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 I: OPPOSING THE ABOLITION OR CUR- ' 
 TAILMENT OF THE PNEUMATIC 
 TUBE MAIL SERVICE IN ANY CITY 
 WHERE IT NOW EXISTS. 
 
 II: LETTER FROM HON. JOHN PURROY 
 MITCHEL, MAYOR OF NEW YORK, TO 
 HON. CHAMP CLARK, SPEAKER OF 
 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 PROTESTING AGAINST ADDITIONAL 
 MAIL TRUCKS IN THE CITY’S 
 STREETS. 
 
 December, 1916 
 
T HE Board of Directors of The Merchants’* Association of 
 New York, at a meeting held Thursday, December 14, 
 received a report from its Committee on Postal Affairs to the 
 effect that it was the unanimous opinion of the Committee that 
 the discontinuance of the pneumatic tube service and the sub¬ 
 stitution therefor of service by vehicle would be unfortunate and 
 should be opposed by The Merchants’ Association. 
 
 The Committee recommended that the Association reaffirm its 
 attitude to the effect that the pneumatic mail service should be 
 continued in its present scope in all cities where it is now in¬ 
 stalled, and that it be extended wherever conditions warrant. 
 
 The Board of Directors, after consideration, unanimously ap¬ 
 proved the recommendations of the Committee on Postal Affairs 
 and directed that an argument in opposition to the recommenda¬ 
 tions of the Postmaster General as to the pneumatic tube service 
 be prepared, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee 
 and the President. 
 
 '"'N 
 
 The argument thus authorized follows: 
 
 S. C. Mead, 
 Secretary. 
 
 New York, December 29, 1916. 
 
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 OPPOSING THE ABOLITION OR CURTAIL¬ 
 MENT OF THE PNEUMATIC TUBE MAIL 
 SERVICE IN ANY CITY WHERE IT NOW 
 EXISTS. 
 
 T HE Postmaster General has recommended to Congress the 
 abolition of the pneumatic tube mail service in Boston, 
 Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis; its curtailment in Brook¬ 
 lyn, and its retention in New York under conditions which 
 threaten to curtail it by about one-half, and which permit its 
 entire abolition at the discretion of the Postmaster General. 
 
 The recommendations of the Postmaster General are based 
 upon a report of a committee of subordinate postal officials, which 
 report embodies the results of an investigation made by the com¬ 
 mittee as to the relative efficiency of auto vehicles and pneumatic 
 tubes for the transmission of letter mail. Those results seem¬ 
 ingly demonstrate that autos equal tubes in efficiency and that the 
 substitution of autos for tubes would effect material economies 
 without impairing the mail service. 
 
 This would be true if the facts stated in the report compre¬ 
 hended all the facts, and if the methods used in the investigation 
 had been such as fully to develop and fairly to present those 
 facts; but such is not the case. In the investigation vital factors 
 were ignored or suppressed. By reason of their suppression 
 false inferences were suggested, leading to fallacious conclusions. 
 The utility of the tubes was minimized, and the practicable per¬ 
 formance of autos under service conditions was grossly exag¬ 
 gerated. The methods of the investigation, its omission to de¬ 
 velop and present essential facts, the questionable character of 
 the so-called tests, and the fallacy of the conclusions inevitable 
 
 3 
 
from an incomplete array of facts, were such as to render mis¬ 
 leading and practically worthless the report upon which rest the 
 recommendations of the Postmaster General. 
 
 Following are specifications: 
 
 1. The automobile tests were made under highly favorable 
 selected conditions of minimum traffic congestion, and entire 
 absence of obstruction by ice and snow. 
 
 2. The usual and necessary service routes, time schedules 
 and requirements were disregarded. 
 
 3. Excessive and dangerous speed was made through 
 crowded city streets. 
 
 4. The results of the speed tests made under exceptional 
 
 and selected conditions were accepted as representing the ** 
 practicable speed of autos throughout the year, under service 
 conditions subject to wide variation. 
 
 5. The rapidity and capacity of the tubes was under¬ 
 stated. On one occasion the operation of the tubes was 
 retarded. 
 
 6. Two of the most important and useful functions of the 
 tube service were ignored by the report. 
 
 I. THE AUTOMOBILE TESTS WERE MADE UNDER 
 HIGHLY FAVORABLE SELECTED CONDITIONS 
 OF MINIMUM TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND EN¬ 
 TIRE ABSENCE OF OBSTRUCTION BY ICE AND 
 SNOW. 
 
 Tests of the relative speed of autos and tubes in the transmis¬ 
 sion of mail were made in the several cities having tube service, 
 with the exception of New York. All these tests, with three ex- 
 
 4 
 
ceptions, were made in the months of July and August. The 
 exceptions were made June 28 and 29 in Boston. 
 
 The speed at which vehicles can move through city streets is, 
 of course, materially affected by the extent of the traffic therein. 
 In all the large cities the traffic congestion in the business centers 
 is extreme, and creates a condition exceedingly unfavorable to 
 the rapid movement of vehicles. In the City of New York traffic 
 counts were recently made during the months of maximum con¬ 
 gestion. It was found that at the 464 crossings where police 
 officers are stationed to regulate traffic an aggregate of about 
 3,407,000 vehicles and 15,545,000 pedestrians crossed within ten 
 hours. The traffic at Columbus Circle (one mile north of 42nd 
 Street) aggregated 39,000 vehicles and 81,990 pedestrians in ten 
 consecutive hours. Similar conditions of extreme congestion 
 prevail in the Chicago “loop district” and in the central areas of 
 Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis. 
 
 But the density of the congestion varies widely at different 
 seasons. In the months of July and August it is at a minimum. 
 During those months shipments of merchandise fall off greatly. 
 Retail trade of many classes is at its lowest ebb, and the move¬ 
 ment of delivery wagons is much reduced. A large proportion of 
 pleasure or passenger autos are absent in country districts. These 
 causes greatly reduce the volume of street traffic, and correspond¬ 
 ingly increase the practicable speed. 
 
 In his testimony on this point before the House Committee on 
 Post Offices and Post Roads, Inspector Thomas Myers, the police 
 officer in charge of traffic regulation in New Y'ork, stated that 
 street traffic and consequent congestion falls off about 50 per cent 
 during the months of July and August. Similar causes produce 
 a similar falling off in other cities. 
 
 It is obvious that speed results obtained in the months when 
 about one-half the usual number of vehicles are absent from the 
 streets do not fairly represent the speed practicable during the 
 remainder of the year. 
 
