The Omaha Sunday
Bee
EDITORIAL SFXTION.
PAGES 1 TO 8.
ESTABLISHED JUNE
GREEN TRADING
O.N MAIN
la tke
Ladies' Het Weather Dresses at Sacrifice Prices
Handsome Dotted end Figured Swiss, white
grounds with colored flowers, and champagne
grounds with white dots our very latest purchase-
Marked down from vf C
$7.50 to r.CO
Ladies' Wash Dresses
White India Linon, plain and white
Dimity, in navy blue with white dots.
Dimity, black with white dots.
Dimity, gray mixed with piping,
of various styles that sold at from
$3.50 to $7.50 all Monday at
Ladies' House Dresses
There are still about 200 to select from all me
dium and light colors prices
$1.50 to f5.50 all Monday at.
LADIES' SUMMER WAISTS New India
Linon with faggoting, lace and embroidery
trimming, made to sell at 11.00; also nearly
200 slightly dust soiled worth $1.50 f Q
to $2.50 all on sale Monday at TOC
LADIES' nOUSE SACKS AND KIMONAR
from India Linon, trimmed with lace and rib
bons and plain ruffling very dainty AQ
$1.00 garments, at . . . .TtOC
Laclies' Stockings'
We make a clean-up sale Monday of odds and
ends in stockings regular 30c, 35c and 27$c
stockings and a lot of 50c and 75c stockings
that have a slipped thread or a little C
dust mark all at )jC
Children's hot weather Undershirts, long and
short sleeves, high and low neck Ifl
always 20c Monday IUC
Ribbons, Two Yards for One
3,000 yards of fine all silk ribbons, full assort
ment of colors, from one to four inches wide
regular prices 8c, 12Jc, A
17c Monday JC-JC-IUC
60 dozen 'manufacturer's Sample Handkerchiefs., They
Special Salt Ladies Sample Handkerchiefs
come in plain lliien, hemstitched, fancy embroidered and
lace primmed they are. worth 25c go on l
ale Monday at, each IUC
Rwlnstnv bars-Ainu In nil als. atvlna
H colors of strong, substantial, well mail
aii nammocxs ana up get iw
Stamps.
- Any Hammock UD to $2.49 Bets 50
Stamps.
ABUSES UF OUR MilLSERVICE
Why Two-Thirds of th Government Deficit
Occurs in the Pottoffio Department.
ENORMOUS TOLL EXACTED BY RAILROSAD
Saa;eated Remedies for OvercharKCB,
Abas . of Freaking: PrlTtlese
ad Other Featarea of
V Service.
Henry A. Castle, former auditor of the
PoBtomce department, presents In Harper's
Weekly a notable expose of the abuses
of the postal service which produce a de
ficit in the revenues of the department.
The facts presented are particularly
timely. Inasmuch as the government Is
confronted with a deficit of $2i000,uu0 in
Its revenue, two-thirds of which, as Mr.
Castle shows. Is due to overcharges by
railroads for transporting the malls, abuse
Of the franking privilege, etc. Mr. Cas
tle's paper follows:
At present writing, treasury experts es
timate the deficit In our national revenues
that is to say, the margin on the wrong
side between receipts and expenditures
for the ' fiscal year nearlng Its close, at
$25,000,000.
The postmaster general has officially es
timated the deficit In the revenues of the
postal service for the same period at $14,
(40.888. If these estimates shall prove to be ap
proximately correct we are confronted with
the significant fact that one-half the tutal
losses In running our government machin
ery occur Iu the Poatofflce department.
And while publicist are formulating new
schemes of taxation, business men, ac
customed to deal with plain financial ex
hibits of profit and loss, will look one an
other In the face and anxiously Inquire
why. In a purely business enterprise like
the postofflce, having money transactions
aggregating more than a thousand million
dollars a year, with no dividends to pay
on stock, or Interest on bonds, there should
be an enormous loss, and not a snug
profit.
