The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1912-09-24
BY ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.


BY ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.
The government has a funny way
of running things.
The post Office department in in
stance
Everybody knows about Hitchcock's
herculean efforts to make a record
during his administration in cutting
down the celebrated deficit.
But his way of going about it seems
more or less weird to the ordinary
observer.
| Instead of eliminating Sunday ser
vice-which is not done for humani-
tartan but for monetary reasons-and
: levying on the advertising pages Of
the magazines by making them alter
their manner of distribution much to
the discomfort of the subscribers and
through other various methods by
which the public is discommoded-
the average citizen would recommend
them to weed out the franking sys-
TEN through which tons of reading
matter that nobody reads and car
loads of seeds that nobody plants are
sent free round the country.
! Its the free transportation of this
stuff that makes it necessary, if any
thing is done in the way of reducing
the cost of running the department,
to cut down on the privileges that the
public does and should enjoy in the
! way of mail service.
! The franking privilege is rather
,,;n g. 80 -ty-;Jr Io @rli
person.
There are laws supposed to govern
its abuse but it is abused.
This column has animadverted more
or less frequently upon the position of
Mr.. Theodore Roosevelt that the law
should be administered according to
the dictates of common sense.
Now common sense would say that
the reduction of the post Office deficit
might be materially reduced in the ab-
clifton or restriction of the franking
privilege instead OF at the expense of
the public.
Very few persons use the seeds.
And fewer read the voIuminous doc
uments sent round without discrimi-
nation.
The writer, in instance, has long
received special bulletins from the Ag-
ricultural Department
While she feels flattered to be thus
singled out it is the truth that she
has rarely looked over these for the
reason that her interests are not in
this department of activity.
/ She does not till the soil.
Nor own a farm.
i And has only general interest in
the scientific aspects of farming.
= If these had been sent to a friend
of hers who has taken claim out
West and now owns 100 acre farm
and is interested in getting the best
results out of her land, there would
be some sense in it.
But the latter woman is not on the
Agricultural Departments list.
So there you are.
In the meantime you can't get your
magazine until it is sent out from a
distributing center nor any mail on
Sunday no matter how important it
might be to you to get the latter
To be sure the delivery of mail on
Sunday resolved itself into a sort of
general nuisance as lots of people
haunted the delivery windows on Sun.
day who simply had the village obses.
sion of going to the post office to see
J if the mail had come in or stray to
the station to watch the trains pass
And was hardship on post office
attaches.
Its regulation was therefore desira.
| BILE.
But things can be regulated toe
, much.
The one point upon which the pub
lie, is agreed, however. is the picayu
nish attitude fthe government to-
ward the rural route carrier.
, If ever there was beneficent and
popular movement started it was that
of the delivery of mail to the country
, residents.
The average rural route carrier is d
local celebrity
. And his advent looked forward tc
with more eagerness than any other
one phase of, daily life in the country
He is, however, generally badly
paid.
!. A few years ago he received but
$500 yearly salary and had to furnish
/ his own wagon and horse.
Later the salaries were gradually
: raised from $500 to s72o. then to $500
then to $1,000 and now to s1100.