0t\a gorb 6>tatt College of Agriculture at Cornell ©nibersitp itbaca. ^. S- Hibrarj* RURAL FREE DELIVERY, ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT. EXTRACTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL PERRY S. HEATH FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1899. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFlicE. 18 99, Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924013928266 RURAL FREE DELIVERY, ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT. EXTRACTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL PERRY S. HEATH FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1899. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1S99. RURAL FREE DELIVERY. There has been nothing in the history of the postal service of the United States so remarkable as the growth of the rural free delivery system. Within the past two years, largely by the aid of the people themselves, who, iu appreciation of the helping hand which the Gov- ernment extended to them, have met these advances halfway, it has implanted itself so firmly upon postal administration that it can no longer be considered in the light of an experiment, but has to be dealt with as an established agency of progress, awaiting only the action of the Congress to determine how rapidly it shall be developed. The facts hereinafter set forth, with some elaboration of detail which the importance of the subject seems to me to warrant, will demon- strate — That the free delivery of mails in rural communities can be widely extended with great benefit to the people and with little cost to the revenue. That whenever the system has been judiciously inaugurated, with a sincere purpose to make it a success, it has been followed by these beneficial results: I. Increased postal receipts. More letters are written and received. More newspapers and magazines are subscribed for. So marked is this advancement that quite a number of rural routes already pay for them- selves by the additional business they bring. II. Enhancement of the value of farm lands reached by rural free delivery. This increase of value has been estimated at as high as $5 per acre in some States. A moderate estimate is from $2 to $3 per acre. III. A general improvement of the condition of the roads traversed by the rural carrier. In the Western States especially the construction of good roads has been a prerequisite to the establishment of rural free delivery service. In one county iu Indiana a special agent reports that the farmers incurred an expense of over $2,600 to grade and gravel a road in order to obtain rural free delivery. IV. Better prices obtained for farm products, the producers being brought into daily touch with the state of the markets, and thus being enabled to take advantage of information heretofore unattainable V. To these material advantages maybe added tlie educational bene- fits conferred by relieving the monotony of farm life through ready access to wholesome literature, and the keeping of all rural residents the young people as well as their elders, fully informed as to the stirring li REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 75 events of the day. The moral value of these civilizing iulluciicos can not be too highly rated. EARLY DIFFICULTIES. Yet the service has had its trials to overcome. Surrounded at its birth by uulavorable auspices the path of rural free delivery was not a happy one. It was condemned by the House Oommittce on the Post- Offlce and PostKoads of the Fifty third Cougrtvss (Hon. John S. Hen- derson, of North Carolina, chairman) as a scheme impossible of execu- tion, which "would require an appropriation of at least ;S1!(),000,000 to inaugurate it." Postmaster-General William S. Bissell, in his report for 1893, con- curred in the opinion of First Assistant Postmaster-General Frank H. Jones, that "the Department would not be warranted in burdening the people with such a great expense." In his annual, report for 1894 Postmaster-General Bissell declined to expend the small appropriation of $10,000 made by Congress to test the feasibility of the scheme, stating that "the proposed plan of rural free delivery, if adopted, would result in an additional cost to the peoj^le of about §20,000,000 for the drst year," and that he did not believe the people were yet ready to involve themselves in such a large expenditure for the purpose. When Congress increased the appropriation for a test to $20,000 in 1895, Postmaster-General William L. Wilson adopted the views of his predecessor, Mr. Bissell, and of the House Committee on the Post Office and Post-Eoads, that the plan of establishing rural free delivery was wholly impracticable. He added that he had assumed control of the Department too late in the fiscal year to take any action under the appropriation, but, should Congress see fit to make it available for the current year, he would put the experiment ordered to the test by the best methods he could devise. Congress made $40,000 available, and in 189(i Postmaster-General Wilson, with many expressed misgivings, put the seivice to the test, saying that he had taken care "to choose territory widely divergent in physical features, and in the occupation and density of its population." ORIGINAL RURAL SERVICE. The forty-four "widely divergent" routes selected for the experiment by Postmaster-General Wilson were located in twenty-nine States. In order of date of their establishment, they were as follows : October 1, 1896: Halltown, U villa, and Charlestowu, W. Va. October 15, 1896: Hartsville and Hope, Ind.; Collinsville, Darrtown, Elba, and Somerville, Ohio; Westminster, Md,, and Cairo, Mo. October 19, 1896: Clarksville, Ark. October 22, 1896: Palmyra, Va. October 2.:!, 1896: China Grove, N. 0. October 26, 1896: Bonner Springs, Kana. November 1, 1896: Thibodcaux, La. November 2, 1896: Bernardstown and Greenfield, Mass. November 7, 1896: Tecuniseh, Nebr. November 10, 1896: Loveland, Colo., and Morning Sun, Iowa. November 16, ISitO: Sun Prairie, Iowa. November 23, 1896: Gorham, Naples, aud Sabago Lake, Me., and Orange, Mass. 76 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. November 24, 1896: New Stanton and Eufifsdale, Pa., and Tempe, Ariz. November 25, 1896 : North Deering, Me. December 1, 1896 : South Deerfield, Mass. December 3, 1896: Climax, Mich. December 7, 1896 : Opelika, Ala., and Brunswick, Me. December 8, 18Q6 : Quitman, Ga. December 10, 1896: Auburn, III. December 21, 1896: Grand Isle, Vt., and Lancaster, Pa. January 1, 1897: Farmington, Minn.; AUensville, Ky., and Atoka, Tenn. February 1, 1897 : CampbeU, Oal. AprU 1, 1897: North Takima, Wash. HOW THE SEBVIOE WAS STARTED. All the details in regard to the installation of the service were placed in the hands of oflicers of the "Division of Post-Oftice Inspection and Mail Depredations." In order to perform this unwelcome and unappre- ciated service the inspectors were detached from other i^ressing duties, upon the successful performance of which (under the regulations of their division), their advancement in rank and pay to some extent depended. It is but just to say that they did the best they could under the circum- stances. But they were hampered by orders which left them no discre- tion. They were instructed to start experimental tests of rural delivery in specifically named localities, no matter whether the conditions seemed to them favorable or otherwise. Some of tliem became impressed with the idea that the locations assigned them had been chosen to show that rural free delivery was not desired and was impossible of execution. The inspector who started service over three routes from Cairo, Mo., for example, reported officially that he had "labored under serious dis- advantages," arising from the instructions of the Department and the slowness of appreciation on thepartof the patrons, who, he said, "have only just begun to realize that it is unnecessary to wait until it is con- venient to visit the post-office before replying to their correspondents." The three routes which he started accommodated barely 400 patrons. After the service passed under my charge the monthly reports from Cairo continued to be so unsatisfactory that in June last I ordered a reorganization of the territory. This was eflected under an agent spe- cially employed for rural free delivery work. He made two routes out of the original three, struck out all portions of the routes which led to impassable roads, and added new territory where the roads were good, 80 as to give a larger number of patrons on the two routes than were formerly served by the three. I am glad to state that the Cairo rural free-delivery service is now showing good results and is appreciated by the people. The amount of mail handled is increasing and the delivery will soon pay its way. At AUensville, Todd County, Ky., the service started by a post-office inspector, had three carriers in a county without turnpike roads, town- ship divisions, or a county map. Nobody wanted it. Many of the lead- ing farmers on the routes had business which took them daily into the town of AUensville, on the Louisville and Nashville Eailway, where they received their mail at the post-offlce, and some of them were con- nected with the town by telephone. The rest of the population con- sisted chiefly of colored people, many of whom were unable to read or REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 77 write. The service was an wnwelcoine gift and au einbai lassment to tliose upon wliom it was imposed without their solicitation. It cost the first year within a fraction of 4 cents for every piece of mail handled. At the beginning of the present fiscal year it was ordered discontinued by my direction. Another inspector who, under instructions from the Department, laid out a route from Hartsville, Bartholomew County, Ind., reported that no successful test of rural free delivery could be made in that district without the discontinuance of the Kugby postofHce. In regard to the character of the people living ou the line of the prescribed route, he wrote : I find that they are not demanding free delivery of their mail; their correspond- ence is largely serial in its nature, and a question of a day or two in the delivery cuts no figure with tliem. While a majority of the farmers take weekly papers, and some take magazines, but few take daily papers, and only those residing near post-offices. It will, therefore, be seen that the quantity, nature, and importance of the average farmer's mail is not such as to make rural free delivery an essential. Under these unfavorable auspices, and with the Eugby post-office in ftiU operation, rural free delivery was started from Hartsville. After it had been in existence a month the postmaster, in reply to (juestions addressed to him by First Assistant Postmaster-General Jones, replied that only one person had changed his address to Hartsville to get the benefit of the service and that the amount of mail handled had not increased. A month later he again reported that the carrier was trav- eling 24 miles a day to serve 38 persons. At the end of tlio fiscal year 1897, the cost of rural free delivery from Hartsville was found to average more than 6J cents for every piece of mail handled, and I ordered the service discontinued. Subsequently, at the urgent request of leading citizens, a special agent was sent to look over the ground and select some route from Hartsville which would give a practicable and econom- ical service, and I am gratified to state that since August 15, 1S99, rural free delivery has been conducted from that point with marked success. During the first month of the reorganized service 2,538 pieces of mail were delivered and collected, thus reducing the percentage of cost from 6.34 cents to 1.28 cents. Delivery of the rural mails from Quitman, Ga., cost 4.09 cents per piece for the first year of its establishment; Halltown, W. Va., 3.32 cents; Uvilla, W. Va., 3.32 cents; Atoka, Tenn., 2.93 cents; Tecumseh, Nebr., 2.81 cents; Clarksville, Ark., 2.72 cents; Palmyra, Va., 2.64 cents, and other services proved equally costly. But there were some of the original routes which were so well placed and gave such immediate satisfaction to the people that their merits could not be obscured. Bernardstown and Greenfield, Mass., Camp- bell, Cal., Lancaster, Pa., Loveland, Colo., and Tempe, Ariz., came to the front, and with greatly diverging conditions, demonstrated clearly that rural firee delivery judiciously inaugurated could be made less expensive and more nearly self-sustaining than the urban free delivery service established in many of the smaller cities under authority of Congress. It thus was made evident that the expansion of rural free delivery would only be a question of time. HOW THE SERVICE GREW. When I had the honor to enter upon the duties of First Assistant Postmaster-General, in March, 1897, the operations in connection with the establishment of rural free delivery had attracted so little attention 78 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. that it was almost with surprise I learned that there was such an experi- ment in progress and that Congress had made an appropriation ol $50,000 to give it a further test. An examination of the reports on me led to the conclusion that great possibilities of social, industrial, ana educational development lay behind the ])rojected extension ot postal facilities in rural communities, and that with proper care in the selection of localities, the service could be extended far and wide, with great benefit to the people and without any serious tax upon the revenues ot the Government, inasmuch as the incre.-ise of postal business which had hitherto followed the granting of additional postal facilities in every well-selected rural route, would go far toward the payment of the extra expense incurred, while the discontinuance of unneeessiiry post offices and star routes would in many cases make the improved service a source of saving instead of added outlay. It was, of course, apparent that no accurate balance sheet of profit and loss could immediately be struck, inasmuch as no account could be kept of the saving effected by dispensing with the offices of postmasters of the fourth class, who are authorized by law to retain all their receipts up to the limit of $1,000. Their receipts do not appear in the post office returns. They are perquisites of the postmasters, to which they cling with natural tenacity. When, under the operations of rural free delivery, their cancellations are turned into the general postal revenues, the serv- ice thus rendered becomes an item of cost charged ag'ainst the rural- free-delivery appropriation, but the saving effected can not be credited to that account. In like manner, star route service dispensed with makes a net saving to the Government, but goes to the credit of another branch of the service, as star-route contractors are i)aid under an appro- priation not supervised by the First Assistant Postmaster-General. INITIATING THE NEW SERVICE. Petitions from every section of the country where the service had been given a fair trial began to pour in upon the Department. Special agents were appointed to look into the claims presented and to lay out services wherever the conditions seemed favorable to an economical and successful administration. Such good results were obtained that Con- gress, responding to the demand of the people, appropriated $ 150,000 for rural tree delivery for the fiscal year 1897-98 and gave $300,000 for the same purpose for the current fiscal year. The requests for the service multiplied like an endless chain, every new rural delivery route established bringing in three or more applications from contiguous ter- ritory for like privileges, and before four months of the present fiscal year had expired the appropriation was found to have been practically apportioned out. That is to say, the existing service, if continued to the close of the fiscal year, would require the disbursement of the whole amount appropriated by Congress. As I did not deem myself authorized to create a deficiency, even in so popular and important a work of postal development, a halt was rehictantly called in the installation of new rural free delivery service to await the further directions of the Congress. REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 79 On the Ist of November, 1899, rural free delivery was in successful operation from 383 distributing points radiating over 40 Stak's and 1 Territory, as follows: Alabama 1 Arkansas 1 Arizona 1 California 11 Colorado 5 Connecticut 6 Delaware -1 Florida 1 Georgia 4 Illinois 17 Indiana 14 Iowa 2;^ Kansas 17 Kentucky ..... 2 Louisiana 1 Maine 7 Maryland 10 Massacliusetts 11 Michigan 15 Minnesota 7 Missouri 12 Nebraska 3 Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, and Wyoming were the only States unrepresented. New Hampshire 5 New Jersey 7 New York 24 North Carolina... 1 North Dakota 3 Ohio 49 Oregon 3 Pennsylvania 15 Rhode Island 5 South Carolina ■. 21 South Dakota 2 Tennessee 6 Te.Kas 2 Utah 1 Vermont 6 Virginia 4 Washington 1 West Virginia 7 Wisconsin 15 383 COST OF THE NEW SERVICE ESTABLISHED. Between the beginning of the new fiscal year, July 1, 1899. and the 1st of November, 1899, when the additional appropriation of 8 130,000, granted for extension of the rural free delivery service pre\ iously established (which became available on the 1st of July, 1S99), was found to be exhausted, new service was established as follows: states. California Colorado Counecticut Delawiire niinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Maine Maryland Massachusetts . . Michigan Minnesota Missouri New Hampshire Number of routes. Population served. 4,100 2,525 1,700 1,000 8,680 18, 307 11, 791 12, 882 3,000 1,500 1,600 1,850 10, 725 6,410 4,528 14, 025 Stat«s. New Jersey . . . New York Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania . Rhode Island. - South Cainlina South Dakota . Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont West Virginia Wisconsin Total.... Number of routes. 243 Population served. 565 8,535 26, 040 1,490 11,216 3,630 1,200 6K0 2,400 1,435 2,000 1,800 750 14, 167 179, 131 It will thus be seen that with an additional expenditure of $150,000 rural free delivery has been extended to nearly 180,000 persons, at an annual cost of about 84 cents per capita. No account is taken in this estimate of the great increase of postal receipts (averaging from 50 to 75 per cent), which always follows the establishment of rural delivery, nor is any reduction made for the cost of fourth-class post offices and star routes practically superseded by the new service, which have been or might be discontinued. 80 EEPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT P08TMASTER-GENEEAL. OITT AND RURAL DBLITERY CONTRASTED. These figures make a most favorable showing when compared with the cost of free delivery service in the smaller cities, many of which, wlien, by reason of gross receipts aggregating $10,000 per annum, they fall within the free delivery service, have a population not exceeding 5,000. Three carriers (the usual number) assigned to cities of this class, at a salary of $600 per annum, make the cost of the delivery $2.80 per capita, with no very great increase to be expected in the postal receipts, because of the slight additional accdmmodation afforded. It is a small matter to a resident of a town to be saved a walk of a few hundred yards to the postofflce. This point is emphasized by the fact that in all large cities many leading merchants prefer to rent a post-office box and send for their letters after the distribution of each mail. The resident of one of the minor cities supplied with free delivery will write and receive very few additioual letters because he is saved the necessity of a short walk to the post-office. On the other hand, it is a great accommodation to the farmer to be spared a drive of 5 or 10 miles over country roads to get his mail, and he answers his letters more promptly than he other- wise would have done, and writes more letters when he finds he has only to drop them into a box at his fence corner, and they will be col- lected and transmitted. City delivery was initiated primarily to relieve the post-offices, it being manifestly impossible for the postmaster to deliver the mails of ten thousand or more people through the post-office window. Eural free delivery has for its main purpose the advancement and education of the people and to bring the postal service within their reach. Even in the most favored rural districts there is no service that approaches in completeness the house-to-house delivery of the cities. The recipients of the rural mail have to provide boxes and place them at convenient places along the line of road traversed by the rural carrier, so that he can deposit and collect the mails, if need be, without alighting from his buggy. Frequently, as shown in the photographs herewith repro- duced, seven or eight neighborhood boxes are grouped together like a lot of beehives at a crossroad corner, and the people living in houses perhaps half a mile or more back from the road watch for the daily passing of the carrier and come to the crossroad to collect or deposit their mails. But even this is so much better than the long ride to the post-office in all kinds of weather, on the mere chance that there may be some mail awaiting them, and the time consumed in watching for the carrier and sending one of the children, it may be, down to the letter box to get the mail, is so much less than that which would be occupied in hitching up a horse and driving to town, and the saving of labor in the busy season is so important an item to the frugal industrious agricul- turist that rural free delivery is generally spoken of in the communities where it has been tried as the greatest boon the Grovernment has ever conferred upon them. One Missouri farmer calculated that in the last fifteen years he had driven 12,000 miles going to and from his post- office to get his mails, all of which travel is now saved him by rural free delivery. Some earnest advocates of rural free delivery recently engaged in a public discussion of the question in Pennsylvania, estimated that every farmer not served by rural free delivery went at least once or twice a week to the nearest post-office for his mail, and occupied on an average one-third of a working day on the trip. Taking the value of the time thus lost in the busy farming season at only 50 cents a head, they were REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 81 amazed at the magnitude of their own figures, wliich ran up into many millions of dollars lost to the productive agricultural interests through the necessity imposed upon them by the Government of sending to the village post-office for their mails. HOW RURAL SERVICE IS ESTABLISHED. With the enormous increase of applications for the establishment or extension of the rural free-delivery service which descended upon the Department with the increased appropriation, it became necessary to formulate some fixed rules to control the applicants and also the special agents sent out to investigate and report upon their applications. It was found to be no longer practicable to detiill a special agent at the request of a member of Congress to go over his district and select and map out some suitable route or routes for the inauguration of service. Directions were therefore issued that all service must be originated upon petitions presented by the people desiring it, through Eepreseuta tives in Congress or Senators. A requirement was made that whenever practicable, a rough map should be furnished of the country to be traversed, accompanied by a general statement as to the number and avocations of the people to be served. Special agents were instructed that, as a rule, where good roads prevailed no rural route should be less than 2.1 miles in length, and that no route ought to be started where the roads were not graveled or macadamized. It was further required that there should be not less than 100 fami- lies within easy reach of each route, and a careful proviso was inserted that rural free delivery must not be made a mere iidjunct to city deliv- ery by giving a suburban service to residents within 2 or 3 miles of a post office in a city in which rural free delivery prevails. It was also stated that while so many farming communities far removed from mail facilities were asking for rural service once a day, or even three times a week, and their wishes could not be complied with under the existing appropriation, it was not the policy of the Depart- ment to authorize two deliveries a day by rural carrier anywhere, unless the circumstances were very extraordinary. Special agents were cautioned that they had no authority to lay out a rural route without previous instructions ; that their authority ceased when they had mapped out the proposed routes and bonded the car- riers; and that no route must be started without explicit written instructions from the Department. When an order is issued for the establishment of a rural route the postmaster is advised of the length and boundaries of the routes which the carriers must follow. He is informed that the carriers are under his control, and that it is his duty to report any dereliction of duty on their part; that their pay will be $400 per annum, which includes horse hire, but not actual tolls and ferriages; that they will be paid monthly by warrants issued directly from the Treasury Department, upon vouchers approved by him, and that when a regular carrier is absent or disabled and a recognized bonded substitute (no other being allowed) performs duty in his place, the warrant will still be made out in the name of the regular carrier, who must arrange his own terms of compensating his substitute. The postmaster is especially directed to see that the boxes put up by the patrons of the delivery shall be of a proi^er character. 