Morris tribune., 1903-11-07

"Why bump ones head against
stone WALTZ" said he. Congress won't
pass it.
every plan that has ever been pre-
gented to congress for improving the
postal service" said high post Office
authority, "has been scrutlnized by In
terests. Do you suppose we can nave
revision changing the present rates
of paying the railroads as long as some
of the most prominent senators and
congressman are identified with trans
portation interests"
/ turned to another official.
"Do you mean," said l, that you
could not pass bill obnoxious to in
terests"
"Well," and he smiled automatically,
''there would certainly be opposition.
Finally there is the civil service sys-
tenn If post Office official fulhlls his
routine duties he rises in the service
by sheer mechanism. Once in a berth
it requires a trial for gross ineff1ciency
or misconduct to get him out. II the
miasma of an office where there is no
spur of self interest to goad man to
effort fails to stife his progressiveness,
sophistication tells him that it is I'M
wise to arouse an interest. mot too
| much zealv' is a watchword in the
United States post Office. Even it the
head of department wished to have
force as efficient as that demanded
by the manager of business, he could
not haveit.
Tiny Switzerland has many things to
teach u.s. So have Germany, France
and England.
In a German city-take Berlin, for
example-there is post Office every
few hundred yards. A post Office can
be found as easily as cigar store in
New York A network of underground
tubes connects all but the very small
est. Ordinary mail goes from station
to station by government owned wag-
ons, but a special delivery card or.
stamp, costing less than cents, will
| cause a message to be shot by tube
anywhere in the city. A messenger
will carry it from the point Of recep-
ton the few necessary yards to the
receiver and will wait for an answer.
Message and answer in Berlin take
about two hours. This is service far
speedier than any in the United States.
The German telegraph system Is an
adjunct of the post office. kilograms.
costing II cents for ten words, includ-
ing address, beat special delivery let
tiers by just the margin between elec-s
trio and pneumatic transmission. Postal
checks for small amounts almost Who'll
ly take the place of bank checks. One
may send postal money order with a
message written on the back, and a
postal messenger will bring II to the
house of the receiver and pay it there
on the spot, service as accurate and
complete as by personal messenger.
Subscription to magazines and news
papers is through the post office. You
pay the postmaster, he orders the prop
er number Of publications for his of
fee. and the journals come eheaply and
smoothly in bulk to the several sta
tons for delivery. And not only does
a parcels post do practically all the
German express business at low Rates.
depending On weight and distance, but
Germany. through agreements with
other nations, sends parcels around
the world | know resident of Berlin
who has package of meat mailed to
him every Saturday from a point $50
miles away in Silesia for little more
than IL cents, the rate for twenty
pound parcel. German merchants de
liver most of their goods by mail. the
small storekeeper thus provided with
as good a delivery service as the lar
ger All the parcels, large and small,
are brought of course to the address
to which they are directed Germans
have even been permitted to mail
eleven pound parcels to addresses in
the United States.
In London the pneumatic tube sys-
tenn is so perfected that within the
radius of London one may send an
ordinary letter, receive an answer,
send another and receive an answer to
that all in the course of day. De
Hveries run until 9 and 10 o'clock in
the evening. The English post office
maintains telegraph system, convey
ing twelve word messages all over
Great Britain and Ireland for IL cents.
and parcels post system comparable
to the German and, furthermore, main
tains a savings bank. All this pays.
The United States post office fails to
give such service and fails to pay even
it's expenses.
1t would be impossible in New York
for example, to send a letter, receive
an answer, send again and receive an
other answer, all in day, as in Lon
don. The pneumatic tube service is
very restricted. A letter posted down
town at o'clock will not be delivered
uptown in the residence district until !
the next morning. If packages are too
bulky for the ordinary carrier one
must journey to the post Office for !!
them, and likewise one goes to the post
pffice to cash money orders. II
| asked high post Office official why
parcels are not delivered