Omaha daily bee., 1893-11-30
TILE pOSTdL SERYICE-

Ordinarily no report of an executive
department of the federal government
has greater interest for the general
public than that of the postmaster gen
eral. This is because the postal SER
vice is more closely and intimately con-
nected with the business and social life
of the whole people thar any other.
The reports of the hcad of the Post
Office department under the preceding
administration always commanded
widespread attention, due to their
highly practical character and the
hearty interest they denoted in the
question of improving and extending
the mail service and increasing its
efficiency. This interest made itself
manifest in practical achievement,
so that at the close of the last admins
tration the postal service in every branch
had attained a higher standard of
efficiency than W. before. The present
administration, therefore, took control
of this service under the most favorable
circumstances. with a plain course
marked out for it, which, if pursued,
would carry the service still nearer to
perfection. Thus far there has been no
notable departure from the policy OF the
preceding administration and the eff
cheney of The service is maintained.
If this shall continue the public will be
satisfied, even though no advance be
made. What it has to fear is thai the
service will be allowed to r%etrograde, as
it did under the first Cleveland admins
t%ration, when it declined to q lower
standard than for many years before.
Postmaster General Bissell, in his an
nual report, shows that the deficiency
for the last fiscal year was very much
greater than had been estimated, and he
says that instead of there being a sur
plus for the current fiscal year, as esti-
mated by his predece ssor, there is likely
to be a deficit of nearly SIS, 000, 900. 1t is
not easy to understand why there should
be this extraordinary discrepancy in es-
Inmates for the fiscal year, of which five
months have passed, and it is quite pos
sible that the new hands at this business
will be found when the year is ended to
have made u mistake to the extent of a
few million dollars, though of course
there will be no surplus, as estimated in
the report for 1892. AS to the es-
innate for the fiscal year ended
June 30 last the failure tc
realize it was due largely to the bust
ness depression, which had its effect
upon correspondence, upon the money
order business and upon the venue OF
the service generally, while the in.
creased business counted on as incident
to the Worlds fair fell far short of antici-
patton, as did the sale of the Columbian
postage stamp. Had the general pros
perity of 1892 prevailed during the first
six months of the current year there
can be no doubt that the estimates o.
postal revenue for the fiscal year lS9;
would have been very nearly realized
and reasoning in the same way, il there
is a revival of business activity anc
prosperity at the beginning of lS9.
there will probably be no sucl
rent fiscal year as the postmaster
general estimates, 1t is to be observed
that there is nc better or more trust
worthy indication of the average fnan
cial condition of the people than the
fluctuations in the postal ven
The postmaster general takes a de
cided stand against extending free de
livery to small towns and villages, claim
ing that the experiment has not show.
the d~esirability Of establishing the sys
tenn, and 1t is entirely safe TO say tina