82 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL, COOPERATION OF POSTMASTERS. In enforciug this latter requirement the postmasters of the distribut- ing offices have recently been rendering the Department valuable service. Most of them on being informed of the intention to start a rural service from their ofSce have at their own expense distributed cir- culars along the line of the proposed route, reading substantially as follows : RURAL FREE MAIL DELIVERY. Rural free mail delivery will be inaugurated at [name of town], on [datej. The route will be as follows: [Here is inserted a full description of the route.] Mail will be delivered to any family on or adjacent to the above route. Tree of all cost, provided only that a suitable box to receive the mail is put up directly on the above route, in a place that can be conveniently reached by Ihe carrier without alighting from his buggy. No mail will be delivered unless a box is provided to receive it. It will be noticed that the carrier has a daily drive of about 25 miles, and it is hoped that patrons will not delay him on the route unless it is necessary. .Stamps and postal cards may be purchased of the carrier, but it is advised that a supply of these be kept on hand, as he has not time to wait while you write your cards and letters. It is the duty of the patrons who appreciate the service to see that roads are kept in good condition and that the following reqnest of the First Assistant Postmaster- General in regard to boxes be complied with: " It is particularly desired by the Department that the boxes put up by the patrons of the delivery shall be of such a character as to be secure, not only from the weather, but from mischievous or malieious depredation. The United States mail should not be deposited in any but an appropriate receptacle, properly labeled and protected." Watch the carrier and see what time he arrives at your house every day. The time will vary but little from cuie day to another. Get your mail out of the box as Boon as possiiile after he leaves it. Tack a red cloth on the inside of your mail box, and when you have mail for the carrier to collect pull the cloth out ao he can see it. Mail to be sent to the ofBce should be placed in your box where the earner can get it when he leaves your mail. He will not stop for mail unless you have the signal out. Strict attention to the above rules will do a great deal to facilitate the service and make it popular and efficient. To insure prompt delivery all mail should be addressed "Rural Route No. " (name of distributing office). [Signature of postmaster.] SOME MODEL RURAL ROUTES. At Lafayette, Ind., the postmaster and the carriers seem to have vied with each other in their efforts to establish a model rural free delivery service. The rural carriers are governed by the same rules as the carriers of the city delivery service; they wear the same uuiform, provided at their own cost, and each has furnished himself with a special-delivery wagon with "U. S. Mail," "Eural Delivery Eoute No. — , Lalayette,''' painted on the front and sides. Each wagon has a sliding door at the sides with a glass front, and is fitted up with pigeonholes, in which the carrier sorts his mail as he goes along. There is also a contrivance for heating the wagon in cold weather. All the boxes along the routes are of galvanized iron, of uniform size, painted, and closely resemblino- in appearance the regulation boxes used in cities, and are nailed on posts of such height as to bring them to a level with the postal wagon As he drives up alongside the box the carrier opens his sliding door and drops the mail in the box, at the same time raising a zinc signal which is riveted to the box. If there is any mail for him to collect he A FENCE CORNER AT SIDNEY, OHIO. RURAL DELIVERY AT VICTORIA, ILL. Ililu ll RURAL CARRIER AMONG THE BLIZZARDS, AT BOWLING GREEN OHin THERMOMETER TWENTY DEGREES BELOW ZERO REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 83 finds this signal raised ; if he has none to deliver in return he turns the signal down. If the signal is not raised and he has no mail to deliver at that box he drives by without stopping. Bach carrier has a whistle with which he signals the owners of the boxes in case they live some distance away, so as to let them know he is coming with his mail. At one point on rural route No. 1, 12 miles northwest of Lafayette, there are eight boxes grouped together. The accompanying photo- graph shows the neighborhood gathered at tbe crossroads to receive their mails. All these people live about a half mile from the store in different directions. There is a similar crowd waiting for the carrier every day. At Crawfordsville, Ind., the rural carriers also wear the regulation uniform, and on each of the five routes a delivery wagon, provided by the carrier himself, similar in construction to tliose at Lafayette, is used. The photograph reproduced shows one of the carriers at work upon his route. At Hedrick, Iowa, where the service has only been started about three months the mail carrier has had a handsome delivery wagon specially built, with side doors, pigeonholes, and other appliances, which is also illustrated by photograph. VARIETIES AND VICISSITUDES OF THE SEEVIOE. The appended illustrations of rural service on routes in Missouri, Indiana, Arizona, Louisiana, Illinois, and Ohio, afford glimpses of the diversity of the service; its smooth places and its rustic ruggedness, and to some extent, at least, of the hardships which in all extremities of weather the carriers cheerfully undergo. Even during the severe blizzards of last winter the occasions were very rare when the carriers failed to make their rounds over the most difficult mountain roads. On at least two routes there are girl carriers, and they are as unflag- ging in their devotion to the service as the men, and as etiicient. Instances have been very few where rural carriers have been reported for misconduct or inefficiency. They give bond in the sum of $500 for the faithful performance of their duties. No case has yet occurred where the Department has been required to call upon their bondsmen. Under present regulations the carriers give receipts for money orders, and, if their patrons desire it, can inclose and mail these orders after they have obtained them. I am informed that directions will shortly be issued by the Third Assistant Postmaster-General, empowering rural carriers to receive and receipt for letters for registration just as city carriers do. At present they deliver registered packages, but are not authorized to receive such packages for registration. SECURITY OF THE MAIL BOXES. The question of the inviolability of the mail boxes placed upon the rural free delivery routes is one that has commanded earnest attention. In the early days of the service, when neither Congress nor th^ Post- OfBce Department, as then organized, held out any hope that rural free delivery would prove more than a transitory experiment, extreme care- lessness was manifested as to the kind of receptacles put up as rural free delivery boxes. Tomato cans, cigar boxes, drainage pipes up ended, soap boxes, and even sections of discarded stovepipe were used as mail boxes, and were frequently placed in hedge rows or other inconvenient spots out of reach of the carrier. 84 REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. Systematic eflorts have been made during the past year to remedy this defect. Eural carriers have been ordered to report to the post- master the names of all the patrons of their delivery who have not put up secure and respectable looking boxes, and to all of these persons a noti- fication has been sent that unless they comply with the requirements of the Department within a given time rural tree delivery may be with- drawn from them and conferred upon some more appreciative commu- nity. These admonitions I have no doubt will have their proper effect in most instances. Where continued neglect is shown in this essential particular it is my purpose to order the transfer of the service to one of the many other localities earnestly seeking it and willing to make sacrifices to obtain it. The accompanying photographs illustrate two extremes in the kind of boxes supplied. One appears to be simply an old feed box without any protection from the weather or any immunity from depredation. The other is a well-devised lock box of iron with two compartments, one for the reception of the mail, the other for its delivery, and with an auto- matic contrivance which raises either a red or white flag to indicate when there is mail to be collected or when there has been mail delivered. Satisfactory rural free delivery boxes have been devised in great variety and put in operation in various parts of the country, ranging in price from 50 cents to $4 and $5 each. A box made at South Bend, Ind., of galvanized iron, 15 inches long, 6^ inches wide, and 6^ inches high, properly painted and lettered, and in every way suitable, is furnished, delivered at the cars, for 60 cents. The Department simply expects security and appropriateness for the service. THE GOVERNMENT TO FURNISH BOXES. I respectfully suggest that it would be good policy for the Depart- ment to adopt, after advertising for proposals, some uniform style of mail box for the rural free delivery service, with two compartments, one for collection and one for delivery, with one master key for the carrier to open the collection compartments of all the boxes and a separate key for the delivery compartment to be furnished to each patron of the delivery; these boxes to be put up and kept in repair by the Post- Office Department, and to be rented to the patrons of the rural free delivery service at some moderate price, which would not only pay the Government interest on its investment but yield a revenue. The Government now supplies furniture to postofBces in cities, and charges a rental for the use of boxes, which rental ranges from 15 cents to 50 cents a quarter for call boxes and from 25 cents to $4 a quarter for lock boxes. Why should not a similar plan be put in operation by authority of Congress in the rural delivery service ? One great advantage which would result from its adoption would be that it would throw around all the mail boxes in the rural service the undisputed protection of the United States laws and enable the Department to promptly punish malicious damage or depredation. It is a question now whether mails placed in the ordinary rural letter boxes for collection or delivery fall within the provisions of sections 1423 and 1424 of Postal Laws and Regulations, which prescribe penal-' ties for mahcious injuries to letter boxes or destruction of mail matter deposited therein. On the one hand, letters placed in such boxes for collection have not yet reached the custody of postal authorities- on the other hand, letters placed in such boxes by the carrier for delivery RURAL BOX, AS IT SHOULD NOT BE, AT MAGNOLIA ILL RURAL BOX WITH AUTOMATIC SIGNAL FLAG, AS IT SHOULD BE, AT HILLSDALE, SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CAL. Scale.: i inch^ y mile.. RURAL FREE t)ELlVEEY WEST CHESTE R PA. REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 85 have left the custody of the postal authorities and have not yet reached the owners. All uncertainity on these points would be removed if the boxes were provided by the Government. Bach would then be a min- iature post-ofl&ce, and persons guilty of malicious molestation or theft would clearly be amenable to the penalties prescribed by the laws of the United States. HOW THE BUBAL SERTIOB OAN BE MADE TO PAT. As a practical illustration of how rural free delivery, when carefully established, can be made self-supporting, the following tabulated state- ment has been prepared: Summary of rural free delivery at West Chester, Chester County, Pa., six aarriert, January to September, inclusive. 1899. Delivered. Collected. Total Average per car- rier. Jannary ... February . . Slarch April May June July Anguat September . Total 2,468 6,353 7,907 8,985 20,882 23,145 18, 602 16, 621 U, 610 11, Ml 18, 852 23,861 25, 016 38, 945 42, 793 37, 200 38, 213 38,887 ] 19, 668 275, 468 1,933 3,142 3,977 4,169 6,491 7,132 6,200 6,369 6,481 B, 099 This service was instituted January 1, 1899. No post-offices or star routes were discontinued. Two fourth-class post-offices have ceased to exist in consequence of their patrons being supplied by rural delivery. The cost of the service for the nine months it has been in existence has been $1,800. A fair estimate of the value of the postage on matter collected is 2 cents per piece, amounting on the 119,668 pieces collected to $2,393.36, thus not only paying for the service but leaving a balance of $593.36, after affording the people a much appre- ciated free delivery and collection service which they had not hereto- fore possessed. If it had not been for the rural collection service, practically all the above sum would have been absorbed by fourth-class postmasters, and the people would have been compelled to send to West Chester or some other office for the 155,805 pieces of mail deliv- ered without charge almost at their doors. The thoroughness with which the district adjacent to West Chester has been covered by rural free delivery is shown in the accompanying map. The success of the rural service in Washington County, Pennsyl- vania, has been equally remarkable. .^. ^ i,t t. i 4. i The rural carrier at Owosso, Mich., in the month of March last col- lected and delivered 8,621 pieces of mail. From November, 1898, to September, 1899, a period of eleven months, this earner delivered and collected a total of 88,992 pieces, an average of 8,090 a month. This service cost the Government $366, or a little over two-fifths ot a cent for each piece of mail handled. , , ., ^- ^^• x. a vv From Concord, N. H., rural free delivery had been established, with seven carriers, only twenty- one days in September of this year, when the postmaster reported 21,000 pieces of mail handled, and an estimate was made that over 12,000 persons were served by the deUvery. 86 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. These results were obtained in spite of a duplication of service by star-route contractors over several of the routes, which the First Assist- ant Postmaster General was unable to adjust for reasons elsewhere stated. The changes recommended in the service from Concord, and not as yet carried into effect, are set forth in a letter addressed by the post- master of that city to Senator Chandler, a copy of which has been transmitted to this office as follows: United States Post-Office, Concord, N. H., Octoher 26, 1S99. In answer to your oral qnestion of yesterday in reference to the needs of our local rural free-delivery system, I have to say that it is generally very prosperous indeed, but I would respectfully recommend the following changes : Route No. 1, Sopkinton. — The star-route service between this office and the Hop- kinton post-oflBce should be discontinued, and messenger service between the Con- toocook railway station and the Hopkinton post-office should be substituted in its stead. Contoocook is only about 3 miles from Hopkinton, while we are C or 7 miles from the post-office there. The rural mail carrier on the route should carry the mail that comes here for that office. Two men over the road between here and there are unnecessary. The Diamond Hill post-office should be abolished. lioute Ko. H, Dunbarlon. — The North Bow post-office has been abolished, but the mail heretofore sent there should go to Concord, instead of North Dnnbarton, as recently ordered. The North Dunbarton post-oiiBce should be abolished, and the star route between Concord and Dunbarton Center should be discontinued. Mail for the Dunbarton office should be taken by the rural carrier from here. Boute No. 3, Boio Center. — The Bow Center post-office and the Bow Mills post- office should be abolished. The East Dunbarton post-oflice was abolished, but Wes- ley P. Stone was subsequently appointed postmaster there, but upon the extension of our rural service he declined to accept the trust as unnecessary. The star route between Concord and East Dunbarton is also unnecessary, as the rural carrier should take the mail to those post-offices. Route No. 6, Loudon. — The star service between Concord and Loudon Eidge post- office should be abolished. The postmaster at Loudon Eidge has just resigned, recommending the discontinuance of her office upon the ground that the rural deliv- ery supplies siifficient accommodation for that community, and the mail should be carried by the rural carrier from London. As long as these fourth-class postmasters and the messenger service are kept on duty we are likely to have more or less friction. Farmers and others along the several routes are very appreciative indeed of the new service, but they are thrifty themselves, and hardly understand why it is necessary for the Government to be at the expense of maintaining two men where one (the rural carrier) could not only carry the mail for the post-offices, as long as they are continued, but distribute it from house to house as well. Henuy Robinson, Fostviaater. Hon. W. E. Chandler, United Statea Senator, Waterloo, N. H. HOSI'ILITV OF POSTMASTERS. Eeference has been made in previous reports to the misconception of facts prevailing among some postmasters who oppose the extension of postal facilities to rural communities. In the objections they urge the argument is seldom advanced, or if advanced is never sustained, that the new service is inferior to the old, or that it is not desired by the people who have petitioned for it. The complaints almost invariably run in one groove, asserting that rural free delivery takes away patronage from the postmaster-merchant, and that it deprives the postmaster of postal receipts which he would be entitled under the law to retain as his personal compensation, those receipts, under the rural free delivery system, now going into the Treas- ury of the United States to the credit of the general postal revenues. Occasionally petitions are presented of persons alleged to be aggrieved, asking the reestablishment of post-offices discontinued REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 87 because of rural service, but when these petitions have been investi- gated it has almost invariably been found that the signatures were either obtained under a misapprehension, or they were appended as an act of neighborly courtesy, without any idea that they would be effect- ive. One i)etition was carefully scrutinized, name by name, and it was found that all the signatures except three were those of persons living outside the delivery, and that the three that remained were those of lads belonging to a village band of which the village postmaster was the leader. In another case, where a most formidable-looking petition was pre- sented from an Indiana town, categorical inquiries were addressed to all the petitioners, asking "Do you want the post-offlce reestablished, or do you want rural free delivery yourselves V" The replies were almost unanimous that they wanted rural delivery themselves. Thus, in reality the alleged protest was not a protest, but a petition for an extension of rural delivery so as to take in the residences of the remonstrants. The letters subjoined are fair samples of many that have been received by me. Names of places and persons are omitted, but otherwise the letters are unchanged: , Ohio, August 4, 1S99. I am postmaster at this place, and they are goiBg to have rnral free delivery come within one-eifj;hth of a mile of this ofiSce and take away all its business. To take the office away takes part of my living away from me. I have a wife and two chil- dren. I have only been in the employment of the Government a little over a year. I beg yon for some kind of an appointment. I am not " choicy " — any place in the mail service of the United States. Respectfully, , I'ostmaster. Iowa, September 9, 1S99. I write to state my ^evance. I presume that you are aware that the next ofBce west of here has established a rural mail delivery, and the carriers come within 2^ miles of this office on one side and within 5J miles east of it, taking in some thir- teen or fourteen families that used to get their mail here; and if they continue to do this others will ask for rural boxes that will take seven or eij^ht more families away from this office. What can be done to give this oflice justice? Very truly, , Poetmaster. Utah, September 11, 1899. The free-delivery rente recently established seriously interferes with the patron- age of this office, and it does not seem fair or Just to me, as it passes my office, col- lecting over an extent of about 4 square miles of my patronage. Can not this matter be remedied, in justice to this office! EespectfuUy, , Postmaster. III., September IS, 1899. There has been established a rural free-delivery service at , a small town 3 miles distant, and they have extended the route within 1 mile of my office on the south and west. By doing this they take from me over 50 persons who formerly rented boxes at my office. Therefore it is a discrimination against this office. Is there any remedy for the above-mentioned encroachment? Respectfully, Postmaster Ind., October 18, 1899. I presume you know that a fourth-class postmaster's compensation consists wholly of ^hat stamps he can get to cancel. I have noticed for some time that our cancel- lations have been gradually falling off, but till quite recently did not learn the cause A rural free-delivery man tells me of his orders to eajry all the letters he 88 REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTEE-GENEEAL. collects along his route to the office from which he starts. If we could get the can- cellations that justly belong to ua it would amount to $40 or $oO a year, l^et us hear from you on this suhject. ^^'y^^'^^y- , Pontmaster. THE QUESTION BKOUGHT TO AN ISSUE. The dissatisfied )iostioasters found a champion in Delaware County, Pa. Througli one or more newspapers a concerted attack wa,8 made upon the rural free-delivery service, and considerable local feeling was evoked. These complaints were transmitted to the Postmaster-treneral and were by him referred to me for reply. The chief objections to the service were embodied in a series of questions ostensibly addressed to the people on the line of the proposed rural route, as follows : Do yon favor rural mail delivery involying the abolition of all your neighboring country post-offices f . ,.,,,. . Do you favor rural mail delivery so illy paid that it must involve the delivery of mercantile and express packages, and the carrying of passengers? Do you favor Government control of the carrying of all packages needed in the country districts? Do you favor the idea that the Government should promote the business of morn- ing newspapers as against that of afternoon dailies and home weeklies? Accusations more baseless than those herein set forth could hardly be devised. The chief point raised appears to be founded upon igno- rance of the fact that in the United States there prevails no system of parcels post such as has been established in G^reat Britain and other European countries, and consequently that it is impracticable for the rural carrier to "discriminate against the country store and in favor of the distant and larger store by the delivery of mercantile and express packages." As a matter of fact, the permission given rural carriers to carry packages for the accommodation of their patrons was devised in the interest of the country stn. e. It was intended solely to enable the farmers' wives to purchase small necessary articles at the village shop through the rural carriers, when it was inconvenient for them to go to town themselves, and this is the only way in which the privilege thus given is availed of. The testi- mony of storekeepers in towns from which rural free delivery has been started, is universal that the service has been an advantage to them instead of a detriment. It seemed to me that the best answer to this attack would be to put the service into immediate operation in the vicinity where the antag- onism had been fomented, and to await results. This was done. The Public Ledger, of Philadelphia, sent out hundreds of inquiries to correspondents, not only in Delaware County, but in the adjoining county of Chester, where a number of rural free delivery routes had been established, asking their views on rural free delivery. The replies were overwhelmingly in favor of the maintenance and extension of the rural free-delivery service. Finally, from Media, Delaware County, the center of disturbance, came this dispatch to the Ledger, which ended the controversy : [SpeaiaL] Media, August 6. Enral free delivery of mail in Delaware County is evidently here to stay in spite of ex-Senator Cooper's opposition. William G. Taylor, carrier on the Boothyn and Bethel route, says that in his district the people have changed their minds about rural delivery since he started on the route four weeks ago. "Then," he said, REPORT OF FIEST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 89 "nearly every one was against it. I was afraid for a while the system would have to be abandoned, bat I soon changed my mind. I find nothing now but enconrage- Eient from the people, and they are wondering why someone did not think ol it before. The conntry people do not have to go a mile or two every morning to get the news, for a paper is left at their doors." Mr. Taylor says he carries eight times as many letters and papers now as when he started. ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE CONGRESS. Eeports found wide circulation through the public press that the fourth-class postmasters were preparing to make an organized cam- paign with the next Congress against the rural free-delivery system. I do not think these rumors ever had any substantial foundation, but their publication elicited editorial comment from newspapers in all sections of the country, commending with remarkable unanimity the rural free-delivery service, and discountenancing any efforts to impede its progress. The annexed article, from the New Tork Tribune of August 138, 1899, is cited as one of many which might be quoted to the same purport : The fourth-class postmasters are in the main a worthy and useful set of men. But they ought to realize that as ofiBceholders their standing depends on the service they render. The fourth-class post-ofiioes are maintained not because the postmas- ters or any of them have claims to the profits of office holding, but because those offices have served a useful purpose. If in the process of the development of the country and the progress of invention some other instrument is found better adapted to the wort of collecting and distributing mail matter, then the fourth-class post- office will and should be closed without the slightest regard for the fourth-class postmaster. He is not an end, only a means, and if he does not already know it he should receive some primary instruction. The idea that an antiquated system of handling mail matter is to be perpetuated to give some country postmasters an easy existence, untroubled by the march of improvement, is too preposterous to be entertained. If the postmasters want any consideration at all they will be wise not to provoke the resentment of the people by attempting to use their places as public servants to deprive the public of possible benefits. If the fourth-class postmaster can not give as good service as the rural delivery system, then so much the worse for the postmaster. Let his office be abolished, and let him go back to making a living as he did before his appointment, as he would have had to do under the old spoils regime when his successor appeared. Rural free delivery is one of the improvements that are bound to come, and fourth-class postmasters had better not get in its way. OPPOSITION FROM STAR-ROUTE CONTRACTORS. Efforts which have been made in some States, in the interest of star- route contractors, to impede the progress of rural free delivery, seem to be even less animated by a desire for the good of the postal service than is the opposition interposed by some of the postmasters interfered with. Those who have petitioned and agitated for the continuance of star routes in territory served by rural delivery are usually subcon- tractors to whom the work has been sublet at prices below the rates awarded by the Post-Oface Department ia the original contracts, but who still find suflacient profit in their subcontracts to cause them to labor successfully for a continuance of their employment. This has resulted in some instances in a duplication of service. The First Assistant Postmaster-General has no jurisdiction over the discontinuance of post-offices or the abrogation of star^route contracts. He can establish rural free delivery in a neighborhood, and make un- necessary the continuance of a post-office or the renewal of a star-route contract under certain conditions. The question of actual discontinu- ance however, is a subject under the jurisdiction of the Fourth or Sec- ond Assistant Postmaster-General, respectively. 10615 ^ 90 REPORT OP FIR«T ASSISTANT POSTMASTEE-GENERAL. MODIFICATION EEOOMMBNDBD OF EXISTING LAW. Other considerations being about equal, I believe preference should be given a postmaster whose oflfice is abolished or a star-route mes- senger who is displaced by the establishment of rural delivery in the selection of a rural carder. Tliese men are familiar with the patrons, the country, and the service, and generally have the confidence of the community. I find that, in many instances, the service of a star-route messenger may be well utilized in rural delivery; that it is possible to so arrange his schedule as to give him opportanity and time to perform a limited rural-delivery service. I recommend, therefore, that section 46G of Postal Laws and Eegula- tious (edition ol^ 18i»3), which forbids mail contractors and their drivers access to any mail matter in post-offices or to any mail locks or keys, be modified so as to permit star-route messengers, under special appoint- ment and oath, to perform rural free-delivery service. Then it will be possible for a provision to be inserted in star mail transportation con- tracts whereby the Dei)artineut may require rural free-delivery service to be rendered when it does not conflict with the regular transportation, the service to be performed with or without extra compensation. I would not, however, recommend that the regular and necessary work of star-route messengers, namely, that of dispatching through mails, should be subordinated to any other interest or interfered with in any material particular. A limited mail service performed by a star- route carrier under such circumstances and as a part of his primary duty would keep the messenger under the jurisdiction of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General. I believe it possible to thus extend rural delivery to millions of persons without additional expense. TRAVELING RURAL POST-OFFICE. On Easter Monday, April 3, 1899, a rural free-delivery experiment was inaugurated upon an entirely new basis. The county of Carroll, Md., within a convenient distance of Washington City, was selected as the field of the experiment, the chief purpose of which was to test the possibility of putting a post-office on wheels and carrying it to the doors of the people in a well-settled agricultural country, instead of requir- ing the people to drop tlieir avocations and to travel to the post office. For this purpose a postal wagon was specially built, after the designs of Mr. Edwin W. Shriver, postal clerk of the Westminster, Md., post- office, who originated the idea. This vehicle is 8 feet long, with sliding door in the center, handsomely painted in blue and gold and lettered 'U. S. Postal Wagon." Its interior is fitted up with counter, drawers, and letter boxes— 10 large letter boxes in front, 413 behind, all zinc lined. It carries a driver and a postal clerk, the latter of whom is authorized to receive, cancel, collect, and deliver all mails; to receipt for applications for money orders and registered letters, and, in short, to perform all the functions of a stationary post- master. This traveling post-office, drawn by a pair of strong horses, started over a carefully laid out route of 30 miles, and has since per- formed this service daily in all weather, collecting mail from sixty United States letter boxes placed at intervals of every half mile, and delivering to all the houses on the route, as shown in the accompanving illustrations. t- j t. From the first the service proved remarkably successful. Its cost to .;^ ';<"««»- mmtmi KJ/^ MAP SHOWING EXISTING POSTAL WAGON SERVICE. CARROLL COUNTY, MARYLAND. SCAU. mrs, = ciKs fosT,>i mure. Bd P0ST0FFJC£5 ON HQUTE. ■ FARM HOUS£$- ■ MIC ROAD. ' COUNTY HOAOS. TWO M/tff O" eiTHtH tite OF HOUrF. EEPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 91 the Goveriuiient to operate is $1,375 per annum, including pay of postal clerk and driver, and care of horses and wagon. It performs the serv- ice heretofoie rendered by eight fourth-class post ofticos and four star- route carriers, the cost of which to the United States was about $1,600 per annum. The progress of this experiment has been watched with great eager- ness by agricultural communities all over the United States, and within a few moutlis of its initiation 133 ai)plications for the establishment of simihir postal wagon service were received from 21 difierent States. To each of these inquiries reply was made that the Department desired thoroughly to test the economy and efflciency of the service in the county where it originated before venturing upon further experiments. It is believed that with four additional postal- wagon routes and auxiliary carriers circulating from the wagons at different points, after the manner shown in the appended map, the entire county of Carroll can be covered by the traveling post-ofBces as the southern half of Carroll County is now partially covered, and at a less aggregate cost than the present service by fourth-class post-oftices and star-route carriers. Whether similar service can be successfully maintained elsewhere must necessarily depend upon various considerations, chief among which will be the character of the country and the roads, the density of the popu- lation, the avocations of the people, and the number of existing post- ofiices. COOPERATION OF STATE GRANGES OF PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. I take pleasure in acknowledging the very valuable aid which has been given the development of the rural free-delivery service by the cooperation of the several State granges of Patrons of Husbandry and similar bodies. From all parts of the country I have received from the masters of these lodges applications for information as to this service, and in return for the information thus supplied I have never failed to receive from them resolutions commending the system of rural free delivery and urging its continuous development. GOOD ROADS AND RURAIi FREE DELIVERY. Those interested in the development of good roads throughout the country have also shown as strong a disposition to lend a helping hand to the rural free-delivery service, recognizing the fact that good roads and rural delivery are necessarily closely connected. On the Gth of October, 1899, a "Good Roads Convention" was held at Des Moines, Iowa. Among the resolutions adopted by this repre- sentative gathering was the following: Believing that the postal system of the General Government was instituted upon the theory of serving without discrimination all the people in a just and liberal manner and reeoiTnizing the many social and pecuniary advantages of rural free mail service not only to the rural population- but also to all classes, and that such service is dependent on good roads: Therefore, . , „ .„ • Resolved, That we are in favor of such an appropriation by Congress as will insure the speedy and permanent establishment of such service throughout the country where the conditions as to good roads and population will justify, and that we hereby respectfully request our members of Congress in both the Senate and House to vote for such an appropriation. The rural free delivery service was represented by invitation at that convention (in the absence through illness of Mr. A. W. Machen, Super- intendent of Free Delivery) by Mr. Francis M. Dice, Special Agent in 92 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. charge of the Western Division of Eural Free Delivery, who made an address, from which the following is an extract : It is comparatively easy to present a multitude of reasons in favor of the universal construction of good roads. There is no argument against it. This is one reform at least that has this advantage over all others, the argument is all on one side. Nobody is opposed to good roads. It is not a controversial question. The only practical inquiry is, " How to get good roads ?" There is hut one answer to that question, and that is to build them. But like every other improvement it costs labor and money to do it. So, the only real ques- tion after all is, How can the sum necessary to do this be obtained? As a very dis- tinguished candidate for the Presidency once Haid about a very important national measure, this is largely a "local" question and about which there may be and there are wide differences of opinion. Into such discussion I will not enter, for no universal method could be adopted. The conditions being so very diflferent in different sec- tions and localities, whether the construction of good roads shall be by General Government or by State and local authority or by all three combined or in conjunc- tion is perhaps the only question which admits of discussion. From such meet- ings as these the proper ways and means will yet be evolved to provide for the expense necessary for their construction, and by the proper authority and under the proper supervision. Every farmer knows that bad roads often keep him from the markets when prices of grain are high, and thereby cost him a good profit. Every farmer knows how much time he has lost by traveling over bad roads. Every farmer knows how much larger a load his team would haul if the roads were hard and smooth. Every farmer knows what a considerable item in his annual expenses is the repair of wagons and harness whose strength and safety have been crip]iled by bad roads. Every farmer knows how much more it costs to keep four or five horses instead of two or three, as he might with equal service with good roads over which to haul his products. Every farmer knows that his farm would increase in value if by good highways it could be brought into ready communication with village or city. All these things farmers know, when they think about it, and they know that the sum of these pecun- iary advantages in favor of good roads would va.stly outweigh the cost of procuring them. My birthplace and my home are in Indiana, and in this presence I am reminded that a great many Indianians, at an early day in the beginning of the settlement of this great State, came here as emigrants as to a new El Dorado, and by their thrift and intelligence have contributed very largely to the development of the natural resources of the State and the building up of its institutions. We who still live there greatly rejoice to know how well Indiana sons have honored the mother State, wherever else they have gone, as well as in your State, for which they have furnished three United States Senators and many other worthy and honorable citizens. When I spoke of being from Indiana, however, I had intended to do so only as pre- liminary to saying that our present governor, who has been all his mature life a practical farmer of the county in which I live, in an address delivered before the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, at Indianapolis, last winter, spoke, among other things, on the subject of "good ro:id8 and rural free delivery," and his remarks were so pertinent to the object of this convention, as I understand it, that I desire you to know his views upon the subject. He said: "I desire tocall your attention for a brief while to another subject of vital moment not only to the farmers but to all the people of our commonwealth. Good roads are inseparably connected with proi;re8S. Like abundant harvests, they contribute to the good of all. The isolation of the country home is the farmer's greatest bar- rier, liad roads enlarge this barrier. 'Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.' This proverb reveals a truth found in everyday experience, that hy friction of mind through frequent contact the intellect is quick- ened and the mind expanded. Conditions that tend to isolate should he removed as speedily as possible. "Facilities for daily contact with the world's best thought and progress should be accelerated. The highest success socially, financially, and intellectually can not be attained until we have good thoroughfares. The restriction of marketing farm products to periods when the roads are passable prevents marketing to the best advantage, both as to time, cost, and price. "I lieard a farmer in southern Indiana say that $2,000 was lost to the farmers on hay alone on one road extending 8 miles itora the market into the country. This loss, which was sustained in one year, was caused by impassable roads when prices were best. One year's loss on one crop would have paid for improving one-eighth of the distance. This illustrates the financial loss caused by bad roads. REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 93 " The farmer whose family is held in the thraldom of bad roads for a large part of the year is subjected to an ordeal that trammels progress, fetters social growth, and retards intellectual development. The farmer who lives on a mud road will be likely to have all his environments in harmony therewith. He sees the passerby plodding his weary way through the heavy roads, and likewise moves in a sluggish manner: goes with muddy boots into his home; sits down with hat on; chews bis tobacco, and spits in the fire. Such a farmer is apt to lose much of his pride and self-respect. His home has but little of brightness and good cheer, and his family are subjected to the necessity of staying at home or going out in a manner that humbles their pride, and, as a result, their dislike for the country is intensified. "The farmer located on a good thoroughfare, who sees the fine turn-outs rapidly hurrying by, the occupants handsomely dressed people, is inspired by the scene, steps quicker, thinks faster, and keeps his home surroundings in harmony with what he sees. A sense of pride prompts him to greater efforts to have for his family a good conveyance, to provide ,ibout his barn good drives, free from mud, and to have about his home good brick or cement walks. His children go to school over good roads; his family goes to church, to lectures, to town; they are in touch with the world's progress. The need of combining small country schools, the demand for township high schools, will heighten the need of road improvements. "Rural free delivery of mail, so much needed among our farmers, can never obtain except in localities possessing good thoroughfares, insuring rapid transit at all sea- sons of the year. '•The United States is the only country, among all the countries that comprise the InternatioualPostal Union, that fails to deliver the mail to the addressees. In thickly settled districts, where there are good roads, the conditions are ripe for the farmers to demand some consideration of fairness from the Post-Ofiice Department. Hon. Perry S. Heath, First Assistant Postmaster-General, recommended and secured an appropriation of $150,000 for experimentation in rural free delivery of mail. I am amazed that objection should be made to the appropriation of this paltry sum for so wise and just a purpose. Mr. Heath informs me that a Senator from one of the Eastern States said to him, "You have acted unwisely in this recommendation. You will have these farmers demanding a rural delivery of maO and causing a great deal of trouble. '' I am astonished that an Eastern man should have the etfrontery to speak slightingly of the rights of the men who are contributing so much to the nation's wealth and power. "The people who produce the food and fiber that feed and clothe the world must not be overlooked in their just demands. The past year the farmers of the United States, after supplying home demands, sent abroad $856,000,000 worth of farm prod- ucts. They bear a large part of the burden of taxation, and are justly entitled to some of the privileges accorded to others. Recently I was invited to go through the southwestern limited through mail train on the Pennsylvania Railroad. 1 found the clerks engaged for hours distributing two publications from Augusta, Me. I was informed by those mail clerks that in one day on one through train there werr 115 sacks of this mail for the State of Texas alone. I was informed that this trashy stuff was handled by the Government at a loss of 7 cents a pound. These large sacks, filled with papers wrapped and packed by machinery, probably contained 100 pounds to the sack. The expense to the Government in one day, carrying mail to one State, would pay the expense of two rural routes for one year. Before this Eastern Senator again criticises the wise action of Mr. Heath, he should remember the farmers have some rights that even an Eastern Senator should respect. "These Eastern cities should no longer be allowed to deluge our mails with thou- sands of tons of trashy stuff, destructive rather than constructive in its influence, thus costing the Government millions of dollars. These publications are not sent in good faith to bona fide subscribers, but to many unwilling subscribers, whose names are surreptitiously obtained. It would be far better if the amount thus unwisely expended were devoted to free rural routes. The result would be the farmers would take daily papers, and tens of thousands of our home daily newspa- pers, with all their elevating, refining, and educating influence, would find their way into rural homes. Of all men the farmer needs the daily paper. He is enabled thereby to keep in touch with the world's advance, to be posted on current events, and to understand daily markets. Nothing, in my judgment, gentlemen, will do more to hasten this desired end than good roads. The farmer's family must be kept in close touch and intercommunication with the world's thought and action, or they will migrate from the country to the already overcrowded cities." I can not add to this comprehensive epitome of the advantages of good roads by one who speaks from years of experience and whose opinions are worthy of the highest consideration. 94 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. VIEWS OF REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. The sentiment in regard to the service as reflected by the action of Eepresentatives in Congress, closely in touch with their constituents, may be inferred from the fact thaj rural free delivery already estab- lished, or that in course of investigation, bears the earnest indorsement of thirty-three Senators of the United States, and one hundred and forty-four Members of the House of Eepresentatives. I venture to quote one or two sentences from letters received from Representatives in Congress in regard to this matter. OsHKOSH, Wis., October SO, 1899. I believe most thoroughly in the merits of rural mail delivery, and I hope Con- gress will take a liberal view of this case during the coming session. I find that without exception the people of my district, wherever I have asked them concern- ing this matter, are decidedly in favor of it, and I think It ought to receive every encouragement. J. H. Davidson, Member of Congress, Sixth District, Wisconsin. St. Joseph, Mo., September 14, 1S99. Free rural delivery Is no longer an experiment at Maryville. The people are enthusiastic in praise of its merits, and I am commissioned by prominent citizens who have taken an interest in the matter to express to you their gratitude for the courtesy and promptness with which their requests have been considered. C. F. COCHEAN, Memberof Congress, Fourth District, Missouri. MORRISVILLB, Vt., October S4, 1899. Don't ask for less than $1,000,000 in the new bill. H. H. Powers, Member of Congress, First District, Vermont. La Crosse, Wis., August S3, 1S99. Two routes are now in operation in this district and are giving highest possible satisfaction. I believe it would create a revolt among the farming class if these routes were to be abolished. John J. Esch, Member of Congress, Seventh District, Wiscons Many more extracts from letters received to the same effect might be added. RURAL FREE-DELIVERY EXTENSION IN GREAT BRITAIN. In my last report some interesting information was embodied in rela- tion to the extension of the rural free-delivery service in Great Britaiu. The report of the British postmaster-general for the present year, which has just been issued, states that considerable progress has been made toward fulfilling the promise made by the Government in 1897 to give a regular delivery of letters to every house in the United King- dom, and that now few houses in England and Wales remain unserved; but that in Scotland and Ireland the work is still incomplete, though being actively prosecuted. ITiioflicial information courteously communicated to me states that the extension of the rural free-delivery service in Great Britain, as far REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENEKAL. 