Postal Organizations

In my 1917 report I recommended the repeal of the act of August 24, 1912, which is construed to permit the affiliation of postal employees with labor organizations which sanction recourse to the strike or boycott to enforce their demands.

I most earnestly renew this recommendation and again call the attention of Congress to the impropriety of Government employees owing allegiance to any organization which might stand between them and the Government, and to the actual menace to governmental authority which is involved in such affiliation.

The avowed purpose of labor organiza tions is not alone to advance the social and economic welfare of members of their or der but to exercise a coercive influence upon the employer to compel submission to their demands. It is for the purpose of coercion that strikes and boycotts are resorted to. The strike and the boycott are weapons designed to be used in attack or in resistance. The Government of the United States is not to be attacked or resisted by any citizen of the land. Surely no such special privilege is reserved to those who, through the nature of their employment, are sworn to serve the Government itself and owe to it the special allegiance of service duty.

It can be only upon the assumption that the Government is unjust, tyrannical, and compliant to force alone that the contention can be sustained that Government employees require the support of an outside organization to compel the Government to respect their rights and do them justice.

Organizations which sanction strike and boycott serve the private interests of the members of the order. The labor organizations are formed as a defense against employers. When the employer is the Government of the United States such an association of its employees is aimed at the Government and is inconsistent with the performance of public service.

Whatever interest labor may claim in the products of its toil, it can not be claimed for Government employees that they acquire a larger interest or greater power in the Government than that of other citizens, because of the character of their employment. They have no right to make an excuse of their public employment for dictating public policy or interfering with the orderly processes of Government. There is one federation "One Big Union". formed to promote the welfare of its memhers, to which they in common with all other American citizens owe allegiance. organizations within the jurisdiction of this union must be subordinate to it and obligated to support it-the Government. No organization of class or creed can be invoked to coerce the Government without taking on a taint of disloyalty.

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The obligation of the Government and of all its representatives, officials, and employees is to guard and promote the public welfare. An organization sanctioning the strike and boycott for the enforcement of its demands is devoted solely to personal and selfish interest. It is manifestly improper that employees of the Government should affiliate themselves with such an organization.

Government employees should be permitted to organize for their social and general welfare, to appear before committees of Congress, and to furnish information concerning the postal service of which they may have knowledge. They should not, however, be permitted to form organizations or to affiliate with an organization designed to interfere with the discipline and administration of the service, to influence the election of persons nominated for public office or to dictate legislation in their own interest and not for the public welfare.

Labor organizations undertake to compel employers to comply with their demands. They regard solely their own economic welfare and not that of the general public, which, on the contrary, they utterly disregard when they employ the strike and boycott under conditions which often bring suffering upon the entire public.. Associated in full membership with some of these organzations are certain individuals who openly defy the Government and assail all government, preaching the doctrine of disorder and violence.

No man is qualified for public service who does not realize that his first duty is to the public. The orderly processes of government and the administration of public affairs can not be efficient and effective when duty to the public is not put first,

As I have before urged upon Congress, the affiliation of Government employees with an outside organization which resorts to strike as a means of adjusting grievances is a menace to the welfare of the Republic, resulting in a divided allegiance, that to the organization being more personal and selfish and stronger than that to the Government. This applies to all Government employees, whether State, municipal, or Federal. Such affiliation engenders dissatisfaction, discontent and unrest, and such a resistance to constituted authority as to ultimately result in lowering the efficiency of the public service.

The enforcement of the principle that Government employees should not hold an affiliation incompatible with their obligation to the public service can not be distorted into a reflection upon the efficiency and loyalty of the postal employees, whose devotion to public duty under the trying test of war was conspicuously demonstrated. But the principle is one which can not be prudently disregarded.

Since my report to Congress on this subject, events have still more strongly demonstrated the soundness of the position I then took. The activities of "organizers" in a campaign to draw employees of the Federal Government and of municipalities into affiliation with the American Federation of Labor have made more manifest the danger which attends a failure to recognize that there can be but one allegiance in the Government service.

With the assumption of Government control of the wire systems of the United States a new group of employees, holding a different status from those of the postal service, came within the jurisdiction of the department. While the temporary character of the authority over this group did not warrant interference with or objection to their affiliation with any organization they might choose, the Postmaster General announced and enforced the principle that "a strike on their part is not permissible" while in the Government service. No discrimination was permitted, however, between union and nonunion employees, and those who resorted or threatened to resort to a strike were required to resume or to continue their employment before the department would treat with them. The report of the Wire Control Board will disclose that this principle was strictly maintained and that the wires were returned to their owners with no strike pending.

In 1895 organizations of postal employees had become so active in attempts to influence legislative and administrative action that Postmaster General William L. Wilson found it necessary to issue an order directing that no postal employee, under penalty of dismissal, should visit Washington for the purpose of influencing legislation before Congress. This order having afforded but temporary relief President Roosevelt on January 21, 1902, issued an Executive order forbidding all officers and employees of the United States to either directly or indirectly, individually, or through associations, solicit an increase in pay, or to influence, or to attempt to influence, in their own interest any other legislation whatever, either before Congress or its committees. The penalty for the violation of this order was dismissal. This afforded relief, but as a result of terrific pressure, the Congress on August 24, 1912, by a rider on an appropriation bill, permitting Government employees to form organizations, in effect nullified this Executive order issued by President Roosevelt. As a result of this legislation many organizations now maintain representatives in Washington for the purpose of influencing legislation and presenting grievances. By distorting and misrepresenting facts, they have encouraged disrespect for administrative officers, disloyalty to the service, and rendered the maintenance of discipline extremely difficult. An attitude of hostility has been assumed by them for years, irrespective of how or by whom the service has been administered. In calling the attention of Congress to this matter in my report of 1917, I cited the fact that civil service employees are selected through competitive examination without regard to politics or religious faith, their appointment and promotion being determined by the merit system, and expressed the belief that these employees should have imposed upon them certain limitations as to their activities.

