust
ut loast si,yo1 each per year
tho average salary given Oh That claHa OF route,
| AAaouHL9lG ~ FtiVtuppt abA'Al "o4o siae
distribution tuade un the casa, ii would necoas4
tno tho establlsament Of At least fifty aduitlona
distributing poal-oiiceB, employing froul one
additional cicrk in thu nmnltost to neyouty 1.-Two il
tue largest This latter is tue cstilnnto Tor chi.
cago. Tint it would lequirs larger forco il
the offices thnu arc on tha cars to tlnKo tho dis
tr!butloa of tho sano amount Ut mail, IL eYlden
from the following lcasons: Gu tha cas-, lhe1
haso The whpie time in transit, whiio in til.
ppst-otiieo tho destributiun mus. DO lnaao il til,
shortest pos+ipte tiule. recurring o burger fLrco
III order tAat IL may be forwarded by tue tirst de
pursinE trains alter its arrival. This must =
irass ouset THO halAnce VI compensation II
clerks. IAo additional space required Ia tn'
post.onlces wouia alone aggregate to No iacon
s4dorable item Tao bup1Elnsandency would h,
ncce*aary Under AIRY nyste'n, ~ tho distribut,o,
and dihpatch Of nlalla Huuld ro4lrs tie sam,
ganeral supervision AZ now to saeuss aAs boz
possible reau!ta
" Not The least consideration In favor Of th
railway pust-oitito Is
| THE AyUiDANCK OF DELAYS
resulting from any othor system than til
distribution ot malls III transit"
4 curious compensation, not embodied In the
! rbnDrt, 6hoWH what tbs Government Woua bt