Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-02
THURSDAY. JANUARY ,, 1919
Is Iven,ns enlne'S,, Yesterday | lZ6UZ
Burlcsauc Mail Service.

The receipt. on December 27 of a letter
postmarkcd Wilmington. Dee 20. ; y
m. IL its destination, less than tvc
minutes walk from the postothce here,
calls attention again to the absolutely
nc>cusahle shortcomings oi the United
states postal ser ice TO-DAY.
The letter referred TO was clearly direct
ed. had no mark OF having been missent
,c, il was whole week reaching is ul-
Inmate destination less than sly squares
from the Wilmington po-tofhcc
Nnrc thi, experience exceptional, the
della, might bc excused on the grounds
tbs, II was an accidental occurrence, hut
such i, not the case, FOR similar DELAYS are
OF very. very frequent occuuoncc and
Occasions of great complaint
Il has been hc not lnirequent experience
Of the writer that letters posted u phia
drlphia ur New Norh have been three
dav> from thor date 81 stamping IN
reaching thcir destinations here
Newspaper. POSTED IL Po~ton Tor
instance. frequently seem 70 hc lost sight of
until prohabl, ID the end Of week All the
missing numbers or part 81 them viii
reach the subscribers here hl h. same de-
livery
Mail from down the Stat, most cm-
phatic ally docs tins apply 10 parcels post
packages and particularly 10 those sent
special delivery '- l. ~ounccrtain that IN
deed the service II becoming . sort oi
trsvcsty, buresque on real postal
efficiency. such packages even though
marked perishahlc and sent With special
delivery tolls paid are no' infrcquenty y
hours reaching their destinations even
though IN some Instances il is within two
square Of the postoficc
People N other critics receiving mail
wa th, Wilmington Office have the same
cause tor complaint as do persons living
here 50 while other communities suffer
also. IL j. hard 70 conceive of any people
subjected to more annoyances than are
our own folks
There was d time. while the war was
on, that the public was tolerant and bore
With these grevious annoyanecs without
publicly proclaiminc their disgust and
dissatisfaction. but there csn b. no
further excuse nor pallla'ion for this seem
ing lnismanagcm-ni of the postal busi-
ness
The Federal government has mani
tested amazing efficiency ii almost an
other lues il direct inR the utilities Of tho
nstion under the STRAIN imposed by the
waI and II assuredlv can show 81 mLcl
enterprise Ia the prompt handing ut
mails ns il does N other WORK Il the
country can build al ocean steamer every
dss IL the week q car delv"r Ictter
i've and one-hali -qlaie~ u Is, than
seven days
There l. 10 department 81 DIR goyefn-
meu' more important 70 the business.
family personal or social interests oi the
United states. than that Of the postofiice
and surely there i none Whicl today j.
causing 50 much inconvenience. annoy
sDcc and loss 70 the general public
We do not know II the Wilmington
postofhoe is mismanaged worse han the
average offices throughout the country,
bui in all kindness 10 our brethren in
general we must say We hope that 1t IL
Whether the blame lies with Postmaster
English or elsewhere We do not know, nor
" that 50 important az is the prompt cor
rection of the fault wherever i rests
The United States has proven itself rch
the most highly organized and efficient
postal service Ia the world. and the public
n paying d rate and supplying volume
OF business sufficient 10 give us the best
that human ingenuity and American IL
itiativc can evolve
surely 40 private business conducted
as is the postOfilcc department today
would BE- able 70 keep going single
month
II Postmastcr-Gencral Bureson Il not
equal 70 the task ot giving the country a
postal service of the highest Ell cienc, and
usefulness. hc should step ASIDE or ~
- "'ttth fHfh ifA''A tA /. A. fNpARltA TIC 4
has been much ccu,ufcd doubtless much /
OF Il from hostile political sources, and
nov the only way to disproyc that cuti
clsm aud remove The Stigma ofialb,re from |
thi. branch oi tho administration = Ia
make good and 20 ID il nov
II the postal force is inadeauatc 10 |
tnect the nations increasing demand, /
the pnstmastcr-ge can readily have |
the deficiency met for Congress of lis !
own party will mo- withhold the neces-
sary sum % ensure the nation an ADEQUATE /
postal service
The I0stmaste-geueral has fequcntly |
explained, m reply "a his critics. that the |
Iostofilcc WAS netting y income for |
~ atttfrfttr.pf Ittf ff.ta