It is understood that the Department has under consideration the question of locating the boxes on the right-hand side of the road for the convenience of the carrier. The above system can be used whether all the boxes are located on the right side of the road or not. The question of entirely abandoning the practice of numbering boxes is also being considered and if adopted, this suggested method of additional identification would of course be useless. It is simply mentioned here as an idea to aid in readily assorting mail in the office and as a more complete method of identification than under the present system. If the Department decides that the name of the owner on the box is sufficient, this suggested new plan has no further value and can be regarded as one of the many novel ideas in connection with the rural service which come up from time to time.

It may, however, be said that a box once located and numbered always retains its identity and no matter how many persons live at, or move to or from that locality, the box number retains its identity the same as a house retains its identity in a city.

Wireless Telephones in the Rural Service

From that memorable day in June, 1875, when Alexander Graham Bell discovered a faint sound emanating from the curious little machine over which three years of patient labor had been spent, until today, when the world is debtor to this great man for one of the marvels of the age, the telephone has been a constant wonder and especially so at this time, when its adaptability for the common uses of life has made it of value wherever civilization extends. Mr. Bell was a professor at Boston University and his honors came to him at an early age, for he was but twenty-nine when the patent that was to make him famous was granted by the Government.

He exhibited his invention at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition with but indifferent success; no attention was paid him until Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, a visitor at the fair, who knew the young inventor, placed the receiver to his ear while Professor Bell, in an adjoining room, spoke into it and, listening to it a moment, looked up with the exclamation, “My God, it talks!” Recognition by the judges was then hurriedly given and future success assured.

The fortieth anniversary of the award of this patent was fittingly celebrated at the annual dinner of the National Geographic Society in Willards Hotel, Washington, D. C., March 7, 1916. The account of what occurred there, the splendid tributes paid to Professor Bell by the distinguished men present, appears in the March number of the National Geographic Magazine, 1916, and presents a story of achievement of which every American can be justly proud, but is not a matter of pride to American genius alone, but shared alike wherever men do homage to intellectual worth and greatness.

But what of the future? Can the telephone be brought to still other uses than already known? Can it be made adaptable for field use, for rural purposes in the country districts of the United States? The Electrical Experimenter, for April, 1917, discusses a practical possibility in this direction, not for civil pursuits but for military needs. It mentions a wireless telephone set, mounted on a motorcycle for army purposes by means of radiophonic communication in connection with a military aeroplane. This is of course intended for military purposes only, but shows the great possibilities involved and advantages that may follow fuller investigation of wireless methods. All questions of wireless development for military needs, however, may now be safely left in the hands of those directly concerned. Perhaps the greatest interest centers at present in its possibilities in the field of the rural delivery service where its successful introduction would work a most tremendous change. If, for instance, it could be used by a rural carrier, what a field of opportunity it would open in connection with such service.

Is there a possibility of such accomplishments? It would seem that there is from the investigation and discovery of a young electrician, Earl Hanson, of Los Angeles, Cal. He recently demonstrated to the mayor of Los Angeles and the president of the telephone company that his apparatus could send music, talk of any kind, whispers and signals without wires. His device is so light and small and yet so effective that when attached to a bicycle used by a policeman, constant communication could be maintained with the laboratory. One or one thousand receivers can be attached, and each hears as distinctly as if they were in the room from which the sounds proceeded. The only explanation of this marvelous process given is that the inventor used very low frequency wireless waves in a new way. The great drawback to wireless telephony and telegraphy has always been that the air is one great “line” and always busy. Hanson’s plan aims to overcome this, to send messages though the air is split up around him by the operation of other stations!

All this is wonderful and may require more demonstration to prove its adaptability, but science is at work and it is not improbable that wireless telephones for rural use and purpose may ere long be successfully accomplished.

The Jasper, Fla., News, voices this prophetic hope in a well-written article which recently appeared in that paper, and we take pleasure in presenting that portion herewith as a compliment to editorial enterprise and a far-seeing vision of coming events.

Parcel Post Exhibits at County Fairs

One of the methods by which the Department is bringing the advantages of the parcel post to the attention of the people of the United States is by means of exhibits at State and county fairs and other civic expositions. While there is no appropriation available for such purpose, postmasters who are interested in this government experiment to bring producer and consumer together and so reduce the cost of living expense have shown such desire to aid in this matter and their efforts have been so generally successful in this direction that space has been freely given and great benefits have followed in all communities where this plan has been tried.

From reports at hand it appears that ninety-four of such displays have been held in various States and that thirty additional fairs were yet to be held at which such parcel post exhibits were to be made a special feature. By tens of thousands, both city and rural populations have been afforded an opportunity to see working demonstrations of the farm-to-table service and been enabled to profit thereby.

These exhibits are generally so instructive to the people, the farmers so willing to show by card or samples of goods what they can furnish, and the postmasters so ready to cooperate in every way to make these postal exhibits a success by showing different styles of containers, the best method of packing, etc., that no opportunity should be lost where county fairs are held to secure space for such exhibits and make the most creditable display possible. The postmasters are the proper parties for carrying out the purposes of the Government in this connection and the Department is anxious that such opportunities be availed of that the advantages thus offered may be utilized to their fullest extent.

