Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-01-24

Letter Office at Washington, 5000 miles
away, to be returned to the writer, the
same distance, thus involving a trans
pOrtatiOn of 5000 miles. If San Fran
cisco were return-letter Office, this let
ter would only travel three miles to reach
the writer.
In Great Britain the plan of having
several return-letter offices is more than
an experiment. In 1873 there were three
such offices, London, Edinburgh, and
Dublin. In 1874 Glasgow was added,
and in 1875 Manchester, and in 1877,
Liverpool, Birmingham, and Leeds. In
1878, Bristol and Newcastle-On-Tyne were
added. The system has worked so well
it is being steadily extended, and the
British Postmaster General mentions
the result with great satisfaction. Some
OF these officers are within two or three
! hours run from London, and the farthest
not more than eight hours.
The necessity for lOcalizing the return
of this class Ofmatter is obviously greater
in country like ours, which covers a
continent, and where a great CONNER
cial and postal center is a week of rail-
road travel from the Dead Letter Office
at the capital.
WHAT WE OWE TO BRITISH EXAMPLE.
Chairman Money, in his report,
ascribes to Great Britain the chief postal
reforms in our system. For example,
the postal car was used in their postal
service in 1889, but was not adopted by
the United States POstOffice Department
until 1863, quarter of century later.
The money order system was adopted by
Great Britain in 1885, and by the United
States in 1864. They adopted the free
delivery system in 1841, we borrowed it in
1868. Postage stamps were first used in
| Great Britain i'm 1910, in the United
States in 1847. Postal cards were used
i'll Great Britain in 1870, and adopted by
the United States in 1873. This unreasOn-
l able delay in availing ourselves of tried
and approved improvements in postal
facilities seems almost incredible, but
men engaged in routine work naturally
come to think there can be no better
plan than. that which they daily practice.
When Rowland Hill brought his postal
| reforms before the British Parliament,
he met most determined opposition from
the postal authorities. The then Chief
of the POStOffice Department said the
revenue would not recover for forty or
fifty years, and Lord Litchfield declared
that Mr.. Hills proposition was wild,
visionary, and extravagant scheme"
| The mOney-Order system was conduct
ed for fOrty-three years by three clerks
in the London POStOffice, as a private en-
terprise, before it was incorporated into
the postal system. When Mr.. Palmer
suggested the fast mail coaches i'm 1874,
which much more than doubled the
speed with which mails are transported,
our pOStOffice officials declared that the
scheme was not only impracticable and
impossible, but dangerous to the COM
merce and the revenue; and even after
success was assured they opposed the re-
| former. So it has been with all reform
ers, and valuable innovations upon
established routine almost invariably
| come from outsiders.
Though letters form small part of
the bulk of mail matter, they pay nine
teen-twentiethS of the revenue. They, in
fact, pay the expense of carrying the
dead weight of secOnd-claSS matter. Any
impulse given to the personal CORES
pOndence will, therefore, increase the
revenue and lessen the annual deficit
reported by the Postmaster General.
| PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS.
Under the postoifi:e laws, the salaries
Of pOstmasters are fixed according to the
cash receipts of each office. They are
divided into classes, each class having d
Fixed salary. variable according to re-
ceipts. Under the law all pOStOffices the
receipts of which entitle the postmaster
to salary of $1,000 or over, are called
Presidential pOstOffices, that is, the Presi-
deut appoints the pOstmasters. When
the salary is less than $1,000 the post
masters are appointed by the Postmaster
General.
The list of Presidential pOstOfices in
each State reveals some curious facts.
Under the latest appointment there was
a good many additions, particularly in
the Western States. The business and
intellectual growth of the Western cities,
as shown in the number of Presidential
pOstOficcs, is something enormous. For
instance, Illinois stands second on the
list, having 1852 post offices, the receipts
of which are so large as to make them
Presidential pOstOffices. Here is list
| hnl uin 10 har of cfo