The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-06-11

get In touch with each other the
Iquicker greater efficiency cansbe look
ed for.
Among other topics which should be
considered In connection with this pa
per are:
Where there lis city delivery Of mail
q greater effort should be made to
have local patrons provide boxes for
the reception Of mail from the car
rier in place of its being thrown on
porches. under doors or the carrier
waiting for someone to answer the
bell. Here lis a good missionary field
awaiting most postnasters,
Regular Examinations.
Another primary requisite to eff
hciency is the regular examination of
clerks and carriers, especially the
former. and on your request the rail-
way mail service is always glad to
give your clerks the opportunity to
test their knowledge In the location
of mail in connection with the various
railway lines. A clerk should also
have his work inspected quite FREE
quently as far as box throwing is con
cerned and his attention called to all
errors which he may make.
Early attention to postage-due mail
will bring down upon your heads the
blessings of jobbers and wholesalers.
OF course this mail does not have a
right to AXE precedence ever that
which has been fully prepaid by the
sender. but I have found that in many
offices that all the mail arriving dur
ing the night which is suspected of
being underpaid, as well as that ar
irving by early morning trains, is
frequently held until everything else
is cleared up. Much of the postage
due mail is from commercial travellers
to their home houses, containing or
ders, and if 1t a be arranged to have
this rated up, postage-due stamps
placed upon it and delivered early, 1t
Will greatly aid the jobber and whole
saler in promptly filling his orders.
The giving of careful attention to
the proper rating up OF, all mail matter
going out of your Office is also very,
important.
The keeping OF Just efficiency rec
ords is a great aid to good service. A
commission of postal experts has been
at work on the revision of the present
efficiency records and has approached
the subject in so fair and just a way
that | believe both postmasters and
employees will heartily approve the re-
suits of its work, owing to the fair
schedule of merits as well as the de-
merits where were too prominent in the
old system.
Prompt and careful attention to all
complaints is another important ele-
ment which will greatly improve the.
service. A complaint should be well
coined instead of being Stunned, as Its
investigation will tend to educate the
public in giving mail matter greater
care and will correct abuses which
would otherwise creep into the serv-
ice.
Another important element is keep
ing in touch with the postoffice inspec-
ors. They are not paid spies of the
government, to be avoided, but are your
true friends if you treat them as
friends. They cannot always do what
you may wish them to, but you must
consider their point of view as well as
your own.
A year ago Edgar Allen postmaster
at Richmond Va. thought that he
needed four more carriers and the de-
partment referred his request to sew
eral inspectors and after the investi-
cation vas over they convinced Mr..
Allen that he could get along with ten
less carriers than he had at that
time, although the business Of his Of
fee had increased "a per cent during
the preceding two years and he had.
had no new carriers during that time.
1t is not necessary to weary you with
the details of this investigation but
after it was over he gave this advice
to his fellow ~postmasters: Look to
your carriers in the use OF their feet
and hands; some are fast with one
and some are fast with the other; give
the slow hand man with fast feet the.
light mail n the large territory; the
fast hand man with slow feet does bet
ter with heavy mail in short terri
tory"
. IN -nT1pratin1 q Ms s foo M s# r1ycySly 49,
necessary between the postmaster and
his employees. He should be hearty in
commencing good work as well as
swift but kind in crfticising errors.
Among the improvements in the
laws which might be suggested,
which would tend to promote efficiency
may be mentioned:
The forwarding of tirst-clasS mail to
destination, where it has insufficient
postage or no postage at all and the
collection of postage due at the des-
tination.
The handling of dead letters in Of
fees Of first and second classes, at
least, instead of at washington.
The adjustment of the third class OF
mail n its consolidation with the
fourth class.
Better and easier methods to prop
erly identify strangers who want
money orders cashed.
There should be also some change in
the present system in regard to substi-
tutes. The department cannot obtain
competent men when they must give
up lucrative positions in order to be
at the beck and call of the department,
where for months and sometimes for
years they may only earn So or $40
per month acting as substitutes, and
whenever n of these men lis called
to carry the route OF a sick carrier or
to take the place OF a clerk in the Of
flee he is far from efficient and it all
reflects upon the service. These men
do even better than one would expect
them to do, but nevertheless their
work detracts from the high standard
of the postofice department. 1t has
been suggested, but I do not know
whether the scheme is feasible or not,
that the most efficient clerk or car
rier in an office should act as the sub
I~stitute and when not called for this
work should be assisting in other ways,
like the inspecting Of the routes of
other carriers and assistin in general
office work. OF course lie this were
the case no office could have more than
from z to 10 per cent of substitutes
available, but when there was a real
vacancy in either carrier or clerk po-
sition a new man would be named di-
rect from the civil service list as a
permanent appointment and would at
once receive the minimum salary fixed
BY the department. / do not know as
this plan is feasible, but it strikes me
that it had some good features.
There is another subject of vital
Iinoment, but it refers to economy to;
the service istead OF efficiency, but
II ny1yfN = 10 f6. rr-91o - n 80