Show I This week as the Postal Of Office Office Office Of- Of fice Department marks the anniversary of air mail it is pursuing with vigor a program to move more first class mail man via air BY SO SOMETIME next year there could be a merger of first class mail mall and air m mall mail l into a single class of priority mail mall dispatched by the fastest means of transport available Inefficiency Still Persists Despite these evidences of progress the P. P O. O is in deep trouble S Sharply h a r ply Increased postal rates put into effect some months ago are failing to give it the shot in the arm predicted predicted predicted pre pre- partly because of rising Postal Problems wages and other costs and partly because the vast sprawling system of more than post o offices continues to be locked tightly in the grip of a patronage-hungry patronage Congress LAST MONTHS MONTH'S resignation of Postmaster General La Lawrence Lawrence Lawrence La- La wrence F. F OBrien O'Brien after a short term In o office has focused at attention attention attention at- at anew on the fact that Postmasters General of often ten have not served long enough to come cometo to full grips with the problems involved much less long enough to bring to a happy fruition range long-range plans and projects of rejuvenation and reform Postmasters General And Politics Actually we have had 59 Postmasters General s sin since i n c e President George orge Washington first appointed Samuel Osgood in 1789 Theodore Roosevelt had five during his two terms Over Overa a similar span Grant had four I Yet Calvin Coolidge held on toa to toa a Harding appointee through all his own five years in office NINE FIFTY-NINE Post Postmasters mas t e r s General may seem too many but it is about par for the course as far as some of our major i government departments are i conc concerned ern e d. d B Beginning wi wit will tl Washington's time and carrying down to the present there have been 55 Secretaries of State 58 Secretaries of the Treasury and 66 Attorneys General The Ugly Head Of Patronage Unquestionably it would be a astep astep astep step forward if P Postmasters General were responsible only for their departments department's administration administration administration admin admin- and operation The time-honored time custom of assigning assigning assigning assign assign- ing political and other duties to an incumbent Cabinet official has had its critics from the be beginning beginning beginning be- be ginning and rightly so Even though dictated by expediency it never was a good idea Now that the P P. P O. O O.'s Os s 's work load has Increased it is unjust to so m man many f ty 4 to be borrowed more ort t continually for I PolitIcal other tasks W d ai ant postal EQUALLY detriment 1 t service Is the ih of or presidential ap appL Gr rat Ada city town and area c at the special pie I members of r often this Spoils 5 f led to the Poap in sYstem nt tt ot 1 masters who just hav haven't equal to the challenges a fronting them in Office The Kam elRene i A rt Presidential President al headed by Frederick RI retired chairman ot of A Ame Telephone 4 Tel Telegraph c P Pany Y has completed an in i study of or the P P. P o O. O J and ili t. t Members baleY Ml bell v es within five to ten ye Ya years arse 2 tit as 15 15 billion could t be a sz ti annually if the de to be converted from Its pre Cabinet status t to VW o a corporation similar to tt t eTe Valley alley A J commission Authority 1 contends th that alp haps as mu much ch as 20 per r ti of the P P. P Os O.'s ann annual annual tt Is wasted because o of f old methods and buildings and it ci cily ee ly the failure to make w usi more saving labor-saving devices de THE GOAL is to tf t P. P PO P.O. 0 O. O on a m more ore business Sm self hopefully and hopefully self s Ing basis by untying thep age strings that holdback ress and by setting uPa up a Ir flexible and equitable post rate structure When C cavi t r expect such reforms Pr not soon for too many Y Yg Yi g ar i g gressional res s ion a 1 toes M lo dJ t bruised In the process t I That depends on how meet i care and how lyre j persistently we make oars our rc j for reform and economy in Washington and feu it ballot box 1 |