Post Office

Among other "problems" which discommoded Mr. Taft in the White House was the postal problem. This problem has returned. Parcels post was one of the historic achievements of the Taft years--it improved the lot of the rural populations. Nobody expected that it would be selfsupporting, but few foresaw that it would come to be the great burden upon the Federal budget which it now is. Harry S. New, who runs the postal system, stated last week: "I believe now, as I have believed ever since I have been connected with the department, that we carry parcels post too low." Everybody likes the postman and wants him to have a salary raise; but nobody wants to pay it--least of all the great interests which benefit by low parcels post rates. Senator Edge is half-father to a bill which would take $150,000,000 from the taxpayer and give it to the postman. This is denounced as political pap, for although the postman cannot vote, he can influence innumerable votes by his daily journeys to the homes of the voters. Mr. New, both as a responsible Cabinet officer and as a public official of unspotted integrity, refuses to countenance any such Treasury raid. But he recognizes that the present average wage of $28.00* per week to his 20,000/- postal employees is too small. Therefore he proposes to raise $43,000,000 from increased postal rates, of which $30,000,000 shall come from parcels post, $5,000,000 from second class mail, and the balance from third and fourth class. Farm organizations protested. Publishers who would be hit by the second class mail increase expressed irritation. Postmen lamented the vanished vision of the Edge raid. Mr. New was left to his honest troubles. One Congressional proposal was to increase parcels post rates by $80,000,000. As pointed out by Mr. New, this would probably put parcels post out of business. There are such things as express companies. Prominent business men have frequently said that if they could run the Post Office as a private enterprise they could increase service, pay bet- ter wages, reduce letter postage to 1-c-, make millions.

--This is the average pay of a postal employee per week. It is increased $100 annually. /-In July, 1920, there were 20,907 postal employees in the U. S.