West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1904-02-18
ROTTEN POSTAL CARS
And the Danger In the Railwa, Mall
Service.

ochc bnc uuiinB tnc TASK month";
resolution was offered in the
House Of Representatives by Mr..
Tawney, Republican from Mime
sofa, and it ought to pass Those who
know "Jim" Tawney well, know
that is he big hearted, honorable
gentleman. He offered this resoIu-
ton in the interest Of humanity,
but his party is not inclined to sus-
tain him in his position. The re-
solution offered by Mr.. Tawney
was in reference to the rotten rail-
way postal cars, TO which have
been due, in large measure the
loss of life to the railway postal
clerks In the past dozen years.
Even last year there was not less than
10 young men, who take their lives
in their hands every time they enter
car and start out on their run,
killed and cremated, simply because
these cars were old, -shackIe
affairs, become box of matches in
collision and burn like finder wood
thereafter. The preamble to this
resolution offered by Mr.. Tawney,
and which recited the foregoing
facts, was striker out when the
resolution came up on Jan. a7tb.
In striking preamble, it easily will
be seen that nowhere in the "Re-
cord" appears the reason contained
in the request for the information
and that was the intention of the
resolution. Instead of this pream-
bic, which was an attempt to get
this information before the people
of the country, they simply add a
request for knowledge of the con-
dition OF the cars on June the Ist
last. This will be used as wall
to hide behind and an attempt will
be made to place the blame for bad
equipment on the clerks themselves,
as it will be claimed that they have
neglected to report the bad cars.
The truth of the matter is that the
postal clerks have learned from
long experience that such reports
on their part only secures a new
coat of paint and other subierfuges
to hide the real character of the
cars. 1t would seem that with so
many demolished cars and so many
men killed and burned up that
there would appear to be some
necessity for action on the part of
Congress in the interest of humaity.
The railroads, however, are still
strong enough to prevent Congress
sional action and hoodwink the peo-
pie, which will continue so long as
there is party in power controlled
by the railroads.
The railway postal service and
It's efficiency are matters Of import
ance to every business man and
every newspaper in the United
States. Hitherto, the work OF
these brave young men has been
hidden under busheI, simply be-
cause railway influences have con
trolled the position of Second AS
sistant Postmaster General, which
has jurisdiction over this depart
ment of the service.
The people have necessarily been
In ignorance of the real situation
concerning 1t. This service is filed
full of labor unrequited by dollars,
of heroism, and il is a real tradgey
1t will be my pleasure and my pro-
vince in the near future to expose
the methods and denounce the ma
chinery, engineered by the Repub-
lican party, from granting justice
and decency to the manly young
man who still live and work, and to
the hundreds who have gone to
their death through the cupidity
and avarice of cold blooded corpo-
rations controlling the machinery
of the Government.