Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-29
WANAMAKER'S REPORT.
Syn0pSes of the Annual Report Of the
Postmaster General.
He Reviews rho Changes for the Better Dur
ing the Past Year, the Extension
of esrvics, Etc.

the legislation of congress for improve
ment Of the postal service, ard dwells a
length upon the changes for the bette
| during the past year in the administra
| tive methods OF the department. Il
| connection with the last named subjec
he says over 5000, 900 has beer
| saved on the contract for posta
| cards; four hundred thousand dol lar
| has been saved on the contract fo
stamped envelopes; $500. 900 or more
| has been saved on certain lettings o
contracts for the carrying Of mails, anG
At the same time mail routes have beer
extended over almost two mill on mile:
of railroad and steamboat and stage
lines. The snti-lottery legislation ba:
entailed much extra labor upon the in
spector force, but on the other hand. the
temptation to thieving among enp!oye:
OF the department has been much dltnin-
ished by the same means.
The past year has been made very dis
agreeable to ..grean goods'' swindlers.
Negotiations with German authorities
looking IL the establishment of seaport
officers have been successful.
A commission of expert accountants
has been appointed 10 thoroughly exam
inc the postal system aud establish uni
form and simpler system of accounts for
postOifices.
The gross revenue Is nearly So 900, 600
larger than it ever was before Almost
1000 new postoffiees more than in any
one year before have been established
upon petitions of co muuilies W hich have
needed them. The decreasing of the
limit for the extension of free delivery
has permitted the employment of letter
carriers in over fifty towns. Three
times as many public stations and stamp
agencies, which soon pay for them
selves, were established as during the
previous year. The star route mileage
has increased over 5000 900 miles, and
railroad mileage IL 900 900.
The postmaSter-genrral says: 'The
swiftest mail is not fast enough in these
days for all needs of commerce and social
correspondence. The conviction steadily
grows upon me that the postoffice should
do more than employ fast mails and
stages, and that the electric wires should
carry letters, SO that people who pay in
postage rates the cost of postal srstem
have q right to the use of the postal
the cost of telegruphc correspondence g i,
and for the instant transmission of postal
money orders. The plan proposed for
postal telegraph ia familiar to the pub
lie II there is better one it will be
quickly discovered and adopted.
Under the head Of new plan for pos
fal savings banks, the report SAYS: 81
recommend that the postoffice depart
ment be authorized to establish postal
savings bank under the regulations form
ulated bv the poetmaster-general. and
that snid banks be located as follows:
l. In states having no laws regulating
saving banks.
g In any other states upon petition of
q considerable number of residents of
euv one locality.
8. Not more numerously than one
postofIfcs for every ten miles of area that
be paid to depositors shall be fixed by
the secretary OF treasury at the beginning
of each year, and be one half of one per
cent less than the average rate paid
to depositors by private banks; that all
postal savings received within the state
shall be placed on deposit with the ma
tional banks of that state on application
in such amounts and ut such interest as
the secretary of the treasury shall pre-
scribe, and that all such deposits be de-
declared nv specal enactment referred
claims against banks holding them. have
examined the senate bill No. 1888 now
pending in the house 'to provide an
ocean mail service aud ] believe it to be
for the interest of the postal service to
have such bill bacoms law
It appears from the report that the
number of nostnffices at the close OF the
fiacaI year, 30th of June, 1890. was g.
40l. The number of new offices estab-
lished in 1890 was 1896.
The report touch upon the question
OF civil service as applied 10 the post
office department in the following
words: Examination for the Inspector
force and for the railway mail service
ought to be made more difficult.
l wish that some scheme might he de-
vised by which departmental force for all
parts and branches of the postal service
classified or to be classified might
be encouraged into new exer-
tons by some just. general AMI
certain plan OF promotions. think it
would he impossible to find an appointing
officer who has not been glad to take ad-
OF stringent examination to
keep away mere political place seekers.
The revenues for the department for
the fiscal year, the reports show, was
Sc .0S5, S73; expenditures and liabilities
were sec ,645 ,083; the deficiency for the
year was, therefore, s., 7S6 800.
The report closed with a tribute to MIR.
aud to other chiefs in the de-
partment.