The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-06-04
Hitchcock Refers to Eff
fort to Discredit
His Showing.
POSTAL SERVICE
VERY EFFICIENT
Never Conducted With Greater
Precision and Dispatch Than
During Taft Administration.
Returns as to Surplus or
Deficit Made Up by
Treasury Department.

Silver City, n. NJ. June 3.-On arriv-
ing at Silver City to-day. from the
Mogollon Mountains. where he has
been spending several weeks former
Postmaster General Hitchcock was
shown the statement Issued few days
ago by Postmaster-General Burleson.
attacking his administration of the
Post-OfIice Department. Mr.. Hitch
cock issued the following statements:
a committee composed in the main
OF newly appointed assistants, having
less than three months experience in
post-ofiic. business attempts in re-
port to the present head OF the de-
rartmcnt to discredit the financial
showing made by the postal service
under President Taft's administra ton.
Their statement is as inaccurate as
1t Is gratuitous. for the public well
knows that never was the postal ser
vice conducted more efficiently or mail
handled with greater precision and dis
patch than in the closing years OF the
Taft administration. During that ad-
ministration, notwiths tanding the great
extension of service. and the heavy in
crease In expenditures they required
the ost-O;iice Department was placed
Oh Il self-sustaining basis and that
was its condition when the Ith OF
March 1t passed into the hands of
newly appointed officers. who seem
mus far TO have been exhausting their
time and their energy in a vain attempt
" uctrscl from the record made BY
the devoted public servants they sue
ceeded.
Department seIf-Sustaining.
The Postal Committee of Demo-
cratic House Of Congress. endeayored
last year in similar manner TO at
tack the audited accounts OF the postal
service. but after investigation that
coInm'ttee was fair enough to admit
that the department had become self
sustaining. The returns as to surplus
or dehcit are made up not by the Post
Office Department. but by the Treas
ury department, where all postal in
come is received and all postal ac-
counts finally audited
The Secretary of the Treasury re
ported the wiping out of the postal
deficit. and the record thus certified TO
In his fiscal report is likely TO stand
In history. II the Post-Ofice Depart
ment could have received a proper al
RANKED mail. the postal surplus
would have been much larger than
that recorded and this in true after
deducting the expense incurred on ac-
count of the postal service by the
Treasury Department for the free
4uarterins or certain post Offices in
Federal buildings. an expense that is
less than half the cost &C the franl,iny
privilege. In the fiscal year 1912 more
than 300. 100000 pieces of mail having
an aggregate Weight of about 81 .OOO.-
oo9 POUNDS, were carried free of
charge under the franks of Congress-
men ana of the various government
establishments. if postage at the
usual rates had been laid on this mat
Ter 1t 10 estimated lhat the postal rev
eru"s w"u.c have Leen Incl eased by
more than s20000.0OO.
IN the last administration we an
pealed IN vain to Democratic House
Tor legislation abolishing the frankinr
abuse. ms
The, United States postal servic.
Is the largest business organization in
the world. It requires a high order
OF business ability and the closest kind
OF application on the part of the va
rlous oflicers in charge to conduct sue
cessfully public service so extensive
and so intricate
. Considerable Task.
The question may very naturally
present itself in the public mind as to
why why the present, officers OF the de-
this time in an endeavor to discredit
the gcod work of the men they sue
ceeded are not devoting themselves
%9re branchss a.se9tiXely on tbs to the
their care. even IL they are thus far
unable In their inexperience to man
out n constructive postal program so
as to broaden still further the useful
less find it considerable task. and one
requiring their strict attention, to
maintain throughout our vast country
the efficiency of the postal service as
great branches of the service recently
established for the benefit of the people
by Republican administration-the
postat saving bank and the parcel