The Postmaster General again repeats that the conduct of these organizations at this time is incompatible with the principles of civil service and with good administration of the postal service. They are fast becoming a menace to public welfare

and should no longer be tolerated or condoned.

At no time have employees of the postal service been denied the privilege of presenting for themselves any complaints or grievances which they might believe demanded consideration. On the contrary, they have been invited to make known their views or any suggestion for the betterment of their condition and the improvement of the service, and have been repeatedly given assurance of fair and just treatment.

The question involved is whether the orderly processes of Government shall be ignored, whether labor organizations can defy its authority and put into effect their will regardless of the rights of others and of the public interest. The Government undertakes to see that even-handed justice is meted out to all. To yield to outside agencies in the exercise of governmental authority to decide what action shall be taken is to confess that the Government has failed and can not be relied upon to do what is right. Such a confession would be indefensible.

The progress of events during the past two years has but served to emphasize that the arguments advanced in 1917 in regard to these organizations were sound, and the position of the department then was well founded as it is now. Accordingly attention is again directed to this subject, and the recommendation in the annual report for the fiscal year 1917 for the repeal of the provision in the act of August 24, 1912, is earnestly renewed.

Appointment of Postmasters

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The success of measures devised for the improvement of the service depends very largely on the loyalty and efficiency of the postmasters. The appointment of these officers has been regarded, therefore, of paramount importance. At the outset of the administration the Postmaster General laid down the requirement that all incumbents and appointees must devote their time and personal attention to their official duties. This requirement has been strictly adhered to and great care taken to examine into the qualifications of all persons proposed for nomination by the President.

The magnitude and multiplicity of the business operations of the postal establishment and the perfect service which the people expect and to which they are entitled, require that not only the greatest care be exercised in the selection of postmasters but that their tenure of office shall depend entirely upon efficient and meritorious service. Such efficient service can best be rendered by men of executive ability, training, and experience. This makes it essential that persons selected for important positions be chosen because of their fitness and retained only when they render satisfactory service to enable the department to obtain the benefit of such a policy. The Postmaster General has heretofore earnestly recommended that the necessary legislation be enacted to include in the classified service the position of postmaster at Presidential offices. The civil service rules would then be applicable to the appointment and retention of these postmasters. A provision in law in line with this recommendation passed one branch of the Congress but failed of passage by the other branch.

To afford some relief, the President on March 31, 1917, issued an Executive order requiring that when a vacancy occurs in the position of postmaster of any office of the first, second, or third class as the result of death, resignation, removal, or when on the recommendation of the Postmaster General that the efficiency or needs of the service requires that a change shall be made, the Civil Service Commission shall hold an open competitive examination to test the fitness of applicants to fill such vacancy; and when such examination has been held and the papers in connection therewith rated the commission shall certify the result to the Postmaster General, who shall submit to the President the name of the highest qualified eligible for appointment to fill such vacancy, unless it is established that the character or residence of such applicant disqualifies him for such appointment. It is also provided in sald Executive order that no person who has passed his sixty-fifth birthday shall be given the examination therein provided.

The number of appointments of postmasters at presidential offices during the past six years is as follows: 1913, 1,528; 1914. 3,720: 1915, 2.630; 1916, 2,693; 1917, 1,753; and 1918, 2,079,

and 5 per cent to those who received a salary above $2,200.

The Comptroller of the Treasury ruled that the minimum salary of a supervisory employee at first-class offices, as well as that of the assistant postmaster of a first-class office, was $1,800, and also that the minimum compensation of an assistant postmaster at a second-class office was $200 more than the highest grade clerk or city carrier connected with that office. This has resulted in a great number of promotions in the supervisory employees' compensation as well as that of assistant postmasters.

Under the Executive order referred to during the past fiscal year 3,008 appointments and reappointments were made at offices of the presidential grade. Examinations for these offices are divided into two groups, those at offices where the compensation is from $1,000 to $2,400 per annum, and those where it is in excess of $2,400 per annum. For appointment at offices in the first group candidates are examined on arithmetic and accounts, penmanship, letter writing, and business training and experience. At offices where the compensation is in excess of $2,400 per annum, personal investigation is made of each candidate by representatives of the Civil Service Commission, one of whom is selected by the commission from the Post Office Department, and these representatives make report of their investigation direct to the commission. the In all cases acted upon during the year the first eligible was appointed except where it was clearly shown that eligible was disqualified under the terms of the Executive order. Since the issuance of the order a total of 7,483 nominations has been submitted: 6,195 of these or $2.78 per cent have been reappointments. In 1,188 cases not reappointments the first eligible was appointed and in 79 cases only was other than the first eligible selected, and in these cases the failure to appoint the highest eligible was due to his death, or refusal to accept the office; or the condition of his health, such as tuberculosis, skin disease, or other physical defects; or because he was disqualified on the ground of character or residence.

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This order is the most progressive step toward increased efficiency and businesslike administration in the postal service, and although it affords much relief it does It requires not meet the situation fully. that the persons selected for appointment be chosen by open competitive examination and investigation by the Civil Service Commission, but does not affect in any way the tenure of office, and the reappointment of postmasters at the expiration of their terms The prois still necessary under the law. visions of the order have been followed the wisdom and procedure strictly and thereunder have been amply demonstrated in the cases which have been before the department.

