The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-08-05
POSTAL ADVANCEMENT.

POSTAL ADVANCEMENT.
The Postal Progress League has started series O
monthly meetings in this city to advocate the I'M
mediate advancement of the postofice," says th'
New York Commercial It's secretary announces that
he has received letters from many prominent business
men approving and prasing its campaign to secure
the election Of congress pledged to postal reform
The Central New York Farmers Club recently
adopted resolutions demanding postal improvement
at once In other states also the farmers, as well as
the town and city business communities, are begin
ming to show their interest in this subject All these
things are SO many hopeful signs that the improve
ment Of the United States postoffce department is
bound to come Public recognition of the INSULT
eiency of the department to meet existing needs is
more widespread than ever-and an enlightened
public opinion in this country is the first great
step in the direction Of reform.
There is no department of the public service today
so badly in need of betterment-indeed, of thor
oughgOing reform-a as is the postofice A writer in
a recent number of The Worlds Work magazine said
that the scandals in the department, bad as they
have been, sink into nsgnifcance beside the mad
equacy of the postal service And that is perfectly
true. There has been no appreciable improvement
IN the postoffce department in dozen years. In
some respects indeed there has been retrogresson
Its methods are in many things obsolete and out
worn. The charges for most kinds Of mail matter
are too high, and yet they are not high enough to
meet the enormous expense Of maintaining the de-
partment- which is today probably the biggest bank
rupt in the world According to the postmaster
generals report for 1903 the excess Of his expendi
tures over his total receipts from all sources was
$4,560,04473 Still more startling is his statement
that this deficit shows increase over that for 1902
of 1892, ,39492. But that is not all. Expenses of
the postoce department charged to the treasury de-
partment for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1903,
were ST. 439 49S.67- increase over 1902 Of $685.,
849lO8. Thus the grand total loss to the govern
ment caused by the postofice department last year
was $5,999, $780, which was an increase of nearly
two millions $1978,244) over the loss of the pre-
ceding year. And the United States is the only
large nation in the world whose postal service is con-
Quoted at loss
But despite the millions that it COSTS the service
is grossly incompetent. In a city like New York
many possible modern facilities for quicker, safer
better delivery are not availed Of Deliveries are
slow Congestion is frequent Losses Of letters or
valuable packages are of daily occurrence Quarters
are for the most part too small and cramped. The
department goes numbering along like its heavy, old
fashioned wagons drawn by poor, emaciated, oldI
nags that look about ready for the "bone-yard One
can Oftentimes send letter to Philadelphia more
quickly than from The Bronx to Wall street Andl
this is the department at its best. In the country
at large there are said to be no less than 75,000l
towns and villages without any postal service at all
The advocates of postal advancement urge that
the extension of the free delivery service is an i'm
perative need and that the cost Of the foreign mail
service should be reduced Former Postmaster-Ge Gen-
eral Thomas L. James pointed out in 1885 that al
daily mail service was needed between London andl
New York and that the rate Of ocean postage should
be cents letter If that was needed 19 years ago.
they say it is more urgently demanded now Then,
these men say, when these paramount reforms have
been secured let us have cheaper internal letter
postage-the reduction Of irst-cass matter to one
cent an ounce.
-A