 It is a fact of common knowledge that city streets during a 
 considerable part of every winter are badly obstructed by snow 
 
 5 
 
and ice. So far as revealed by their report, this fact seemed to 
 be unknown to the committee of post office employees. At any 
 rate, no cognizance was taken of it. 
 
 The extent to which snow slows the movement of autos and 
 disarranges mail movement was testified to December 14th be¬ 
 fore the House Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads by 
 Mr. Edward M. Morgan, Postmaster of New York. 
 
 Mr. Morgan stated in substance that during a considerable part 
 of last winter, because of snow, it was necessary in order to 
 make train connections to allow autos as much as thirty minutes’ 
 extra running time—thus more than doubling the usual time. 
 Mr. Morgan specified: 
 
 December 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, 1915. 
 
 February 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, 1916. 
 
 March 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 and 17, 1916. 
 
 as days when transportation was seriously interrupted by reason 
 of storms, and the mail contractor was unable to meet the re¬ 
 quirements of the service and live up to the existing schedules. 
 The effect of these conditions is shown by the following quota¬ 
 tions from the records of the hearing: 
 
 “Mr. Morgan : . . . The number of train connections missed 
 and consequent delay to mails during December, 1915, and Janu¬ 
 ary, February and March, 1916, due to irregularities in mail 
 wagon (auto) service occasioned by snow storms and resultant 
 congested and slipper}’- streets, was as follows: 
 
 December, 1915 . 30 
 
 January, 1916 . 8 
 
 February, 1916. 51 
 
 March, 1916 . 120 
 
 Total. 209” 
 
 “The Chairman: They missed the trains?” 
 
 “Mr. Morgan : Yes, sir, notwithstanding they were given 
 thirty minutes headway.” 
 
 6 
 
“Mr. Bennet: You mean you start the mails several minutes 
 earlier?” 
 
 “Mr. Morgan : Yes.” 
 
 “Mr. Bennet: How many—how long a time?” 
 
 “Mr. Morgan : Usually about thirty minutes. For example, 
 if we have to make a connection and our regular schedule is 
 2:30, we start the wagon out at 2 o’clock; and if we have to 
 make a connection, the regular schedule being 4 o’clock, we start 
 the wagon out at half-past three.” 
 
 The extent to which snow and ice obstructed the movement of 
 mail vehicles in other cities is undoubtedly a matter of record * 
 in the several post offices. It is a vital factor in determining 
 the relative utility of autos and tubes. The Committee could 
 readily have obtained the information. So far as the record 
 shows they made no attempt to do so, but completely ignored it. 
 
 II. THE USUAL AND NECESSARY SERVICE ROUTES, 
 TIME SCHEDULES AND SERVICE REQUIRE¬ 
 MENTS WERE DISREGARDED. 
 
 The time normally required for mail vehicles to move between 
 post offices and railroad stations, and from one branch office to 
 another, is definitely and completely established as to every im¬ 
 portant office. The extent of that time is absolutely and conclu¬ 
 sively demonstrated by daily and hourly experience, continued 
 through every day in the year. As a result of this experience 
 official time schedules are established. These schedules govern 
 the movement of all mail vehicles. 
 
 The time allowed is that normally consumed by the vehicles in 
 passing over their .routes. It considers delays and interruptions 
 to movement, occasioned by traffic congestion. It makes allow¬ 
 ances for time consumed by stops made at intervening stations 
 for the purpose of receiving and delivering mail. 
 
 The time allowance is governed by two imperative factors. 
 
 7 
 
The vehicle must remain at the post office until the latest possible 
 moment in order to permit it to carry the latest mails received. 
 The time allowed for movement to its destination must be as 
 short as is practicable to assure its arrival at the station in time 
 to catch the connecting train. It is certain, therefore, that in 
 every post office having a capable administration the time allowed 
 for the movement of vehicles is the shortest time that it is safe 
 to allow, as demonstrated by continuous experience. 
 
 In addition to the normal time allowance is the extraordinary 
 allowance made necessary in winter by reason of snow and ice. 
 Postmaster Morgan has testified that under frequently prevailing 
 winter conditions more than twice the usual time is required. 
 We have thus in the records of every post office absolute stand¬ 
 ards, derived from experience of actual service conditions, as to 
 the performance of auto vehicles which may safely be relied upon. 
 
 The difference between these standards and the results of the 
 so-called tests made in Chicago and Boston are so great as to 
 bring the methods of the latter into question. Mail is daily 
 transported by automobile from the Boston General Post Office 
 to Upham’s Corners over a route which is 4.4 miles long. Mail 
 passing over this route goes first to the South Terminal Station, 
 where it is transferred to another vehicle. It thence moves by 
 way of the South Boston Station to Upham’s Corners. The 
 vehicle stops at each of the stations named. At the South Termi¬ 
 nal the pouches are rehandled and separated for forwarding to 
 different destinations by various routes. This process requires 
 five minutes or more. An intervening stop is made at South Bos¬ 
 ton, where mails are received and delivered. The record of 
 
 movement and distances is as follows: 
 
 General Post Office to South Terminal 
 South Terminal to South Boston.... 
 South Boston to Upham’s Corners.. 
 
 Official time 
 
 Distance including stops 
 3/4 miles 15 mm. 
 
 1 2/5 miles 15 min. 
 
 2 1/4 miles 15 min. 
 
 Total.. 4.4 miles 45 min. 
 
 Average miles per hour under service conditions, 5.86. 
 
 8 
 
In the auto test that was made between the General Post Office 
 and Uphanrs Corners, the route followed was not stated. If the 
 auto proceeded via Roxbury the distance covered would be 5 
 miles. If it proceeded via South Boston the distance would be 
 4.4 miles. The time occupied was 13 minutes, 50 seconds. In 
 the first case, via Roxbury, the rate of speed per hour would 
 have been over 21 miles. In the second case, via South Boston, 
 the rate per hour would have been over 19 miles. 
 
 This result was obviously obtained by ignoring all the service 
 conditions. An average rate of speed more than three times that 
 found possible under service conditions was made. It was in 
 part made by omitting the stops required in the actual mail 
 service, thereby saving the several minutes required to make each 
 of those stops and take and deliver the mail. It was made by 
 sending the auto over portions of the route at a rate of approxi¬ 
 mately 30 miles per hour (making allowance for the inevitable 
 detention in the area of great congestion). 
 