96 as it lias progressed, has resulted iu an increase in the number of let- ters mailed, amounting to the enormous total of 5(),0()0,()II0 letters a year. According to the tignres prepared in regard to the service last year, this increase should more than repay the cost of the additional service rendered. STATISTICS OF RURAL FREE DELIVERY. For facility of reference the operations of rural free delivery for the fiscal year ended June 30, 189!), have been put into tabular lorm. The appended statement shows, in regard to each service established, the post ofifice, county, and State from which it starts, the date <>i its estab- lishment, the area in square miles covered by the delivery, the number of carriers, and the length of routes. These figures indicate — Increase in population served up to the end of the fiscal year 213, 105 Increase in area covered (square miles) 5, 656 Increase iu the number of carriers 243 Increase in the number of pieces handled over the corresponding period covered by my last report 6,459,346 Post-office. Abbeville^ Ada Ailien I Albany AUensvillo' AodeTson ' Antwerp Archbold Athens Athol Atoka Aubnm Baldwinsville Baltimore Powhatan station St. Denis station . Bamberg ' Barker Belton Benson Benton Harbor Bemardston Berryessa Bonner Springs Bowling Green Bradfordsville Branford Bral tleboro Brooklyn Extension Brunswick Extension Barlington Extension Burlington Cairo Campbell Canton ■ Chard on Charlestown Chatham Chilli GO the China Grove Ciroleville County. Abbeville Hardin Aiken Delaware Todd Anderson .) efferson Fulton (;larke Worcester... Tipton Sangamon ... Onondaga ... Baltimore ... ....do do Bamberg "Niagara Anderson Dou;;las Berrien Franklin Santa Clara. . Wyandotte . . Wood Marion New Haven.. Windham ... Powesheik... do Cumberland . do Des Moines.. do Chittenden .. Uandolph Santa Clara.. .Stark Geanga Jeflerson Morris Livingston .. Eowan Pickaway SUto. S.C.- Ohio. S.C.. Ind.. Ky .. S.C. N.T. Ohio. Ga... Mass Tenn 111... N.Y. Md ... ...do . ...do . S.C, N.Y., S.C... Kebr Mich , Mass . Cal . . , Kans (ihio.. Ky ... Conn . Vt... Iowa. ...do . Me ... Iowa.. . .do .. Vt.... Mo ... Cal ... Ohio.. ..do .. W. Va N.J .. Mo ... N. C .. Ohio.. When estab- lished. May May May Nov. Jan. May May May Fclj. Aug. Jan. Nov. July 1, 1899 1, 1899 15. 1899 8, 1897 11, 1897 1,1889 2, 1898 1, 1899 1,1899 1, 1898 11, 1897 23,1890 6, 1898 Feb. May Apr. Oct. May June Oct. Nov. Sept. Oct. Oct. Jan. June Mar. Dec. Aug. Dec. Mav Aug. Sept. July Oct. Feb. Jan. Apr. Oct. Nov. May Oct. Oct. 20. 1899 15, 1899 3,18119 3. 1898 1. 1899 1, 1899 15, 1898 2, 1890 20, 1898 26, 1896 3, 1898 1, 1898 1,1898 2, 1898 16. 1897 15, 1898 7,1896 1, 1899 1, 1898 1. 1898 20, 1898 15, 1896 1. 1897 3. 1899 3, 1899 1, 1896 1. 1898 15, 1899 23, 1896 24, 1898 2,000 1,000 1,300 500 220 800 500 1,500 800 600 300 1.000 2, 500 600 1,600 3,000 1,000 1,000 800 2,100 450 600 700 2,000 1,200 1,200 400 700 325 250 1,700 500 1,600 1,300 1, 000 1,600 3,900 2,500 600 1,375 715 600 700 5 23 82 30 21 8J 55 17 9 36 56 20 3 20 60 22 16 45 18 80 20 36 22 93 46 36 21 18 40 15 46 42 48 45 60 25 44 27 18 2U 39 80 20 20 51 20 23 20i 44 17 24 64 44 48 10 16 39 22 13 85 24 130 42 64 75 80 44 54 21 24i 25 26 - ST*** > "•a 4,089 19, 423 1,357 28, 217 21, 752 3.036 24,247 7.818 10,893 24,956 17,666 76, 995 153, 024 13, 170 3,381 6,674 29, 568 2,842 2,671 106, 545 38, 344 28, 639 8;, 569 66, 468 26, 273 62, 576 23, 405 146, 792 42, 133 254, 197 93,484 60, 923 205, 080 66, 278 32, 053 54, 589 13, 709 3,640 19, 653 29,826 1 Triweekly service on two routes. 2 Discontinued June 30, 1899. 96 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. Poflt-offloe. Clarksville Climax Collinaville Cope' CovingtoD Crawfbrflsville- . Extension .- Dalevilie Darlington Darrtown Dayton Deerfield Delaware Delphi Detroit" Dixon Dunlap Basley' Easton Eaton Elba Eldora Elk City Ellicott Cilv ElUs ■ Elloree' Farmington Erankfort Fruitland Golden Gorlaam Grand Isle Grange Greeiieville Greenfield Greenwood ' Guilford Gypsum Hall town Hamlet Harrington Extension . . Harrison Harrisonburg .. Havre de Grace. Hig^insrille Highland Hope Johnson City ... Joimston ' Jonesboro Kenmore Lafayette Lakeview Lakeville Lancaster Laurel Laiirol L.'liiinnil Leis SuTumit L..-svillei LL-xi[i;:lon Los Chios Lo\clsli.l Louiiilrsvllhil... Magnolia ., Marietta Extension . . . Marlton Marshallton Martiuflburg . , . . Extension . - . Do Mary ville May ville Mechanicabiirg . . County. Johnson Kalamazoo Butler Orangeburg Eoantain Montgomery do .' Delaware Montgomery Hutler Rockingham Franklin Delaware Carroll Wayne Lee Peoria Pickens Talbot Delaware Genesee Hardin Donglaa Howard Minnehaha Orangeburg Dakota Clinton Muscatine J eif erson Cumberland Grand Isle Baltimore Greene Franklin Greenwood New Haven Ottawa JeHerson Chautauqua Kent do Cumberland Rockingham Harford Lafsyette Jellerson Bartholomew Washington Edgefield "Washington Brie Tippecanoe Kiic I'lymouth Lancaster Sussex Prince George Boone Jackson Lcxln^lon Lafaycllo Santa ( 'lara Larimer Abbeville Putnam Washington ... .do Burlington Newcastle Hcrltdcy . -do.. ; ....do ; Nodaway Traill Champaign State. Ark . Mich Ohio.. S.C... Ind... ...do .. ...do .. Ind . . . ...do.. Ohio.. Va.... Mass . Ohio.- Ind... Mich - 111 ... . ...do.. S.C... Md... Ind... N.T.- Iowa . Nebr . Md ... S. Dak S.C... Minn . Ind... lowa . tjolo .. Me Yt . . . . Md .. Tenn Mass S.C. Conn Ohio . W.Va N.Y.. Del ...do .. Me Va.... Md Mo N. T . . Ind.. Tenn S.C... Tenn . N. Y.. Ind . . . N. T.. Mass . P:l .... Del . . . Md . . . Ind... Mo ... S.C... Mn ... CmI ... Colo . . s (;... Ill .... Oliio.. ..do .. N. J.. Del... W.Va. ..do .. ..do .. Mo ... N.Dak Ohio.. When estab- lished. Oct. 19, Dec. 3, Oct. 15, Mar. 1, June I, Aug. 1, Jnne 1, Nov. 8, Apr. 3, Oct. 15, Jnne 1, Sept. 1, May I, Aug. 15, Apr. 17, June 1, Oct. 3, May ], Feb. 15, Nov. 8, Oct^ 15, Aug. 15, June 1 Jan. 1 May Apr. Jan. Oct. Aug Aug. 1 Nov. 23 Deo. 21 May 1 Nov. 22 Nov. 2 May 1 June 1 May 1, Oct 1 Oct. 10 Oct. 3 Apr. 3 Mar. 1 June 1 Feb. 1 June 1 May 2 Oct. 15 Feb. 1 June 1 Feb. 15 Oct. 17 Apr. 3, June 1, Oct. 3, Dec. 21, Nov. 1, May 1, Oct. 3, May 1, Apr. 3, Mar. 1, Sept. 20, Nov. 10, May 1, Dec. 1, Jon. 1, Sept. 1, Doc. 1, Nov. 1, May 2, Oct. 10, Oct. 20, Mar. 1, Oct. 10, Jan. 1, 1 Triweekly service on two routes. 1896 1896 1896 1899 1899 1898 1899 1897 1899 1896 1K99 1898 1809 1898 1899 1899 1898 1899 1899 1897 1896 , 1898 1899 ;i898 , 1899 ,1899 ,1897 , 1898 1898 ,1898 :, 1896 1896 1899 i, 1897 1896 ,1899 1898 1899 1896 1898 1898 1899 1899 ,1899 1899 ,1899 :, 1898 1896 1899 1899 ., 1899 ]898 1899 1899 1898 1896 1898 1899 1898 1899 1899 1899 1898 1896 1809 1898 1898 1898 1898 1808 1898 , 1898 ,1898 1899 ,1808 ,1899 = Rural 400 760 200 2,500 500 1,650 1,500 275 750 200 1,600 125 800 650 7,000 960 275 3,000 1,100 250 1,200 1,100 650 2,400 600 2,500 396 700 600 460 162 600 2,500 1,500 500 2,000 600 800 200 300 600 350 600 3,000 1,500 585 3,550 800 2,250 2,000 2,500 500 1,600 1,000 626 1,500 1,500 800 800 580 2,100 364 850 339 1, 700 3,590 530 450 600 600 750 600 550 600 660 300 64 44 55 96 18 60 20 4 18 46 50 16 69 5 17 11 20 124 18 16 68 25 20 25 36 37 45 50J 6 34 18 16 35 15} 46 19 20 60 21 10 36 42 42 28 22 10 20 30 1'8 32 20 66 20 marine, eight 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 I 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 months 66 23 49 25 44 50J 16 23i 18 22 5 23 20 200 20 23 49 45 18i 64 20 19 76 24 50i 100 21 40 22 17 48 38 100 20 60 18 22 12 20 171 20 20 44 20 25 34 62 44 49 35 - ts 3 ° > nil s REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 97 PostoiSoe. lliildlrville kimoril ilooreatown i Exteusion 'morning Sun Morris town r Do fefount Laurel Blount Pleasant. . . iMuncie I Extension [Murpliysboro K^apa Naples Nelson New Carlisle New Castle New Providence. . New Kichmond. . . New Stanton Noblesville Norfolk North Deerin g North Takimii Nottawa Opelika Orange Orangeburg Orion Osawatomie Owosso Palmyra Do Parker Parkersburg Extension Perryaburg Petalnma Philadelphia Philippi Piq ua Extension Pittsfleld Poland Pomeroy Port Clinton Portsmouth PrairiH Depot Princeville Prosperity* Quitman Redwood City Ehinebeck Richmond Eidg.jspring ' Eidg way Rive-head Riverton Rogers ville Rome Do Ruflfsdale St.George' St. Thomas ' Salisbury Saluda' San Jose Santa Barbara Santa Rosa SebagoLake gelma' Seneca Shadeland ensburg Ixtension Coonty. Barry New Haven Burlington . . do Louisa St. Lawrence. .. Hiuiibliu Burlington Henry Delaware do Jackson Napa Cumberland . - . Salem . Clark Henry Hardin Montgomery . . Westmoreliiiid. Hamilton Litchfield Cumberland . . . Yakima St. Joseph Lee Franklin Orangeburg . . Henry Miami Shiawassie Borlington Fluvanna Randolph Weed do Cattaraugus Sonoma Jeiferson Barbour Miami do Merrimack Mahoning Moigs Ottawa Newport Wood Peoria Newberry Brooks San Mateo Dutchess Wayne Saluda Lenawee Suflolk Burlington Hawkins Floyd do Westmoreland . Dorchester Pembina Wicomico Saluda Santa Clara . . . Santa Barbara. Sonoma Cumberland — Delaware Oconee Tippecanoe CumbeTland . . . do State. Mich . Conn . N.J .. ...do.. Iowa - N.Y.. Tenn . N.J .. Iowa - Ind... ...do .. 111.... Cal . . . Me ... Mo ... Ohio.. Ind... Iowa.. lud... Pa.-.. Ind... Conn . Me ... Wash. ilioh - Ala... Mass . S.C... 111.... Kans . Mich . N.J .. Va.... Ind . . . W.Va ...do .. N. Y.. Cal ... N.Y.. W.Va Ohio . . ...do.. N.H.. Ohio.. ...do-. ...do.. E.I... Ohio.. 111.... S.O... Ga.... Cal ... N. Y.. Ind... S.C... Mich.. N.Y.. N.J... Tenn . Ga ...do.. Pa ... . S.C... N.Dak Md ... S.C... Cal ... ...do .. ...do .. Me ... Ind... S.C... Ind . . . Pa ... . ...do .. When estab- Ushed. May 1 June 1 June 6 Apr. 3, Nov. 10, Dec. A]ir. _ Jan. 1 Dec. 16 Feb. 1, Aug. 15, Apr. 3 do . Nov. 23 June 1 Oct. 1 Apr. 1 Sept. 16 Feb. 15 Nov. 24 Nor. 1 May 16 Nov. 25 Apr. 1 May 1 Deo. 7 Nov. 23 Mar. 1, Apr. 3, do . Nov. 1 Deo. 1 Oct. 22 Oct. 10 Feb. 1, Apr. 17, Oct. 10, Apr. S May 2 May Oct .._. 3 Nov. 1 Oct. 20 June 1 June 1, May Jan. June Oct. May Deo. Mar. Oct. Feb. June 1 May 2 Apr. 3 June 13 Apr. 1 Feb. 1 Apr. 1 Nov. 24 Mar. 1, Oct. 10 Apr. 3 June 1 Sept. 20 Apr. 3 Feb. 6 Nov. 23 Nov. 8 May 1 do - Jan. 2. Feb. 1 1899 1808 1838 1899 1896 1898 1898 1899 1897 1898 1898 1899 1896 1899 1898 1898 1897 1899 1896 1898 1899 1896 1897 1899 1896 1896 1899 1899 1898 1898 1896 1898 1899 1899 1898 1899 1898 1899 1898 1898 1898 1898 1899 1899 1899 1899 1898 1899 1896 1899 1898 1898 1899 1898 ]8'.19 1898 1898 1899 1899 1896 1899 1898 1899 1899 1898 1899 1899 1896 1897 1899 1899 1899 750 1,600 1,840 500 850 .sou 800 500 400 500 350 5,000 700 250 400 750 1,609 442 650 244 900 1,000 300 1,600 575 750 350 1,600 520 550 750 750 350 950 600 600 600 1,020 1,050 1,500 600 1,300 1,400 1,600 1,100 720 530 750 7J0 3,000 300 650 2,000 1,500 2,500 850 475 750 6,000 2,500 600 216 2,200 750 1,600 3,000 8,000 700 2,200 246 500 2,750 400 3,500 600 25 8 40 10 32 18 25 19 30 30 20 40 8 5 16 18 48 00 20 12 22 21 7 10 25 10 12 55 IB 18 22 6 25 22 20 20 18 8 95 80 30 20 32 60 26 16 18 25 17 68 10 26 40 42 64 22 21 6 80 125 10 12 70 78 46 48 25 8 36 20 20 74 17 80 16 21J 40 64 22 102 21 80 23 22i 24 24 100 20i 12 21 23 72 66 231 16 19 20 18 50 224 20 18 25 24J 231 26i 15 30 26 26 24 18 2-.ii 44 62i 21 29 40 54 23 20i 22 25i 28 ."iO 20 68 60 50 50 24 20 16 92 66 1 18 46 46 37 52 75 20 88 25 16 60 22i 100 21 S « ^4 .£3' (^ 4,624 81, 986 79, 178 ' Triweekly service on two routes. 98 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENE UAL. Post-offlce. County. State. When estab- Lshed. 1 § 1 1 o 1 cd -n '— a 1 '^ — '^ ^ Ohio . . ..-do .. IMay Jan. May Apr. Feb. Oct. May Kov. Dec. Oct. Jan. Oct. F.-b. Nov. Kuv. Nov. Nov. May Oct. Deo. Jan. Oct. June Mar. Oct. Nov. Oct. Nov. May Oct. Sept June Jan. Oct.. Nov. Mar Jan. Apr. Oct. Jan. 1, 1899 1, 1899 1, 1899 3, 1899 15, 1899 15,1896 15, 1899 15. 1897 1, 1896 17,1898 1, 1899 10. 1898 1, 1899 15,1896 7,1896 24. 1896 1, 1896 2, 1K9H 16. 1897 17. 1898 1, 1)^99 1, 1896 1,1898 20. 1899 3,1898 1. 1898 8, J 898 1,1898 2, 1898 21, 1898 19, 1898 1,1899 2. 1899 15, 1896 1, 1898 17,1898 1, IK'.IS 3, 1899 17,1898 2, 1898 1,350 500 2,600 2,500 500 175 1,600 320 300 2,500 2,000 800 960 1,300 700 447 300 1,600 992 300 975 240 1,000 360 450 470 llO, 000 1,500 800 1,775 1,500 5,000 700 358 1,500 175 1,050 800 900 46 20 60 60 26 12 38 10 15 36 60 40 22 56 32 38 11 40 72 30 40 14 12 20 94 12 200 45 24 125 45 60 16 17 25 8 43 2:1 19 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 1 4 4 2 2 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 1 il 2 1 5 3 6 4 1 3 1 2 1 1 40 22 47 50 18i 23 54 10 15 44i 66 21 24 104 80 60 24 42 63 20 42 20 47 26 50 20 1 220 46 22 125 66 120 64 14 48 20 23 11, 384 Shelby 38, 624 Slio-hsi' S.C. .. ...cio .. 3,086 4,878 j^eut Del ... Ohio., lud... Maaa - ...do .. 4,235 24, 468 South Bend 9,117 33, 459 27, 694 Mi.-h . K.l... Ga.... Oliio.. Wis .. Nebr . Ariz - . La.... Mich . Oreg.. Va.... Oliio.. W'.Va. Ill ... . Vt .... N Dak. N.J .. Pa.... ...do .. 77, 177 Soiitb Portsmouth . . . 51, 761 17, 907 17, 737 112, 205 74, 213 99, 694 Lafourche Lenawee 90, 095 88, 918 84, 722 7, 5i;4 Champaign 53, 238 tTvilla 10, 300 65, 937 Wallinffford Kutland 6, 010 11, 281 Warren AVashington 6,018 107, 156 •Jefferson ^. Y.. Ohio.. Iowa . W.Va. Pa . . . . Md... N.Y.. Cal . . . Fla... Ohio., do 164, 293 51, 131 "Webster City 136, 013 4, .5'.i3 Chester 161, 046 96, 509 Erie 12, 706 Santa Clara 123, 725 9,212 Wayne 20, 308 28, 400 Zanesvillo IMusliingum ...do.. 25,512 Total 273, 604 7,567 391 8, 929i 9, 212, 927 ' Triweekly service on two routes. SPECIAL agents' REPORTS. Tbe reports of special agents engaged in the preliminary survey of rural free- delivery routes and tbe inspection of service estabHsbed, which are hereto annexed, give evidence of the intelligence and acumen with which they have performed their duties, and contain many sug- gestions which I think are worthy the attention of Congress and of tbe Uepartuient. The plan inaugurated during the past year of inspecting rural routes established, and of "keying" them up to tbe highest possible state of efSoiency, has been productive of such beneficial results that it is my purpose to continue and extend this method of supervision. It tends to insure better service in respect to the character of tbe delivery boxes placed along tbe line of rural delivery routes, closer supervision on tbe jiart of tbe postmasters, and greater promptness and regularity of serv- ice on tbe part of the carriers. It also keejis alive the interest of the people in the service, and secures their active cooperation in maintain- ing its efflciency by keeping before tliem tbe ever-present possibility that failure to properly respond to the requirements of the service may result in its discontinuance in their ueighborboodand its establishment elsewhere. REPORTS OF SPECIAL AGENTS OF RURAL FREE DELIVERY. Eastern Divisiox—H. Conquest Clarke, Special agent in charge, WasMngton.D. C— Maine, New Hampsliire, Vermont, Massachnsetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Special Agent A. B. S7IITH. Martinsburg, W. Va., August S5, 1S99. Hon. Perry S. Heath, First Assistant Pustmaster-General : During the past year my duties have taken me from Maine to California, and wherever I have been there is every evidence that rural free delivery is most highly appreciated by all recipients. It is a safe assertion that for the amount expended no other branch of the public service has been productive of such lasting benefits to the people. As in the initial stages of all great reforms, methods have been crude and devoid of system. The service has been experimental in every sense. Without assurance of permanency the people have grasped it, and in every instance there has been an increase in the mails, oftentimes incredible. It is not uncommon for this Increase to amount to more than the cost of the service, without impairing the can- cellation of fourth-class post offices. .More letters are written and received; more newspapers and magazines are read; more intelligence is diifused; modern methods are employed on the farm, and better crops are harvested; rural lile loses its loneli- ness and isolation dreaded by all; lands appreciate in value; abandoned farms are again occupied; congested centers find an outlet; inducements to peculation in the postal service are diminished ; the service is placed abreast of the times and in accord with the business sentiment of the age. SERVICE IN NEW HAMPSHIRB. The service established at Pittsfield, Merrimack County, N. H., to which reference was made in your last annual report, has been eminently snccessiul, so much so as to cause an unusual demand for free delivery throughout the entire region. I recently recommended its extension over a large portion ot Merrimack ('ounty ; seven carriers in connection with the Concord oflice, one at Loudon, and one at Chichester, making in all twelve carriers, covering an area of 265 square miles. This service costs but little more than the old star-route and fourth-class post-oflice service, and is much more acceptable to all of the people except the star-route mail carriers and fourth- class postmasters and their friends, who constitute fewer than one in twenty of the population. I made a very careful inspection of the district, consulting all classes, and found all except those named above anxious for free delivery, while several of the post- masters admitted that they would have but little to do after the service went into • peration. As no post-offices or star routes have been discontinued except in the Pittsfield district, though recommendation to that effect has been made, there in at present a double service, which is anything but satisfactory to the people, who av« thus prevented from receiving the full benefits of the rural free delivery. Were the star routes, which are wholly unnecessary, discontinued, every resident of the dis- trict could receive his mail promptly on the day of its reception at the central office and the greater number could repl>' to important letters and have their replies for- warded to their destination the same day. This would be accomplished by means of collection boxes (street letter boxes) placed at convenient points, which are visited by carriers on their return by routes difierent from those which they traversed on their outward trip. 99 100 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. MURPHY8BORO, ILL. When, before my aBsignment to the eastern division, I was called upon to inspect the rural region adjacent to Murphysboro, 111., it seemed to me that if rural free delivery could exist there it would thrive anywhere. The mud in the roads appeared to be bottomless, the population sparse, the farms large, and much waste land. I selected the most available localities, and service was established. Very soon there was an urgent demaud for additional service. Under orders, I again visited Murphys- boro, and found to my surprise that the service was successful beyond the highest anticipations of its most ardent friends. The gross receipts of the post-ofiSce had iucreased 50 per cent, and there was not one complaint, except from those who felt they had been slighted. I recommended an extension with three additional carriers, covering the entire region within 6 to 8 miles of the office. There was bnt one fourth-class post-office within the Murphysboro district. The postmaster resigned immediately after the establishment of the rural service, and the office was discon- tinued, thus afl'ording an opportunity to demonstrate the practicability of rural free delivery on an elaborate scale in a region devoid of stone roads and traversed by numerous streams. That which has been accomplished at Murphysboro can be dupli- cated auywhere without cost to the Department, as the growth of receipts at the post-offices from which the service originates is more than sufficient to defray the cost of the service. BURLINGTON COUNTT, N. J. In June, 1898, service was begun at Moorestown, N. J., with three carriers, and at Riverton with one carrier. Subsequent extensions have added four more carriers, one additional at Jloorestown, and one each at Palmyra, Mount Laurel, and Marlton. There is now an urgent application pending for another carrier at Palmyra or River- ton, in order to give proper mail facilities to all residents of that populous section. The postmasters at Evesboro and Fellowship resigned, and the offices were dis- continued. Parry post-office was also discontinued, as was all of the star service in the district. The district is one of the best in the State. Roads are generally of the very best. Population is dense and highly intelligent. The mails are heavy and the work of the carriers laborious. With the additional carrier now demanded the service would be well-nigh perfect. Extensions from this district can be made without interfering with existing service, and from the nature of the country there would be no impediment to unlimited expansion did the appropriation warrant. WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA. October 1, 1898, rural service with three routes was started in connection with the Washington, Pa., office. Applications for additional service at once poured in. The case was placed in my hands and I made two efforts during the winter to inspect the locality, but failed to do so because of the inclemency of the weather. During May the locality was given a thorough inspection, Special Agent Hutches accom- panying and assisting me. One of the original routes extended 10 miles north, and the other two 8 miles south and west. Practically all of the people residing within the boundary thus formed were clamorous for the service, and it was absolutely impos- sible to discriminate. Eight additional carriers were recommended and were ordered. Fourth-class post-offices are very numerous throughout Pennsylvania, and Washington County is no exception. We did not recommend the discontinuance of any offices, nor were star routes interfered with. They were left to demonstrate the survival of the fittest. Within a month five postmasters resigned and their offices were abolished. I have not been advised of subsequent changes or of the success of the service, but, judging by the number of petitions that have been received from other adjacent sections, the inference is that the service is successful. Sub.sequently three routes were established at Burgettstown, connecting with Washington on the north ; and, as stated above, there are numerous applications for further extensions. Washington County is one of the best agricultural counties in Pennsylvania. It is well adapted to the service, and I know of no locality where it could be put into operation on an extensive scale to better advantage than in that county and in the adjacent counties of Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock, W. Va. WEST VIRGINIA. At the same time a service with three carriers was established in connection with the Welleburg, W. Va., office. While the territory covered is quite hilly, almost mountainous, the ro.ids are very fine, among the best in the country, and the people are especially progressive and intelligent. There is now an urgent demand from other portions of Brooke County for additional service. REPORT OV FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 101 8HIPPKNSBURO, PA. Service was started Jannary 1 last at Shippensburg, on the line between Franklin and Cuinberland counties, with three carriers in each connty. This service was successful from the start. Postmaster Hollar provided sorting cases and tables, and the people took special p.iins to provide good boxes. Many of the boxes were unique, iind some quite ornamental. The Cumberland Valley is a fine agricultural section, and the people are strictly up to date. WEST CHESTER, PA. The service at this thriving town, established January 1, has been phenomenally successful from tlie start. There are six carriers, coveriug an area of about 75 sqviare miles, oomiuij in contact with twenty fourth-class post-ofHces. None of these offices was disturbed by the rural delivery except one, which was ordered discontinued upon a report by an officer of the division of "Poat-offlce Inspection and Mail Depredations,'' who found, in addition to irregularities, that the office was not needed, as all the patrons were served by free delivery. During the month of May the value of the stamps on mail collected by the car- riers was sufficient to pay their salaries for two months. Had this mail gone into the fourth-class offices practically all would have been absorbed by the postmasters. A petition is now on file asking for two deliveries daily. I am well convinced that it would pay the Department to grant their request, on condition that post- othces within the territory fully covered by the delivery should be dispensed with, and I know that it would give the people a service much superior to that in vogue under the old system. The opinion of a leading newspaper of Philadelphia, after thoroughly investigating the West Chester service, was that it was an absolute success. One hundred of the most prominent citizens were interviewed, and all expressed themselves as delighted with the rural free delivery. RUHAI, FREE DELIVERY WOULD BE A SAVING, NOT AN EXPENSE. There are more than 300 post-offices in the two counties of Chester and Delaware, the area being slightly in excess of 1,000 square miles, with 200,0U0 population. A careful estimate discloses the fact that free delivery could be made universal through- out the rural sections of the two counties, giving two deliveries a day, at a saving over present cost of $40,000 a year. If extended to all portions of the two counties, urban and rural, the result would be practically the same. AVith the increase that invariably follows free delivery this populous section would soon afford a large revenue instead of being an expense, as at present. Indeed, the entire region, were any other than antiquated postal methods adopted, should soon become a revenue producer instead of a revenue reducer. The report for August is 21,712 pieces delivered and 16,602 collected, giving an average of 6,386 pieces per carrier per month. Reckoning the average postage per piece at 2 cents, the collection would have paid the salaries often carriers, whereas six men were employed. It should not be forfrotten that this business is additional to that done by the fourth-class post-offices and in spite of the violent opposition of some of the postmasters. CUMBERLAND COUNTY, ME. Very early in the history of the service rural free delivery routes were put in opera- tion at Gorham, Brunswick, North Deering, Naples, and Sebago Lake, Me. I have just completed an inspection of these routes, and take the liberty to quote from the report of Inspector F. A. O'Brien, who established the service. He said, under date December 19,1896: ^ ^ ^ ^^ . . ,^ ^ ,^ "After a careful study of each of these experiments I am of the opinion that the system is highly expedient, very practicable, and exceedingly convenient for a much overlooked element in our civilization— the farmer. "The service has not been in operation long enough in aU the offices to furnish a good basis of estimates as to the normal or average amount of business which will be transacted under it, but in each instance I have noted a constant increase as the work progresses in the number of pieces handled. "In every case the people served have given their hearty cooperation to the sys- tem. This is evidenced by the alacrity with which on all the routes the people erected boxes for the reception of their mail. " One n-reat advantage coming to the residents of the rural district as a result of this system has been manifested in the e.