The Republican journal., 1919-10-23

to 60 ahead. The following January the
new service made its bow. 1t was sue
cess from the start. Rates of postage
have since been reduced, larger and
hea vier packages are now accepted and
greater indemnity is offered. Parcel post
fills long neglected field in our postal
service and it's possibilities are almost
limitless.
Each mail carrying agency has yielded
in turn to the irresistible march of in
ventive genius, and now thousands of
letters taken up from mother earth into
the unmarked highways of the sky are
driven through space with almost in
credible speed. Aerial mail is less than
two years old. 1t was started between
Washington and New York in ill-suited
aeroplanes built for war, not for COM
merce. Troubles followed as in the early
days of automobile travel. More reliable
machines with greater carrying power
have been secured and eight mail planes
now fly daily, rain or shine, between
Washington and New York, New York
and Cleveland, and Cleveland and Chi
cago. Each plane carries between 13, 600
and Is, 900 letters. The very fastest New
Chicago train carries the mails be-
tween those cities in % hours. Air mail
goes in hours. Five hours is the limit
of railway speed between Washington
and New Y ork-aeroplanes carry the mail
in half the time. The wonderful progress
in air navigation the past year is but a
beginning of mechanical possibilities and
l stand with those who believe that the
day is at hand when business and social
mail will take wings between the great
distributing points of our country.
In closing let me pay sincere tribute
to the postmasters of the United States
and their subordinates, high and humble2
The great world war bowed them down
with stupendous responsibilities which
the public little appreciates, and it is a
constant source of gratifying amaZemen
TO me that they were able to carry the
burden at all-that our postal service did
not utterly collapse as was virtually the
case with every other belligerent nation.
Let me take you behind the scenes. Con-
stantly increasing mails, with an enor-
nous parcel post business of nights
building, found the postal employees of
the United States up to their efficient
physical power in April, 1917 Then came
the war, and thousands of virle and
trained men in our post offices answered
the call. Postal experts are not born.
Their value comes through years of
tedious toll, and the brightest novice is
almost useless for weeks and months
The loss of skilled man power was a
shock as severe as it was sudden. Un-
precedented bond sales were launched
and thousands upon thousands of tons of
printed matter in furtherance of the oans
were forced into the mails. Then follow
ed a two billion War Savings campaign
with its enormous mailings o literature.
Nor was this all. More than 80 per cent
of all the War Savings and Thrift stamps
sold were disposed of by postmasters and
their employees. Millions of revenue
stamps were rushed to our post offices
for expeditions sale or delivery; car loads
OF draft missionaries calling for imme-
date delivery were heaped upon the ser
vice. Postmasters became recruiting Of
flcers for the Army, the Navy and the
Marine Corps In the smaller cities and
towns, they were required to register
alien enemies and the Department of
Labor turned our post offices into etfec-
tive employment agencies. The Food
Administration literally deluged the mails
with conservation literature; and the vol
ume of regular mail kept flowing all the
while. With courage and patriotism I'M
surpassed 800, 900 postal Employees of all
grades and stations performed their full
duty to the public and to the Govern
ment.