Evening star., 1952-05-04
Mail Service
District Is Not Alone in Its Complaints;
IS Bills Pending in Congress to Improve 1t
By jones 6. Deone

of a 1890 pm. collection in
Manhattan and the Bronx. The
early collection was retained.
The Postmaster General lat
er revealed to The Star that
he planned to restore late COL
lections here and in most of
300 other major cities if the
new postal budget (about $2.8
billion) isn't cut too much.
Congress to date has cut $73
million. A Senate House confer
ence is pending.
Mr.. Donaldson hasn't re-
vealed his exact plans on res
toration. He said it would cost
$3.50 to SITS million for a COM
plete job of it, however. The
House last year passed a bill .
requiring restoration, but the
Senate defeated it. There are
IA similar House bills and one
in the Senate now pending, but
there is no likelihood they will
be acted on this session.
Rote Probe Blocked
A joint Senate-H House postal
rate investigation also has been
held up for lack of funds. Sem
ator Johnston, Democrat of
South Carolina, committee
chairman. said he won't seek to
do anything before November.
Neither is anything likely to
come of the separate request of
Senator LANCER. Republican Of
North Dakota, for an investiga-
ton. Senator LANCER has called
the postal service ''the worst in
the world"
In Other Cities
What is mail service like In
other cities? Here is what some
newspapers have been report
ing:
New York World Telegram
and Sun-Tests showed deliv-
cries in New York take an
average of 1916 hours. In Lon
don they take six. Service was
labeled "hick." Pony express
was faster.
Louisville Times - Mail by
Stagecoach took eight hours to
Frankfort, KY, in 1880; now it
takes "a.
Lynchburg (Va.) Daily Ad-
vance-Why does a letter from
Lynchburg to Richmond take as
long as one from London?
Cleveland Plain Dealer-Con-
ditionS are "intolerable." No
Clevelander has escaped delay.
Denver Post - Federal grand
jury branded mail handling
"improvised and antiquated."
No private industry so operated
could survive.
Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch
Scandal is the right word
once it was the fastest and most
efficient postal service) in the
world. Now it is among the
slowest and least efficient"
Phoenix eAriz.) Gazette -
Post Office Department is "a
model Of inefficiency."
Pittsburgh Post Gazette -
Perhaps the situation reflects
in part an attempt to force
larger congressional appropria-
tions. Or perhaps it is aimed in
part at inducing customers who
can no longer rely on early de-
livery Of a three-cent letter to
spend the 81 cents necessary to
send a message airmail special
delivery" Post Office should be
reorganized on lines of Hoover
Commission recommendations.
Another Analysis
In March the Citizens Com
mittee for the Hoover Report
charged that the Post Office's
trouble is twofold: Antiquated
organization and methods, in
cluding over-centralization in
washington. and poor cost ac-
counting. It urged legislation to
correct these faults.
The commission recommend
ed extension Of civil service to
all except top officials. This
has been proposed to Congress
by President Truman.
The commission claims re-
organization could save $500
million annually. If so, cur
tailed service could be restored
without a bigger burden on the
taxpayer.
But reorganization would take
a long time. Critics of the postal
service would like to see im-
provement in Q matter Of
months. rather than years.