However, the department has gone as far as possible in placing these appointments on the merit basis, and it now remains for the Congress to enact legislation extending the civil service law to include the position of postmaster at offices of the presidential classes and the previous recommendations of the Postmaster General to that effect are earnestly renewed.

Salary and Status of Employees in Postoffices

The average salary of clerks increased from $1,052.97 in 1913 to $1,318.03 in 1919, and city carriers from $1,087.57 to $1,305.02.

For the fiscal year 1913 the percentage promotions were first provided for 75 per cent from $1,100 to $1.200 in first-class postoffices and 75 per cent from $1,000 to $1,100 in second-class offices.

For the fiscal year 1914 the first grade of clerks and carriers was abolished, appointments after June 30, 1913, being made at the second grade, $800.

For the fiscal year 1917 the following percentage promotions were provided: Clerks, at first-class offices, 75 per cent from $1,100 to $1,200, 5 per cent from $1,200 to special clerks at $1,300, and 5 per cent of the special clerks at $1,300 to special clerks at $1.400, and at secondclass offices, 75 per cent from $1,000 to 5 $1,100 and per cent from $1,100 to $1,200.

For the fiscal year 1918 percentage promotions were provided as for the year 1917, with the exception that the percentages were 85 and 15 instead of 75 and 5.

The act of March 3, 1917, provided increased conpensation at the rate of 10 per cent effective during the fiscal year 1918 for classified employees appointed after that date at salaries of $800, $900, and $1,000. On July 1, 1918, every postal clerk and city letter carrier received a $200 increase in their compensation and on July 1, 1919, every such employee, whose services were satisfactory after a year's service in the former grade, was promoted an additional $100 effective July 1, 1919. Increased compensation was also provided other employees at the rate of 15 per cent to those who received a salary of from $900 to $1,500, 10 per cent to those who received a salary of from $1,500 to $2,200,

At the present time legislation is pending giving a further bonus to employees in the postal service covering the current fiscal year as follows: Clerks and city carriers in the $1,000 grade, $240; those in the $1,100 and $1,200 grades. $200; those in $1,300, $1,400, and $1,500 $1,600, $150 those receiving a compensation of $1,700, but not more than $2.500, $100; printers. mechanics and skilled laborers who receive a compensation of $1,150 to be increased $150, $1,265, to be increased $135, $1,380, to be increased $70; watchmen, messengers, and laborers who receive a compensation of $1,035 to be increased $205. Provision is also made for the employment of substitutes at the rate of 60 cents an hour instead of 40 cents as at present. The above bonuses, however, will not apply to employees who have received $300 or more increased compensation during the current fiscal year.

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If this increase should be granted by the Congress, the opinion is here expressed that the department will at once be placed a deficiency basis, unless there should be an unlooked for increase in the postal revenues. These proposed increases absorb for the benefit of postal employees the entire increase in revenue for this fiscal year as well as all savings and economies which have been effected within the past seven years and deny to the users of the mails any participation therein. The necessities of the service do not require this and it is manifestly unjust. Requirements for efficient mail service and not expediency should be the sole guide in determining action in a matter of this kind.

Personnel in Offices of First and

Second Classes

The records of the department show that during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, 1,206 carriers were granted indefinite leave of absence without pay on account of entry into the military service. The total number of city carriers who have been granted leave of absence without pay on account of entry into military service is 2,903, and out of this total, 1,773 have been reassigned to their former positions without loss of grade or rating, and, in cases where they returned to duty in time to make it possible to do so, they have been granted their vacations on the same basis as if their services in the post office had been continuous.

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In order that the granting of vacations with pay might be uniform in the cases of all employees in first and second-class postoffices and with a view to eliminating the apparent discrimination heretofore existing in this matter in favor of the city carriers as against the clerical employees of the office, Congress upon recommendation of the Department placed in the postoffice appropriation act for the fiscal year 1920 a proviso that hereafter the 15 days annual vacation allowed by law to clerks and other employees in first and secondclass postoffices should be credited at the rate of one and one-quarter days for each month of actual service, doing away with the former requirement that these ployees should not be granted any vacation with pay until they have completed a year's service.

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No action is taken looking to the reduction of classified employees in postoffices of the first and second classes except in accordance with the provisions of section 29, Postal Laws and Regulations, which character quire that charges specific in shall be preferred in writing and the employee afforded an opportunity in which to The papers submit his written defense. are then forwarded to the department for Final action is not review and decision. taken until after careful review and analysis of the evidence in connection with which the employee's answer is accorded the most careful consideration.

Increased Salaries of Employees in Postoffices

For the fiscal year 1919 Congress provided a temporary re-classification of salaries for clerks and city letter carrers, dividing them into six grades, from $1,000 to $1,500 inclusive, with provision that they should be promoted successively through the grades until they reached the sixth grade, salary $1,500, each promotion to be made at the beginning of the quarter following the completion of a year's satisfactory service in the next lower grade. This temporary reclassification has been continued for the fiscal year 1920, thus providing a promotion of $100 during this fiscal year for all clerks and city carriers in first and secondclass postoffices who have completed year's satisfactory service in their present grades. Congress also enacted a provision of law which, as construed by the Comptroller of the Treasury, fixes the minimum compensation of the supervisory officials in first-class postoffices at $1,800. Under this law many supervisors' salaries were increased $400. This legislation also fixed the minimum compensation of assistant postmasters of first-class postoffices $1,800 and the minimum compensation for assistant postmasters of second-class postoffices $200 in excess of that paid the highest grade clerk or city carrier in such office.