The Great Express Service of the Government

The parcel post, the great express service of the Government, is now used so generally and for so many purposes that the mention of some of the things that are being shipped may be of interest. For instance, at the Lincoln County fair at Merrill, Wis., some time ago, there was an exhibit of a take-down house all the parts of which had been sent to Merrill by parcel post. Indeed the shipment of lumber by parcel post is not now an uncommon thing, due attention being paid to postal requirements.

At Gridley, Cal., a patron entered the office with several small sacks of some heavy material and asked to have them forwarded. The clerk after weighing them regarded the sacks with some suspicion and upon inquiry of the shipper learned that the sacks contained dirt, soil from a farm, which he was sending to the State University for analysis. Another patron appeared at the office in the morning with a package of meat under his arm and posted the parcel to a family in Marysville, Cal., remarking at the time that Mrs.—— ordered this meat for supper!

An enterprising farmer at Burke, Va., advises the Postmaster at Washington, D. C., that he would kill a steer on December 1, and would sell the cuts of meat at one-third less than Washington retail prices. His offer was advertised in a farm list and in a parcel post trade paper and before the steer was killed the meat had all been engaged. The cuts were sent to the customers in market baskets and containers. The farmer was offered $35 for the steer on the hoof, but realized $45 by individual sales and the hide paid for help in parting and dressing for market. Orders came from Washington, Baltimore, and even from Long Island, N. Y.

The postmaster of Denver, Colo., reported that on Thanksgiving Day, 1914, more than 1,000 perishable parcels, 80 per cent of which contained turkeys, were received at the Denver office and delivered in good condition.

The list of possible shipments of every conceivable kind and character could be indefinitely extended, for it is known that the scope of subjects that can be handled by the parcel post is practically limitless and only awaits proper enterprise for productive profit to those who will engage in it.

The parcel post is without question a great success. There is no other measure of interest connected with the service which presents so many economic possibilities. Its great advantage over the private carriers is apparent and the benefits quickly seen in practical operation. The United States mail goes everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the country. Private expresses are governed by the avenues of profit. The Government is not concerned about profit but regards service as of paramount importance, hence it directs its activities to all regions alike, going where there are no express offices or ever likely to be. This is the great distinguishing feature of the parcel post and its benefits as can be plainly seen, are chiefly for the rural sections who would be denied these advantages were there no such service in operation.

The whole effort of the parcel post aims to furnish an exceedingly reasonable method of interchanging commodities between the farm and city home, something which no private corporation has ever attempted or would undertake to do, all such enterprises being purely for gain and profit. The farmer can now find the opportunity he has been seeking. By some little care and attention to the conditions that assure favorable results, such as putting himself in touch with his customers, properly packing and furnishing a good article at a reasonable price, he can develop a profitable market for what he produces, reduce the cost of living to others while reaping an advantage for himself.

The Telephone and Parcel Post in Cooperation

Elsewhere attention is called to the future possibilities of the wireless telephone for rural uses, but in the meanwhile the many uses to which the telephone can be put in the common affairs of life is being industriously employed in all the rural sections of the country. The farmers have learned to make daily use of this convenience and it is doubtless employed to almost as great an extent there as in the cities and commercial centers. The farmers wife can talk to the village store, or the more ambitious establishments at the county seat, or perhaps reach a neighboring city for her wants, and Uncle Sam is so anxious to oblige her and has made such ample provision for the purpose that her wants can receive instant attention and be promptly supplied, a matter gratifying alike to the customer and the merchant as well.

It was altogether different before these conveniences were available. It probably meant in those days a visit to the city or town, or if the need was not pressing the friendly aid of neighborly interest and concerns in seeing her wants supplied. In the hurry and rush of modern life taking everything for granted and considering nothing uncommon, we are apt to pay little heed to the many comforts we now enjoy, and of which this Government provision for speedily supplying our wants and needs forms no inconsiderable part.

The local merchant also comes in for his share of advantage to which the telephone and parcel post so greatly contribute. The scope of his patronage is now broadened and enlarged. One hundred and fifty miles of territory have been added to and is now tributary to the field of his industrial enterprise, and he can fairly compete with mail order houses by the lower rates of postage within this zone—quite an item in his favor—for it is practically a rate of 1 cent a pound or but little more, which with some business ability and advertising push will give him a field of opportunity wherein he can enter with every prospect of at least an equal chance with any of his competitors.

Training Public Officials

The following editorial article from the Washington, D. C., Post, while not relating to postal affairs particularly but treating of the public service generally, has yet its peculiar significance to postal affairs as 80 per cent of all public employees are in some way connected with the postal service. This very thoughtful and clearly expressed editorial contains so much of value upon a subject to which but little attention has been given, that the matter may well occupy a share of public concern in a country such as ours where so large a proportion of its people occupy public position.

