The National tribune., 1903-07-30
D.


that the originals were lost, present the
duplicates at the Baltimore office and re-
| ceive payment, then proceed to Washing
| ton, collect the original orders and have
| abundant time to disappear from view be-
| fore the imposition could be detected. 1he
scheme was worked many times with sue
cess and only awaited a general diffu-
sion of knowledge as to its possibilities
| to become popular In feonious circles.
Fortunately, it has been stopped, but,
strange to say, some prominent Depart
ment officials are aggrieved by its discon-
| tinuance.
STAMPS AND STAMPED ENVELOPES.
| MAIL BAGS.
No account has ever been kept with the
| Post Office Department of the stamps and
stamped paper furnished by the Bureau
of Engraving and Printing or by outside
contractors. This account should have
been opened in the Auditors Office when
| postage stamps were first introduced, 5O
years ago, and continually kept until this
time. 1t would be the fundamental cor
rective check upon substantially the whole
revenues of the Post Office Department,
amounting to over $100,0O0,0OO. That
no such account has ever been
opened or kept is an astonishing
revelation of defective methods, all the
more glaring because similar accounts
have always been rigidly kept by the Au-
ditor for the Treasury Department with
| the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
| whenever revenue stamps have been re-
quired by law.
The entire volume of the public busi-
ness of the country transmitted through
the mail. including documents, correspond
ence, even heavy cases of freights, such
as postal cards. postal supplies, type
writer's, canceing machines, printing
presses, etc, is carried without any COM
| penSatiOn, and at an absolute total loss
| to the postal revenues amounting to mil
lions of dollars in the aggregate. No at
tempt has ever been made to gather ac-
| curatc information as to the magnitude of
\ this abuse.
The important part played by machin-
| cry in our mail service was clearly Illus
trated in weighings of mail matter. when
it was discovered that more than half the
weight of the United States mails was
| made up of mail-cquipment sacks, pouch
| eS, etc. And when we come to the postal
car the insigniiicance of the real mail
matter transported in comparison with
| the machinery used becomes yet more
| striking. The weight of the regular 60
| foot postal car is about $4,000 pounds.
The average weight of the mails carried
| in such cars is not over 10000 pounds,
| and more than half of this is made up of
the sacks and pouches. The postal ma
| chinery-mail car and mail sacks-in this
case weighs about Al tons, to about 2R
| tons of actual mail matter. Even in full
| loaded storage cars the weight of the ma
chine-the car and sacks-is from three
| to four times that of the actual mail mat
ter in such cars. The Government. of
course, pays, at high rates, for all this
dead weight"
PAYMENTS TO RAILROADS.
In Sunnort of that or,r
present method of computing the pay of
| railways for carrying mails is extraya-
CANT and illogical. it is urged that the
cost Of transportation, be it of letter,
Il mail bag, a can of milk. or indeed Of
carload of freight, is practically the same
for all distances within the limits of the
organized service, and for this reason:
Because of the fact that the expense due
to the length of the haul is so small in
| comparison with the other necessary
charges. The same plant and machinery,
the same crew and organization have to
be maintained whether the matter is trans
ported from one station to the next or to
the farthest station in the system. 1t not
infrequently happens, indeed, that the cost
per unit of mail matter-per parcel or
mail bag-transported the longest dis
tances between great centers, is mrch
less than the cost of the short diStai ce
transport in local traffic. In all cases it
is the cost of the plant and of its opera
ton that is the real factor in our modern
system of transport And the cost of run
ming transport machinery is practically
the same, whether it runs full or empty.
Mail service performed by railroad COM
panies is not under any formal written
contract. In 1873 a law was passed pro
viding that railroads should be paid on the
basis of weights carried fixing q maxi
mum scale of rates. These rates were
| reduced 10 per cent. in 1876 and ) per
cent. lower in 1873, since which time no
change has been made. No company can
be compelled to carry the mails, but as
rule they gladly accept the duty and col
lect the legal compensation.
ONE CENT LETTER POSTAGE.
A one cent letter rate is being urged 1t
would be convenience, it would be a
boon to many persons to whom letter
the evil which it would now work, its
benefits would be infnitesimal. The De
partment, rs is well known. has not been
running at a profit. There have been too
many abuses of the system which have
had to be corrected first, and when they
have all been adjusted it will b. time
enough to talk of cheapening the rates.
Two cent letter postage is not Il burden,
and the danger of impairing the service
by reduction would at the present time
be too great to be r.sked. In considering
such reduction it must not be forgotten
that a simultaneous readiustment of the
laws under which our 10000 PoStmasters
are compensated, would be absolutely nee
essary. Existing standards would be de
stroyed. salaries and commissions nearly
cut in half and other clements of con-
fusion introduced which only an expert
can foresee.
As an entering wedge for uniform and
universal one cent letter rates, reduc-
| tion on local letters in cities TO one cent
| is demanded Drop letters" SO called
| command one cent postage i'll villages and
towns which do not enjoy the benefits of
city free delivery; but where carriers are
employed the law requires the same post
age on local letter that is paid for trans
| portation across the continent. This seems
| an injustice and is certainly an anomaly:
consequently, there is strong sentiment in
| favor of this reform. In its favor is
urged the fact that in. AT least, one West
ern city private enterprise has entered
| into competition with the United States
| in carrying local mail. Sealed letters are
delivered throughout the city for one cent
each and Il profitable business has been
built up employing seven or e:gnt carriers
and steadily increasing. 1t is predicted
that this competition will spread until
within five years the innovation will cx-
| 1