The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-12-10
Monday, December 10. 1917.
POOR MAIL SERVICE

TWIN WAL SEnVISE
The horrible service, or rather lack
oil service, given by the postoffice de-
Lartment of the United States is
arousing severe criticism all over the
country.
There was time when, q letter,
properly addressed and mailed, was
practically sure TO reach its destina-
ton but at present such Is the ser-
vice that considerable proportion
OF letters as wen as papers and pack
ages are either lost or delayed in
transmission TO an extent for which
there Is no reasonable excuse.
While other business and other de-
partments Of the government are
+ speeding up under the patriotic in
oentive of war the postoiiice depart
ment appears to have selected this
occasion to lay down on the job
Back here in the country of course
I'VE don't know much about it except
that il frequently takes two days to
set a letter to Hoosick Falls and
sometimes "a hours to send a pack
age OF newspapers to Arlington or
Manchester Depot, and similar little
incidents which show how poor the
-eryice is, The real failures are
when an attempt is made to send
mail TO or from the large cities.
We suspect that the chief reason
for the drop in standard is that the
head Of the department and his prin-
cipal assistants are not UP to the
quality Of their predecessors, and
that it is run as a political annex of
he Democratic party rather than to
give the country the best service pos
l,sioie. When the standard of the
head bra business IS Lowered 1t soon
| effects the whole organization.
Former supt c. NJ. Reed of the
!, Railway Mail Service, in a long
lgsrticie in a currcntssppbiicRtion tells
come of the weak anints of,the ser.
vices MEs Reed was 20 years in SER
| yico and may he yaspeetod Of know
| me Something about what he is dis
| eussipg He Writes in part as fol-
| lows. & .9g 9i<f 3NI
'I.rhave been Watching the Service
| for many Jnonths. even before my
( resignation ! have watched it since
and when in the course of a year the
Service il narrowed and restricted
| and its efficiency lessened by the
withdrawal of Railway Post Office
Service from nearly sixty thousand
train miles year, then there is
something wrong. The Postal Ser
vice should serve its mission with
The highest degree OF efficiency pos.
sible to attain. That Is just plati-
tude. Nobody can disagree with
that The business OF the United
states is keyed to the highest tension
of any business in the world 1t
needs the very best communication
facilities that it is possible to obtain.
The great mass OF business de
mented by the telephone and the
telegraph. There is no single thing
that so closely affects the conduct OF
business as the efficiency-or lack OF
tot the Postal Service We will
never have perfect Service, but it
is not oYerstating the fact to say
that every experienced railway postal
official of the United States believes
that the Service has been seriously
impaired III the last year
in the past fourteen days there
have been seventy-fve thousand first
class letters delivered at the union
depot at Kansas City unworked. That
is more than five thousand letters
lay that have been delayed by virtue
Of the Railway Mail Service failing
TO perform its full function. That is
y rather serious matter to the bust
hess interests OF Missouri and Kan.
as n my section of Kansas every
newspaper, except those owned by
9ostmasters, without regard to poll
lies, is complaining of the character
of Mail Service rendered. don't
know that that is true of the whole
United States
u left the Tenth Division at st.
Paul last March, after some rather
serious arguments with my friends
the inspectors, with whom | could
not agree upon their proposed read
iustments and congratulations. and
have had dozens of letters this sum
mer from which | gather conditions
there are worse than they. are down
here and II that is the case, they
must be pretty bad, because on one