The Post says:

For the Benefit of the Fourth Class Postmaster

While the public concern has received the utmost attention, there are, however, some questions of interest affecting the welfare of postal employees which should be given consideration. It is but common justice to consider the present method of payment to fourth-class postmasters, for it allows them but small returns for their labor. If the same high standard of efficiency is expected of them which should obtain in the service generally, they should have their labor properly compensated. At present the law restricts the salaries to be paid according to the volume of outgoing mail at their office. The rural carrier who works under the postmaster is under no such restrictions, is better paid, and has more holiday privileges. The fourth-class postmaster may have to work half days on holidays and Sundays and has no leave of absence. The rural carrier has both. The position of postmaster may therefore be said to be less desirable than that of the carrier, though his official responsibility from the nature of his duties is greater. At the recent State convention of third and fourth-class postmasters, held at Sunbury, Pa., the question was brought up and a reform urged in the matter. There is much to be said in favor of a more equitable adjustment, and the subject can be approached without detriment to the carrier by a wider and more comprehensive view of the duties of the postmaster and a corresponding improvement in the method of payment.

The introduction of the parcel post as a great common carrier is an added feature in connection with this subject. The fourth-class postmaster receives much more mail than he sends out. This inequality which affects his pay can be largely corrected if the postmasters in cities would adopt some practical measures towards stimulating orders from city patrons for farm produce which could be shipped by mail. The organic act passed by Congress contemplated such advantageous interchange for the benefit of the fourth-class postmaster as well as the city consumer, and a steady and persistent effort in that direction by the city postmasters would greatly assist in carrying out the intention of Congress in this respect and popularize the plan in the rural sections by the reciprocal advantages it would confer. The fourth-class postmaster could, however, greatly benefit himself, even under present methods, by making an earnest and industrious effort to develop the parcel post idea in his community, embracing the opportunities of his official relation to the service by encouraging and taking an active part in every detail of postal management, of which, just now, the parcel post is so conspicuous a feature and whose more extended use among the people would so greatly advance his official as well as his personal interest.

Public Work and Private Control

It is sometimes asked why the Post Office Department cannot be managed as if it were in the hands of a private corporation. Many reasons might be given, but a few will serve to explain the difference and perhaps enlighten the public who may expect more than the Department can perform.

In the first place, the service is throughout closely controlled by Congress through its committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, and no important variations in the system or the methods of administration can be initiated without their concurrence, and even if any particular or significant change is proposed by such committee, it is not always possible to obtain full congressional consent. Differences between the administrative heads of the Department and Congress as to the necessity or advantage of certain plans or methods, are not uncommon, especially when any proposed changes antagonize existing usage or clash with party policy or expediency. When proposed changes invade the domain where private enterprise has interests more or less valuable already established, influence may be brought to bear to counteract the reforms proposed, based on honest grounds of dissent as to the real benefit or practical advantage to be gained by the adoption of such measures. Unless it can then be shown that public interests would be benefited by the changes proposed, the Department might have difficulty to overcome this opposition.

In the next place, corporate control moves within narrower limits and exercises its power in more direct fashion. In theory a corporation is composed of its stockholders, a majority of whom nominate the board of directors. This board in turn appoints the permanent officials and they exercise full control in operation. Wide powers are given to these men and the policies advanced for extending influence and gaining profit are generally adopted. It is quite different dealing with Congress. New policies are not always accepted, sometimes rejected or ignored. It therefore follows that private concerns, having a freer hand and no complicated management to contend with, can institute experiments and try methods, and if well conceived, obtain results which a more restricted authority could only perhaps with difficulty secure.

A striking contrast between public and private control is seen in the appropriation system by which the Departments are governed. Aside from the difficulty often experienced in securing additional help when required, which would be readily given in great private concerns because of expected advantages to follow, Department needs are sometimes left unsupplied and the dispatch of business hindered by delay in this respect, or in the installation of mechanical appliances so generally used now, and which have in recent years to a very large extent, taken the place of human agencies in the business world.

Perhaps one of the greatest difficulties which obtains in public work aside from what has been already mentioned and which has hampered more rapid progress in the Post Office Department, was the tendency and practice to adhere to old-established rules and precedents. These lax methods, which were particularly apparent in the business customs and official procedure of the Department, were so firmly imbedded in its official life that it required a firm hand and a positive purpose to dislodge them. The present Postmaster General had both the courage and the desire to sweep away these relics of a bygone period and substitute newer and more suitable methods to meet progressive conditions and the Department is now conducted as it should be, and public complaints caused by these obsolete and unsuitable measures is now largely avoided.

These are some of the things that confront and have confronted the Department in its efforts towards greater efficiency. Conditions must be taken into account and understood. The Department must always be a public function and under Government control and be conducted, more or less, according to public usage. While red-tape rules and customs will to some extent remain, great progress has been made in many directions and public methods, by skilful management, brought nearer to the successes of business life, and the time is near at hand when the answer to the interrogatory first propounded, may be made in the affirmative.

Protecting the Public Records

Among the many useful and necessary reforms accomplished by the Postmaster General may be mentioned the institution of a hall of records for the protection of the files and valuable papers which belong to the Department. These records contain the history of postal administration from the beginning and deserve the most careful attention, not only on account of their sentimental but their historical value as well. The rise and progress of this index to our developing greatness in postal progress from the days of Benjamin Franklin to our own times, is recorded in the volumes which form the great official library of the Department. The opinions, acts and State papers of every Postmaster General are found here and a complete history of the whole postal administration could be compiled from these records.

