Evening star., 1900-09-17
MAILS ON STAR ROUTES
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT CALLS
FOR PROPOSALS.

The Post Office Department has just
issued a call for proposals to carry the
mails over what are known as star routes
in Maryland, Virginia and the District OF
Columbia during the four years from July
1, 1901, to June 80. 1905, under conditions
that materially modify the practice for
merly in vogue.
Heretofore the department, in calling for
proposals of this kind, allowed any one to
bid, provided he had not been in default on
any previous contract, who could furnish
satisfactory testimony of his ability to per-
form the service required, and who could
give bond in such sum as would save the
government from loss in case of failure to
carry out his contract.
Under this practice large portion OF the
star route service had got by degrees into
the hands of professional contractors
many of them residing in the city of Wash
ington-who were generally able, 1t is true,
to execute the contracts awarded to them,
but who did almost entirely by entering
into subcOntracts with men accustomed to
carrying the mails-men who had at some
previous period been the principals in con-
tracts with the department, and who. al
though provided with the necessary outfit
for the work, had been underbid by their
professional competitors. The natural re-
suit of the competition between these pro-
fessionals and the men who were actually
carrying the mails was to gradually bring
down the compensation for the work to
very low figures, so low, indeed, as to af-
ford the subcontractor little or no profit on
his labor and responsibility Besides this
the character of the outfit employed in the
service-the horses, wagons drivers, etc
was little by little brought down until now
on many mail routes. the service Is discred-
liable to the government. AT the same time
many of these professional contractors real
ize quite handsome incomes from the busi-
ness. They go upon the policy of securing
a great many contracts and subletting them
at small profit on each to subcontractors
Thus a man getting 1,0O0 contracts and
sublettins at an average OF five dollars a
year under his own bid would secure an
annual income of $1,000 while the persons
really doing the work would be hardly
making enough to hold soul and body to-
gether.
The Postmaster General has finally de-
cided to break up this thing if practicable
and his method of doing is to require
that all bidders for the service shall reside
along the mail routes to which their bids
respectively apply, or that they shall agree
to do so in the event of contract being
awarded them, and that thus they may be
presumed to own the outfit required, and
to give their personal attention to the per-
formance of the service.
1t is supposed that eventually and in the
aggregate the operation of this new rule
by practically excluding professional bid
ders, and thus limiting competition to those
who are prepared with the necessary outfit
for doing the work, will result in greater
cost to the government for carrying the
malls. But as an offset to this will be
better service, more creditable material
employed, higher grade Of mail carriers
and equitable compensation to the men who
are giving their brains, Drawn and money
to this important work.
There are only five or six star routes
coming into the District of Columbia, but
many hundreds in the states of Virginia
and Maryland, so that abundant oppor-
tunity will be afforded under the depart
ment's call for proposals to satisfactorily
test the new scheme.