St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-23
MAIL CAR MATTED.

st might be in order to suggest
that popular subscription be taken
in these two cities to enable the
government to hire car to carry
their mail in from La Crosse. AS
far as our postal interests are con-
cerned, the department seems to con-
slider that it has discharged its whole
duty when it pays for running the
so-called fast mail train out of Chi
cago for the sole purpose of carrying
the Chicago newspapers into the
Northwest. Recent proposed changes
in the service have given absolute
demonstration of what was freely
asserted before, that this train serv-
ice has no relation whatever to the
business interests of these two cities.
They are left out in the cold. The
Chicago papers must be distrib-
uted by the United States govern
ment as quickly as they issue from
the press. Compared with that ne
cessity the carriage of business mail
rs an unconsidered trifie. We repeat
that this assertion, freely made and
denied by interested parties hereto
fore, is proved conclusively by the
latest developments.
Some of the lesser lights in the
government mail service were actu-
ally weak enough to maintain that it
is Of some Importance to bring
business letters from the East to
these two cities in time to be of
value to the receivers. Acting on
this extraordinary assumption, that
the duty of postal authorities is
to transmit mails as promptly as
possible without regard to local in
terests, they arranged to have the
Eastern mail for the Northwest
transferred in New York city from
the New York Central to the Penn
sylvania railroad, SO that it might
arrive in Chicago in time to leave
by the late Milwaukee train. This
would give us our Eastern mail, or
a large portion of it, at noon instead
of in the middle Of the afternoon.
1t now appears that the difficulty in
this arrangement is that there is no
through mail car on that train from
La Crosse in which the matter can
be arranged for local distribution
1t does not require a complete mail
equipment. Almost any old car
would do. A combined baggage and
mail coach would answer all pur-
poses. But the Milwaukee road is
naturally disinclined to furnish extra
facilities without compensation, and
the government is considering how it
can compel the road to supply a car
under its contract
So the situation seems to be that
the people Of these two cities are
not to have an early and satisfactory
through mail service until this diff
ference can be arranged. The United
States postal department can afford
to hire an entire train to run from
SiiICdSO 10 ~ RAUL JOf no purpose
On earth save to deliver the Chicago
morning newspapers. It cannot af-
ford to hire a single car for a run OF
a few hours to assist in the delivery
Of business mail in st. Paul and Min
neapolis. The injustice which these
two cities suffer it is almost worth
while to bear in order to exhibit, as
this situation does, the atrocious ia
Sof,tiHn by which a subsidy is paid
from the federal treasury to enable
t4e Chicago newspapers to circulate
outside IT their legitimate territory.
b2F y Esr2t the worst Of it. In addi-
nm ~ ffle money which the people
5fy f3F fs}e promotion Of this private
rplSss5Ey NY @rs asked to forego
1'r1sF mi communications. Thus
8 1F4eFS 1t>st$i service Of the