New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-18
WEEDS WEEDS OF THE PosToFFICE.
.,,u VAN ooTT's THOROUGH EXAMINATION
.,..,r no WASHINGTON TO URGE THAT
CHANGES BE MADE~'ALK WITH THE
pncrrNs

ruANCI@S BE dAOtT-NALh Win 49,
POSTMASTER.
,.-..,..r Van Colt has been ia Washington for
-, a.ys and has had several interviews with inc
r,naster. General, in which no has laid before inc
80 !, The Department the needs Of the New-forR
-. This representations which BIO has made have
80. sounded on a careful examination Of the conduoh
"a az osgoe He began the work Of inquiry immedl
.,v mon entering upon the performance OF his duues
- po.tn;aster on May l. He was aided by AsSiS'an'
postu aster Gaylor, and the general superhphoo VI
tbe several departments into which the WORK oi uo
of9ce Is divided. ExPoliee Justice Morgan, WIN h@o
. long experience in tho postal service has also as
sisted Mr. Van Cot In tabuating the results oi INC Ca
animation. -,
A circular letter was sent TO each OF inc gehc'@i
superntendents, making inquiries as to the allowance
which was necessary TO place the departments IN inc
best working order Some Of the departments heeoeu
n considerable increase in force and In othors III"
necessary change was slight. The figures woi0 'a'
fully revised by Nj Van Colt and Mr. Gaylor anu !.
was decided TO ask for an increased ~.o""oo
500 900 to place the Office in the best "oFhs ocui
ton Tho large increase was necessary party Twins
to the fact that acquisitions have not been honored IN
go, ye,rs whom made after careful study by Mr.
Pearson In 1887, for instance, when Mr. PEARSON
ssked for an increase of $4,000 in the allowance for
elerkbIre not one dollar was allowed by the Depart
ment except for few clerks to b. employed IN The
two weeks preceding New:Years Day. 1855
INCREASED NEEDS OF THE OFFICE.
Mr. Van Colt said recently after lie had finished his
examination of the Office: An estimate OF the HI
creased needs Of the Office can scarcely DO niaoe
,orn ths Increased receipts from year TO year, be-
cause there have been great reductions in the norman
revenues By the lowering of the postal rates Inc
resuctjoa I'm tho postage newspapers, the fixing
~ ,et,er hostage at cents instead Of Q cents the
tnereased weight allowed for single postage rate
and ether changes have prevented as great an In
crease in the Of tho Office as would other
wise have taken place. Yet In spite OF all these
CHANGES BY taking a considerable number OF gears
IN. Increased revenues will show that the wosk Of
the oee has grown much faster than the allow Inees
made BY the Department. In 1870 the allowance TO
the New-York Office 81 per cent of they entire
Congressional appropriation for clerk hire ~ first,
second and third class Offices. Since that time tho
revenues Of the office have Increased 10 per cent,
while the allowances for clerk hire have Increased
only 81 per cent. An allowance Of 81 per cent OF
the whole amount would now furnish us with nearly
$50, 900 more than is asked for.
The Sew-York Office now supplies over one-twelhh
Of the gross revenue Of the Postohice department.
II costs only little neffticth OF tho whole
amount expended by the Department. Tho
annual surplus which tho NewYork of
fee turns into the Treasury for use
in other parts OF the country is over s3ooooOo Yet
a great part Of the work is done without any direct
return of money through this Office. The immense
international money order business Of the country
passes through this Office, but only portion OF the
money received Is credited to the New-YOrk Office
The international registered mails pass through this
Office and have 70 be handled and registered hereSno
matter from which part of the country or Of some
other country the registered letters packages may
come Tho work Of the Office great distributing
centre is enormous but the revenues come only from
mall matter which starts IT'S iourneynS at this
point
The New.York Office receives nearly &C per cent
Of the secondclass matternewspapsrs and periodicals
that is deposited in the mails of the United states
The Money Order Department OF this onice alone
transacted last year business of owe: oOOOOo An
average weight Of 4S3, $50 pounds OF domestic mall
matter was dispatched each working day OF the year
one-elghth Of the registered letter business OF the
country Is transacted at this office. Every year the
amount Of work increases some ID per cent.
INCREASE IN EXPENSES.
srbs amount expended tor oBerkhtre increased 20
Per cent and that for tho free delivery, or carrier
service increased 30 cent in the five years ending
expensive through the fixing of salaries by Act OF
Congress, and through the passage OF the epyhthour
Law. The increase in The expenditure tor e.eFk can
a year while the weight OF mall matter dspatcbed
has csS On R,ts the s sTe ss IN
because OF the impossissty OF obtaining an ncfeaSen
allowance Some excellent clerks who nave t Scen
they should receive because the small additional
amounts allowed from time to time have been
necessarily used in obtaining now clerks at smsll
salaries Many valuable clerks have left ana sought
nore remunegativo employment elsewhere
An increased allowance does not mean necessarily
n decrease in the net revenue OF the ONCE. The
Postofice Will be used as means of quick communcs,,
ton INST 10 the extent that the service rendered
entities it 70 patronage. If we can deliver letters
narss of the city business wiz prefer to use the
postofRco altogether. The increase IN revenue nay
not he greatly felt al but all additional faouos
40 the quick diSpatobng Of ettcTs will have Their
sffoet sooner or later In Increased patronage and
20 IN iareer revenues The amount appropriated by
Coneess for clerk hire for the year beginning July
next Is larger than In previous years and trust the
Hsw-York Once viii receive fair proportion VI t4e
amount 10 be distributed Postmaster Van Colt
returned from Washington YESTERDAY. He spent the
several branch stations of the Post oflce.