The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-24
ENFORCEMENT
OF THE RULES
Free Delivery Service Has I'm
de;gOne a Change.
NOT so EASY AS IT WAS
OLD ORDER OF THINGS PASSED
WITH MACEEN.
NOT so EASY AS IT Was
Especial to The Herald,

rules have been made Tor the rural Tree
delivery service since its transfer from
the office of the first assistant post
master general to that of the fourth
assistant postmaster general, except
that one rule has been amended so as
to facilitate the securing of rural free
delivery in sparsely settled districts
west OF the Mississippi. There has
been so much Misrepresentation of the
policy of the postofice department by
those interested IN distracting atten-
ton from the mismanagemen and ir-
regularities that characterized the
service under Superintendent Machen
and by congressman and others who Sc
cured especial favors from Machen and
are now disturbed because they can Sc
cure no more Improper favors, that it
is best that the exact state of facts
should be presented. Then, too, mem
bers Of the house and of the senate,
Misunderstanding the policy of the de-
partment. are apprehensive lest the
rural free delivery system may be
stunted in its legitimate growth.
Under the Machen regime. the rules
formulated for the management and
extension Of the rural free delivery
service were grossly violated and later
openly disregarded. Now they are be-
ing enforced. The rules remain the
forced Now they are. That is the
difference between the free administra-
ton Of Machen and the reform admin
istratiOn of Fourth Assistant POST
master General Bristow. Formerly
those who were friendly to Superin-
tendent Machen were given preference
in the establishment OF routes Now the
routes are established in the order they
are petitioned for.
Making No Haste.
The postoffice department has as vet
abandoned no routes that were estab-
lished under former Superintendent
Machen, although some that were or
dered before his dismissal. but which
had not yet been established. have not
been created. As q striking Indication
of the interest taken by the depart
ment in the establishment of rural free
! delivery routes and in the wise extern
/ sion Of this important service. il is to
be observed that in the first month Of
/ the present fiscal year, July, 2.455 rural
I routes were esta blished as comma red
to 1854 in the fiscal year which ended
I with the 30th Of last June. In this con-
nection, il is to be said that during the
I last six weeks of the late fiscal wear no
! routes were established because of the
exhaustion Of the appropriation. There
| remains unallotted a sum sufficient to
establish 1000 additional routes. 1t can
/ easily be seen, then, that the rural
! service is being extended at a far faster
/ rate than when Machen was in charge
Expressions of anxiety have been re-
Gently heard lest the west would not
get its proper proportion Of the rural
service under the new management IT
has been represented that the new pol
! Icy was prejudicial to the western in
| terests. But undr the old regime the
rules provided that the length of a
rural route should not exceed % miles.
They still so provide. but in the coun-
try west Of the Mississippi. in Kansas.
Nebraska the DakOtas, Oklahoma, and
western Texas. where the roads are
dry and hard and level the rule has
been so amended as TO permit rural
routes to be 80 miles in length, pro-
vided the roads will permit. As
practical question il is easier to serve
route 30 miles long in the west than
II is in Ohio or Indiana. and especially
in Pennsylvania and Virginia, because
western roads are drier and the coun-
= try more level. Thus. under the new
1 system the west should gain rather
/ than lose in the number of routes es-
/ tablished.
/ In 1899, when the rural free delivery
/ system had ceased to be an experiment,
or rather when the first experiments
/ Of serious consequence were made and
/ it appeared that the service was certain
Z to become an established fact. it was
provided by the rules that there should
} be no less than 100 families on each
route. In the book of instructions to
/ rural inspectors issued March 2S 1901
/ it was provided that the prerequisites
/ for the establishment and extension Of
/ rural free delivery now demanded are:
! A percentage Of 100 families on a route
] al }, 10 d OF nn
sons. etc. That rule has never been
modified. 1t was always in existence.
But under the Machen regime that
| rule was frequently violated. so when
J q congressman insisted upon a route
and he was in favor with the rural
/ free delivery bureau, the route was
( established. Violations became so gem
] eraI by superintendent Machen that
1 the special agents of the service dis
! regarded the rules reclessly.
"PulIv Has Disappeared.
/ The policy since Machens dismissal
/ has been to establish every route that
met the requirements. If a route pc
/ titioned for did not meet requirements,
/ il was not established. With this en-
4 forcement of the rules congressman
/ who secured improper favOrs before
/ dissatisfied. Their pull has disap-
/ reared. The department viii not now
I establish "A route simply upon the re-
quest Of congressman Conditions
must qualify its establishment. Hence
! the criticism and Misrepresentation OF
/ tho evaCt stnte of facts
Routes petitiCned for that have been
/ rejected because they do not seem to
/ meet the requirements. arc often re-eX-
I amined upon the request Of congress-
man or community. The effort is then
I made 20 make the route comply with
! the requirements. perhaps by changing
/ its direction so as TO take in more peo-
1 pie or IN some other proper way, pro-
vided upon its first examination the
( route came near meeting the require
| ments Of the rules.
/ Routes arc established upon petitions
/ Of communities desiring them. The
petition is generally through the con-
( gresham Of the district in which the
protected route is located. as he is the
natural local representative. but his
/ cooperation though reasonable is not
/ necessary The congressman's petition
/ is given proper consideration. and the
/ route established II Il is within the
rules. for there is no nurpOse to deprive
/ the congressman of the legitimate fruit
l Of his position.
Investigations Of projected routes are
rigid and fair. Petitions are consid-
I cred in the order they are filed, though
at intervals exceptions are made for
J congressman Whrn special reasons are
! assigned but those reasons must be
| good The policy Of Fourth Assistant
! Postmaster General fsTistow and Of his
/ assistant. acting superintendent of
! Free Delivery FOsnes. is to be fair 10
/ ali sections Of fha country to show no