San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-10-18
RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE.

The unfriendly criticisms upon the
changes made in the railway mall
service of the country since the In
coming of the present administrator
have called Mr.. Lawrie Bell, general
SUPERINTENDENT of the service 10 the
front with explanations which are
not relished by the democratic crit
les. Mr.. Bell very eftectually dis
poses of George William Curtiss
charges of partisanship and shows
how utterly demoralized the rail-
way mail service had become by the
dismissal of competent route clerks
to give place to democratic lncom-
petents. He shows how in innu-
merable instances the mail was not
worked prior to arrival OF trains al
large distributing points and that
as a consequence tons of mail were
sometimes dumped into these offices
to take their chances of distrl-
button. The utter inetfi cheney
of the route service last
March had become so notorious thata
change was imperative if the country
was to receive any benefit from its
railway mail management. MIR. Bell
was placed at the head of the service,
and as fast as he could find them and
secure their services he relnstated
the competent republican clerks, who
had become efficient through years OF
practice but who had been dismissed
on political grounds to make room for
democratic inexperience. Mr.. Bell is
a business man and he has merely APP
piled sound business principles to the
management of the service. He has
considered it more important that a
reliable and prompt mail service
should be established over the rails
than that democrats should be put out
of place. He has made competency the
first requirement, and if he has placed
more republicans in charge of mail
routes than he has democrats, it is
because he has found more efficient
railway mail servants among them.
This is but natural. The railway mail
service of this country was organized
by the republican party. Its heads
of departments and its agents for
many years were republicans, and 1T
was not in the nature of things that
these men could be summarily dis
missed from place and untried and
untaught men be given their routes
without very serious decentralization
of the service. The work of education
is not so easy for this service as many
deem 1T and scores who have tried to
master a route so as to serve it prop
erly have found it beyond their pow
ers. Many of the democratic ap-
pOintees were men who secured their
places through political channels for
political reward and had no natural
qualifications for the work. That they
should fail in all save the ability to
draw their salaries was inevita BILE, and
that they should be displaced by COM
petent clerks whenever the service
was restored to its efficiency was also
inevitable. This dismissal of incom-
petent democratic civil servants it is
which has led Curtis and his mug
wump camp to open their uncivil
service reform batteries on the pres
ent administration and attempt to
blow it out of public confidence by
broadside of buncumb. This will
not do. The railway mail service is
constantly improving under Mr..
Bells management OF this fact the
commercial centers are not ignorant.
Before Curtis Il Co. can make head
way, under this attempt to show this
administration hostile to civil service
principles, they must first show that
the service has deteriorated since last
March. Mail is being handled more
expeditiously and more accurately
than at any time since 1885, and this
fact is made very clear by Mr.. Bell.
AS long as this is so George William
will make slow progress In convinc-
ing the country that civil service is
failure.