 Similar disregard of service conditions appears in the so-called 
 
 tests made in the central area of Boston. The official time shown 
 
 % 
 
 by experience to be necessary under service conditions for an 
 auto to move from the General Post Office to the South Station 
 and insure train connections is 10 minutes. The auto made the 
 distance in 3 minutes, 40 seconds. The official time from the 
 Boston Post Office to the North Station is 12 minutes. The test 
 auto made the distance in 5 minutes, 5 seconds. These figures 
 show the extent to which the relative absence of traffic conges¬ 
 tion during the months of July and August influenced the result. 
 
 On the one hand, we have the time schedules based upon long 
 and continuous experience, established with due regard to traffic 
 obstacles and to service stops. On the other hand, we have single 
 tests made regardless of service conditions, with the obstacles of 
 traffic congestion largely eliminated, omitting the time required 
 for stops at intermediate stations, and carried on at an unlawful 
 and highly dangerous rate of speed. 
 
 Similar conditions obtained in the case of the Chicago tests. 
 The official time upon which autos are daily moving between the 
 
 9 
 
General Post Office and the stockyards, with one stop, is 52 
 minutes, the rate of speed per hour being 6.92 miles. In the so- 
 called auto test the distance was made in 17 minutes, the service 
 stop required in actual service being omitted. The average rate 
 of speed was over 21 miles an hour, probably reaching 30 miles 
 an hour over a considerable part of the course. 
 
 The Postmaster General assumes that the results of these tests 
 indicate the regular and normal speed of the service which can 
 be provided by automobiles. If that be true, the administrative 
 officials of the principal post offices in the United States are con¬ 
 victed of gross incompetency, for consuming in actual service 
 more than three times the time which the Postmaster General 
 appears to believe a reasonable and practicable time. 
 
 III. EXCESSIVE AND DANGEROUS SPEED WAS MADE 
 THROUGH CROWDED CITY STREETS. 
 
 It has been shown above that the regular time schedules im¬ 
 posed by contract upon the mail service in the several cities con¬ 
 templates a rate of speed limited by the congestion of city streets, 
 speed laws, traffic regulations, and similar obstructive conditions. 
 
 The public of every large city is in a state of violent indigna¬ 
 tion and alarm because of the dangerous conditions arising from 
 the rapid movement of automobiles in crowded city streets. The 
 fatalities and accidents from this cause are numerous. In the 
 City of New York one person is killed every fourteen hours, and 
 one person is injured every twenty-three minutes. The problem 
 of preventing undue speed, of protecting life, and of dealing with 
 traffic congestion is one of the most pressing with which city of¬ 
 ficials everywhere are confronted. 
 
 In response to public demand and in the interest of public 
 safety, laws limiting the speed of vehicles have everywhere been 
 adopted. “Safety First" is the universal cry.. 
 
 In defiance of an earnest and reasonable public sentiment, we 
 
 10 
 
find the agents of the United States actively promoting highly 
 dangerous conditions. We find the Postmaster General of the 
 United States seriously proposing that those dangerous condi¬ 
 tions shall be made the regular and daily conditions for the opera¬ 
 tion of mail vehicles—that those vehicles shall regularly and 
 habitually traverse city streets with reckless disregard of human 
 life and safety, and shall ignore and over-ride the laws and regu¬ 
 lations made necessary for the public protection. 
 
 The recommendation of the Postmaster General is based upon 
 the assumption that mails will be transported through the streets 
 by autos at the speed shown by the recent tests. Unless that speed 
 is maintained the present celerity of mail movement, attained by 
 the use of the tubes, will be materially lessened. That speed is 
 therefore proposed by the Department. 
 
 The auto speed developed by the tests, and accepted by the 
 Postmaster General as a normal standard of performance was as 
 follows: 
 
 Boston : 
 
 GENERAL POST OFFICE TO UPHAM's CORNERS. 
 
 Distance (via Roxbury)*.5 miles 
 
 Time .13 min. 50 sec. 
 
 Rate per hour.over 21 miles 
 
 Chicago : 
 
 GENERAL POST OFFICE TO STOCK YARDS. 
 
 Distance.over 6 miles 
 
 Time .17 min. 
 
 Rate per hour.over 21 miles 
 
 In each of these tests a mile or more of the dislance was 
 through an area of intense congestion, in which area only a very 
 slow rate of progress was possible. The official time schedules 
 of the Boston Post Office allow ten minutes for an auto to 
 traverse only a part of this congested area. A similar official 
 
 *The tubes follow the Roxbury route, with which the auto tests were compared. 
 The regular auto route to Upham’s Corners is via South Boston. The distance via 
 the latter route is 4.4 miles. If this route were taken in the auto test, the average 
 rate of speed would have been slightly more than 19 miles per hour. 
 
 11 
 
time allowance is made in Chicago. Allowing for inevitable de¬ 
 lays in these highly congested districts, a much higher rate of 
 speed than the average must have been maintained over the 
 remainder of the route. 
 
 It is practically certain therefore that over the larger part of 
 the routes stated the test autos must have been driven at a rate 
 of speed in excess of thirty miles per hour, through densely 
 populated districts, in defiance of speed laws, traffic regulations 
 and public safety. 
 
 In fact, however, this speed would not and could not be main¬ 
 tained under service conditions, for reasons stated in the previous 
 section. But nevertheless it was advanced by the post office com¬ 
 mittee as though it were the normal speed practicable for mail 
 autos; and the Postmaster General and Congress were permitted 
 to infer that this artificial and impracticable rate of auto move¬ 
 ment proved that the mails could be moved as rapidly and ef¬ 
 ficiently by autos as by tubes. 
 
 IV. THE RESULTS OF THE SPEED TESTS MADE UN- 
 DER EXCEPTIONAL SELECTED CONDITIONS 
 WERE ACCEPTED AS REPRESENTING THE PRAC¬ 
 TICABLE SPEED OF AUTOS THROUGHOUT THE 
 YEAR, UNDER SERVICE CONDITIONS SUBJECT 
 TO WIDE VARIATION. 
 
 It has been shown above that the conditions affecting the speed 
 of autos passing through city streets are subject to wide varia¬ 
 tions at different seasons of the year. It has been shown that the 
 so-called tests of auto speed were made at a time when traffic 
 congestion was at a minimum and an exceptionally high rate of 
 speed therefore practicable. It has been shown that in the tests 
 the usual and necessary service routes were disregarded, and that 
 the usual and necessary stops at intermediate stations, involving 
 
 12 
 
in the case of each station a considerable time for delivering and 
 receiving mail, were omitted. It has been shown that the actual 
 service time established and shown to be necessary as the result 
 of continuous experience during years is from two to three times 
 that shown by the tests. It has been shown that when the streets 
 are obstructed by snow and ice it is necessary to more than double 
 the usual service time, and that even with such additional time 
 many train connections are missed. It has been shown that ex¬ 
 cessive and dangerous speed was made through crowded streets 
 in violation of traffic regulations and speed laws. 
 
