Postal Riders and Raiders

by W. H. Gantz

The sum of $1,200,000 is to be devoted to increases in the salaries of postoffice clerks during the current year, while $600,000 of an increase will go to city letter carriers. The railway mail clerks will get an increase of only $175,000, making an addition to the salaries of the three groups of $1,975,000. When the rural route carriers get their increase of $4,000,000 it will mean an addition to the four groups of the stupendous sum of $5,975,000 to the annual total. The figures are calculated to startle the ordinary observer, especially when there has been so much music about deficits.

On August 15th, 1911, Mr. M. H. Madden, as Secretary of the Independent Postal League, wrote the Hon. Daniel A. Campbell, Postmaster of Chicago, a lengthy and strong letter, in response to the latter’s request for copies of former issues of the league’s bulletins. I have a copy of that letter before me and shall take the liberty to quote a few of its relevant paragraphs.

After explaining the reasons why it was impossible for him to furnish Postmaster Campbell a file of the league’s bulletins, Mr. Madden continues:

“For myself I have given second-class postage problems some study, have written articles concerning the subject, and have addressed many organizations interested, in various portions of the country. In this connection I appeared before President Taft as a representative of the printing trades with President George L. Berry of the International Printing Pressmen’s Union on Feb. 23 last. We protested against the raise to 4 cents a pound on advertising pages in the magazines. As a result of our work, more than 10,000 telegrams of protest were sent to Senators and members of the House from organized labor men. Two weeks later a certain ‘rider’ was thrown in the Senate. The Hughes commission of inquiry into the cost of handling second-class matter was then created. In one way and another this movement has been kept somewhat active.

“Some weeks ago the editors of union labor publications of the country met in Chicago and formed an association to continue this work, the Independent Postal League being thereby relieved of the task of instructing working people concerning the subject, the League turning over to the editors, the data it had, consisting of documents, official reports, etc.

“President Gompers of the American Federation of Labor and President Woll of the International Photo-Engravers’ Union were furnished with material to present before the sessions of the Hughes Commission. The National Typothetæ to convene in Denver will also use data supplied by the League, as will the International Typographical Union at San Francisco; also the American Federation of Labor at its annual meeting at Atlanta, Ga.

“In this country there are 2,000,000 organized workingmen affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and 500,000 who are unaffiliated. These are opposed to a raise in postage and have so declared. In the printing trades there are more than 400,000 of the best paid artisans in the world and these are working in opposition to a raise, and since they produce almost a billion dollars’ worth of printing each year their protest is worth listening to.

“As workingmen we cannot approve of the inconsistency shown by having a pressman produce a periodical in Canada and sending it through the mails at ¼ cent a pound, while his brother pressman in the United States would be forced to pay four cents a pound for the same service. And the “Canuck” can certainly do it at a profit. Here is where a little ‘reciprocity’ juice would taste nectar-like for the Uncle Sam pressman. For several years our big postoffice officials have been telling the American people it cost more than 9 cents a pound to haul second-class mail. In Canada there is a population of 8,000,000 served by 25,000 miles of railway, while in our country we have 90,000,000 people and 246,000 miles of railroads. In the United States we print 500 periodicals to one printed in the Dominion. The merits of the question are so obvious that there is no chance for a controversy; in fact there can be no dispute on a matter so plain.”

Now, see here, I do not want to burden you—you, the reader—with quotations. I have not done so save when the quotations covered the point—our point—better than I could cover it myself. I write up to a point to the best of my ability, and then, if I have at hand some authority—some more conclusive and better told statement than I can make myself, I hand it to you.

So please do not skip the quotations in this book. The meat of it is in the quoted matter, not in what I have said or may say. That is why I desire to quote further just here.