^periment. It is the much enjoyed privilege of receiving the daily newspaper. Heretofore I have found in my work in rural districts that the residents there are accustomed to go to town bnt once, and rarely more than twice a week ; this circumstance necessitated their taking only a weekly 102 REPORT or FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. paper. Under the new system they are afforded the opportunity of receiving the news daily, and I have learned from the postmasters in the above-named offices that many persons have already subscribed to daily papers. " That the system meets with uniform approval I have not the slightest doubt. Indeed, the postmasters in the above-named districts and the people served are unanimous in their indorsement of the scheme, and are lootin};; forward with fond hopes to the establishment of it. Moreover, the press of New England has treated of the subject rather freely, and no sign of disapproval from this source has yet come to my notice. "It has occasionally been argued that the rural class would prefer to follow the olden custom of going to town for mail, that thus they may meet their fellow-towns- men. Yet my intercourse with these people leads me to believe that they are too frugal and, in most cases, too hard-pressed not to appreciate the saving of time and trouble which results from the delivery of their mail almost at their doors — espe- cially at this time, when discontent and uneasiness are noticeable in the farming districts. " The establishment of the rural free delivery would come as a welcome boon to show them tbat the equality of all citizens is not a myth, but a reality, and, since in late years the mail service has become such a potent factor in the development and extension of trade and commerce, 1 am of the opinion that iu a comparatively short time the adoption of rural free delivery will tend to give great impetus to agricultural pursuits." After the lapse of nearly three years, it affords me pleasure to reaffirm every state- ment made by Mr. O'Brien. The people are now as enthusiastic in their support of the service as they were at the time of its establishment. DEFECTS OF THB BAJBLY SERVICE. One of the defects noted iu the early establishment of the service, as well as In many cases of a later date, was tho. lack of specific descriptions of routes established. There is often nothing on tile iu the post-oiiice to so much as indicate that the serv- ice was established. As a result, the incoming postmaster is devoid of knowledge as to what constitutes the proper route. Your svhteui of inspections will soon remedy this defect, and, wit h the comprehensive descriptions and improved maps now required, will prevent a recurrence of such imperfections. This defect was especially noticeable at Gorham, where the carrier went south 3^ miles and returned over the same road. He then weut north the same distance, ai'ouud a block aboutS miles, and returned over the same road. Seven miles of the distance was lost, and not more than fifty families reached; whereas, had he followed the route indicated on the map filed by Mr. O'Brien, he wonld have reached one hundred families at least. No wonder the service did not give the results anticipated. I wish to state that I do not consider the carrier at fault. The present postmaster is enthusiastic in support of the service. OTHER MAINE ROUTES. At Brunswick, Me., rural free deiivery has been extended until there are now four routes in successful operation. The route first established, West Brunswick, did a business of but 2,225 pieces last mouth. South Brunswick reported 4,807 pieces, East Harpswell 3,118 pieces, anil Harpswell Neck 10,021 pieces. I recommend an extension of the West Brunswick route, which will bring it up to a fair average. All the fourth- class post-offices in the district, and of course all star routes, have been discontinued. There was a strong protest from residents on Harpswell Neck, on which three offices had been discontinued, and I spent considerable tiuLO investi- gating the case. I found with but few exceptions that the complaints originated from and were propagated by two of the ex-postmasteis. At the southern end of tlie route, I found there were i^ood grounds for complaint, and recommended relief which I was assured would be satisfactory. NEWSPAPER AID ACKNOWLEDGED. I have found newspapers a most valuable aid. Editors are usually abreast of the times, and I have yet to find one who understood the object of the s'ervice who was not ready to lend me a helping hand. A fact which is generally overlooked yet a most important one, is that nearly all of the newspapers published in the town's from which rural free delivery originates are afternoon papers. They are not largely benefited. Their murning contemporaries from the large cities are run in on early trams and delivered over the routes, to the exclusion of the local dailies, yet as stated above, the local papers, without exception, advocate and support rural' deliverv The more honor to them ! ^^ j • REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 103 WHERE RURA.L SERVICE SHOULD START. I make it a point whenever possible to connect thd service with a second or third class office. First-clasK offices are nsually in cities which roqnire carriers to travel a considerable distance before they reach the scene of their labors. That is the only objection to such offices. Fourth-class offices are generally illy equipped for the service, and, as is too often the case, postmasters are indifferent or else hostile until they learn that it will swell their cancellations, when they want to spread it all over the country. 1 find best results in the two classes named. They get their mails promptly in the morning, have some time to devote to supervision of the service, and take pride in making it a success. CARRIERS. To my mind a general advaiice in the compensation of rural carriers would be nnvrise. They are now paid much better than siar route carriers. As a rule they work but fonr or five honrs a day, and are fairly well satisfied. There are excep- tional cases in which there is a certain territory to be covered, where the mails are very heavy and the route quite long, where, to have an efficient service the carrier should have additional compensation, but such cases are rare. I know of very few such routes. To increase the salary would cause a scramble for the positions, and strife and contention would ensue. When possible I employ sons of farmers, and find them not only well equipped, but very efficient. The fidelity of carriers and their devotion to duty are most commendable. Rain or shine they traverse their routes and perform their duties with wonderful exactness. The percentage of errors is infinitesimal. MONEY OKDER AND REGISTERED LETTER RECEIPTS. Carriers should be supplied with a simple form of receipt to give patrons for the money and fee for a money order and registered letters. Then let them take a receipt from the postmasters, and handing over that receipt take up their own. The new form of money order and the existing registry receipt suffice for the postmaster, but the carrier should give a receipt when accepting either money for an order, a registered letter, or a money order to be cashed. Such an arrangemimt would well nigh perfect the service, as it would bring the money-order system to practically all houses. BOXES. Frequent instructions have been given in regard to placing proper boxes on the rural routes, and yet the boxes remain practically the same. The reason for this is that there is not a suitable rural box on the market. The farmer who makes his own is better suited with it than with the most costly box to be obtained. The rural box made by the Postal Improvement Company, of Norristown, Pa., is too costly and too intricate. A box, the same size, with half the work on it and at half the price, would be a boon. The No. 2 rural box, constructed by the Corbin Cabinet Lock Company, of New Britain, Conn., is all right as to price, but it is too small. Double the size and sell at a small advance on present price and it would go. At several points in New England a combination of the Corbin box and a wood box of home construction is the best I have seen. The idea originated with a cler- gyman at Harrison, Me. Street letter boxes placed at schoolhouses and at impor- tant cross roads are most convenient. HINDRANCES. That rural free delivery should have made the strides it has, handicapped as it has been, is beyond comprehension. From the fountain head— Congress— comes the informati(m that it is experimental. Then the idea upon which the service was first established was that it was to be supplementary to existing fourth-class post- offices and star routes. It was to seek an existence on byroads and in sparsely- settled regions, and not deliver or collect mail within one mile of a post-office. It was simply an insignificant scavenger going about picking up the odds and ends that postmasters did not care much for, and it was too frequently attached to offices where it was not appreciated. Nine-tenths of the fourlh-class post-offices are kept in stores, as a matter of accommodation to the people and for the little trade they draw. Many of these postmasters have told me that they wished the office were at the bottom of the sea, as it did not pay and was a terrible annoyance. But when the proposition was made to relieve them of their disagreeable duties they at once began to hedge, and from that moment became the implacable foe of free delivery. 104 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENEEAU On the other side is a more pleasing picture. The farmer sees in rural free deliv- ery his iirst recognition by the Government. He realized previously that he was of some utility, but felt that he was of little consequence. He was a good subject for taxation, and it was all right for him to grow wheat, and corn, and cattle, and horses, and hogs, and sell them for what he could get, but beyond that he was only a clodhopper, and who cared for him? The day has finally arrived when the American farmer has begun to think, act, and vote for himself. He will no longer be a nonentity. He knows he possesses rights and dares maintain them. Thus the farmer has demanded free delivery of mail, and his voice is lifted up in its behalf. His brother in the city has but a short distance to go to the post-o£Bce, and there are paved streets on which to travel, yet his mail is delivered at his door. Why should not the farmer receive the same attention ? The distance to the office is much greater, roads are often muddy, and he is often sore pressed for time. While listening to the complaint of a postmaster, who said, " They have been coming here for their mail for the last twenty-five years, why can not they continue to do sof" a farmer made reply, "I have been traveling 4 miles for my mail, as you say, for twenty-five years, but now it comes to my home, and I tell you I appreciate it. I would do you no wrong, but surely I have some rights. Blessings on the man who gave me free delivery. Turn about is fair play, and our turn has come." Rural free delivery diffuses intelligence, makes rural life more pleasant, improves roads, enhances the value of land, increases the volume of mail, promotes sociabil- ity, and tends to more exalted ideas of government. These are the helps which have enabled the rural service to overcome all obstacles and in three years become the most popular feature of the postal service. PERSONA!.. To successfully establish rural free delivery requires tact and ability to readily comprehend the physical conditions of the community. Like conditions are not found in any two cases. Diverse interests are to be consulted and propitiated. The carriers must start on one road and return by another. Prominent citizens are averse to bringing up the rear of the procession. Topography and the roads must largely determine the length of routes. A fine discrimination is demanded to decide whether Pleasant street or Prospect avenue will afford the most mail. It gives me pleasure to testify to the tireless energy and intelligent work of the special agents you have selected for the purpose of layiug the foundation of rural free delivery. I have had exceptional opportunities fur noting the work they have done and the wisdom of their decisions, often under adverse conditions, and I am pleased to commend them. There were but few models after which to pattern. The work done prior to organization of the force of special agents was wholly experimental and often based on an erroneous conception of the idea. It is always more difficult to dissipate an erroneous idea than to inculcate right thoughts at the beginning. When I state that special agents do more satisfactory work than was done by inspectors who were originally detailed for this service I do no violence to the intel- ligence or worth of the inspector. His duties are multifarious. He can not devote his time and mind wholly to the work which becomes a business — a trade — to the special agent. If interested in his work, if desirous to see the service a success and I am quite sure all of your agents are inspired by proper motives — he is con- stantly acquiring; knowledge and applying it to the work in hand. He gradually learns how to arrange a route that future service can be added without interfering with that in existence and at the same time reach all of the people. On my own part, I beg to tender you, your efficient superintendent of free delivery, the special agent in charge, and all others connected with the work in the office also all of the special agents, my earnest, heartfelt thanks for the many courtesies bestowed, and the assistance so freely given me as to make the performance of my official duties a real pleasure. A. B. Smith, Special Agent. Special Agent TDOMAS H. HOUPT. „ „ „ „ KiTTANNiNO, Pa., Septmier 4, 1899. Hon. Peret S. Heath, ' Firtt Assistant Postmaster-General: Prior to my assignment to duty in the Eastern division I inspected and extended rural free-delivery service in the States of California, Colorado, and Oregon Since then I have been on duty in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, and Ohio This has brought me into contact with the mountainous regions of the Pacific slope and REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 105 ,Wd nvtJ'ii^^'' 'Offering territory of the Eastern and Southern States. I have exam- »«rvirwntt *''"'^,T* ^"jal free-delivery routes, and in every case I have found the rxiVfrnn, .nn^I'^^ ^..''°,'^ ^'"'^^ Satisfaction. In every instance I have received ^?v\vi\Z fnZ^2 r pleasant greetings from the carriers a>ul their patrons, all striving together to make rural free delivery a permanent institution. HOW HOSTILE PETITIONS OKIGINATK. Whenever complaints have been broasht to my attention I have found that they have proceeded trom othersources than from the people aecommodated by rural free delivery. 1 hey have generally emanated from persons who desired to serve them- selves a,t the expense oi the Government. I have found frequently, when investijiat- mg petitions presented against the service, that the names attached to these papers were either those of persons who did not live on the line of the rural free-delivery route, or that the signatures had been affixed as a matter of neiohborly accom- moilation to oblige some dissatisfied fourth-class postmaster or star-route subcon- tractor whose service had been discontinued, without any idea th:it the petition would have any eSeot upon the Department. This, of course, is wrong, but it is human nature. When I have represented to these persons that their action might result in the discontinuance of the service they have manifested unconcealed alarm and regret, and have declared that had they thought any notice would have been taken of the petition they wonld never have signed it, but they did so because they did not wish to ottend their neighbors. If the special agent will t>o to the business houses in some hamlet in which the protest originates, which have never had a post-ofBee in their stores, they will be told that the people are getting a better service, more prompt and in every way more satisfactory, than they have ever had before. I have noticed iu many agricultural communities much more dissatisfaction expressed at the location of the fourth-class post-office and a more urgent demand to have that location clianged to some other point than I have ever observed anywhere against rural free delivery. WHAT CONSTITUTES A ROUTE. What constitutes a suitable distMuce and population to form a rural free-delivery route is very hard to determine, because in no two States will the conditions of the roads, population, and patrons be the same. On one route there will be iiirmers who take daily papers and carry on a voluminous correspondence; on another route the majority of the patrons will simply take a home weekly paper and only answer let- ters when they get them. I think a fair rural route should be about 22 miles trai'el with one hundred families along the road traveled, and fifty more families living uo greater distance than half a mile from the main road traveled by the carrier. As to placing of collection boxes, they should be invariably placed at tho intersection of prominent crossroads where the country is thickly populated, from 1 to 2 miles from the intersection. DELIVERY BOXES. One serious question which arises in the establishment of every rural free-delivery route is the mail box to be used by patrons. The majority of the patrons would be willing to pay for a uniform cheap serviceable box, and if the Department contem- plates any such action the sooner it is enforced the better. Thos. H. Houpt, Special Agent. Special Agent IVAN «. B1,ACKMAIV. Quaker City, Ohio, September 7, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heath, First Assistant Postmaster- General: The iirst two months of the past fiscal year I was employed in the army mail service. Since then I have establifllied rural free-delivery service at the following places: Washington, Pa. ; Benton Harbor and South Haven, Mich. ; Upperville, Va. ; Lostant and Magnolia, 111.; Canton, Ohio; Eckford, Mich.; AVooster, Shreve, Char- don, Archbold, Port Clinton, and Gypsum, Ohio; Nottawa and MiddleviUe, Mich.; Prairie Depot and Beloit, Ohio; Hillsdale, Mich.; Lexington, Ky. ; Burton, Geneva, JeflFerson, Cuyahoga Falls, North Madison, Chagrin Falls, and Quaker City, Ohio. I have inspected and recommended against the service at Columbus, Ohio; New- port, Ky. ; East Lewistown and Barberton, Ohio. I have also inspected and discon- tinued service at AUensville, Ky. Inspected service at Wooster, Shreve, Chardon, Port Clinton, Gypsum, Beloit, Burton, and Poland, Ohio. 10615 3 Missing Page REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSl'MASTEIi-GKNERAL. 