Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-01
MEETING OF MAIL CARRIERS
Progress Of Redistribution Bill the Prin-
'ipal Topic OF Interest,
LOUD HAS BLOCKED MEASURE UP TO DATE
Has No Money in Treasury
with which to Keep Up the
Fight at the National
Capital
rom a Stan Correspondent

ing {. ffSt week IN september the annual
convention Of the National Association Of
Letter Carriers will be held at Denver, Colo.
At the convention in Chattanooga last year
the old organization was overthrow by
those who had become dissatisfied with the
methods employed by the officers in charge
and the progress which they had made IN
the effort to secure increased compensation
for the letter carriers, and at the coming
convention the officers elected last year will
be called upon to give an account of their
Stewardship.
For a number of years the letter car
riers have striven to have congress increase
their maximum pay from $1,000 per annum
to $1,000 per annum, but as yet without
success They do not ask that necessarily
every man must receive $1,000, but they
maintain that $1,000 a year is not an ex-
cessive amount for a letter carrier to re-
ceive for the service performed, and that
In the course of time letter carrier should
be given the privilege of mounting to that
salary instead Of as at present, being con-
fined to $1,000 per annum. There are, Of
course, many other matters in which the
association is interested. Several years ago
It seems that the association was about to
split upon a rock and might fall to pieces
altogether. Happily this danger was averted
and in all respects except financially the
association appears to be better of than
ever before. Little progress has been made
towards the passage of the reclassihcation
bill by congress For this. however, the
officers Of the association are in nowise to
blame. Several bills we're introduced last
session, the one most discussed being in
troduced by Representative William Alden
Smith of Michigan. raising the limit of
pay in cities of above $1,000 population to
$1,000 and fixing the limit In cities below
$4,000 population at $1,000 per annum.
Two Champions OF Carriers.
The letter carriers have two earnest
champions in the house, the foremost on
the republican side, being Representative
Cromer OF Indiana, who is a member OF the
house postoffice committee. Representative
Suzer OF New York has taken the most
| active interest in this matter on the demo-
cratic side. The efforts Of the letter car
riers have met with the appreciation Of the
press in every direction, and thousands Of
petitions have been received by members OF
the house from business men, commercial
| organizations and other sources asking that
something be done in this direction. Dur
| ing the last session of congress the bill
was held up in the postoflce committee
mainly through the efforts of Representa-
itivs Loud OF California;. chairman of the
committee on postoftices and post roads,
who is unalterably opposed to the measure.
Mr.. Loud has taken the ground that the
| letter carriers are better paid for their
work than either the postofhce clerks or
the railway mail clerks and until the sal
aries Of the latter are placed on the level
with those Of the letter carriers he will
| h. ~
the letter carriers. The letter carriers ad-
NIT that the railway mail clerks are under
paid, but see no reason why, because con-
gress refuses to give them justice, the let
ter carriers should not be permitted to
secure their proper deserts.
Drop Lobby scheme.
Some years ago an attempt was made
to raise a fund to be placed at the dis
posal OF such parties who represented
they could lobby the bill increasing the
pay OF the letter carriers through con-
gress The attempt to collect this fund
met with great opposition at the hands
| OF many OF the letter carriers, who re-
fused to pay and left the organization.
Others paid, but made vigorous protests,
| the results of which was the matter was
ventilated in the press and all hope of Sc
| curing passage OF luS Dill Dy tnlS Scueme
was abandoned. At the last national con-
vention ]. C. Keller, a letter carrier Of
Cleveland, was elected president on a re-
form platform. Mr.. Keller was SO afraid
that he and his associates, who had Just
been put in charge of the affairs of the
| association, might be charged with un-
dertaking to lobby the bill through con-
gress that he probably went to the other
| extreme and trusted entirely to the merits
| of his case. A hearing was had by the
committee on this bill. but the matter
practically ended there, and as II was
| never brought home TO the members Of
congress nothing was ever done with the
bill Experts in legislation say that no
matter how meritorious a measure may
be, 1t will not appeal 20 legislators by
| force OF it's own merits alone. 1t must
be presented to them In such forcible
manner that they cannot overlook the
merit Of the proposition.
Have No Funds.
Representative Loud has labored under
the impression that a large part of the
special fund raised by the letter carriers
some years ago was still in the posses
sion OF the officers OF the association for
the purpose of lobbying" In this respect
Mr. Loud appears to be mistaken. for
whatever fund was raised completely dis
appeared, and when the present oficers Of
the association took charge Of it's affairs
they claimed the treasury was practically
} empty. Only a few hundred dollars re-
J mained in the treasury, and since tn.
Chattanooga convention the headquarteri
OF the association in this city have beer
, operated on the smallest amount Of none,
possible. President Keller has been com
I PEELED to use his own funds and even Il
borrow money from personal friends in or
der TO continue the work at headquarters
Shortly after Mr.. Loud declared that tn,
carriers had a large fund at their dis
posal for lobbying purposes Mr.. Kelle
was compelled to return TO Cleveland ant
resume his work as a letter carrier Il
that postof1ce-from which position n
had been on leave while acting as presi
dent Of the essociation-in order that h
might make SUFFICIENT money to supper
himself and enable him to visit the ma
tional convention at Denver. II there 1
: any special fund at the disposal Of tn
president Of the association Mr.. KeIle
; would be very pleased to learn OF Il
whereabouts and how he can get at It.
An attempt will be made at the comm
convention by the friends Of the old OH
GERS Of the association to reeapture tn