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The Department has long felt the need for a re-classification of the positions and salaries of employees in postoffices, more particularly in the supervisory grades in first-class offices, and in this connection attention is invited to recommendations contained in the Postmaster General's annual report for the fiscal years 1914, 1915, and 1916. In section 3 of the act making appropriation for the service of the Post Office Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1920, and for other purposes, the Congress has provided for a commission consisting of five members of the Committee on Postoffices and Post Roads of the United States Senate and five members of the same committee of the House of Representatives to investigate the salaries of the postmasters and employees of the postal service with a view to the re-classification and re-adjustment of such salaries on an equitable basis. It is the hope of the Department that this investigation will be most thorough and that as a result of their labors an equitable adjustment of the salaries of all postal employees will be made. It is recommended that any reclassification made in the salaries of postal employees of a permanent nature shall be based upon normal conditions. It is especially recommended that all unnecessary designations of supervisory employees be discontinued and that a maximum compensation for supervisory officials and a maximum number of positions in each grade be definitely fixed in accordance with the class of the office, based upon its gross postal receipts. The compensation of the senior supervisory employees in the larger postoffices should be such as to secure to the postal service the most competent men. While the department has experienced trouble at a few post offices in securing and retaining competent employees it is believed, after careful inquiry, that the mutations in the service have not been greater than are experienced by private industries employing a similar grade of help. few of the industrial centers where the man power is below the requirements of industrial activities a spirit of restlessness and a desire for change pervade the labor market. This has been felt in the postal service as well as in the manufacturing and commercial enterprises. The requirement that postoffice employees pass a civil service examination and attain a certain percentage in both mental and physical capabilities militates against the department is readily securing young men, and adequate and proper force and increased compensation will not entirely overcome this handicap or remove the difficulties in securing this character of help in competition with private concerns that employ men and women without competitive examinations.

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Substitute and Auxiliary Employees, Compensatory Time, 8-in-10-Hour Law, and Overtime

The act making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department for the fiscal year 1908 provided that auxiliary clerks and carriers should thereafter be paid at the rate of 30 cents an hour (they

had previously been paid at the rate of 25 cents an hour), that they should be required to work not less than two hours a day, and might serve as substitutes.

The 1914 postoffice appropriation act provided that substitutes employed in place of regular clerks and carriers absent without pay should be paid at the rate of 40 cents an hour, and that substitute clerks and carriers otherwise employed should be paid at the rate of 30 cents an hour.

The 1915 postoffice appropriation act contains the following:

"Provided, That after June 30, 1914, the pay of substitute letter carriers employed in the places of regular employees absent from duty with pay and of auxiliary and temporary carriers employed at offices where the city free delivery service is already established or may hereafter be established and of substitute clerks employed in the places of regular employees absent from duty with pay and of auxiliary and temporary clerks employed in first and second-class postoffices shall be at the rate of 35 cents an hour."

In the postoffice appropriation act for the fiscal year 1917 it is reiterated that substitutes for clerks in first and secondclass post offices and carriers in the city delivery service absent without pay, shall be paid at the rate of 40 cents an hour, and that substitutes employed in the places of regular clerks and city carriers absent with pay, or on temporary service of any kind, should be paid at the rate of 35 cents an hour.

The postoffice appropriation act for the fiscal year 1919 provides that substitute clerks and city carriers, regardless of the nature of the service performed, shall be paid at the rate of 40 cents an hour for such service.

The following provision is contained in the act approved March 4, 1911:

"That hereafter for services required on Sundays of supervisory officers. clerks in first and second-class postoffices, and city letter carriers, compensatory time off during working days in amount equal to that of the Sunday employment may be allowed under such regulations as the Postmaster General may prescribe; but this provision shall not apply to auxiliary or substitute employees."

Beginning with the fiscal year 1917. special clerks are granted compensatory time for Sunday service in the same manner as regular clerks and carriers.

Beginning with the fiscal year 1917. clerks and carriers shall be granted compensatory time for holiday service on one of the 30 days following.

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1918,

Beginning with the fiscal special clerks are entitled to compensatory time for holiday service in the same manner as regular clerks and carriers.

Beginning with the fiscal year 1918, foremen, watchmen, messengers and laborers are entitled to compensatory time for Sunday and holiday service in the same manner as regular clerks and carriers.

The postoffice appropriation act for the fiscal year 1919 provides that

In the act approved May 24, 1888, the following provision appears:

"That hereafter eight hours shall constitute a day's work for letter carriers in cities or postal districts connected therewith, for which they shall receive the same pay as is now paid for a day's work of a greater number of hours. If any letter carrier is employed a greater number of hours per day than eight, he shall be paid extra for the same in proportion to the salary now fixed by law."

In the act approved June 2, 1900, provision is made that letter carriers shall be required to work as nearly as practicable only 8 hours each day, but in any event not exceeding 48 hours during the six working days of the week, and such number of hours on Sunday, not exceeding eight, as may be required. service on Sunday to be counted as full day whether actually employed eight hours or less. If legal holiday occurs on working day, and service is performed on said day, if less than eight hours, it shall be counted as eight hours without regard to the time actually employed.

The act approved August 24, 1912, contains the 8-in-10-hour law, effective from March 4, 1913; provision is made for pro rata pay for all overtime for clerks and carriers; compensatory time to be granted for Sunday work on one of the days of the following week.

The postoffice appropriation act for the fiscal year 1917 extends the 8-in-10-hour law to special clerks.

