Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-05-21

on 1.-THE improvements of the Service !"
the text of which is as follows.
We believe that III the creation of
things it was the Intention az tha
great mind which brought ont all the
wonders of the universe to crown His
work by the creation of man and make
all these things and conditions subject
to His control, that He might com.
plete all the works as they were con-
ceived.
So that we believe there rests ,,non
| each individual certain ana necuI;ar
degree of responsibility and obligation
/ to the God of creation in order that
this whole pan may be completed and
| mankind bcttered as one generation
| comes and IS gone. that the next may
| be lifted into a little higher plane. each
going little higher and higher until
the perfection aimed at in the begin
| ming shall have been reached and the
worlds history is closed. SO we feel
to say that the man who fails TO
measure uu to his bligations and op-
portunities has failed in his part of
the whole plan and he and the world
are the worse on account of a lost OBJ
portunity We believe that each per
son should. as soon as he has come
to q reasonable age decide upon some
particular aim in life and that he
should place at the head of his am
bition the motto Excelsior and not
be satisfied until he has, through
strenuous efforts. reached the highest
possible point towards his coveted
goal. We have read that 1.-The man
who seeks one thing in life and but
one, may hope to achieve it before life
be done: But he who seeks all things
wherever he goes, only reaps from the
hopes which around him lie sows u
harvest of barren regrets.
The world is so full of opportunities
and there are so many avenues for
labor that one mind can hardly be
gin to comprehend all the different
occupations which spread out like net
work, linking and interlnk1ng, so that
they work out as whole in one great
mutual plan.
We are meeting here today as a
body of individuals who are following
along in one of the most important
avenues in the whole of the worlds
work So much attention has been
given to our conditions of late that
our work can almost be called the
profession of postmastering. We are
in service which is of the greatest
impOrtanc" in the development of the
worlds work in it's financial, social
and mercantile lines, and we might
well say that the success of these in
luStrieS and social conditions swings
on the pivot of the post Office depart
ment
1t might be we'll to consider in u
few moments this great business en-
terprise, which is the greatest in our
country. unless we might except the
Treasury department in the financial
sense and then when we consider all
the values going through the postal
service | think this outstrips even the
Treasury department. Some idea of
the postal service can be gained from
some facts and figures given by the
Postmaster General and his assist
ants for the fiscal year ended June
30th last
We learn that we are one among
an army OF 325 200 employees scattered,
one or a few in each community or
city, forming net work of connec-
tions, each doing part in the great
plan. and all responsible to their SUI
perior officers in Washington, and we
might we'll pause and take BIRDS eye
view of what it all means and how
successful this great business enter
prise is controlled and it's work adj
ministered. This great business instl-
tuition has 60144 post offices i'm opera
ton doing it's business. Of this num-
Der about 720C are of the third class
and $4,000 of the fourth. Emanating
from several thousand of these offices
&c, 62S rural carriers went last year
travelling $4,000 miles every day. han
ding 2,723.262,OOO pieces Of mail mat
ter, giving joy and pleasure and prof
it 20 millions of our people in the ru-
raj sections This new branch of the
service is very unique in the fact of
it's great strides in increases. From
81 routes in 1897 costing the govern
ment s14.S4O has grown 4O,62S routes
costing $35,661.034. The full value
from this undertaking can never be
fully judged. Farm values have IN
creased fully % per cent. Good roads
have received the attention never
them before Agriculture is receiving
the attention it deserves. The r. f.
D. Service and rural telephones nave
been the main reasons which have
brought this about and is the chief
reason why our young men and city
friends are talking so much about
back to the farm Last year the
postal service handled about 14.O0o.-
100000 pieces of mail matter. 42,O3S,@l5
pieces of valuable matter were reg
stered The total receipts for the
year were 1903. 562. 3S3O7.
Probably the most unique branch OF
the postal service is the money order
system from the fact that business
OF from Is to IS million dollars is done
| every week and not one cent of money
| is invested to do it. Since the money
order system has been established 40
years ago orders have been lsued to
| tie amount of $1,247. 474.143.13 and 81
| 23S, S31 331.07 has been paid making UNI
| paid orders in the hands of pOstmas
| tiers for $9,142,S12.06 on June 80 last.
! To show the safety and accuracy OF
| the postal money order system. reports
| show that last year out of 10.503, 459
| orders paid, only 46S were wrong pay
ments. Last year there were 69.304
he