The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-03-22

traced than ordinary mail The num-
Der of private registered pieces was 15,-
392,93e, of which the irrecoverable
losses were 49i or only one in 1880.
Most of these were due to unavoidable
accidents, such as the burning or
wrccking Of postal ears or postofllces.
The losses chargeable to dcprcdations
by postal officials were only 81. The
percentage of loss in the registry SER
vice last year was but three onc-thou-
sandths of one per cent. Where can
such another record bc found?
THE actual amount of money ham
died In the operation of the postal sys-
tenn last year. embracing receipts, dis
burscmcnts and money orders, was
about S1l5,0O0,00o In these vast and
myriad transactions the aggregate net
loss was $l2,jlS, or one -hundrcdths
of one per cent. This enormous sum of
more than 500, coo 600 in money actual
~ passed over the counter. so To speak
does not include the money values
carried through the mails. When we
come To these figures, the amounts are
stupcndous and almost incredible. For
the Treasury department alone we last
year carried sl.31l 100000. For the banks
We transported about thousand mill
ions. Altogether the postal establish
mcnt handled and carried nearly four
thousand millions of dollars in value
and on this fabulous sum the loss was
innnitesimal. Where can this marvel
Gus story be matched? Does it not
speak volumes for the intelligence,
fidelity and efficacy Of the great body
of postal officials?
THE growth of this service is as
tunShing. At the beginning of Wash
ington's administration the total postal
revenue for a year was $4,000. That
Is now the revenue for three hours.
Even as late as 1870 the receipts were
only $l9,ii2,220, while this year they
will be about S110,O0O.0OO. With all
this amazing advance in SO many
directions. there is still much to do.
In the large cities like Buffalo the ser.
vice for the most part is admirable.
But we have yet to extend its adyant-
ages in commensurate degree to the
wide rural regions. We now deliver
the mail through the messenger Of the
government in bright gray uniform at
the doors of 10000 people living in
the towns and cities. We are to under
take to deliver the mail at the doors
Of 2l,OO0,000 people spread out over
million square miles of territory. Is it
impossible? We began in earnest two
years ago. Within that time we have
covered an area greater than all Eng
land, BY the LIST of July we shall have
over 1000 rural routes i'm operation and
shall reach one-siXth of the 2l,OOO,O00
to whom we arc ultimately going every
day with Uncle Sans visible right
hand.
The amazing growth of the postal
service is typical of the broader growth
of the nation. In thirty years our pos
tai business has multiplied fvefold
Within the same time our munufac-
lures have increased fourfold: our
savings banks deposits have grown
fourfold; our foreign commerce has
advanced threefold. and our national
wealth has expanded from twenty
seven billions TO over eighty billions
our national earnings have grown to
such an extent in this period of pros
perty, security and expansion that for
last year alone they We're equal to one
half the entire accumulated wealth Of
the country in 1870; that is, equal to
onc-hat of all that it had saved dur
ing the previous eighty-one years of
its constitutional existence And, what
is still better and more significant, of
this stupcndOus amount of yearly in
come more than half is the earn
ings or wages of labor. 1t is the glory
of our American system that its op-
portunities and advantages are not
limited to any one class, but are shared
by all the people. with this unmatched
growth, what Imagination shall put
metes and bounds to the Advancement
of our country