But even the figures above given do not
tell the whole story. To tbe deficit pre
dicted should be added legitimate expenses
of the service which, under the syntem of
bookkeeping la vogue, do not appear, be
cause they are not charged directly against
the postal revenues. One of these Hems
Is the salaries of the employe of the
Poatoffice and Treasury departments in
Washington who are engaged In postal
work, amounting to nearly $3,0u0,C00. An
eiher item Is a fair allowance for rent,
light, hvat and Janitors for the govern
ment buildings In which postoffices in all
large cities are located, which has been
estimated at $3,000,000. Therefore, the to
tal lues In our mall system during the
current fiscal year will probably amount
to $30,000,000. or fuur-fifths of the whole
government deficit.
The plala cltlsen is all the more per
plexed by these dleagreeable revelations
whea a learn that last year tae British
19, 1871.
STAMP liOOl
FLOOR
Dry Goods
dots;
and a mixed lot
1.95
from
.... .
98c
uuk KNTIKJS
l"nen '"V
LOT 1 BlacK.
LOT 2 Black,
&U at
LOT 3 Black,
$5.00 all at
LOT 4 Black,
$10.00 all at
Mid-Season Hammock Sale
i rfMlirrt mntaHala ami
HAMMOCKS.
(Jio.oo) Ureen Trading
.
($.Y00 Ormn Trail Inn-
Postofflce (outside of Its unprofitable tele
graph service) produced a surplus of $22,
000.000. while that of On-many followed
closely with a profit of $15,000,000.
Matrnltnde of the Service.
Although the postal service touches di
rectly every man, woman and child In the
United States, there Is little, popular com
prehension of its magnitude and Import
ance. The Postofflce department . is the great
est of the federal departments In many
respects It Is greater than all the others
combined. Its total of receipts and dis
bursements, Including the money order sys
tem, wlI be $1,200,000,000 this year. The
postal employes number 840,000. We' have
more postmasters than soldiers. We have
more names on the postofflce payrolls than
in all the other branches of the govern
ment. Including the army and the navy.
This service Is growing more rapidly than
any other feature of our administrative
economy. Every step in its growth in
voles now problems, new perils, new com
plications. Yet Its organization Is crude
and Illogical; many of Its methods are an
tiquated; Its wholly inadequate accounting
system Is an invitation to fraud.
There Is enough dynamite hidden In sev
eral of Its blind recesses to blow
the lid off at some inopportune moment,
and astonish the nation with revelations
compared with which all past "scandals"
will be tame and voiceless.
But a condition, not a thory, now con
fronts us. We are warned of a prospective
deficit greater than any known In postal
history nearly five times as great as In
l2; greater than the entire expenditures
of the department in 18f5.
What is the cause of this loss, and where
cun we find a remedy?
It may be broadly stated that every
branch of the postal system loses money to
a greater or less extent except the trans
portation and delivery of first class mail
matter. In other words, the postofflce busi
ness has numerous ramifications, but the
$-cent letter pays for It all, with an un
appreclable contribution from fourth class
("merchandise") mall.
Sources of Loss.
But there are a few leading sources cf
heavy ions, which may be separably cata
logued and briefly considered. They are:
Excessive pay to railroads for carrying
the malls.
The cost of carrying free franked matter,
not only for the Postofflce department it
self, but for all the executive, legislative
and Judicial departments of the govern
ment. The abuse of second class rates.
The rural free delivery service.
The postal money order system.
As evidence that the government is taxed
excessively by tin railruds iur transport
ing its malls, the following cumiuiiaUve
figures have recently been given: The av
erage charge by railway companies for mall
matter Is $1.17 per ton per 'mile on a min
imum of 2uu pounds a day; 8 cents on a
dally average of t.OuO pounds, and 6.1 cents
on each additional l.Ouv pounds average.
