Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1895 — PUBLIC SERVANTS. [ARTICLE]

PUBLIC SERVANTS.

Several of Them Mak3 Interesting Reports. !'; ' ,' Good Effect of Civil Service Rules In’ the 1 l’ost Office Department—The Year’s Svork in the Mints—Railway Earnings. Washington. Not. 25.— PostmasterGeneral Wilson in his annual report Bays the receipts of the post office de--1 partment for the year ended June 30, "1895, were $76,-171,090. and the expendi- ' tures $86,790,172. He estimates the revJude 710, 1 at $87,973,121) and the expenditures at 94,517,900. In sneaking of second class Mr. Wilson says: -. „ Carried at a Big Loss. "It Is the estimate of thedepartinent that two-thirds in weight of all the matter carlied in the mails is, under existing laws | and classifications, carried as second-class j matter, at the rate of one cent a pound, ; where it is not actually carried postage { free. The aggregate weight of second-class' I matter in the year iS94—=wh.s 299,000.000 - pounds. During the last'year ft IhcreasreU * to over 312,000,000, a growth of over 13,000,- : 000 pounds. Deducting the weight of that which Is known as “chunty free” being the matter which is circulated among sub- ! Ecribers free of postage in the respective counties of publication l , estimated to be I-- 48iS2‘!-.155 pounds, there remained 265,314,1 352 pounds, which returned, at the rate of | one cent per pound, a revenue of $2,053.1 143.52. The average cost to the department of transporting and handling this matter Is estimated at eight cents per pound. Good Effect of Civil Service Rules, Speaking of the extension of civil service rules to letter carriers, he says: c "An indispensable basis of good service has been laii by placing the carrier force under the civil service and no effort should be spared by the department to insure a high morale in this force and to familiarize the idea among individual carriers thgt as they enter the service by merit system alone, bo, likewise, they remain in it by no tenure, 'bht by faithful and efficient discharge of duty, which demands self-respect and honfiividuals here and there should interpret his stability of employment as a personal privilege, encouraging slovenly service and. tnsuborefination to superior officers, rather than a - reform based on considerntlonsof a better public service: and such instances have occurred and will doubtless continue to occur, even after the full meaning of the civil service system is understood and accepted. But it is gratifying to report that es a whole, and by such overwhelming predominance as to make the exceptions more prominent, the army of letter carriers is always faithful. efficient and honorable.’’.