Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-02
euRLEsoN AND FREE DELIVERY
Postmaster General Denies Desire to
CurtaiI Service.


Curtaii Service.
Postmaster General Burleson does
not want to curtail the free delivery
service. Stories have been published
all over the country to the effect that
he wants to do away with weak routes
and make the patrons thereof go fur
Their after their males. So alarming did
the reports finally become that Rep
r%esentative Lever Of South Carolina,
wrote to find out about the matter.
Mr.. Lever wrote as follows:
II have been thinking a great deal
about the matter Of u conversation
the other day relative to your policy
in regard to the rural delivery service
in the country. The more I think
about it the more fully convinced
become that If you put into effect the
plan you have in mind Of %curtailing
rural delivery service, you will not
only work a serious injury to the peo-
ple-but make it impossible for the
Democratic party to hope to win the
mex presidential election.
THE postal service was never in
tended to be a profit making concern
1t was established for the convenience
and education of the people; and you
can as little afford to curtail that
service as Secretary Houston can to
curtail the constructive work Of the
department of agriculture. 1 am
writing this as your friend, and as a
friend of the administration from
President Wilson down to the humblest
member of it. I earnestly beg you
and I know l am voicing the senti-
ment of every Democratic member In
congress, not to put into operation
any plan by which rural delivery
service will be hurt. The country peo-
pie are entitled to as good postal
service Is the city people, and we must
do nothing that will show any discrim-
ination against them"
Mr.. Burleson's reply is as follows:
This is to acknowledge receipt OF
your letter Of February 6, in relation
to the rural service, which l have care
fully read.
II fully concur with you in the view
that the postal service should not
and must not, be conducted as
profit making concern and that TIT
rural delivery of mail was established
for the convenience and education O.
the people, So fixed am I in this con
' viction that it shall be my policy t
increase and extend, instead Of cur
tail, this very important postal facili
ty so that, not less, but more, Of thu
American people shall be furnished thu
advantages which it affords. Co-ordi'
nate, however, with this policy goot
administration demands that salts
factory postal facilities be given t.
the people at the least possible ex'
penditure of public funds.
1T is sincerely regretted that IL
times past this desirable service wa!
not always established or maintained
in well populated communities where
it could be utilized for the conven'
fence and education of the people, ant
that the expenditure Of thousands o.
dollars for unusual or unnecessary
mail facilities has interfered with thu
proper application Of available re
sources for the extension of this ser
vice. Therefore, many of our people
cannot be provided with these mean!
of convenience and education that ar
more than literally supplied to others
Then, again, there are other in
equalities. For example,: In com
munities where road conditions ant
population are similar, the mail facili'
ties afforded should be equal. There
, are certain sections of the country
where one community will have 6
route affording tri-weekly service anC
another where the conditions ar
identically the same, a route providing
daily service. Now, either the commu
nifty with the tri-weekly service is en-
titled to daily service or the communi.
ty with the daily service is entitled tc
only the tri-weekly service. In Other
words, the service should be establish.
ed with regard to the actual needs o.
the patrons of the particular out ant
should be equitably distributed between
communities where the conditions ant
requirements are identically the same
The logic and justice Of this is APP
parent both in the interest Of gooC
administration and fairness to the
patrons Of the postal service. Thai
some communities should have more
service than is essential and Others
less or none at all, is manifestly
wrong. Effort is being made to elm
mate these inequalities and it is be.
lieved that when this shall have beer
done, there will be no further caust
for complaint from any source on the