107 Special Agonl 8. O. EDIMON. East Okange, N. J., Sevtember 10, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heatit, I'irnl Assistant Postmaster-General: I banded in on July 1, t-bis joiir, n. stateuiont of my work up to tbat tinus. Since tbat il:ite I bave only inapockHl routes proviously cstablisbcd— eleven in iiumbiT — in the ytati' of New Jersey, as follows; One at Chatham, four at Morristown, one at Mount Laurel, one at ihirlton, one at Palmyra, one at Riverton, one at South Dart- mouth, Mass., and one at Bernardston, Mass. These routes I found running in a systematic manner and givinj; perfect satisfaction to the patrons. Since their estab- lisbnieut the hrst and second class mail matter has greatly increased and has liecome the means of bringing the farmers and people on the route in closer communication with the outside world. The privilege they have once enjoyed they wonld be sluw to abandon. Previous to my being sent out on inspection routes I reported on service in western New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, (Connecticut, and North Dakota. In North Dakota I laid out six double routes. I adopted the plan of double routes, as the country is sparsely settled. One carrier does the work for both, traveling over them on alternate days. PRIMITIVE POSTAL METHODS. At Concord, N. H., I suggested a route that would dispense with six post-offlcee and two star routes and would save the Department $766 a year. About the same thing could be done at several places in the New England States, where in many places the star routes bave not beeu changed since the railroads were built, and, as I was informed, some of the routes do not carry, on an average, two letters a day. The rural free-delivery system extended generally over States whore the antiquated star- route service prevails would be a great saving to the Department and give the people a much better service. LETTER BOXES. If the Department could secure cheap, serviceable boxes — say from 75 cents to $1.50 each — and retiuire the patrons to erect them in convenient places on the road, so that the carriers could drive up to them and put in and take out the mails without get- ting out of their carriages, it would enable the carrier to get over his route in leas time and would greatly facilitate the service. The letter boxes now in use are of all kinds. Some are safe against the weather and a good many are not. There are a few metal boxes on the routes I have in- spected but as a rule they are no good. The locks are out of order and a good many keys have been lost; so the boxes are exposed to anyone that feels disposed to help himself to the contents. S. O. Edison, Special Agent. Special Agent 'W. C R. HAZARD. Buffalo, N. Y., September 14, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heath, First Assistant I'ostmaster- General: Shortly after my appointment, July 1, 1899, I investigated a route at Hammond, N. Y. This route, which runs parallel with the St. Lawrence River, runs through a rich dairy country and serves farmers whose mail faeilities were very poor before the introduction of rural free delivery. The roads on this ronte are good, outcrop- pings of flat stone ledges making in some places a natural stone road. This route, in my opinion, will be very successful. Since its establishment a petition from the farmers m the neighboring town of Brier Hill, haa been received, aakiug for rural free delivery. OTHER SERVICE RENDERED. I next went over Ronte No. 1 from Port Chester, N. Y. As in all places suburban to New York City, the roads are fine, and the farmers, whose market for their products is New York, are an intelligent and thrifty class of people. There can be no doubt of the success of this route. ^ -r ■, _.. -k, v t ■, t j c In company with Special Agent Hutches, at Lockport, N. Y., I looked over five routes from that city and decided to recommend two, one of which has been estab lished The roads about Lockport are sandy, but generally in good condition. The farmers in this section are mostly engaged in raising fruit, and the convenience which a daily paper containing the market reports is to them can not be overesti- 108 REPOET OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. mated. Reports from the postmaster at Lockport and from patrons of the route tell that the service is a success and constantly increasing. We next went to Newport, R. I., and recommended the establishment of four routes, two to run from Little Comp'on, E I., and two from Tiverton, R. I. Tliere were, when we were in Newport, several routes in successful operation near tliere, and as the four routes recomraonded by us serve the same class of people, there can be no doubt of their success also. We were obliged to report adversely upon routes to run from Jamestown, R. I., Biirrington, R. I., Warren, R. I., and Bristol, R. I., as the patrons of these offices were mostly summer residents, and were not, in our opinion, the class of people which rural free delivery is intended to benetit. We have also reconmiended two routes to run from Newark, N. Y., and two from Phelps, N. Y. These routes tap the tine country in central New York. Petitions were signed by practically every farmer in the vicinity, and with the cooperation which they promised the routes can nut help but be successful. I then recommended a route in Irondeqiioit, N. Y. This route goes through the truck-garden section near Rochester, N. Y., which is considered to be the richest section of New York State. The carrier in traveling 22 miles delivers to over 250 families, the heads of which do a large business with commission houses in New York and Buffalo. This, in my opinion, will be one of the most successful routes in the country I next went to Philadelphia, N. Y., and Evans Mills, N. Y. I recouimended a change in the route from Philadelphia which I think will be a benefit, and reported adversely on the proposed route from Evans Mills, N. Y. While in this section I looked over four routes running from Watertowu N. Y., and found them in very prosperous condition. The ]i;itrons are verymuch pleased and the number of pieces of mail handled shows a healthy increase each month. WHERE OBJECTIONS COMB FROM. The objections to rural free delivery come in all cases from three sources: The fourth-class postmaster, the subcontractor of star routes, and the small stores about the post-office. The objections from the small stores, however, soon die out when the farmers who are jiatrons of rural fre» delivery give the storekeeper to under- stand that objection on his part will work more against him than rural free delivery will. DEFECTIVK BOXES. The boxes put up by patrons on some of the routes are insecure, and I impress upon all farmers wlidui I meet the necessity of good, substantial boxes. Wherever possible I have the offloers of the local grange also urge upon people on the routes the need of substantial boxes conveniently placed. FALSE STATEMENTS. Objectors to routes deceive the farmer by telling him that rural free delivery will add to his taxes. Through the local newspapers I have endeavored to deny and explain this fallacy. The assistance and encouragement received from all news- papers and their desire to help along rural free delivery are a great benefit to the special agent, and I have yet to find a newspaper man not an enthusiast on the subject. INCREASED VALDK OF LAND. In several sections farmers have told me that a delivery service increased the value of their farms, and one fariuer informed me that he had lost the sale of his farm because there was no free delivery passing it. carriers' salaries. The salary of carriers ($400 a year) in New York State strikes people as being very low, and there is sometimes great difficulty in finding a suitable man to carry the mail at that price. It often takes longer to find a carrier and have him properly bonded than to do all the other work in laying out a route. lack OF maps. The lack of adequate and accurate road maps is a great difficulty to the special agent, and I am often obliged to take some time in finding such a map. Instructions to petitioners from the Department upon the receipt of their petition to obtain such a map and to lay out a route which in their opinion would do the greatest amount of good to the greatest number would, I think, assist the special agent more thau anything else in his investigation of a route. EEPOET OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 109 APPRECIATION OF THE SERVICE. MmJ*i7,1^"° t," ^•'''l™,^ free-delivery route which has been ranning any length of Ted from wlVrrifi' ''""'"T.* ^"^'T' '" ^"" ^''^ '1^''1>' paper the^day it is^ub- Evervworn,7Hl««^f , Set the n.aiket reports, which help him in his business. nrAzi^estTt .n ^, T'^ 'h''*'P', ^^^ ^"^^ ^' ''"'"« ^y briu^.riog the papers and s i rite?, riirt *^;^ ""} "■^^""■7, ^-K". -"■'? ♦" <'on-espond with their friends without the hnt,« v^t tn^ I •'^- ■ ."""^ tl^e t,,„e that I have been coiLnected with the service I have jet to l,ud a single complaint about the honesty of a carrier or his willingness to be obliging at all times. The only complaint among the farmers comes from themseWes '"*'' ''°"''"^' °^ *'^" '^'^^"^ '^"'^ ^^^'^ -^o* ^^''"^^d the serWce W. C. R. Hazakd, Special Agent. Western Division.-Francis M. Dice, Special Agent in Charge, Indianapolis, Ind.— Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska Kansas, fexas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, California, and the Territories. , = > > Special Agent UHABfiBS X.'TIVIW. „ _ „ „ TOPEKA, Kans., Augutt S6, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heath, > » > First Assistant Postmaater-General: On the 10th day of February last I was appointed to the position of special agent of rural free delivery, the territory of Illinois having been assigned me as my field of labor. SERVICE ESTABLiSaaD IN ILLINOIS. A. short time after my appointment, in company with Special Agent Smith, 1 assisted in the establishment of three routes at Murphysboro, Jackson County, III. At Plainfield, Will County, HI., I laid out a route over line i;ravel-niade road's, in a rich farming country, under high state of cultivation. I recommended the discon- tinuance of one star route, also four post-ofiices which were being supplied by that star route. I did not recommend these discontinuances, however, until I had ob- tained the consent of the postmasters and the patrons of the respective offices. This service is a popular and growing one. 1 was over a part of the route recently and talked with the carrier, also quite a number of the leading patrons, and everyone I met was well pleased with the service. Nnuiber of pieces of mail collected and de- livered for the thirty days after July 20, 3,373. At Dixon, Lee County, lU., I recommended a service over a rich farming country and found very hard-made roads. I suggested the discontinuance of one star route and two post-offices; no opjiosition developed. I respectfully call attention to the number of pieces of mail collected and delivered by the carrier for the thirty days from July 20; total, 7,899. This route will collect and deliver for the first year of its existence almost, if not quite, 100,000 pieces of mail — a splended showing. Next, at Duquoin, Perry County, 111., Ij established a service that is having a healthy growth. Tlie postmaster writes, under dateof August 21, saying: "Number of pieces of mail collected and delivered by rural carrier for thirty days from July 20, 3,475," and adds : " The service here is a pronounced success, and is daily becom- ing more popular." I recommended the discontinuance of one star route and one post-office there, and no opposition developed. Next, at Sugargrove, Kane County, 111., I established a service, finding fine gravel- made roads, rich farming country, under high state of cultivation. The service is growing and highly appreciated. Number of pieces of mail collected and delivered for one month from July 20, 2,962. ASSIGNMENT TO WESTKRN DIVISION. On July 1, when the division of the service was made, I was assigned to the west- ern division. The State of Kansas was added to my territory. An application having been made for a service at Trilla, Coles County, 111., I, after looking into the conditions there quite thoroughly, made an adverse report thereon. At Mattoon, Coles County, 111., I recommended a service. Found conditions very much more favorable than at Trilla, in the same county. At Tolona, Champaign County, 111., 1 recommended a service. The conditions are favorable, as the country is a thickly settled section of central Illinois. Quite a number of the patrons living along proposed route under present conditioiui are 110 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. obliged to go from 5 to 8 miles for their mail. Opposition afterwards, as I auder- staud, developed to this service on account of a protest having heen filed by the postmaster of a small post-office near by. I also laid out routes and recommended service at Rock City, Stephenson County, 111., and at Romeoville, Will County, 111. This last route touches the Plainfield route above referred to. The conditions are altogetherfavorable. Good made roads over a thickly settled section of fine farming country and a highly intelligent, read- ing people are the principal reasons set forth in my report for this service. This concludes my work in Illinois. WORK IN KANSAS. About a fortnight ago I reached this State, with quite a number of applications for service referred to me. 1 find the farmers in Kansas enthusiastically in favor of rural free delivery. My first work was the recommendation of a service from Station "B," this city (Topeka), which is situated just inside the city limits. I have recom- mended the discontinuance of two star routes and four post-offices, which was done with the consent of the postmasters and the leading patrons of the respective offices, but I have not yet heard that these star routes and post-offices have been discon- tinued. If this should be ordered I predict for the rural free-delivery service great success. Three hundred families live within 1 mile of the proposed route. It will substitute a satisfactory for the present unsatisfactory star service now in effect, and will bring about quite a saving to the Government. The postmaster. Judge Guthrie, thinks this will be the banner service of the Union when the fourth-class post-offices and star routes are abolished and rural delivery is given full scope. My next work was at Meriden, Jefferson County, Kans. I found good roads and a thickly settled section of fine farming country. I noticed In going over the route that milk haulers to the creamery at that place were in the habit of delivering the mail along the public highway and were paid for such service by the people. This service will now be undertaken by the Government without cost to them, and will be better performed. Valley Falls, .lefferson County, Kans., was next visited, where I found good roads and tine farming country. In order that some understanding may be had as to the community around Valley Falls, I will say they have a population of 1,035 — census taken last May. They have a fine system of waterworks, electric-light plant, etc. The postmaster there informs uie that 1,808 weekly papers and 475 daily papers go through his office weekly and daily. This service will be highly appreciated by the patrons and will in my judgment have a bright future. Next, at Burlingame, Osage County, Kans., I recommended a service with condi- tions altogether favorable, as Osage County is one of the most productive counties in the State. It is thickly settled and is quite a bituminous coal center. This con- cludes my work in the line of establishment of rural routes. INSPECTIONS OF BOtTTES. About one month ago I inspected rural free delivery route No. 1, at Darlington, Montgomery County, Ind. ; found splendid gravel-made roads and a fine farming country. The farmers with whom I talked seemed to appreciate the service greatly ; found secure metal boxes placed conveniently for the carrier along the line of route. In fact, all conditions were favorable for a healthy service. During last week I inspected routes Nos. 1 and 2, at Bonner Springs, Wyandotte County, Kans. ; also one at Edwardsville, which is very near by. I desire to call attention to the condition of the boxes along these three routes. They are old wooden dilapidated affairs — scarcely a secure one in the whole number — placed in hedge fences and in out-of-the- way places, causing great inconvenience to the carriers in reaching them. In other respects the service at these points is growing, slowly, however. I also made inspec- tion of route No. 1, Osawatomie, Miami County, Kans. Conditions were altogether different there. Good boxes had been placed along the line of route in most instances. In talking with the people I found them appreciative of the benefits they were receiving from rural free delivery. This concludes my work in this line. In my own State — Illinois — I regret to say, the farmers are not manifesting a very great interest in rural free delivery. In this State (Kansas), however, I found the conditions quite different. Applications for service are piling up daily from all parts oi the State. I would recommend that the alternate day system referred to in your last report to the Postmaster- General should be given a trial in the sparsely settled sections of Kansas. I think satisfactory results would ensue therefrom. I find that the boxes, as a rule, are insecurely made, and are placed in out-of-the- way ajid iaoou veniant positions for the carrier. I respectfully recommend that some REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTKR-OENERAL. Ill actiou be takcu to remedy this very important foaturo of tlie ser\ iio. As to rnoles- tatuiu of the mail, I have yet to hear of a single loinplaint in this partu-ular on any rural free (l.livery route where I have boon, I liud all newspaper jieople in thor- ough sympathy with the free delivery, and they seem quite anxious to promote its development. WHAT RURAL DELIVERY WILL HO. Rural free delivery will, in my opinion, go a loui; way in the settlement of the question that is uciw receiving the attention of all I'armers' institutes, granges, and agneultural papera— " How to ]tony of fai rii life, bringing, as they will, the comforts of city life to the farmers' home and gladdening hourly the hearts of all. Chas. Lynn. Special Agent. Special A((cnl IVII.IylAIfl E. ANIVIN. PHffiNix, Ariz., September 1, 1S99. Hon. Pf.rrt S. Hfath, Firitt Assmtant foalmaater-General : In compliance with instructions I transmit herewith report of my service as special agent rnral free delivery from July 11 to date. The field of work assigned me includes the States of I'tah, Oregnn.and California, and the Territories of New Jlexico and Arizona, an area of blifi'M sipiare miles. At the date when I assumed charge experimental rural free delivery had been established in all the political divisions mentioned except Utah and New Jlexico. My earliest instructions sent mo to Utah for the purpose of examining a number of routes, called for by farming communities, prior to proceeding to the coast. This State, the last admitted to the Union, was one of the few political divisions of the United States in which one nr nioie experimental rural free delivery loutes had not been previously established. This was due in yiart to the sraallness ol the appropriation made for experimental purposes, but chieHy to the fact that no request had come to the Department asking for the establishment of a route. Such formal request having been received, I was ordered to investigate the situation and report. After consultation with United States Senator Kawlins, ex-Governor 'I'liomas, post- master at Salt Lake City, and others familiar with the State, regarding localities best fitted for the requirements of the system, I spent some time in trips throughout the State, mapping out those portions where sutHcient density of farming population in need of such facilities could be found. The valley of the .Jordan, south of Salt Lake City, was finally decided upon as the most eligible location for iuaugur.ating rnral free delivery in Utah, and alter careful inspection of several suggested initial points, Murray, 9 miles south of Salt Lake City, was fixel upon as the post office from which to start the first route in Utah. The entire valley of the .Jordan north and south of Salt Lake City is an area of small holdings, with geneially excellent roads and in the main with' good postal facilities. The route finally chosen seemed to meet the requirements of the Department better than half a dozen others carefully inspected. It was therefore recommended to the Department, and rural free deliv- ery was established on August 15. I was present on that date and witnessed the return of the carrier from his first trip. lie reported thr greatest interest among patrons of the rimte and the promise of the licst results when changes in nniildirec- tions and the setting up of delivery boxes, already ordered, could be aeromplislied. The establishment of this initial route in Utah has been followed, as is usual, by persistent entreaties for the same class of service in adjacent secticms. My experi- ence has been that the inauguration of rural free delivery and a short test of the great advantages which it proffers to farming commuuities is the cause of immediate calls upon the Department for the extension of the service in the vienity and the State At the present time a number of a]qilieations for rural free delivery in Utah are p'endint;-, caused by the sueee^sful establishment of the Murray route and the publicity gTven by the' State press to the satisfactiim experienced by those who are benefiting from its operation. 112 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. CALIFORNIA. Having completed the cases assigned for Utah and forwarded full reports upon topographical conditions in the State and upon those sections best adapted for the eco- nomical and successful development of rural free delivery, acting under instructions, I proceeded, on July 31, to California to investigate and reportupon several applica- tions awaitingin the State where rural free delivery has been so successful. No route had heretofore been laid out in the San Joaquin Valley, one of the great wheat- growing sections of the .State, and from which, owing to the reports of the benefits accruing from rural free delivery to farming communities elsewhere, strong pressure was being brought for its establishment. Owing to kindly courtesies on the part of Hon. Marion De Vries, Member of Congress, Second district, I was enabled to mate- rially shorten my stay in the vicinity of Stockton and to inspect and recommend a practical route in San Joaquin County. The problem in all the sections where large ranches are the rule is necessarily more difficult of solution than in the region of small farms. The intervals between dwellings are greater, and, as a rule, improve- ments of roads are less. The special agent called to pass upon a suggested route, quite as earnestly demanded as in the areas of siiiiiUer land holdings, is at once met with the diiliculty of mapping out a line of delivery with a sufficient number of patrons to warrant its establishment and short enough to be certainly covered daily duiing all seasons of the year. It is to be noted that throughout the far West in the region of large farjiis and romparatively small population road improvement is much less advanced than where smaller holdings are the rule, and gravel and macad- amized roads have come in response to the demand of a numerous and concentrated body of taxpayers. Several routes suggested in this section of California were found to be impracticable for the sole reason that the condition of the roads pre- cludeil the assurance that carriers could traverse the routes and make time during the Heason of rains. Having made favorable recommendation for the route from Storkton, I proceeded to Sacramento to inspect a proposed route from Floriau, 9 mile.'i distant from the State capital. This was found to be impracticable because of the condition of the cirautry roads, added to the long intervals between farms. A system of macadamized roads has been iiiiiuguriited fnim S:iiramento south, but it has not been sufficiently extended to make it an iiiiimrtaiit factor in the consider- ation of rural free delivery. The absence of road maps also prevented, as it so frequently does, a satisfactory identilication of roads. State Highway Commis- sioner Maude proffered every courtesy of his office toward securing, in the future, information respecting roads throughout the State, and 1 am much indebted to him for valuable information. From Sacramento I went to Santa Cruz. The route inspected and subsequently approved is the first in this county of California. Those interested in the establish- ment of the route had made a careful canvass of those who might be served by its location. Petitions were signed by more than two hundred prospei five patrons, maps of the route were ready and every provision had been made in advance for the thorough and speedy determination of the practicability of the proposed line of delivery. Recognizing that one stretch of road on the route would doubtless be objectionable, application had been made in advance to the county supervisors for the construction of a new road, which would obviate the objections. In order to secure the establishment of rural free delivery the supervisors agreed to change the roa,d, through condemn atioii proceedings, aud'remove what was felt to be an obstacle to increased mail facilities in the county. Eastern California has furnised the ideal field for the establishment of rural free delivery. The routes located in Santa Oara Couuty have more than justified every expectation. Practically the entire couuty, with the exception ofthe mirantai'u districts, receives daily delivery of mail matter by rural carriers. The service is well maintained and complaints are extremely few. Patrons of the various routes are steadily improving the character of the letter boxes. Owing to the admirable roads which run through the county in every direction, the high intelligence of the citizens, and the small holdings of land, the best results in the State and in the terri- tory under my supervision have been secured in Santa Clara C:ounty. Applications for extension of routes are still pending and will be investigated later. It is apparent that by far the largest number of applications for the estalilishiiJent of rural free delivery routes in the territory assigned to the special agent now reporting will come from California. For several years, at least, these are likely to more than equal the combined requests from the other States and from the Territories under my supervi- sion. The success of rural free delivery in the State, wherever established, has created a growing demand in adjacent and other sections that the same facilities be extended. After disposing of the California cases sent me I returned to Utah, inaugurating the Murray route, theu to Arizona, en route to California, to inspect roates already established. REPOKT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 113 QBNERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. ^T'l^ti^^^ M^ weeks since assiiuiiDg direction of this territory I have traveled nearly 4,500 miles by rail and in conveyance in the peiforjiiauce of my official duties. Ihere can be no question whatever of the daily increasiiiR popularity of the free delivery of mail matter among farmiiifj; communities. .Sei tions supplied scout the Idea that the service can be discontinued, and those not yet favored are urging for equal facilities. The pressure upon Senators and Representatives in Congress from their constituents for the establishment of rural free-delivery routes is persistent, and seems to come with equal vigor from localities where, under present conditions, service can not be est;, jlished as well as from sections where successful and ecouom- ioal routes could be laid out. LACK OP INFORMATION A8 TO THE 8ERV1GK. Many of the calls for rural free delivery seem to arise from lack of knowledge of the scope; and application of the system. The possibility of the daily delivery of mail at the doors of citizens more or less distant from post-offices has stimulated a demand for such facilities in the suburbs of cities in which urban free delivery is in force, in villages not entitled to free delivery under the law, in mining camps where distribution of the mail on the mountain sides and among the canyons would be of great convenience, and in rural communities which do not fall under the rules of the Department and where successful and economical establishment of rural free- delivery routes would not at present be practicable. It does not seem to be gener- ally understood in the territory which has been assigned to me that the appropria- tions for this class of the postal service are extremely limited, amounting to less than $1,000 annually for each Congressional district in the United States, and that the system is as yet designated in the "experimental" stage. The routes already established have proved so successful and so popular that they are their own adver- tisement, not only in the vicinage, but throughout the State where they are located. Those who have witnessed the operation of rural free delivery or who have learned of it through friends or through tbe press, anxious for its establishment, quite nat- urally press upon their Congressmen claims which will not stand the touchstone of inspection or bear tbe test of the rules laid down by the Department. Singularly enough, the press seems not to have been thoroughly informed of the requirements, though, as I have Ibund everywhere, more than willing to print information afforded and eager to disseminate facts regarding the system. WHERE OPPOSITION COMES PROM. Opposition to rural free delivery in this section comes from three sources only. These are the incumbents of fourth-class post-otiices whose tenancy is menaced by the proposed establishment of routes, subcontractors on star routes threatened with the loss of a job, and saloon keepers in country towns who protest that mail delivery at the farrahocse doors interferes with their trade in keeping the farmer more at home. The better class of tradesmen, however, discover that the patronage of the farmers is not decreased by the daily delivery of mail, and that their customers pur- chase quite as much during possibly less frequent visits. Where the routes have been longest established it has been proved that the facili- ties of rural free delivery tend to increase settlement along the routes ; that farms and houses formerly tenantless find tenants and occupants, and that land values increase where the daily papers can be delivered and the town brought every day in close connection with the country. It is the universal testimony of postmasters at tbe starting points of rural free delivery tbat the increased mail facilities are inva- riably followed by an increased use of the mails. Thus the tendency is steadUy toward making the routes self-supporting. REQUIREMENTS BEFORE KSTAJBLISHING. With the increasing calls for the establishment of rural free-delivery routes under a most limited appropriation it seems imperative that such establishment should in every case be preceded by petition of those desiring the service, and that the Depart- ment should, in each instance, be put in possession of information respecting the section to be served, the number of patrons willing to comply with the require- ments the character of the roads, and the length of the line. In all cases a map of the route should go forward with the petition. It is too often a useless waste of time and expense on the part of a special agent where, upon a ba,re request to estab- lish free deliverv in a designated section, he finds himselt called upon to look up a iiracticable route or is forced, after much work, to decide that none of the condi- tions favorable to the establishment of a successful rural free delivery obtain. 