Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-27
POSTAL LEAKS ARE LOCATED
Deficits in Second Class Nail and
Rural Delivery.
HITCHCOCK TELLS OF SERVICE
Expense 90 RaraI Mail IncrrasfnR,
but valve 70 Great@COst OF
FrunkfnE Privilege Of
Canaress.

WASHINGTON p c.. Dec. .s-Con-
tr1nted witch . deficit ~ uzD-o the
present administration Of the Post1fHce
department began rs operations. This vas
the largest deficit in the hIstorv Of the Dos
tnI service. So long a. the deficit IN the
department aggregated only a few millions
Of dollars annually. little attention was
paid 20 Il. but when. IN TIE last Few years.
Il leaped to upward 81 u1.poa1o. an1.
finally IN zoos exceeded E1gon0 "0rd,-
nary business prudence suggested mat the
causes be definitely located.
These are statements In the annual re-
port 1f Postmaster General Frank H
Hitchcock. made public today Concerning
the results Of Inquiries into the deficit
the postmaster general saws;
Recent Investigations have shown that
the two great sources Of loss to the postal
revenues are second-cIass mail matter and
rural delivery.
The loss on ~secoud-class NAL matter
has been Increasing for many years. until
Il now amounts to 81 oDo10o
Loas from Rural Delivery.
n loss from rural delivery. a service
begun hardly a dozen years ago and Of un-
precedented growth. reached as high a.
2S.JQ0oa.
In these two items alone The postal ser
vice now suffers an annual loss Of mere
than the entire national deficit Of the last
fiscal year
simultaneously with the growing deficit
in the postal service. the nations income
suffered last year a serious depletion In
cident 70 the financial depression. Thus IL
happened that the department. drafts or
the treasury we're heaviest At 4 time when
the public funds wer- lowest This has
accentuated the Importance OF the postal
deficit, making IL conspicuous among The
losses to be met by the presidents plan
OF reducing expenditures IN all executive
departments.
Sine the opening Of the administrator
the postmaster general and hts assistants
have adopted measures IN conformity with
the presidents policy Of retenchment. and
these measures are being put into effect
with substantial results, as will be shown
in this report.
1T should be stated. with emphasis
however that economy Is not to be en-
forced at the cost Of efficiency
only such measures OF economy will be
adopted. therefore. as can be made a
consistent part OF a general prugram. hav-
ng for It's chief object the Improvement
OF the personnel. the form Of organization.
and the business methods Of the posca.
establishment.
s~econd-CIass In Costly.
The most striking fact disclosed b.
recent Investigations is the tremendous loal
on account OF ~second-ciass mail. Whilt
this class OF mail provides a revenue G.
little more than l cent a pound the cost
to the government for tt5 handling and
transportation aversg es 9S cents a pound
The annual loss thus incurred. as alread,
stated, is about S.. 0Oo. 900. The growth II
the quantity OF seco1 d-ciass matter sen.
through the mails has been extraordina-y
Since the passage OF the act Of 1873 Pre-.
scribinR conditions Under which publlca
lions may be mailed az sscond-class rate.
the weight OF such matter has Increase,
more than 100 per cent. Last wear 4
amounted 10 over zoo. 600 900 pounds. 3,
he Weighing OF 1897 ~secnnd-cIass matte
was shown to constitute Sc per cent Of al
domestic mail. and yet lr yielded onlr
about ) per cent Of the posta, r-vanues
The loss on second-class matter wa.
greater than the profits On al classes o
mail combined. It exceeded the tnra
amount paid the railways for mail trans
porradnn.
Magazines ard other periodical pubIIca
tons. exclusive OF daily newspapers. com
prise about 80 per cent OF the ~secnnd-cIas
mail. The magazines alone form about 2
per cent Magazines proper, because OF III,
long average haul show a cost Of NOR.
than 5 cents a pound for transportation
while in the case Of daily newspap.rs. 70
which the average distance or distributor
* w1rrrA Tauu The -u.gr,-~.E=-- - .
under 2 cents a pound.
Three Million In Franks
The annual loss on third class mail Il
something over a.O0GG. The mail mater
carried free under congressional frank.
cost the government annually about $500. Gsl
A greater LOGS. about zE0. 900 an
nuaLly, results from the free hand
ling Of official mail for executive de
partments other than the postofflce depart
ment The annual cost Of handling the fire,
Official mail Of the posrottice department
IS At about y.100.O00. II n
several branches Of the federal govsrnnen
were made 70 bear their proper share o
the expense Of transporting and handling
official mail, greater care would be takei
no doubt in the exercise Of the trank!ni
privilege and some saving 70 the govern
~aAAAk
The wisdom OF doing away entirel,
with the faruking privilege OF official ma.
has been suggested. but this IS a ma--a
for congress 70 determine. Such a pIa!
would receive the Post1frce department O
a heavy expense IL is now obliged 10 lncu
IN the handling OF free mail for otha
branches Of the government establishment
Rural Service Big Drain.
The rural delivery service mas de
veloped in twelve years from an expert
menL requiring an appropriation OF 30. oG
TO one OF the largest ranches Of the DOsta
establishment, with an annual -expendIrur
exceeding S5.Oo0OO0- The postage on matte
mailed on rural routes is estimated a
about E.W0Oda The Importance Of rhl
service 70 a large number OF people Il
fully appreciated. II brings the farms an,
villages into closer -0mmunicauU witt
commercial and educational csutars. I
encourages the Improvement OF countr,
roads BY making rural life more arrrac
tive il stimulates agriculture. No doubt &
Is partly responsible for the Increase il
farm values Owing 20 the marvellous,
rapid growth or this service. however. &
is but natural that defects nave developed
The cost Of rural delivery ID probably
much greater than IL should be. Now Ii
an Appropriate time for considering. f1i
perrecrng the existing organization, anC
D Err fwrrnFrgrfnm arr1h