The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-10-14
Copyright, 1913, by Frank G. Car
penter.)

RttieS
w.sb,pptop ID. CT am h
poorest man In the world for a news
paper story. Ny life has not been
pyrotechnjc. was not born In the
gutter. and / have had no sensational
struggles with poverty to get an edu-
cation. and reach public service. l
am only @ plain. ordinary Ia de-
veloped along the common lines OF
American life, in a plain, ordinary
way. Besides ] have no news instinct
do not know a good story when l see
it. I nave had the newspaper fellows
tell me that / was the best
in the government service, but that
the news I furnished was sent forth
without any knowledge IN my part
hat II was of n news interest what
ever"
These were the words Of the Post
master General, Albert Sidney Burle-
son, as he sat before his big desk in
the Post Office Department. He had
"a pile Of papers before him.. nd the
room adjoining was filled with callers
waiting for audiences, and each with
his own AK to grind. The time was
half-past 9 In the morning. and from
then on throughout the day, the busi-
ness, 1 was told, would increase. It
was not a good time for an interview.
and the opening words Of the Post
master General were by no means
propitious. Nevertheless, I put my
questions and the answers came quick
and without hesitation. One OF the
first subjects was the parcel post, and
the trouble that had arisen with Con-
gress as to increasing the size Of the
packages and lowering h rates.
The Postmaster General said:
st intend to do all that the law will
permit to better and cheaper the
~On1 vn0f onrytCa Th0 most nf6Co
is q department Of efficiency, and 1t
is the servant Of the people. / am not
hero to make the laws, but it is my
duty to enforce n carry them out,
as far as this department Is concerned.
That duty I am trying to discharge
seen o the first move I made was
resisted. l then said to the Senators
aid Representatives just what T have
said to you. Y u a placed this re-
sponsibility upon me, and I am going
to carry Il out / shall move forward
just as fast az the law will permit. and
believe that we shall soon be send
through tho mails. When we have
established the present system. I have
another move planned to follow It
We shall 60 on, step by step. l know
just what I am going to do; the mex
step will be made at the soonest pos
sible moment and the development Wi
go right along during the next foul
years"
"But how about the express com
paniesf Are you going to drive then
out OF business?"
1.-THE express companies will hav
plenty to do In the carrying Of pack
ages Of large size and weight. The,
will have to give way to the govern
ment as to small packages. Their
is no individual nee that cal
compete with the government. Their
is not the slightest doubt about tia
We are going to do the small pack
age business OF tho United States"
here asked as TO the prospectiv
increase Of the parcel post servic,
The Postmaster General replied:
THAT business is steadily increa.
ing. and that is so OF every depar
inent related to u mails. We Al
now handling from 4 1000. 600, 900 I
$4,000. 600. 200 packages of mail
year, n we ave the largest tran!
p~ortAtion service in the world. 0,
system Of parcel transportation
larger than that OF any express con
pany and it is just at its beginning"
Give me some of the details" sa
well. in the first six months y
handled moro than 900, 600, 900 pare
post With the increase
the weight limit and the reduction
the rates the increase will be accele
ated; and I estimate that by the tin
the year IL closed we shall ha
handled 7~60,ooe.000 packages. We a
doing much to help the business alor
One thing Is the change az to 4
stamps y that any kind Of posta
stamps - be used to send a pare.
post package. Another is the use
pre-cAncelled stamps. 1t cost som
thing to put the stamps on $50. o00. o
packages and to cancel them by ha.
Is an extremely dinlcElt process. Z
can cancel the stamps on letter-m
by machinery. but we cannot do II
on packages. which are Of all shay
and saSeA We have inquired that
would vi us about $25o,ooo to can
the stamps on h parcel post pas