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

One Of the great addresses that
was made at the Tri-State Post
masters convention which closed it's
two days session In the city yester-
day at noon, was that OF q. G. Thorn
son. chief clerk Of the p~ostofice de-
partment at washington and his sub
ject was The Postal Service. Past and
Present. So interesting was it that
The Forum will print the greater part
of 1t. Mr.. Thomson said:
1t is quite a general rule among men
making addresses before conventions
to preface their remarks with a state
n1ent that they have no set speech.
This is a remark that I quite fire.
quently make myself, but in this in
stance / want to vary it by telling you
I have q set speech.
The Postal Service of the Ancients.
The word post" is derived from the
Latin "postus,' a. form of the word
pono, to place, and means a fixed To-
cation. 1t was originally applied to
the stations where the runner deliver
ed his messages to the next carrier,
and awaited the arrival of a messen-
ger from the opposite direction, when
he would return to the post he had
left. The first postoffice was not a
place for the deposit of letters, but a
change house.
Established in Babylon.
Aside from mythology there are
authentic records to show that a postal
service was established in Babylonia
under Sargon / about $500 years before
Christ.
During the eighteenth Egyptian
dynasty letters were exchanged by
royal messengers between Babylonis
and Egypt. Those from Babylonis
which should be understood to include
Assyria, were written in cuneiform
characters on clay tablets. The Egyp-
tians employed a kind of picture writ
kind Of reed. 1t is probable, however
that the answers to the Babyloniar
letters were written in cuneiform.
just Like Present.
The term ''postofice" and post
roads" has been used almost precise
Iy as at present for centuries.
Cyrus the elder shortly after his
conquest of the Persian empire about
the year 55S b. G.. sought to keep II
systematic touch with the affairs
throughout his vast domain, and tc
that end required his governors an6
chief commanders to write to him fire.
quently concerning matters in theil
respective districts; and in order Il
render this correspondence more sur
and to expedite delivery he caused K
be built post roads throughout the
empire and at such distances along
these roads as a horse could trave
without harm he established pos
houses.
The Postofiee in America.
The first traces of a postal system
in America. are found in the year 1889
when the general court of Msssa.
Il oH,,eaAAG nAuon a. InrIfno nrn# 1co-oIf1.
ing such a system. The ordinance
directed that all letters brought from
across the sea, or to be sent to parts
OF the colonies, should be left at tn,
house OF Richard Fairbanks in Bos
ton, and by him sent to the prope
part of the country to which the.
were directed. He was allowed
penny compensation for the trans
mission of eac letter, and was &C
countable TO the authorities for an,
derellction Of duty.
The Virginia colony shortly after
wards established a postal system
which required every planter to &C
as carrier.
Some Early History.
Before the pioneers of the Connec
ticut colony were fairly rid of tn
I hostile Indians that infested the shore
} of Long Island sound, the mail car
J rier was traversing that territory o
his way between New York and Bos
ton, This was about the year 167
and the mail route referred to was tn
first authorized by the colonial gov
eminent In any part of the America
territory.
The mails Of that early period wer
evidently not heavy as the carrier
on this route between New York an
Boston for thirty years made but on
trip a month.
The postal service in colonial day
was a sort Of go-as-you-please al
rangement and postmasters and posi-
riders sometimes ran the business I
suit themselves.
King George Takes Notice.
In 1853 his majesty, George II
awoke to the fact that he was re
ceiving no revenue or profit from I'll
postal service in America, and tbs
the service was being conducted some
what loosely. The result of his cogits
ton pon the subject was the appoint
ment of Ben Franklin deputy pos
master general, who organized tt
service On a business basis and ra
1t for twenty years in such a name
as to yield a profit for Great Britai'
In 1775, however, the colonies cor
Guided to manage the postal busine:
on their own account and appointe
Franklin postmaster general with
salary of $1,000 a yea
Service Under Federal Government.
The p~ostofice department as v
know it today, was organized in III
and from that date began the real d.
ve1opment of the service in the Unite
States. In that year there were SCI
enty-hve Offices in operation, the al
gregate revenue of which amounted
4 e9T 900 ~ TShfu rIfxVa yyO1FIH mt no " III
more than one=1fth of the wrappir
Irvine now used in the service.
Individual offices which r at pre-
emit the backbone of the service furni!
interesting stories in connection wi
their early operation. Sebastian Bal
man, the first postmaster of New 70
under the federal government, kept Il
Office in his grocery store. Today tn
Office employs approximately 5000 pc
: sons and its revenue for the year en-,
ed March 81, 1912, were more thu
I $4,000, 900.
Chicago, the second largest pos
office, vas not sven established un
1881. That Office now furnished en-
pIoy1nent for nearly 5000 and yields
revenue of more than $20,000,000.
Dur postal system has outgrown
self from time to time and in oh
dience to the public demand extensi
modifcations have been made.
Prior to 1854 the sender of a. lett
must have counted well the cost b
fore finally intrusting 1t to the han
Of the mail carrier. The postage on
single letter for a distance OF thir
miles was 6N cents and for a di
lance of 400 miles % cents.
The Postal Service Of Today.
AS we all know the postohice depar
ment is divided into virtually six b
reaus-tl1e postmaster general - I
first, second, third and fourth asst