The herald., 1896-12-08

1 Sizes IQe necessity lOl icS ehtie'ii W W. :
rect the growing abuse of second class
rates to VIII ich the deficiency is mainly
attributable.
| The trans mission at the rate of one
| cent a pound of serial libraries, adver-
| tising sheets, "house organs" (period-
| icals advertising some particular
| house" or institution sample copies.
| and the like ought certainly to be dis
| continued. a glance at the revenues
received for the work done last year
will show more plainly than any other
statement the gross abuse of postal SER
vice. and the growing waste of its earn
/ ings: the free matter carried in the mails
| for the offices, etc. of the government
| and for congress, in pounds amounted
| to a. 4S0,1S9
| postoffices and stations the rental Of
1 which would more than compensate for
| such free postal service we would have
| this exhibit.
! Weight of mail matter (other than
above) transmitted through the mails
| for the year ending June 20, 1896;
l. Domestic and foreign letters and
! postal cards. ETC., 65,337 ,343 pounds;
| $60, ,624 ,464 revenue.
| 2. Newspapers and periodicals. one
cent per pound, 34S, ,9SS,64S pounds; ST.
| 1896, 403 revenue.
! 3. Books. seeds. etc. eight cents per
pound rs, ,01 143 pounds; $40, 1924. 069 reve
| nue.
| 4.Parcels, ETC., sixteen cents a pound,
| 19,s50,1S1 pounds. $3120.32l revenue. To-
tails, 512.97I'S26 pounds; S'Lo44,257 reve-
| nue..
| The remainder of our postal revenue,
| amounting to something more than $5
| 00o, 000 was derived from box rents,
| registered fees, money order business
| and other similar items. The entire eX
| penditures of department, including pay
| for transportation credited to the Pacific
railroads. was s92 .lS6, 1851, which may
| be considered as the cost of receiving.
| carrying and delivering the above mail
| matter.
1t thus appears that though the sec
| ond class matter constituted more than
| two-thirds of the total that was CART al
| the revenue derived from it was less
| than one-thirtieth of the total expense.
| The average revenue from each pound nf
! first-ciass matter was 80 cents. From
| each pound of second class S1s mills (of
the second class 52,34S2 291 pounds was
| county free natter.
From each pound Of third class 1sl
cents From each pound of fourth class
| 1876 cents.
The growth of weight of second class
| matter has been from 299. 600, coo pounds
| in 1894 to 1000, 600 in 1895 and to al
most $4,000, coo in 1896 and it is quite evil
| dent that this increasing drawback is
| far outstripping any possible growth of
| postal revenues.
! rEIoN) GLASS MATTER.
Our mail service should, of course, be
| such as to meet the wants and even the
| convenience of our people, at a direct
charge upon them so light as perhaps
| to exclude the idea of our postoffice de-
! partment being a moneymaking con-
| Germ, but in the face Of constantly re-
curing deficiency in its revenues, and
| in view of the fact that we supply the
best mail service in the world. it seems
| to me it is quite time to correct the
| abuses that swell enormously our an
nual deficit, if we concede the public
| policy of carrying weekly newspapers
| free in the county of publication, and
even the policy of carrying at less than
! one-tenth of their cost other bona fde
newspapers and periodicals. there can
| be no excuse fer subjecting the service
to the further immense and increasing
loss involved in carrying at the rate
Of one cent a pound the serial libraries,
| sometimes including trashy and even
| harmful literature. another matter,
| which. under the loose administration
| CT a loose statute, has been gradually
| given second class rates, thus absorbing
all profitable return derived from first
| class matter which pays three or four
| times more than its cost. and producing
a large annual loss to be paid by general
| taxation.
If such second class matter paid
merely the cost of its handling, our de-
ficit would disappear and a surplus re-
suit. which might be used TO give peo
pie better facilities or cheaper rate of
letter postage. I recommend that legis-
lation be Immediately enacted to cor
rect these abuses and introduce better
business ideas in the regulation of our
postal rates. Experience and observa-
tion have demonstrated that certain
| Improvements in the organization of the
postoffice department must be secured
before we can gain the full benefit of the
| immense sums expended in its admins
tration. This involves the following re-
forms, which I earnestly recommend:
There should be a small addition to
| the existing inspector service, to be
employed in the supervision of the car
rier force, which now numbers 13, 600
men, and performs it's service practi-
cally without the surveillance exercised
over all other branches of the postal
or public service. OF course such lack
of some supervision and freedom from
wholesome disciplinary restraints must
inevitably lead to imperfect service
There should also be appointed few
inspectors who could assist the central
offices in necessary investigations con-
cerning matters of postoffice leases
postoffice sites, allowances for rent
fuel and lights, and in organizing and
securing the best results from the work
| of the $4,000 clerks now employed in
first and second class offices. / am con-
Nlnced that the small expense attend
ing the inauguration of these reforms
would actually be paying investment.
| especially recommend such recasting
of the appropriations by congress for
the postofiice department as will permit
the postmaster general to proceed with
the work of consolidating postoffces.
This work has already been entered upon
sufficiently to fully demonstrate by ex-
pertinent ard experience that such con-
solidation is productive of better service
larger revenues and less expenditures
to say nothing of the further advantage
of gradually Withdrawing the postofices
from the spolls system
THE POSTAL UNION.
The universal union which now en-
braces all the civilized world and whose
delegates Will represent one thousand
billions, viii hold its fifth congress in
the city of Washington in Nav. 1897
The United States may be said to have
taken the initiative which led to the first
meeting OF this congress in Berne in 1874
and the formation of the universal post
al union, which brings the postal service
Qf all countries to every mans height bor-
hood and has wrought marvels in cheap
ening postal rates and securing abso-
lutely safe mail communication
throughout the world. Previous con-
crosses have met in Berne, Paris, Lis
bon and Vienna, and the respective
, countries in which they have assembled