It is a matter of some surprise that preceding administrations paid so little attention to the care and proper housing of these valuable files and papers. For years they were stored in the garrets and attic of the old Post Office Building, inconvenient of access, and so limited in space that any semblance of order was next to impossible. Lying there for years practically undisturbed, a prey to the ravages of dust and decay, it is a wonder that they are in any condition of preservation whatever. The traces of neglect and ill-usage has left its marks visibly upon these old volumes, and but for the quality of the material then used and the care in binding then demanded for public documents, they would be of but little service now.

To Postmaster General Burleson belongs the credit of rescuing these valuable archives of his Department from ultimate destruction. Space was found on the first floor of the building for storage and arrangement. A force of clerks from each Bureau was detailed for this work. The books and papers were removed from the nooks and corners to which they were relegated and under careful supervision located in the place provided for them. Accumulations of dust brushed off, bundles of documents neatly arranged and tied anew, frayed edges and loosened covers attended to, and the more important historical records set apart for rebinding when necessary. Protected now from danger, easy of access and convenient for reference, with space and light to assist in general preservation, these records can now be readily consulted, time is saved in search and conditions in every way made serviceable and satisfactory. With an elaborate and carefully devised system of indexing, this official record is perhaps the most complete of any of the Departments of the Government.

Registry, Insurance, and Collect-on-Delivery Services for the Fiscal Year 1916

The number of pieces of mail registered, insured, and sent collect on delivery during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1916, is shown in the following statement:

Readjustment of Rate for Second-Class Mail

One of the vexatious problems with which the Department has to deal is that relating to second-class mail matter which costs the Government several times over what is received therefrom in the way of revenue. In March, of 1911, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the appointment of a commission to investigate the subject and make a report thereon. The president selected Mr. Justice Hughes, of the Supreme Court, President Lowell, of Harvard University, and Mr. Harry A. Wheeler, of Chicago. This commission found that the cost to the Government of handling and transporting this mail was about 6 cents a pound for which the Government received but 1 cent a pound. The Department recommended an increase to 2 cents a pound which was approved by the commission. February 22, 1912, the report was submitted to Congress by the President, who urged favorable consideration, but so far no action has been taken. Suggestions as to desirable changes in relation to second-class mail matter have been made to Congress by Postmaster General Burleson, in which several ideas as to a more equitable arrangement were proposed, by which the Government would get a compensation more nearly in accord with the expense of this service, but without result, and the whole subject remains undisposed of with the prevailing rate still in force. This class of mail increased 93,184,891 pounds over that of the year 1915, notwithstanding the higher cost of paper and material. The readjustment of rates is held to be necessary in view of the disproportion of revenue to the cost of handling and transportation.

Postmaster General Charles Emory Smith in his annual report to Congress in 1900, referring to the cost of carrying second-class mail matter as hindering the progress of rural delivery extension, said:

“In my last annual report it was shown that if a class of publications which now, under an evasion of the purpose of the law, pay the second-class rate of postage, were really made to pay the third-class rate, as they ought to do, it would bring an additional revenue to the Government of $12,343,612. This amount is lost through an abuse that can be and ought to be rectified. It is a public contribution without any public advantage for the sole benefit of a few private interests.... If it is a question between favoring a very limited number of publishers and favoring twenty-one millions of people who live on the farms of the United States, there ought to be no hesitation in serving the many rather than the few. The abuse should be uprooted as a public duty, the national delivery service should be undertaken as a public policy, and when through the overthrow of the wrong the right can be established without the slightest additional burden, the appeal becomes irresistible.”

Peculiar Customs of European Rural Delivery

Some years ago at the request of Postmaster General Gary, the Secretary of State addressed a letter to each of our ambassadors and ministers in Europe, asking for information touching the extent and character of rural delivery in the countries to which they were accredited. In the answers received it was shown, for example, that in Great Britain there was substantially a house-to-house rural delivery, only the most inaccessible domiciles being left unvisited. The English rural postman, traveling chiefly on foot, walks from 15 to 18 miles a day, for an average pay of 18 shillings, or $4.50 a week. A paternal government provides him with a uniform, gives him $5 a year to buy shoes, furnishes him medical attendance when sick, and permits him to retire on a small pension after ten years of faithful service.

In France rural carriers, who also travel on foot, are paid a mileage of 7¼ centimes a kilometer, or not quite 2½ cents a mile, for the distance they cover. The average length of a route is from 10 to 15 miles, and they are required to cover it every day in the year, Sunday included. They receive an allowance for clothing, and may retire on a pension at the end of fifteen years. The service extends into every commune, and practically all France is covered by rural free delivery.

In Germany the delivery of mails in remote rural districts is not exactly free. Extra postage is charged, part of which goes to the carrier and part to the government. The pay of carriers, outside of this allowance, is from 700 to 900 marks a year, with 100 marks additional for house rent (a German mark being equivalent to 24 cents of our money).

In Austria-Hungary the rural carrier is hired by the postmaster of the local office to which he is attached and paid by him. He is authorized to collect a fee of half a cent on all letters and an eighth of a cent on all newspapers delivered by him. His average pay is about $120 a year. To earn this sum he travels 10 miles a day, always on foot. Before he can enter upon his duties he has to make a deposit of $80 (or two-thirds of a year’s salary) with the postmaster as security for carrying out his contract.

