St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-01
THE MAIL CARRIERS.
Supt. Pollock Makes Report and
Suggestions

Suggestions.
WASHINGTON, Nov. SOW. ]. Pol
lock, the superintendent of the free de.
livery system, pOstOffice department..
has made to First Assistant Postmaster
General Whitfield his report for the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1891. 1t shows
that the number of free delivery offices
i'll operation at the close of the year was
$40, an increase of 60 over the preceding
year. The cost of this service was
$9,072, $50. which is $22. 424 less than the
appropriation for that purpose. The
number of carriers employed OH June
80 was 10, 100. which is an increase of
1,064 during the year. The local post
The number of pieces of mail handled
was 3606, 354, $50.
Considerable attention is given in the
report to the subject of overtime claims
OF letter carriers, under the act of May
"a. 1888, limiting the hours that carriers
shall be employed per day. The practi-
cal result of this act. the report states,
has been the filing of an enormous
number of overtime claims. aggregat-
ing nearly half million dollars, and
this does not by any means represent
the maximum amount of claims that
are already prepared and will be filed
as soon as an adjustment of the legal
questions pending has been had. So
many important questions relating to
the construction of the act have arisen
in attempting to adjust these overtime
claims that it has been deemed best, in
the interest of the service, and also as
an act of justice to the carriers, to
await a construction of the law by a
court having competent Jurisdiction.
The report then goes on to say: I'm
view. however, of the tendency of the
law TO create these overtime claims,
and the certainty, judging from past ex-
perience, that they will arise as long
as the existing system continues,
and with the further unfortunate ex-
perience that the law puts a premium
on lettering and inefficiency rather than
atfOrding an incentive for active and
efficient work, | respectfully suggest
modification of the existing law that
shall provide:
First-That no carrier shall be required to
work in excess of fifty-one hours in any
week OF seven days at Offices having neces-
sary and unavoidable Sunday service, and
not i'll excess of forty-eight hours in any
week of six days where such Sunday service
is not required.
Second-That in addition to the salary pro-
vide d by law. letter carriers, after four years
service, may, upon a certificate of the re-
ePeOoNS PoetineSSeIs tiaI lHey nave Deeti
especially faithful and efficient, be promoted
from $1,000 to $3.50 per annum, and that
when letter carriers become unfaithful and
inefficient or untitled for active work. they
shall, upon the certificate of the respective
postmasiers to that effect be reduced to a
lower grade commensurate TO their service,
or removed, as the equities of their case may
suggest.
Such an amendment would not only
provide just recOmpense to faithful
and deserving carriers now in the serv-
Ice, but would tend to enlist some of
our ablest and best young men and
stimulate all the carriers to earnest eff
forts in this important branch of the
public service. In many of our offices
a large number of men impose OH the
younger men, who are working at a
minimum compensation, doing the
great burden of the work.