New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-31
pOSTOFFICE CHANGES AND EFFIcIhNCY

Tho extent and nature Of the Impending
changes i'm the Ncw-Iork Postotfic" ar" MOI yet
fully known and the eject of them VIII not oi
co,irsc be- realized for some time 10 come. WHAT
has been disclosed however. Is not altogether
cncouraginc tn the public II will more prop
nbIv arnus, opnrchcuSion lest The service. never
c,,irrlv satisfactory instead Of being improved
10. actually impaired. The announcement Is
madc that number Of employees including some
Of long experience. will BE- dismissed. Thus the
working STAFF will br reduced in size, ana 10
that extent the EXPENSES Of The office VIII also
H.. reduced Thee will. however. b" IA general
r.odiu>rmcnt If salaries. some being raised
others lowered. that the net result In Inc
m,rier Of economy i yet to be seen. or in
creased efficiency in any respect there i ho
definite promise. II g., 10 be- supposed. Of COURSE"
that the commissioners who planned III" changes
had iuproyrmcn, II the service in view before
ali else. Bui. unfortunately. not the slish''S'
hint Il thai fact appears upon The face oil the
ease II such improvement be- not, however,
sn,.lly shown. the disappointment OF the pub
liz will be- sri"vous.
r. such changes ~ have been announced or
to any changes Whatever made solely Tor Tue
sake u saving money especially If they III me
least degree impair the service. III" people o'
NcN.Nork have u right 10 object They do not
want 10 see a dollar wasted or miSapplicd But
they do want enough money spent ana prop
,rlv applied. to give This ely III" best possible
pn.tol service The service j. AT present not
nearly rs good ~ II should be-. The material
and mechanical equipment of III" office l. far
Inferior io that II other cities. AS for the en-
plo,c,. ~. have no doubt that they are doing
th, best they can under The circumstances. hut
il has often been said If late 10y those In author
iiv that they arr :lrcidy too few to do the
work Why. then. reduce the force: lf there
H.. iurnruneirni men on The san. dismiss them
and mi ,ounpricni men in their places. II rcor-
e1nzaion viii insure better results. rcorganizr.
Ent Whatever changes are made should be- In III"
direction Of strengthening the stan not of weak
cnimg it, \ brttcr. not a cheaper. service should
be- the aim
In scarcely any department ~ the public ser
vice in ihc whole Union j. thcr" 80 little reason
for chrcscpIrng rs in the Ncwlork PoStollcc.
II has long been one Of the most profitable OF
All Federal agencies. In the fiscal year ending
ON Iim. 80 1891. The receipts Of The office were
SG9l1 81; AMI the expenditures S2.I9l.?Jl. II
rhus yielded ~ the General Government net
profit Of >il5o92. sum which went long
way toward paying for the service in other
places where The expenses greatly exceed The
receipts This proiitablcncsS Of the New-iork
office i no excuse for the least bit Of cNrava-
.ancc II is however. a powerful argument for
conducting the office In a liberal and progressive
manner. and making II. in security and ELL
cheney. Il model institution. New Workers do not
want 10 pay for the postal service of the rest Of
the country and have their OWN crampcd aud
siintcd Nor i the efficiency of the local service
a matter Of merely local concern. The New
York office Is practically the General Postoiiice
Of The whole country Nearly ali the foreign
mails OF The country pass through IT, Millions
Of registered letters, from and To other offices,
are handled in II in transit every year. while
the amount Of ordinary mail matter thus re-
ccivcd and forwarded amounts 10 more than a
million sack, and pMchcS. Delay here means
delay everywhere lnciricncy here means dis
satisfaction at every office In the Union. 1t
matters but little whether The net revenue from
| this Office be- Il few thousand dollars more or
less than The splendid sum II now is. Ii does
+ matter much 10 the whole Nation that the office
should he maintained AT the highest possible
standard Of efficiency.