Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1902 — PAYNE ISSUES ANNUAL REPORT. [ARTICLE]

PAYNE ISSUES ANNUAL REPORT.

Recommendations M de for Legislation for Good of the Service. Henry C. Payne, Postmaster General, In his annual report, especially notes that the “increase in postal revenues not only attests the wonderful prosperitl of the people and the activity of business interests that the extension of postal facilities, carefully directed, results sooner or later in increased receipts and diminished deficits.” He presents the following comparative statement of the financial operations of the department for two years: Ordinary postal revenue .$109,531,778.67 $119,058,220.40 Receipts from money order business .... 1.068,659.20 1,880,817.86 Other sources. 430,765.43 Total receipts from all K sources . .. .$111,631,193.39 $121,848,047.26 Total expenditures tbeyear 115,554,920.87 124,785,607.07 Excess expendutlres over receipts ....$ 3,023,727.48 $ 2,037,640.81 The estimated deficit for 1903 is given as $5,602,227 and for 1904 as $8,242,856. The Postmaster General says that deficits in the postal service are not to be viewed with apprehension, as it is the policy, whenever S.e postal receipts exceed or come near the expenditures, to extend postal facilities and cheapen the cost of the service to the public. In this connection is noted the continuing effort to better the condition of postal employes, Involving wholesale promotions and reductions of working hours of clerks in postofflees. Of the rural free delivery the report says: Rural free delivery service has become an established fact. It Is no longer in the experimental stage and undoubtedly Congress will continue to Increase the appropriation for this service until all the people of the country are reached, where it Is thickly enough settled to warrant it. The estimates of the department are to the effect that the available territory for this service embraces about 1,000,000 square miles, or one-third of the country area exclusive of Alaska. The 11,630 routes now In operation cover about one third of the available territory. From this it will be seen that ft will require 27,000 employes additional to those now In the service to cover this territory. If Congress shall make the necessary appropriations it is believed that within the next three yeans the extension of the service will have been completed. With the carrier's salary fixed at S6OO per annum the annual gross cost of the completed rural free delivery service will approximate $24,000,000. After the service has been completed this increase ought not to exceed annually 8 to 10 per cent, or In about the same proportion as obtains in other branches of the service. The people are demanding the service with Impatient earnestness. 'The report states that the money order business lias largely increased during the fiscal year, both in the number of orders issued ami the amount of money involved. The number of domestic money orders issued was 40,474,327, amounting to $313,551,279. The number of international money orders issued during the year whs 1,311,111, amounting to $22,974,473. The number of international orders paid during the year was 307,679, amounting to $5,821,729. Of the railway mail service the report says: At the close of the year there were 1,350 Hues of traveling postofflees, covering 178,796 miles in length. The number of clerks employed was 9.731, annual travel by them in cars 221,589,899 miles. To accomplish this 3,785 cars and apartments were used on the steam roads, besides twenty-four cars on the electric Hues under the supervision of the railway mall service and F 3 apartments on steamboats. it Is estimated that these clerks-—liandled 15.062,830.640 pieces of ordinary mall and 24.174,174 packages and cases of registered mail. The errors by clerks in handling the mall as reported Indicate but one error made for every 11,502 pieces correctly distributed. There were 286 casualties to mail cars last year. In which either mall or clerks were injured. Nine clerks were killed and 88 seriously and 302 slightly Injured. In the appropriation act for the current fiscal year provision was made for the first time authorizing the postmaster general to pay to nie legal representatives of any railway postal clerk who shall be killed while on duty or who. being injured while ou duty, shall die within one year thereafter as the result of such Injury, the sum of SI,OOO. The report closes with the following recommendations for legislation: That the extension of free delivery to towns of not less than 5,000 population, or $5,000 gross annual receipts, be authorized. Thnt substitute letter carriers in cities of 75,000 population and ov6r by guaranteed monthly earnings of not less than S3O, and in cities of less than 75,000 population not less than $25. That rural letter carriers be allowed an annual leave of absence of not to exceed 15 days with pay. That the maximum fee for a money order be fixed at 25 Instead of 30 cents. That section 3 of the act of June 13, 1898, chapter 446, providing that assistant postmasters, cashiers am! other employes of postofflees of the first, second and third classes shall give bond direct to the United States, be repealed, and that a statute be knacted requiring such officers to give bond directly to the postmasters, and holdlug postmasters responsible under their own bonds for any and all acts and defaults occurring at their respective offices. That the interstate commerce law be amended to prohibit common carriers, town, telegraph and express companies, or any of theft employes, from aiding and abetting In the green goods or lottery swindles, or any other scheme carried on partly by mall and partly by common carrier and which Is In violation of the postal laws. That the department be authorized to adopt a system of postal cheeks. That a statute be enacted authorizing the receiving and dispatching of certain classes of mall matter without the necessity of affixing postage stamps to Individual pieces. That un act be passed conferring upon tbo department specific authority to Introduce a system of reply postal cards and envelopes. Authority to print In book form the opinions rendered by the assistant attorney general for the postotfice department. That provision be made for new and suitable buildings for the manufacture and repair of mail equipment, the quarters at present occupied being entirely Insufficient.