But the express companies will carry for
patrons 1W pounds l.OuO miles for $3 in), which
Is T cents per ton per mile, and tbe railroads
themselves carry loO pounds of freight l.UM)
miles for from $1 down to 36 cents, or from
OMAHA,
23332
TEN ROUSING ART BARGAINS
7c Moulding Hooks,
per dor.en
15c Photo Holders, always
a useful article
10c China Pencils.
the newest niiule
$1.25 China Plates.
at
...4c
9c
7c
95c
20 per cent discount on nlctnre frumlne.
lugs. A rare opportunity. ' .
20 per cent discount on framed pictures in galleries. A big money -saving
item. The largest assortment of framed pictures in the latest up-to-date
style of framing. Our old price with the new will show what a bargain you
get Take a look now anyway. Second floor.
Section
Bargains in Desirable Silks Monday
10,000 yards of pretty silks, all the very latest styles, in
both plain and fancy styles, suitable for waists and
suits in this big lot will be found this season's 0
latest styles, worth up to $1.00, Monday nfJC
500 yards of 24 Inch wide Peau de Cygne, in small de
signs, an tne new colors worth $1.25 yd.
Monday
250 yards white washable Ilabatul Silk. 27 Ins.
wide worth SSe Monday
500 yards blnck Ilabatul Silks, one yard wide
worth $1.25 Monday
39c
49c
75c
Clearing Sale of Embroidery
About 1,000 yards of fine Swiss Embroideries, the new 4
to 12 inches wide, with insertions to match they are
worth 25c to 50c a yard on sale, embroidery
counter, only UC
All Over La.ce for Summer Wsusts
Fine Oriental All-Over Net Ijiccs, In flornIpH.ttcrni colors,
whites, creams and ecrus worth 75c to $1.50 rn
a yard on sale Lace Counter, at )UC
Sale of Lis!e Thread Gloves
Fine Lisle Thread Gloves blacks, whites and all IP
colors worth 30c pair Monday C
$1.00 in Stamps with each pair.
Another Great Wash Goods Sale
Fine white Madras for shirtwaists and shirtwaist
suits, 30 inches wide-worth 35c yd. Monday . . .
15c
r-iain wnite inaia i.lnona, fine sheer quality 111
worth 23c yard Monday IW2C
A big table full of new coin dot HatLstes and Crash f ft
Suitings, that sold at 15c to 35c Monday IUC
A big lot of fine Organdies, very sheer, la a nice lot r
of colorrf and patterns, only ..)C
Linens and Domestics Less Than Cost
SAM PUS NAPKINS 200 dozen fine Scotch Linen Table
Napkins, 2u20 they come 6 In a package they are
nunu a uozen on sale Monday,
R Napkins for
60 inches wide bleached and half bleached Table
Damask worth 00c yard Monday
72 in. wide bleached and unbleached Table Linens,
heavy quality-worth $1.25 yard Monday ,
0-4 heavy bleached Sheeting, free from dressing
worth 27c Monday
36 inches extra heavy unbleached Sheeting
on,y
75c
49c
89c
21c
5c
Clearing Out Sale of Pcx&.ols
HI'OCK IN FOUR LOTS, Including China
Ponee' Taffeta. Gros Grain. ClAnon and
White and colon prices$1.0 to $1.75
whits' and 'colors prVces' M.66' to $3.60
while and colors prices $3.60 'to
white and colors prices' $5.00 to
...89c
1.69
.2.25
4.95
A prodigal variety to choose from $2.48. $1.98, $1.49.
and 98c
60 ($5.00) Green Trading Stamps with each Hammock
from 48c.
SPORTING GOODS-MAIN FLOOR.
$1.25
.
ud
2 cents down to the fraction .7 cent per ton
per mile. And passengers are Individually
ticketed, including 100 pounds of baggage
free, at what will approximate 19 cents per
ton per ,mlle.
The rates paid to the railroads have not
been reduced since 1878. .
In the meantime, as everybody knows,
operating expenses, as compared with the
tonnago transported, have been enormously
lessened. How freight charges have been
lowered, Mr. James J. Hill, most astute
and intelligent of railway magnates, testi
fied. May S, 1905, before a senate committee.
