The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-05
cetters tc tbe Gdftcr
Is,,sn Esfsres Thcnpsen'. one-Man Power.

| -heEhGEGG InOmp9On'8 OnG~MAn P0WGE. Editor The Advertiser:
 One good turn deserves another You did me the honor to publish in youi issue issue of the 2sth inst: my letter ir the. United States Postal Department and which signed Subscriber. should have added an to have made ments of every subscriber you have in this neck of the woods" that I have heard from, save one.
 MT, Thompson-the Referee-objects plume" and if you wifi allow me a iit- tie space I will crawl out from under 1t. My only excuse for assuming 1t is shrink from having my name appear in print. What I have to say i can speak right out in meetin'" without fear. or shame and with hat full of some other humor.
 did not say in my former communi- GatiOn that n,iSsts had bssn one of har Mr jumped him on my knee. and may have amused him in other similar ways, but when I was getting to be one of the ing the art of carving. white pine board with a "barlow.
 MT. Thompson explains that he Is only an humble servant of the people. Postal Department is to recommend good and reliable persons to fiji the postoffices. He knows. and I think is gible person in Cross Keys beat and if he did not know who was itching" for the office before. he certainly knew af- he wrote at once, or had previously written to the Department advising them to appoint J. H. Henderson post master at Cross Keys, we do not know, official letter immediately after his re- turn to Birmingham (we know 1t was an official letter because 1t was franked in an official envelope.) He stated in the letter that this rural route would be discontinued on October 1st and re- quested that suitable person be re- compnended for postmaster at Cross sub-referee. Mir. Thompson says he never makes a recommendation for an office without first consulting the rep men of the community affected. I suppose he took 1t for granted that Cross Keys had only one representative business and professional man, as I do not think the sub referee consult ed anyone-just determined that he was it. according to previous arrangements ington "a formal petition for appoint ment as postmaster of Cross Keys. It is reported that he hauled this docu- loaded 1t on the car. There was no spe- cial hurry about it, as no one else seems to want the job-the others want free rural delivery. Some. perhaps, have the document. but, even II one could be found in the community who would do such a thing, we know the Major" would, not have allowed him to have mailed at his of1ce-he would not have allowed 1t to be aired there.
 Mir. Thompson says rural routes are discontinued on petition from citizens affected and on recommendation of in- spectors. If a petition were to be got ten up fairly and squarely for the dis cover it with one that would crush it with an overwhelming majority. If the inspector were to note the increased volume of business at the shorter of during the life of the Old Star Route if he were to note the forty boxes now in use and the thirty-six in the de- pot here already subscribed for, he could not perform his duty conscientiously and recommend the discontinuance of this route.
 ment of, for and by the people" That Is exactly what we want in mail ser vice We do not want mail service for the benefit of one man, but for the ben tended to be.
 I would not recommend capital pun ishment on circumstantial evidence, but iuror we nave tRs eir cumstances in this case and we have Mir. Thompson's statement Now, here is another statement in his defence: was reliably informed that his brother says that Jodie did not work to abol- ish this rural route, but that the work was done by a relative of theirs who is postmaster at Tuskegee, We are try ing to find some motive for his action. With his extensive mercantile business and the TuAkegHe postofIice with its ru- ral routes to look after, does time still hang so heavily on his hands that he must amuse himself by wiping out ru- ral routes with his influence at Wash ington? Has he grudge against one or more of the patrons of this route overpower his judgment as to drive him to Indian warfare?
 Does little Star Route office afford a compensation sufficient to authorize bonus that would secure the services and influence of man of his calibre? We are pulling our chins over these quotations. MT. Editor. We are con- soled by the hopeful stand you take in your able editorial about the wheels clogged by parties whose pecuniary in- terest are at stake. We admit that the element that Is against progress in this rural district may succeed in checking it temporarily but, in spite of the ring supported by the rotten politics that in fests us, the voice of the people will eventually be heard-we will progress: we will have our rural routes; we will have our daily paper and keep abreast
 With thanks for your patient indulg- ence, am,
 Very respectfully and truly yours.
 R. N. Lightfoot.