The Belgian rural carrier makes a daily round trip of 15 or 16 miles on foot, and is paid a salary which varies according to the supposed cost of living in the district where he serves, but which seldom exceeds $250 a year. He is denied the right to vote, and prohibited from taking part in politics.

What Was a Newspaper? Act of 1825

During the administration of Postmaster General Wickliffe of Kentucky the question was raised what in the meaning of the postal law, Act of 1825, constitutes a newspaper. The Shipping and Commercial List and New York Price Current claimed that it was a newspaper and entitled to the newspaper rate. It had been so regarded prior to 1837, but afterwards as subject to letter postage. The Postmaster General wanted light upon the subject and the question was submitted to the Attorney General, Hon. H. S. Legare for an opinion. As his spirited reply may interest newspaper men of today as well as others, the principal parts of the opinion are subjoined:

“The only light, a very uncertain one, is the use of the word, ‘newspaper’ in common parlance or in the English Stamp Acts. According to the statute it must be (1) periodically published; (2) at intervals not exceeding two days; (3) must contain public news or remarks thereon; (4) that it contain not more than two sheets. Thus it may be admitted that the paper must be published at short intervals, but what is a short interval? There are many weekly newspapers, why not monthly? It may be doubted whether the intervals need be exactly stated. The passing events may be diversified according to the tastes, the fancies, the wants or convenience of mankind. The monthly catalogue of new publications will be of interest to a scholar, proceedings of tribunals to a lawyer, theaters or new fashions in dress to the idle and the gay, etc., bulletins of battles to a soldier, price currents to a merchant, etc. A newspaper is more likely to please a majority of readers which meets all tastes. Why should a devout man be annoyed by puffs of opera dancers, members of a total abstinence society with tempting sales of wines and liquors, a plodding man of business with dissertations on books, or a bookish man with columns of business advertisements?”

The decision states in conclusion that “The Shipping and Commercial List to be treated as a newspaper must be sent open and without any written signature or note.”

Women in the Post Office Department

The women of the United States owe an everlasting debt of gratitude to Frances E. Spinner for opening to them the door of opportunity for employment in the public service. Salmon P. Chase was Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of President Lincoln and General Spinner was the Treasurer of the United States. Many of the clerks of the Treasury had joined the army, and General Spinner suggested to the Secretary the employment of women in their stead. Though his suggestion met with considerable opposition at the time, the wishes of General Spinner finally prevailed, and Secretary Chase gave his consent to the appointment of women, and the avenues of public employment were opened to them.

Since that time the employment of women in the public service has become general, and they may now be found in all the Departments, in post offices and as mail carriers on the post roads of the United States. The most recent register of employees in the Post Office Department shows that it had upon its pay rolls for the Department proper, sixty-two women receiving $1,200 per annum, thirty-two at $1,400 per annum, ten at $1,600 per annum, three at $1,800, forty-three at $1,000 per annum, besides many more at lesser salaries. The act of General Spinner in opening the door of the public service to women doubtless had its general effect in private employment as well, for from the close of the Civil War the entrance of women into the business relations of the country may be safely dated.

Many of the women in the Departments occupy positions of responsibility and importance, and fill such positions with credit to themselves and the service as well.

Railroad Accidents and the Construction of Mail Cars

There were 163 railroad accidents during the fiscal year, 1916, of which 155 resulted in injuries to clerks, and eight, exclusive of those in which clerks were injured, resulted in loss or damage to mail.

The following table shows the kind and construction of the mail cars in which accidents to clerks occurred:

Public Ownership of Postal Telegraphs and Telephones

Opinion of Postmaster General Burleson

Postmaster General Burleson, in his annual report to Congress for 1916, made the following statement regarding Postal Telegraphs and Telephones:

“As the former reports pointed out, the private ownership of telephone and telegraph utilities places in private hands the control of important vehicles for the transmission of intelligence, and therefore infringes upon a function reserved by the Constitution to the National Government. Operation of these facilities inherently as well as constitutionally belongs to the Postal Service. Attention again is called to the legal precedents and the attitude of former postmasters general, as briefly stated in my report for 1914:

“That it has been the policy of this Government to ultimately acquire and operate these electrical means of communication as postal facilities, as is done by all the principal nations, the United States alone excepted, is evidenced by the fact that the first telegraph line in this country was maintained and operated as a part of the Postal Service, and further by the Act of July 24, 1866, which provided for the Government acquisition of the telegraph lines upon the payment of an appraised valuation, and again by the act of 1902, which directed the Postmaster General ‘to report to Congress the probable cost of connecting a telegraph and telephone system with the Postal Service by some feasible plan.’

“‘It is an interesting fact that, whereas policies of Government have been advocated and some adopted, the constitutionality of which have been seriously questioned, the principle of Government ownership and control of the telegraph and telephone finds its greatest strength in the Constitution. This opinion has been shared by practically all Postmasters General of the United States, who have held that the welfare and happiness of the nation depend upon the fullest utilization of these agencies by the people, which can only be accomplished through Government ownership.’”

