The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-10
REVIEW OF POSTAL SERVICE.
POSTMASTER-GENERAL CORTEL-
I'OL'S ANIMAL REPORT.
lie Urges Increased Pay for Employees.
wants q Deputy POstmastCr-General
and SAYS the Department should Be
NodprnIKPd Needs Of New NOrk once.

NASlNGrON, Zee. s.-foH Jnla~ter-General
Corrnlyou in his simply spelled report to
IA, President for the fiscal year ended June
a. last urgently recommends better pay
o. postal employees. He says that esti-
r,7t,. for increased compensation have
basa made and will be submitted TO Con-
gree He recommends also that provision
b. made for a Deputy Postmaster-General
vru -hdIl be a general manager of the
po-raI service, with "A permanent job.
The Department needs to be undermined,
le Iav-, and to that end he suggests tina a
Commission of expert st atisticians and ac-
touursnts he authorized. He renews his
recommendation that he be allowed to
:, Hcrau three experienced officials to study
European postal systems and asks for an
arrropriation. He wants. also, a field
E!rsryislon like that of the railway mail
service.
The deficit underwent a substantial re-
{ dg-',on the last year-from sl4, Ss4. 3s7.l2
IL 1905 to $40 SAP cal 70 in 1905. The re-
RENTS for the year were si67, g32, 1872. g5, as
hranst Si52, S28, SIS. 10 in 1905. The ex-
Ventures were Sl7s 40, 1850, as against
SIS, 800 1870. % the previous year. Based
on a population Of 81, 900 900, the postal SER
wee was an expense of about IL cents to
every person. For several years the re-
rtelpts of one year have about equalled the
Expenditures of the year before. Mr..
Cor'elyou says he is less concerned about
the deficit than about efficiency of admins
tratiOn, which, he says, has been in many
respects remarkable. Higher efficiency and
saving in cost may be obt aimed, he says, by
these reforms:
h a more precise method of determin-
ing the basis of pay for the transportation
~ the mails the Depa rtment can be re-
leyed Of an unbusinesslike feature of adj
mini-tration with a probable decrease in
expenditures. BY the enactment of a sensi-
bic law as to second class matter the De-
partment and reputable publishers can be
saved embsrrassments they now suffer,
and the postal receipts be materially in
creased. BY a proper system OF account
ing the Department can be placed upon a
better business footing and incidentally
credited with work for which II now re-
Ceives no credit. And as a result Of these
and other needed changes the deficit, which
Is. in fact, only a paper deficit, can be alto
Rether eliminated"
BETTER nay for certain classes of work
Is also recommended. Business should he
substituted for politics in the Depa rtment.
Mr.. Cortelyou says, and adds; Nearly
two years of administration confirm me in
the opinion that the postmasters of the
country should be appointed by no party
primarily as rewards Tor political activity,
but primarily on the basis of fitness for the
work and regard for the wishes of the
communities they serve
The estimates for the coming years
service foot up s206 ,662 100. an increase OF
about SIS 900 900 over last years appropri-
alton, the principal increases being in com
penea lion of postmasters, carriers, clerks
and for mail transportation.
OF the neesls of New York city the Post
master-General has this so say;
New York city ia not only the metropolis
Of the country. but in the volume of mail
matter which il originates, especially
second class matter, occupies a position not
comparable with that of any other city in
the Union. The congestion of traffic in
some Of its streets has made 1t necessary
In recent years to give special and earnest
attention to the possibility Of handling this
enormous volume of mail by other than
wagon and surface car lines Of transpOrta-
hon. Pneumatic tube service, covering
routes from the General Post ONCE 10 the
Grand Central Station, TO Brooklyn and TO
the Produce Exchange, has relieved the stu
alton to some extent. Ten year contracts
for this character Of service have recently
been concluded, as authorized by Congress
at the last session, for it's extension, cover
ing about twenty-five miles, including all
the principal postal stations in Greater New
York.
"The capacity Of these tubes is such as to
tustify the expectation that all first class
mail and a considerable quantity OF news
paper, and mail of other classes will be
handled in that manner very expedltlously
reducing largely the necessity for frequent
wagon trips by other service. In addition
10 this the Department has been comforting
will officials of the great railway systems
and Of the subway lines or transportation
wit a view TO the expeditions ~transporta-
ton of very considerable quantities OF
heavy mail matter. For the more expedi-
tious exchange of mails between depots
the transfer clerks at the several depots
- L~u. .,-onaa1 in ntNnnhAF IN ma n
permit Of their handling pouches which
were formerly handled in the New York
post office and despatching the contents
direct from depot TO depot, thus obvlatlng
the necessity for the handling OF this mat
Ter in the post office, involving possible de-
Law. An Investigation is also in progress
10 determine the merits OF the suggestion to
use motor vehicles for some OF this service. y
Great progress is expected in meeting
New Works postal needs when the new post
Office at the new Pennsylvania terminal is
completed. The site was purchased for
OIL, $50. Os5.
with the acquisition Of this site" the re-
port saws, -the inst allation of a new and
rommodious post office at the Grand Central
Station and the other improvements here
tofore noted, for the first time sufficient
progress has been made TO justify the state
ment that the principal postal problems,
so far as they affect the largest city OF the
country, have been fairly and satisfactorily
sOly ed"
Discussing the San Francisco earthquake.
the Post mast er- General praises ten en-
plovees for saving the post Office from
dest mc,ion nv Are. There was but little
int eruption 10 the regular receipt and de-
livery OF mail and the amount OF mail mat
ter lest was comparatively small. In one
afternoon 10000 kilograms were handled
by the overworked postal force in the burn
ing city.
On the work OF the Department in rail-
way frauds and swindles the Postmaster
General saws:
In the two years closed June 80, 1900,
the fraud orders numbered $50, exceeding
by seventy-one the total number issued in
the four years Immediately preceding.
The schemes suppressed represented almost
every conceivable variety Of fraud. There
were work at home propositions, bond
Investment enterprises, medicinal curealls,
absent treatment schemes, devices Tor the
exploitation Of stocks and enterprises
Offering something for nothing" under
the gnise Of the endless chain method OF
investment, all Of which upon eNanination
proved 70 be mere traps for the crednlous.
Included in the total Of orders issued during
the two year period in question were fifty
nine orders against lotteries and similar
enterprises. .