La Junta tribune., 1904-10-22
Rural Free Delivery Service Of lncaIcu.able Ben
eft to Farming Communities.
DEMOCRATS WORKED HARD AGAINST IT
FIatIy Refused to Obey the Mandate Of Oon-
gress to Establish Routes, but Are
Now Claiming Honor-Rec-
ords Compared

population should share In the inprsvsssst
Of this service
koossveit's Rseo - nsaAsties.
In his last annual message President
Roosevelt again called attention to the
Importance of the rural free delivery
service, saying:
I'll. rural free delivery service has been
steadily extended. TIE attention OF Con
kr-ss 10 asked TO the question OF the com
pcEsatiou Of the letter carriers and clerks
engaged TIA the postal service. especially on
til. new rural free delivery routes Nor.
routes have been Installed since the ist Of
July last .hsn In any Ike period In ths
departments history. While q due regard
to economy must 10 kept In mind in the
.stablishrn.nt Of new routes, yet the -I
tension Of the rural free delivery system
must be continued for reasons of sound
public policy No governmental movement
II recent yean has resulted In Grsst.r I'm
mediate brusht 20 the people OF the coun'
trJ districts Rural fre-.driiyery. taken In
connection with the telephone. the bicycle
aud the trolley. aceompllsh.- much toward
is>ssnius the Isolation Of farm life and
making II brighter. and more sttrsctl'e
la the immediate past til" lack OF just such
facilities as thee. has driven many os tn.
more sctiye md restless young men and
women from tn. farms TO the cities. for
they reh-iied ct loneliness and lack Of
mental coinpsnionsh!p. II Is unhealthy and
undssirnGi. for the cities to grow at tn.
~rpeBs~ of the conrtry, aud rural free de
livery IL not only r"od thing Ia ITSELF
which check this unWhoiesome tendency
toward tn" urban concentration OF our
population al the expense Of the country
districts,
The foregoing quotation. are SUFFICIENT
TO show that Republican executives real
izei the Importance Of the rural delivery
system 10 the farming communities and
lid everything in their power to extend
Il. During President Mckinl-y's first
term establishment Of routes had been
given such an impetus that by 1900 the
service lad passed far beyond the expert
mental irse md Congress had approp-
rated $4,000 for maintenance of the
routes then in operation. These routes
numbered ..IG at the clos. of Mckin-
ley's frst term, but many others had
been surveyed and were ready to be
established The service became so pop
ular that farmers flooded the postoffics
department with petitions for new routes.
Corps Of Inspectors were appointed. divi-
siUus were created. superintendcnts pla c.
ell in charge and the service was put on
4 msthodical business basis.
Routes Now In Operation.
The system has been so rapidly eI-
tended under President Roosevelt that
Conrres. this year appropriated s21 COO
Coz for the service. which now en-
b-rce> approximately ~ 800 routes.
either in operation or about to be estab-
hshei. These routes are scattered over
all the States and territories. as will
lee seen by the following table. which
gives the total number of petitions re-
f.rred for examination and investigation,
th. routes in operation on September
Is. 1904. and the number Of petitions
p.ndin. on the same date: