Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-07-05
THE RURAL FREE DELIVERY.
It's influence In Frightening Country Liis-it
Costs $50, ,000, 900, But Is Worth II.

Washington Cor. in Boston Transcript |
Anything that makes living in the
country more attractive, and 80 ar
rests to degree the concentration
of population in the cities, is worth
paying government money for, and
hence our lawmakers are looking
forward with no great apprehension
to the $60,000,000 year charge
which rural free delivery seems des-
tined to entail. The most marked
effect of this development upon the
Senators and Representatives of
States having large cities will be 10
tn their backs in insisting that a
reasonable division of postal reve.
nues shall 60 for improvements in
the urban mail service, such as pneu.
ruatic tubes, and other facilities for
quickening the mail service of the
oongested centsrs. The postal estab-
lishment sees some enormous con.
tracts; single building in New
York city contains 6, 200 persons dur.
ing the working day, and they are
nearly all letter writer's. Their aver
age use of the postal service proba-
bly, equals that of $4,000 in the rural
counties. 1t is necessary to make
thirty three collections day in some
of the New York buildings to get
the accumulating mail out of the way.
The other side of the story is the
rural regions where an inspector, de-
sirous of establishing rural route,
has TO exert himself to the utmost to
cARnt in 100 families which could be
sef&ed in ride of "a miles. The
original idea was to require that
mount of support, but there are
hundreds of routes in operation to-
day for the accommodation of
much smaller number of households,
and in making rural delivery univer.
sal, within limits of practicability,
which is now the aim of Congress
and the department, it will be neees.
sary to include great many routes
of considerably less than 100 fami-
lies. The argument that rural de.
livery would "pay" has been aban-
doned, if indeed it can be said ever
to have been held by intelligent and
disinteres,ed persons. 1t affects an
occasional economy, in cutting off a
star route or fourth. class post Office,
but this is trifingly small fraction
of it's cost. Rural free delivery is
luxury, but one which the country is
perfectly willing to pay for.
The theory that it is profitable by
stimulating business is hardly tenable
since the business itself does not pay.
The great increase occasioned by the
rural freefdelivery service comes in
the circulation of newspapers and
other second class matter. This
the government carries at an obvious
loss, as subsidy to the cause of pub
lie education, and 80 larger business
in this line, while it may be welcomed
as doing more for this same public
education, does not indicate an in
crease of profit. However, these are
considerations over which the Ameri-
can 9sneople care little they like an
efficient postal establishment, and the
next aim should be to do for the in
habitants of the American city as
much in proportion to their contribu-
tions to the postal service as is done
for people of the country. The trans
fer of mail across our big cities, by
comparison with what other coun-
tries are doing, is lamentably slow.
This should be quickened. Rural
Congrossmen, when they get their
uniygrsal free delivery, should be
Wig to turn about and let the
cities have something in the way of
quick mail communication.
Assuming that Congress will con-
tinue it's cordial support of the rural
free delivery service, three more ap-
preparations for it's extension ought
to suffice to cover the country. These
will be the appropriations for the fis-