 It is obvious that all the conditions recited must of necessity 
 be considered and allowed for in determining the habitual and 
 regular speed of mail autos when carrying the mails under service 
 conditions. It is equally obvious that any fair investigation for 
 the purpose of determining the practicable speed of autos in mail 
 service would have given full consideration to all these limiting 
 conditions and have fully and candidly stated in the report their 
 effect and the extent to which they should qualify the conclusions. 
 
 The report of the committee of postal employees is silent upon 
 all of these points. Having made certain tests under conditions 
 which excluded nearly all the most formidable impediments to 
 high speed, they have presented those results as though they were 
 applicable throughout the entire year and as though they could 
 properly be made the ordinary standard of auto performance. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the report in question ignored or sup¬ 
 pressed the essential facts indispensable to a true conclusion. It 
 is this investigation which the Postmaster General characterizes 
 as “thorough,” and upon which, “after careful consideration,” 
 he bases his recommendations for the substitution of autos for 
 tubes, on the assumption that the former will provide service 
 equally efficient as that of the latter. 
 
 Upon this evidence, which has suppressed the essential and 
 suggested the untrue and misleading, the Postmaster General 
 rests his statement that the Department “never at any time has 
 made a recommendation looking to the improvement of the postal 
 service which it is more certain is just and meritorious than the 
 proposed action with reference to this pneumatic tube service.” 
 
 13 
 
V. THE RAPIDITY AND CAPACITY OF THE TUBES 
 WAS UNDER-STATED. ON ONE OCCASION THE 
 OPERATION OF THE TUBES WAS RETARDED. 
 
 The capacity of the tubes is dependent upon the quantity or 
 weight of mail matter which can be contained in each of the 
 carriers, and the frequency with which such carriers can be 
 dispatched through the tubes. 
 
 The report of the committee of Post Office officials alleges: 
 
 “a. The capacity of each tube container is limited to about 
 five pounds of letter mail and all classes of mail cannot be 
 carried.” 
 
 In the hearings before the House Committee on Post Offices 
 and Post Roads a standard carrier was placed in evidence. 
 Numerous packages containing envelopes with blank letter sheets 
 of different sizes and thicknesses, and also a proportion of cards 
 similar to postal cards, were produced, weighed before the Com¬ 
 mittee and deposited in the carriers. Ten pounds of these pack¬ 
 ages (which were carefully examined by the Committee and 
 admitted to be fairly representative of regular mail) were placed 
 in the carrier, which was but two-thirds filled. There were, how¬ 
 ever, no long envelopes in the parcels, but ample space remained 
 to permit the inclusion of such long envelopes. 
 
 The committee’s report further stated: 
 
 “b. Rapidity of despatch of tube containers is limited to 
 intervals of about 15 seconds, so that only about 20 pounds 
 of letter mail can be despatched each minute . . .” 
 
 In the Boston test of the mail carried by train No. 53, June 28, 
 1916, six carriers were despatched in 65 seconds, making an 
 average of 10 5/6 seconds’ interval between the carriers. 
 
 As testified at the hearing, the time intervals noted in the 
 despatch of certain mails by tube in the Chicago Post Office was 
 found to be less than ten seconds. 
 
 14 
 
In the New York Post Office on August 19 between the hours 
 of 7 and 8 o’clock P. M., 838 carriers were despatched from the 
 General Post Office, through a single line of tubes, the intervals 
 between the despatches being about 4%. seconds. 
 
 In view of these well-established results, it is obvious that the 
 committee's statement that only about twenty pounds of letter 
 mail can be despatched each minute is incorrect. The facts cited, 
 however, are advanced only to show the loose methods and the 
 loose statements of the committee. It is correct to state that the 
 service intervals between the despatch of tubes is in usual practice 
 about 15 seconds, although the tube is capable of greater expedi¬ 
 tion. The actual speed, however, is dependent upon the celerity 
 with which mail is prepared for despatch by the postal clerks. 
 When the postal clerks are slow or insufficient in number the 
 intervals become greater. The actual quantity carried by the 
 carriers is likewise affected by the speed with which the clerks 
 prepare the packages and the number of letters contained in such 
 packages. 
 
 While, therefore, the tubes are capable of moving mail at a 
 much higher rate of speed than that stated by the committee, 
 and while each carrier will contain more than twice the weight 
 stated, the average, under service conditions, is probably approxi¬ 
 mately correct. This, however, is no excuse for the bald state¬ 
 ment of the committee that the capacity is actually limited to the 
 amount and the time stated. 
 
 On Sunday, July 30, a test was made in Boston of the rapidity 
 with which the tubes would handle the mail arriving by train 
 No. 30. Seventy-seven carriers were despatched in 34 minutes, 
 38 seconds, the interval between the despatch of the carriers thus 
 being 27 seconds, or about two and one-half times as great as 
 that shown by results under actual service conditions. The re¬ 
 sults thus obtained were put in comparison with the time required 
 for movement by autos of the corresponding mail arriving one 
 week later. 
 
 The result was trikingly unfavorable to the tubes, the time re¬ 
 quired by the tubes being approximately twice that required by 
 
 15 
 
the auto. On Sundays a minimum number of postal clerks is 
 on duty. The demand for rapid transmission of the mail is 
 slight, there being no local deliveries and the requirements as to 
 train connections being such as to permit leisurely handling. It 
 is probable, therefore, that on the occasion of this so-called test 
 the slow rate of speed of the carriers is to be accounted for by 
 the lack of the necessary clerical assistants required to prepare 
 the mail for handling by the carriers. But no statement on this 
 point is made. The inference is therefore invited that the slow 
 rate of movement, and the consequent unfavorable showing was 
 due to the incapacity of the tube, when in fact the entire volume 
 of mail could have been moved in about one-third the time actu¬ 
 ally consumed had the postal clerks promptly prepared it for the 
 carriers. 
 
 The conditions were likewise peculiarly favorable to the quick 
 movement of autos, there being no street congestion whatever 
 by reason of the fact that the test was made on Sunday. Thus, 
 the movement of the tubes was retarded and the movement of the 
 autos was expedited. The report contains no allusion to this dis¬ 
 parity in conditions. 
 