114 EEPOET OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. NECESSITY OF SUPERVISION. The aucoess of rural free delivery is largely dependent upon the daily supervision of the carriers by the postmasters at points from which the routes start. The best- maintiiiued and most satisfactory routes are tbose where the postmaster respousible takes the greatest interest in the system and works for its success. He will natu- rally be the recipient of the suggestions as well as of the complnints of the patrons of routes of which his ofiBce is the initial point, and has it in his power to most materially assist in furthering the interests of those who benefit by the establishment of rural free delivery. The postmaster at Sau Jose, Cal., knows every foot of roads and every patron upon the routes centering in his office. Belbre becoming postmaster, and while a member of the board of trade, he practically laid out with inspectors, or assisted in laying out, the initial routes in Santa Clara County. He rides over them and jerks up the carriers for every delinquency. He knows where every letter box is located and hon much mail it gets, and exercises a steady influence in helping to maintain the service up to the high standard which obtains on every route running out of San .Jose. Major Hawley deserves and should receive the special thanks of the Depart- ment for unremitting work to make rural free delivery what it is in the Santa Clara Valley. He has been of the greatest possible service to me while here, giving lav- ishly of his time in helping to make my inspections thorough and instructive. SECURITY OF MAIL BOXES. The question of a simple, durable, and inexpensive mail box for patrons of routes is a pre.ssing one. Many persons along routes decline to post letters in unlocked boxes, especially at cross roads. It is manifestly impossible for carriers to carry around with tbeni a large bimch of keys to tit individual letter boxes along the route. The invention of a box with one compartment for collection, and to which the carriers alone have a key, and with another lor delivery, the key or keys to which are in possession of owners, would greatly increase the security of the mails and facilitate the extension of the service. Up to the present time most of the boxes used are of wood, varying in size and shape from a dog house to a section of a pigeon cote. The time, in my judgment, has arrived when none but lock boxes of some character should be permitted. Where the option is given to the householder to put out what kind of an apology for a box he pleases, the character of the boxes in the main naiat be and remain inferior. It is easier to enforce a rule at the outset than to change it, so to spealt, en route. For instance, in the last two routes established in southern California carriers were instructed, prior to their first trip, to canvass the routes and to insist upon durable lock boxes. Result: On the "Hillsdale'' and "Edensvale" routes iron lock boxes are used, with only one exception. For boxes they are doubtless the banner routes in the United States, and the carriers say that it was easy. On the other hand, very great clitflculty has been experienced in forcing patrons of older routes from San .Jose, Campbell, and Los Gates to change from wooden shells to "secure and sufficient'' boxes. Who is to decide what is a "secure and sntflcient" liox? If left to me, I should answer; "One that gives reasonable protection against possible depredations and obviates charges agaiust the carrier that the mail was nevei delivered." Iron lock boxes can be procured for prif-es varying from $1.50 for the Corbin box to $3 for the Bates-Hawley signal box — in my judgment the ideal rural free-delivery box. For a box in a post-oftire patrons pay 75 cents per quarter and deposit for their key. They can own one for the same price on a rural route. ACCESSIBILITY OF BOXES. It is of very great importance for the efiiciency of the service that the delivery boxes should be easily accessible to the carrier. Most of the routes as now hi id out tax all the time at the carrier's disposal. The attempt is always made to so map out a route that the morning mail is delivered from the last incoming train and the mail collected goes out on the same day. In Santa Clara County, Cal., with its almost perfect roads and equable climate, the carriers make 27, 30, and 35 miles in four and five hours. But they use up horseflesh in doing it, to reach the afternoon outgoing mails. They tell me that a minute to a box is all they ought to give, and that where they have to leave their carts and hunt boxes on gateposts or concealed in hedges, it makes it very dif3Scult to give the service the careful attention demanded. "Where there is no mail to be delivered, the tendency is to pass boxes by when no signal is disiilayed showing mail to be collected. Boxes should be placed on a post 4 by 4 inches in dimensions, by the roadside where the carriers can reach them without losing time. REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 115 SUBSTITUTE CARRIBR8. It seems impossible to secure or to retain substitute carriers for routes The explanation is simple. There is nothing iu the job. There is little enough in that of regular carrier; thrre is less in that of the substitute whose principal does his work. Young men decline to be bonded to perform undetermined work and lo hold themselves in readiness to answer daily calls which never come. If they try it, they at once resign when any other kind of a job offers. I have fonnd it be.st, wherever possible, to bond father and son as regular and substitute carriers. There is invariably a division of labor which suits both, and the substitute is always on hand. Two brothers on the same farm accomplish the same result. FEMALE POSTMASTERS. Wherever it can be avoided, rural free delivery should not start from an office oyer which a female postmaster presides. There is always laxity in supervision and disinclination to report delinquencies. Often sons, brothers, or cousins act as car- riers, and they are invariably shielded. Family considerations take precedence of the public interest. SUGGESTED INCREASE OF PAY. As routes increase in size and importance it will be fonnd more and more difBcnlt to secure capable and faithful carriers for the compensation allowed. The increase from $300 to $400 a year, including horse hire, permitted by an enlarged appropria- tion for the present fiscal year, is admitted to be a step in the right direction. More liberal recognition by the Congress of the claims and standing of rural free delivery ought to be followed by a material increase in carriers' salaries. All the carriers are bonded employees of the Government. Performing practically every duty demanded of letter carriers in cities and towns where urban free delivery obtains, they receive half the pay and are under equal responsibility. UNIFORM FOR CARRIERS. It is suggested that a distinctive uniform for carriers on the rural free-delivery service would increase their standing and possibly their eiEciency. It would mark them as Government employees and secure them a status which they sometimes do not have outside of their routes, while the ett'ect upon themselves in the performance of their duties would not be lacking in benefit. On some routes in the country patrons have clubbed together to purchase for carriers a uniform similar to that worn by letter carriers in cities and towns. GENERAI, APPROVAl, OF THE SERVICE. In conclusion it can be said that there has not been a rural free-delivery route established in my territory which those who enjoy its benefits would willingly dis- pense with. On the contrary, it seems to be the universal expression of opinion that if this service should be dispensed with for any reason, the farmers and fruit growers and viticnlturists would under such necessity continue it by private subscriptions. No route has been established in the area reported on which has not fully warranted its location and whiih has not daily grown in popularity and in importance. Rural free delivery on the coast has more than met the most sanguine expectations of its friends and more than confounded the dismal auguries of its opponents. Wm. E. Annin, Special Agent. Special Agenl S. B. BATHBOIVIS, Jr. Chillicotiib, Mo., August Z9, 1S99. Hon. Pbrrt S. Heath, First Assistant Postmaster-General: I was ai.pointed a special agent July 1, 1898. Since that time I have been assigned to duties in the States of California, Washingtou, Missouri, Nebraska, Indiana, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine. PUBLIC opinion. Mv experience has been, with a very few exceptions, that the people served are not oulv satisfied with rural free delivery, but are enthusiastic and loud in its praise. I have inspected routes where the boxes were insecure and the patrons were not 116 REPORT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. inclined to erect better ones, and when I would threaten them with disoontintiance they would tell me that if the Government would not pay the carrier they would pay him themselves. DIFFICULTIES. I find that fourth-class post-oiEces and contractors and suhcontractors for star routes are the chief enemies that rural free delivery has. It is due to the fact that postmasters of fourth-class post-offices who run a country store in connection with the post-office are under the impression that if their post-offices are discontinued this will decrease their country-store business. When these fourth- class post-offices are discontinued tlie action brings down upon the Department petitions and pro- tests, wliich, when investigated, often prove to have been secured upon misrepresen- tations. I have interviewed several people who have attached their names to a petition protesting against the discontinuance of a fourth-class post-office and they say they were iuformed that their signing this petition would in no way interfere with their rural free delivery. I also find that the interest manifested by the post- masters at the points from which these routes are started has a great deal to do with their success. Where the postmasters and carriers are interested good mail boxes and service exist. S. B. Rathbone, Jr., Special Jgent. Special Agent W. F. COrvCiGR. Clinton, Iowa, Augutt 26, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heath, Fir»t Assistant rostmaster-General: I have found the people eager for rural free delivery of mail wherever they have come to understand its advantages and benefits. But, strange to say, in the district assigned to me a majority of the people seem to know little or nothing about rural free delivery or the attempt on the part of the Government to establish and test it. I might say, further, that few postmasters have given it serious attention or realize its advantages to the people, or the just claims of the rural population to a fair share of the benefits of our postal system. COMPARATIVE VALUE. I do not desire to speak in disparagement of free city delivery, but aside from a business delivery in cities the claims are, to my mind, much stronger in favor of rural free delivery than in favor of residence delivery in cities. The residents of the average free-delivery city are within a short distance of the post-office or some of its substations, and have the additional advantage of side- walks and street cars by which to conveniently reach it in any and all kinds of weather. Farmers are miles from the post office and often prevented, through the busy pro- ducing season or by reason of bad weather and bad roads, from getting their mail for many days or weeks at a time. Again, farmers, being producers of food supplies, need the daily market reports, which are of small advantage to the residents of a city. Why eight hundred or a thousand people living within a mile of a post-office in a city, with sidewalks and street cars at their service, should have their mail delivered by a carrier costing the Government $800 to $1,000 per year, and an equal number of farmers living from 5 to 10 miles from a post-office should not be served by a $400 carrier, I am at a loss to understand. The stronger claim of the farming community to daily delivery of mail is be.coiiiiug better understood each year, aud whenever and wherever a rural route is established the advantages become at once .so apparent to those served that the justice of the claims of rural delivery is at once admitted. OBJECTIONS URGED. One of the most frequent and apparently most formidable objections urged acainst it is that since all can not have it none should. I try to answer' this objection by say- ing that in the very nature and constitution of society there can not be an absolutely equitable distribution of public advantages. Comparatively few communities can have the advantages of fast mail trains, but no fair-miuded or intelligent man upon rellection would want to suspend the fast mail service on that account. There are few cities and towns favored with free carrier service, but Uecause all incorporated towns can not have free delivery is no good reason why cities where it is a business REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENEHAL. 117 necessity should be deprived of it. All oommnnitiea do not have banks, colleges, railroads, or tele-iraph lines, but no one wonld be so nufair as to wish to deprive the world of these great commercial and educational advaiita^es because all can not be equally served by them. Others urge the great cost of tlie service and the inability of the Government to maintain it. This would suggest the inquiry as to the best and wisest use to be made of public revenues and whether or not the application of it in free rural delivery of mail would not be a much more just and pioper usb than many ways in which it is now freely and lavishly expended. In my judgment, one- half the millions annually given to rivers and harbors could be much better employed in a practical service to the people by moans of rural free delivery of mail. Should a service of prime advantage and general benefit to the great farming population be postponed or denied when millions of dollars are being annually appropriated for less beneficent and less useful ends? Can the Government afford to withhold so valuable an agency from the people? To my mind it is not so much a question whether the Government can afford to give the people rural free delivery as whether it can afford to withhold from them a service of such inestimable benefit. SOME ADVANTAGES. Every community served by rural delivery feels itself set a long distance for- ward in the scale of civilization and brought into closer touch with the life and progress of the world. The monotony and isolation of farm life are greatly relieved and the discontent so noticeably on the increase with the farmer youths of the coun- try is allayed. It is not only a business advantage, but a social benefit of even greater value than any commercial consideration. INCREASE OF MAIL. As to your inquiry in regard to increased use of the mails by reason of the rural service, the universal testimony as shown by the records of the various routes is that letter correspondence is greatly stimulated, and on every route scores of daily papers are now taken where there was none before the service was established. On one route I find 47 daily papers are now being takeu, and the number is constantly increasing, where not one of them took a daily paper before the route was established. BETTER ROADS. In the southeastern portion of my district, where there are some twenty or more rural routes, the postmasters have joined hands with county boards of supervisors to hold a great good roads convention at Burlington, Des Mnines County, Iowa, in October of this year. I might further say that the postmahters at Burlington and Mount Pleasant, where we have rural mail routes established, are officers of good roads organizations in their counties (Des Moines and Henry counties, respectively), and are doing all in their power to aid in the making of better roads. INCREASED VALUE OF LAND. In the inspection of the routes which I have personally traversed with the mail carriers I find a universal satisfaction with the service and have met with frequent expressions such as these: . "I would not have the route changed so as not to pass my farm for $.500." Another patron said to me, " I consider my land worth $5 per acre more since the establishment of our rural free-delivery route." Such statements as these are very frequent and too numerous to mention, and are made to me by patrons of nearly every route over which I have traveled. PERSONAL WORK. I became actively engaged in the service May 3, 1899. On May 12 I was assigned to work in the State of Iowa, since which date I have investigated fourteen pro- posed routes and recommended their establishment. I have personally gone over and inspected seven routes in this district. Wherever I have inspected routes I find a universal sentiment in favor of the service. Indeed, the people along these routes express the gravest alarm lest the service be taken away from them. Their appeal for its continuance is the index of its appreciation by and value to them. I do not find the people critical about the method of conducting the service. They are sat- isfied with it as it is and ready at all times to demonstrate their fidelity to it. W. F. Conger, Special Agent. 118 KEPUKT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GEN EKAL. Special Agcul AK-FKED HAMITIER. Indianapolis, Ind., August SO, 1899. Hon. Perry S. TTrath, Fii-st Asxistaiii I'uxtniaster-General: 1 was sworn into the service of the Post-Office Dejiartment as a special agent of rural free delivt-ry on thr 19th day of July, 1899, with orders to report to the special agent iu charge at Indianapolis, Ind. A MODEL SERVICE. After preliminary service at Hartsville, Rnshville, and Bridgeport, Ind., I was instructed to inspect the five rural free-delivery routes leading out of Crawfords- ville, Ind. These routes are in my humble opinion the best equipped and most enthusiaatic- .illy maintained routes that liave come to my notice. Mr. Bonnell, the postmaster, has a separate apartment for his rural mail carriers, in which each has his shelves and compartments to enable him to assort his mail conveniently, and the postmaster also sees that their accounts are correctly kept and aids them to be expeditions and correct in their work. He also takes an interest in their suggestions in regard to the condition of the roads on their respective routes and notifies such authorities as are responsible to improve them, and if patrons are negligent as to the proper kind or poor condition of rheir mail boxes he notifies them, which notification generally receives more prompt attention than if it came from the carrier. It is noticealile that since the inspection the roads along the route are being improved in several places, and some of the old boxes made of wood have been replaced by new ones made of iron, with the letters "U. .S. Mail" painted upon them; also the name of the owner of the box. I herewith send a photographic view of the carriers, with their outfit, at Craw- fordsville, Ind., taken just before starting on their routes. ILLINOIS INSPECTIONS. I was then detailed to make insjxctions in the State of Illinois. At Princeville I found ever\ thing in a satisfactory condition, except that the roads are not gravel roads as they are in Indiana, and sometimes the carrier goes on horseback to (teliver the mail in the winter months; at Dunlap I found the route to be in a satisfactory condition with the exception of the roads. Thence I proceeded to Dixon, arriving there just in time to accompany the carrier on his route, which was found to be in a satisfactory condition, and as the postmaster expressed himself, "He thought it was the greatest route in the country," as they delivered and collected between 7,000 and 8,000 pieces every month since the route has been established. I then inspected the two routes at Victoria, which were also found to be improv- ing since first established. At Magnolia both routes are in very hilly country and the roads are almost impassable in the winter months, but the carriers have never missed a day in their deliveries, although they have used a substitute frequently. Alfbed Hammer, Special Agent. Special Agrut IlEIMKIT CAMSOIV. Madison, Wis., September 1, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heath, First Assistant Postmaster-General: Since entering upon the service of the Department, May 10, IS99, 1 have examined and recommended the establishment of the rural free-deliver.\ service at the follow- ing places; West Salem, La Cm.sse County, Wis., one route; Viroqua, Vernon County, ^\'is., three routes; Marsihall, Dane County, Wis., three routes; Columbus, Columbia County, Wis., one route; Sparta, Monroe County, Wis., one route; Norwalk, Monroe County, Wis., one route; Toniah, Monroe County, Wis., one route; Maus- ton, Juneau County, Wis., one route; Lansing, Ingham County, Mich., one route; Grassville, Jackson County, Mich., one route; Vpsilanti, Washtenaw Countv, Mich., three routes; Fort Atkinson, Jeft'erson County, ^Vi8., one route. I have also inspected the rural marine service at Detroit, Mich., and two rural free delivery routes at South Haven, Van Buren County, Mich. KEPOKT OP FIRST ASSISTANT POHTMASTER-GKiNEKAL,. 119 GENEKAL INTKKBST IN THE SERVICE. I'liP fiiriMors of Mionisuu and WiHconsi.i iire thoroughly intorcsted in tliis (HH'stion .11 nii-Mi lioi- dolivov.v. At 8.ilmc, W^ishteiinw County, Midi., it was expocled tliat Hief.|M'ciai iiMciit would visit that locality when examining the proposed routes at ipsiiantil'aruifvs had procured banners on which were jiriul.