The National tribune., 1906-03-08

~ Write To-day.
ing some minor official duty. and an
Inspector was sent to investigate. He
called on her for written statement
of all that she did between and 3
o'clock in the morning in question. She
replied
II washed my two children and got
them ready for school. and sewed a
button on Johnny's coat and mended a
rent in Nellie's dress. Then / tidied
up my sitting-room and made two beds
and watered my house plants, and
glanced over the morning paper. Then
l busted my parlor and set things to
rights in it, and washed some lamp
chimneys, and combed my baby's hair.
and sewed button on one of her little
shoes, and then / swept out my front
entry and brushed and put away the
children's Sunday clothes and wrote a
rote to JOhnnys teacher asking her to
excuse him for not being at school on
Friday. Then 1 fed my canary bird
and cleared off the breakfast table and
gave the grocery man an order and
swept off the back porch, and then 1
sat down and rested a few minutes be-
fore the clock struck 9. That's all"
The Inspector promptly quashed the
Indictment.
1t is manifest that under accepted
conditions the country Postmaster must
be a very resourceful fellow. since po-
litical practices have heretofore decreed
that he must be able to corral delegates
and control conventions in order to
make sure of a reappointment, while
the Civil Service rules say that he must
refrain from "pernicious activity" in
politics under pain of removal from the
Office acquired through that selfsame
activity The Bible says he must re-
member the Sabbath Day to keep it
holy, or lose his immortal soul, while
the postal regulations say he must dis
tribute the mails on Sunday, or lose
his beloved job. Thus he must keep
one eye upon the politicians and the
other upon the Civil Service Commits
sion during the week, and on Sunday
serve a cosmopolitan public and take
his chances.
The Picture Post Card.
A new agony to the village Postmas-
ter. especially in localities infected with
the tourist and the Summer boarder, is
the picture postcard. He Is Swamped
with a novel whim-overwhelmed by
fad. His appeals to the Department for
assistance, modern devices and United
States mail wagons to move the ac-
in his office in the rear of
the store have brought no response The
is wrestling with the prob
lem; it has not solved it. Moreover,
what is true of this Postmaster and the
home Government is true of Postmas-
ters and mail clerks everywhere. and
also of foreign Governments; at least,
where scenery and
points of interest abound, and it is
an arid waste that does not fairly bris-
tie with both. From Deerfield and
Lebanon and Scroggs Crossing, from
hamlets nesting in the Pyrenees. the
Alps and the Himalayas, post-office en-
pIoyes. teetering on the verge of the
are sending up vehement pro-
tests against the picture postcard craze.
Yhe American rural functionary gets
the worst cf it, perhaps. For him there
has been no vacation, no surcease from
toll, since the tourists found him out
and swooped down upon him. Apply
himself as he will and as he has, he
keep abreast of his task; 1t Is
on him. He is not equipped for
it. His dies are worn smooth and no
longer leave their imprint; his supply
Of ink is exhausted; his pad has been
hammered fiat, and he is becoming
in his shoulders.
The claim that the compensation re-
ceived for the discharge of his respon-
sible duties is too small, is very plaus-
bly, urged by the worthy postal func-
tionary. Probably not one in five of
The Postmasters of fourth-class offices |
gets $500 a year. Thirty thousand of
hem get less than 800. Fifteen thou |
sand get less than $50. A very large
number have to be contented with from
So to So a quarter.
FOurth-Class Pay.
Comparisons between their emolu-
nents and those of other workers are
l a a ran nf fry f-l
masters. One of them writes: 81 be-
ieVe that the Postmaster of the fourth
lass is the only example of skilled la
)or under this Government which re-
:eives poor pay. The ordinary section
land on our railroads receives from
;35 TO $40 per month, and only works
% hours day. l work IA hours a day
md get $26 month"
Another incumbent of a fourth-class
fiice institutes still more invidious COM
'arisons and grows correspondingly in
Iignant. He says: 1T makes me tired
o read of the Department clerks in
Washington kicking about having to
work. seven hours day. 1 am on duty
n average of IA hours per day, and my
fice pays but an average of $22
month. Out of this 1 must pay office
ent, light and fuel.
II go to our County-seat once or
vice a year, and what do l see at the
ity post office? The post office located
n the finest building in town, rent paid
postmaster drawing $4,000 a year sal
ry, his assistant paid by the Govern
lent. his stamping clerk, his money
rder clerk. his delivery clerks, all draw
ng a good salary from the Government
II come back to Dixon, relieve my !
equity, and at once am Postmaster,
clerk. stamping clerk, de-
very clerk, registry clerk and janitor
f the Dixon post office. If 1 should
hen sit down and write a letter to our ,
in Congress urging |.
hem to introduce and support some .
i'll for better compensation for our re- :
eff / will have violated an Executive
rder. and therefore would be subject to
In fact, boys, we are up
sainst it; can you see way out?"
Stiil another says: I'VE Postmasters .
{ fourth-class offices are only dogs, to
elp when kicked, with our soup SO thin '
don't have any taste or smell at ALL" l
There is decided element of justice [
the assertion modestly put forth, as
rule, by the energetic incumbents of I
lie smaller offices, that their pay is too b
nall. Rural carriers are not overpaid +.
$50 month. but they get four times
much as many of the Postmasters
no send them out. Certainly no other
overnment employees do so much for
little.
A Southern Postmaster writes that
g is thinking of giving ND hrs office He