River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1899-12-07
THE POSTAL
Postmaster General Smith Points out
h Abuses and Needs of His
Department.

Washington. Dec. 1.-THE annual report
or Postmaster General Charles Emory
smith is made public. Its ehief feature is
a plea for congressional action TO stop the
abuse or second-class mail privileges,
which, he says results in an annual waste
of upwards of $780, o0. 1000 The financial ex-
hibit for the fiscal year shows total ex-
penditures of SOL. 632. 162, and total receipts
Of S95,o2l ,SS4, the deficiency being 81, 422, TAT
less than last year.
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-
ishment 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"
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 its pos
sibilities a question of the largest proper
lions. 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 determination
of congress, with a full presentation Of
facts upon which to base a Conclusion. This
service has been called experimental in
each appropriation made by congress for
Its continuance. 1t is the opinion of the
officers having 1t 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 will be practically
absorbed by the continuance to the end
IF the fiscal year of the service already es-
tablished. 1t is now in successful operation
from 800 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 1871 people. at an aver
age annual cost of S4 cents per capita.
1.-THE benefits accruing 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
Of farm lands reached by this service and
better prices obtained for farm product
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 iniu-
ences, broader circulation Of the means of
public intelligence and closer daily con-
tact with the great world Of activity ex-
tended to the homes Of heretofore isolated
rural communities"