The postoffice appropriation act for the fiscal year 1919 provides that:

"Hereafter when any employee is entitled under the law to compensatory time for Sunday or holiday service he may, if he so elects, be paid for overtime in lieu thereof."

The act of July 2, 1918, fixed the initial salary of clerks and carriers at $1,000 per annum and provided for automatic promotions of $100 per annum up to and including $1,500, the maximum grade. In different sections of the country, notably the oil and mining regions of the West and Southwest and in Alaska, it is at times impossible to procure clerks and carriers at the regular entrance salary or to retain such employees at the salaries permissible under the law. To meet these unusual conditions the department has recourse to the appropriation for unusual conditions. Several cases in point now exist in a number of towns within the Texas oil belt, notably Ranger, where the cost of living is abnormally high and ordinary laborers are paid at rates ranging from $6 to $10 When this office was advanced to a day. the second class, July 1, 1919, it became out necessary to employ clerks of the appropriation for unusual conditions and this course has been followed at several offices in other Texas oil fields. Due to the numerous unusual conditions with which the service has had to deal during recent years, the necessity for expenditures from that appropriation has gradually increased. The amount appropriated for the fiscal year 1919 was $275.000, and while only $200.000 was appropriated for the fiscal year 1920, it now appears probable that it will be necessary to request a deficiency before the end of the year.

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Guaranty Fund in Lieu of Bonds Postmasters and postal employees are required by law to furnish bonds in sufficient amount to protect the Government against losses due to embezzlements other derelictions by such postmasters and postoffice employees. In some instances the bonds are given by personal sureties, but it is the general practice to procure bonds from commercial bonding companies on the payment of annual premiums. Each bond is in a fixed amount, and as loss in excess of that specified in the bond can not be collected from the surety, the protection to the department is not adequate, and the securing, filing, verifying, and approving of the bonds as well as the examluation every two years into their sufficiency and the responsibility of the sureties as required by law, entail a vast amount of administrative expense. There is objection to this system of bonding on account of the excessive premiums collected and the labor and annoyance incident to yearly renewals.

It is believed that authority of law should be granted the Postmaster General for the establishment and maintenance of guaranty fund by assessments against

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the salaries of those officers and employees who are now required to furnish bonds. Such a fund would provide reimbursement to the Government for the entire amount of every loss regardless of the amount of the individual bond, and the assessment levied against the salaries of officers and employees would be much less than the premiums now paid. Under this plan the amounts of the bonds required of the several classes of employees and postmasters may be equalized so that each will pay an amount in proportion to the opportunity for embezzlement. It will be entirely safe to do this under the guaranty fund plan for the reason that the entire amount of the fund will be available for the reimbursement of the Government in the case of every loss.

In the interest of both Government and the employees previous recommendations for the adoption of a mutual bonding plan are earnestly renewed.

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Village Delivery

A new function known as village delivery was authorized in 1913, and at the close of that year 101 postoffices had been supplied with this service. A total of 126 carriers were employed at an average_annual compensation of $625 each. On July 1, 1919, the service was in operation at 570 offices, with 852 carriers employed at an average annual compensation of $783 each.

Free Mail Privilege

In previous reports reference has been made to the enormous amount of matter carried in the mails from which no revenue was derived. The mailings of second-class matter free in the county of publication amounted during the past fiscal year to 56,480,618 pounds, and it is estimated that the free mailings of the Congress and various Government establishments under the franking and penalty privileges were considerably in excess of this. There was, in addition, a large amount of matter mailed soldiers. free by sailors, and marines stationed abroad, by certain agricultural colleges and experiment stations, cooperative and also that pertaining to agricultural extension work, copyright matNotwithter, literature for the blind, etc. standing the enormous and constantly increasing burden thus imposed upon the postal service, there are occasional efforts to secure the free-mail privilege for other purposes. Since, as pointed out in reports heretofore, the expense incurred in handling and transporting free matter must be defrayed from the receipts from the revenue-producing mail, thus imposing a greater charge on such mail than is necessary to cover its own cost, it is not believed, in view of the interest of the general public, that there should be any further extension of the free-mail privilege.

Reference has been made in previous reports to abuses of the franking privilege which occasionally arise. The enactment of legislation such as is embodied in the printing bill now pending before Congress will go far toward confining the franking privilege to its legitimate function and reduce the amount of franked mail to a minimum.

Receipts from Postage

The receipts from postage paid on mail matter, constituting the principal source of the postal revenue, amounted during the last fiscal year to $398,582,668.13. or 91.37 per cent of the total revenues, an increase of 10.86 per cent over the postage receipts of the previous year. Mailings of second, without third, and fourth class matter stamps affixed, on which the postage was collected in money, produced $26,517.548 04 of this amount. The remainder, $372,065,120.09, was derived from the mailings of the various classes on which the postage The averwas paid by means of stamps. age per capita expenditure for postage for the year was $3.70.

The provision of the war revenue act of October 3, 1917, increasing to 3 cents an ounce or fraction thereof the rate of postage on letters and other first-class matter, except drop letters on which the rate was fixed at 2 cents an ounce or fraction thereof at all offices, and increasing the rate on postal and post cards from 1 cent to 2 cents each, was repealed by the revenue act of February 24, 1919, effective July 1, 1919,

on which date the former rates of postage on first-class matter again became applicable. The estimated additional postage collected during the fiscal year 1919 as a result of the increased postage rates on matter of the first-class amounted to $71,392,000. The total estimated amount of such additional postage collected during the entire period this provision was in effect, namely, from November 2, 1917, to June 30, 1919, was $115,892,000.