 VI. TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND USEFUL 
 FUNCTIONS OF THE TUBE SERVICE WERE 
 IGNORED BY THE REPORT. 
 
 The report of the committee of post office officials says: 
 
 “The principal advantages of pneumatic tubes for the 
 transportation of mail are: 
 
 “1. A high rate of speed between stations for limited 
 quantities of mail. 
 
 “2. Freedom from surface traffic congestion.” 
 
 16 
 
This is but a partial statement of the advantages and utilities 
 of pneumatic tube movement. It ignores and omits two of the 
 most important and useful functions of the tube service, namely: 
 
 a. Despatch of late mails which would otherwise not catch 
 specific trains. 
 
 b. Expedition of local mail interchange by reason of con¬ 
 tinuity of service and more speedy movement. 
 
 In all large city post offices mails in large volume pour into 
 such offices in a practically continuous stream. It is sorted as 
 fast as received, placed in pouches and at a fixed minute is 
 despatched by auto to connect with specific outgoing trains. 
 After the despatch of the last auto destined for a specific train 
 mail which should go by that train continues to arrive. This late 
 mail is forwarded by the tubes, at the rate of from two thousand 
 to three thousand letters per minute, and the supplemental 
 despatch continues for approximately ten minutes and in some 
 cases a longer time. 
 
 This supplemental service could not under any conditions be 
 performed by autos. It is made possible only by the existence 
 of the tubes; and the service thus performed is of very great 
 value to the business community, inasmuch as it advances the 
 delivery of probably a hundred thousand letters every day by a 
 period varying from a few hours to twenty-four hours or more. 
 Without this supplemental service a great volume of important 
 letter mail would fail to move by the most desirable trains, would 
 therefore miss important connections in all sections of the coun¬ 
 try and be greatly retarded in its movement. 
 
 The extent and value of the service rendered may be illus¬ 
 trated by the case of the Transcontinental Express which leaves 
 the Grand Central Terminal, New York, at 9:30 each evening. 
 This train carries a very heavy mail for all important Western 
 points, particularly those beyond Chicago and on the Pacific 
 Coast. Mail carried by it makes close connections and reaches 
 its destination in the shortest possible time. Mail which misses 
 
 17 
 
this train is subject to a delay of from twelve to twenty-four 
 hours, according to destination. This train also connects with 
 the Pacific steamships, and if mail destined for Asia or Australia 
 fails to connect with the Transcontinental Express, a delay of 
 from two to three weeks in delivery follows. 
 
 The last auto connecting with this train leaves the Hudson 
 Terminal at 8:40 P. M. After departure of the last auto a sup¬ 
 plemental despatch by pneumatic tube continues for ten minutes 
 additional, the last carrier leaving at 8:50. A supplemental 
 despatch for this particular train is likewise made from all the 
 branch post offices between the Hudson Terminal and the Grand 
 Central Terminal. After the last auto has left with mail for the 
 Transcontinental Express from 10,000 to 12,000 letters for West¬ 
 ern points are deposited in the various branch offices and for¬ 
 warded by the tube. 
 
 This supplemental service is of the utmost importance inasmuch 
 as it avoids from twelve to twenty-four hours’ delay in the 
 delivery of from 10,000 to 12,000 letters, nearly all of which 
 comprise banking and business correspondence which it is highly 
 important shall reach its destination at the earliest possible 
 moment. 
 
 This illustration applies to every important mail train leaving 
 the City of New York. The volume of supplemental letter mail 
 thus expedited by the existence of the pneumatic tube equals or 
 exceeds the entire daily mail of cities of the size of Chattanooga, 
 Tennessee. 
 
 The abolition of the pneumatic tube would deprive the several 
 large cities of the great benefit of this supplemental movement, 
 which function could not be performed by automobiles under any 
 conditions. 
 
 Postmaster Morgan has testified that under conditions of snow 
 and ice it is necessary to close the mails to be despatched by 
 autos about one-half hour earlier than usual. All the mail reach¬ 
 ing the Post office during this half-hour, if dependent upon autos, 
 would miss the next following train, and be delayed often many 
 hours. It is all despatched by the tubes and is thus enabled to 
 
 18 
 
make the closest and most desirable train connection. The tubes, 
 therefore, in the winter season prevent delay to a very large part 
 of all letter mail and render a highly important service which 
 autos are incapable of rendering. 
 
 Had it not been for the facilities afforded by the tubes during 
 the past winter a very large portion of the outgoing mails would 
 have failed of their proper train connections and been subjected 
 to delays in reaching their destinations ranging from several 
 hours to a day or more. 
 
 Another function of prime importance performed by the tubes, 
 and possible only by their use, is the expediting of local mail 
 deliveries. More than 1,000,000 letters are deposited in the New 
 York Post Office every day for local delivery. A very large pro¬ 
 portion of these reach their destination within two to four hours’ 
 time. By reason of the speedy movement afforded by the pneu¬ 
 matic tube a letter may be despatched to an address twelve or 
 fifteen miles distant and the sender may receive a reply the same 
 day. The movement of the entire volume of local mail is greatly 
 expedited in every city having a pneumatic tube. This expedition 
 of local mail is an extraordinary and greatly appreciated public 
 convenience and to abolish the conditions which make it possible 
 would certainly be the cause of great discontent and public in¬ 
 dignation. 
 
 The part played by the pneumatic tube in local service may be 
 illustrated by the movement of local mails between widely sepa¬ 
 rated branch post offices in New York. A letter deposited in 
 the most northerly postal station served by the tube in Manhattan, 
 addressed to the most southerly station, will be immediately 
 despatched by the continuous service of the tube and received at 
 the southerly station in 46 minutes, and within a few minutes 
 thereafter will be delivered by carrier to the addressee. If sent 
 by auto it would require 2 hours and 31 minutes’ transmission 
 time, and in addition might lie in the Harlem Post Office from 
 one to two hours awaiting the despatch of an auto. The inter¬ 
 vals between the movements of autos, plus the time required in 
 transmission, would aggregate approximately four hours or more, 
 
 19 
 
so that letters mailed at noon or later would reach their destina¬ 
 tion too late for delivery the same day. 
 
 In the case of letters mailed in Harlem and destined for 
 Brooklyn, the time required for auto delivery would be materially 
 greater, so that very few letters in such case would reach their 
 destination on the day of mailing. Thus, in the case of New 
 York, a population of 5,600,000 people has its local mail, aggre¬ 
 gating over 1,000,000 letters every day, expedited by the use of 
 pneumatic tubes from two to four hours or more, whereby the 
 handling of local letters has become exceedingly efficient. 
 
