The times., 1899-11-16

carrier for more than eight hours in any
one day, no matter what the eXigencies
Of the service might be- made this obsta-
Gle for a time seem indeed a serious one,
but happily, the enterprise and ability Of
the postal establishment were equal, even
superior to the occasion and the plan as
now perfected. will be operated without any
perceptible tax upon the carriers time, and
without any hardship to him.
ALREADY the carrier delivers registered
mail at the door of the addressee The
work of registering letter will take less
than half the time required for its de
livery Manifold receipts in tripliCate.
employed with a carbon process. will en-
able him to write the receipt in less than
two minutes on an average. All super
fuous labor has been saved him. His
duty is confined simply to seeing that the
letter bears name and address OF sender,
the address of the person for whom it is
Intended and that either stamps enough
to pay postage and fee are attached or
the amount therefor is given him in
money. All this can be done at glance.
He writes and delivers the receipt, at the
same time by the manifolding process max
ing his own and the postofTice record, takes
the letter. and goes on his way Nothing
more is TO be done by him but TO deliver
the letter and money collected for postage
Il
he is attached and receive his receipt.
Estimates made for the thirty leading
cities show that in nearly every case an
average registration of one letter n Gay
per carrier, for a year of 300 days. will
cover more than the highest number OF
letters ever registered before. For the
present. carriers will not be required 20
register anything but letters e., matter
prepaid at the letter rate of postage-nor
4I,y,- tar lot
ters for large business houses or in bust
ness districts, at least until the postmas-
ter. in the exercise Of sound discretion,
may find that it is practicable for them
to do so. At most 1t is estimated that no
carrier will be taxed for this work more
than ten minutes a day.
The advantages of this service are not
perceived at first thought, but when it is
borne in mind that many thousands of let
ters containing money values are sent in
the ordinary mail in the course of year,
which offer temptation to postal employees,
cannot be traced in the event of loss or
miscarriage, and give rise to complaint and
expensive Investigations. often without sat
isfactory result, the wisdom of bringing the
benefits of the registry service to the door
Of every resident can be appreciated IN
der this plan the advantages of the service
are open to the sick, the many who cannot
find time TO 90 to the postoffice or station,
and the stay homes generally, who, 9TH
erwise would send their valuable letters in
the ordinary mail.
1T offers the means also Of safely send
ing remittances for orders to merchants.
for sending subscriptions TO newspapers,
magazines and other periodicals, and for
similar purposes. Reports from nearly ev-
cry postmaster who has been consulted
ba bay- faynra tn
the idea ard predict for il a full measure
of success. II it were possible to amend
the eight hour law so as to make it more
flexible. and while not exceeding the de-
mands upon the carriers time beyond what
it now provides for, permit his employment
for longer period on those days when the
exigencies Of the service demand it, while
shortening his hours on other days to COM
pensate for the overtime, a change which
| believe would be welcomed by every post
master and by the carriers themselves, as
well as the department, l have no doubt
that letter carrier registra ton would be
eminenuy successful without a cent of cost
to the Government beyond that for books
and forms needed in the service, and 1 in
cline TO the belief that the additional rev.
enue from increased registrations would
fully pay all expenses and handsomely in
crease the receipts Of the department for
registry fees besides.
Registration by Rural Carriers
The extension OF the rural free deliv.
( cry service made 1t necessary to make somt
provision for the registration of mail mat
ter on rural carrier routes As is well
known, the extension Of that service nat
urslly decreases the number of fourth
class postofices and consequently the op-
portunties Of the rural public for regis
tering mail matter.
"A plan to supply this need has been
considered and adopted in connection with
the plan of letter carrier registration. and
will be introduced about the same time
Under it the rural resident viii find ad-
vantages far surprising those which he
formerly enjoyed, for he viii not have tC
travel a mile or more TO the pOstofice tC
have his letter or parcel registered, but
like his city neighbor, can have it attend
ed TO practically at his own door
This plan will, of course, provide fol
I the registration of all kinds of mailabIt
matter. The rural carrier has ample ia
ciities for caring for valuable parcels
which the letter carrier at present has not
and besides. the rural carrier service is no
hampered by the eighthour law as it nov
exists. like the letter carrier in the cities
There is no reason why this branch of tht
service win not give ample satisfaction
in all respects and be operated withOu
any friction whatever.
The total number OF letters and parcel:
received, opened. and examined in this di
vision during the year was 1887 500, show
ing an increase over the number Of tht
previous year Of 81 500 OF these letters
and parcels. 1632 contained money anC
%. .234 contained postage stamps, stamped
envelopes and postal cards transmitted b.
postmasters for redemption or credit il
their accounts.
The number Of registered letters anC
parcels received was 26 O37 OF the letter.
received, 26. 800 were briefed, recorded il
the indexes, and filed after final actor
upon them. The number Of outgoing let
tiers copied, indexed and mailed was 81,
133."