And State Papers 635 



results following its introduction have fully justified 

 the Congress in the large appropriations made for its 

 establishment and extension. The average yearly 

 increase in post-office receipts in the rural districts 

 of the country is about two per cent. We are now 

 able, by actual results, to show that where rural free- 

 delivery service has been established to such an ex- 

 tent as to enable us to make comparisons the yearly 

 increase has been upward of ten per cent. 



On November i, 1902, 11,650 rural free-delivery 

 routes had been established and were in operation, 

 covering about one-third of the territory of the 

 United States available for rural free-delivery ser- 

 vice. There are now awaiting the action of the De- 

 partment petitions and applications for the estab- 

 lishment of 10,748 additional routes. This shows 

 conclusively the want which the establishment of 

 the service has met and the need of further extend- 

 ing it as rapidly as possible. It is justified both by 

 the financial results and by the practical benefits to 

 our rural population ; it brings the men who live on 

 the soil into close relations with the active business 

 world; it keeps the farmer in daily touch with the 

 markets; it is a potential educational force; it en- 

 hances the value of farm property, makes farm life 

 far pleasanter and less isolated, and will do much 

 to check the undesirable current from country to 

 city. 



It is to be hoped that the Congress will make lib- 

 eral appropriations for the continuance of the service 

 already established and for its further extension. 



