Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-12-07

| the inferior courts in future litigation
| and for the executive officers in tile
construction OF statutes and the per-
Torrance OF their legal duties. There
fore any provisions for review Of cases
by the supreme court that cast upon
that court the duty of passing ON ques-
lions Of evidence and the construction
Of particular forms Of instruments, like
indictments or wills or contracts, de-
cislons not Of general application or
importance, merely clog and burden
the court and render more difficult its
higher function, which makes it so i'm.
portant a part Of the framework OF
our government. The supreme court Is
now carrying an unnecessary burden
of appeals of this kind. and I earnestly
urge that it be removed.
Judicial Salaries.
/ further recommend to congress the
passage of the bill now pending for
the increase in the salaries Of the fed
eral judges, by which the chief justice
of the supreme court shall receive $11.-
800 and the associate justices $1,000,
the circuit judges constituting the cir
cult court Of appeals shall receive $40
600 and the district judges $4,000. The
positions they occupy ought to be filled
by men who have shown the creates
ability in their professional work ut
| the bar. and it is the poorest economy
possible for the government to pay
salaries so low for judicial service as
"a ~ cd No.
talent of the legal profession iii every
part Of the country.
Wipine Out of Postal Deficit.
For many years there has been 4
deficit ir the operations of the post
office department which has been met
by appropriation from the treasury.
The appropriation estimated fcT last
year from the treasury over and above
the receipts of the department was
SIT 100000. l am glad to record the
fact that Of that SIT, 100000 estimated
for $11, 900 were saved and return
! TO report that the, reduction in the
deficit has been accomplished without
any curtailneAt of postal facilities.
| Upon the recommendation Of the
postmaster general I have included in
the classified service all assistant post
masters. and / believe that this giving
Il secure tenure TO those VITO are the
most important subordinltes Of post
masters will add much to the efficiency
of their offices and an economical adj
mnistrati0n. -
The Franking Privilege.
The unrestricted manner in which
the franlling privilege is now being
used by the several federal services
and By Congress- has laid it open 10
serious abuses, fact clearly estab
lIshed. through Investigations recently
Instituted by the Department. While
it mas been impossible without a bet
ter control of ranking to determine
the exact expense to the Government
OF this practice, ihere can be no doubt
that it annually reaches into the mil
lions. 1t is believed that many abuses
of the franlling system could be pre-
vented, and consequently a marked
economy effected, by supplying
through the agencies of the postal SER
vice special official envelopes and
STAMPS IOi Tic Tree Ildl@Oi Tie GOV
arnmcnt. all such envelopes and
stamps to be issued OH requisition to
the various branches of the federal
service requiring them. and such rec
ords to be kept of all official stamp
supplies as viii enable the Post-Officc
Department to maintain a proper pos
taSe account covering the entire vol
une of free Government mail. AS the
lrst step IN the direction of this re-,
form, special stamps and stamped en-
velopes have been provided for use
instead of franks in the free transmits
sion of the official mail resulting from
The business of the new postal savings
system. BY properly recording the is
Suance of such stamps and envelopes
accurate records can be kept of the
cost to the Government of handling
the postal savings mail, which is GER
tam TO become an important item of
expense and orc that should be sepa-
rately determined In keeping with
this plan it is hoped that Congress
viii authorize tbs substitution of spe-
ciai official stamps and stamped en-
Velopes for the various forms of franks
now useu to carry free of postage the
vast volume of Departmental and
congressional mail matter. During
the past year methods of accounting
similar to those employed in the most
progressive of our business establish
ncnts have been introduced in the
postal service and nothing has so I'M
peded the Departments plans in this
regard rs the impossibility OF deter
with any exactness how Tar
he various expenses of the postal ser
vice are increased by the present unre-
use Of the franking privilege.
1t is believed that the adoption OF u
more exact method of dealing with
this problem as proposed will prove u
be of tremendous advantage in the
work of placing the postal service on
D. strictly Eusinesslike basis.
Second Glass Mail Matter.
In my last Annual Message invit-
cd the attention Of Congress to the in
adequacy Of the postal rate imposed
upon second-class mail matter in 50
far as that jncludes magazines, and
showed by figures prepared by experts