The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-01-21
BISSELL'S BIG JOB.
How the Postmaster General Il
Trying to Make Ends Meet
pecaeAse OF THE REVENUES.
- shs Hard Tfmss Affect TIE AaSls--
me New Postal Csras sd shs
ceium Sasa sssnpa

Dmnk q CafpenseTs Warrington City lstfsf.
n most oyerworksd men In WASH
bxssn City today are President Cieve-
terd's cabinet ministera Every one
Z sbsm has bis hands full. Carlisle has
90 boiling his brains for months over
ksocs and bullion. Gresham 10 almost
l;sssscsed By the situation In the Sand.
vieh sslsnds Hoke smith Is wondering
kss the soldiers votes can Be gotten back
. the Democratic party by new pension
Isejsissson. and Wilson shannon Bisssii 10
serysed 10 know how to make the small
psssai appropriations meet the immense
ds6eit which the lack OF business and tbs
bard times are creating In our postal rev.
esuss. have dsvotsd this week 10 q
sssey Of our new postmaster general. He
= BIZ no means IN ordinary man. He II
pos criy hard worker himself but he IN
dsrstAnds how to get work out Of others.
His experiences 90 q railroad president and
fsiIroad lawyer stands him In good stead
% the postoffice department, and hs seems
10 have graspcc its work and its possibiii-
ties remarkably we'll. Bisseii's mind IL an
analytic one. He gets at the nut Of Q Ques-
ssos u once, and be doesn't bother himself
ever detsiIs- He prides himself on his
power OF organization and he 10 able 70 give
the drudgery Of his Office over 70 his SUBJ
crdinates. He has in fact very good execu-
i've abilities, and find that he Is making
some radical changes In our postosscs
methods. | called upon him this week. He
vss sitting behind the desk In the ONCE Of
ths postmaster general who're John wana-
maker used 10 cit ABOUT . year ago. The
desk. which II big dattopped affair Of
black walnut. had eth Its plate glass top,
bsiow which lies . map Of the United
States. bat there Was less iittsr about 10
and fever papers upon IL, and the man
who occupied the seat behind IL bad fewer
lines OF care la his face. Postmaster Gem
srai Wansmaker took life very seriously.
When he talked his blue eyes became
grave and perceptibIs crows feet appeared
q their corners.
His hair was roughed mp with much
running of the fingers through IL. and he
bore oil the aspects Of hard work The
new postmaster general works perhaps
Just ~ hard. but he seems to do his work
more easily. He gets 70 she Office ~ 8 30
In the morning. and he works away hare
until $50 at night, putting Ia twice ~
many hours a. any Of his clerks. Still he
does not look over tired. He 10 well
dressed, healthy looking giant, with big
head tastened to broad, fat shoulders By .
strong neck. He stands over six feet In
weighs 300 pounds. He Is clean looking
man, and he seems TO be ~ healthy In
mind as he IL I'm body. He IL
noted for his reticsncs concerning himself
and his department., and he 10 one Of the
few public men who do not like to see their
names in the newspapers. He will talk
freely enough, provided he knows he will
not tie quoted. and be Is not an aristocraI
sat sometime aud watched him ~ he re-
ceived his callers. A number of them were
business men. and among Others were some
who had questions TO answer or propose
concerning contracts. l was surprised to
see how quickly he seemed to grasp each
situation ~ II cams up, and now positi vely
and quickly he passed upon them. i find
that he u making many radical changes in
the organization OF the postoffics de part
msnt lie lie cutting down expenses to
the lowest notch wherever they do not i'm
pair the efficiency of the mails.
now THE HARD TIMES ArvIcr The Posr-
OFFICES.
The postmaster general finds II impera-
tive to reduce our postal expenses. The
hard times have considerably lessened the
postal revenues. There IL no business
barometer more sensitive than the post
ONCE. The mail increases or decreases In
proportion 10 the amount Of business
done, and Is IL safe 10 say that there has
not for years been such a radical falling Oh
in postal receipts. For the past thirty or
forty years there has been "a average in
crease OF about per cent . year in the
postal revenue over that ofthe year preced.
ing. This increase has been so regular that
when congress has made Its appropriations
!, has allowed for It. Ii did that last year.
Well. the revenues went along all right up
10 The LIST OF June. and during the first
three months Of Mr.. Hisssli's term the per-
eentage of increase was more than 9 Ter
cent over the receipts Of the CORES pond-
Ing months OF iasi year. In July the hard
times began, and the percen tagc of m crease
dropped during that month from per
cent. to per cent At the close of August
IL was found that the receipts were per
cent. less than they were during the Aug
nst OF Isa2 This Was decrease of IL per
cent. over What bad been anticipated. and
The same story will probably be told az TO
the other mopths OF the fall. Tie result
Is that the appropriations will not equal
the expense. anu The postmaster general
- having his hands fun ia trying TO make
the ends meet
UNCLE SANS ECONOMY.
IL is interesting to note how the post
master general is eoonomxing. In q big
business like that of the postoftioe IL 10
the little things that count, aud sl0o. 600
has just been saved by cutting OF sn order
Tor a billion Of the big Column bian stamps
There Is little difference between the or
binary red two-cont stamp and the Col.
ametsn stamp In size, but the difference
IL big enough TO make the Col
ansalsn stamp cost just about one
haudredth o! q cent more than the rcd
stamp The Colum bian stamps cost Just
seoat IL cents thousand. while the red
saInps cost only as cents thousand
ibe change means a saving OF 10 cents on
every thousand stamps. or of sf0Q q milk
lon stamps, and of Slf0 200 on billion
stamps. The last administration made q
Goa tact for three billion ot these stamps
az IL GENTS Thousand. 1t Aas thought
tAat there would be great de-
mand for them. bat they did not
SELL The people did not want them,
and II vas 70 the interest Of the depart
hsai 10 be released from their contract.
AFTER considerable negotiation the Anaeri-
can Baak Note Company agreed 10 lst the
postmaster general of from the last ball
bon, ne consensiBg to take I'D 10 the
.tu~eat 81 $50 billions OF she stamps. The
contractors could have held the depart
ssat. bas tAey did not, and thus Uncle
nsm vii have iust $1,000 profit OF Of
TIE operation.
The sEw POSTAL CANA
another economy sas lost bean insagu-
rated IN the making Of the postal cards.
Nas'ng the past 'sw years We have been
esang three different styles OF cards There
vas htiie shits card Tor a cent for the
.as9ss, a yellow bsfa deer at the same price
sef she hig business man, and q middle
VIC esrd for geasrAI use. IL ha. cost CON-