nOSTMASTER General Snmmerfield is * working a squeeze play on Congress to appropriate $47 million to carry the post office department to June 30, 1957. The postal service lacks this sum to assure the service. If this deficit appropriation is not made the Postmaster General will order curtailment of service, and the mails will I - lowed to nearly a stop with no delivery •m ice on Saturdays. It appears that the Postmaster General has completely lost, or never had, the spirit of the U. S. mail service, lie had curtailed Ihe service considerably in recent years, by discontinuing directory service in the cities. If the complete correct address is not on the letter or parcel, returns are ordered without an effort to make delivery. There was a time when the slogan. “Ihe mail must go through”, meant what it said, and every effort was made to make delivery of mail, promptly. Things have changed. C. S. mail service has been outstanding in the development of the United States. It is essentially a government function, a monopoly, whose first objective should be service. The brilliant history of service to the general public should not be overlook ed in the current squeeze for operating funds. Congress, also, has before it recommen dations for increases in postal rates. First C lass letters would be raised to five cents, and increases made on other classes of mail. There is such a thing as “pricing yourself out of the market”, and it appears to us hat the proposed ryise to five cents will tend to do this. Mr. Snmmerfield is determined to put the postoffice department on a self-sus t - .ring basis. Such is impossible, if gbod -oi’vice i to he maintained. It seems that the department analysts have overlooked tae exi.-tenth of a ready-to-serve cost. For

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