 The pneumatic tube is the utility which alone makes this possi¬ 
 ble. 
 
 No allusion to these highly important functions of the pneu¬ 
 matic tube is made by the report of the committee of postal 
 employees. 
 
 VII. THE BENEFITS OF PNEUMATIC TUBES ARE NOT 
 RESTRICTED TO THE CITIES IN WHICH THEY 
 ARE LOCATED, BUT ACCRUE TO THE ENTIRE 
 COUNTRY. 
 
 By far the greater part of the entire volume of mails originates 
 in, or is directed to, the great cities. The celerity of mail move¬ 
 ment throughout the United States is in large degree dependent 
 upon the celerity with which the mails are handled in those cities. 
 The conditions of modern business are such that rapid movement 
 of mails is of the first importance to the merchants and business 
 men of every locality, however remote. 
 
 An immense volume of daily business transactions is dependent 
 upon and regulated by the daily mail movement, and a delay in 
 mails or their slow movement tends greatly to retard those trans¬ 
 actions. So pressing is the need for speedy communication that 
 the volume of telegraph transactions between country merchants 
 
 20 
 
and city centers has in recent years grown enormously and is 
 constantly increasing. It is, therefore, necessary that business 
 letters despatched from all sections of the country shall reach 
 their destination in the shortest possible time, and that the reply 
 necessary to complete such transactions shall likewise be received 
 at the earliest possible moment. 
 
 Slow handling of the mails in cities like New York, Chicago 
 and Boston, therefore, not only inconveniences but interferes 
 with the necessary business operations of the entire circle of cus¬ 
 tomers of those cities, and every one of those customers is ben¬ 
 efited by the use of pneumatic tubes in the centers where mail 
 congestion is greatest, and where slowness of mail movement 
 entails ultimate delay of possibly many hours. 
 
 The abolition or curtailment of the tube service in any of the 
 great cities, therefore, would materially decrease the expedition 
 of correspondence between the country districts and the cities, 
 and impose great inconvenience upon every section of the country. 
 
 The same reasons apply with added force to the mail move¬ 
 ment between the great cities. The business transactions between 
 these cities are of enormous extent and of a nature which require 
 the utmost possible expedition. To abolish or curtail the tube 
 service in any of the cities where it now exists not only affects 
 the people of a particular city, but affects the business men of all 
 the cities, by lengthening the time required for the interchange 
 of correspondence. It is for that reason that the City of New 
 York contends earnestly for the retention of the existing tubes 
 in other cities, for their removal will not only inconvenience the 
 people of Boston, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Chicago, but will 
 interfere with the prompt transactions of business between the 
 merchants of New York and the merchants of those cities. 
 
 New York further objects to the specific recommendations 
 made by the Postmaster General with reference to the tube service 
 in this city. The entire system as it now exists is essential prop¬ 
 erly to meet the local needs of this community. The proposal of 
 the Postmaster General makes possible, and even probable, the 
 discontinuance of that part of the system north of 42nd Street. 
 
 21 
 
The section north of 42nd Street not only contains a great 
 number of the most important hotels, clubs, etc., but is also 
 thickly interspersed with important business establishments, the 
 number of which is increasing with great rapidity. The tubes 
 in that section serve a population of more than two million 
 people and provide the sole means whereby local letters can 
 promptly be interchanged with other sections of the city. 
 
 We strenuously object to any contingent provisions in the 
 advertisement for contracts which shall permit the Postmaster 
 General to discontinue the tube service in that section. 
 
 This phase of the question was considered by the Pneumatic 
 Tube Postal Commission, appointed by Congress in 1912. Sen¬ 
 ator Hoke Smith was Chairman of that Commission, which 
 reported on October 24, 1914, as to the expediency of discon¬ 
 tinuing any part of the existing system. The Smith Commission 
 said: 
 
 “In most of these cases, however, it is found that such 
 sections are part of a general system of tubes, and that it 
 would be inadvisable to eliminate these parts and thereby 
 impair the usefulness of the zvhole system 
 
 The proviso that the Postmaster General may cancel the con¬ 
 tracts on six months’ notice is highly objectionable. Such a pro¬ 
 vision in the contract would cripple the company subject thereto, 
 as it would make it impossible for it to provide funds to make 
 the necessary changes and extensions required for the efficiency 
 of the service. 
 
 This Association, therefore, contends that as to the City of 
 New York, the present system should be retained in its entirety 
 under a single contract covering the period of ten years, without 
 any provision for arbitrary cancellation. 
 
 VIII. SUMMARY. 
 
 The soundness of the Postmaster General’s recommendations 
 rests wholly upon the soundness of so-called tests of the relative 
 
 22 
 
speed and utility of autos and tubes. His proposition is that 
 autos equal tubes in efficiency and will move the mails with 
 equal celerity at a lesser cost. He assumes that this is proved 
 by the so-called speed tests. 
 
 To sustain that proposition would require that the regular 
 movement of autos equal that developed by the tests. We have 
 shown the character of these tests,—that they afford no indica¬ 
 tion of the speed practicable under service conditions, and that 
 any conclusions based thereon are therefore misleading. It has 
 been shown that auto movement is subject to serious obstruction 
 from traffic congestion, speed laws, snow and ice, and stops 
 required at intermediate stations; and that for these reasons the 
 actual service speed is very much less than that assumed, as the 
 result of the so-called tests, to be practicable. 
 
 It has been shown that the so-called tests ignored all of these 
 factors of obstruction, and that the results were presented as 
 though they were typical and fairly representative of the con¬ 
 ditions to be met. 
 
 Such is not the fact. It is proved by the experience of every 
 important post-office in the country that the actual service rate 
 of speed of autos is not more than one-third that presented by 
 the report of the committee of postoffice employees and accepted 
 by the Postmaster General. We have shown that the most im¬ 
 portant functions of the pneumatic tubes and their most im¬ 
 portant advantages were ignored or minimized by the committee. 
 While the auto mail service in this city was disorganized and 
 inefficient for many days in succession during last Winter, the 
 pneumatic tube service continued without interruption, and by 
 reason of its existence the entire volume of outgoing letter mails 
 originating in this city was despatched without delay. On those 
 occasions the mail service would have been absolutely crippled 
 had it not been for the existence of the tubes. 
 