In these words:
"In 1S82 the average . freight rate was
nearly 2.5J cents per ton per mile; the rate
twenty years later was .857 cent, one-third
what it was t wen ty-oney ears before."
On the same occaslonMhe "proud flesh"
of the question at Issue was gingerly han
dled thus:
Senator Foraker It Is some advantage to
the road to carry the mall, is it not?
Mr. Hill It Is an advantage to the people
along the road and to us and for every
body. Senator Foraker Nobody Is allowed to
stop the mall, and they might stop a coal
car?
Mr. Hill That is an advantage I had not
thought of.
Undoubtedly tbe railroads could well af
ford, to carry the mails free, and in many
countries they do carry them free, in con
sideration of the franchises they have ob
tained from the public and of the Incalcu
lable incidental benefits they receive. More
than once, when all other resources had
failed, our federal authorities stepped In
and by military force gave protection to
railway property In order. that the passage
of the mails might be unimpeded. Besides
the protection enjoyed generally by busi
ness men and corporations, the railroads
get this special, invaluable help and are.
In a sense, paid for accepting It.'
Excessive Railroad Charges.
A former United States senator If author
ity for the statement that the government
pays the railroads each year $40,000,000 for
carrying the malls, while the sanie Uses
carry the same amount of express for less
than $4,000,000. The ex-senator said: "The
New York Central railway, for carrying
the United States mall from New York to
Chicago over its main lines, receives each
year 3V per cent of the value of those lines,
as well as of all rolling stock, and of term
inals In New York, Chicago and other cities.
Yet when It was moved, after proving these
facts, that this compensation be cut down
, and afterwards 10, per cent. It was voted
down In committee of the senate.
The fact is that the railroads wilt recelvo
this year, inciuiituu; rentals of postofrice cars,
nearly $46,000,000 for carrying the mulls.
The allotments are made on the basis of
supposed weight but the weights are taken
only for thirty days once la four years.
It Is all crude guesswork, with ample fa
cilities for padding during the weighing
period. Hence the railroads practically
charge what they please. Conservative es
timates have placed the overcharge for lu
flated weights at $10,000,000 a year. And it is
claimed, to addllipa to all this, that the de
partment pays the roads iu car rentals
SUNDAY MOHNINO, JULY
PRICES PUSHED DOWN
15c Water Color Paper,
smooth or rough
$1.25 Pyrograpby Points,
the lest ever
75c value Cupid Awake and
Cupid Asleep Pictures
...8c
95c
35c
$.1.00 Fsc-Rlmlle Water Colors, . m
hsndxnme pictures framed ln JLu
lllir virtctt of remnant mmil.l.
MILLINERY! MILLINERY!
ADVANCE MID SUMMER AND TALL STYLES..
Large Roll Brim Sailor shapes, iu boautiful whites, pearl
gray and champagne felts.
Modish trimming of quill or wings in Af C f A and
misses' and ladies' styles
LINGERIE HATS
Fresh dainty Lingerie Hats. Our milliners and trimmers
are making them every day. The ideas are down-to-the-ruinute
PRACTICALLY MADE TO ORDER.
Very pretty hats
CHIP AND MILAN POLOS
In the , very newest styles and trimming the -sauciest
headgear ideas.
Tommy Atkins, Russian Folos, Madcap Polos and Tuscans
every one of them an exclusive Z QQ fl nd
Sinclair style in its trimming JJJm vJ up
FLOWERS AND FOLIAGE. FOLIAGE AND FLOWERS.
Closing out at about half price.
A splendid opportunity for retrimming your early season
hat with the adornment of the hour.
MRS. SINCLAIR IN CHARGE. " SECOND FLOOR.
FREE! FREE! FREE!
Something for Nothing:
i In our Crockery Section Monday and Tuesday, ONE
dozen 6-in. or Pie Plates with every purchase of $10.00
or over of any open stock pattern in dinnerware. This in
cludes English and American porcelain' patterns in stock.
