Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1916-08-04
RURAL FREE DELIVERY
Service Given to 65S, 900 Additiona
Families.

Families.
On the 18th of October, 1900, Their
died in the city of Lexington maj
who had made his mark in public lif'
apd left the impress of his personalit.
upon the records of his time. William
L. Wilson was the idol of his party ii
West Virginia and a great and com
manding figure in the arena of nationa
life. The people of his district delight
ed to do him honor, as successive cleo
tons to Congress testified, and Presi
dent Cleveland rewarded the splendid
fight he made for tariff reform by :
seat in his cabinet, the position of Post
master General.
When the body of this distinguished
man was laid to rest at his home ii
Charles Town, ex-President Cleveland
paid him the distinguished honor of at
tending in person the funeral cere
monies at his grave. At the close of {
most touching and impressive address
by the pastor, who dwelt upon his many
engaging personal qualities, his public
and private virtue, the tears coursec
down the cheeks of Mr.. Cleveland, q
deep and silent tribute to the man he
loved and whose loss he so greatly de-
plored.
THE BEGINNING OF RURAL DELIVERY
AND ITS PROGRESS
William L. Wilson was the father of
rural delivery, whose benefits no one
can fully describe, for it is without
question the most popular administra-
tive measure of the Government. For
years there had been a growing discon-
tent among farmers and the people in
the smaller towns at the postal advan-
tages afforded the cities and the more
populous communities. They felt them
selves deprived of the opportunities
and benefits which others enjoyed, and
the desire Of recognition was outspoken
and insistent and could no longer be
denied. On June 8, 1896, the sum of
$4,000 was made available, and on
Oct !, 1896, the first experimental ru-
raj delivery was put into operation in
Jefferson county, West Virginia. Ser
vice was established on three routes
simultaneously, one from Charles
Town, one from Uvilla, and one from
Ha1ltown.
At the close of business June 80,
1915, there were in operation from 49,
Sl3 postoffices throughout the country
43, s77 rural routes. Up to and includ-
ing June 80, 1915, 26,0sO postoffices
were discontinued on account of the es-
Enlistment of rural delivery, repre-
senting a saving to the postal service
of s., 613, 600 per annum and also saw
ing of So, 49,, 900 on account of the dis
continuance of star-route service. The
period of greatest activity in the rural
service was from 1900 to 1905, the sp-
preparations running from $3.50, 600 in
1890 to $21, 116, 600 in 1905.
STEPS TAKEN TO EXTEND AND IMPROVE
THE SERVICE.
This administration has recognized
the value of the postal service to the
people to greater extent within the
past three years than for any similar
period during the last decade. Mail
facilities have been established and
extended on mail routes in more than
ton thousand localities, giving service
to approximately 100000 patrons
heretofore denied this benefit. Six
hundred and and fifty.eight thousand
families were added to the list from
April, 1913, to April, 1916. The elimi-
nation of useless and wasteful methods
have made it possible to do this and
also pay out $4,000, 900 more to en-
ployees at an actual increased cost of
less than 81, 500, 600 per annum.
For twenty years there had been no
readjustment of vast amount of ru-
raj service. 1t was allowed to remain
exactly as experimentally established.
Consequently all sorts of special privi-
lege had crept in and was found exist
ing, such as double daily service to ia
vored localities, unnecessary retrances
to one family and not to all, duplica-
ton of travel by two or more carriers
over single highway, only one of
whom performed service thereon, and
many other similar forms of waste and
extravaganza. There was also neglect
shown as to the value of the work per-
formed by the carriers. They were
paid solely upon the miles of road COW
cred, regardless of the character
thereof, the equipment necessary, the
amount of mail carried, or the hours Of
service rendered. This was as unjust
and discriminatory in the payments
l