The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-07-11

in harmony With the rest Of the serV-
ice. We have made il "A closer part
OF. the whole organization. and tn
railway mail clerks do what they can
10 aid the postoffices and 10 hurry the
mails. We have also better arrange
ments for getting the bags off the
cars.
Making Each Postmaster Help.
gu speak Of the harmony OF tht
service, Mr.. Postmaster-General. Is
IT We'll organized ?"
1t Is rapidly becoming SO. We are
uTlfEIng 1t and getting better work
out OF the Individual than ever be-
lore. When | came into this office |
wrote thousands Of letters 10 each 0f
the city postnlasterS announcing
plans for improving. the service and
asking him to do all he could in the
work IF reform. in cutting the ex-
penses. and at the same time of i'm
proving the mails. I urged him To
think for himself and do what he
could to help the department. along.
AS j result of this the letters began
TO come in by the bushel. There
We're SO many that they kept my secre-
tarleS busy, and | could only look al
the most i'm portant of them. They
brought about the saving Of a vast
deal of money, and at the same time
made the men feel that they were d
part Of the Government and that Il
was their duty to do all they could
to help IN the work. We have now q
good esprit de corps among our en-
pioyes and | expect this to grow as
time goes on"
Civil Service For ~POStmaSterS.
Il should like to see the entire
postal service taken out Of politics.
continued MI. Hitchcock. This
changing poStmasterS at every ad-
ministration discrepancies the business
and causes the loss of millions Of dol
lars. we have to train the new post
masters. and. being appointed through
political influence, they do not fee
their responsibility to the department
They are often inefficient, and the
principle is a bad one. | would have
all the presidential pOstmasterS in tn
classified service. and would have tn
only reason for changes be the goot
Of the service. | would send the hes
postmasters to the more responsible
> places, and would have a system b,
which the ~postoffice clerks could ris'
l from grade to grade and finally be
come D~ostnasters. l would not maxi
the selection altogether a matter o
geography. as it is now but would pa
the men in the places where thei
! past work has shown they would d
the most good
, OnC-(cgit Letter EOStIS0
Wi We eye be able to send let
terS at q one-cent rate. Mr.. Post
. master-General?' l ask ed.
Yes. We could do that now if tn
; advertising parts Of the magazine
paid their share toward carrying tn
mails. We do not want to increas
) the rate on the literary features @
. the magazine, but We do feel tina
the advertisements should pay a
--,-1I .- thnr vCntfn- of thu = a m
d commercial character. As it is o
we are carrying these magazines at
cost of more than 3 cents Il pounc
and we receive from them only
u cent a pound. We lost over SEA GOO.
600 on our magazine ~transportdtloI
} last year. This is all wrong. 1t wa
/ never intended by those who MAD
: the law TIA advertisements shoui
= be carried at such rates and at sue
cost. Indeed it was specifically pro
: hibited. but the abuse has gradual
crept in and we are now amman
e handling $50. 600 tons of such matte
at this great loss. 1t constitutes d
per cent of our HON mail. AMI -
it brings in only 5 per cent 81 Ia
e revenue. The loss exceeds the prof
on all other classes of mail. 1t
e more than the amount We pay tn
railroads for mail transportation
NOV that YOU are running the de
partment at a profit, the magazine
u Will claim that YOU can aif0fi
q carry them at the old rates. Will tn,
not?"
9 '"rhev may claim 50" said II
Postmaster-General. but that IS 7
o reason why Uncle sam should DO
If large losing business to fill the 9ocl
cts Of the publishers. ! Trims fhs
they realize the unfairness nf tn"
position and that we snal have .
amicable arrangement. which VII r
suit in the advertising sections pa
ing their share of the freight.
The Railways and the Mails.
u How about the railways. are the
9 not greatly overpaid tor man tran
portation ?"
z 4 would not say that rep}ied II
r PostmaSter-Gcneral. The depart
mfnt demands a great deal of tt