Star Cut Tumblers, bell shape, very finest glass, ' P
Monday, each. . . . ........ C
Not over 12 to a 'customer.
What pieces are lefttof our
Saturday, Monday for.
Ten (f 1.00) Gren, Trading Stamps. '
Great Wadl Paper Clearing Sale
Rea.1 Bariums Remnants. : lc PER ROLL and up
Room Lots, Wall. Border and Ceiling. ....... . .25c and up
THIRD FLOOR
each year more than the entire cost of the
postal cars used.
The railroads have ready replies to same
of the criticisms on their alleged graft, land
find easy access to committees of congress
and departmental authorities In presenting
their arguments, some of which are con
veniently Ignored by the critics. The ratio
of the dead weight of cars to amount of
mall carried is a legitimate element of the
calculation. . Mall cars cannot be loaded
to their full capacity there must be con
venient space for sorting and distributing
mail enroute. Hence a car weighing thirty
tons may only carry three tons of mall.
Then, too, all the employes and officials of
the department traveling on its business
are carried free by the railroads.
But in spite of all modifying extenuations,
there is seemingly good ground for the pre
vailing sentiment that the. compensation
for carrying mall by railroad ought to be
materially lessened.
Cost of Service, la Earope.
In this connection we are all Interested In
the following authoritative statement as to
the amounts paid to American railroads for
carrying the malls, in comparison to what
the railroads in foreign countries receive for
like service.
The United States pays the railroads, for
carrying mall, about $41,000,000 per annum.
This sum is further Increased to $t6,Ou,000
when rental of mall car Is Included.
In France, the railroads. In return for
their grants or right-of-way, carry the mall
free. The only, exception Is where the gov
ernment uses a postal car of Its own; then
the railroad receives about a cent a mile,
almost, nothing, for hauling government
cars.
In Swltserland, prior to government own
ership, the railroads received nothing; their
concession from- the government provided
that the railroad company should carry the
malls free. An exception was made where
the company earned less than $ per cent
dividend per annum.
In Germany the railroads haul one mall
car free. Where a second or more cars are
needed the government pays the company.
If a government car, 5 pfennig per axle per
kilometer, or 10 pfennig if the car belongs
to the railroad Company. This amounts
to from I to 12 cents a car per mile, repre
senting barely the cost of hauling the cars.
In Austria the same regulations prevail
as In Germany, except hauling extra cars
averages from 10 to 15 cents per mile.
Italy pays nothing to the railroads for
carrying the mails, as it Is provided In the
concessions made to transportation com
panies that the government malls must be
carried free.
Belgium's laws are similar to those of
Italy.
Iji England, even with the Immense vol
ume of parcels carried by the British gov
ernment. Instead of, as In this country,
by express companies, the money received
by the railroads for carrying the malls Is
only about one-nlntb of the amount paid
by the United States.
More money la paid every year by the
United States to the railroads for carrying
the malls than Is paid by ail the nation'
of Europe combined for all kicds of mail
transportation.
Elsewhere than in our country the blgher
1G, 1905.
Another Book S&Jc
Late copyright fiction, handsome cloth binding,
beautifully illustrated published at A C
$1.50625 titles, at TC
Twenty ($2.00) Green Trading Stamps.
JOD SALE STANDARD FICTION, by" well
known authors, handsome cloth bind
ings, published to retail at 50c; special IOC
Ten ($1.0:r) Green Trading Stamps.
White House Cook Hook (new edition) 58c
prices,
10c china sale of
10c
BHTSTI I
; r
rate of fijie letter post seems to be levied
because of an expedited service. In any
other country low-class matter goes by
slow trains the "Parcels Post" we hear so
much about goes by freight train at small
cost to the revenues. Here, all our mall
goes on the fastest trains each road sends
out. This is doubtless one explanation of
the extravagant cost.
Abase of the Franking- Privilege.
The abuse of the franking privilege is one
of the most costly performances to which
our people are treating themselves at their
own expense. A conservative estimate fixes
the loss to the postal revenues from the
free mall facilities enjoyed by the various
departments at $16,000,000 every year.
Unfortunately no adequate accounting
methods are provided for ascertaining the
magnitude of this free business or what
should Justly be charged to it; approximate
estimates only can be made. Nobody seems
to care to know definitely what this In
cubus amounts to, but if the administration
of so great an enterprise were In private
or corporate hands there would unques
tionably be a provision for 'knowing ex
actly what proportion of the cost this
element of the equation should bear. A
deplorable Incident of doing private busi
ness under public auspices Is the utter
Indifference which prevails as to questions
like this, which ought to command general
interest.
The frank" Is a menacing evil of our
mall service, saturated with fraud, deceit
and demagoguery. Its utter depravity has
been known and commented on for many
years. Efforts have been made to curtail
It, but in some particulars It Is worse than
at any previous stare of our history.
Every branch and department of the gov
ernment loads the transmission of Its nmll
matter, legitimate and Illegitimate, on the
postal' service. Congressmen and the de
partments not only send free of postage let
ters, reports, speeches and all kinds of so
called "public documents," but often ship
ments of machinery, fire proof safes and
other articles tea reel y less ponderous than
pig Iron, on the pretext that they are In
some mysterious way connected with the
public business.
The franking abuxe leads directly to the
"free seed" grift and to the printing of
thousands of tons of useless publio docu
mentsall of which is an enormous bur
den on the treasury, anide from the cost
of transportation. In brief, our uresent
loose leaf scheme of postal franking is
dangerous, corrupting and enormously ex
pensive. The franking franchise should be cur
tailed at every possible point. Ironclad re
strictions should hedge in its use by all
publio officials. Then adequate appropria
tions should be made to cover the actual
cost of this gratuitous service. Every
frsnked letter or parcel should be weighed
and the postage debited to the proper ac
count. All branches of the federal service
would then show tbe real expense of their
operation and the postofrice deficit would
lie transformed into a surplus!
eoad-('laee Mall Rate.
.The abuse of the second-class mall rate,
which formerly cost the service many mil
lions aunually, ha been resolutely grap
pled during the past six or seven years,
SINGLE
HENNETT'S OLDE AMSTERDAM LINEN
PAPEU 100 sheets to the pound at, C
pouud .
Envelopes to match, new shapes and as- Hp
sorted colors; at, package 1UV
Bennett's special waxed lunch paper, 25 sheets, 5c
Five (50c) Green Trading Stamps.
La ce Shelf Paper, assorted colors, 20 yards. . . . .50
BENNETT'S
BIG GROCERY
The popular place to save money on
grocery purchases.
Twenty ($2.0O) Green Trading Stamps
with pound Bennett's Capitol Ifi
Coffee Ow
Twenty ($2.00) Green Trading Stamps
with pound 4"8C
Ten ($1.00) Ureen Trading Stamps with
can Omar 1 Q
Pears or Peaches Ov
Ten ($1.00) Greui Trading Stamps with
pound Crown 10a
Raisins UU
Ten ($t.O0) Green Trading Stamps with
can (Jay's Islands f'n
Clams Z
Ten ($1.00) Oreen Trading Stamps with
enn Marshall's Herring ( "Jfit
(Klpperd or Tomato) AUt
Ten ($1.00) Oreen Trading Stamps with
two cans Potted Chicken or f O
Turkey IOC
10 bars Bennett's Bargain
Soap
25c
BENNETT'S CANDY SECTION
Chocolate Creams, very y
delicious ..t
Five (50c) Green Trading Stamps with
every package Leuiou
Drops. '.
