Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1914-01-14

arabic. IL took congress long while
TO pass an eight-hour n day labor law.
An govcrnDent work done by the gov.
eminent trser vas put on an eight
hour basis q long time ago. but IL was
only recently that the federal eight
hour law WAS made TO apply To gov
eminent work contracted for BY pri-
waite corporations
liz is apparent that the present a6-
ministratiou 10 fully I'm sympathy not
but with the plea that eight hours
for work. eight hours for play and
eight hours for sleep CONSTITUTES the
proper living day for man. Secretary
Redfield OF the department of com
merce probably would not have eN-
pressed himself so freely as he has
on the eight-hour matter If he were
not sure OF the sympathy or his chief.
Mr.. Redfield's Position.
At n meeting OF the American Asso
citation for Labor Legislation held re-
Gently Secretary Redfield said:
II believe that when our factories
are run I'D that the workmen 20 home
without being fatigued from overlong
hours. and not till then, will we be
able 10 compete successfully against
all corners In tho markets OF the
world. ! could not afford to employ In
a factory men who are half sick. who
come TO work after having had bad
breakfasts. who are partly poisoned.
They would be economically unprof1t.
able. And yet fatigue Ia part poison"
Improved conditions for labor. so
far as the United States government
can bring them about without inter
fering with states rights. have been II
gradual growth The Republicans
when they were In power did n good
deal for iabor. and since the Demo
Gratis have come into power they have
shown disposition to continue the
work Of the Republicans. and In some
cases 90 do n little better. Congress
men say IL In the natural growth of
favorable legislation fostered by the
spirit OF prosressivism of the times
The eighthour law which IL at pres
ent on the statute books and which
Torbids private contractors doing
work for the government To make
their men work more than eight hours
day, WAS passed by congress only
after years of contest
Postal Service Efficient.
high type OF efficiency Is
claimed for the United States postal
service by Uncle Sans officials
who are charged with the duty OF its ad
luinistratiOn- 10 Is said that the single
exception or Belgium. where the traf
fic conditions resemble those OF state
rather than those of a country the
United States stands at the head of
all countries I'm operative efficiency.
This is said ON the authority of Rep
resentative Lewis OF Maryland, author
of the parcel post act. who has been
digging into the subject.
II Is known that Uncle Sans letter
rate OF postage is enough TO yield
, 33 10 per cent profit. and the postal
J efficiency OF this country IL attained In
spite OF the high prices which must
be paid for material, stamps. paper.
, etc. and the mach higher wages which
are paid To- American postal workmen
than to those Who do the same work
In Europe
Steady increase In the Service.
soinCf Nibt year 1000 not Only mas
the number of pieces OF mail, includ-
ing poth domestic and foreign matter.
increased gradually. but the number
OF pieces handled by each post ofiic
empIoye each year has increased
This increase has been going on while
the average handling individual bits
OF mail has gone down.
From 1886 To 1912 mot only have
the units or service more than doubled
In size. but city and rural deliveries
have been added. thus virtually dou-
bling the quantity Of the service. Thus
even If the cost per piece OF mail
naturally had remained stationary i;
would be shown clearly that the cost
actually rad gone down"
The number OF pieces mailed in
the year 1886 including domestic and
foreign matter WAS 3.474, 900 900, while
the number Of employees was 1872 ,G9S
. In that year the number of mail pieces
handled by each empIoye per annum
was 28.3f3. The cost for the average
mail, piece, reckoned In cents, was
144. Eight years later, In 1894. the
number or employees had increased TO
. 3.9l6. and tire number Of pieces Of
mail had jDmped To 1919 900. 900 This
resulted in the number OF mail pieces
per employe per- annum reaching the
hgure OF z6.74s. and the cost per
average mail piece becoming, in cents.
1G7
Average Cost Has Gone Down.
Ten years later, in 1904. the mum.
Der Of pieces handled by each empIoye
during ths ysar had Increased 20 35,
1885, and the average cost per each
mail piece had gone down 10 1.s3. IN
1912 the Averages cost had gone down
to 1874 toe number Of employees, a
trihe below that OF 1910. stood az
290.70l; the estimated number Of mail