Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1866-04-19
FAYETTEVILLE, TENN.
Thursday Moraing, April 10, 1856
The Test Oath.

On Friday, the 9Th, the Presi-
dent transmitted TO Congress COM
iaunications from the Secretary of |
the Treasury and the Postmaster
General, of which the following is
a synopsis, suggesting modifica-
lion Of the oath OF office prescribed
by the act approved July, 1862:
The Postmaster General, in his
communication, says: As a means
of restoring the business interests
of the Southern States, and OF aid
ing in the re-establishment of their
constitutional relations with the
Government, it was deemed i'm
portant by the President that the
mails should be introduced and
the post offices be re-opened in
those States as RAPIDLY as possible;
to which end the energies of the
Department were promptly and
have been continuously directed.
Various causes have contributed
to the failure in accomplishing all
that was hoped for; but that re-
sulting from the oath prescribed by
the acts of July I'd, 1862, and
March I'd, 1868, has not been the
least; while it has been the one to
which my attention has been most
frequently called. This, he is in
elined to believe, has not been ow-
ing exclusively to there not being
loyal persons who could take the
oath, but to the limited coinpensa-
ton, most of the offices Offering in
sufficient inducements to persons
to act as postmasters; and to the
unwillingness of many who might
otherwise act, to do so on account
of the inconvenience and compro-
inise of their positions which they
fear would result from their taking
the oath, when the majority. of
their neighbors consisted of those
who had in some form aided the
rebellion. To obviate these diff
culties in the past, recourse has
been had to the appointment of
women as postmistresses, which
has proved to be of doubtful utili-
ty to the service; and necessity
has also compelled the appointment
of very many ignorant persons, in
competent to discharge the duties
of their offices.
AS a remedy for the future, the
Postmaster General suggests a.
modification of the oath by insert
ing the word voluntarily" imme-
diately preceding the word
"sought," SO that the clause would
read, "That | have neither volun-
tarily served nor accepted, nor at
tempted to exercise any function
or office whatever, under any au-I
thority or pretendedsauthority in
opposition to the United States.
This would enlarge the class of
persons who could qualify as post
masters, and be in harmony, it
seems to him, with the general
provisions and purposes of the
oath, and thus facilitate the speedy
re-establishment of the HHstal SER
vice to the common benefit of all |
sections of the country; for it |
must be borne in mind that while !!
the people of the Southern States
are more directly interested in
this matter, other States are also
largely interested.
It may be, he says, interesting
to know that of 1888 mail routes
in operation in disloyal States at
the breaking out Of the rebellion,
the service Of 757 only have
been restored; and that Of $500
postoffices in these States, only
2,042 appointments of postmas-
tiers have been made, of whom
LIT only have qualified for office,
TAT of them being males and 420l
females. OF S65 who have not
qualified, tits believed that quite
all of them have not done SO be-
cause of the oath. T lGts.s
The Postmaster General adds,
in justice to the Department, in
view of the inefficient services as
shown by these facts, that no prop
ositions for the transportation of
mails for fair consideration have
been declined, while postmasters
have been uniformly and prompt
ly appointed upon reliable recon-
mendation. 1es9
The posfrnastafs General ron.