New-York tribune., 1907-06-04
MORE POSTAL REFORMS.


According to The Trbune's Washington dis
patches some interesting and valuable reforms
in the postal service are to be undertaken Dy
the new Postmaster General, Mr.. Meyer For
many years before the elimination OF the Bea-
vers-Machen scandals the POstOfiice Department
had practically run itself. Congress had neg
atived the occasional efforts of postmaSters gem
eral TO cut away the entangleme1tS OF red tape
and to modernze and standardlZe the poStal
service. The railroads and the express ana
telegraph companies had warred successfully
against the reduction of mail transportation
charges. the enlargement of the parcels post
and the institution of a postal telegraph y
ring of under officials with useful political con-
nections had established itself and the depth OF
inefficiency. waste and corruption was reached
when NIachen. Beavers and their allies success
fully conspred TO hoodwlnk and outwit their
nominal superiorS, even going TO Congress for
legislation when they felt like it, over the heads
of those SuperiorS. Since the discovery ana
punishment Of the postal grafters there has
been a steady and notable Improvement. Post
master General Cortelyou reorganized the work
ing force and made it again an efficient ana
disciplined body. Congress lent hand IN the
oyerhauIfng of an obsolete system, and by ap-
pointing two commissions has paved the way for
legislation intended to put the whole service on
sion completes its task information will be for
the first time available showing the actual cost
of the work done in each branch Of the service,
the profit or loss on each class of mail matter
carried the expense of the franking privilege
and the real overcharge or undercharge on rural
delivery, city delivery and railroad transporta-
ton
Mr. Meyer inherited from his predecessor
all these completed or partially completed re-
forms. But he has improvements of his
own in view which promise TO be of con
siderable benefit 10 the public He sees as a
business man the mistake of conducting two ser
vices like the registry and the money order sys-
tens on practically the same lines. He wants to
eliminate what he calls absurd competition
between these systems. The restrictions on the
use of the registry service make il unavailable
for transmitting money promptly, and the
Postmaster General would have registered mail
consist as far as possible of deeds documents
and yaluabes, confining the function Of trans
mitting money to the money order service To
facilitate exchanges he would make postal notes
payable on Identification without awaiting the
arrival of the advice and would furnish small
notes payable TO any bearer on presentation.
The advantages of this plan are obvious in a
city like New York, where Identification is often
tresome process and where charge is made
by the banks on outside checks deposited for
collection. The Postmaster General would also
correct the discrimination made by the govern
ment against its own postal cards, since It now
allows private picture cards to 90 through the
mails with matter other than the address writ
ten on the face If the parcels post can be ex-
tended prOftably Mr.. Meyer also favors extend
ing it.
The federal Postofhce does a business amount
ing annually to more than $4OO,OOOOOO in re
ceipts and expenditures. This business doubles
every ten or fifteen years, and department meth
DDS good enough just after the Civil War are
now absolutely antiquated. The bookkeeping is
so primitive that it does not show the cost of
any branch of administration, and, as Mr. Meyer
says. it is impossible TO take a trial balance
1t will require four or five years of hard work
TO modernize the postal system. But under de-
partment chiefs as alert as Mr.. CorteIyou and
his successor that modernization though diff
cult promises TO be creditably accomplished.