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Exclusive of the estimated postage resulting from the increase in the rate on first-class matter under the act of October 3, 1917, the postage receipts for the fiscal year 1919 amounted to $327,190,668.13, or $3.04 per capita. This increase over the fiscal year 1913 of $79,994,844.16, or 52 cents per capita. These figures strikingly illustrate the wonderful expansion of the postal service during the last six years and indicate that the postage receipts have not only kept pace with the increase in population but that the individual is making greater use of the postal facilities.

The war stamp tax on parcel post matter provided for by the act of October 3, 1917, was continued by a provision of the revenue act of February 24, 1919, under which parcels of fourth-class or parcel post matter chargeable with 25 cents or more postage are subject to a tax of 1 cent for each 25 cents postage charge or fraction thereof, such tax being payable by means of internal revenue stamps affixed to the parcels.

inspectors' force. It is true that if it were desired to use the great postal organization for partisan political purposes, the one arm of the service that could be used most effectively would be the inspectors' force, members of which are to be found in every Concongressional district in the country. sidering the very near power of life and death held in the hands of these officials over each postal employee within the terri tory falling under their jurisdiction, it can readily be seen how potential a factor the inspector could be made if those in power could bring themselves to use him for so base a purpose. Without reference to what may or may not have been done in the past, the Postmaster General when he came to the head of the postal establishment had a fixed purpose that the Department personnel should not be used for political purposes. There has been no waver from this purpose, but on the contrary it has been at all times and under all circumstances rigidly adhered to.

Inspection Service

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At the beginning of the present administration the Postmaster General found that the important position of chief postoffice inspector, which was at one time in the classified civil service, had been taken out of it by of date Executive order January 4, 1910, and a man without the postal service was given this very important assignment. The Postmaster General recommended at once that it be restored to the classified service, and under date of May 7, 1913, this administration showed its belief in the justice and propriety of recognizing merit and efficiency in the civil service by restoring the position to its former standng. The Postmaster General thereupon selected for the position a regular, classified, civil service employee, who had entered the service originally in a lowgrade position and after 25 years of meritorious and efficient work had demonstrated his fitness for the position of chief postoffice inspector.

The inspectors' force is the only arm of the postal service where it becomes necessary to know the political affiliation of those who compose it. The reasons for this will readily suggest themselves to one of thoughtful mind. The inspectors are the eyes and ears of the Postmaster General, through whom he gains substantially all knowledge of service conditions, and through whom he must receive information upon which conclusions are formed to base his action.

reports Through the inspectors come speaking as to the conduct and efficiency of thousands of postal employees, and upon which in all cases where complaint has been made the retention or dismissal of the employee depends. Frequently where complaint has been made the postal officer or employee by way of defense contends that partisanship is the sole basis thereof, and in order that there may be no chance for injustice, the practice has been to detail two inspectors of opposite political faith, so that the joint report submitted by such inspectors may make it as certain as possible that considerations of partisanship shall not enter into or control the Potmaster General in any action that he may take; hence it is quite frequently necessary to have information as to the political affiliations of the members of the

An investigation of the personnel of the inspectors' force at the beginning of the present administration disclosed that of the 395 inspectors then in the service approxi mately 90 per cent of them were not only affiliated with one particular political party but apparently had been selected from one faction of that party. Many States like Mississippi and Vermont had no representation in the inspectors' force, whereas many other States, like Indiana and Ohio, had more than their just quota of representation therein. This may have been accidental; or, it may have been the inevitable result of the continued control of one political party for a long term of years; but whatever the reason or causes that brought about this condition, it existed, as has been stated. Of course, such conditions should not be permitted to conThe Postmaster General could not with fairness to the membership of the inspectors' force effect at once a change of the conditions referred to. He reached the determination, however, that the best interests of the service required that this inspectors' force be fairly apportioned between the States, each to receive without reference to whether it was a certain or a doubtful political State its just quota, and that the whole number of inspectors should be equally divided between the political parties. Once determined upon. this policy was conscientiously adhered to and faithfully carried out. As has been stated, it could not be done at once, but as vacancies occurred through deaths, resignations, removals, and reassignment, the positions were filled in strict conformity with this policy. In order that no injustice should be done to any inspector in the force by sudden or arbitrary action, it required nearly four years before the desired result could approximately be brought about. Finally, on February 16, 1917, the President at the request of the Postmaster General issued an Executive order to the following effect:

"Hereafter, in filling vacancies in the force of postoffice inspectors, the Postmaster General shall apportion them by States, based as nearly as possible upon population as determined by the last decennial census. The force shall also be apportioned fairly between the political parties, and advancement in the service shall be based upon merit."

At the present time the inspectors' force is made up of the chief inspector and seven inspectors-in-charge who are of one political affiliation and eight inspectors-in-charge who are of another political faith. The inspectors are fairly apportioned, each State having its just quota, and they are equally divided between the political parties; thus, each inspector now knows that his promotion is dependent alone upon merit and efficiency. This policy will continue during the present administration.

Inspectors were called upon during the period of Government control of telegraph and telephone systems to investigate the causes and illegal conduct of individuals in strikes which occurred in many sections. About 90 cases covering strikes and charges of discrimination were investigated.

Cost of the War to the Post Office Department

In response to a Senate inquiry as to the cost of the war to the several departments of the Government, the report of the Post Office Department, early this year. showed that the war had entailed upon the

department an expenditure of approximately $52,766,976 above the cost of its ordinary service. These extraordinary expenditures amount in round figures to $30,000,000 from April 6, 1917, to December 31, 1918. those Obligated expenditures and estimated to June 30, 1919. the report stated, would amount to $22.679,351.

