The Monticellonian., 1894-11-30

! ' Wanamakcr thus avoiding an ex~an li- ture, characterized by Mir. Bisaeil as useless, of $1f,43l, ,325, and through other means the total amount saved was brought up ta Sl6.619,0t7. Mir. Bissell explains that the efficiency of the postal service was in no way re- | tardcd or restricted through this re- ] trenchmcnt.
 The most important topic in the re- l port is treated under the explanatory i caption: Abuses connected with sec ond-class matter" Mir. Bissell states without reserve that advertisers. book 1 publishers and others have taken ad- vantage of the broad construction of what constitutes matter of the second class, by sending out l their advertisements, and publica- i tions under the technical disguise of newspapers and periodicals, and have i thus secured the benefit of the lower rate of postage He has discovered that the abuse has grown so great that l 1t now costs the government eight times as much to carry seeond-elass matter as the revenue derived from it. The volume of second-eIass business 1 grew from Isl, GOO, 000 pounds in 1888 to 25G, GOO 600 in 1893, nearly doubling in six years.
 "0f course" says Mr. Bissell mo one can believe that such an increase is legitimate" and lie adds that 1t is l estimated that during the fiscal year ended June 90, 1891, out of about 45l,- GOO, 900 pounds of mail matter of all classes carried 99,0oo.090 or nearly | two-thirds, went under the second class rates, leaving d net loss te the 1 government i'll it's transportation of l SIG, 973.000
 l believe that one years experience under such limitations, with the frauds and abuses checked. would demonstrate that we have already reached the time and conditions when all such legiti- mate newspapers and periodical maga- zines may be transmitted through our mails from publishers into the hands of subscribers free of all cost.
 Regarding eivil-serYice reform in the post office department, Mir Bissell con tends that 1t should be extended wherever practical, and suggests that the lower grade-the fourth class of l postmaster might be included within the benefits of the civil service law. | He states that for more than q genera tion the American people have been trained to regard the post office as in. separable from the varying fortunes of the two great political parties, and, after deploring this fallacy, he adds: The intelligence of our people has long outgrown the notion that any one political party enjoys a monopoly of administrative talent
 The postmaster generals attention is too much enerossed by appoint tains that the improvement of postal facilities is retarded by the present spells system. Various devices,s he continues, have been proposed for re- lieving the postmaster general of his ever-increasing burden of responSi- bility with regard to appointments. Only one measure, however, so far as am aware. has yet taken the form of legislative bill. That provides for the division of the whole country into postal districts each under the supervision of an in speetor, who k to investigate the an tecedents, experience, re 3ntation, etc, of all applicants for vacant fourth class postmastershipa in his own dis triet, and report the results to the postmaster-gcner The postmaster general is then to appoint the candi- date who, on the face of the report, appears to be the best qualified in all respects. Once appointed, post master may not be suspended or re- moved for political reasons.
 Whether such plan is or is not the best that can be devised it is at least the formulation of plan which is entitled to a most careful and imme- diate consideration, and may become a foundation upon which to build"
 Upon the subject of postal telegraph MT. Bissell disagrees with his prede- cessor Mr. Wanamaker