Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1904-10-20
Rural Free Delivery Service Of ncalcu'abe Ben
eft to Farming Communities.
DEMOCRATS WORKED HARD AGAINST IT
FIatIy Refused to Obey the Mandate OF Con-
gress to Establish Routes, but Are
Now Claiming Honor-Rec-
ords Compared
Koo.eveits Reco m IN enda alton.

population should share in the improvement |
of this service.
Rooseveit's Recon- mendatiou.
In his last annual message President
Roosevelt again called attention to the
importance of the rural free delivery
service, saying:
The rural free-delvery service has been
steadily extended. The attention Of Con
gress Is asked to the question Of the com
pensation OF the letter carriers and clerks
engaged In the postal service, especially on
the new rural free delivery routes. More
routes have been Installed since the LIST Of
July last than in any like period In the
to economy must be kept In mind In the
establishments Of new routes, yet the eN-
tension OF the rural frpe-deliyery system
must be continued for reasons or SOUND
public policy. No governmental movement
OF recent years has resulted In greater i'm
mediate benefit to the people OF the coun-
try districts. Rural free delivery, taken in
connection with the telephone, the bicycle.
and the trolley, accomplishes much toward
lessening the isolation OF farm life and
making 1t brighter. and more attractive.
In the immediate past the lack Of Just such
facilities as these has driven many Of the
more active and restless young men and
women from the farms to the cities: for
they Tebelled at loneliness and lack OF
mental coinpanionship. II is unhealthy and
undesirable for the cities to grow at the
expense OF the country, and rural free de
livery Is not only n Rubu lnlnE III ltseH,
but is good because 1t is one OF the causes
which check this unwhulesome tendency
toward the urban concentration OF our
population at the expense OF the country
distrlctS.
The foregoing quotations are sufficient
to show that Republican executives real
lied the Importance of the rural delivery
system to the farming communities and
did everything in their power 10 extend
it. During President Mckinley's first
! term establishment of routes had been
| given such an impetus that by 1900 the
| service had passed far beyond the expert
mental stage and Congress had approp-
rated S350,O00 for maintenance of the
routes then in operation. These routes
numbered ,276 at the close Of McNin
lcy's first term, but many others haC
been surveyed and were ready to b'
established. The service became so pop
ular that farmers flooded the postoiiic'
department with petitions for new routes
Corps OF inspectors were appointed, divi
sious were created. superintendent plac
ed in charge and the service was put y,
a mothodical business basis.
Routes Now in Operation.
, The system has been so rapidly ex
tended under President Roosevelt tina
Congress this year appropriated sd 900
/ COZ for the service, which now en-
braces approximately 21,5o0 routes
e either in operation or about to be estal
c hshed. These routes are scattered owe
( all the States and territories. as wi
lie seen by the following table, whic
d gives the total number of petitions +,
i ferred for examination and investigation
y the routes in operation on Septembe
!, II, 1901, and the number Of petition
t pending on the same date: