The Washington herald., 1921-10-13
HARDING GREETS
1000 ATTENDING
P.O.CONVENTIONS
Formal Reception Held in
Blue Room of White
House.


About 1000 visiting postmasters,
postal employees. rural letter car
riers and their wives and families
shook hands with President and
Mrs. Harding at a formal reception
held in the Blue Room at the White
House yesterday afternoon. POST
master General Will Hays repre-
scented the department in the receiv-
ing line Following the reception
the delegates grouped on the lawn
of the White House for a picture
with the President, Mrs. Harding
and the Postmaster General.
Lined up two by two. the string
of delegates reached from the east
gate of the White House around in
front of the lawn and down Penn
sylvania avenue to the end of the
grounds. Late arri :als kept the end
of the line on Pennsylvania avenue
for nearly an hour after the recep-
tion started.
Greeted by Mrs. Harding.
Postmaster Joseph s. wurtz, of
Lancaster County, Pa, was early in
line. When the President heard
that Mr.. wurtz came from Lancas-
ter County he turned to Mrs. Hard
ing, asking, Did you hear that?"
Mrs. Harding told Mr.. wurtz that
her father came from Lancaster
County, and. she added, He wa. a.
postmaster there, too"
Praise for Postmaster General
Hays was voiced in a speech before
the Rural Letter Carriers Associa-
tlon' meeting in the Washington
Hotel yesterday morning, by Chief
Clerk William NJ. MooneG who
spoke warmly of the spirit of co-op-
Grafton which pervaded the depart-
ment under the new administration.
lie pointed out that it was now
the idea of Mr.. Hays that the postal
service should be entered with the
idea OF making 1t a career. The ad
ministration is much the same as
that of any business organization
and to build 1t up to the highest
efhciency the same personnel must
stick to the work.
Must Eliminate PolItic..
Sfou cannot get the best out of
men, Mr.. Mooney quoted Mr.. HAYS
as saying. IF they are to be made
the shuttlecock of politics. That
must be eliminated from the postal
service"
Mr.. Mooney told of the visit Mr..
hays made to the New York post
office one morning at 8 O'clock He
watched the men load a mail truck
and told them they were putting
toe much on.
who are your" asked one of the
men.
will Hays" came the answer.
I'm the Prince OF Wales" said
the man, but i can't get anyone
to believe it. Show me, kid" The
Postmaster General presented docu-
mentary evidence, and the employe
began to believe that the hieher-up
officials were really Interested in the
manner in which the mails were
handled.
Carriers Cheer Moses.
Senator George H. Moses. of New
Hampshire, OF the Postoffice and
Post Roads Committee, brought a
round of applause from the rural
carriers when he declared the last
three miles of a route are worth
Just as much as any in the first
twenty-four."
Senator Townsend praised the
"open-way" method of running the
affairs of the postal service. He
protested against the contract sys-
tenn Of mail carriage. and voiced a
tribute to the rural mail carriers for
the work which they are doing in
the sparsely settled sections,
Representative Halvor Steenerson,
of Minnesota, spoke to the rural
carriers, following the introduction
to the assembly of the head of the
Civil Service, Commissioner J. H.
Bartlett, and Commissioners George
r. Wales and Mrs. Helen H. Gardner.
Urges Ideals I'm Service.
Senator Townsend, chairman of
the Senate Committee on Postoffices
and Post Roads, spoke before the
National League of Postmasters at
coStina1 . on Pdoe EleDeH.