The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-07-05

and finally endeavorng
to obstruct the work Of his successor
to the limits Of his ability
These are grave accusations and Mr..
Hitchcock will find it no easy matter
to defend himself against them. We
do not believe that he can do so. The
investigation which has resulted in
this report was ordered by Postmaster
General BurlesOn only after much
urging and with extreme reluctance.
Two of the five men who signed the
report, Second Assistant Postmaster
General Joseph A. Stewart and Chief
Clerk Merritt o. Chance, are Repub-
licans. The former held under Mr..
Hitchcock the same position he now
holds. The latter was until recently
secretary of President Taft's Commis-
sion on Economy and Efficiency, and
prior to that he was auditor for the
Post Office Department. The other
Roper, A NJ. Dockery and James /.
Blakslee, respectively First, Third and
Fourth Assistant Postmasters Gener-
al.
The report of this non-partisan
committee declares unanimously and
unequivocally That the postal service
is not self-supporting, and has not
been so since 1888; that a fictitious
appearance of surplus was obtained by
incorrect methods of accounting,
which improperly compared cash re-
ceipts with Incompatible and insufi-
cient totals of disbursements; that
the policy Of straining every effort to
effect an apparent surplus depleted
the efficiency Of the service and in
jured its morale; that just before the
present administration took office this
policy was suddenly reversed with the
effect Of throwing over upon the new
administration greatly increased ex-
pense and longtime obligations.
1t is clearer than ever in the light
Of these findings that it is an ex-
tremely difficult task which has fallen
TO the lot of Mr.. Burleson. During
the last two months Of the old Ad-
ministration the whole Department.
from one end OF it to the other. was
driven under whip and spur with the
view Of tieing up matters i'm such a
way that the new Administration
would be embarrassed as much as
possible. Mr. Burleson found, saws
the Washington correspondent of the
New York Evening Post, that "the
only appointments in the Department
within his gift were those of chief
clerk and his own private secretary;
every vacancy had been filled and
every possible promotion made within
a short time before he took charge"
And yet there are Republican organs
which have been trying for months
to picture the Democrats as the pa
tronage grabbers.
: The hope of the situation lies i'm
the policy TO which the new Post
master General has committed him.
self and which he declares he will
Steadfastly enforce. Mr.. Burleson be-
lleVeS in economy but even more
strongly is he of the conviction thar
the thing of first Importance is eff
hciency; that the people may have
the best possible service from the nos.
tai service system We are NOT sura
mat the Postmaster General is right
when he adds they will not stand for
waste of course" We wish that were
So but they have stood for a long
tlme FOR outrageous abuses of the ser
vice on the part of members of Con-
SreSs. Nevertheless, Mr. Burleson is
wholly correct in the assertion that
the people are more interested i'm
good service than they are in any
technical showing of surpluS-espe-
cially if that showing is not justified
We believe that the postal service can
be made to pay The public think SO.
IUt whether il does or not is of sec
ondarN importance. The deficits have
never been Chargoablo to the legiti-
mate operation of the postal system
AMI the postal system should not he
made I" suffer because of a possible