In Memoriam

Resolutions under this head 10 cents per line

David J. Gleason, Boston, Mass.

Whereas Almighty God, in His 'infinite wisdom and mercy, has removed from our midst our esteemed and beloved brother. David J. Gleason, who by his long and faithful service as a letter carrier and citizen had endeared himself to his friends and associates; and

Whereas by his death Branch 34, N. A. L. C., has lost a member whose sterling qualities, honesty of purpose, untiring efforts and energy in behalf of our association and his strict adherence to principle were an inspiration and example to his fellow members; and

Whereas he was generous to a fault, always ready and anxious to help those who needed assistance, and a man who was "strictly on the level;" therefore be

it

Resolved, That the heartfelt sympathy of our members be extended to his wife and children in their bereavement and hour of affliction; and be it further

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to his wife, a copy be spread on the minutes of our Branch, and a copy sent to the Postal Record for publication. RICHARD DALEY, DANIEL S. McCARTHY, WILLIAM H. NAGLE, Committee.

Edwin A. S. Miller, Seattle, Wash. Whereas it has pleased the Divine Creator, in His infinite wisdom, to call into other realms the spirit of our brother, Edwin A. S. Miller; and

his

Whereas all those who knew Edwin welcomed smile kindly and witty retort; whose presence is greatly missed by his fellow workers, the people whom he loved to serve, the community at large, and greatest of all, the inner circle of his beloved family, relatives and friends; therefore be it

Resolved, That the members of Branch 79, N. A. L. C., extend to the bereaved family, their relatives and friends, our most heartfelt sympathy in this hour of their sorrow: and be it further

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to Mrs. Ruth Miller, the bereaved wife of our brother, a copy sent to his beloved daughter and late postoffice employee, Mrs. Mabel McLeod, a copy spread upon our records and a copy sent to the Postal Record for publication. ARTHUR W. GORBUTT, MARION FETZ,

H. M. HOLLAND,

Committee.

Resolutions From Boston, Mass.

Whereas the Christian Science Monitor has with great earnestness and persistency advocated increased salaries for postal employees; and

Whereas such advocacy, owing to the high standing and wide circulation of this journal, has been a great factor in crowning our efforts with success; therefore be it

Resolved, That Branch 34, N. A. L. C., of Boston, Mass, in meeting assembled, tender its thanks and hearty appreciation of the work done in our behalf; and be it further

Resolved, That its treatment of labor and economic problems in general is broad and progressive, setting an example which other dailies might well follow; and be it further

Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the records of the Association, a copy sent to the Monitor and one to the Postal Record,

cent

Again the one-cent letter postage question has bobbed up. Strangely, too, it looks as if serious consideration were now being given the proposition. The Postmaster General is outspoken in advocating the idea; bills with this end in view have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, and no later than December 9, 1919, a sub-committee of the Senate Post Office Committee, Senator Sterling, chairman, favorably reported a bill after a hearing in which First Assistant Postmaster General Koons appeared as the sole witness "to make the rate of postage on all mail matter of the first class within the limits of any postoffice delivery district, one for each ounce or fraction thereof." Anyone, even though slightly familiar with postal finances, must wonder what this is all about. What is behind this movement anyway? Every other type of service and all sorts of commodities have scored from a 50 to a 100 per cent price jump in the past five years, while letter postage rates have remained the same, and now in the face of a further advance in prices, it is seriously proposed to reduce the one most profitable item of postal revenues a full fifty per cent more. What is the idea? In 1918 Postmaster General Burleson, in bitterly opposing a proposed fifteen per cent increase in postal employees' salaries above the antiquated 1907 rate base, fearfully predicted "the largest deficit in the history of the postal service" as a reason for not favoring said increase and for the same reason, in his most recent annual report, he registers an equally intense antagonism to the modest emergency wage increase recently granted by Congress because, forsooth, “if this increase should be granted by the Congress, the opinion is here expressed that the Department will at once be placed on a deficiency basis, unless there should be an unlooked for increase in postal revenue."

wage

If it means anything, the above statement means that the Post Office Department is being operated on a deficiency basis right now, and in confirmation thereof quite recently figures were quoted in the House by Congressman Black, of Texas, to prove that the postal deficit for the current fiscal year would be at least $25,000,000 and in fact might reach $50,000,000.

Yet in the face of these indisputable facts, we find the Postmaster General championing a one-cent drop letter postage rate, which he at the same time concedes may decrease postal revenues $28,000,000, and under the most favorable circumstances, is certain to entail a reduction of at least $14,000,000. Under date of October 27, 1919, in a communication to Chairman Steenerson, of the House Post Office Committee, he says in part:

"It is estimated that if no additional drop letters were mailed and the rate were reduced from 2 cents to 1, as proposed by the bill, the net decrease in revenue would be approximately $28,000,000. ** but, based on an experience gained from the reduction in the rate of postage on firstclass mail on July 1, last, there is every reason to believe that the revenues would not be reduced more than $14,000,000.”

Making a similar estimate, First Assistant Postmaster General Koons figures the loss from this source in postal revenues at $15,000,000.

For several years a nation-wide propaganda to institute a one-cent letter postage rate has been conducted by an organization known as the National One-Cent Letter Postage Association, with offices located in Cleveland, Ohio. Appealing particularly it appears to large stamp purchasers, this institution is not without abundant financial means to prosecute its work if we are to judge by the following pledge mailed to prospective members: “Being desirous of cooperating in the

efforts to secure one-cent letter postage we hereby affix our names as members of the National One-Cent Letter Postage Association, with annual dues of $10 and no further obligation of any kind, and with the privilege of withdrawing at any time."