Liquor Carried by the Mails

In view of the rapid spread of prohibition sentiment in the country during the past few years, it may be of interest to know that the activities then already apparent to check in every possible way convenient access to this demoralizing evil, found in a limited sense the aid and support of the Post Office Department.

There was a growing suspicion that traffic in the carrying of liquor from one point to another on the lines of the star-route service by carriers was being conducted, and this suspicion afterwards developed into loud and persistent complaints which finally reached the Department and attracted official attention. It was stated that liquor was being conveyed by these carriers to points in local option territory and even distributed among the Indians, a practice which the Government was particularly anxious to prevent. The matter was finally brought to the attention of Postmaster General Von Meyer who at once took steps to interfere with this traffic. After some consultation as to the best means of stamping out this evil, a clause was inserted in the advertisement for star-route service and later embodied in every contract upon which awards were made. This statement says: “It is further agreed that the contractor or carrier shall not transport intoxicating liquor from one point to another on this route while in the performance of mail service.”

This positive Governmental interference with the traffic in liquor by means of the mails may not be generally known, and it is mentioned here that credit might be given to Postmaster General Von Meyer for an act which destroyed a growing evil, covertly conducted, and put a stop to a practice which was doing damage in a great many sections.

By Act approved March 3, 1917, providing for appropriations for the Post Office, no letter, postal card, circular, newspaper, etc., containing any advertisement of spirituous, vinuous, malted, fermented or other intoxicating liquor of any kind, or containing a solicitation of an order for said liquors, shall be deposited in or carried by the mails of the United States, or be delivered by any postmaster or letter carrier addressed and directed to any person, firm, corporation or association at any place or point in any State or territory of the United States, at which it is by the law in force in such State and Territory at that time unlawful to advertise or solicit orders for such liquors or any of them respectively.

How the Post Office Department Helps the Farmer

Of all the great Executive Departments, the Post Office comes closest to the people and is of particular interest to the farmer living away from the great avenues of postal service supply. The Postmaster General, from his service in Congress, where the needs of the farmer are known, coupled with the opportunities of his present position, was able to render him a great service, and that he has done so, that his administration has shown his successful efforts in this direction cannot be questioned nor denied.

The Parcel Post with all its beneficent possibilities and advantages received early consideration. It meant so much to the farmer that zealous and persistent attention was wisely directed to obtain the utmost that could be accomplished. Weight limits were extended, postage reduced by zone expansion, and the project put upon such practical basis that great benefits are already assured and further progress only waits legislative sanction. City and country are now brought together. Suburban express, the result of motor service, gives the farmer an easily reached and remunerative market and the consumer finds upon his daily table the fresh products which this rapid means of communication from the farm can so readily supply. The Parcel Post is one of the most popular measures of this administration and everything possible has been done to foster and perfect it.

The Rural Free Delivery with its millions of patrons, of which over 650,000 were added within the past three years, tells the story of administrative accomplishment. The great success of rural delivery is peculiarly the farmers triumph. He is now on a par with his neighbor in the cities in all that enterprising postal service can give. Taken both together, the widely admitted success of the Parcel Post as well as the rural delivery, a chapter of achievement has been written of which the Department is justly proud and against which criticism can find no ground for righteous complaint.

But this is not all that this administration has done for the man in the country. The energetic application of the experimental legislation appropriating $500,000 for participation in the construction of improved highways has brought forth an additional appropriation of $75,000,000, which will be expended by the Federal Government, in cooperation with the States, for the improvement of roads over which mail delivery is performed, or on which it may be located hereafter. The Rural Credit and Good Roads bills are subjects of profound interest which even partisan prejudice cannot minimize or obscure. The tremendous advantage which these two great measures afford the farmer will be readily admitted and recognized when seen in practical operation. The need of such beneficent help has long been felt and these two bills should make the lot of the farmers much easier. They have been getting reasonably good prices for their products and are generally prosperous, but the fact remains that but few hold their land free of incumbrance. Complete ownership will now be possible. With federal aid to road construction and this new rural credits law, it should not be long until the greatest prosperity the country sections have ever known should be an accomplished fact.

Expediting the Mail on Star Routes

Attention is called elsewhere to the benefit of motor vehicle service in rural delivery, and it is now proposed to introduce this advantage in the star-route service as well. Until a short while ago there was no authority for any particular form of conveyance to be used in this connection. With the advent of automobiles and other motor vehicles, it became evident that great opportunities presented themselves by which the transportation of mails on this class of routes could be measurably expedited and during the present administration the law was so amended that the mode of transportation could be specified.

The demand of the day is for the rapid conveyance of mails in every direction and people are no longer satisfied to put up with the practices and methods of other days. That mails have been conveyed in this service with “due celerity, certainty and security” was not enough. Money is paid for service and the best that can be given is required. So it was decided to expedite star-route service. While there are a number of routes on which automobiles are now used in view of the provision of law as covered by the order of the Postmaster General, August 14, 1916, amending section No. 1424 to correspond with the law as amended, steps are now being taken in connection with the award of contracts for the four-year term beginning July 1, 1917, which includes the contract section from Maine to West Virginia, to require the use of motor vehicles wherever the importance of the route seemed to warrant and weather conditions would permit the use of such conveyance. One hundred and forty advertisements are now pending for such service in this contract section.

