The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-05-05

service was not producing sufficient
parcel post matter. wall Feard
from time to time with more or less
analytic racket since Representative
Dave Lewis pet hobby was six
months old, is not justified.
As matter of fact, the rural car
riers were wiser than their critics,
and perhaps might have been able
to put one over on some minor pos
tai official The carriers knew what
Sectin 164 of the Postal Laws and
Regulations meant and their post
masters were quite as familiar with
Section 523. Section 764 says.
Rural carriers shall not solicit bu-
siness or receive orders of any kind
for any person, firm or corporatin,
or solicit patronage on
their routes in which their official
position would give them special adj
Vantage over competitors" Section
523 is so framed that it prohibits
postal employers from giving out
postal information which could and
would save the parcel post ire
mendous impetus in rural sections.
And right there is where the shoe
pinches. A rural carrier can do more
on his route to advertise the parcel
post than all the sleepy county mer-
chants OF his county or all the pa
| irons of his route. But the barriers
| against it have just been explain
ed.
| First Assistant Postmaster Gen
eral Roper says that at present THE
carriers should become proficient in
lie rules and regulations affecting
parcel post and drive them home
whenever the opportunity comes,
through queries of a patron; and
that eventually 1T is possible that
ne farm-to-table experiment. might
become general" These experiments
permit postal employees to hustle for
parcel post. Mr.. Ropr also holds
out hope that rural postmasters
might circulariZe rural patrons
through carriers in this event.
And this is about all the depart
ment can give on how rural carriers
may produce parcel post business on
their routes at the present time.
Getting down to concrete in
\ - if,v,l
gradually developed that rural car
riers assumed an Indifferent atti-
tude toward fourth-class matter be-
cause it tended to impede the rout
inc of their first and second class
deliveries and collections. Some
times the word indifferent shad-
ed into the word "hostile !" Gree
or twice the idea was advanced
that rural carriers, either deliber-
ately or through lack of familiarity
with the parcel post regulations, ig-
nored opportunities to boost the
service at the behest of individual |
patrons.
The kingpin for all this was a |
more or less we'll defined thought |
that it was up to the rural carriers |
to nurse and nourish the infant SER
vice on their respective routes, or in
other words it was up to the rural
carrier to produce"
BY way of side comment, it is
needless to say that such imputa
tions We're groundless. 1t is hardly |
conceivable that any member of the
postal service, much less a rural
carrier, would side-step the De-
partment's wishes or let an oppor-
tunity slip to legitimately aid the
service. And in this connection the
fact must not be lost sight of that
rural carriers repeatedly placed
themselves on record as favoring a
act took form.
There isn't any question about
the intent of Sections 764 and 523.
And in the light of them. it is evil
dent someone has been trying to kill
Elephants with popgun or talking
without sufficient preparation
Again, it might be well to add that
the aforementioned hue and cry was '
without rhyme or reason.
Everybody agrees that the parcel {
post is entitled to front seat |
among the solvents for some of the
big economic problems of this coun-
try of ours. The possibilities offered
are almost without limit. In truth,
1t is about the biggest and best
thing, even in its present stage of d
evolution. that Congress has given
The people since BENJAMIN Franklin
laid the foundation for the present
postal service. Everybody should
give it cheerful boost at every OPP ?
portunity, civilian and postal en- n
Dloye alike.
But there is dearth of boosts. Il
however. in the rural sections, and u
he departments data show that h
low is service to be advertised ana p
pushed in the country9 u
A Department official, one in an
Executive capacity, frankly told a
representative of the News that Sec
ions 764 and 523 were "stickers" ID
n so far as they dealt with the De- 81
'artment's desire to help along par I
ell post on rural routes. The De- T
artment's natural medium for pro- 81