Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1815-12-21

pable om ssion in me. The Post Office law
certainly directs that pcrs Il employed in
the Post Office. before he enters upon It's
duties. shall be duy sworn, and il prohibits
any other than n qualified person to exam
inc or deliver letters. Bui the same law,
contemplating the possib li,v, my the hrob
ability that in the hurry of business IN di
rection might be overlook cd. makes per
son who has not taken the authorised oaths
equally responsible W Ill one who has. The
oath as in other cases is suhh7seI 20 be AN
additional security to the public ; but GER
tain'y not the only or principal ono. 1t
that oath has not been in every case admin
'stered, It has been without my consent and
contrary TO my directions ; and should Z be
thought that it was my duty to see every
Depnty's Deputy" carried before a ma
gistrate and duly sworn, and that even in
matt T OF this nature, could not trust to-
responsible assistant, it might yet happen
that Inadvertently this duty has been omit
ted. Suppose then the facts to have been
that young man did remain in the office
for sofne one or two months, who without
the knowledge If the Post Master, but
through his or his assistants f,rg .tfulnesS,
had not taken the prescribed oaths, in ce,,-
sequs, ce however OF VIII Gin the pubic had
sustained no jury" would any oae but the
most captions or maleyoicnt assailant, dis
tort these facts into serious charge
Mig It MT the same Thing happen. ard does
1t not / equcnly happen, not mercy III the
Post-Office department, bat in every ether
of the Government where oaths arc direc-
ted TO be taken1 Could any vigilance of
the Post-Master altogether avoid 1T ? Un-
less he was at all times present in the 9 ttice
and SUBJECT to none of the intir,nities ofhu
man nature, it could not Tnen rs to a per-
81. !
letters-By whom was this permission Civ
enf To whom At what time? In one
Instance or in more than che? Under
what circumstances And what evil or
Inconvenience followed Ali these are ev-
identity material qu stions to my guilt or
innoccn e and to the imp ortance of the
chargc-how truly idiCulous, for example,
would 1t turn out to be, if some clerk who
for an Instant WIS obliged to be absent,
should thought ,ssy have asked friend to
deliver the letters for him ?
These three last charges involve cues
ton upon whic h the Editor, in his intro
ductory remarks, Chuses TO bestow some
attenion.--My Off e is called sinecure,
when al its rcspon sbility rests and all its
imp rtant functions are dir. cted and gov
erned by me, because | think proper to
| employ deputies to perform its manual o.
:
very few Offices not snecures in the United
States and the Editor instead of pointing
his darts exclusively at me, might have
found abund mt as we'll rs nnblei game,
every where around hin--Is there no
Marshall, or Collector. or Clerk, or Com
missioner of the Land-Oaice in the II. s.
who performs his Suti-s to the public in
the same way, an is it at all material to
the public if they are we'll performed and
! it for every malfeasance the officer alone
IS responsible Suppose the government
were to adopt the Editors id. of sine
cures, and refused 70 appoint any man to
Office who could not and did not assist in All
| It's drudgery What would be the conse-
| quence They would exclude the Grey
| headed Patriot, the infirm Veteran--the
man who had in his country's service pass
ed the better part of life and lost his limbs
or his health, and confine their choice to
the young. the robust. the inexperienced
| and the untried.-Unti the Editor can
| prove that this change in their policy is
! desirable. that persons of the first descrip-
ton ought not to be rewarded with public
Office, and that those Of the latter are ex-
| clus'vely eutittrd to them, he will convince
no one that my Office is sinecure because
| am not always or generally present at
the opening or closing Of the mails.-It
! SHOULD ne feCOllecteu that now all the
most important mails are opened and closed
| in the night, and some 1t a very late hour
did the government expect when l was
| appointed to oaire, that at my time of life
l could perform this duty in person ought
| the public to expect it assuredly not
! All that either caa require is, that / shall
obtain competent assistants and allow
| them fair salary---that shall superin-
| tend their conduct and take care that the
| United States receive no injury--that /
| shall redress grievances when they come
to my knowledge, and that shall be res
| ponsible for the monies received, and duly
account for them all this, have endea
voured to do.
The merchants Of New-Haven, in the
| year 1901, to the number of eighty. and
certified TO be owners of more than seven
eighths of the Navigation of the Port, sent
on remonstrance to Mr. Jefferson, on the
! appointment of Samuel Bishop, Esq. Col
lector of the Revenue of that Port
In this remonstrance they charged him
with being nearly 70 years old"- with
the infrmites of age" and an alarming
| loss of eye-sight, so that he could with
| difficulty write his name"-that he was
not acquainted with the most simple forms
| OF accounting short, he is represent
cd as man totally unqualified and unfit for
| the Office.
o. the 10Th July, 1901, Mr.. Jefferson
| answers this remonstrance and states that
| MIR. Bishop had been, and stu was very
| esfin1ahlp rnqu--tiot az 10 his 90 being IT