Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-07-03

CoLhhois Val enterprises, ana tnere ma
been some resentment expressed i,
regard to this by some of the people
who have been fighting for what the,
believe to be the rights of manufac
turing and industrial interests. One
manufacturer has complained thai
when we send representatives to the
capital to keep us advised upon our
matters, and we present our views in
relation thereto, we are accused o.
keeping a secret and dangerous, if
not corrupt, lobby
This charge has drawn a response
from the president, who was the orr
ginal discoverer of the "insidious
lobby" He says that he believes that
the real representatives of all inter-
ests have perfect right to make
their case known al the national cap
ital, but he draws the line upon that
class of representative who send OUT
form letters and get people to "sign
them up" all over the country, and
fire them in upon the capital. Wher
the parcel post was before congress
there were hundreds of thousands o.
such communications, both for and
against the measure.
The Dead Letter Office.
A year ago there We're $50 en-
ployees in the dead letter office. Now
there are about so. The reason is
found in the fact that sleuths who
fathom the mysteries of poor ad-
dresses have become more proficient
in their work, and that better results
have been obtained in tracing badly
addressed mail and turning it over
to the several postoffices and divisions
and railroad centers throughout the
country. Foreign mail, which has in
the past been the source of much con-
! Germ to the dead letter Office, is now
handled largely at the ports of entry
of this country. The dead letter Office
was established almost ninety years
ago, and is one of Washington's old
est and most widely celebrated insti-
buttons. Unlike many of the divisions
of the department it was not created
by statute, but became an institution
resulting from regulations that let
tiers be sent to the dead letter office"
Before 1860 no detailed record was
Lopt ne ;tc fropco o<;OOc. ol<boupb ~.
records show the receipt of $4,000
letters in 1880 and 100000 in 1887
The senate adopted a resolution on
March 8, 1857, requesting the post
master general to state the number
of letters received in the dead letter
Office during the fiscal year, and to
determine what further legislation
was necessarysto diminish the number
&C. such letters and to provide for their
return to senders. The receipts for
that year were 100000 letters and
parcels. In 1861 congress passed an
act providing that all money found in
undelivered dead letters was to be
used to promote the efficiency of the
dead letter Office. In 1862 the report
stated that when letters containing
postage stamps or articles valued at
less than 81 could not be restored to
the writer, they were to be destroyed
with their contents. In 1862 con-
gress authorized the return of all
letters bearing the names of writer's
whose contents provided sufficient
revenue to pay the clerk employed
to handle them. The percentage of
money found in unclaimed letters
was nearly four times greater before
1864 than at present. The money
order system was established in
1864. Stamped envelopes imprinted
with the address of senders and re-
quests for return of letters were is
sued by the government in 1855 for
the purpose of securing the return
of letters to writer's without opening.
There were employed in 1875, 30
men and SO women, and the Office
was mentioned as a model of indus
try and punctuality. Last year the
force consisted of 1870 persons hand
ling more than 100000 pieces of
mail matter annually, and returning
without charge all matter paid at
the letter rate.
President breaches Prosperity.
President Wilson appears to be the
principal prosperity booster, and it
does not make much difference what
sort of stories are told about hard
times, he insists that the golden age
of prosperity is just ahead. The
president has turned down sugges-
tons that congress adjourn until the
trust bills are completed. After these
bills are out of the way there will be
adjournment and "peace."
Is This the Right View?