 Every day the tube service accomplishes the prompt despatch 
 of probably 100,000 letters that, without such service, would be 
 subjected to several hours, and on some occasions, days, of 
 delay. The tubes expedite the delivery of local letters aggre- 
 
 23 
 
gating 1,000,000 daily by from two to four hours at certain 
 periods of the day, and by twelve to fifteen hours at other 
 times. The service rendered by the tubes is of a kind wholly 
 impossible to autos under any conditions. They serve a genuine 
 and important public need. Their abolition or their restriction 
 would greatly reduce the present celerity of mail service and 
 would deprive the public of a most useful facility. 
 
 In its report, Senator Hoke Smith's Pneumatic Tube Postal 
 Commission said: 
 
 “The pneumatic tube service for the transmission of mails 
 in the cities in which such service is now installed is a val¬ 
 uable adjunct to the mail transportation service for handling 
 first-class, registered and special delivery mails, not fur¬ 
 nished by other means of transportation, and is justified by 
 the advantages of availability, expedition, security and re¬ 
 liability. Its considerable withdrawal or discontinuance 
 would be regarded as an inadvisable curtailment of facilities” 
 
 For all these reasons, this Association contends that the tube 
 service should be retained without reduction in each of the 
 cities where it now exists, and that it should be extended as 
 rapidly as possible to other important centers of mail traffic. 
 
 The Merchants’ Association of New York. 
 
 Wm. Fellowes Morgan, President. 
 
 Wm. Fellowes Morgan, 
 William C. Breed, 
 William Hamlin Childs, 
 William A. Marble, 
 Waldo FI. Marshall, 
 Lewis E. Pierson, 
 
 Henry R. Towne, 
 
 Executive Committee. 
 
 24 
 
II. FROM THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW 
 YORK TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 
 OF REPRESENTATIVES, PROTESTING 
 AGAINST ADDITIONAL MAIL TRUCKS IN 
 THE CITY’S STREETS. 
 
 City of New York 
 Office of the Mayor 
 
 Hon. Champ Clark, 
 
 Speaker, House of Representatives, 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 December 29, 1916. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Permit me to direct your particular attention to the Bill now 
 before the House of Representatives which, if enacted, will 
 deprive the City of New York of a large part of its pneumatic 
 tube service for the transmission of mails, requiring in place 
 thereof the introduction of auto vehicles driven through the city 
 streets. I wish to impress upon you the incalculable harm that 
 must inevitably be worked by such a measure in making more 
 acute and dangerous the traffic conditions, which already present 
 a problem of alarming proportions. 
 
 The present tube system in this city covers all that part of the 
 Borough of Manhattan lying south of 125th Street; a connection 
 between the Manhattan and Brooklyn General Post Offices; an 
 extension from the Brooklyn General Post Office to the Long 
 Island Railroad Station. 
 
 The Bill (its legislative number I do not have at hand) had, I 
 believe, as its sponsor the Postmaster General, and, having 
 already been favorably reported out of committee, will shortly 
 come before the House for consideration. It calls for the re¬ 
 newal of the tube service only as to that part of the system 
 which is located south of 42nd Street and for the line connecting 
 the two General Post Offices—thus leaving unprovided for that 
 portion north of 42nd Street in the Borough of Manhattan, and the 
 present extension from the Brooklyn General Post Office to the 
 
 25 
 
Long Island Railroad Station, at the corner of Flatbush and 
 Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn. It is contended by the advocates 
 of the Bill that the continuance of the complete tube service in 
 its present form is not warranted by the cost, and the Postmaster 
 General has endorsed that clause in the report of a committee 
 of Post Office employees which says: 
 
 u * * * * We are recommending that a separate ad¬ 
 
 vertisement be issued for the service north of Grand Cen¬ 
 tral and Times Square Stations, but that the contract be not 
 renewed unless a very material reduction in cost is secured.” 
 
 It is further proposed that if contracts are entered into they 
 shall be for the term of ten years, but subject to cancellation by 
 the Postmaster General on six months’ notice. 
 
 The many reasons against the proposed abridgement of the 
 present system will be presented to Congrss convincingly and in 
 detail by the leading commercial organizations of the city. I 
 shall not, therefore, rehearse the argumnts dealing with the sub-, 
 ject from a business standpoint which will be presented by 
 others—arguments in favor of efficiency and labor-saving devices 
 with which I am in hearty accord. But I do wish to dwell par¬ 
 ticularly upon one phase of the subject which seems to me to 
 overshadow all others, vitally affecting, as it does, every inhabi¬ 
 tant of this city; namely, the shortsightedness and folly of doing 
 anything which must inevitably add to the great congestion of 
 street traffic and the dangers resulting therefrom. 
 
 Impressed though the casual observer must be by the sight of 
 automobile traffic through the chief thoroughfares of this city, 
 only those who have given the subject some study have any idea 
 of the size of the problem now confronting the city government. 
 It is a problem of providing protection to human life which is 
 daily endangered by the great current of vehicles passing 
 through our streets. 
 
 The extent of this danger is forcibly illustrated by the fatalities 
 and accidents which are of daily and hourly occurrence. Last 
 year 659 people were killed and 23,000 injured in street acci¬ 
 dents, 281 of those killed being children. Thus, one person was 
 killed every fourteen hours and one injured every twenty-three 
 minutes of each day in the year. Of those killed, 105 met their 
 death from motor trucks. Despite the fact that motor trucks 
 number less than two and one-half per cent, of the total vehicles, 
 
 . they were chargeable with more than sixteen per cent, of the 
 
 26 
 
fatalities, a striking instance of the dangerous character of that 
 class of vehicles, among which are included mail trucks. 
 
 This annual toll of human life in our city streets has excited 
 public indignation and alarm. Constant and urgent appeals are 
 made for measures of protection. Stringent traffic rules have 
 been adopted and 650 policemen have been assigned exclusively 
 to the regulation of traffic. Every possible effort is put forth 
 to restrict the speed of vehicles in the street, and to secure such 
 regularity of movement as shall permit an even and orderly flow 
 of traffic. By reason, however, of the enormous number of 
 vehicles and the great population which daily use our streets, the 
 situation is hard to cope with, and is becoming increasingly dif¬ 
 ficult. 
 
