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Show OUR PUBLIC FORUivT I Ralph Peters JlJPffrfrt On Railway Mall Pay M?t& A controversy has been raging in tho columns of tho mL vzy'-m Press between the railroads and the Federal Post Offlco pi& W Department over tho question of proper compensation 151 'J V$ for handling the United Stntcs malls. Mr. Itulph Peters, tAaS Y Chairman of tho nallway Mall Committee, when askod H3& 1 to stato tho lallroad Bldo of tho controversy to tho V VL American farmer, said In part: X 4 "Tho railway mall pay question will bo sottlod and Y .fli settled permanently and with Justice to all concerned BbMliflBI ns aoon as tho American peoplo realize that tho wholo BlMBfli subject, while soemlngly complicated and tochnlcal. bolls IW mrMtKNm down to a tow slmplo points ot fair business dealing , u which no ono need bo a rnto expert to understand. "Tho first Is that tho Post Offlco Dopartraont weighs tho malls, and readjusts re-adjusts tho pay of tho railroads, only once In four years. This compels tho railroads to carry tho lncreaso In tho mall tonnngo during tho Intervening years without pay manifestly an Injustlco In tho caso of a rapidly growing 'business. Ono consequenco hns been that last year tho railroads carried fully half tho parcel post for nothing. "A second point Is this: In nddltlon to carrying tho malls, tho railroads rail-roads aro required to operate many traveling post ofllcos for sorting nnd .distributing tho malls whllo in transit. But the Post Odlco Department pays ,for such post ofllcos only whoro thoy occupy wholo cars, nnd pays nothing In tho many casos In which It merely requires tho uso of post offlco apartments apart-ments In combination cars, nlthough such npartmonts differ from tho full railway post offlco cars only In slzo. Moro than 4,200 apartments of this character havo been fitted up, and aro maintained for tho exclusive uso of tho Post Offlco Dopnrtmont. Failure to pay for them has been an especial hardship to tho smaller roads on which tho Department doca not find It noccssnry to utlllzo wholo cars. "Ono last point: In thousands of instances (though not In all) tho Post Offlco Department requires tho railroads to carry tho malls back nnd forth .between railroad stations and post ofllcos, but pays thorn nothing for this extra servlco boyond tho rates covering the rail transportation. Tho rail-loads rail-loads havo no cholco but to perform this additional Bervlco gratis, or rctuso to carry tho malls at all. "Now for tho remedies tho railroads nsk: Thoy do not ask to havo tho malls weighed dally, or to havo each shipment weighed and paid for sop-aratoly, sop-aratoly, as Is dono In tho caso of prlvato shippers. Thoy merely ask to havo tho malls weighed, and tho pay of tho railroads adjusted, at least onco n year, Instead of onco tn four years. Thoy also ask that apartment post office cars bo paid tot, at roasonablo rates, according to slzo. Lastly, thoy ask that tho Post Offlco Department ccaso to requlro of them freo messenger servlco between stations nnd post offices, and cither rollovo them ot this sorvlco or pay fairly for It. These aro tho reforms tho railroads nsk of Congress. Con-gress. Thoy gladly lay theso reforms beforo tho public, confident that thoy will appeal to tho common senso and fairness ot Amorlcan voters." |