The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1897-11-27
RURAL FREE DELIVERY.
The Subject Discussed by Assistant
Postmaster General Heath.

The Subject Discussed by Assistant
Postmaster General Heath.
Postmaster W. V. Leech of this city
handed US the following, which is from
discussion by Assistant Postmaster
General Heath:
''If Congress would relieve the de-
partment of the obligation of carrying
as second-class mail matter 10000
tons year of advertising stuff, chief
ly for the benefit of private enter
prises, at loss of cents Il pound
land there it seems to me is paternal-
ism run mad) we could give free de-
livery to at least 80 per cent more peo-
pie than nowhaveit, without incurring
any deficit. The people want it.
Wherever it has been tried, the ad-
vantages are found so great that the
people within the delivery, with ne ex-
ception, have expressed willingness
to defray the cost themselves rather
than lose it. In Mississippi and Mas
sachusetts and other States, whole
| communities have established little
free deliveries of their own, and pay
the carriers themselves.
MY belief is that rural free de-
livery has come to stay, and | have
strong hopes that Congress will, at its
next session, authorize quite a con-
siderable extension of the system"
Mr.. Heath believes that the rural
free delivery plan has been popular
wherever it has been tried, and he is
confident that in time it will be very
generally in use. Mr.. Heath does not
believe that the cost per piece for de
livery of mail under the new plan
should condemn the project.
"What do you suppose" asked he,
''the first letters cost that we trans
mitted from Juneau, Alaska, to Circle
City? Just 81 letter, and We got an
average, Of, say, 3 cents each for pos
tage nthem. Wasn't that pateralism?
But public interests were served, and
the development of the country was
advanced by opening up of postal
communication to this, the most dis
tant point of our great domain.
HAS it ever occurred to you," he
continued, ''tO figure out the immense
distances the Post Office Department
covers for the nominal price of , cents
an ounce of letter postage? You are
in Key West, Fla, let us say, and you
have heard that relative or friend of
yours has caught the Klondike fever
and is in Circle City. Alaska. You
want to take stake in his ventures,
and you write to him. This is what
the Government does for you for
cents. 1t transmits your letter.
From Key West to Tampa, Fla. :,
25O miles.
From Tampa to jacksonville, Fla,
246 miles.
From Jacksonvillet to Atlanta, Ga.
35S miles.
From Atlanta to ST. Louis, Mo-,
lSI miles.
From st. Louis to San Francisco,
2,36S miles.
From San Francisco to Seattle,
as miles.
From Seattle to Juneau, Alaska,
9I3 miles.
From Juneau to Circle City, 966
miles.
Total, 6,S29 miles, for cents.
"You can find in this a complete
answer to the objection that in som
of the rural free delivery districtssit
costs more to deliver letter than the
postage amounts to. You must strike
an average. The crudities and in
equalities of the rural free delivery
system are nOtnearly as great as those
which were encountered when Tree de-
livery was started in the big cities in
1863. The cost of the postal service
over and above its receipts is defray-
ed by taxation borne by thewhole peo-
pie. The benefits should be equalized
as far as possible.