The times., 1898-11-26
POSTAL SERVICE REPORT.
Annual Review by Postmaster Gem
eral Smith.

the operations of the postal service in
connection with the late war are reviewed
in detail. The great growth of the postal
system during the year is noted. and the
deficit for the year 1860 is estimated at
81. .2s5. SIS. .o5. This deficit is caused by the
privilege given by law to second class
matter.
Rural free delivery during the past year
has been increased to the extent allowed
by the appropriation of si50.00 which was
made to continue the experiments in this
line Wherever the system has been in
augurated, letters of inquiry from the
First Assistant Postmaster General to the
postmasters and residents in the localities
where rural free deliveries have been
tried. have brought forth a hearty and
unanimous approval of the system and
expressions of hope that the system
| would be made a permanent one.
1t is claimed that the local opposition
| that occasionally manifests itself TO the
abolition of fourth-class postofiices. which
could be superseded by rural free delivery
with greater advantage TO the public ser
vice. would then disappear, and thus one
obstacle to the economical establishment
of the service would be removed. Exam
ination of the detailed replies received in
dicates that the least encouraging results
have been arrived at in rural delivery
routes started prior TO 1897. \ revision
and Encouragement OF the earlier estab-
lished service is in contemplation.
Fifty-nine cities in the United States
have had free delivery systems estab-
lished within their boundaries during the
past year. which was the extent TO
which the department could go in this
direction, as it exhausted the 5000 APP
propriated for that purpose. Two hun
dred and fifteen additional letter car
riers are in the service as result of this
extension, and i2i additional carriers
have been appointed to maintain the in
crease in the city free delivery systems
previusly established. There Yet re-
main 10 offices entitled under the law,
by reason of $4,000 gross receipts per
annum or 1900 population. TO the free
delivery service. whose claims could not
be allowed without creating a deficiency.
The eight hour law which has been in
force since 1858 has many serious disad-
vantages. both for the welfare of the
service and the carriers. AS interpreted
by the Supreme Court. the law entities
| letter carrier to eight hours work a day
and to his pay for eight hours. even
| though his work on any particular day
| should not be sufficient TO occupy him for
that length of time. For any excess of
service over eight hours in any one day
| he is entitled to extra pay
In order to ovoid the making of over
| time. under which head liabilities TO the
| amount of several millions of dollars
| were unwittingly Incurred before the law
received the Interpretation of the Su-
preme Court, the department has is
sued and enforced most stringent regu-
lations II has been compelled 10 ba e
| its time schedules on the work of heavy
| days, so that 1t loses from thirty min
utes to an hour on each carrier on the
three or four light days in the week,
and imposes upon them on the heavy
| days an amount of work and a rate Of
| speed which severely tax their endur-
| ance. 1t has also been compelled, in
| offices where the principal mails are re-
| ceived early and late in the day, to pro-
vide long swings or intervals between
| trips thus stretching the work of the
| carriers over range Of sixteen or
| eighteen hours day.
| 1t is suggested that these inconvenien-
| ces and hardships could be avoided by a
|
| postmasters to apportion the number OF
| hours for each day as the requirements
of the service demand. not to exceed a
| total of forty-elght hours for the six
working days of the week, with such ad-
| ditional time on Sunday mot 10 exceed
| eight hours as the exigencies of the SER
vice may require.
Attention is called to the necessity for
| the passage of 4 bill for the reclassifica-
tion of clerks. \ bill was introduced at
! the last session of Congress to remedy
these defects. and to give a proper desig-
| nation and a specific salary TO each en-
ploye. 1t is believed that the passage Of
| this bill would encourage many intelligent
and competent clerks to remain in the
! classified pOstOffice service who now. dis
heartened by the low salaries and the diff
| ficulties of advancement continue in Of
| flee only long enough to enable them 10
secure more lucrative positions in other
| vocations.
During the year there We're 2s75s 40
money orders issued, having a face value
| of s20i, ,jsS. $1,000. These figures show the
| phenomenal increase of 100000 in the
| number OF money orders issued during the
last fiscal year. and an increase of more
| than si6G0o.000 in the total amount of
money carried by this service over last
i
cial activity and business prosperity. Since
the foundation of the money order system
| in the United States, in 1865, there has
| never before been so marked an advance
| in the amount of business transacted in
one year over the year Immediately pre-
| ceding. The greatest annual increase pre-
viously recorded was S9Oo0,OO0.
Statistics given in the report of the Sec
| ond Assistant Postmaster General show
| that at the close. of the last fiscal year
the total number of inland mail routes
was SO, 49, having a length of iS0.461 miles,
and resulting in an annual travel of 49,
| 332, ,691 miles. This is an increase of 1904
| in the number of routes. of 1929 miles in
| the length of routes. and of 13. 49,, 212 miles
| in annual travel. This result was OBJ
| tanned with an increase in the annual rate
| of expenditure of only Sl,534,i00.
At the close of the last fiscal year the
mails were being carried over 1,i,IIU miles
| of railroad, on which the annual travel
was Isl. .5S56 6i2 miles. at an annual rate OF
| expenditure of $50. .1S6.S.o.S9.
| On June so, 1855. there were l,2S lines
| of travelling postoffices trallwly. steam
| boat and electric and cable cars, cover
| ing l61, 755 miles in length; the number of
| clerks employed was S,074; the annual
| travel by them in crews was :S., lS1
| miles; adding to this the closed pouch
and express-pouch service, the total num-
| ber of miles travelled was 2s5, ,565, ,3i3. There
| were handled during the year i9. .22o, 90, 220
| pieces of ordinary mail, besides iI,0U, I0S
| pieces of registered matter and 591, 1872, 1870
| pieces of city mail. The improperly ad-
| dressed and illegible matter amounted to
! Is, ,5O3 iS6 pieces, of which 7,j55,IS5 were re-
| turned to writer's or corrected and for
warded to destination. the re,nairde- be
| ing sent to the dead-letter office for els
| noSition The nostmaster general Con-