Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-16
u. 5. POSTAL SERVICE
P. M. General Chats About
His Department.
NEW SCHEMES TOLD
POST OFFICE AS A BUSINESS
BAROMETER.
What He Thinks Of Government Own
ership Of Telephones and
the Telegraph.
NEW SCHEMES TOLD

Copyright, 1904. by Frank @. Carpenter.)
had a long chat lately with Post
master General Payne and the CONVERSE
ton covered wide range of postal business
and personal matters.
1 first asked the general to tell me some
thing about himself and his family. asking
whether he came Of the rich Cleveland
Paynes Of whom the late Senator Henry B.
Payne and Oliver H.. the Standard Oil mil
lionaire, were prominent members. or from
the poor Paynes to whom the author OF
Home Sweet Home" belonged
He replied:
my family may have come from the
same stem as those whom you designate as
the poor Paynes and the rich Paynes, but II
so the rela tionship dates far back. I am
one of the Massachusetts, Paynes. My an
cestors first came to Massachusetts about
1923 on the third ship after the Mayfiower.
They were among the first settlers Of Bos-
ton, but they afterward moved farther in
land"
II see you were born al Ashfield?"
YES my people moved there after the
war between the colonists and the Indians,
known as King Phillips war. 1t took place
about one hundred years before our Decla-
it was over a grant Of land was made to
the soldiers who took part in 1t and my
family got share.
Bookkeeper to Postmaster General.
How did you happen to go west?" I
asked.
THE Paynes seem to have been imbued
with the emigrating spirit" said Mr.. Payne.
Some of US early moved to the Holland
purchase and others, later. to the western
reserve. I lived in Massachusetts until l
was twenty and then went to Wisconsin to
take a position as cashier and bookkeep-
er in a wholesale dry goods store"
What kind Of bookkeeper were you. gen.
eral?"
Il think I must have been fairly good,
was the reply. II have a natural talent
for mathematics and keeping accounts was
easy for me. l know that when we took
stock 1 could keep my footings so that L
could give the totals within ten or fifteen
minutes after the last items were called
out This was considered rather remark
able 1 have met but few people who could
do It,"
As Street Railway Magnate.
What did you do after your bookkeeping
experience?' I asked.
almost everything replied the Post
master General. Much Of my work has
been along the line of railways and rail-
way management In 1892 1 was one OF the
receivers of the Northern Pacific railway.
and I had much to do with the consolida-
ton and development of the electric street
railway of Milwaukee. / am proudest of my
success in that line. Ten or twelve years
ago had dozen different street car
companies in Milwaukee,. Some were run
by horses and others by electricity. The
roads had been built largely to aid in sub
urban development and they were poorly
managed. I was made, president of one of
them and improved it. Later on / became
Interested in the others and planned to con-
solidate the whole l got other men to join
me and we bought the roads and so reor-
ganized them that we have now one of the
best trolley systems of the United States.
I was president of that system at the time
1 was made Postmaster General"
'You were at one time president Of the
American Street Railway Association. were
you not?'
Yes 1 was. but am not now. gave up
active business OF all kinds when l came
here"
Five-Cent Car Fares the Best.
How about our street cars. general; will
the time ever come when we will have
cheaper fares?"
II hope not" was the reply. Cheap
fares are not for the good of the street car
service or Of the people. II you have low
fares you must graduate them by distance
or by zones, as in Glasgow and other Euro
pean cities You must charge one cent for
more and so The result Is that the
working men. to save fares. crowd them
selves nearest their work. The cities be-
come congested. the suburbs are not built
up and the working man lives in the heart
of the city instead of in the country. 1t Is
better to pay five-cent rate per ride and
to allow the people to live out. This is an
important consideration and one which con-
duces to the making of better American
citizens
A Business View Of Postal Matters.
you have been business man. handling
large affairs, general. Is the post Office
hard to manage a business institution
yes, 1t is. The chief trouble Is you cannot
manage 1t as you can a private enterprise.
The employees are selected for you. and you
cannot dismiss them, except by making
charges and bringing them before what
might be called the department court. There
are many laws which hamper your fndi-
vidual action. The moment you try to do
something you find there Is a law against It,
and the result Is there all sorts of clogs
in the way of progress"
How about the postal services 1t a
good one?"
Yes with the limitations I have men
toned, and l do not know but that they
are good limitations on the whole. One fea-
ture which prevents the system being eff
clent as private institution is the number
OF superannuated clerks We have some
clerks who have been serving the depart
ment Tor years. and who have given good
service. They have grown old, and in an
ordinary business they would have to go.
Here the process of removal Is such that
they are allowed to stay"
An Honest Postal Service.
How about the Post Office Department.
do you think 1t worse or better than the
others or the executive Departmental"
L think the postal service is as honest
now as any in the United States. public or
private. replied Gen. Payne. 1.-The fraud
Investigations have purged It, We had fifty
or sixty post Office inspectors at work for
elent months examining into every branch
OF the business. We have prosecuted every
lrregularity, and have already seven OF
them indicted and five sentenced to the
penitentiary Many others are under indict-
ment awaiting trial Indeed. I don't believe
that any government department, in this
or any other country, has ever been more
thoroughly investigated than the Post once
department The result is that 1t is now
IN thoroughly healthy condition"
Our Postal Business.
Give me some idea of the business of the
department" asked.
1T Is one of the biggest, If not the big
gest, business Of the kind upon EARTH" re-
piled Postmaster General Payne. 'Tt has
been estimated that the aggregate number
OF letters and newspapers which annually
goes through the post Offices OF the world IL