Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-10-19

The first experiment with rural free
delivery was made In 1897. In 1898
the expenditure on the service was only
$4,000. In 1905 the expenditures had
risen to nearly $21 100000. The appro-
priation for the current fiscal year Is
$2S,350000, the routes number 1854,
the carriers 35,76S. There is daily ser
vice on all the routes except 253, and
on these there is service every other
day. The benefits of the service ex-
tend to 3,22S,660 families, or 1867, ,994
persons. This brief story of an amazing
growth Is made up from an article by
Postmaster General Cortelyou in The
Independent. But the article was not
written primarily for the purpose of
showing how great and how rapid the
development had been. The writer be-
gins by saying: From time to time
publications appear asserting that ever
since the rural free delivery was inau-
gurated certain named States have been
Disseminated against, and that 1t Is
now proposed to carry this discrimina-
tion further by discontinuing routes or
changing the service from daily to tri-
weekly, as the result of some new pol
Icy adopted by the Postoffice Depart
ment." Here is a charge that Is met
with an emphatic denial and with an
exposition Of some Of the difficulties the
department has to contend with that Is
curiously interesting. 1t Is an old. say
ing that there are tricks in all trades,
and from this showing it appears that
tricky schemes for getting rural deliv-
cry are by no means unknown. In most
cases the trickster is the man who is
after the position Of carrier He circu-
lates the petition for the establishment
of the route. The petitioners may be
Indifferent and may not know what the
requisite conditions for the service are.
Some of them will sign a petition and
then sign remonstrance shortly after
ward. AS a description Of conditions
that are found upon inspection by rural
agents we have the following: THE
majority of the families to whom this
route would extend are of the poor ten
ant class. 1t Is a conservative estimate
to say that not more than 10 per cent
are land owners. One-half the houses
counted during the drive over the terri
tory have but one room. Some Of the
houses did not even have a window.
Most of the country Is boggy and
swampy only a small tract here and
there Is dry enough for cultivation. Sev-
enty-five per cent Of these people have
not the money with which to purchase
the necessities of life, let alone money
for improved mail srvice, subscriptions
for newspapers and postage stamps"
Manifestly to withhold the service
| from long stretches of wilderness Is not
political discrimination or the denial
of right to any part of the country.
Nor, in view of the figures that we
have presented, Is there any ground for
a complaint that the government Is Mig
gardly. On the contrary, 1t is plain
that 1t Is very generous, and though the
service increases the revenues both di-
rectly and indirectly, the actual revenue
on mail matter dispatched by its pat
rons is only Is per cent of the cost. I'm
der the circumstances the exercise of
some business sense is required and the
demands of every man who wants to be
carrier cannot be granted. At the
same time the immense value of the
system to the country is clearly recog-
nized, and 1t is certain to expand in
response to the needs of the people.