The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-09-14
NEW POSTOFFICE LAW.
Mails VIII he Put up for Newspapers
and HOtels-NOt for Others.

! The latest Interpretation of the re-
Gently enacted law concerning the
Sunday closing of first and second
CLASS postofflces sent out by the post
Office department from Washington is
that mails for hotels and for newspa-
! pers must be put up on Sunday SO
that guests Of the hotels and publica-
tlons may get their Sunday mail the
same as on other days. The new in
terPretatlon also says that persons ex-
pecting important mail from some
source should notify the office pre-
NiouslE to Sunday that the mail will
arrive on Sunday from the place at
| which it is mailed and that they de-
sire to get such mail and the clerk
| Will have to deliver such important
mail.
postmaster Shore, in speaking Of
the matter, stated that in his office
the law would be carried out as far
as possible in accordance with the de-
sire Of the postmaster general. He
| said that the first Interpretation of
the law as received seemed to be to
save the clerks as much Sunday work
as possible, but that the second no
tice received seemed to convey the
idea that as many of the patrons of
the office as possible should be serv-
ed The law, if carried out according
TO the first Interpretation, meant
great saving OF Sunday labor for the
clerks, but it was impossible yet to
say whether the second order when
carried out would save the clerks any
of the work over the former system
of putting up all the mails and it
might cause them more work. 1t
would cause more work in one respect
at least, for the despatchers were re-
quired to look over outgoing mail ad-
dressed to hotels and newspapers
which would reach its destination on
Sunday and to put this mail on top
course will delay the rapidity Of
stamping the outgoing mail and put
ting it in packages.
The clerks, it seems, had expected
a much easier time under the order
as first sent out, but the second or
der, they think, will cause them just
as much work, and probably more
worry. as the old system.
In discussing the matter edtoraly.
the Florence Times has the following
to say:
There is more confusion through
the country over the Interpretation
Of the recent act of congress in regard
to the Sunday mail than there is over
the political situation. The object
seems 70 have been to reduce the sun
day labor in the first and second class
postoffices, but the new Interpretation
of the postotiice department makes it
inasmuch as the clerks have to sort
out the emergency mail and that for
the newspapers and the travelling
public who stop at hotels The law
is simple enough. That hereafter
postofiices Of the first and second
class shall not be open Sundays for
the purpose of delivering mail to the
general public, but this provision
shall not prevent the prompt delivery
of special delivery mail. looking
at the matter through certain eyes
il seems little like an attempt to
make people buy special delivery
stamps for correspondence that may
reach its destination on or after mid
night Saturday night. Why there
should be an exception for newspa-
pers, and hotels we do not see, but
we do know that to sort out that mail
will take as long as to deliver it, and
that if no better loop hole in the law
be found than that to relieve the de-
mands of the public the law ought
to be changed. it will do a great deal
towards causing dissatisfaction, and
the people all over the country will
be making themselves heard on the
subject
Dependency.