Arizona citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Pima County, A.T. [i.e. Ariz.]) 1870-1880, 1876-05-27

should protect the interests, whlch
are now so loaded down with disre-
, rut. The truth is that the Western
: service Is the cheapest and most
meritorious service under this Depart
: ment, and requires even more encour-
aOement than it has at present. Our
5 Western people will look to Congress
, to apply its pruning-knife OF re-
. .trenchment elsewhere before it reaches
Us.
To satisfy the public that western
mail contracts do not cover frauds
enough To cause the excess of expen-
= ditures in the postal service, (about
=. Sd. 600. 900, it is only necessary TO
, saw that the report of the Postmaster
General for the fiscal year ended June
. 30. 1919, shows that the amount paid
for what l. known rs the celebrity.
: certainty and security " service, some
= times called Star service, which
covers everything but steamboa and
railroad service, in the whole United
States was only S5,4j2, 72l. The
combined length Of the different routes
was 1872, 002 miles, aud the annual
service performed reached the enor-
nous aggregate of 81, 70S, 4j4 miles,
costing, ON an average, 9,91 cents for
/ each mile of service. That, certainly,
cannot be deemed extravagant.
: Every one must understand that
the cost of mail service III new coun-
= try cannot bear any relation to the
revenue, more especially when first
established. Take one route as an
example of the difficulties that have
had to be overcome: 1t Is some nine
hundred miles III length, crosses noun
t4ins and deserts, much Of the way
through an Indian country, without
a track to mark the way. The con-
tractors built their own roads, and
transported the materials for stations
and provisions for men and horses
hundreds of miles. 10 thirteen months
. the Indians killed torty-siX passengers
and drivers. but still the service went
OH without a break. 1t Is not too
much to say that no part Of that line
would ever have been opened to emf
grafton and civilization without the
mails. The establishment Of mail
lines has done more to open ~ our
Western country than all other in
tiuenceS combined, and 1t would be
hardly Just to say that the service
Is fraudulent because it costs more
than it would in New England.
Compare the cost Of the Star &"
service, above mentioned, with one of
the privileges enjoyed by only eighty
seven cities of the country-the let
ter-carrier Sy~tem-the expense Of
which for the past fiscal year was
$LST4,4ll.7l, or about 34,J per cent,
of the entire "Star" service in the
United States. One Is a privilege
enjoyed by few cities, and the other
a necessity of the whole country.
Railroads have not excited as much
comment in the direction of frauds as
the Star" service, though it has
been charged that frauds hive &C.
CURED in the matter of weighing the
the mails carried, to fix IA standard
upon which to base their conpensa-
tiou. Ii there were any foundation
for believing that frauds did exist,
the present Investigating Congress
would subpoena half the railroad men
III the country, and create another
deficiency in the House contingent
fund
They the railroads. claim that they
are underpaid, and are now ciamoring
for an increase. Within three years
Congress has passed law to read
Just their pay, and appropriated Tor
the purpose the sum of 5000, 600 ;
but before the matter was completed
it had taken more than three times
that sum, Notwithstanding that in
crease, they silt claim further ad-
vance, and Congress l. now consider
ing their petition by the introduction
Of Il bill to pay them ON 4 new basis,
which would not be advocated by the
roads unless they felt sure of gaining
thereby.
The Postmaster Generals report for
1870, gives the compensation of rail-
roads for the YER at $9,216,jlS, an
average of r. cents for each mile
OF service performed; to this amount
should be added the further sum of
1851, sol for employees in the mail
service Oh railroads. and we have Sl2,-
, l4S,3 10 as the total cost Of railroad
: mail transportation. averaging Is. l6
cents for each mile of service-the
d length of the routes being 7O.0S3
miles. and the annual service perfor-
med -, Ij4, 90 miles.
1t will bo seen that the railr al
service, compared with e Star" service
for the past fiscal year, was but little
more than one third in length, perfor-
, med nearly one third more service.
and cost more than twice rs much.
5 OF course the great bulk of the mails
: : transported over the railroads, but
!, II must be remembered that trains
L would run wether they carried mails
, or not, while 1t is also true that much
: OF the " Star" service Is only run
: because OF the mails, thus making
= the cost greater In proportion.
An examination of the table on
n page $50 OF the report above mention
4 ed develops some very interesting
: features III the mail service. II show,
e that only in the States Of Massacbu.
setts, Rhode Island, Connnctic1t No.
York. New jersey ana Pennsylvania
= were the receipts il excess of tn,
/, expenditures. owing to the fact tina,
such enormous quantities ct mai
matter originated IN these States. tn,
receipts from which very nearly APP
|. preached one half Of the entire reve
nras Of fha Oar,,r+,,,..,. " =