Arizona republican., 1900-09-15
RURAL MAIL DELIVERY
Nine Routes Likely inArizona-Growth
 of the System.

From several points in Arizona comes news that petitions are in circu- lation for the establishment of rural mail routes, and in all likelihood a number of routes will be established before a great many months. A recent dispatch from Washington stated that all applications now in for rural routes would be granted and the appropria- tion is ample tc cover many others. So far as can be lea l'ned there Is but one rural delivery route in Arizona-that around Tempe. There the service has been entirely satisfac ctory and of much benefit to the ranchers, who are thus put in daily communication with the rest of the world. Everywhere there has been opposition to the establish ment of rural routes on the part of the country merchant whose business was injured by the closer connection es- tablished between the farmer and the city merchant but the system has been entirely satisfactory to every one else.
 There has been nothing in the his tory of the postal service of the United States so remarkable as the growth of the rural free delivery system. Within the past two years, largely by the aid of the people themselves, who. in ap preciaion of lthe helping hand which the government extended to them, have met these advances half way, it has planted itself so firmly upon the postal administration that it can no longer be considered in the light of an experiment. but has to be dealt with as an established agency of progress, awaiting only the action of congress to determine how rapidly 1t shall be de- yeloped.
 The free delivery of mails in rural communities can be extended with great benefit to the people and with little cost to the revenue. Whenever the system has been judiciously in augurated it has increased postal re- ceipts; it has caused the enhancement of the value of farms reached by the rural free delivery: it has caused general Improvement of the roads traversed by the rural carrier, espec- ially in the western states, where the construction of good roads has been a prerequisite to the establishment of free delivery service: it has been The means of ob,aining better prices for the farm pro- ducts. the producers being brought into daily touch with the state of the markets, and 1t has promoted educa- tional benefits by giving the farmers ready access to wholesome literature, which keeps them fully informed as to the events of the day.
 Yet the service has had its trials to overcome. It was condemned by tho house committee on postoffice and post roads of the Fifty-thlrd congresS( Hon. John s. Henderson of North Carolina, chairman.) as 2 srneme Impossible of execution. which would require an ap- propriation of at least S20001,0 eco to in augurate. Postmaster-G General William s. Bissell was also of the opinion that the department would not be warrant ed in burdenipS the people with such expense, ani declined to eXpend the small appropriation Of S10,000 to test the feasibility of the scheme. In 1895, when congress increased the approprl- ation for a test of $20,GO0, Postmaster General William L. Wilson also thought that the plan Of establishing rural free delivery was wholly impraC- ticable. He agreed, however. to put the experiment ordered to a test by the best methods he could devise. TEis he did in 1896, when congress made avail able $40,000. The fOrty-fOur routes se- lected by Pnstma aster-G General Wilson were located in tWenty-nine states.
 In regard to the installation of the service all details were placed in the hands Of the officers of they "divisiQn of postoffice inspection an'l rai' dep' relations" They were instructed to start experimental tests of rural free delivery In specifically named loceli- ties. no matter whether the conditions seemed favorable or not. Under these unfavorable conditions the rural free delivery routes were started from sew eral offices. The delivery of mails from Allensville, Ky, cost about 4 cents for every piece of mail handled. At Harts- vile. Bartholomew county Indiana, the cost of delivery per piece of mail was about 61s cents. Delivery Of the rural mails from Quitman, Ga, cost 09 cents per piece for the first year of it's establishment: Halltown. w. Va. 3.32 cents; Atoka, Tenn, 2.93 -cents; Palmyra, Va, 2.S4 cents: Tecumseh, Neb.. 3.S1 cents: ClarksviIle, Ark, 2.72 cents; UviIla, Va. 3.32 cents, and the others proved equally costly.
 From every part of the country where the service had been given a fair trial petitions began to pour in upon the department. Special agents were appointed to look into the claims of the people and lay out services wherever the conditions seemed favor able to an economical' and sucressfr' administration. Such good results were obtained that congress appropriated S150,000 for the rural free delivery foI the fiscal year 1S97-9S. and g'av- S3OO.O fir the same purpose for the current fiscal year. As requests for the estab- lishment Of the service multiplied like an endless chain. tha appropriation was found to have been practically ap- portioned out before four months of the fiscal year ending June 30 1899, had expired.
 On the 1st of November. 1889, rural free delivery service was in successful operation from 3S3 distributing points, radiating over forty states -tlnd one territory. Between the beginning of the new fiscal year, July 1, 1899, and the 1st of November, 1899, when the addi-
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