The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-06-22
The POSTAL SERVICE
PAST AND PRESENT

! postal laws were made and / n the
year 1911, 2,491 persons were ar
rested.
Postmasters' Appointments.
The division OF postmasters' APP
pointments has charge of the work re-
lating to the appointment of post
masters.
The number OF -postmasters appoint
ed during the last fiscal year was 10,-
$40. OF this number 2,2S8 were at pres
idential Offices and 1902 at Offices of
the fourth class. More than ~ per
cent OF the postmasters whose commits
sions expire during the year were
given re-appointments. The policy OF
re-appointing efficient postmasters has
been adhered to, while postmasters
who have failed to give their Offices
the required attention have been re-
fused re-appointment.
Salaries and Allowances.
AT the close Of business March 81.
1912, there were 1851 postoflceg in
the United states; 444 of the first
class, 1918 of the second class, S.
$50 of the third class and 50,443 Of
There are employed at the present
time in the first and second class Of
fees 1882 assistant p~ostn1asters and
33.605 clerks.
Under the present postmaster gem
eral an effort has been made to reduce
Sunday service to the minimum by
closing the postoffices on Sunday.
City Delivery Service.
AS early as 1894, under an act of
congress, the employment of letter
carriers was permitted at such post
Offices as might be specified by the
postmaster general. The mail to be
delivered was restricted to letters and
a fee of two cents was collected on
each letter delivered. In 1885 the law
was modified SO as to provide for the
delivery of newspapers at n cent
each.
The act Of Jan. 8, 1887, required that
letter carriers be employed in every
incorporated city, village or borough
having a population of $4,000, and per-
mitted their employment in places of
10000 or more population.
This is the law now in effect. APP
plication for the establishment Of city
delivery service at any postof1ce an
titled thereto may be made by the
postmaster general, by citizens Joining
in a petition, or by h municipal au-
thorities.
The number Of deliveries and col
lections and the schedules Of the car
riers are arranged with reference to
the arrival and departure of mails and
the volume of the mail.
City delivery service is in operation
in 1888 cities necessitating the en-
ployment Of 29,742 carriers, involving
a cost of $34,500,000. The number of
carriers in the city Of New York is
1854; Chicago, 1907; Boston, 1902;
Philadelphia, 1000, and Brooklyn, L.
O44.
Under the provisions OF the postal
appropriation act now pending before
the congress 1t is proposed to extend
mail delivery experimentally to towns
and villages having postoffices of the
} second or third class that are not by
law entitled to free delivery service,
: The law prescribes a limitation of
$1,000 for the expenditure at each Of
fee for this service.
Division Of Railway Adjustments.
Undoubtedly the most necessary
feature of the postal service is the
transportation OF mails by railroads
and attendant distribution Of mails
! in transit. The 3,4o0 railroad routes
: in operation cover every section oil
the country where railroads have
been built and form a network Of ar.
: teries carrying the mails to every
3 transport annually more than 2,o00,00l
: tons Of mail and are Indispensable fac.
n tors in the business and social life o
: the nation.
Aviation Service.
9 One Of the newest features in con,
nection with the transportation Of thu
U mails is that of service by ~aeropIaues
While there Is not at this time an!
9 appropriation for this class Of servic,
: an item of $4,000 for aviation servic,
= was included in the estimates for TIL
9 transportation Of mails during tn,
fiscal year of 1913. During the pas
year permission has been given t.
carry mail without expense to the de
partment on a number OF aeroplan
. routes.
Postal Finances.
1t is safe to assert that the posta
l. service Of the United States, although
: but quasi-commercial in the nature o
it's functions, is the largest bushes
institution in the world today, an,
that it's financial transactions excee,
in amount any other single enterpris
either of a public or private nature.
During the fiscal year ended June 81
1911, the books of the department
n showed that the transactions of it
fiscal agents and agencies involved tn
. receipt and disbursement Of approx
inately ST. 00,0 ,ooo.
Largely Self Supporting.
The appropriations made by con
gress for maintaining the postal serv
ice during the current fiscal year ag
gregate approximately 1888, 000, 900, blu
70 1t should be made clear that his sur
is not wholly a charge against tn
general revenue of government derive
ID from customs, internal revenue, an,
other miscellaneous receipts, bu
against it's own revenues so far a
10 they are sufficient. So when you
Or daily paper refers to the enormou
.g budget of the United States and it
billion dollar congress, you should b
s. informed of the fact that approximate
III ly ~one-fourth of this billion dollars
h for the conduct of a service which
l. now self supporting.
k The efficiency of the system is full
lie demonstrated in the report of the thir
at assistant postmaster general for til
last fiscal year, in which it is show
l. analytically that the postal service
IN now financed from its own receipt
in addition to being self-suppcrting.
e Division of Stamps.
!, The public come in personal ccnta,
y it'll the postal service most frequent
1y at the stamp window. Josh Ri
/. Iings once wrote, in his quaint phone
: tic spelling, "Konsfder the postas
stamp, my son; it's usefulness kor
sists in it's ability to stick to n thin
until It gets there" This could vel
\ appropriately be used as the text
Is an address to g graduating class,
not of a sermon.
ty Stamps Bring Revenue.
s. Postage stamps are the medium
over 80 per cent Of the revenues Of IL
postoflce department. The adhesi,
! stamp was first adopted by the Unite