The Springdale news., 1919-03-07
POSTAL SERVICE SEEKS GOOD
 ADVICE
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

satisfied with the posta! service you are eet-.azo f so, what improve meqts would you suggest
 The United States Postoffice De nartment which has come in for Q good many knocks and some boosts during the past fer troublous years, addressed tde equivalent of these questions to large representative assortmtnt of business men. It got over 129e0 replies.
 This was the one biz chance for Americans who have been thiakinc. either silently or aloa3, unpleasant things about the postal service, It. Was the golden opportunity for the man who ereets 3 delayed letter CT naneled parcel with 9Nhat postal svstem!" uttered ia tones of disgust and anguish. < few fluent penman did recall these wrongs set forth in concise yet artistic language their ex- act feelings on such occasions as well as they could remember them.
 But those eager for revenge were far in the minority. Probably few of the writers have been exempt from the il luck of having a piece of mail sidetracked somewhere in the mazes of the postal system Most of them generously overlooked these mishaps doubtless because they realized that for one letter delivered late, thou sand are delivered on schedule time
 !. +
 Nobody had catologued the enor- nous stacks of answers received by the Postoffice Department, in an swer to it's request for opinions If the letters were assorted according to contest, nearly two-thirds of the 12,000 could be put in one big pile. All these say the same things with unimportnat variations: 'The postal service is satisfactory. We have no suggestions to make" The other group of about one third of the col lection would contain complaints and suggestions for improvement.
 The one demand repeated in all shade. of typewriter ink is for better postoffice buildings. Our post office was built for 50,0Oo population town. Our population is now 150,000
 Our postoffice accomodations are as comfortable as suit of clothes three sizes too small have to get in line on the front steps every time buy a stamp" In such terms and in unpieturesque business parlance the writers manage to make it clear that 8 postoffiee of adequate size is an important necessity. The man who says Too much money is wasted on postal accommodations; q town of $500 has no need for postal delivery is q minority so small as to be almost none%istent. The better the postal conditions, the more rapid the growth of the town IS the verdict of hundreds who urge progress in mail service for their localities.
 A rather popular suggestion for ! improvement is a return of the two- cent stamp for general letttr mail. ] Over this matter, ths Postoffice De- partment has no e~strol The three cent stamp for letters was a war measure with the extra cent as tax. It was instituted by the Treasury De- partment. The new revenue law provides for return to the pre-war postage rate.
 Now and again in the letters to the department some vitfiolie tempera- ment launches bomb such as, Com pared with the railway and telegraph situations, the postal service is fine" " or the dramatic statement of gentle man from city of proportions, T wish to inform you that We have no postal service"
 The overseas service comes in for US share of blame and defense in the batch of suggestions One man thinks that somebody who is respon- sible for soldiers mail ought to be taken out and shot. Another calls Tn his stenographer to command the overseas mail service as "the best DOS slble in time of war"
 As opinions of intelligent, represen- tatlve citizens, the collection of re- sponse IS as a whole an overwhelm- ing endorsement of the postal system. The Postoffice Department asked for frank opinion and suggestions. and thousands of men would not have answered with unqualified praise as they did if their mail service was grossly inefficient.
 But as suggestions the letters are disappointing. Either the business man knows too little about the inside machinery of his postal system to make real suggestions for changes. or he has no time to think up i'm provements. Such few suggestions as are made are mostly practical and Will be given due consideration.