Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-10-07

The rural free delivery of mail,
which has been greatly extended in
this vicinity recently, brings forcibly
before the people the necessity of good
roads if the service is to continue to
prosper and grow The question OF
good roads is one that has been de-
bated for years, but no satisfactory
solution has ever been reached; but
postal officers see in the extension of
the free rural delivery service means
of solving the question. A. w. Meach-
EN-, superintendent of the free delivery
system OF the postoffice department at
Washington, is probably one of the
best posted men on the subject of
postal service in the country. In re-
cent speech speech delivered he gave
an interesting sketch of the free de-
livery and the rural route system which
have been in vogue in the United
States. He spoke in part as follows:
AS postoffice official, l am great.
ly impressed with the absolute neces,
sity Of the building and maintenance
of good roads throughout rural com
munities, if our great and expanding
| postal service is to be brought to that
degree of perfection which progress
i've and enlightened public has righ1
to expect, and which all of the people
now demand.
The United States postoffice de
partment during the early days O.
our government evinced special inter
est in the building of national pixies
especially those leading out into thu
then remote sections, passing from
| town to town and state to state. o.
these the department had to depent
that it might properly perform TIL
great national duty imposed upon ii
the distribution of intelligence, civil
commercial, literary and social 1t i
not surprising, then. to find that post
masters general of that day advocate,
the use of the surplus of postal fund
in the building of roads and bridges
But the necessity of these nationa
pixies as a means of mail transports
ton disappeared with the advent Q
the steam railroad.
Before proceeding farther on thes
lines, it might be well for me to tel
you something about rural free de
livery, its origin and development, fol
although there are more than 1000
routes now in operation, the growth c
the service has been SO phenomenal
: rapid since the Inauguration of tn
first route, six years ago, that Their
are few who understand the scope {
free rural delivery or realize it's POI
Sibilities.
; Rural Free Delivery.
: Rural free delivery, as we unde
{ stand it, was not heard of in thi
country prior to 1891. In the summe
of that year, resolution was adopte
at the regular sexennial conventio
of the Universal Postal union, in V
!, emma, Austria, calling for the estal
lishment of house to house deliver
of mail throughout the countries b.
longing to the postal union. Th
American delegates were foremos
!. among the advocates of the movement
The resolution was agreed to tout {
courtesy to the American represent
: tives) on July 4, 1891 Tt
American delegates presented the
report to Postmaster General Wan
maker in the fall of 1891. At TIL;
time the department was conductir
an experiment of free delivery
small towns and villages, which !;
! that time was generally, but impro
: erly, termed rural free delivery. IL
. proposition to establish free deliver
! in rural districts, or rural free
: livery service such as we now enjo
was looked upon by almost every OF
connected with the postoffice depal
ment as impracticable and undesir
/ BILE. The question, however, had q
tracted the attention of congress al
:. during the first session of the fit
7. second congress, two or three E
h tempts were made to secure an apr
t priation for an experiment of rur
Sc free delivery outside of towns and v
e lagos. The extremely conservati'
:, members one of whom was chairms
!. of the committee on postoffice al
S post roads, succeeded in preventil
S an appropriation at this session. II
real friends of rural delivery were n
to be easily discouraged, and at t
second, or closing, session Of the fiji
second congress, an item of 500
{, was inserted in the postal approprl
q ton bill for the year beginning July
1893. There was still considerat
n opposition to rural free delivery, b
70 owing to the very small amount t
q friends of the service were willing
q accept, the opposition withdrew ;
D. objection and allowed the item to
: inserted.
u Success From First.
# 81 had the honor to be superinte
10 dent of free delivery at that time, a