Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-03

patron all the mail addressed to his
family and to collect all mail deposited In
the box for dispatch. Registered matter
and special delivery letters must be de-
livered In person to the addressee and
the carrier Is required to take them to
thn patrons door if within one mile of the
route He Is required to carry a sufficient
supply of stamps. stamped envelopes, pos
tai cards and newspaper wrappers: and be
can receive matter for registration and give
receipts for the same. He must also accept
money for the purpose of money orders,
for which he must give receipts"
How about the boXes-does Uncle Sam
furnish them?"
NO; they are put up at the cost of the
persons who desire the service, and the
boxes must be erected by the roadside,
out dlsnountins from his vehicle. The
department fixes the size, shape and mate
rial OF the boxes, and directs that each
must be equipped with a signal by which
the carrier may know whether there is
mail in it,
LAS TO the cost of the rural delivery serv-
ice. it was over S2l000,000 last year, and
the appropriation for this year is more
than SIS, coo coo. The actual revenue on the
mail matter dispatched by the patrons OF
the service amounts to about IS per cent of
the cost, but it is believed that the service
brings the department an increased revenue
from other sources. 1t is very popular and
has been valuable in the general increase of
business and in the diffusion of intelli-
gence."
Uncle Sans Post Office Buildings.
do you not think that Uncle Sam
should own his own postoffices?"
There is difference of opinion on that
subject" said the Postmaster General. at
is safe to cay that the government should
have buildings for all the f1rst-class post
offices and for the larger offices of the sec-
Ond class. l think We should build more
with regard to the demands of the future.
AS 1t is now a government building is
hardly ready for occupancy before the pos
tai business for which it is intended has
so grown that 1t is barely large enough
to accommodate it. AS to our rented
buildings, pay low rates for postal
accommodations in most quarters and in
some places we have leases at the nominal
rental of q dollar a year, the contract
including heat light and ell other such re-
qurementS. You See, the postoffice is
often an advantage to a locality and to
other businesses. and In such cases men are
glad to accommodate us at the lowest pos
sible rent"
How about a new post office building for
WaehiHgton?"
II do not think we need another buildir g
for the department just at this time al
though we should have larger quarters
soon Tho city post office OF Washington
may some DAY be transferred to near the
new railroad terminal This matter has
teen considered by the department There
IS no doubt but that 8 better service could
he given by having the local post office as
close as possible to the railroad station"
In Our Parkway Colonies.
What is your department doing In the
Philippines, Hawaii and Porto Rico?'
THE postal service of the Philippines is
not under this department" said tho Post
master General. 1T IS under the super
vison OF a Philippine director of posts.
who is accountable to the local civil govern
ment of the Philippines. We handle the
mails for Hawaii and Porto Rico and have
agents in both colonies to superintend
are sixty-fve mail routes aggregatng
more tAan 1900 miles. and in Porto Rico
forty-eight routes, having a. length of 3d.
800 miles. We have recently established q
rural free delivery service in Guam, and
altogether the postal accommodations of
the colonies are good
The Service Improving
here asked the Postmaster General a.
to improvements in the service. He re-
piled:
I'VE have made a number of important
changes. During tho past year the depart
ment has been entirely reorganizsd, ard
Congress has approved Of tho reorga MIA
ton. Many of my recommendations have
been adopted and with the reimbursement of
Salaries the extra appropriations for rural
delivery, the pneumatic tube service and the
general acceptance Of the departments pol
icy regarding the appointment of postmas-
tiers, the outlook for the future is bright"
The Postman as Express Agent
But are there not many ways in which
Tie postal service could be extended?' I
2skci. "All over Europe packages are car
ricd by post and both farmers and mer-
chants Go an express business through the
mails"
II think tho conditions are somewhat DIFF
ferent here" replied Mr.. Cortelyou "Our
distances arc so great that it would be diff
llcult to establish such a service and main
tain n uniform rate of postage. We should
either have to have q high rate or tenn
porary deficit. The express companies
would compete with US in handling pack
ages under the zone system for short dis
tances. The result would be that Uncle
Sam would get all the long distance parcels
and the express companies all the short dis
lance parcels. The government would
therefore work at a great disadvanta ge.
Indeed l doubt whether it would be wise ut
this time to ask Congress for a separate
parcel post, although in my last annual re-
port l recommended that third and fourth
class mail matter should be charged for at
the rate of ! cent for two ounces This
could be done without changing our present
arrangements, and all merchandise parcel,
of under four pounds would then be carried,
in ordinary pouches at one-half the
present rates. This would enable light
packages to be sent many places not roach
ed by the express companies. and the post
age would be high enough to pay the gov
eminent for the actual cost of transporta-
ton"
Foreign Postage Reduced.
~ understand that reductions are to be
made IN our foreign letter rates, Mr.. Post
master General?" said I.
That is true. The matter came up before
the Universal Postal Congress at Rome
and 1t has been provided that beginning with
October /, 1907, the rate for first-ciass mat.
ter between the countries of the postal
union shall be reduced. A: present the rate
Is 3 cents per half ounce. After October OF
next year the foreign rate for this country
Viii be cents for the first ounce and :
cents for each additional ounce, so that one
can then send for cents f1rst-class matter
which now costs him 20 cents. Another