The Cairo bulletin., 1907-06-24
REDUCE COST OF
POSTAL SERVICE
DEPARTMENT MAKING A BIG
SAVING IN THE RAILWAY
MAIL SERVICE.
FIND NO CONSPIRACY
Among Railroad Companies TO Finch
Large Amounts From U. s. But
Several Radical improve
ments Are Made.

| Washington, June 23--Anxioue in
quifies are coming to the postoffice
department from various parts Of tic
country asking If 1t Is true that the
Department. as discovered wide
spread conspiracy among he railroads
to cheat the government by putting
on and hauling on their mail trains
empty mail cars and charging the
government for them as II they we @
full. Sensational stories of this kind
have been circulated at various points
and owe their origin to the fact that
Second Assistant Postmaster General
McCleary has in the fed about forty
pcstoffice train inspectors making a
thorough oyerhauling of railway mail
service. especially that branch of IL
known as the ''R. p. o." or railway
postoffice service.
All the railway mail routes in the
country will be closely examined by
these inspectors, most of whom were
selected for this duty because they
have themselves been employed in
the railway service and are therefore
especially fitted TO get at the facts
the department officials want to
know. The investigation was begun
because it was suspected that extrava-
gance had crept into the service and
that the government was paying the
railroads excessive amounts in car
rentals,
Cut Expenses; Maintain Service.
1t was alleged, for instance, that In
many cases the railroads we're using
fifty or sixty foot R. p. o. cars when
smaller ones would answer all pur
poses. The amount the government
pays the railroad for the use Of these
cars Is regulated by the size of tho
cars. The reports Of the inspectors
are now coming into the department
and they slfow that there has been
extravaganza on many routes and
that the service can be curtailed and
considerable amounts of money saved
to the government without In any way
the efficiency of the SER
vice.
II has been found that routes which
a few years ago carried very large
amounts of mail are now carrying
much less because of building new
roads or the diversion of mail from
other causes For instance previous
to the building of the new San Pedro
road from Salt Lake to Los Angeles.
practically all the mail from Chicago
to southern points was routed over
the Santa Fe, but when the San Pedro
road was opened much of this mail
was diverted to 1t for the reason that
Ii Is a shorter route than the Santa
Fe. Notwithstanding the change
there was no dimunition in the r. p.
0. service over the Santa Fe. AS a
result of theinv estigation now going
on, the latter service will be curtailed
No Grave Abuses Found.
This Is an illustration of the sort
of thing the inquiry was expected TO
develop and help to correct. The offi-
cials of the postoffice department say
that so far no grave abuses or irregu-
larities have been discovered, and
that there Is nothing to show that any
has been trying to cheat or
defraud the government. For the ex-
and abuses found, II Is
said, the department is as much to
blame as the railroads. The railway
mail service is so vast and its oper-
ntions so complicated it is felt to be
Inevitable that abuses should creep
into II. These can be corrected only
by such general overhauling as the
service Is now receiving under the
direction Of the department itself.
The reports of all the inspectors en-
gagged on the Investigation are ex-
pected to be in the hands of Second
Assistant Postmaster General Nc
Cleary by July /. and shortly after
that date general dea Of results can
bp ATTAINED