Evening journal., 1922-07-20

ECONOMY in
P.O. SERVICE,
BILLANY
Continued From First Page.

in assisting the Postofice Depart
ment in making any improvements
in the service it was possible 10
make. This eulogy Of Mr.. English,
who is a Democrat, by NJ. Billany
who is a Republican. was applauded
enthusiastically by the members of
the Rotary Club.
1 Following Mr.. Billany. Postmaster
| English spoke for a few minutes
| thanking the Rotary Club and all
other civic organizations in VIII
mington for hearty cooperation
which ne had received from them in
I his efforts to give good service.
Mr.. English said TO the ordinary
citizen the term Fourth Assistant
Postmaster General did not carry
with it the fun significance OF the
office held by Mr.. Billany. which. in
his opinion. really came next In i'm
portance to that OF the Postmaster
General himself because OF its tre-
mendOus scope and the influence
which ne exercises upon the work Of
the whole department.
In the course OF his, speech, Mr..
/ Billany said
The topic Of the day at the club.
I am informed, is Public Affairs
and there is in my opinion no public
affairs more important in these days
than the prompt and accurate de-
livery Of the mail. both in urban
and rural districts.
The Post Office Department IS
striving to give the public this SER
vice. Economy in public affairs Is
advocated. but not. however. at the
expense OF efficiency. The Post
Office Department is urging econo-
my in all Of its branches.
AS a proof that we are practising
what we preach. l may state that
after a general investigation OF the
Department in Washington. 200 en-
ployes have been dropped. result
ing in an annual saving of S273.O00
without any curtailment of the ser
vice. In fact the service shows an
Improvement in efficiency and
morale.
Before starting to tell you OF
some of the activities in my bureau.
want to tell you something Of our
Postmaster General DR.. Work. He
is one OF the most charming indivld-
uals il has been my privilege 10
meet. His modest, unassuming. cor
dial manner and sympathetic nature
endear him to all with whom he
comes in contact. His purpose and
great ambition is TO improve the
postal service and TO bring greater
and contentment to the
postal employees. When I told him
Of my engagement with you today.
he said, Convey my greetings and
tell them l am an honorary past
president of the Rotarians.'
Postmaster General Work is an
ardent advocate OF Government
ownership OF postofice buildings
throughout the country. The pres
ent system Of paying enormous rents /
running into millions OF dollars is /
regarded as a most unbusinesslike |
method. II is seldom that a plan /
Tor the betterment of the govern /
nent service has held so much OF |
zeal economy with so many points |
where real business methods can n.
demonstrated. The new plan would /
mean that postofilce men familiar
with the modern problems Of post
,fiices would plan and supervise the !
OF all pOstofiices. The Gov
would own the buildings.
ak free whereas in paying rent for
'ostoffices. it must also pay taxes. \
he taxes being figured into the |!
ents by the owners.
The Postmaster General holds a !
conference with his assistants ev-
ry Tuesday morning to- discuss de-
'artmental affairs before going 10
he Cabinet meeting. on every Fri.
lay morning he holds what is term ,
d a STAFF Meeting" at which all I
uestions relating to postoffice af-
airs are discussed and plans and {
oLcies decided upon, s
'As my time is limited to about
wenty minutes. l shall confine my {
elf entirely TO the activities of the {
ureau OF which 1 have the honor s
T being the head. Directly under a
ny control are four divisions with
our superintendents, assistant su-
and chief clerks. G
'hese divisions are styled, The Di- [
isioD of Equipment, and Supplies n
rhe Division of Motor Vehicle Ser I
ice The Division of Rural Mails
nd The Mail Equipment Shops T
ITO give you some idea of the I
mount Of work performed in these I
visions. $50 men and women are #
mployed. We have our own pri- d
ate postoffice on the third floor of / q
le department building at Penn n
'lvania avenue and Eleventh street, n
where an average of
500 letters are received and dis 4
atched daily. requiring forty-three Q
Ictating and sixteen transcribing n
with one hundred and n
,urteen typewriters performing the c
ork. =
Probably one of the most inter- y
sting of the divisions is the mail
lg shops. located at Fifth and w =,
reefs. northeast. about two miles {,
ON the postofiice building. Here
Ne made and repaired many ar 4
cles for the service. employing 339
en- and women. One and one
Iarter million sacks aae made and