 The resident population of the City of New York is now about 
 5,600,000. Careful estimates show that this is increased daily 
 by a floating population of over one million, making the aggre¬ 
 gate of over six and one-half million people who use our streets 
 daily. The number of vehicles in the city is: 
 
 Pleasure automobiles. 116,065 
 
 Commercial automobiles. 21,330 
 
 Dealers’ automobiles . 2,974 
 
 Total automobiles. 140,369 
 
 Horse-drawn vehicles . 73,727 
 
 Grand total . 214,096 
 
 To this must be added many thousand vehicles, in large part 
 automobiles, which daily enter the city from adjacent territory. 
 The increase in the number of automobiles registered in this city 
 in the year 1916 was 38,000. More than one-half of the popu¬ 
 lation concentrates daily on the island of Manhattan, and passes 
 along its streets. There is a corresponding concentration of 
 vehicles, and the regulation of this enormous mass of traffic is 
 difficult in the extreme. 
 
 So much for the general situation. Let me direct your special 
 attention to conditions in those portions of the city where the 
 present pneumatic tube service is endangered by the pending 
 Bill, viz: (1) that covered by the portion of the tube system 
 north of 42nd Street in the Borough of Manhattan, and (2) 
 the area of the Borough of Brooklyn, along the line of the exten- 
 
 27 
 
sion from the General Post Office of that Borough to the Long 
 Island Railroad Station at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. 
 
 The north and south main arteries of vehicular traffic in Man¬ 
 hattan are at present taxed to capacity. Forty-second Street 
 marks approximately the crest of the traffic wave. The conges¬ 
 tion from Forty-second to Fifty-ninth Street is about the same 
 as for the corresponding distance below Forty-second Street. 
 From Fifty-ninth Street north in the Borough of Manhattan the 
 main arteries for vehicular traffic are reduced by the obstruction 
 of Central Park, which lies between Fifth and Eighth Avenues 
 and extends from Fifty-ninth Street to One Hundred and Tenth 
 Street, a distance of two and one-half miles. Even above Central 
 Park in the Borough of Manhattan the congestion of traffic is 
 great. 
 
 A traffic tabulation at Fifty-ninth Street, Broadway and 
 Columbus Circle showed that there are more vehicles passing 
 this location than at any other point in the Greater City. During 
 the ten hours from 8:30 A. M. to 6:30 P. M., 39,200 vehicles 
 and 81,990 pedestrians passed this street intersection. 
 
 Following is a tabulation of some of the congested points in 
 Manhattan from Fifty-ninth Street north: 
 
 10-hour period from 8:30 a. m. to 6:30 P. M. 
 
 Location Vehicles Pedestrians 
 
 59th Street and 2nd Avenue. 9,260 50,040 
 
 86th Street and Central Park West. 8,310. . . . 12,742 
 
 86th Street and Broadway .13,042 23,710 
 
 96th Street and Broadway .10,083 29,849 
 
 110th Street and 8th Avenue .11,664 12,113 
 
 116th Street and 5th Avenue . 6,625 22,568 
 
 116th Street, 7th and St. Nicholas Avenues. .11,207 20,386 
 
 125th Street and 1st Avenue .10,343 10,427 
 
 125th Street and 3rd Avenue.10,348 23,659 
 
 125th Street and 7th Avenue .10,565 40,119 
 
 145th Street and Lenox Avenue . 6,623 14,538 
 
 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. 4,521 20,105 
 
 Manhattan Street and Broadway. 8,534 28,942 
 
 Similar congestion of traffic exists in the business area ot 
 Brooklyn, lying between the General Post Office and the Long 
 Island Station, upon the route proposed to be covered by mail 
 vehicles. A traffic tabulation made at some of the street inter¬ 
 sections in this vicinity showed the following results: 
 
 28 
 
10-HOUR PERIOD FROM 8:30 A. M. TO 6:30 P. M. 
 
 Location Vehicles Pedestrians 
 
 Court and Livingston Streets. 5,418 18,125 
 
 Fulton, Adams & Willoughby Streets. 6,018 35,504 
 
 Fulton Street opposite Court Square. 5,422 30,800 
 
 Fulton and Smith Streets . 5,415 38,677 
 
 Fulton and Bond Streets. 6,550 46,200 
 
 Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue. 8,017 30,700 
 
 Flatbush Avenue and Lafayette Street. 6,264 26,590 
 
 Flatbush Avenue and Fourth .13,075 38,155 
 
 Atlantic and Fourth Avenues. 7,006 18,940 
 
 Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. 6,073 19,315 
 
 The extent and density of the traffic as a whole is shown by 
 the aggregate figures resulting from the tabulation referred to. 
 It was found that of the 464 crossings where police officers are 
 stationed to regulate traffic, an aggregate of about 3,407,069 
 vehicles and 15,545,745 pedestrians crossed at these intersections 
 within ten hours. 
 
 The auto trucks used for carrying United States mails, although 
 but 243 in number at the present time, are the most difficult and 
 obstructive factor in the entire problem. Having right of way 
 over other vehicles, they constantly disrupt and interfere with 
 the regularity of movement which is the essence of successful 
 traffic regulation. They turn out to either side as occasion may 
 permit, passing around and in front of other vehicles, thereby 
 impeding or stopping the movement of the latter. They force 
 other vehicles to pull up short and turn out of the way. They 
 proceed against the current of traffic in one-way streets, and 
 often, if not habitually, exceed the speed limit. 
 
 While nominally subject to the local laws, the knowledge that 
 these mail trucks are in the service of the United States works 
 an unconscious but none the less real influence upon the traffic 
 officers, who are consequently reluctant to interfere with the 
 apparent authority of the United States. 
 
 In short, it may be safely said that each mail truck on the 
 streets of New York, in its aspect as an ever present menace to 
 life, limb and property, is equivalent to at least ten ordinary 
 commercial vehicles. The adding of one avoidable mail truck 
 to traffic conditions in New York is the creation of an unwar¬ 
 rantable additional hazard to life and limb. 
 
 The people of this city are confronted by conditions of the 
 
 29 
 
utmost danger—conditions which are daily exacting a toll of 
 human life and suffering. City officials are overburdened with 
 the enormous and complex problem of the amelioration of these 
 conditions. The proposal of the Postmaster General, as con¬ 
 tained in this Bill, is sure to aggravate the situation and add 
 materially to the present danger. 
 
 On behalf of the City of New York, I protest against the 
 enactment of a measure which adopts a policy of materialism 
 and economy where the safety of men, women and children is 
 concerned—which, in spite of the forewarnings of those who 
 must suffer the consequences, openly weighs the saving of dollars 
 and cents against the greatly increased danger to human life. 
 
 I therefore urge upon you that the pneumatic tube service as 
 it now exists in this city be continued and that the Bill now pend¬ 
 ing before Congress be amended to accomplish this result. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 John Purroy Mitchel, 
 
 Mayor. 
 
 30