^d in lar^e letters \\ (■ want rural Iree delivery." These were fastened on liarnM, houses, and out- bnailnifjs over the whole di.xtrict of the ronte proposed to be established. As no in.stnictions liad boon reooucd from the Uepartment to examine this route, I did not view It, but mention tins instance as showiii.; the interest taUrn by these people. In tliedaii yiii^ section .jf Wisconsin, which is especiallv adajited for this service, the rural pcnple are deeply Interested, as the service can supply a very larire num- ber living off the line of the routes. J ^ WHERE OPPOSITION COMBS FROM. The only obstacle the special agent meets, so far ae relates to my personal experi- ence, 18 the opposition of the merchants who run a country stnic and have a fourth- class posi-ottice as a medium of drawing trade. These postmasters work upon their patrons tosii;n remoustrauces, and also upon their Representative in Congress to use his intlueuce to prevent the establishment of this service. So far as my own exjieri- euce is eoneerued, members of Congress have uniformly sustained the special agent, and are commending the Department for its efforts in establishing this service, lion. Henry V. Smith, Eeprescutative in Cdngress from the Second district in Michi- gan, in a speech delivered iu his district at a nonpoliticul meeting this summer, made the declaration that if there was a surplus in the United States Treasury, he would spend it all in rural free delivery. COOPERATlOff OF CONGRESSMEN. I have had in my brief service the heartiest cooperation from every Representative in Congress whose district I have visited, in many instances the member of Con- gress going with me to view each route. This was notably the ease with Repre- sentative John J. Esch, of Wisconsin, who has personally examined the half dozen routes in his district. DETROIT RURAL MARINE SERVICE. An inspection of the rural marine service at Detroit reveals the facts, from inter- views with business men, that the service is of the highest character, and that under no cousiderations would they be willing to have it discontinued. This is practically a summer service, continuing eight months in the year — four months of this a daily service and four a semidaily service. I interviewed a number of leading business min, who have their summer homes on the river St. Clair, and find that they con- sider this service as almost indispensable. One prominent business man, Jlr. Sig- mund Rothschild, one of the largest importers in this cuuntry, said to me: "I do business in Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Havana, Cuba, and Amsterdam, Hol- land. This service is so complete that I can go to my summer homo and be in touch with the outside world so thoroughly that I have no worry or uneasiness. Tele- grams are brought to me by the afternoon boat. I have an arrangement with the Western Union which permits me to mail telegrams on the evening boat returning to Detroit, and am in connection with all of my houses by the time business opens in the morning. Last year we considered tliis service perfect; this year it is ideal. The carriers are obliging and accommodating, and I can see no improvement that can be made. The large number of wealthy people who have their summer homes on Lake .St. Clair feel a yre.it debt of gratitude to Representative Corliss and Post- master Dickerson for having prevailed upon the Department to establish this splendid service." I also found the people at South Haven very much pleased with their two rural routes. There is a large influx of summer visitors at this place, and the amount of mail handled by the carriers is simply enormous. All spoke in the highest terms of the service and of the obliging character of the carriers. The jiermanent resident Dopulation are very strongly in favor of the extension of the service at this point. In conclusion, permit me to say that the service is popular with people of all classes and conditions. Those who are not receiving it are .anxious to have its benefits. Those who are receiving it would be very unwilling to lose it. Henry Casson, Special Agent. 120 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. Special Ageul THOMAS IIOWABD. 8t. Paul, Minn., September 1, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heath, First Assistant Postmaster-Oeneral: My appointment dates from the Ist day of May, 1899. I have been assigned to the States of Minnesota, Washington, Nebraslia, Colorado, and Wyoming. ESTABLISHMENT OF ROUTES. The practical result of a careful study of the situation in Miunesota was a recom- mendation for the establishment of routes at the following places ; Four at Cottage Grove; two at Red Wing, Goodhue County; one at Lynd, Lyon County; one at Rochester, Olmsted County; one at Waseca, Waseca County, and one at Austin, Mower County. I have also inspected and rearranged the four routes at Farmington, Dakota County, with the view of accommodating a much larger number of persons without disturbing those now enjoying the benefits of the service. DEMAND FOR THE SERVICE. There is not only a desire but a pronounced demand for the establishment of routes throughout the .State of Minnesota, and the Oei)artment will undoubtedly be called upon within the next si.\' months to authorize the laying out of routes at forty-five places, at least. I have talked with the people in general and with prominent citi- zens of nearly every county of Minnesota, and the unvarying opinion in every instance was that routes should be laid out as soon as possible in every available district in the State. A largemajority of the persons consulted very decidedly stated thiit it would have proved a godsend to the farming communities of the West if the service had been inaugurated years ago, thereby serving as a means for doing away with the deadly monotony of farm liie. It is a deplorable fact, and one easily demonstrable by a reference to the records of the insane asylnms of this State, that the isolation resulting from the infrequency of communication between many farming communities and the outside world is one of the most notable causes of insanity, especially among women. Beyond a doubt many of the women living on farms in this State would have been saved from incarceration in the hospitals for the insane if the facilities for obtaining news and for the exchange of thought insured by the free-delivery service had been placed at their disposal earlier. DEVELOPMENT OF FARMING INTERESTS. The free-delivery service offers a solution of the very serious sociological and eco- nomic problem presentid by the tendency of young men and women residing in farm- ing districts ±o gravitate toward the cities. Great numbers of young people whose enterprising spirit, i I' properly employed, would lead to the rapid development of the agricultural interests of the States in which they reside, annually flock to the cities in search of a more congenial environ- ment. Insufficiently prepared, as they are in most cases, for the struggles arising from sharp competition, it is not surprising that scores of tliem succumb to the evils surrounding them. They are engulfed in the maelstrom of the city, their enthusiasm disappears, their fine energies are dissipated, and they are borne hither and thithei like derelicts on the sea of metropolitan life, a burden to themselves and to society. The rural free-delivery service has a tendency to prevent such disasters. It provides a regular and vapid means of communication between the farming districts and the cities, renders news from the outside world easily obtainable, enables the sons of farmers to gratify their desire for knowledge of matters l)evond the narrow >()nfines of their everyday life, and helps to prevent their becoming dissatisfied with the pursuit of agriculture. EFFECTS ON HABITS OF PEOPLE. I have noticed a distinct improvement in the habits and general moral tone of com- munities supplied with the benelits of the service. In one town visited liy nie, lor example, a pronounced tendency to indulge in intoxicants was displayed by the people residing in the vicinity on" the occasion oi their coming to town. After the establishment of the free-delivery service at that particular place, more than a year ago, there was a marked improvement in this regard. I'armers, who apparently regarded their arrival in town not only as an opportunity to secure their mail, but also as a favorable chance to part with some of their hard-earned cash for intoxicating liquors, now receive their mail at their homes, and are therefore in position to save not only their time but their money. REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 121 INCREASED LETTER CORRESPONDENCE. It is an unquestionable fact that the free-delivery 8pr\ icd results directly in an inorease of the letter corrospondence of all tlie residents of the territory supplied, lu the district contiguous to Farmington, Dakota t'ouuty, where the service was inaugurated about two yeiira ago, aud which is supplied with lour routes, tlie amount of ruiiil handled has iuoreiised over 100 per cent. Even more favorable results could be achieved in other localities, for Fariningtou was not originally very well adapted for the service. MORE NEW8PAPKR8 READ. As it is one of the objects of the Department to further the cause of education in every reasonable manner through the establishment of the routes, and as the daily press is a recogiiizeil factor in tlie attainment of this object, it is ,i;ratifying to note tlie increased number of subscrijitions to newspapers resulting from the establish- ment of the free-delivery routes. In this connection, I desire to call particular atten- tion to Cottage Grove and Kcd Wing. The people residing in the district around the former place are, for the larger part, either of (ierman birth or the descendants of New England families. They are an exceptionally intelligent class of people and ready to improve every opportunity to better their condition. It is a cironmstance that speaks well for their intelliyeuce and progressive spirit thiit they have, in advance of the opening ofthe routes, subscribed, to Ihe number of about 1^25, for daily newspapers. The families residing on the routes centering in Red Wing are prin- cipally .Swedish and Norwegian. In nearly every instance tliey own their own farms, are in good circumstances generally, and speak English. Nearly every one of these families has subscribed for a daily newspaper. Until now, even the local papers from Red Wing did not reach them before the expiration of two days, and they frequently had to drive from 10 to 12 miles to get them. HOW THE SERVICE AFFECTS SCHOOLS. The impetus given to the cause of education by the more rapid dissemination of news in daily papers and letters as a necessary result of the operation of the free- delivery routes, leads to the founding of new schools in the very di.striets where they are most needed. The constant craving for more knowledge, created by reading accounts of happenings in the world at large, luruishes the motive for the erection of schools iu country communities. The most ardent advocates of better school facilities are the yonng farmers who in their early youth missed the opportunity to secure a good general education aud are now anxious to attend night classes and to see their younger brothers aud sisters enjoy the advantages they thi'uiselves were not provided with. This renaissance, as it were, in districts where iuadequate edu- cational facilities are to be found, is due wholly to a realization of the possibilities of advancement revealed through the medium of the free-delivery service. FINANCIAL BENEFITS TO AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES. The free-delivery system is a direct benefit to agricultural communities having a diversity of interests. In the sonthern part of Minnesota, where the farmers devote considerable attention to the development of the dairies now enjoying a well-deserved reputation throughout the Nnrthwest, as well as to stock raising, the accommoda- tions furnished by the service are of extraordinary value. Newspapers, letters, cir- culars, etc., will, when routes are in active operation, arrive regularly every day, and the agriculturists can theu keep themselves thoroughly well informed with regard to the varying market prices. They will thus he enabled to keep in close touch with the markets, sell their butter, cheese, and other commodities at the most favorable terms when prices are high, and avoid the expense of shipment and loss of time when the market is weak. It can readily be seen that the service in cases of this kind will he of incalculable benefit. CONSTRUCTION OP BETTER ROADS. The roads in southern Minnesota, where the oldest settlements of the State are located, and where the general topography of the country is lavorable to the con- struction and maintenanceof good thorough fares, are in excellent condition. Forthis reason the laying out of routes in this part of the State is accompanied by but few, if any of the difficulties that present themselves where poorly constructed roads are to be dealt with. The fact that the Department makes it a point to give the prefer- ence to districts traversed by good roads when considering the question of inaugu- rating the service, acts as an incentive to those communities where the roads are not of a superior kind. Districts anxious to secure the privileges incident to the service make it a point to charge the proper authorities with the improvement of badly built roads and see to it that all new roads are constructed in the best manner possible. 1(1615 4 122 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. INCREASED VALUATION OF LAND. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it seems to be the consensus of opinion amoiin; farmers that an iipprcciable rise in the price of farm lands lying along free- delivery routes will follnw the introduction of the service. A nuuiber of farmers living ia different parts of the State have stated in my presence that they would, in case of purchasing additional land, undoubtedly buy that which is located on a free- delivery route. The advant.ages accruing from such a location, they state, would justify the expenditure of from $2 to $3 more per acre than would otherwise be ottered for farm lands. CHIEF SOURCES OF OPPOSITION. In the territory comprising the field of my labors the chief opposition to the inauguration of the free-delivery system arises principally from four sources — namely, the fourth-class post-offices having country stores as adjuncts, certain general mer- chants, the star- route subcontractors, and the saloons. One need not seek very far to discover the cause of the antagonism on the part of the fourth-class i)Ost-of(ices. It is well known that the ultimate outcome of the service will prove to lie the dispensing with a considerable number of the minor post-offices. The double object would thus be accomplished of furnishing large coniTuunities with improved mail facilities and a very considerable number of peo])le with employment at an expense largely offset by the saving that would be effected by the abolishment of fourth-class jiost- otfices and tlie discontinuance of star routes. The ))ostma8ters in question are nat- urally not pleased at the prospect, and they frequently endeavor to defeat the ])lans for the establishment of routes by securing and transmitting to Congressmen peti- tions and communications calculated to place the service in anything but a favorable light before the people. The pro|irietor8 of a certain class of general-merchandise stores are frequently alarmed at the prospect of diminished sales by reason of the removal of the neces- sity of fre(iu6nt trips on the part ot peojile residing in the surrounding district to the town post-otlice. The opposition from this source is, however, nearly always of a temporary nature. These merchants soon discover thatthe service is a benefit to them, as it is to their customers. The latter get au opportunity to read the newspaper advertisements and other notices conceruing the business of the country merchants, learn daily of bar- gain sales and other inducements to trade, and are able to phico orders by mail under- Btandingly. The ultimate result is that the merchants find a new avenue of trade and profit open to them, and consequently become the friends of the service. That the star-route sulicoutractors offer opposition to the introduction of the rural free-delivery system is of conrse to be expected. Deriving, as they do, their income ohieffy from the star routes, they naturally combat any attempt to establish any com- peting routes which are destined to take the place of their own. As a general conclusion, deduced from my examination of the situation preliminary to the establishment of the rural free-delivery service in the State of Minnesota, I desire to state explicitly at this time that the great preponderance of sentimeiiu among the residents of thecountry districts in the State is decidedly in favor of rural free delivery. This condition of the public mind is the reason why 1 have encoun- tered no difficulties that could not be overcome. Thomas Howard, Special Agent. Special Agent E. H. HATHAWAY. Ottumwa, Iowa, SeptemJjer 6, 1899. Hon. Perry S. Heath, First Assistant Postmasier'G&neval: I was commissioned as special agent of rural free delivery on March 16 lasi. SERVICE IN MISSOURI. The first route laid out by me was at Lee's Summit, Jackson County, Mo. The con- ditions were nood. The roads are very well macadamized; the population intelligent and well off. The people were very earnest in their desire for a route. At Lexington, Lafayette County, I made an extension of the route. I rode over the most of this route in changing it, and noticed the poor quality of the mail boxes. The postmaster was along with me, and T remarked to him the appareutindifference and lack of appreciation on the part of the patrons. I asked him imrticularly to urge the erection of proper boxes at once. I succeeded in lengthening the route without depriving any former patrons of the service. REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL, 123 Having petitions from Hisgiusville, Lafayette County, I went there, and found the postmaster intbusiastio for the service and a situation so favorable that, later, I recommended abolishing two fonrth-class post offices and a star route, replacing them with a rural free-delivery route without a "kick." I have understood thai this route is very well managed and quite successful. At Nelson, .Saline County, I laid out a route. The roads are not the best, so the route was made shorter than usual. The people are not as progressive as in other parts of the State. In my estimation, the permaucuce of the route hero is somewhat doubtful. a thrifty, euterprisiug people, and good territory. The only drawback was the pool highways. The patrpus agreed to have them repaired at ouce if I would recommend the route, which I did. INVESTIGATING AN ORIGINAL 8BRV1CB. At Cairo, Randolph County, I was called upon to investigate various charges against the carriers. I found three routes, so called, which had been put in opera- tion in October, 1896, before the rural free-delivery service was organized. The three carriers were ex]>ected to cover the entire township, which was divided into three sections. They did not visit, the houses of patrons except when there was mail for them. In this case they went to their doors to deliver it. In one of the subdivisions there were no roads of any account, and the carrier rode on horseback through the forests and pastures, fording creeks and rivers, when he could. When this was not possible, he waited until the water went ilown. My investigation showed the entire system to be wrong- It tended to make a carrier his own master. When he felt indolent he cut his route as short as he wanted to. People uiight have letters to send out and be obliged to keep them ibr days; no carrier would visit their house unless mail arrived directed to them. .My report recommended the giving of a delinite route to each carrier. Thi.s he was to travel each day, calliug at every mail box. I also recommended that the three routes be cousolidated, cuttiug out all territory through which there wa.s no road, making it possible to cover the territory with two carriers. These recommen- dations were made with some misgiving. The people are slow and lack enterprise. They have been having a daily service of mail at their doors. The carrying out of changes as advised in my report would deprive them of a house-to house mail delivery, and was, owing to some particular local circumstances, liable to cause antagonism to the new order and possible opposition. ^>hould such be the case, my advice would be a prompt discontinuance of the routes and the expeuditure ot the money where there will be a full appreciation of its advantages. SEUVICE IN KANSAS. Among numerous routes recommended or investigated in Kansas, I may specify the following: I nuide two visits to Topeka, Sb;iwnee County, Knus. Here I saw more real enthu- siasm lor the rural delivery service than had before come under my observation. A part of this was largely due to work previously done by .Judge .John Guthrie, post- master, wlio, although over seventy years old, is as pushing and wide-awake as a youth. Both days of my arrival the post-ofiBce was filled with delegations from all parts of the Congressional district to assert their claims and desires, and during my stay each time it was hardly jiossible to do my routine work because of the many calls received from interested people. The postmaster and leading promoters took me out southeast of the city and we decided to recommend a route for the locality. There was a spirited rivalry as to whether the route should start from Topeka post-office or trom a little place east ot there called Tecumseh. The postmaster of Watson brought me a remonstrance signed by people who originally asked for rural delivery who now requested me not to lay out a route within 21 miles of their houses. To eftectually conclude the entire matter, I asked the answer of the patrons of the proposed route to the following questions: Do you want rural free delivery? Do you want the route to start from Topeka or from Teiumsehf Answer yes or no, and sign your name. The papers containing these questions were circulated in twenty- four hours to all heads of families not residing more than one-half mile from the pro- posed route and their declarations obtained. This work was done by promoters of the route, in their anxiety to obtain the service. There were only two oTijectors to rural delivery and only four persons wished it to start from Topeka. so I laid it out and recommended it to the Department on lines desired by the people, and'it is suc- cessfully operating. At Jewell, Jewell County, during the last weeks in June I located and recom- mended a route. The conditions are favorable and the promoters had done some very 124 REPORT OF FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL. persistent pushing to get action. Some important officials liad discouraged them, but they persevered and were happy in obtaining the favorable reoommeudation. SERVICE STARTED IN INDIANA. Since July 1 last I have been working in the State of Indiana under the immediate direction of the special agent in charge of the western division. The detailsof my service in that State have been reported to the Department from time to time. They hiivc included the straightening up of complications between the star-route service and the rural scr\'ice at Muncie, Delaware County, the laying out of a route at Hartford City, Blackford County, and the reestablishraent of the service at Hartsville, Bartholomew County. This last was one of the services estab- lished under the old r.gime by post-office inspectors, and was so costly and unsatis- factory in its workings and so little appri'Ci.ited by the people living on the line of the badly selected route served that it was discontinued by your orders March 31, 1898. On the new line as laid out the service, wliich was reestablished on August 15, 1899, is not only appreciated by the people, but bids fair to become self-support- ing. The patrons are putting up excellent uniform boxes, and this is a mark of tangible appreciation, in my judgment. Other routes I have recommended in Indiana are at Tipton, Tipton County; Marion, Grant County; Rushville, Rush County, and Win^^ate, Montgomery County. INSPECTIONS IN INDIANA. Inspections have been made by me in Indiana since August 1 of routes in the fol- lowing places: Lafayette, Tippecanoe County (tiro routes), — Service in excellent condition, carefully watrhed over and developed by the postmaster, Mr. .J. L. Caldwell; carriers very efficient; large majority of boxes uniform, of iron; names of owners painted on thom; nearly all situated in convenient places ; carriers have 8pi'cial-deliver\ wagons prop- erly paiuted and lettered; carriers uniformed like ordinary city carriers and gov- erned in all respects by postmaster under .similar rules. The carriers leel au interest in building up the routes and increasing the patronage. This lias iu