5c
-Lace Curtains
Third Floor
100 pairs Nottingham Lace Cur
tains, slightly soiled, worth up
to five dollars f0
Monday ...70C
One and two-yard remnants of
Curtain Swiss for .
each . 1 ..... . tC
Sewing
Machines
Four-drawer automatic lift'
quarter-sawed oak Machine
value $40.00 Mon- )H ffl
day and Tuesday. . "UU
Third Floor
and a few of Its more flagrant Iniquities
have been abolished- The process has been
attended. It is alleged, by some arbitrary
restrictions and petty Interferences with
legalized publications, amounting practically
to a censorship of the periodical press.
Until tlu3 courts have finally passed upon
all the executive rulings we cannot know
the full measure of the reforms secured.
The second-class rate of 1 cent a pound
was deliberately established for the benefit
of legitimate newspapers and periodicals,
having In view their supposed educational
influence. This rate, being only a frac
tion of the known cost of transmission, Its
concessions should have been rigidly re
stricted. ; But abuse crept in, until this
class of mall constituted 70 per cent of
the wholo tonnage, while it yielded only
4 per cent of the revenues.
Reform was necessary. The head of the
bureau having Jurisdiction of the matter,
Mr. E. C. Madden, Inaugurated measures
for curbing the serial-novel graft, news
agents "return" priyllrgc, the pamphlet
advertlHlng schemes, and other obnoxious
excrescences. Many of his efforts to purge
the malls have been successful; others have
failed; a few are still pending in Judicial
tribunals.
Until either congress or the department
succeeds In restricting the second-class rate
within the legitimate boundaries of Its
original and praiseworthy purpose, we must
class the Improper use of that privilege
among the leading factors of the annual
postal deficit.
Rural Free Delivery,
The new enterprise of rural free delivery.
useiui una popular as it is, nas become
an enormously expensive and deplorably
unprofitable feature. The appropriation for
the current fiscal year was $21,000,000. as
against $460,000 in 1900, and $8,154,000 in 1903
such are Its seven-league strides to the
front as a money absorber.
On the basis of the experience for the
preceding year, the loss in the rural free
delivery service may bo prefigured thus:
Cost of average rural route per month. $ 49 M
Inoomc j,u.m
Loss $ ja, u
As the loss Is 78 per cent of the cost, the
deficit caused by this branch of the service
for the year 1905 Is approximately $16,0,000,
or more than the entire loss on the postal
system as a whole. Nor Is It Just to credit
all the collections on mall handled by the
rural carriers to that service. Much of
the moil business existed before the routes
were established, and the postage collected
must pay the whole cost of the transpor
tation from the place of origin to Its des
tination. What shall we do? He would be a bold
man who proposed to discontinue this great
farm-Illuminating service merely because It
Is financially unprofitable. And it is gel
ting more expensive. The salary of the
rural carrier was raised from $iX to $730
lust year. He will progressively demaol
two. $J0 and $1,000, and will doubtless suc
cessively sccompllsh his purpose.' The rural
service will cost $5u,000.0u0 per annum five
yrars hence, and the loss will correspond
ingly increase unless more revenues are
earned.
Can the revenues be Increased? The de
COPY FIVE CENTS.
STATIONERY
. . dteliSV
Twenty ($2.00) Green Trading Stamps.
Special Sale for Monday
HARDWARE
Big sale on special size of Sacreen
Doors less than the wholesale price.
Screen Ioor, painted preeu, 2 lOx
6x10, regular price We C
sale price O JC
Screen Door, pnlntetl green, 2-8x
7-10, regular price 8Se A 1
sale price ?v. . 0IC
Screen Door, painted green, 3x7
regular price use C
sale price 0 JC
Screen Door, hard oil finish, 2-tlx
0-U, regular price $l.r0 n
sale price IimJ
Screen Door, hard ofl finish, 2-Sx
O S, refiular price $1.50 f J
sale price 1.3
Screen Door, hard oil finish, 2 10x
C-lo, regular price $1.75 f r A
sale price 1.31
Screen Door, hard oil finish, 2-10x
7, regular price $1.76 Cf
sale price 19U
Screen Door, bard oil finish, 2-8x
7. regular price $1.75 P(
sale price j ....... .
