Evening journal., 1903-11-05

there would certainly be opposition" |
Finally there is the civil service sys-
TEN. II a post Office official fulnlls bis
routine duties he rises in the service I
by sheer mechanism. Once In a berth
1t requires a trial for gross inefhciency
or misconduct to get him out. II the
miasma OF an Office where there is no
spur OF self interest to goad a man to
effort fails to stife his progressiveness.
sophistication tells him that IL is un.
wise TO arouse an interest. mot too .
much zealF' is watchword In the /
United States post Office. Even II the |
head OF department wished to have
a force as efficient as that demanded /
by the manager Of business, he could /
not have Il.
Tiny Switzerland has many things to /
teach us. So have Germany, France |
and England
In 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 special delivery card or
stamp, costing less than cents, will
cause 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 ONCE. kilograms,
costing II cents for ten words. includ-
ing address, beat special delivery let
tiers by just the margin between cleo
trio and pneumatic transmission Postal
checks for small amounts almost Who'll
ly take the place OF bank checks. One
may send a postal money order with
message written on the back. and
postal messenger will bring II to the
house of the receiver and pay II 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
err number Of publications for his Of
fee, and the Journals come cheaply and
smoothly IN bulk TO the several sta
tons for delivery. And not only does
a parcels post do practically an Che
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. a package Of meat mailed I,
him, every Saturday from a point 15l
miles away In Silesia for a little NOR
than u cents, the rate for a twenc
pound parcel. German merchants de
liver most Of their goods by mall, th
small storekeeper thus provided wit
! as good q delivery service as the lai
5 ger. All the parcels, large and small
/ are brought OF course to the addres
3 10 which they are directed German
2 have even been permitted to ma
eleven pound parcels 10 addresses d
the United States
In London the pneumatic tube sys
TEN IS so perfected that within tn
radius Of London one may send al
ordinary Iettst receive an answer
send another and receive an answer 4
that an ia the course Of a day. De
liveries run until o and 10 o'clock II
the evening. The English post otiic'
maintains a telegraph system, convey
ing twelve word messages all ovei
Great Britain and Ireland for II cents
and a parcels post system comparable
to the German and, furthermore. main
tains a savings bank. All this pays
The United States post office fails L
give such service and fails to pay ever
its expenses.
II would be impossible In New York
for example, to send a letter, receiv'
an answer, send again and receive an
other answer, all in day, as IN Lon
don The pneumatic tube service I
very restricted. A letter posted down
town at 4 o'clock will not be delivere
uptown in the residence district unit
the next morning. II packages are to
bulky for the ordinary carrier on
must journey to the post Office 10
them, and likewise one goes to the pos
Office TO cash money orders.
asked a high post office official VIII,
parcels are not delivered.
"Tbe public don't demand it." SAT-
he "They don't object to going to tn
post Office"
Your neighbor may post four pounl
package to San Francisco for CA cents
1t would cost him the same to send
TO you next door. A German nigh
mail a ten pound package from Ger
many TO Salt Lake City. You coul
not without paying prohibitory lette
! postage rates. Mr. James L. Cowie
bsnt a suit case thus from New Yor
directly to New Haven. The stamp
cost S3.6S He could have sent II vi
Germany for S1.95. offered at an
post Office as fourth class matter
would not have been accepted at al
II weighed eleven pounds. .Practica
ly, then, the United States post ofIic
says. "Send all but your smaller pacL
. ages by slow and uncertain private ez
press, and send all your urgent mes
sages by expensive private telegraph,
or Dut in a fQlQDhOnn