Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-02
RURAL DELIVERY GREAT help
Makes Life on the Farm Much More
Desirable Than Formerly.
BENEFITS ARE COMMERCIAL AS WELL
Department of Agriculture Collects
some Statements of Farmer on
the vaIue of Rural Mail
Delivery.

FNGeuI years. not eAfluQluE lTTlEdLlUus tue
opening OF vast tracts Of country by trans
continental railroads. nor the extraordinary
expansion Of our foreign commerce, has
done one-half so much for the farmer as
rural free delivery. The benefits Of this
service have been two-fold-nrst, social;
second, commercial.
place the social advantages first because
Of their great importance. Just think Of a
farm house FIVE miles or more away from
the postof1ce, with nothing TO relieve the
monotony Of the daily life, with no news
papers, no magazines and no correspond
ence except when the "old man finds IL
convenient TO ride TO town. Think also Of
the necessary delay in his work that this
ride to town involves, and the possible
temptations OF the village grocery store in
which the postofhce is prcIa.:y situated
Bear also in mind the educating influence
upon him and his family Of daily newspa-
pers received on the day Of their issue,
and all the wholesome magazines which to-
gether bring the country people into active
communication with the affairs OF the
world. All these can reach him at an ex-
pense Of a dollar or two at the outset, and
without any further assessment. His boya
can grow up with the knowledge of all that
10 going on in athletic sports and other
matters in which boys take interest. His
girls can obtain the latest fashions and
go to church equipped in modest costumes
Of city make. His wife hears the news Of
the world from which she has been hitherto
shut out, and begins to feel that she Is not
q lone Mary Jane" out in the country, but
that she knows something that she can talk
about to her ~neighbors OF the doings of pPo-
pie outside their own little community.
Then the boys, instead Of each Of them
growing up as "own brother to the OK, -
with a hoe in his hand. begin to find that
they can make themselves factors In the
world. They learn from the newspapers
that this great country is becoming prac-
tlcally the granary OF Europe, that the
crops they help to till will be transported
to other countries, where the soil is in
sufficient to support the population, and
that they are moving a great world center
OF civilization, and are not merely clod-
hoppers upon their native farm lands.
/ believe that in no movement of modern
times are there so great elements of prog
ress and improvement as in rural free de-
livery. BY bringing the city into close COM
munication with the country you destroy
the tendency Of the farm boys to gravitate
to the cities; you give them all the infor-
nation they could obtain In the cities ex-
eept such as It is not desirable for them
to acquire; you enlist in them an active
concurrence in political life. and whether
they grow up as democrats or republicans
they are likely to do so upon a sound
thinking basis born OF information. That
Is what rural free delivery Is doing in the
educational sense.
The Commercial Benefits.
In the commercial sense it is achieving
results even more apparent. Some time
ago a distinguished democratic congress
man from Missouri stated to the depart
ment that one OF his constituents was
about to ship 100 head OF fat stock to mar
ket when. by the rural carrier. he was in
formed that the markets were glutted
with fat stock at that time and that prices
had dropped l cent or more a pound upon
the hoof. He withheld his shipment for
three days, and then prices recovered, and
he cleared at least $40 on every head oil
cattle that he shipped. This. as he after
ward said, would enable him to pay the
cost Of rural free delivery out of his owl
pocket II the government chose to with.
draw II from him.
In the value Of farm lands there has beer
an increase OF from so to 100 per cent in al
districts where the rural free delivery serv.
fee has been established. Every kind o
AhIniuk luuubAIg 10 Uentultu ny tue TuId
free delivery service. Truck farmers know
exactly what the prices are in the markets
to which they ship their products. The!
are no longer at the mercy OF their com
mission merchants; they know what tn,
price OF every commodity they ship was II
the city to which they shipped II ON tn,
date Of the shipment. In some Of the west
ern states the value OF farm lands has beef
nearly doubled by the introduction Of tn
rural free delivery service. In point OF fac
the conditions in those states where rura
free delivery has been most fully developer
are such that the farmers scarcely know
what TO do with their surplus funds. The.
Fave paid on their mortgages, the banks d.
not want their money and they are simpl,
investing in surplus lands. hoping for
continuance Of the service and Of the pros
perity It has brought,
Opinions of Farmers.
Statements as to the benefeent effect
of rural free delivery on the agriculture
interest do not come to the Postofice de
partment alone. The Department OF Agri
culture some time ago sent out circular
asking farmers for their dispasslonat
opinion. In all the hundreds Of replies re
ceived only two were adverse, and the
were almost as ludicrous as the repl
which this once received from an old In
diana farmer, who wrote;
1--WE all want TO go to town once In
while, Mr.. Postmaster General. I've got
good horse, but when l hitch up and sa
] am going to the postofhce to see II Their
is any mail, Maria says. You needn't 81
John. the postman has brought the let
ters.'"
Among the answers that have been re
eeived by the Agricultural department
farmer In DeIaVan. ILL.,. writes:
I'm November | sold 1900 bushels
corn; there was a difference OF 3 cents
bushel between the highest and lowest bl
OF six elevators that are located With
hve miles OF me. ! consider a farm o
a rural mail route worth so per cent moi
than a farm that Is not"
Another in Kansas says:
Perhaps the greatest advantage is
knowing the market prices each day. tn
buyers here use Kansas City markets
a basis for buying. and the farmers ca
be, and some Of them are. Just as we'll II
formed as anyone. l know OF two thu
made the price OF their daily paper Q
one load Of hogs each"
A farmer In Oregon states;
Before free delivery was started thel