Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-27

into a series OF districts and placing in
charge of these districts subofficers who
shall be responsible to the department at
Washington. with. such a system of
postal districts. each properly managed
under the direction of the department,
the Postmaster General and his assistants
would be relieved of an immense amount
of detail. the burden Of which now inter-
fereS seriously with their effectiveness as
executive officers.
1T would seem to be an excellent plan
to make large city post offices the cen
tiers of convenient postal areas by giving
city postmasters supervisory authority
over the smaller Offices of the neighbor-
hood. A consolidation of this kind would
not only rerder 1t possible to relieve the
tributary offices OF the principal part of
their accounting work. but by permitting
closer supervision Of their affairs it would
greatly facilitate the Introduction in such
offices of more systematic and business
like methods. The city postmaster having
supervision of each postal area of this
kind would be responsible directly to the
officer in charge of the larger postal dis
trict in which his post Office fell.
THE policy of making efficiency the
basis of tenure and OF compensation In
the postal service has been continued.
creditable and satisfactory manner
have been recommended for reappoint-
ment. Salary increases have been grant
ed for such employees only as could show
records of faithful and efficient service.
1.-The salaries paid postal employees al
though considerably higher than they
were several years ago. are by no means
excessive. Iiberality with respect to
compensation and other conditions of
employment Is the best policy. The i'm
devotion to duty that. are bound to re-
suit from such policy will unquestion-
ably outweigh the additional expense.
prh1;o M nr.r.+}o,
THE public is vitality interested in the
character OF the mail facilities afforded.
At a trifiing expense and with little in
convenience to themselves the patrons of
the service can give the department SUBJ
stantial aid in its endeavor to meet salts
factorily the rapid growth of our postal
needs"
The equipment of every residence in
Postmaster General thinks, would great
ly expedite delivery and save hundreds
of thousands of dollars annually.
The posting Of large mailings by bust
ness houses in the early hours of the
day instead of at its close is urged to
permit a prompter handling of the mail.
The general use of a return address on
letters, the prompt notification of post
masters In cases Of changed address. of
similar notices to publishers by sub
SCIlDcTS, dIu greater CdIG III duuTcSS-
ing mail matter legibly and properly and
in the preparation of parcels and pack
ages sent in the mails are also -alrged.
There is also a renewal OF the depart
ments previous recommendations con-
corning postal savings banks, the ex-
tension Of ocean mail service in .Ameri-
can ships, and provision for a simple
and cheap form of postal note as a
means for transmitting small sums
through the mails.
Extent of the Service.
To give some idea as to the size of
the postal service and the magnitude Of
it's operations, the report states that
the service now has about 325,OOO en-
ployes. These employees handled during
the last fiscal year nearly 1900. 600, 600
pieces of mail. The number of post
offices in operation is 6O.144. There are
26.652 domestic transportation routes, ag-
gregating 1868 miles in length, with
an annual travel Of 542. 1912 miles. A
delivery service by carrier Is provided
on 4O.62S rural routes, and in LAO
cities and towns. Ordinary postage
stamps to the number of 3, 49, O7 OBJ
were sold during the year, and domestic
money orders to the value of $491 ,O74, S44
were Issued The total receipts for the
fiscal year of 1900 were $2O3, Sc. 1888 .O7,
an increase OF 6.31 per cent over the re-
ceipts Of the previous year. The total
expenditures amounted to SCI, OO4, 102. 80.
an increase Of 6.O7 per cent