The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-30

eErnRh ana Ielephohc btNfhN~th-
The report of Henry A Castle. the Au-
dtor for the Postofice Department. o.
the Secretary of the Treasury and 20 tn,
Postmaster General for the fiscal year
ended June 80, 1901. was made public this
morning. IL is lengthy, and reviews in
detail every branch Of the postal service
in clear and comprehensive manner
Mr. Castle. after giving an outline of
the work of the seven divisions of his Of
nee. refers 20 the pcrils incident to de-
feCtiye methods, as follows.
Il can emphasize but need not reiter-
ate, stat meuts made IN my annual Te-
ports FOR the last TWO preceding fiscal
years in D. gard 10 dangers which would
follow an iuconsideTablc encraftutut OF
various projects which are constantly IN.
subject OF proposed Congressional lCEls-
Euuuh- The promoters Of the postal saw
ilg1 BANK. The postal telegraph, etc, are
Stiil tnStsteut. but few or none of them
tNhipil any adequate conception Of thC
vital Importance Of the accounting fuuc-
ton In the gigantic enterprises their en-
HtlmcutS contemplate Not content with
these suggestions. some Of the leading
journals 81 The country. in circulation and
suppose Lh.tI' nee. urgently invite &ttgC-
ton 90 tho ,stH hIishUru- of n life iuzur-
anCe bfst3u which shall issue policies
Euarauts,d 10y the Government and Their
by provide another official means for
gathering ln. investing. and distributing
lhe savings o. the people. Pathetic tales
say lLAS IN our Nt' insurance companies
only 10 Nud that the COMPARES had fail
81 just at the time when the policies were
likely To- mature.
1t does not occur to promoters of this
ana ether enterprises Of state socialism
that failures and disappOintments are in
cident 10 all kinds Of commercial and
financial business. that il the Government
j. To protect all its people against losses
bN investment financial. Industrial or
otherwise, it must practically conduct ali
~ f-1r4
prompt and liberal returns from an
classes Of Investments. and devise some
now lncomprehensible method of raising
the IuhoS necessary TO pay tat dividends
10 All citizens. thus making a universally
happA. prosperous. and Coutented people
II IS significant cOrOlary 10 the com
ments in my last annual report on the
proposition 10 attach the Geographic sys-
TEN OF the country TO our postal service
Rnd the statement there made that this ex-
pertinent IN Great Britain had proved no.
toriouSly Improbable. that the chaucel-
LOT OF the eNChequer replying TO point
ed questions in the House Of Commons
recently admitted that the annual loss to
the Government on its pOstal-teieSrap h
system was S3.50O.U0o per anuum. besides
an interest on the original investment.
ana mat such losses had aggregated more
than Sil.v""Qp since the Government had
taken control OF the lines
The reason for the loss. as officially
stated Is that the public is eager for
more rapid communication than the reNe-
uUes warrant. thus leading to unproduc-
resistible popular demand The only rem
edy that can be applied If the Government
maintains the control is To stop uuUTO-
ductive extensions, but that would soon
render the service highly unpopular. II
was proposed and strongly supported dur
ing the discussion that the Government
should lease all its postal-telegraph Zines
10 a private corporation. thus retiring
definitely and permanently from the bus
mess and cOufessing that the experiment
had proven a failure.
Improvements in the postal system and
extensions along legitimate lines i'm chan
nels already marked out for this widely
extended and most useful Institution are
not only clearly admissible, but are alb
Hcl1ItsIy essential 10 the Sey-e1or,r1ort and
prosperity OF the country. Even these eN-
tensions. however, as has often been con-
clusiVeiy Demonstrated, are ungrohtable--
every engrafted feature. such as registry,
free delivery. money order. mercha ndisc
post. and other branches. being conducted
AZ loss. which Is only measurably pro
v.ded for by profits on transporting and
delivering lirst-ciass mail matter. In
other words. The mail system has innum-
cradle ramifications. hut the 2-Cent letter
stamp pays for Il all. How much or how
little the respective losses on these diff
ferent branches NAV be our present de-
1ectTe accounting methods give us no
means Of exactly determining. There l. a
double warning. then. against iEcorpc--
ating additional new and expensive out
grOwthS iu the fact that we have already
enough collaborating features. and I'm
the still more vitality important fact that
the accounting system now IN operation
does not enable us &c properly care for
the various branches already in vigorous
operation"
In-regard to the remedying Of evils,
The fact that this bureau is chargedo
with the responsible duty Of collecting ba
aHces due from the bOndsmen Of delin-
Quent pOstmasters and collecting the Va
rted forms Of litigation incident thereto.
as set forth in subsequent pages Of this re-
port. makes pertinent suggestion looking
he of f-rf
creasing frequency Of pOstpftice burglaries
lends color 20 the belief that one Of the
steaI telnptau9hs 20 sucn burglaries
Is the c5nverubilty Of stamps thereby OBJ
tained into ready cash. through their easy
sale at par or a small discount by the
burglars and their agents. The use Of
stamps as currency was not contemplated
lg the Government when they We're GU
thOrtzcd, their only proper use being the
prepayment Of postage on matter convey
"a IN the malls Postal regulations pro-
hiCit the exchange Of one denomination
for another, which would not be the case
II they were 20 be used currency But
they are now constantly employed in
making small remittanceS. and their sail
IN large or small amounts is a iOuriShing
Industry IN many cities a market Is thus
created Tor stamps obtained by burglars
from rifed postOffiCeS- their ur0mpt con-
version Into cash is assured and the
cgances Tor detection are greatly reduc-
When postof7ce is robbed the first
Impulse or the postmaster IS to ask TO
loss OF postage stamps. which ne can al
ways claim occurred through no uegIi-
Eence on his part Within certain limits
the Fostofhce Department has the diScrc-
ton 70 grant this relief Outside that lin
u Congress must be- appealed 10. and the
appeal Is seldom made in vain II an Te-
sources for relief fail and the Uustrnasf. r
j. unable or unwilling to make good the
loss. IL becomes the duty Of the Auditor
70 enter suit against his bondsmeu for tho.
amount involved Much ~ this loss and
trouble would be avoided IL Congress
should see nt 10 enact law. which has
often been proposed. restricting the pri-
Nate sale 81 postage stamps 20 amounts
not exceeding 81. Facilities Tor purchas-
ing stamps AT poStOftiCes. and II stations.
SubstatiOus. and authorized stamp agcu-
Cies In cities are now SO abundant as 10
preclude the necessity for their sale ex-
cept iT very small quantities. for personal
accommodation by druggists. etc
The proposition 10 limit the sale as
suggested IS well worth the attention Of
the law-making power besides operating
In the manner indicated 10 discourse &c
burglaries. IL would also much more
equitably adjust the salaries OF post
masters based on the revenues Of their
respective Offices. The receipts Of many
offices are unduly rduced by the sale AT
a discount within their jurisdiction. of
postage stamps which have been either
dishonesty obtained. or received through
the n1glls ~ currency in direct opposition
laws intent.
.em il proper al this time 90 call
IN 20 the matter Of liability Of
utlai pustmasIeTs for the official
q defaults Of certain Of their ST.
-es.' says Mr. Castle, speaking OF
ters' bonds, and 90 the posi-
serious loss 10 the Government
guments heretofore advanced are