Vol. LVIII. No. 2600. NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 25, 1899. 
FREE RURAL MAIL DELIVERY. 
IT IS NEARER THAN EVER. 
All Together for a Strong Demand. 
A GREAT DEVELOPMENT.—A few years ago peo¬ 
ple began to talk in a half-hesitating way about the 
free delivery of mail in rural districts. We well re¬ 
member receiving letters from farmers who scoffed at 
the idea and called those who advocated it cranks 
and theorists. To Show how the first feeble demand 
for free rural delivery has grown into a strong senti¬ 
ment in its favor, we quote from the last annual re¬ 
port of Mr. A. W. Machen, who has charge of the 
experiments which the Government is conducting: 
There has been nothing in the history of the postal ser¬ 
vice of the United States so remarkable as the growth 
of the rural free-delivery system. Within the last two 
years, largely by the aid of the people themselves, who, 
in appreciation of the helping hand which the Govern¬ 
ment extended to them, have met these advances half 
way, it has implanted itself 
so firmly upon postal ad¬ 
ministration that it can no 
longer be considered in the 
light of an experiment, but 
has to be dealt with as an 
established agency of pro¬ 
gress, awaiting only the 
action of the Congress to 
determine how rapidly it 
shall be developed. 
The first appropriation 
of $50,000 for this service 
came hard. It was glued 
tight to Uncle Sam’s 
pocketbook, and, strange 
to say, many business 
men strongly opposed it. 
The results were so satis¬ 
factory that the next 
Congress gave $150,000, 
and the last one gave 
$300,000. It is, therefore, 
no longer an experiment. 
It has been settled that 
it is Uncle Sam’s duty to 
carry the mails to the 
farmhouse as well as to 
the town residence, and 
only the matter of cost 
stands in the way. 
NO NEW THING—Let 
no man think that Uncle 
Sam has invented free 
rural delivery. Strange to 
say, in this the old gen¬ 
tleman is far behind his 
slow European cousins. 
Uncle Sam boasts of his 
independence and free¬ 
dom, but the fact is that 
he knuckles down to express, railroad, telegraph and 
telephone companies and other “business interests” in 
a way that causes a shameful neglect of the common 
members of his family. Why, England started free 
rural delivery 50 years ago, and the service has been 
wonderfully extended. At the time of the Queen’s 
Jubilee in 1897, an effort was made to extend the ser¬ 
vice so as to reach every farmhouse. In 13 months 
after that Jubilee, it is said that 21,500,000 letters were 
delivered which otherwise would have been left until 
called for. In France this free delivery was started 
in 1830. At first a small charge was made, as is now 
done in Germany and Austria, but this was given up 
in 1846, and now every hamlet and farm recelives its 
mail regularly. In Austria, Switzerland and Belgium 
mail is regularly delivered at the farmer’s door. In 
fact, Uncle Sam is far behind the times in his hand¬ 
ling of the farmer’s mail. He has borrowed money 
to piake things easy for the townsman, who needs 
such help least of all, while the farmer, who, more 
than any other citizen, needs a fair showing, has been 
left to shift for himself. 
SOME ADVANTAGES.—No man who has lived on 
a farm needs to be told what it means to be brought 
into daily contact with the world’s great social and 
business forces. The daily paper becomes a possi¬ 
bility. The very character of that daily paper will be 
changed and improved, as it is forced to cater more 
and more to the thoughtful and conservative judg¬ 
ment of the family on the farm. The country will be 
benefited by anything that will bring our National life 
closer home to the landowners, whose life investments 
and savings are planted in the soil they till, and 
whose life tragedy is often the fact that they produce 
fair crops, but cannot dispose of them profitably. 
THE FARMER’S RIGHTS.—But there are practical 
reasons why the farmer should have his mail brought 
to him. Imagine a mechanic or a clerk taking half a 
day from his labor to go after his mail! Yet that is 
What a farmer is expected to do. There are just as 
many minutes in the hour on the farm as there are 
in the town, and each minute is worth 'its price. The 
mechanic may live within a few steps of the post 
office, yet Uncle Sam spends thousands of dollars in 
carrying the letter to him. The farmer who lives 
miles from the post office will pay rent for a box, 
and then spend his time in going after the letters. It 
is probable that the money now paid by farmers for 
box rent would cover the expenses of free delivery in 
thousands of districts. 
There was a time when we could only estimate the 
good results that would follow free delivery. Now we 
know, for on November 1 the service was in opera¬ 
tion over 383 routes in 40 States, and the results are 
evident. Wherever the service has been started more 
letters are written and received, and more papers and 
magazines are taken. Postal receipts increase, and 
many routes already pay for themselves. The value 
of farm lands has increased. Life is more satisfac¬ 
tory, and contentment always enhances farm values. 
A demand for better roads and a willingness to pay 
for them follows free rural delivery. Better prices 
for farm products are possible, and farmers sell and 
buy to better advantage, for they are in daily touch 
With the great markets, and they find that dealers are 
eager to correspond with them by mail. 
WHO OPPOSES IT?—One would suppose that of 
course the city merchants would see at once the 
great possibilities of increasing their country trade by 
direct dealing With the farmer. Strange to say, they 
appear to be the most powerful opponents of the new 
service. We have written most of the large firms 
dealing 'in goods that can be easily sent by mail and 
express, asking for opinions regarding this matter. A 
few are apparently meeting with excellent success in 
dealing direct with farmers, but the great majority 
object to free rural de¬ 
livery because they say 
that it will cost too 
much. Such blindness 
Is hard to understand. 
In some places, where 
this delivery has be¬ 
come a settled policy, 
almost the entire trade 
of the neighborhood has 
gone to the large city 
Stores, with orders by 
mail and deliveries by 
mail or express. In most 
cases, too, increased sale 
of stamps has nearly 
paid the cost of the ser¬ 
vice. Many local store¬ 
keepers oppose free de¬ 
livery, and perhaps the 
loudest opponents are 
saloonkeepers or pro¬ 
prietors of stores where 
loungers congregate. 
These men seem to think 
that the farmer lives and 
earns money for the sole 
purpose of keeping alive 
the business of the little 
village or town. They 
want him to come and 
spend his earnings with 
them. Free delivery of 
the mails might keep the 
farmer at home, and, by 
so doing, show him the 
way to better bargains 
and a broader view of 
life. Hence they oppose 
it. Postmasters in small 
towns also oppose it, because it means to them a loss 
of business and of box rent. 
IT IS COMING.—In spite of strong opposition, free 
rural mail delivery is sure to be extended. It is one 
of the things that cannot be headed off. Its value 
and need have been demonstrated. Uncle Sam pre¬ 
tends to be a very independent person, but he is, 
withal, a great politician, very anxious to keep his 
people good natured. His extension of this free de¬ 
livery service will be gauged by the demand for it. 
Farmers must demand it in a forcible and dignified 
way, if they expect to get any share of it. The way 
to proceed is to get up a petition signed by as many 
citizens as possible. This petition should state the 
nature of the country, the population and chief busi¬ 
ness of the people. It should also state the character 
of the roads, whether good or bad, and the number 
of miles the petitioner has to travel or send after hi3 
mail. This petition should be sent to the member of 
SHAKE THEM OFF, UNCLE SAM. NO MATTER IF THEY PULL YOUR COAT TAILS OUT. Fig. 299. 