This is going to be a great accommodation for all routes where such service can be employed and will give the people the best mail facilities that can be devised. It will hasten the receipt and dispatch of mails by means of rural carrier connections, be of great advantage to the business men along such routes, expedite newspaper delivery and in many cases save twenty-four hours over the present method. Every effort will be made to introduce this more rapid service as quickly and widely as the laws will permit. If it is found to work well in this first contract section where it is to be tried, it will be extended to others in regular succession until the star-route service everywhere has the benefit of this improved means of communication.

Abraham Lincoln Postmaster in 1837

So much has been said and written about Abraham Lincoln that it would seem as if nothing new could be mentioned. In fact his history and biography are as well known to the school children as that of George Washington, but it is probably not generally known to the postmasters of the country that he was at one time in the postal service as a postmaster, and in a book devoted entirely to postal affairs it may be of interest to state the fact that this additional incident in his life and public career may be added to what is already known.

Mr. T. H. Bartlett, in the Boston Transcript, says:

It will interest Lincoln lovers to learn that, as far as known, probably the first time that Abraham Lincoln’s name was mentioned in print was in the United States Biennial Register for 1837. It was in the Post Office Department, as “Postmaster at New Salem, Ill., Abraham Lincoln, 1 quar., 10-19-48.” The Register contained the names of every officer and employe for that year.

So people who keep scrap books in which to note peculiar events and occurrences in the lives of great men may add this little item to their collection, for everything connected with the life of Abraham Lincoln is worthy of notice.

A Central Accounting Office for Each County

A very notable and far-reaching measure of public administration in the conduct of the Post Office Department was enacted in the past session of Congress by which, in order to promote economy in the distribution of supplies and in auditing and accounting, the Postmaster General was authorized to designate districts and central offices in such districts through which supplies shall be distributed and accounts rendered. This means in other words that one postmaster in a county is hereafter to distribute supplies for the other post offices and render an account to the auditor for all the offices in a certain county or district, thus simplifying the whole subject and placing the business involved at each of these offices under one central control. This is, however, not to give such central office authority to abolish offices, to change officers or employees in offices included in such district.

The law goes into effect July 1, 1917, and the Postmaster General will appoint a committee, of which the First Assistant Postmaster General will probably be chairman, to establish the system and select the central office in each district or county to which the other offices are to report, and under whose general control this plan is to be conducted.

Millions of Money for Good Roads

That good roads are an important factor in the spread of civilization is a statement which no one will dispute. Imperial Rome in the zenith of its power perfectly understood this. The marvellous genius and industry which constructed its great highways of commerce and travel, works which have been the admiration of all succeeding ages, are yet splendid even in their decaying greatness. Prescott, the historian, in his romantic history of Peru, tells of the wonderful engineering skill displayed in the reigns of the early Peruvian rulers in the building of their great military roads, which served alike the purpose of a peaceful people as well as the rapid assembling of its armies for warlike action. No nation now neglects this very important part of its economic life, and the United States having become a power in universal civilization is fully alive to all the measureless advantages which good roads afford.

Material prosperity waits upon road development and land values rise in proportion to road improvement. A few striking instances may be mentioned as illustrating this fact. Wallace’s Farmer has stated that:

“In Franklin County, New York, where 24 miles of good roads have been built, eight pieces of land selected at random increased 27.8 per cent in value. In Lee County, Virginia, which built eighty-four miles of roads, land advanced 25 per cent in value. Spottsylvania County, in the same state, improved forty-one miles of roads, and the land adjoining sold for $44.75 where previous to the improvement it had been bought for just $20 less per acre. After Manatee County, Florida, had constructed sixty-four miles of macadam and shell highway, the land along the road increased more than $20 per acre in less than two years, and the land a mile away from the road showed an increase of $10 an acre. In Wood County, Ohio, where land has been drained and bounded by limestone pikes, the values have risen from $70 to $250 per acre.”

The New York Journal of Commerce says “there are few agencies that are so fruitful of economic good, social and political solidarity, and even national spirit.” The very great desire of the Post Office Department to extend and improve the rural delivery service is an ever present argument in favor of good roads, without which no extensions or improvements are possible. The life of the country church, the country school, the whole question of intensive and scientific farming is involved in the subject of good roads, and in its wider and broader aspect the question takes on a new and a very significient meaning. Originally intended to promote and foster the arts of peace, military needs now claim national attention. Quoting again from the Journal of Commerce: “Mobilization, defense, and the transportation of troops, munitions, and supplies, are in a large part dependent upon an adequate system of highways, especially along the sea coasts and national borders. The experience of all the warring nations of Europe in the present conflict, are ample proof of this. Only the future will show whether or not these objects have been kept in view when the national appropriation is spent.”

The Government has set aside for the year ending June 30, 1919, the sum of $14,550,000 as an apportionment to the States to aid in the construction and maintenance of rural post roads in accordance with the provision of the Federal aid roads law. $20,000,000 will be apportioned for 1920, and $25,000,000 for 1921. This is the third apportionment under the law, $4,850,000 having been apportioned for 1917 and $9,700,000 for 1918. The Bureau of Public Roads states that the expenditures for road and bridge building in the United States have increased from about $80,000,000 a year in 1904 to $282,000,000 in 1915, or more than 250 per cent.

