The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-26
The Group Plan Assured.

parks that we now nave Into cnaln | engirdling the city,
 The Group Plan Assured. "Our Group Plan is assured. When 1 suggested last June to the citizens that the frontage on the Green of Elm street between Church and Temple streets should be acquired by the city and used for public buildings. I felt sure that ultimately all that land would be acquired and used for public purposes. but l hardly expected that within a year the plan would be assur- ed. The deeds have not, l think, pass ed, but it seems now certain that fhe city and county will before long own this entire property, and that it will be occupied by the Ives Memorial Pub lie Library, by the New Haven County Court House, and perhaps by Hall of Records. MT. Gilbert has the plans for the new Public Library well under way, and the county commissioners and bar committee are collecting data as to what court rooms and other con veniences will be required in the new court house. They were authorized by the legislature to secure a site and a plan, but no building operations can be taken up until after the next session of the legislature when 1t is expected that the building will be authorized.
 Tho New PostofIicc.
 Tn my open letter published last June. I pointed out the need of a new postoffice showing that the present building could not possibly be made to serve much longer the needs of this growing community, and that without buying up the adjacent property its ex- tension was virtually out of the ques- tion in view of the law governing Fed eral buildings. Now the question has been taken up in good earnest. We may not secure an appropriation for this purpose from the present Congress, but the agitation has well been begun, and should be kept up unceasingly un- til an appropriation has been secured
 One plan is to enlarge our present building; another is to replace it by a larger building for which some of the oNJtNtiil NOhiu loNS tV pS cleared away. The subject Is one of such paramount importance that hope that it will not be settled without a 1 far look into the future and in pro- gressiye and enlightened spirit. It Is hard for a resident of any of our larger cities to think of postoffice otherwise than as a building of monumental char acter representing the Federal govern ment The aim of citizens throughout the country has always been to secure large appropriations from congress for building costly postoffices, conspicuous in their character and monumental in scale. These buildings are supposed to represent the energy of the citizens of a city and their ability to get large appropriations of public money. It will be difficult for New Haven-diffi- cult for the citizens of any American city-to turn away from all this and look at the postoffice question from an entirely different point of view--to di- vorce it as 1t should be divorced, from every. consideration other than of utility
 Europe has always led us in the matter of cheap and convenient postal service. Foreign governments have long realized that postoffice building is one of the last buildings that should be made to typfy the power of the gov ernment or depended upon to adorn a city. Its utilitarian needs are para mount; as soon as they are disregard ed, the building becomes to that extent disqualified for it's initial purpose A postoffice should provide an enormous single room with an overhead light Nothing else can be made to secure the same amount of convenience and dis patch in the handling and sorting of mail matter. This great room should not be broken by masonry partitions but should be supported on points, sc to speak, so as to secure the best DOS. sibe diffusion of light and the greatest amount of freedom of movement for clerks and mail matter It has been the American practice to locate the Federal offices in rooms above the dis. , tributlng room just as In our own post office here where the clerks, who serve us so faithfully. work in perpetua twilight-in a great space insuficently lighted and badly ventilated Obviously an overhead light on the ground floor cannot be secured in a building of nor, than one story in height.
 Furthermore a postoffice should he located IS close as possible to the rail. fn .l.. minimum the time and labor and cost Of handling incoming and out -golns mails. The less mail matter is handled the greater the safety from injury ant loss. Anyone who has ever observed the hundreds of heavy trucks back ot the postoffice building In New Yorl city will readily see how much truck Ing might have been saved if thit building had been located close to { railway station. President Roosevelt has. in a recent message to congress, recommended an extension of our alto gether inadequate parcels post system The parcels post idea must inevltabl, be extended. In this country. When 1t i extended the volume of mail matte VIII De enormously increased, and tn, time. labor, cost and danger of carry Ing 1t back and forth through tn, streets of cities will increase in tn, same proportion.
 We cannot afford to run the risl Of making mistake in the location a our new postoffice. we should conside the plan now being advocated by th treasury department with open minds The new main postofflce in New Yorl is to be located adjacent to the ney Pennsylvania railway station so tha the handling of the mail will he TO duced to the minimum. New Orleans also proposing, I believe. to locate he new postoff1ce close to the railway sta tion. 1 am ready to admit that ii ma, be that the wisest thing for us to d