Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-03-05
Head of Postal Organization Has
VieDs Regarding P. NJ. G. Burleson


ties by passing the civil service exam
nation, giving them regular appoint
inents and the opportunity to enter
into the service with the proper spirit
and inspiration and the right to he
promoted to a salary four, five or six
hundred dollars per year greater than
that of the entrance grade. Another
instance OF the postmaster-gener
effort to save money is contained in
the report circulated last summer
when the congress was considering the
post office appropriation bill. When
the bin was in conference his emissa-
ries got busy, with the result that re-
strictiVe clause was inserted in the
bill We believe this report IS true.
The effect of this was to deny annual
promotions to city letter carriers, post
office clerks and railway postal CLERKS
who had rightfully earned them under
law which had existed for many
years. This modified the benefits that
otherwise would have accrued to the
employees and represents reduction
in expenditures of several million
dollars.
SO much for the first class-now let
us consider the second class. The pos
tai service is nearer to the people of
this nation than any of the other de-
verses all states, counties, municipali-
ties and townships. 1t enters into
every walk of life into the business
office, and into the homes of our ciI-
zens, be they magnificent residences
overlooking the Hudson or the home
of q struggling farmer in some remote
community. The patron of the SER
vice wants it to be efficient and none
have yet raised their voices against
any taxes, direct or indirect, if based
upon reasonable and logical grounds
and intends to improve the postal SER
vice. The people prefer the service
to be efficient with n deficit rather
than inefficient with a surplus.
But under the present policy of do
ing things new fads and fancies have
been applied to the detriment of eff
cheney, One of the greatest of these
is the space system" for determining
the amount of compensation due tho
railroads for carrying the mail, fos-
tered upon the people through the in
sistence of the postmaster general.
Formerly the railroads were compen-
stated to the weight of mails carried.
and there was practically no limitation
as to the right of a postal employe
to dispatch mail upon any train with
which he could make connection. I'M
der the weight system the mails were
dispatched promptly; there was no
red tape connected with it. Under the
space system employees are expected to
confine themselves to properly author
ize space allowance. True, they are
expected to ask for emergency space
whenever a sufficient quantity of mail
accumulates to warrant such request.
But in the old days no piece of mail
was expected to wait until more mail
accumulated to, accompany it to its
destination. In the last annual post
office report there is a reference to
the discontinuance of frequent and
unnecessary dispatches of mall" This
has been a source of amusement to
employees, for in the old days there
was no such animal" In the days
when real efficiency existed there
could be no such a thing as an unnec-
essary dispatch of mail matter unless
it was due to an error on the part of
an employe. The rule was to get the
mail to its destination as quickly as
possible. The post office department
today admits that mail matter is be-
ing held until q sufficient CD quanti-
ty has accumulated to fill a certain
authorized space.
And to add to the congestion of mail
matter as existing under the present
policies, storage and railway post Of
flee service have been curtaiIad. We
shalllnot attempt to quote the figures
from the departments own records as
offered in a recent hearing before the
Interstate Commerce commission. Suf-
flee to say that annual car mileage of
railway post office and storage car
service has been reduced to the eX-
tent of many millions from the date
when the space system was first APP
piled, November l. 1916, to the pres
ent time Also, it is true that the
postmaster generals reports show
more than average annual Increase in
the amount of mails handled; and in
the face of this the reports further
show an actual reduction in the num-
Der of railway mail service employees.
Il does not require student of postal
matters in view of these actual facts,
disclosed in the reports of the post
office department. to understand why
the postal service today is so ineffi-
cient. 1t is not the fault of the indi-
vidual employee; it is not the fault of
any given number of employees. The
fault iiec with the officials of the post
office department, more particularly
the poStmastcr-gene &c in the final
analysis he is responsible for every
thing that happens under his jurisdic-
ton,
Add to the reference made above,
the fact that officials of the postal
service have ignored the reports of de-
layed mails, the holding of hundreds
yes, thousands of sacks of mail mat
ter at terminal stations for dispatch
on trains upon which space is author
lied the overlooking of the working
or distributing space in mail cars until
the clerks are hampered and obstruct-
ed in their work, the policy of the Of
ficials notifying clerks that they did
not have to report certain undistrib-
uted mail turned over at the terminals
of their runs and we have some UNI
Outstanding as to why present condi-
tons exist in the postal service.
The Merchants association of New
York conducted a very comprehensive
investigation of the postal service,
covering a period of many months
The facts obtained were presented to
a congressional committee with the
request that the postal service be in
vestigated. This was great public
service rendered in behalf of all the
people, but It was no, profitable as
politics interviewed to prevent the facts
coming before the people. But this
Investigation and the report of the
Merchants association giving the COM
plants of business men and civic or
carnations over the inefficiency of
the service, ard citing thousands of
cases of specific mail delays. proves
beyond the shadow of a doubt that the
efficiency of the service is at the low
est standard it has seen for many
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