Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1895-11-28
VITAL AFFAIRS.
Annual Report of Postmaster General

Wilson.
Washington, Nov. observation-disclosures
erals Wilson, In his annual report Of the OPP
GRAFTON of the post office department. re-
marks that the financial and industrial de-
preston which has seriously affected the
revenues Of the postal service. for the past
two years and disappointed the estimates
OF his predecessors extended far enough
into the fiscal year 1895 to make an unusual
ly wide gap between revenues and expendf-
lures It's gratifying, however, to report
that a larse part Of this deficiency occurred
since then the revenues of the department
have reflected the general returning pros
pertty of the country. He ascribes the
gross abuse of second-class rates of post
age as the chief cause of the yearly deficit
IN postal revenues. He repeats and in
dorses the recommendation Of his prede-
cassors. Bissell and Wanamaker, for an
amendment Of the law in regard to the
transportation of second-class matter and
says:
1t is the estimate Of the department that
tWo-thirds in weight of all the matter car
lied In the mails Is, under existing laws
ana claSSlncattOns, carried as secOnd-claSS
matter, at the rate Of one cent q pound.
where It Is not actually carried postage
free The aggregate weight of second-class
matter IN the year 1894 was 299,000,OoO
pounds. During the last year it increased
to over 3l2.O0O.O0O. growth of over l3OOO.-
OOO pounds. Deducting the weight of that
Which Is known as county free being
the matter which is circulated among sub
scr1bers free of postage In the respective
counties Of publication, estimated to be
46,S2y,ls5 pounds, there remained 255Sl4,-
So2 pounds. which returned, at the rate of
one cent per pound. revenue of $685.
1889. The average cost to che department
OF transporting and handling this matter
Is estimated at eight cents per pound.
r. Speaking OF the extension of civil service
rules to letter carriers, he says: AN IN
dlSpenSable basis OF good service has been
laid by placing the carrier force under IN.
civil service system, and no effort should he
spared by the department to insure a high
morale In this force and to famiiarizc Tie
idea among individual carriers that as they
enter the service by merit system alone,
SO. likewise, they remain In it by no tenure,
but by faithful and efficient discharge Of
duty, which demands self-reSpect and hon.
orable living. 1t is inevitable that few in.
diyiduals here and there should interpret
his stability sof employment as pc. sonal
privilege, encouraging slovenly service ami
to superior officers, rather
than reform based on considerations ot a
better public service; and such Instances
have occurred and will doubtless continue
to occur, even after the full meaning OF the
civil service system is understood and &C
as whole. and by such Overwhelming pre-
dominance as to make the exceptions more
prominent, the army of letter carriers is al
ways faithful. efficient and honorable. -
The postmaster general desires civil
service methods to be carried still further
and higher In the post office department.
He says: 1.-TWO OF my assistants are
charged, each. with the expenditure of
over s4o,000,O00 annually, together with the
management and discipline of tens Of
thousands OF employees. The duties of the
other two are not less onerous and multi
pick. II such officials are to be the real
heads of this bureau, Intimately acquaint-
ed with all the machinery and working of
them, competent to direct and able to IN
fuse their own intelligence and zeal among
their subOrdinates. they should have a ten
ure al least as assured from the mutations
and chances OF political contest as those
subordinates. The continuity of the de-
partment should be preserved in changes
OF administration, not only along the line
OF Its subordinate and separate service, but
in that lal ger grasp of its history, its daily
work and its healthful progress, which is
found alone with those who direct and con-
troll its chief bureaus. l concur, therefore.
in the Judgment of one OF my recent pre-.
decessors, that at least three of the as
slstant postmaster generals should held
their offices by civil service or mel it ten
ure. and not by political tenure. re-
train from Offering d like opinion as to the
fourth assistant postmaster general be-
cause fOul !h-claSS pOstmasterS, whose au-
pOlntment IS primarily allotted 10 HIM are
yet outside OF that tenure.
The question OF extending. civil service
methods to the selection OF fourth-cIass
postmasters has naturally received nv
attention since l have been alsthe head
OF this department. 1t is bestt:tWith dir.
hculties, which my experiencesas repre-.
sentative In congress OF a large country
district, during three changes Of admins
tration, brought home to me more clearly
than lhey might appear u a theoretical
re1OruLer, or to The representative of city
constituency. l have studied various bills
introduced IN bOtn branches OF congress
In recent years. and welcomed suggestions
from other quarters. But l DO not lind
myself able TO make, as yet any specific
recommendations on this important SUBJ
Ject In the line OF the leslSla tiou winch has
been proposed.
The order which you have recently ap-
proved, providing that when the postmas-
ter general shall consolidate with free
delivery office any other post office, such
consolidation shall carry into the class
flied Service at the free delivery office the
post office department roster of employees
OF the office consolidated, including the
postmaster, may be accepted as the be-
ginning and foundation not only OF a bet
ter postal service of the public, better
and more business-like accounting to this
department. but also wise extension of
the civil service system to postmasters
1t is my purpose to proceed under the au-
thOrlty OF this order as dlScreetly as can.
and in the long run as far as experience
will justify, SO as to secure these COM
Is