The Detroit times., 1910-10-15

useu In single year would plaster
1900 acres Of land, or make six belts
Of stamps around the earth. Counting
those on stamped envelopes. newspa.
per wrappers and postal CARDS. the
aggregate number used annually 10
upward Of eleven billion.
When the revenues OF the govern
ment began to fall OF two years ago
the postofice department started 10
look for opportunities to retrench. 1t
was found that In the money order
business the labor involved In hand
ling the advice slips mailed from the
issuing to the paying once, involved
an expenditure OF 100000 year. So
II was decided by the postmaster-gen-
eral to Issue new form OF order, In
which the advice slip was incorporat-
ed with the order itself and carried
to the paying ONCE by the person In
whose favor the order was issued.
This single economy. involving no i'm
pairment Of the service. results In an
annual saving Of more than half MIL
lion dollars. Another opportunity for
retrenchment was found In the hand
ling OF registered matter. 1t has been
the custom to issue q return card for
each registered letter or parcel sent.
This required the handling Of more
than 30,000.000 cards q wear by the
employees OF the postal service. The
postmaster-general asked congress to
authorize him to return cards to the
senders only when requested. The
result Of this small economy will be
saving Of several hundred thousand
dollars
The growth Of the mail business Of
the United States has been one Of the
marvels OF American progress. In
1887 the average individual spent thir-
ty-two cents q year for postage In
1908 he spent 1919 year on mail
sent out. The receipts OF the Chicago
postofhce today are larger than those
OF the entire country at the time OF
Abraham Lincoln's accession to the
presidency. No part Of the service has
enjoyed such q remarkable develop
ment AZ the rural free delivery. Four
teen years ago there were only eighty
two rurxt routes In operation. and
they involved an annual expenditure
Of only $4,000. Today there are
more than 10000 In operation, and
they involve an annual outlay OF some
$50. 100000 This service Il the most
expensive that the government rend-
ers. The entire receipts Of the rural
letter carriers are less than eight mil
lion dollars a year and the government
spends more than four times as much
on the service.
The postmaster-general IL assisted
In his work by four assistant postmas-
ters-general The first assistant has
charge Of the appointment Of post
masters, Of whom there are more than
5000. Under present regulation the
aim Is to appoint men Of recognized
efficiency, and to keep them In once
as long az they satisfactorily discharge
their duties. He also has charge Of
salaries and allowances for the postal
service. Every few years the salaries
OF all presidential postoffices through
out the country are adjusted, the
basis Of adjustment being the receipts
OF the ONCE. Likewise, he has charge
OF the expense accounts Of the vart
Gus Offices throughout the country.
and as these aggregate many millions
of dollars they must be watched care
fully. The city delivery service IL also
under his Jurisdiction. The law pro-
vides that wherever a city ONCE shows
a certain amount Of receipts or the
city has a population OF ten thousand,
city free delivery is established. Near
" fifteen hundred cities and towns
now have city delivery service.
The second assistant postmaster
general has charge Of the Transports
ton OF the mails. II costs about $780,
00O, 900 year for the operation Of mail
service on the railroad trains Of the
country. and the total expense Of mail
transportation amounts to more than
$50, 10000 There are star routes to
be looked after. steamboat routes,
mail messenger routes, wagon routes,
street car routes. and pneumatic tube
routes.