The true northerner., 1899-12-06


abuse of second-class mail privileges,
which, he says, results in an annual waste
OF upwards of 500, 600. The financial ex-
hib't for the fsca, year shows total ex-
penditures cf Sl0l, $50 .16l and total receipts
Of S95.c2l 1884. tAe deficiency being 81, ,422 747
less than last year
SecDad-CIass Mail.
The postmaster General says: 1.-The most
urgent need Of the postal service is the
rect!hcaton of the enormous wrongs which
have srown up IL tho rerversion and abuse
or the privilege ACCORDED by .aw 10 secoLo-
class matter There are many improve
ments aud advances waiting development I
and application OF rtut es fer speedier
Transmission an6 delivery e ds foc broad
eniLg the scope Of the ma ervice and
bringing il cl ser home to tie Pile pos
Utilities Of reouceG pose. ot l.cve and
beneath and beyond all Of these casures
of progress. which experience tell
gence are working out, rs the reCt rtion
CT the special concession which c. ess
granted for distinct and justifablf bl'c
object from the fungus growths the
flaerant evils that have fastened N Z
This costly abuse which drags OIL he de-
partment and weighs down the .,.h GO.
trammels its power and means Of efle Ve
advancement in every direction, invoN q
sheer wanton waste of 500, 900 900 or upUaGt
a year. The posta! deficit for the curTSI /
plication Of the second-class rate. instead
of deficit there would be clear surpi. =
of many millions 1t is not now proposed
10 restrict the privileges Of legitimate pub
lications or to mod fy the design of the
law, but only to bring back its application
TO its original and just scope.
'If there is to he a favored class" Mr.
Smith says, "let it embrace all the people.
With this class paying properly even PEN
ny postage, with reason able limitations,
could be applied to letters without entail
ing a deficit larger than that Of the last
few years, and possibly with none at all !"
Our New Possessions.
Regarding our new possessions the post
master general says: The presence Of
United States troops in the new island pos
sessions and Cuba, in constant communi-
cation with home, constrained the estab-
lishment OF mail facilities for their needs
and the practical obliteration Of the old
local postal system with the extinguish-
ment OF Spanish authority compelled a re-
construction Of the whole service for the
requirements OF the native population"
Rural Free Delivery.
THE free delivery of mails in the rural
districts has proved to be one Of the most
important among recent developments Of
the postal service, and presents in It's pos
sibilities a question Of the largest proper
tions. The results already attained have
been OF a significant character, and the
practical evidences bearing upon the feast
bility OF the system, upon the degree Of its
self-support and upon the effect and the
sentiment in the communities where il has
been tried, deserve the most careful consid-
Grafton. How far the system shall be ex-
tended is submitted for the determine tion
of congress, with a full presentation OF
facts upon which 10 base Conclusion. This
service has been called experimental in
IT,, a. a
its continuance. 1t is the opinion of the
officers having IL in charge that the expert
mental stage has been passed, and in their
view / coincide The appropriation for
rural free delivery service for the present
fiscal year was increased from $4,000 to
100000, and this amount VIII be practically
absorbed by the continuance TO the end
OF the fiscal year Of the service already es-
tablished. IL is now In successful operation
from 300 distributing points, scattered
among 40 states and one territory (the only
states unrepresented In the list being Ida
no, Mississippi, Montana and Wyoming),
giving service to 1919 people, al an aver
age annual cost of S cents per capita.
THE benefits accrung from the extern
sion of postal facilities to the rural COM
munities may be summarized as follows
Increased postal receipts, making many
of the new deliveries almost Immediately
self-supporting; enhancement of the value
Ol ldIuS TedCHeu Dy tnlS service ana
better prices obtained for farm products
through more direct communication with
the markets and prompter information OF
their state: improved means of travel,
some hundreds Of miles of country roads,
especially In the western states, having
been graded specifically in order to obtain
rural delivery; higher educational infiu-
ences, broader circulation of the means Of
public intelligence and closer daily con-
tact with the great world Of activity ex-
tended 10 the homes Of heretofore isolated
rural communities"