The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-04-14

How 1t Operates
BY William Brxckart
POSTAL SAVINGS SYSTEM


= that If you watch the pennies, the
dollars will care for themselves, must
have had some reference to the postal
service, for vast amount of it's an
nual income which exceeds $600,000.-
600 annually is in the form of the
lowly one-cent piece.
But l like to think of the postal
service as gigantic corporation hav-
ing branches in every city, town and
hamlet In the United States. / like 10
imagine it as an enterprise, operating
not for profit but for service in my
interest and In yours.
I 1t might be mentioned in this con-
nection that no better evidence of the
faith Of people in an institution has
been recorded than has been shown in
the last two years by the growth of
deposits In the postal savings system.
That is just as much a part of our
| postal system now as is the right to
send money through the mail in the
form of postal money order.
Respecting this evidence of faith,
the figures reveal that more than $780,
100000 of funds, mainly from individ-
uals. is held by the postal savings
banks.
The postal service, whether consid-
cred in it's correct light as govern
ment agency or visualized as a great
private corporation, has to have man.
agement, supervision, guidance. With
out detracting one whit from the
splendid type of service rendered by
those workers which constitute the
vast machine, it must have policies
formulated and purposes planned IL
it's future equals it's past. Hence, the
postmaster general sits as mem
Der of the Presidents cabinet to take
counsel as he serves as the titular
head of the service, and the Post Of
| fee department exists for the purpose
of supervision of the machinery that
handles our mails.
The chief deterrent to a clear con-
ception of the postal service is its
size. 1t is so vast that comprehension
of it's various activities at once is
| difficult. yet an idea may be gained
of it's various ramifications by exam
lining the structure at the top for the
purpose Of seeing how supervision of
the work is divided.
The postmaster general has four as
sistants. each with allotted work to
administer. He has his legal aides.
the solicitor and another attorney who
is a special assistant to the attorney
general of the United States, and he
| has q chief Inspector and corps of
| inspectors to see that the laws are
To the first assistant postmaster
| general is assigned supervision of the
service rendered; that is, he is respon-
sible for maintenance Of a servive to
meet the needs of the public, and that
includes management of postmasters.
| In the last analysis, it is he who de-
! termines whether a rural route will
| be extended or whether uniformed
carrier shall be assigned to deliver
mail In the new development Of homes
at the edge of town. This official is
the one also who theoretically dis
poses of letters and papers and par
cells improperly addressed or never
called for at the local post office and
which eventually are classed as dead
| letters"
Railway mail, international mail
and air mail are supervised by the
second assistant postmaster general.
With the aid of the Interstate Com
merce commission, he decides how
much money the railways will be paid
for hauling the mails, and the sched-
ule of payments has to be revised fire.
quently because of changing condi-
tons and expanding operations. The
international mail involves treaties
and conventions with foreign nations
and its complexities are myriad.
All of the finances of the postal
service are assigned to the jurisdic-
ton and control of the third assist
ant postmaster general.
The third assistant is responsible
for determination of the income of the
postal service. In other words, he
seeks to work out policies and pro-
grams to keep income and outgo some
where near even, though it has hap
pened in very few years in history.
To do that, the third assistant must
seek to find the cost of handling the
various kinds of mail and the per-
Torrance of the many services now
imbedded In the postal service. For
example, the parcel post rate on
pound package from Washington to
Kansas City should be approximately
the same as 1t costs to collect, trans
port and deliver that package to the
addressed It is a nice problem, but
without the answer or an approximate
figure, the postal deficit can get out
of hand.
In the hands of the fourth assistant
postmaster general are concentrated
all Of the mechanical and engineer
ing phases of the service. He runs
gigantic shop for manufacturing mail
bags and other equipment. and buys
the equipment which the government
does not make It is under his super
vision that the new post Office build
ing in your town was designed and
constructed (if owned by the govern
ment) and he makes the rental con-
tracts If the building is leased. And
as though he had nothing else to do,
the fourth assistant is the boss chauf-
feur" and garage manager and me
chanic for the thousands of motor We
hicles which the postal service owns
and uses. .fl1
@. 1892. Western Newspaper Union.
Good Disinfectant
A splendid and simple disinfectant