Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-04

| footi,,. od,,,,oo,.,,.,+ - -. .7,,,-a.3. :;
e'N an III eNei uii eC'ioii' m
| NoiNes Sheef Wahton waste OF S2o,'N'o9
| or upward year. the postal deficit for
| the current year is $3.50. 77G. But for this
wrongful application of the second-class
rate instead of a deficit there wo1Id he a
clear s1lrplus of many millions II il nor
now proposed to restrict the privileges Of
| legitimate publications or to modify the
| design of the law but only to bring back
| its application To- lis original and iusf
| scope. 1t is believed thai fnllv ona-bgIf
of all the matter mailed as second class
and paid for at The po,1o1 rare il MOI
properIv second class v,itbi1 the inta,,t az
the law. and ought tIIstIL ia he Maid Far
at the third-cIass rate This gives the
enormous dlIantity of 17f3a1 6I:; names
from which the denartnant derives onI,
fraction of the revenue to which il is fairly
entitled.
ne d 'iltli i @ctutlls rtiiNts rev
class matter mailed last wear and on thi,
basis the department would have received
for this wrongly-classed second rate mat
tei, 'oon, instead u Sl,'"oolo wnlch
nues woiIId have haen innraaSea Nv tb.,
handsome sum of s24 24S34
Mr.. Smith concludes that over one-fourth
of the entire volume and weight of the
mails pays as second-class matter when
il should paw third-class and that this fur
nishes only one ffty-fifth part of The postaJ
revenue and its CARRYING, reckoning at s
cents a pound costs Si4 los 100 while reve-
nue. il was 5lt; thus causing a
loss to the government of over S1oWpD 600
IF there is 70 he a favored class Mr.
Smith says let 1t embrace all the people
With this class paving properly even penny
postage with reasonable limitations could
be applied to letters without entailing a
deficit larger than that of the last few
years, and possibly with none at all
Regarding Cuba the Postmaster General
says:
The presence of United States troops in
the new island possessions and Cuba in
constant communication with home, con-
strained the establishment of mail facili-
ties for their needs, and the practical OBJ
liberation of the old local postal system
with the eXtiuguishmeut Of Spanish au-
thority compelled a reconstruction of the
whole service for the requirements of the
native population"
Rural Free DeIiyery
Discussing rural free delivery, Postmaster
General Smith says:
The free delivery Of mails in the rural
districts has proved 10 be one of the most
important among recent DEVELOPMENTS of
tho ,,os,o1 sa,,,ico ard ,,rae,,+. T., i-s -,,e,
.,,,i.. -, r.
.! !pHe7 " i"'Ot' u VIZ " SCI P-'t't
"rrhe heneats accr,Iiug from the extern
sion of postal facilities to the rural COM
huilltlcs may Ds sulllh l a. IoiIoMs
~ 10 ~ toiiI.a,ias nf,,,x,s+ ;a,,97ia1aiI.
self-supportine In Great Britain whore an
extension OF rural frtc CellNefN i broad
er scale has been in progress since 1851,
me huinOel oi ausi,toliad lsIteeS HialIed pe-
Cauee VI .'uvi tIoiiai - i@cIittes Is e.
eii!lt.e dl oVpuo'ooo Lol liit Pi He"I'
eiiTiiL VI ll,S '''luS u lai III lalu9
iet,,, ~ ~" eet ~ iL1 ,, Pr S
optaiile" ioi ldll Plouutt9 liii ouSh more
oIrect coliiliuilIcatioll Nitit thS Iial heVS
11mnrnved means IF traveI some hun
dreds of miles Of country roads. especially
In the western states, having been graded
sp1cil,e'itS III oiuei " o''''tA t"t"i iiee
"'Hfrher educational influences broader
circulation of the means of public inteli-
gence, and closer daily contact with the
sirae WI III ~ 10y 10y e1 'e,tueu ~ Inc
MONIES Vi heieIoioie lSolh'eu iui ai coihilu-
"''e>
decentralization of Clerks.
..rrh.ra hos haan NO racIasei6catiop of
,,..,,-a y, . a. a.,-eo 800 -.
We ms III Po'' 7'iee to'o'
That branch or the service mas increased
enormously during the interval, and I
therefore resnectfullv urge unon Compress
the necessity of enacting legislation such
as I recommended in nv last report look
ing to that end
The Eight-Hour Law.
II beg to renew the recommendation con-
tanned in my last report, that a change be
made in the law regulating the hours of
labor of letter carriers which would au-
thoriZe poStmasterS to so arrange the
sobodules of carriers that the time lost 10
80 ~r,,o,.,,,,o,,,+ ~, d,,-s ,rbe,, tho r,aiIs
~ -, e. 81 Ill 30 a,-aS Thts ao,, - -
Gre iisI. SUu ne IT. 81 49,, pe IoIrc
~ 81 Ill ,,,a,,ido 60 s;x -, -, W
SiSA go; s'.'' !, 80 ieo ~ 80 80 ,r5iti ~
49, s $50, 49, a o.. 49, a
~ u'S ;oin os H. ar,,;oe 80. de,rI
'''' NN'9e'A>'> "a >''o 50 " A'''>' N'''<'''-
Automobiles.
"a practical test is about to be made in
c,,iooao 70 aatarnoi,a ,ba fa.sih,it;, -,
Snioa ' ~ ~ .le VI
transporting the mails between the main