The Red Cloud chief., 1886-01-15
A~POSTMASTeR'S CONVENTION.
Their Alleged Grievances. and the Rem.
edies They Propose-A Soa-fsrtisss
Nsureu%u

1870 80 sHcR-
Movement
The postmasters Of the third and
fourth class have resolved upon q Ma
! tional Convention. and have issued
their call to convene in Chicago on
Monday. February l., lSo6. A. there
are over seventeen hundre Of the third
; grade. and almost fifty thousand Of the
fourth. IL i evident that when they get
fully organized they will become a
power IN the land. Their movement
is no, Of a political nature. but solely
for the purpose Of inducing Congress
TO grant them relief in the way Of ex-
penses for rent, light, fuel and clerk
hire. A. their salaries are based en-
tirely upon the value Of the stamps
Cancelled. getting a commission upon
them, Of curse their income instantly
dropped one-th:rd when letter postage
was reduced from three 20 two cents.
Their revenues We're cut oF while their
expenses remained the same. all Of
which they have 10 bear themselves.
They feel ,ore that while postmasters
WI nv Nf''lAh 'laN~ ~. AIM
furnished them by the Government.
they are compelled to foot All such bills
out of their own pockets. \ post
master Of the third class may be rated
- having M income Of II thousand
six hundred dollars. which of Itself
looks very large 10 those not in Office.
but after he pays his rent. light and
fuel expenses and his clerk hire. these
figures will have become dissolved in
~nothingnc,s. and he will have but u
bare living out Of his years work.
The issuing Of money orders ut three
and onc-half cents each j. also a bitter
cauS,. Of complaint. They claim that
il does not begin 70 pay for the time
and labor involved in ~transacting the
business. and that the old law giving
them one-thiri the fees charged the
public should be restored. They also
propose To make a move toward having
4 change made in the method of trans
hitting their surplus money order
funds To their dcpositing offices. - they
feel that the present arrangement j. not
only troublesome in the extreme. but
entirely useless.
The question Of box-rcnts is also a
subject of agitation and viii receive at
tcntion daring the convention. They
assert that under the present law 4
postmaster Of the fourth class is de-
barred from receiving 4 greater COM
pcnsation than $1,000 "A year, while
those of the third class are cut off al
$1,000. They may invest all the way
from 500 TO 81 900 in beautiful boxes
and other attractive features. vet
if. for example, n postmaster Of
the fourth class is entitled I $3.50 per
amman on his cancellation of stamps,
he is dcbarred from receiving more
than $50 from his box rents. even
though they may amount to 500, and
the entire surplus must be turned over
to the Government. Considering the
fact that the boxes are the private prop
crty Of the postmaster. they feel that
the United States has no moral or Just
right To the revenue from them in the
way Of rents, and they want the law SO
amended that they will receive what
ever income there may be from that
source.
There is 10 question but that the
po,tmasterS have Just cause for COM
plant. and it is to he hoped that they
will succeed in their undertaking.
They have gone about il i'm a business
like manner. and the indications are
that they mean business. We are glad
To hear that the move is upon the part
Of Republicans and Democrats alike,
and that they have no polite al ends in
Cincinnati Times.