, 1876-05-13
OUR POSTAL SYSTEM.


To TIE Editor Qf 7he Tribune.
CHICAGO, May 1.-THE watchword OF the
present tfme-and the motto OF the party OF
success-is ts economy in our civil aud military
scIcuce.n The ion-impoverishcd By tho c1-
actions Of an exhausting civil war, and the reac-
tion caused By the curtailment Of our plethoric
paper currency In order to its adaptation to
metallic basis of value, taken in connection with
the corruption which has ercpt into al de-
partments OF our civil, military, and
naval service, destroying public confidence, and
n,rnlyizinr every branch OF productive industry,
have thrust the question Of economy into the
foreground, and made 1t the great question OF
the day. , -,
attention and awaken the interest which this
question Of the present awake1ls in the pnbllc
,1ind, and politicians will labor In vain to gal.
yani2c the old issues into lilo IN inc presence g1
this new issue, which so Vitallg affects all
classes Of men in every part Of the Union. >.
q How can the Government maintain ITSELF
creditably, and cut down its expenses T. Is the
great question Of the hour. Your paper mas, az
consistent advocate Of honesty and economy IN
the administration OF the machinery Of govern
ment, and while it has believed i'll and aavo-
Gated the fixing Of salaries at reasonable figure,
which would render corrupt !e51slatloh anu
official stealing wholly inexcusable, it has main
tanned the doctrine of economy in every branch
Of tic National Government, as it has also in
our State aud municipal aftalrs-
The rcport OF the Postmaster General shows
that this department o1 the publlc h sefHee eS,i Is
Treasury, and that tho Last annual deficit IN tue
nostal service, which has bcGn saddled upon the
import and other revenues OF the Government,
was not less than - ooo, ,o0o, while the estimated
tre year ending June 80, 1877, is So,S21, ,G0, in
clutiinc two items OF special appropriation, tor
the postal service.
The estimated amount for Postmasters nnd
clerks, for the next fiscal year is ST. oo from
Which it will be obvious that the whole deficit
Postuastcrs and their clerks. That the Post
masters Of our great cities and pr1nclpal to"ns r.
ceivc only proper and reasonable conpensa-
ton is plain but the question arises, Wnetncr
the nl,tilic could not be as we'll served, as ut
| present, bv adopting tn same method OF secnf-
ing post-ol1cc service throughout the smaller
| towns and rural districts, which has neen long
in vogue viz: Submitting tlps service 10 coni-
petition, and awarding it to the lowest RESPONSE
| tic bidder, and thus d saving OF millions Or
dollars be effected in the cost OF maintaining
| these smaller Offices.
The first objection which suggests itsoli t., to
| the partisan politician is that 1t would reduce
the amount of Government patronage, and thus
weaken the hold Of any particular adnllnlsna-
| tion upon the people-thes gift OF postmaster
ships being one Of the most potent influences M
now welded for party ends but i Is coming
to be regarded as one Of the evils OF our present
systcu that offices are conferred for political
services, aud not on the ground OF special Ut
ness, US should be- the slse; ano y y
is an open question whether sse+ oa1s Ials
revolution In the methoa OIL 7Ssn;ns' usssomt'.e'
The Governmental least ostcusbly y-submits
its contracts for public buildings and the con-
ycyuncc Of the mails to general competl1lon'
| and awards them to the lowest bidders, IRE
l asn*fe n
| mcnt, by this method, acts agrceaoly to 1he ~li'
| Of the people, who do not wish to pay to . paItt
san bonus for his political views or services,
when another man will perform the service, OF
do the work, for simply Just compensation,
| Why not adopt the same method ct securing
! nost-otticc serviccs Why not give the average
nost-otliccs, throughout the country, to the low
rst responsible bidder who will keep the oitlcS
at convenient place, ~ ninnner Ml.lcar ~.
for the faithful performance OF lis official duties
In behalf Of this method it may he urged that
It is in accordance with the policy OF Tue GoVern.
| 1nent in other matters, equally important tial
it would doubtless reduce the cost of this service
several millions per nnnum, for the following
| obvjous reasons: First, competition always re-
duccs the cost ct service. Second, throughout
the smaller towns aud in rural d1sIr1etS Tue
post-ofliccs are usually kept at stores or snops,
shop Intends tile post-otliec, and the additlonal
patronage, drawn to the store or shop, Is an az
equatc compensation to the Postmaster, ana IN
nearly all these places the merchant or shop
| keeper would be willing to attend to the posi-,
office for its incidental advantages, or would
perform the service for the least nominal com
nensation. There arc also in nearly :!l places
highly respectable men and women, VINO, nay,
ipg IN income adequate to their wants, would
perform the duties Of Postmaster or fostmls MS
trcss simply for the honor Of the position, and
without regard to the pecuniary reward.
There arc also many cases in which !: there "a: arc
supernumcrarics in stores, shops, and Offices VINO
could perform the clerical duties OF the posi-
office, under q responsible Post1naster'Cas tne
merchant, shopkeepcr, or professional man o! o,
tile cstablishmcnt,-ata a cost to tue dorcrn1neu'
far less than that now incurred. :,
The experiment is well worth trying; aud, II
the deficit in the national postal service can be
reduced bY this method, the public would oe re-
leycd of heavy burden, and be able TO con
gratulatc itself on the change. The Govern
inent could classify its post-otlices, and escsp,
from this plan, as it should, those in the grea'
cities, where the reasons, which have been sugg
gcsted, would be inapplcable and farm out a.
the smaller Offices to the lowest Responsible
bidders. Doubtless some millions GOULD "
thus saved, and the public be equally "cl
served. l.. ~ dASsstEAo'