Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-28
FREE DELIVERY AN AID
Rural Nail Routes Have Aided Farmers in
Many Ways
POSTMASTER GENERAL MAKES HIS REPORT
Tells of Finances and Recommend
Postal Checks for Transmitting
Small sums and Reply Postal
Cards and EnveIOpss.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27.-The annual re-
port OF the postmaster general. issued to-
day. rehearses the various suggestions
made by his departmental heads. and says:
Free Delivery Farm values.
II was claimed that rural delivery would
increase the value Of farm lands. Ofhcial
reports indicate that in communities served
by rural free delivery, isolated farms have
been enhanced in value because Of that
service at an average Of at least 5 per
cent in the older settled states, and in the
more. remote states and territories, where
postal facilities have heretofore been few
and far between, the increase has been
much greater.
1t was asserted that to bring the farmers
into close touch with the markets would
enable them to obtain better prices for
their products. Specific instances have been
brought to the attention Of the department
where the prompt delivery of live stock
Quotations, Indicating a temporary guilt in
the market, to farmers intending to ship
to the stock yards, by enabling them to
hold back their shipments till the markets
resumed their normal conditions, has saved
to individual cattle ralsers more than the
total cost Of one years rural delivery over
the routes on which they lived. On the
other hand, in many instances, informa-
tion OF an advance In the prices Of par
ticular farm products has reached the
grower intime to enable him to make q
much more profitable bargain with his COM
mission merchant than he could otherwise
have done.
Social Benefits Conferred.
Lastly, the claim was made that all these
material advantages would be equaled II
not surpassed by the social and educational
benefits conferred In relieving the monotony
Of rural life, by bringing city and country
into close connection, and giving the
farmer an opportunity Of keeping abreast
with the rest Of the world, through the
daily receipt Of his newspapers and eorre>
spondence, as had hitherto been enjoyed
exclusively by the city man. How thor
oughly these features OF the service have
justified the claims made in their behalf
is known to all who are familiar with the
operation Of the rural free delivery system.
Urges Postal Cheeks.
Millions of our people live more or less
remote from any postofice, and a large
proportion Of them are not able to buy
money orers OF bank drafts without great
inconvenience. 1t Is not unreasonable to
expect from the government that 1t will
provide an easy, convenient and safe method
to transmit small sums, say 81 or less in
amount, without putting the sender to the
Inconvenience and expense which now OBJ
tain in the purchase of a draft or postofice
money order.
1 urge upon congress the importance OF
passing some law at as early a date as
possible. Hundreds OF thousands Of let
tiers carrying small amounts in silver or
postage stamps are transmitted every year
through the mails. These letters are q
constant temptation to those handling them.
as It Is easy to identify letters containing
currency. ~"
livery service to the remote parts Of the
country, the use Of the proposed postal
checks would 60 far to provide the relief
so urgently demanded, as 1t would con-
veniently serve those sections Of the coun.
try not heretofore covered by or adjacent
to money order ofices or the banks Of the
country.
Postal in Detail.
The postal revenue from all sources was
as follows:
Sales of stamps, stamped en-
velopes, newspaper wrappers
sand postal ll2is7'l2o
rates), paid In money.."".".. 4,541, 623. 50
Revenue from money order
Letter postage paid in money.
principally balances due from
foreign postal administrations 123, Is
Miscellaneous receipts ........... 80, IS
Fines and penalties .............. 45,s10.S1
Receipts from unclaimed dead
letters s,42s.7 70
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