The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-01-07
WEIGHING THE MAIL
TIE PosToFFICE PREPARING TO
ADJUST RAILWAY MAIL RATES.
Weighing of Mail Every Four Years
How Railroad Companies Are
Pafd-They Say They Lose Money.

II,
department is getting ready to weigh
the railroad mail in the Pacific divl-
SION All of the railroad mail is weigh
ed once in four years to determine the
rate of compensation to be paid 10 the
railroads for the four years to come.
Instead of weighing mail on all of the
railroads in one year, the postmaster
general has the country divided into
four districts and weighing is done in
one of these each year. Last year the
mail of the Atlantic division was weigh
+ ed. This year it will be the mail of the
Pacific division. Last years re-weigh-
ing increased the expenses of the post
office department for railroad trans
portation little more than S1,500,000
or 6s4 per cent. This year the increase
will not be so great because the bust
ness on the western routes is not near
| ly so heavy as the business on the
eastern routes.
The weighing of mail is done usually
in February or March. Last year it
began on the Goth of January. AS the
postoffice department wants to estab-
lish a fair average of the years bust
ness, it chooses a time when there is
an average" mail handled. To weigh
the mail in summer when business is
| light would not be fair to the railroads.
To weigh it in December when there
| is a rush of holiday business would not
be fair to the government. February
and March are recognized as average"
months and they are chosen by the
superintendent of the railway mail
service usually. The postmaster-ge
eral has the authority to name any
time for the Weighing and he will order
a re-weighing of mail on a road if the
railroad. company gives any good reason
for believing that there has been an
unusual increase in the amount of
mail carried
| Sometimes when there is phenomenal
development of a new country the rail
roads ask a re-weighing of the mail
A big road would not do so unless the
occasion was extraordinary. None OF
the railroads running to the Oklahoma
country have asked re-Weighing since
that country was opened to settlement
though the increase in mail service has
been very heavy. The Oklahoma
routes are likely to show the larges,
per cent. of increase in the readi1st-
ment next month.
The road which asks a re-weighin-
| is usually the small road which has to
look closely after the dollars and cents.
sometimes large quantities of mail mat
ter are diverted unexpectedly to some
small road as part of a through route
Ihen the company asks the postmaster
general for special weighing and
usually gets it.
Inc quadrennial weighing of the mail
IS done by the employees of the rail-
way mail service, the clerks of large
poStoIlices and few special agents
whenever it is possible, the regular
postal employees are used. Where this
Is not possible, special agents are en-
ployed for thirty days at SO a
day. These special agents travel on
the railway mail cars. A platform
scale is put in each car The sneciaI
agent puts each bag or bundle of mail
on the scales as it is put on board the
car ana notes the weight. AS each
mail bag is delivered at the approDri-
ale station 1T is weighed and its weight
entered IN another column The two
! columns are added and thew should
balance within a fraction of a. pound.
Ine mileage of each package of mail
| is noted. At the end of thirty DAVIS
the post Office department figures up
the number of pounds of mail hauled
and the number of miles and ca1c11-
lates the haul for the whole wear
Then the compensation of the road is
inquired out at the rate provided by
law. ~
| contracts for carrying the mails are
not let to the lowest bidder There is
no ;, competltlon for them except as one
railroad offers better facilities than
another The postmaster general
awards the contract for carrying the
mail where he pleaSes-alWays where
the quickest service can be had, if
there is choice. Where there is no
cholce In speed, the oldest established
road usually has the contract-because
| it has always had it and because # is
better prepared therefore to handle the
business. A railroad is never willing
| TO give up the mail contract though
every railroad company in the United
States will swear that it is losing
money on mail handling. Even the
pennsylvania railroad, which takes
more than $1,750,000 from the treasury
every year on account of pest office
work will solemnly assure congress
that it is losing money if the question
of reducing compensation is brought
up. The New York Central railroad
receives more than S1500,OOO annually
for hauling mail matter-but Mr. De-
pew would assure congressional COM
mlttee that the work was worth 81
100000
There are many mail routes which
do not pay expenses. Just as congress
has arbitrarily determined that a let
ter from Portland, Me, to Bangor. Me.
shall pay the same rate as a letter
from Portland, Me, to Portland Ore
SO it has determined that the railroad
that hauls thousands of pounds shall
receive almost the compensation as the
railroad that hauls hundreds of pounds.
There is a slight graduation which les
sens little the compensation for car
Trying large quantities of maitland
very unimportant routes
| No railroad receives less than $42 rs
per mile per year for carrying the mail
The minimum used to be $50. 1t was
reduced by Congress 10 per cent in
1876 and 5 per cent. two years later
From $4275 a mile the compensation
ranges up to $3151 per mile; which is
the rate that will be paid to the Penn
sylvania for three years to come for
hauling the mail from New York to
| Philadelphia. The haul from New
York to Philadelphia is 9O.65 miles. The
number of mail trips made every week
lis 252. That makes more than 13, 00C
| trips in a year. For this the Pennsyl-
vania company used to receive S257. 495
under the reimbursement last year this
was raised to $685. $50 and that is the
sum that will be paid to the PennsyI-
vania until June 80, 1897 when another
REIMBURSEMENT will be made The adj
Ejustment of compensation on this route
is too important matter to be adjust
ed by a thirty-day average The New
York-Philadelphia mail is weighed for
sixty days to get an average for ad-
Ijustment.
The amount paid for transportation
does not include the use of special
lmail cars. When the first contracts fo1