Omaha daily bee., 1888-02-29
THE WESTERN NAIL SERVICE.
Senator Paddock Arraigns the Ad-
ministration For It's Parsimony.
DEMOCRATIC STATE FAVORED.
Dishonest Discrimination Practiced
Toward Republican, sections-An
Appropriation ofAS4OO,OOO For
the Government Building.
A Scathine Arraignment.
WASHINGTON BUREAU THE OMAHA BEE,
5l3 FOURTEENTH STREET,


In the senate to-day Senator Paddock
called for a reconsideration of Senator
Plump's resolution for an investigation of
the railway mail service in Kansas and Ne
braska, which was introduced by the senator
from Kansas in response to the overwhelm-
ing mass of complaints in reference to the in
adequate condition of the postal adlninistra-
ton in the trans-M Missouri country, tho IN
efficiency of the appropriations and the pars-
monious policy of the democratic admnistra
ton in reference to great and growing sec
ton of the country. At the outset Mr. Pad
dock stated that the condition OF things,
which is so deplorable-so far, at least as
his state is concerned-is chargeabe, not so
much to the ineffcency of the local officers
connected with the service, as to the total in
adequacy of the clerical force in the railways
and in the larger postoffices, and, indeed, to
the inefficiency Of the postal facilities gener-
ally in the state, for all Of which, in his opin-
ion, the postoflice department is alone respon-
sible. He then recapitulated the in
crease of miles of postal service in Kansas
and Nebraska during the past year, showing
that they aggregate about five thousand and
added that granting that the force of postal
clerks in those states was adequate to the re-
miles of new railroads were added, which
most decidedly it was not-there would be
demand upon the postofice department for
an increase of about co per cent on account of
this new mileage and the entire increased
service on account of the construction of
railroads IN the other states and territories
outside of the Sixth and Seventh divisions
was 1861, while the increase of mileage in
;,l,t ct,tp ,f
and Kansas are an important part, was 9,S24.
In the allotment Kansas and Nebraska should
have received about $50 instead of the small
divide out of 22S allotted to fifteen states and
territories, of postal employees. Mr.. Paddock
then presented tabulated statements showing
in detail the increases made in mileage of the
railway postal service under the present ad
ministration, the increase of pieces of mail
handled and the distribution Of the increased
forces in the mail service for the purpose of
showing that Kansas and Nebraska had re-
ceived disproportionately small per-
centage of the increased assistance
in the service while it had con-
trlbutcd the olarger share of the increase
of business. He showed that the average of
clerks to miles run on all roads in the sixth
and seventh divisions was one clerk to every
combined was one to every 1922 miles, thus
discriminating in marked degree against
the republican states of Kansas and Ne
| braska .p.-
The increase in the matter Of closed
| pouches handled daily for the period covered
| by Mr. Paddock showed that the clerks EN-
ployed in the sixth and seventh divisions
handled 1885, as against, 2,7SO for all the
| ~ I;,,c ;nnu atnfo pf do
to answer the arguments recently uttered
| by Mr.. Reagan, of Texas, who charged that
the northwestern states had received a
| greater portion of the increase in clerical
force than it had given to the increase of
| business throughout the country generally
Mr. Reagan in his speech, to which Mr.. Pad
dock replied, dilated at length upon
| the fact that the postofice de-
| partment, at great expense to
the government, had given Iowa and Ne
| braska fast mail from Chicago. Mr. Pad
| dock frankly acknowledged that it was time
| that these states have the benefit of the fast
| mail mentioned and that it arrives in the
| evening after the business of the day now in
| stead of in the morning as formerly but he
| called attention to the fact that it does not
| help these sections materially, but that the
| route is SIMPLY link to the great trans-con-
tnental chain beginning at New York and
ending in Nebraska, the primary object of
| such expedition of the mails being to furnish
| an expeditions mail transportation for the
business of the east to the Pacific coast and
that the resulting benefits to Nebraska are
| purely incidental and were never premedi-
tated. In addition the senator stated
taken from the general appropriation and
that there was no special increased expense
to the government on account of the fast
mail between Chicago. and the west. In
contrast with this he briefly alluded to the
,;,,l irb had
made for expediting the mail between New
York and the southern cities, which, he
stated, he did not object to at all, but simply
! noted as an evidence OF the desire of the ad-
| ministration to favor a section to which IL
was politically indebted.
| Senator Paddock then made a strong argu-
ment showing that the sixth and seventh di
| visions had been compelled to do an amount
of work entirely disproportionate to the rest
| of the railway mail service and that the
I amount of the appropriation which had beer
granted to this section of the
country was entirely disproportionate
to the enormous nous, labor % ,h"t which I'd, di
vigorous assault upon Senator Reagan foI
his statement that the postal receipts from
| Nebraska did not equal the amount charged
| against it for the carriage of the United
| States mails, and showed that Nebraska was
2 | debted with the cost of the carriage of al
, | the oriental mails and the tremendous volume
| of mail service from the east to the Pacific
| coast over its 5000 miles of road, and for th
, | charge the excess of expenditures over thu
: | receipts debitcd against the state would b.
greatly reduced. if not altogether wiped out
, He then showed that Texas had been bull
; up by appropriations from the government
entirely dlsproportionate to the amount o
!, | receipts received from the state for the main
tenance of the postal administration ant
:, stated that the assessef viiue of the stat
;, would have been many millions less than
: now is and its railroad mileage would hav
/; been insignificant in comparison to what it
I at this time if everybody iii Texas had bee
= required to pay for their business and pr
: yate letters exactly what y cost to delive
: the same to him.
? Senator Paddock then entered upon Wis
: orous arraignment Of The democratic admin
: lstraton which he stated had deprived tn
government of the decxsary means for
strong, thorough ands eai;sent public servic
in any of its departmeRts.-He charged tn,
the heads of bureaus had been forced to pl
|, in estimates below What they knew wa
5 needed for the proper conduct of the govern
ment in order to justify the charges made
, democratic orators on the stump and els
where that the republican, party had bee
l. guilty of criminal extravaganza. He d
nounced the administration of Postmaste
General Villas as one which watched IL
spigot while il allowed waste at the bur