Sunday Washington globe., 1902-01-12

Department Omcials ana FeOple OF
"FIoOence"
That the farmers throughout the country
granted the blessings of Rural Free Deliv-
cry are under the impression that the
money they pay for STEAL boxes goes into
the treasury, like the receipts from postage
stamps, goes without saying Every
farmer seen or conversed with by the
GLOBES informants is under that delusion.
Who circulated this tale or gave out this
impression, that the honest farmers might
not kick at the price per box charged them
by the Government?
Il is uphill to dsabuse the granger's mind
that the Government is not in the STEAL or
sheet iron or steel box business, for the
farmer has discovered by experimental
tion" that somebody representing the Gov
ernmeut IS and that somebody" is able to
enforce certain conditions, or the farmer
is deprived of the blessings of Rural Free
Delivery"
Cases have been cited aud brought to our
attention of some Indiana farmers who
erected their own rural boxes, but the Rural
Free Delivery carriers refused to recognize
such boxes and no mail was deposited in
them It is proper at the outset to specif
cally state to the farmers that not one cent
of the money paid by them for rural free de-
livery boxes goes into the United States
Treasury portion of it may, and no
doubt does, reach Washington, but it is
gobbled as the 'perk" of somebody able to
switch il off from the Treasury In fact
the Treasury has nothing to do with these
boxes or the money received for them
The frm manufacturing the boxes gets the
cash, or their portion of it, the balance is,
as state d, ''perk"
The card published in these columns last
Sunday in connection with the 'Abner and
Gus" expose has the list prices Of these
boxes printed on its reverse side or back.
Its front face was revelation to the Post
master Generals Department, especially
the black lines at the bottom
Route Inspector
Report delinquencies Of carriers to Cen
eral Superintendent Free Delivery Sys-
tenn p o. d. Washington, d G..
This means August w. Machen solely
and only. He thus relieves the p. NJ. c.
Department of all authority in the matter
and the necessity for the creation Of Fifth
Assistant Postmaster General is not ap-
tiou looking to that end.
Coming back to the printed or list charges
for the boxes.
The price paid for the boxes as the card
indicates, is enormous Coal scuttles
buckets, dishpans, kettles and pots, made
Of the same material-galvanized sheet iron
of equal and greater capacity, sell at So
and $3.50 per dozen, wholesale. The size
Iatus ,e a hat
those we have examined are about as large
as the Daddy Whitlock Cheroot Boxes"
If there is any law or regulation obliging
farmers to buy boxes approved by the
Government we never heard of il or saw
it until this card came to us. There is none.
If this card is not genuine, If any of the Off
cials in the Post-ofice Department other than
Mr.. Machen's division, disown or disayow its
existence, they had better acquaint them
selves with the fulminatiOns of their bu-
reau II does look a little foxy" particu-
larly the black line at the bottom of it. The
idea that a farmer cannot construct his own
letter box, make IL secure and weather
proof is utterly absurd II is a re.
Election upon his intelligence mother
wit and horse sense. True, it is tri.
vial expense to each farmer. but
when you consider that several hundred
thousand if not several millions, Of these
boxes have already been sold to the duped
farmer, some one is evidently getting enor
mousIy rich out OF the job. Who is manip-
ulating this grand larceny" schemel As
Lincoln truly said you can fool a part of
the people part of the time. but you can't
fool all the people all the time" 1t must
not be overlooked that much Of this hula
baloo Of Rural Free Delivery is due to ad-
vertising at the public expense. Tens of
thousands Of Machen's illustrated pamph-
let's, Rural Free Delivery and how to OBJ
tain it," were scattered broadcast over the
country in the winter of 1899 and 1900.
If any member Of Congress, or anybody
else doubts this statement, let him procure
an itemized bill of Rural Free Delivery
printing from the Public Printer for the
last three years This will show how
Machen and Heath worked their scheme.
The sale of letter boxes to the unsuspectiug
farmer was the inspiration Of the artist and
the editor Of the illustrated pamphlets, and
nothing else.
Is II fact that the postal receipts have
largely increased in the last two years-due
to Rural Free Delivery We doubt IT, If
so does it, or will it ever equal the in
creased expense? We would like to have
some disinterested party an expert mathe-
matician in postal problems, make the hg-
ures, and not A. w. Machen, or any one
under his immediate supervision. We
wouldn't care TO trust Emanuel Speich,
although we know he is an accomplished
6uancier in running farms, stock raising,
etc. He is now. we understand, one of Mr..
Macheu's trusted advisers Of the rural SER
vice in the great state Of Nebraska. Has
the intenecton Of rural delivery dimin-