When the rate of letter postage for reasons of taxation and on account of the war was fixed at 3 cents, this turn in affairs apparently put a crimp in the activities of this institution for the time being. But with a return to the 2-cent letter postage rate they seem to have resumed their former efforts with renewed energy. The following instance is cited to more fully explain the character of work in which they are engaged.

In September of the present year, following an investigation and a report of postal conditions in the city of Detroit, Mich., by a large committee of prominent business men, of which Mr. Homer Warren, former postmaster of Detroit, served as chairman, the following principles were unanimously agreed to by the Detroit Board of Com

merce:

"1. That the postal employees of the country should be paid a sufficient salary to retain employees in sufficient numbers and of such ability as to give efficient service to the public, and **2. That first-class postal rates should be increased in such amount as to provide the additional revenue necessary for this betterment of service."

Later in unreservedly declaring himself as favoring a 3-cent letter postage rate, Mr. Warren lays his finger on the crux of the entire situation when he offers the following answer to an argument, the purpose of which is intended chiefly to confuse, that second-class mail should pay a higher postage rate. He said, "You speak of the publishers getting too low rates. What can you or I do to change this situation? Nothing. Shall we then suffer poor service-allow the postal employees to suffer-rather than to pay what is a reasonable postal rate ourselves (for a 3-cent fare is a reasonable rate) ?"

Evidently information concerning the action taken by the Detroit Board of Commerce must have shortly reached the officials of the One-Cent Letter Postage Association, as two circular letters dated October 27 and 30, respectively, addressed "TO OUR DETROIT MEMBERS," followed in turn, and in these communications a painful effort is seemingly made to prove to the Detroit business men that a reduction of postage rates will increase the sum total of postal revenues, and contrariwise, an increase of letter postage to 3 cents would certainly result in a decrease of the aggregate postal receipts. Ingeniously directing attention to the proposed increase in letter postage as favored by the Detroit Board of Commerce, this circular in question offers the following specious argument:

"This indicates that should the action of your committee be enacted into law (which it stands of no earthly chance being), the revenue of the Department would be DECREASED rather than INCREASED."

This incident is related simply to reveal the mental urge actuating the officials of the One-Cent Letter Postage Association. How much farther these efforts have extended or to what ends they may have gone can, of course, only be conjectured, but it is quite certain that a widespread plan to establish the one-cent letter postage rate, whether the people want it or not, is taking shape, and as the adoption of such rate must inevitably work decided injury to both the postal service and the employees, it is well that all the facts should be known, nor should there be any misapprehension of exactly what will follow if this propaganda is successful.

Readily understood is the general sub

ject of postal finances. There need be nothing involving or perplexing about it. Postal receipts, on the present basis, increase on an average about six per cent each succeeding year. Rather an easy matter it is, therefore, to anticipate annual postal revenues. On the other hand, postal expenditures can be divided in practically two items-mail transportation and salaries-and consequently it is just as simple to anticipate the sum total of prospective postal expenditures. If postage rates are reduced with a subsequent loss in revenues, then to avoid a postal deficit, the difference must be taken out of the salaries of the postal employees. There is no other way.

If, as in this instance, where it is proposed to institute one-cent drop letter postage, then this action, under even the existing low postal wage scale, would mean a postal deficit of at least $40,000,000. This sum would, of course, have to be drawn out of funds in the United States Treasury and at a time when the Government is confronted with the disquieting possibility of having to submit another bond issue to the people for the purpose of paying its ordinary financial obligations. The result can be imagined better than described.

Should such a considerable postal deficit at such a time come to pass, it would indeed be calculated to arouse public resentment; the cry would go up that the postoffice was losing money, and everybody and everything in connection therewith would naturally suffer in consequence. How anyone can consistently and deliberately advocate a policy of reducing postage rates when such reduction would be certain to imperil the good repute of the postal service, is something beyond understanding. As it is, postage rates are now the one low priced item in the people's expenditures and, in fact, estimating present rates on a 1913 price basis, the patrons of the service are in fact enjoying a one-cent letter postage now.

But why muddy the waters anyhow? As a general policy and on one principle, everybody concerned seems to agree the Post Office Department should be made as nearly self-sustaining as practicable. Furthermore, the people should be accorded excellent postal facilities; the railroads should be fairly treated; the postal employees should be properly compensated. Setting down these basic facts, it is not a difficult matter to anticipate the approximate amount required to run the Post Office Department for a year. With this total in mind, there is then but one other thing to do and that is to fix a rate of postage sufficiently adequate to pay operating expenses. It is sheer folly to confuse the situation in talking about a just rate for the different classes of mail and in doing so to lose sight of the fundamental facts as here set forth. It costs money to operate the Post Office Department, and if postage rates are inadequate, then the difference must come out of the United States Treasury or the burden placed upon the backs or taken from the pockets of the postal employees.

occurs

on

Let us talk plain. The Post Office Department can not be run on a self-sustaining basis with a 1-cent drop letter postage rate, unless there an unexpected and altogether improbable advance in other rates of postage, let the Postmaster General contract and squeeze the service as he may. Moreover, the Post Office Department, under similar circumstances, can not without a reduction in postal wages, be run a self-sustaining basis with 2-cent letter postage. Instead of being reduced, the rates of postage should be increased, and as there is utterly no demand on the part of the people for a 1-cent letter postage rate now, just as certainly would they approve an increase in such rates when the need thereof was set before them. EDW. J. GAINOR, National President.