The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-01-25
Free Delivery on Farms.

Congressman Stokes has introduced
very important and practical bill in
the House providing for free delivery
of mail on the farms The title Of the
bill is: "a bill to extend free delivery
of mail along star routes" Under its
terms all future contracts for carrying
mail on star routes will include this in
creased service.
The star route contractor will have
this in mind when he puts in his bid.
The additional service will be slight,
the additional cost to the government
ccrrespondingly slight, but The benefit
to the people will be very great. Car.
riers, as general thing, deliver mail
now along the line of their route by
private contract for 81 or less per an
mum, to each family served. OF course,
taking it in gross for everybody it could
be done for less still than for few.
1t is confidently expected, however,
that instead Of such service IS is pro-
rided in this bill being charge upon
the governments would be source Of
revenue. That has been the history OF
all increases Of mail facilities in the
past. The increased cost Of the ser
vice has invariably been more than Off
set by the increased revenue incident
to better facilities.
This bill Of Dr.. Stokes provides that
mail boxes shall be placed along the
star routes on the roadside, and for con-
venience, numbered consecutively from
the initial point of the route. Those
desiring their mail deposited in these
boxes will leave with the nearest post
master on each side Of them written
request for delivery Of their mail to the
carrier, designating the number Of the
box in which it is to be deposited, and
thereupon it becomes the duty Of the
carrier to deposit said mail in the box
without charge to the addressee.
Thus every person living on or near a
star route would get his mail every time
the carrier passed without expense or
loss Of time in going to the postothee.
1t is easy to see that my multiplication
of the star routes, radiating from the
several railroad Offices, very cheap
and effective free delivery system could
be realized-one that there Is every
reason to expect would become at once
selfsustaining.
For the present, the people who get
this service Eould have to furnish their
own boxes, but the bill contenplates
that ultimately these shall be furnished
by the government, if the service justi-
6es it. The cost in large numb rs
would be small to the government; but
that is what is being done in many OF
the city districts, says Congressman
Stokes, and I am in this asking only
that the country residents be fed out Of
the same spoon that the government
uses to dish out benefits to our city
cousins.
DR.. Stokes does not offer this bill as
substitute fol the free rural delivery
aith which he has been prominently
identified in the past, but as supple
mental proposition sort Of transition
stage. A general system Of rural free
delivery is bound to come in the evolu-
ton of our postal system. 1t may be
in the form already inaugurated here
and there throughout the United States,
Or it may be through some modification
Of this star route system, or it may be
through system Of postal wagons radi'
ating from several railroad Offices. But
whatever may be its final form, as ap-
proved by experiment. it will be a per.
manent system: and will be self-sussain'
Ing.
The plan suggested is Row being sue
cessfully worked in this and all the
other counties of the State on small
scale and we see no reason why it could
not be made general and work equally
as we'll We believe that DR.. Stokes
bill will solve the free rural mail de-
livery problem, and that in shorttin
it will be in general use on every star
route in the country. We hope the bill
will be speedily passed by Congress.
and the experiment of delivering mail
free on the farms will be tried at once,