The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-08-14
RURAL CARRIERS.
Assistant Postmaster General De-
Graw Sends Strange Letter.
To the Rural Carriers association on
the Carriers Relation to the De-
partmcut and to His Patrons.

the Carriers Relation to the De-
partmcut and to His Patrons.
The subjoined letter from Mr.. P.
Y. McGraw, the Fourth Assistant
Postmaster General, is addressed to
the North Carolina Rural Letter Car
rier's Association which met in Dur
ham the 3rd and 4th Of July. It is
clear and timely discussion Of the car
riers relation to the Department and
to his patrons, and is otherwise a
highly interesting paper, having, as
it does, three-fold interest-for the
carrier, for the Department, and the
patron. It is as follows:
Washington. D. c., July ,, 1907
Mr.. ]. McD Ballard, Secretary-Treas-
urer. North Carolina Rural Letter
Carriers Ass n, Newton, \. Z.
Sir. Referring to your letter OF
May 18th. inviting a representative
of the Department to attend the An
nual Convention Of the North Caro-
lima Rural Letter Carriers Assocla-
ton. to be held at Durham. \. u,
on July 3rd and 4th. 1907, regret
very much that it has not been pray
ticable to have a representative "
the Department present at your ~.
ing. but I desire to take ao'an'dSe
of this occasion to express " tne
CARRIERS of North Carolina the aQpre-
c;ation of the Department OF the CO.
a-o+;on of the carriers in lmproV-
so rbe service and increasing It's et-
fac+;veness, and also my deep interest
IN rbe welfore OF the rural carriers.
Organizations within the Postal
service to receive the sanction OF the
Department in any degree must nave
for their sole object improvement IN
the service or be of a purely ira
ternal or beneficial character. WITH
any other purpose in view they are
detrimental to the service, 10 theit
members and to the public
1t is the duties of the othcers OF the
Department to insist upon loyal ane
efficient service from every employee
as an individual and without any
thought of his afiliation WIFI, any or
sanitation. All questions as TO Ihe
needs of the service or the compen-
sation of it's employees are matterS
for the consideration of the Depart
ment: and the officials OF the De-
nartment, and not the officials OF any
ORGANIZATION are the proper persons
to present the needs of the service 10
Congress. s.o,.
The compensation of carriers after
Julv /. 1907. will be adjusted ID az
cordance with the schedule here"ltn
enclosed upon the basis Of the length
of the routes, as shown by the rec
ords of the Department. l. is I'M
possible to devise an aosoiutei!
ecuitaple basis for the adjustment OF
the compensation Of rural carriers
because of the varying conditions
throughout the United States. These
conditions vary even in the same
State. and it is therefore not pos
sible to fix different standards IN var
ious sections Under the reaoJust-
nent effective Ju-y lst. approximate
" $4,000 carriers whose routes are
q miles or more mile in length. and
who have been re:eivine S120 per
annum. are now being paid $500 per
annum and a proportlonate increase
in compensation has been PROVIDED
for carriers on routes of less length.
The chief benefciaries of the new
law are those carriers who are serV-
ing the longer routes and upon whom
the greater hardShipS of .-.e service
fall, and a proportionate increase I'D
compensation has been provioeo Iol
such carriers. No increase IS aAIo"-
cd to carriers on the short routes,
such as those running from u to =
and IA to 16 miles in ength, as they
now receive s504 and Sv7O a year
respectively, being proportlonateiE
better paid than carriers on routes
of 20 or more miles. =,
The pay of substitute carriers VII
also be increased in many cases. Ihe
low formerly provided that substl-
tutes employed when the regular car
riers we're on vacations should De
maid at the rate of $500 per annum'
regardless of the rate Of pay OF the
regular carrier. Under the new law
substitute carriers are entitled to re-
ceiye compensation at the same rate
allowed the regular carriers.
with this increase in salary ade-
ouate compensation is provloeo lor
ali carriers and this should oe az
incentive to every carrier to strive 70
bring the rural delivery service 1o
the highest standard Of efficiency.
recent order Of the Postmaster
General which appears on page o!
he Nav supplement to the Ohclal
postal Guide, makes it posslo!e LOT
rnral carriers tohave the cheeks III
nayT5ent of their salaries casneo al
soy nostoffce within the State IN
Wh,ch he works, provided the post
master at the Office where presented
has ON hand sufficient funds Tor the
nurpose, which doubtless Will prove
to he great convenience to the car
riers throughout the country.
There are now in the service ABOUT
27613 carriers there being Lily IN
the state of North Carolina. During
The fiscal year ending June 80, 1SOs.
tbe rural delivery service will cost
inward of SIS. 100000, of which ap-
proximately S961,542 Will De paio Vc
carriers in North Caroilna.
The expenditure for rural oeateIE
has materially increased the cost o.
maintaining the postal services, ou'
+bere is no doubt that this eNpenol-
ture is fully justified by the results
attained. It is necessary, however,
that the service be carefully ano
effciently administered to the en-
that its advantages will be sougn
snd used by the entire rural popula-
ton for whose benefit 1t is estaoash
cd. While the postmasters at she
Offices which are designated as us
tributing Offices for rural uellsels
service are charged with tne supei.
vision of the rural dellVery Ihe sanue
as all other branches OF the se:s!.e SEW
still an important AID ID oDtain.As as.
a large patronage is a !Ve inCeisss 80
on the part Of the carriers - one
If their official duties. The lnspec-
Eions which have been made OF large
numbers of routes during the past
year indicate that in some instances
the lack of patronage and lnteres,
in the services on the part OF the