The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-09-25
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
washington, D. C.
OVERLAPPING THE POSTAL
SYSTEM.

are one of the several mllllon Amer
leans who believe that our postal sys-
/ tenn is not all that it might be, you
will be greatly cheered to learn that
a joint commission appointed by con-
gresS is about to start an elaborate in
vestigation of that organization with a
view to its Improvement.
You will be still more rejoiced to
know that the joint commission will
consist not merely of senators and con-
gressne en-, but will be assisted by some
! of the largest users of the mails in the
United States. and by all the experts
on the subject of postal service who
can be found.
The recent congress appended to the
appropriation for the postoffice de-
partment a certain section g." This
section provides for the creation of a
joint commission on the postal serv-
ice, and authorizes that commission
to find out just what is the matter
with the machine which delivers mail.
A Real Study of the Problem.
This does not mean that commit
tee of congress is to conduct a con-
ventional hearing To be sure the
com mission is to be made up of mem
bers of congress. There are four sena-
tors, Townsend, chairman; Moses,
Henderson and Walsh. Likewise there
are four Representatives, Madden,
Griest. Moon and Bell. There is an
expert commissioner, John c. Rooms,
appointed by the postmaster general
The secretary is z. H McDermot.
This commission appoints an adj
visory council of six men who are
selected because they have used the
mails more than anybody else They
are such individuals as the heads of
big mail order houses. The list in
cludes John BribbeL of Philadelphia;
Charles G. Bancroft, of Boston; Will
liam c. Redfield. of New York; w. T.
Smith, of San Francisco; r. w.
Dwight. of Sioux Falls; /. c. Wade, of
CorneIia, Ga, and NJ. E. Cooley, dean
of the University of Michigan.
The commission is also empowered
to employ any individuals or organzia-
tions who seem capable of giving ex-
pert advice on the postal service.
The job is a large one The postal
service spends about a half a billion
dollars a year. The appropriation for
it is the biggest that the government
ever made aside from the army and
navy appropriations during the world
war. The department employs nearly
400, 900 people while all the other de-
partments of the government COM
bined hire but 10000. 1t is the big
gest ever-present task of government.
People Write More Letters.
During the past decade there has
been a boom in the use of the mails
People write more letters and read
more papers than they used to. The
greatest increase has come by way
of the parcel post. Concessions as to
sending packages thru the mails have
been made until now u pounds of
merchandise can be mailed to any
point in the nation. The parcels
carried thru the mails have multiplied
MANIFOLD in the past decade.
The bulk of mail carried has grown
Eastern than the facilities. In the
great centers like New York and Chi
cago, for instance, there is simply no
place to do the work.
If one attempts to visualize a task
like handling the mail in Chicago, he
begins to appreciate the size of it.
Letters and packages must be combed
in from every block of the city and
number of times each day. Each
must be given particular attention in
order to reach its destination.
Chicago alone is a stupendous task
in organization and administration
There is the matter of the use of
pneumatic tubes, the question of
whether they are more economical
than motor trucks. There is the prob
lem of branch offices; whether they
should be owned or rented. In New
York the postoffice building is al
ready so inadequate that the work
overflows in all directions. In ham
ding the foreign mail alone for New
York 1900 people labor in a rented
]
tunnel between Pennsylvania station
and Grand Central station for mail
alone because trucks cannot be sent
fast enough thru metropolitan streets.
Problem of Railroad Contracts.
Then the postal authorities face
such tasks as writing contracts with
the railroads that put mail cars on al
most every passenger train in the ma
ton. Men must work in those cars
and work with the greatest possible
l..PrS 7so he enV-tsa al
while it travels that its time may not
| be wasted after its arrival. The or
ganization of this complicated service
| is a. master problem. Congress wants
| to know if it is being done properly
and where improvements may be
made.
In New York City alone fifty mil
| lion dollars worth of postage stamps
are sold in year. Is the stamp
vending work of the nation on an eco
nomical and business-lke basis? How
efficiently is that army of letter car
1 riers, greater in number than the
/ wearers of the army uniform, COM
| manded? How may terminal facilities
! for handling the letters, which a hum
, dred million people send to each other
/ be adequately increased?
All of this work is being done. The
pOstoffice department is breaking
| about even in doing it 1t sells about
! enough stamps to pay for the job.
! Since the government began, it has
| lost very little on its postal service.
| If It takes into consideration the
money it saves thru the ranking
| privileges that it exercises, it really de-
| rives a profit from the postoffice de-
! partment.
But might It not make a larger
a lower rate of postage? Above all,
| profit, or might it not give the public
| cannot the mail be made a more ef-
ficient thing than it is? Let US hope
! the commissioner will find that it can.