Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-21
Rv Associated Press.

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BY Associated Press.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2O.-The house
today resumed consideration of the
postoffice appropriation bill and late in
the day passed it.
An amendment by Mr.. Crumpacker
of Indiana, fixing at $3.50 year the
limit of rent on third-class postoffices,
was adopted. This represents an In
crease of $50 a year.
BY a vote of 72 to IA the chair was
sustained in recognizing the point OF
order made against the amendment Of
fered by Mr. Murdock of Kansas that
no part of the sum paid for transport
ing the mails by the railroads shall be
expended in payment where the av-
erage weight of mails per day has been
computed by the use of a "divisor less
than the whole number of days such
mails have been weighed"
Mr. Murdoch declared his amendment
did not change the existing law, but
was a limitation. The chair, however,
held otherwise, and his decision sus-
tanning the point was supported by the
house. When the item appropriating
1888, 900 for the pay of employees of
the railway mail service was reached,
Mr.. Macon of Arkansas made the point
of order against the paragraph that 1t
increased salaries and the point was
sustained.
Objects to Increase
Mr. Fitzgerald of New York In con-
formity with his pledge of yesterday
growing out of his controversy with
Mr.. Macon of Arkansas, made point
of order against the paragraph increas-
ing the pay of rural free delivery car
riers and the chair sustained the point.
The remainder of the bill was adopt
ed without debate. The committee of
the whole then rose and Mr. Currier
of New Hampshire reported the bill to
the house with the amendments which
were adopted. Before the bill was put
upon it's final passage Mr.. Dalzell of
Pennsylvania reported a rule restoring
all the paragraphs stricken out yester-
day having relation to the increases in
salaries of clerks in first and second
class offices, city and rural carriers and
railway mail clerks and making a num-
ber of important changes from the bill
as reported to the house from the COM
mittee on postoffices and post roads.
Seven Grades Established
BY the terms of the amendments re-
ported from the, committee on rules
seven grades OF CleTkS eSldDllSlIcu
in first and second class offices with
salaries ranging from $500 to $1,000
City letter carriers are divided into
five grades with salaries ranging from
$500 to $110O, the 500 salaries being
omitted. Railway clerks are divided
into six grades below that of chief
clerk, salaries in each grade having
been increased 500, and ranging from
$500 to s17OO. The maximum salary of
rural carriers Is fixed at $S40.
Two new provisions were added, one
providing that the postmaster general
may in his discretion allow a railway
mail clerk thirty days sick leave in
any fiscal year with pay, his duties to
be performed without expense to the
government during the period for which
he Is granted leave, and the other that
carriers who on June 80, 1907, are regu-
larly employed at $500 per annum, shall
be promoted from the fourth grade
upon satisfactory evidence of their eff
ficiency during at least one years
service.
An order was adopted directing the
insertion in the bill of the recommen-
dations of the postal commission relat-
ing to the readjustment of railway
mail pay by the postmaster general
beginning July /, next.
The bill was then engrossed, read a
third time and passed.