The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1906-08-26
For Better Mail Facilities.

Il new city postoftiee adjacent 20 the
Union Station. Three separate rea-
sons are urged in behalf of the
change. Any one of the three would
seem 10 be sufficient. They are;
/. That the present quarters of
the local office are inconvenient and
inadequate.
2. That an important saving il
cost and time can be accomplished
if the Office is located near the rail-
road station.
8. That the space in the Postotlice
building now occupied by the local
Office is urgently needed for the use
of the department.
What the local office suffers where
it is now is manifest TO anyone who
will take the trouble to look. The
main body of the force works under
a "skylight" which let's in so much
heat and glare it has TO be covered
with canvas and the work done by
artificial light. The divisions are
unnecessarily scattered. Several,
like the supply division. are serious
ly hampered by quarters of bad
situation and worse form. In a non
governmental business, the en-
ployer would either have moved or
rebuilt the office years ago.
But the chief interest in the plan
of the Postmaster General and his
First Assistant is aroused by the
proposal to situate postofhces close
TO the roads which carry the mail.
Other cities may or may not be as
badly off for postal accommodations
as Washington, but all of them are
likely to be affected if the depart
ment adopts generally the policy
Of location indicated.
The argument advanced in favor
Of this plan is, briefly, that the bust
ness Of pOstoffices is the sorting and
transmitting of mails, not the sale
of stamps; that this business can
best be done in direct touch with
the railway mail service instead of
mile or thereabouts distant: that
the saving of money made possible
by locating the receiving Office close
TO the tracks and the consequent
elimination of mail wagons is re-
quired by good administration Of
the postal service; that this plan
makes possible also q great saving
in time; that all the other use Of a
central station, as now organized
and conducted. can be served by the
establishment of a branch station
in lieu thereof.
In Washington. for example. the
saving in money would approximate
S23,24O, the amount Of the present
screen wagon contract. The saving
in time is not SO easily determined,
but would undoubtedly be large, by
reason Of the much shorter haul
necessary for the immense quaint
ties of mail transported to the post
Office from points beyond the rail
way terminals. The mail that comes
from the document rooms Of the
Capitol to the city postoffice before
being dispatched is particularly
heavy, and all of it, with much addi-
tional matter from eastern portions
of the city, is at present carried
back over practically the same route
for delivery 10 the railways. If the
central postoffice were located at
the Union Station it would reduce TO
a large extent the volume of heavy
mail matter that is now hauled by
wagon and permit the remainder to
be transported to and from all quar-
tiers of the city by the shortest pos
sible routes.
As for the space in the Postofice
building used by the city postotfice,
it might easily enough obviate the
hiring of one of the several outside
buildings which the department now
occupies. It would not answer all
the needs of the department, OF
course. Although the present build
ing is only about ten years old, the
growth of the nations postal bust
ness has been so great in that time
as to necessitate a new building,
whether the ground floor is given
over to the Postmaster General or
not. But at least one division could
be placed on the ground floor and
the service be by that much put on
a better business basis.
Whatever makes for the better
handling of Washington's mail is
distinctly an advantage for Wash
ington. The whole purpose behind
this project, as it relates to the
Capital, is the better handling of its
mail There is abundant reason to
believe that the results which Mr..
Cortelyou and Mr.. Hitchcock desire