Americus times-recorder., 1920-06-14
REAL TROUBLE In
Mail SERVICE AT.
LAST COMES OUT.
Short, Underpaid Staff is
Overworked, Writer
Shows
BY HARRY B. HUNT,
Y. E. A. Staff Correspondent

WASHINGTON, June 14.-Just
what is the matter with Uncle Sans
mail service?
Republican politicians and dis
gruntled postal employees sum the ex-
planation up in one word "Burle-
son."
Others say it is the low pay and
eXacting work of postal employees,
which has forced hundreds of men
out OF the service and has drawn
few in.
The fact is that the postal service
is working under a tremendous over
load and against seriously hamper
ing conditions of transportation and
equipment.
Under these conditions the real
surprise is that it is not worse; (; and
THAT IT is NOT WORSE is AN
ELOQUENT TESTIMONIAL To-
THE LOYALTY AND PERSEVER-
ANCE OF THE ARMY OF 300,000i
UNDERPAID, OVERWORKED MEN
WHO ARE IN THE POSTAL SERV-I
ICE.
How many persons, receiving a
letter perhaps one day overdue, con-
slider that it now takes from ten days
to a month to get shipment by
freight that used to take only three
or four days? Yet the mails are
handled over the same transportation
systems, for most part, that handle
these freight shipments.
p. 0. Carries Other Systems Burdens
The public has, quite properly,
looked upon the postal service as one
means of communication and trans
portation which can be depended
upon And the Postoffice Depart
--2ent, recognizing this, has attempt
o. to make good. 1t has declared no
embargoes, no priorities. The result
has been that when other means of
transportation have failed, tremen-
dous volumes Of merchandise and |!
materials of all sorts have been un-
loaded upon the Postoffice Depart
ment for delivery.
The extent of the overload to
which the department has been sub
jected, during a period when, because
of the limitation of pay fixed by Con
gress it has been impossible ade-
quately to increase the working
forces in the cities where most of
the increase originates, is indicated
by the fact that postal revenues for
the past two months show an increase
of SO per cent over the same period
last year, for the whole country, and
of more than SO per cent for New
York, Chicago and many of the larg-
er cities. This as against normal
increase of less than 6 per cent. !
During the recent switchmen's
strike, when freight shipments into
Chicago were cut off, the postottice
delivered to one firm alone, in one
day, $4,000 packages, totaling $40,
600 pounds or 435 tons.
In Philadelphia, durinm the period
of the strike, the postoffice handled
1900 crates of eggs and $4,000 |
pounds of butter.
Each day during the strike there
moved into New York, by parcel post,
a very large volume of foodstutfs, and
the parcel shipments out of New
York during this period averaged
$50 cars day.
Throughout the northern and east
ern states similar conditions prevail
ed. Yet the tremendous increase In
volume of shipments was handled |
with little delay. The mails were
the one method of transportation that
was functioning.
Thomas F. Flaherty of the Nation
al Federation of Postal Clerks, after
a survey of employment conditions at
100 of the largest postotfice pre-
diets a serious collapse of the postal
service at the end of TIE present fls-I
cal wear unless congress takes early
action to adjust wages and improve
conditions of employment.
Congress has just passed bill IN
creasing the pay of postal clerks and
letter carriers, but the increase isl
nothing like what the organized post
Office employees demand. !
The maximum rresent salary of
clerks and letter carriers is $1,65O.
The average is considerably lower
scaling upward from $1,000, accord
= ;ng to period of service and rated
@.6ciency.
The bill passed by congress to BEL
come effective July /, 1920, increases
the range of pay for clerks and car
riers by from $3.50 to $3.50 a year.
The new scale will range from ST.
400 to $1,000 instead of from $1,000
to $1,650.
Increases of 5000 year are given
men now drawing $1,000, $1,000 and
S1.4OO. An increase of $3.50 a year
IS given men drawing 81 ,450 and ST.
$50 a wear. but only $40 increase
is given to the men drawing 81, $50,
that is, the men of longest service
and experience.
Political considerations enter into
the fact that congress did not this
session grant the postal employees
what they asked loco employees tRpn 30 OF osn snf
of the voting population.
Whether or not raises granted will