The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1908-02-13
E. C. Timme in Giving Work Of
Auditor to Another Gives
Some interesting Data
BIGBUSINESS0F DEPARTMENT
Report of Kenosha Man Shows That
Millions of Dollars are Handled
by Department Clerks With
But Few Errors in a Year

VI U1O 1CtOU 11eoAA OOA-NN~O
prove it, that the civil service OF the
government Of the United States is
the most honest as well IS the most
efficient business organization in the
world. Any gloomy pessimist who may
have doubts as to the honor and III
tegrity Of his fellow-men. should read
the reports Of the Treasury, the Post
Office Department and other branches
Of the government. They will give
him cheerful encouragement to think
better Of mankind. The records of the
internal revenue bureau and the Gus
toms service will demonstrate not only
the, honesty but the economy, Of the
Treasury Department, and will show
that the cost Of collecting the revenue
is almost infnitesimal compared with
the vast amounts of money that are
handled. The reports of the treasurer
Of the United States and the several
auditors contain similar testimony con
corning the disbursement of the public
funds. The recent report of Ernest G..
! Timme, of this city, auditor for the
Post Office Department, is astonishing
in it's disclosures. Mr.. Timme says
"The marvellous growth of the pos
tai service continues. In all probab-
ility both the receipts and expenditures
for the ensuing fiscal year will exceed
$200,000000. In 1890 the receipts
were sixty millions, expenditures six
ty-six millions with a deficit of about
five and a half millions; by 1907 this
had increased threefold, receipts being
one hundred and eighty-three millions,
expenditures one hundred and ninety
millions, while the deficit was only
about six and we half Millions It
is gratifying to note that while the ex-
penses are three times as great, the
deficit remains substantially the same
as it was seventeen years ago. The loss
during 1907 by bad debts, burglary,
etc.,was only two one hundredths of
one per cent, which emphasizes the I'M
firing and successful efforts Of this of
flee in collecting balances due the Uni
tied States substantially the whole
postal revenue is derived through the
postoffices, mainly from the sale of
stamps, envelopes, ETC., postage on sec
ond class matter, box rents and money
| order fees, while about two thirds of
the cost Of the service is disbursed
by postmasters directly from the reven-
ues of their Offices -
In the auditors office at Washington
are recorded the names of 10000 per-
sons who are employed in the postal
service Of the United States. Of these
about $4,000 are clerks in the 62,660
postoffices: 14,184 are employed in the
railway mail service, 24,577 are employ
ed in the city free delivery service and
1882 in the rural free delivery service.
A card system is used for all but the
postmasters, who have Individual led
ger accounts. The number of postmas-
ters has been largely reduced by the
extension of the rural free delivery SER
vice, which has made about $4,000
country offices useless and they have
been discontinued High water mark
was reached in 1900, when there were
1861 postofices and the same num-
Der Of postmasters on the rolls. Since
then there has been gradual falling
off.
The total number of employees in
the service, therefore, is about $4,000
men and women.
Last year these people handled near
Ivy Io11
Receipts ...................... $183 $685. 05
Disbursements ............... 100 8,288
Money orders issuel. ......... 563, 731, O53
Foreign money orders paid. 18125,98
In addition to that vast sum in
cash, the employees of the postal service
handled many millions of packages of
registered matter of value unknown
and impossible to estimate, but it
must have been very nearly equal to
the total given above. It may have
been many times greater and nobody
can estimate the amount represented
by checks, drafts and other forms of
money which pass daily through the
mails.
In handling this stupendous sum the
net loss was only $38, 748.7O, Of which
$23, 055.57 was due to burglary and fire
and the balance, $15, 693.13, to other
causes.
The sales of postage stamps during
the year 1907 alone amounted to
$3.50, 742, 093; the city free delivery ser
vice cost 23,24S,535; the rural free de-
livery service cost $26,653 ,3O4, and the
railway mail service cost $15,175, 1877.
These were the chief items of expense
among the disbursements for the year.
| The accuracy Of the clerks in post
Offices may be judged by the reports of
the money order department, which
show that there were only 2,O76 errors
committed, amounting to $9,669.54 in
f65, 709,919 transactions, which repre-
sented a value of 1868, 731, 053. The
auditor says that more than rs per
cent. of the losses caused by these err
rors have already been recovered, and
predicts that the rest of the amount
will be in the near future.