Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-17
STOPPING THE MAILS

|
~ survive the present federal admin
istration? There are times when 1t ap-
pears that the process of disintcgratioD
previously discussed in these columns
and now becoming apparent to every
one will be completed before a change
at Washington can break Mr.. Burle-
sons destructive grip.
A policy of restriction that originated
in the alterations Of middle western
congressman has been carried to astound-
ing lengths by postmaster general who
has managed TO make of the postofficc
organization something very much like
giant sweatshop. Mails are SLOW.
4 great deal of second. class matter is
being delayed or lost. The fault is
not with the men or with the minor
executives. The extraordinary morale
that once characterized the mail service
Is broken. Three years ago employees
in all divisions of the department began
to feel the pressure of high prices. And
it is to the eternal discredit of Mr..
Burlcson that when even the most mig
gardly of private employers were vol
| UNFAIRLY increasing wages a movement
intended to prunc wages was started
in the Office of the postmaster general.
With tho advent Of the Wilson ad =
ministration the mail service was given
into the hands of u man who. in his
personal attitude toward subordinatcs
and the working force, has consistently
revealed the mind of au industrial re
dictionary. New and rigorous demands
t,aIo r,,,,,lnrnS nf oil ,lne
IN what was once he most efficient and
dependable working organization of its
sort in the world. Men who used TO
work hard and effectively because of
their pride in the service were subjected
to the whip of what Mr.. Burlcsou called
an efficiency system. Everybody was
made to fcel driven. The postmaster
general seemed unable to understand
that the unfailing smoot.. ness of the
mail service and it's ability to do seem
ingly impossible things was due. in
other years. to the sort of voluntary
effort which is not purchasablc with
money or obtaiuablc by hard me
chanical rule.
\ large part of the enthusiasm aud
much of the pride has been eliminated
from the postal organization in the last
seven years. The work of devastation
began in the railway mail division,
where policy of ignorant oppression
angcrcd and dcmoralizcd employees whose
skill and experience did most to make
the mail service what it used to be- If
representatives of the men sought to
present their new grievances at Wash
sl,n,.
Toward the workers in his service Mr..
BurlcSon still maintains the attitude of
proud tyrant. There is record of one
mail carrier who. after many years in
tho service. was dropped from the, rolls
because lie happened to ;uffcr the acci-
dent of n temporary illness.
Mr.. Burlcson arrived in Washington
with the mind of n ranch owner whose
land had been titled by convict labor.
lie seems to have changed none of his
views. He is a powerful official of a
government which recently reported that
J man with family cannot live and
be decent on less than $1,000 n year.
The maximum salary which he has been
willing to allow an experienced and
efficient man in the mail delivery service
Is little over $1,000 a year, and many
of the postal employees are expected to
work for great deal less than that.
The mail men cannot strike. They
agitatcd for a wage commission. and a
wage commission was appointed a year
ago. 1t has not yet reported. While
that commission was celebrating and
while Mr.. Burlcson proudly counted his
profits and boastcd to Congress and
the country, employees in the postoffices
of the country have had to find extra
jobs outside the service and work
twelve or sixteen or eighteen hours q
day to support their families.
1t is not strange that many of them
have lost hope and courage and sought
jobs that will pay them a living wage.
They have been actually starved out Of
the service of government which pro-
feSses an ability to bring the world Of
private employers to q more enlightened
view of life and labor. The twelve
hour day is admittedly inhuman. II is
an institution that moved even the
foreign wOrkmen in the Pittsburgh steel
district to q desperate strike. The
twelve hour day is common to postofice
workers. 1t is common even in the
United States Mint, where low paid
men and women have to work long
Overtime" or find other jobs. Con-
gress is largely responsible for all this.
But the greatest blame for what is
happening in the postal system lies
with the present postmaster general,
who has actually fought all efforts no
better the conditions of the postal en-
ployes. Even the most charitable
critics will always refuse to forgive
the President for his postmaster gen
eral.