The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1918-01-04
BURLESON Is
BATTERED BY
BASIL MANLY

handed" the following to Postmaster
General Burleson:
What is the matter with the
mails? The Christmas season mere
ly emphasizes that something is
wrong.
OF course everybody knows pas
senger trains and mail trains are
running behind schedule, and this
does account for part of the delay.
But it accounts for only a small part.
Investigation shows that the greater
part is in the postoffice department
and cannot be laid on the railroads.
What, then, is the matter with
the postoffice department?
First, the blind arrogance of AL
bert Sidney Burleson, postmaster
general, and his associated bureau
Gratis. They will not even admit that
there are any more delays than nor
mally!
Until the department is willing to
admit the service is rotten, there is,
of course, no hope for Improvement.
The second cause of postal delays
stituted by Burleson in his desire to
show a surplus.
Did you know that last year Burle-
son reduced the number of railway
mail clerks by 1900, and on many
important lines completely abolished
the assortment of mail on trains
Public Delayed
A few dollars are saved; but THE
WHOLE PUBLIC is DISCOMMOD-
ED AND BUSINESS THROUGH
OUT THE COUNTRY is DE-
LAYED.
Third, and most important of all,
the causes underlying mail delays
and postal inefficiency, is the fact
that BURLESON'S LABOR POLL
CIES ARE CAUSING AN UMPIRE
CEDENTED NUMBER OF THE
MOST EFFICIENT EMPLOYEES TO
LEAVE THE SERVICE.
This is denied by the postoffice
department; but the cold figures
compiled by the department itself
show conclusively that both clerks
and carriers are resigning almost
/ TWICE as fast as in any previous
year and almost THREE times as
fast as in the average year.
Here are the facts: From July l
to December l of this year, 1859
clerks resigned This is at the rate
Of 3,744 for II months. Compare
this with total designations of 1920
in the fiscal year 1917, the highest
on record, and an average of 1921
for the five preceding years. Sim
ilarly carriers are now resigning at
the rate of 1,1SS a year, as com
pared with 627 in the highest prev
ious year, and an average of 465 for
the five years 1926.
Poor Wage Scale
WHY is THIS?
Suppose you were city letter
carrier-you see them every morning
plugging along under their heavy
load of mail, efficient, intelligent fell
lows. Suppose your wage scale had
not been changed for years, and
that through the operation of the
automatic promotions" of which
Postmaster Burleson makes so much,
the salary of you and your fellow
carriers averaged only $11.94 more
for the whole year of 1917 than for
1916, although the Increased cost of
living had cut it's value in half.
Suppose that after these facts had
been laid before the postmaster gen
eral in memorials and petitions, he
NOT ONLY REFUSED TO REC
/ OMMEND ANY INCREASES IN
SALARY, BUT TOOK OCCASION
TO SAY in his annual report to
congress:
Calls 1t Selfish
at is regrettable to state that
the organized postal employees
are making many selfish de-
mands and insisting that their
salaries be permanently increas-
ed although they are justly
compensated receiving more
than three times as much as
those fighting in the trenches,
who must Of necessity suffer the
hardships Of warfare and sacri-
flee their all if necessary"
In the first place, the postal en-
ployes don't get more than three
times as much as those fighting in
the trenches three times 1880 is
Sll9.40 a month, far more than the
average postal salary.
In the second place, the postal en-
ploye doesn't sleep in government
barracks, eat government food wear
government clothes, and have extra