Screen lhior, hard oil flnlsli; .1x7,
n'gular price $1.75 Jji
sale price 1.3U
Thirty ($3.00) Creen Trading
with any of the above Doors. No
exchange made on the sale.
Forty ($4.00) Green Trading Stamps
with any Galvanized
Wash Tub, 72c, t!4c and... J DC
Twenty ($2.00) Green Trading
Stamps with Galvanized Water
Pail. 10 and 12 quart, flCl
22e and ..I!IC
Forty ($4.00) Green Trading Stamps
wuu Double u a soli no
2.18
Oven.
1-quart Tin Tomato Cans, f
per dozen TUC
Thirty ($3) Green Trading- Stamps -e.
with Nice Kitchen Claver AJC
Ten ($1) Green Trading Stamps if.
wUh French ParlnK Knife, r IJC
Forty ($4) Green Trading- Stamps with
i-to"?!?.,!?.r:..l"V'..?...96c
Double Green Trading Stamps on all
Paints Monday,
jr-. Your
P' Eyes!
Need Glasses 1
Only the finest
quality at JJennett'B
Prices Less Than You Would
Willingly Pay.
partment suggests a local parcels post,
which Is, perhaps, worth trying.
Objection to Money Orders. -
The Issue and payment of money order
are not in any legitimate sense a govern
ment function. It Is a feature of banking
business, and is regarded by many thought
ful men as a dangerous development of
state socialism. It Is a complicated and in
convenient process for remittance, but is
carried On with such diligent enterprise by
the department officials and the local post
masters who conduct its operations, thai
one who looks only on the surface .sees
little to condemn. It has been shown, how
ever, allowing, a proportionate share of
salaries of postmasters and of clerks In
postoffices engaged In money order work,
together with all other necessary Items of
expense, that there Is an annual loss of
$2,600,000 In the money order business at
the postofrice. f
Fifty millions of postal money orders were
issued by our postofflce last year. On U,
000.000 of these, which exceeded $5 in
amount, there was a small margin of
profit; on 39.000.000 small orders the fee, t
cents for those above and 8 cents for those
below $2.60, there was a heavy loss, as the
average cost of printing, issuing, redeem
ing, reporting and auditing is more than
10 cents. The loss on the small money or
ders was $2,833,000, while the profit on th
larger one was about $300,000.
Thus, If the postal order for less than $8
could be superseded by a simpler and
cheaper method of remitting, the heavy
annual deficit In the money order service
would be avoided.
This method has been found in the pro
posed post check currency, which has re
ceived the endorsement of hundreds of
periodicals, of national commercial bodies
and postmasters' conventions, has been
unanimously approved by the poBtoflVe
committee of congress, but hangs fire
through the covert hostility of express
companies. The post check plan provides
that our $1, $2 and $3 bills in general circu
lation shall be printed payable to " .
or order," Instead of "to bearer." When
wanted for remittances the name of the
payee would be inserted, and they could
then be safely sent by mall like money
orders. They would be redeemed at banks
and -postofflces, forwarded direct to United
States subtreasurles, cancelled and reissued
like mutilated currency. A S-cent postage
stamp affixed to a bill, when transformed
Into a check, would pay all the cost of re
demption and reissue.
. So simple and obvious a means of doing
away with the grievous loss on postal
money orders should be promptly put Into
operation.
There are other features which contribute
appreciably to the sum total of needless
waste whereby our deficit in postofflce
revenues is mude to exist and to Increase
steadily. Those which have been cited are
the chief delinquents. The. railway over
charge, the franking abuse, the second
class mall graft, the rural free delivery
deficit and the small money order nuisance
must one by one lie subjected to intelligent
business methods if we are to avoid irre- '
trievable disaster.
Men's, boys', children's otuttilng hats,
ladies' suits, skirts, millinery, eiCj, easb or
credit. People btore. iLu and iSansao. '
