The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1924-03-05
Justice for Post
al Workers.
Editorial in the Detroit News.

Editorial in the Detroit News.
What is the greatest business house
in the United States?
Some may answer, the United
States Steel corporation. Others may
point to the Standard Oil company,
taking the various Standard corpora
tions as a single whole. Still others
may claim that the Ford Motor COM.
pany is the largest.
All wrong.
The greatest business house in the
United States is the u S. postoffice.
1t has more than 100000 employees.
1t carries on a most complicated bust
ness.
Not only does it receive and deliver
mail; it is one of the greatest banks
in the world, with deposits of $780,
100000; it transfers about 81, 400, 000,-
900 a year through its money-order
department; it acts as a collection
agency for merchants who send goods
by mail C. o. D., delivering and col
Letting last year for 40, 426,825 par
cells and renting the money to the
/ senders; it operates the greatest
small-parcel express service on earth,
handling more than 6O,OOO,OOO pack
ages a year.
1t pays the railroads s93,00O,00O a
year for hauling its business. 1t pays
steamship companies nearly S6,500,0O0
for taking its goods overseas. 1t
operates 4,726 mail trains, travelling
100000 miles a year.
The railways operate 5,095 cars to
serve it.
In AIT cities the postoffce owns and
operates motor trucks; in ninety eight
more it owns and operates motor
cycles; in TO more it rents horse
drawn wagons and motor trucks to
carry it's vast business.
What corporation can point to this
immense volume of work performed?
Yet this business, on which every
other business in the country depends
for its sperity-this business,
whose failure for single day would
throw out of gear the wheels of trade
| in the entire natiOn-is manned, for
the most part, by employees drawing
starvation wages, who remain in the
service from a sense of loyalty that
almost passes understanding; such
loyalty as is known by soldiers who
follow a flag; such loyalty as is Great
ed only in men and women who know
that the life of country depends on
their faithful and adequate perform
ance of duty.
And in return for this loyalty and
this skillful accomplishment of hard
task these people are paid by the gov
eminent less wages than hod-carriers
These employees, all of whom must
be citizens of the United States, are
paid by the United States less money
than is earned by an immigrant who
! knows how to run single machine
in a factory.
The postal clerks and carriers are
now asking congress for larger pay.
But congress is trying to fit postal
expenses to postal receipts, and wipe
out the annual deficit of the postof-
fee department.
This can only be done by perpetrat-
! ing terrible injustice, not only on
the postal employees, but on all the
people of the United States; for low
pay means, eventually, poor service,
and the money saved in balancing the
postal budget will be lost ten time,
| over by the people of the United
States in low postoffice efficiency.
The horse that is f1ogged and starv-
ed dies sooner or later; and unless
the postal employees are paid reason
able wages, the postoffice department
must one day break under its increas-
ing burden.
The collapse of the service is near
at hand unless protective measures
are taken; and the first of these mea-
sures is an increase in the wages.