The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1893-05-05
Ex-Postmaster General James Predicts a
Perfect Postal Service.

Ex-POstmaster General James Predicts a
Perfect Postal Service.
When we remember that it is only a
quarter of century since the railway post
Office was established, and less than that
since the free delivery in the largest cities
was begun, that it is only ten years since
the postage was reduced from three cents
to two cents, we can understand how rap
idly the development of the great postal
system of the United States is going on.
The Twentieth century is going to see a
marvellous fruitage from the seeds which
have been sown since our civil war. The
first of these harvests will be, / think, a de-
livery of mails in which the speed of the
telegraph will be almost rivaled. l think
it is going to be possible for business men
of New York and Philadelphia to commu
nicate by mail as easily in business hours
as the merchants of those cities could with
one another.
think it is quite likely that it will be
possible for the merchants of the Mississip-
pi valley to send a letter TO their CORE
spondents on the Atlantic coast in the
morning andreceive an answer in time for
business purposes upon the following day,
possibly upon the same day. think it is
quite likely that fast mails running from
sixty to seventy-fve miles an hour will be
found upon all of the trunk lines. But in
addition to this l think that scientific and
inventive genius is going to devise system
of mail carriage which will deliver mails
perhaps at twice this speed. Distances are
being cut down for passenger traffic, and
the mails follow rapidly the examples Of
high speed.
l think that in the next century it is 60
ing to be possible perhaps for every citizen
of the United States to have his mail de
livered by free carrier at his door. Already
we have taken vast strides since the estab
lishment of the carrier system, and with
the facilities for communication increased
at the tremendous rate which now char
acterizes these movements it ought TO be
possible in the next century for every citi
zen, no matter where he lives, to receive his
mail at his doorstep and without cost.
The citizens who live in the next century
are not going to pay two cents for letter
postage stamp. The price will be reduced
to one cent, and perhaps by the beginning
of the next century. The government has
never made and does not want to make
money out of the postal service; it only
wants that the postal department shall be
self sustaining, and the people will get the
benefit of the profits With the enormous
increase in business which is sure to come,
the revenues of the government will by and
by be sufficient to justify the reduction of
letter postage to one cent.
Ocean postage is going to be reduced so
that we are to have penny postage, or a two
cent stamp will forward letter to any part
of Europe. The ocean mail service viii be
improved until it becomes as systematic
and regular as is the postal service of to-
day. There is another thing which is sure
to come in the next century, and that ia
postal savings banks. There viii be objec-
ton to this from some quarters, but my
impression is that the people are bound to
make such use OF the postofilce department.
THOMAS l.. JAMES