These figures are as amazing as they are impressive, and they must carry to the mind of the reader the solicitude of his government for all that makes for national prosperity and advancement. There was a time when good roads were a luxury and only a few States in the East paid any attention to this question. With the advent of the automobile came a great change. Rides for pleasure as well as for gainful pursuits required better conditions, and for both purposes good roads became everywhere a question of paramount importance. The farmer whose improved surroundings permitted this now common luxury, wanted the benefit of it, and the demand for better road conditions found its way into the halls of legislation in the States, and in the Congress of the Nation, and the answer to this demand upon the part of the Federal government is the magnificent appropriation which is now available and to be expended for this far reaching purpose.

Rural delivery in which the rural resident is so greatly interested will profit most by this liberal government provision, it being originally intended for post road purposes, of which rural delivery is now the principal and most important part. The rural life of the country is to be bettered in every way by the spread of this means of postal communication. The Post Office Department is always ready to listen to every suggestion which makes for greater comfort and convenience in this direction, and to act promptly when resulting advantages can be shown. Therefore, the sections where rural delivery is not as fully introduced and developed as it might be, or inviting fields for exploration and administrative action are not yet reached, the people for whose benefit this money is to be used should get in touch with the Department and bring to its attention whatever information upon the subject they may possess which might be fashioned into useful results. The Department has many eyes but cannot see all and know all, and this is where outside assistance can be of great advantage, and would be most gladly welcomed. Postal patrons are the working partners of the Postmaster General in all that concerns the improvement and extension of the service, and if they will take the same active interest that he does and cooperate with the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, in whose Bureau this rural delivery work is centered, great advances in all directions may be readily made.

$14,550,000 for Rural Post Roads

Apportionment to the States from government funds to aid in the construction and maintenance of rural postroads in accordance with the Federal aid roads law for the year ending June 30, 1919, is as follows:

Mail Extensions by Air and Motor Truck Routes

As the result of a recent conference between Postmaster General Burleson and Secretary of War Baker, and with the approval of the President, Congress has been asked to authorize the Secretary of War to turn over to the Post Office Department all military aeroplanes and motor vehicles not serviceable for military purposes, or which after the war may be dispensed with for military service.

As soon as any aeroplanes are turned over to the Post Office Department, aeroplane mail routes will be established in the country, as they now are in Italy and France.

Italy has an aerial mail route from her coast to Sardinia, and is able to deliver 500 pounds of mail in two hours. France has a similar aerial route between her coast and Corsica.

The motor trucks procured from the War Department at this time or at the close of the war will be available for the parcel post truck service. In the view of the Postmaster General, the operation of these motor-truck routes would add 100 per cent to the value of the parcel post service in the vicinity of the cities where established.

The cost of living will be reduced, it is stated, by eliminating useless and expensive operation in the postal means of communication between producer and consumer; will permit the producer to continue production and the labor incident thereto, instead of suspending production or labor while conveying produce to consumers, and will extend the postal zone of collection-and-delivery service in the vicinity of large cities to the point where the actual farmer-producer is domiciled rather than where only suburban residents and nonproducers live.

Care Required in Preparing Contracts

Among the most important duties which a postmaster is called upon to perform is seeing that contracts for star-route service are properly filled out before being sent to the department. These contracts are of a legal nature and while the necessary provisions are plainly stated and simple enough to be easily understood, extreme care must be exercised to see that the instructions are complied with. Spaces for the signatures of the contractor, the sureties and witnesses properly filled out, dates given, names plainly written wherever required and the contractor should personally examine the contract to see that all this is carefully done. Failure to note these necessary details causes the return of the contract for correction, delaying its acceptance and imposing extra and unnecessary work upon the contract clerk. It may also be stated that as failure to perform service on the part of the contractor is liable to bring these contracts into courts of law for judicial determination, it becomes of the highest importance that nothing required to be done is omitted in preparation and the contract be correct in form and in every particular.

Birthday of the American Postal Service

On the twenty-sixth of July, 1917, the postal service of the United States can celebrate the one hundred and forty-third anniversary of its establishment. It was on July 26, 1775, nearly a year before the independence of the colonies was proclaimed, that the freedom of postal affairs was made an accomplished fact. The British control had existed for eighty-three years, from 1692 to 1775. There was only one line then in existence along the coast with but few branches and those far between. This service was first managed by private interests under a patent from William and Mary, but afterwards directly by the English crown. The fullness of time had at length arrived, had brought the auspicious day, and postal independence was born!

Patriotic sentiment is not wanting in this country of ours, and the flag is ever the object of sincere and heartfelt devotion. The great strides in postal development from that day to this should make the pulse of every citizen, particularly every postal employe, great or small, quicken with civic pride as each successive anniversary of our great postal establishment brings the date to mind. Postmasters might well signalize the day by conspicious display of the flag under which such tremendous progress has been made not only in postal affairs but in national greatness and glory.

List of Postmasters General

Continental Congress