The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1877-06-22
Mr.. POSTMASTER KEY.

A special agent of the Post-office Depart
ment recently appointed from Southern
State by Postmaster General Key, having
been assigned to duty which he finds quite
srduous and sometimes disagreeaple, has
written letter to the Department, of which
he complains of the work to which he has
been assigned, and says that when appoint
cd he supposed his duties wonld be limi-
ted to his own State where he could "be
most useful to the administration, and aid
his party friends in building up an admins
tration party" He also in a letter to the
chief special agent expressed his earnest de.
sire that the matter should be brought to
the personal attention of the Postmaster
General, believing that he would sustain
this view of the case. Judge Key replied in
the following emphatic letter, which was
mailed to the special agent;
PosT-oFFIcE DEPARTMENT, WAsHrJG-
TON, ID. c., June Is, lS77.-Mr. l.,
Special Agent. Sir Mr.. Parker
Chief of the Special Agents Of this Depart
ment, has handed me a letter of yours writ
ten to him, dated the 10th inst. You GER
tainly labor under a serious misapprehen-
sion in the beliefthat it was my understand
ing that you were to serve in your State only.
| should not deserve the position | hold
were to make that or similar understand
ing. The Specia Agents of the depreciation
branch of the service are charged with the
important duty of detecting thieves aud ras-
Gals. A stranger is more likely to succeed
in this duty than one who is well known,
hence our agelts must often be sent where
they are unknown, must go, aud be ready to
go anywhere and everywhere, as the exigen-
ces of the service may demand. They must
often leave the highways of travel and go
into the mountains and territories, and along
horseback and stage lines, travelling night
and day, in rain, sunshine and storm, and
arrest and detect offenders. Not unfreGuent.
ly do our agents not sleep one hour in twen-
ty-four.
You are alike mistaken in another mat
ter. You were not appointed to organize
and build up an Administration party in
your State or elsewhere you were appointed
10 do the work of the Post-otIice Depart
ment; you serve your party best by doing
that work, and shall take great pleasure in
removing an agent or reducing the force
when discover that he has time to attend
to party organization and party discipline
We must have no greater force than is nee
essary to do the Post-ofiice work.
| cannot, dare not, | will not give spe-
cal privileges to any agent, If give you
specific territory | must do so for every
other agent | might as well disband the
force as to do this. Every agent must be a
worker. He must not only be ready but will
ling to 90 anywhere, in all sorts of weather,
on horseback or on foot, if need be, to do
whatever work is needed Like soldier,
he must obey orders without complaint, or
objection or criticism.
Truly, d. NJ. KEY,
Postmaster General.
These are very manly words, truly, but
they seem to us somewhat at variance with
the letter of Mr.. Key written some time
since on the subject of appointments to Fed
eral offices in the South. In that letter Mr.
Key took occasion to state that unless the
southerners decided to support the admins
tration, the offices should not be given to
them but to those who would do so. What
wonder, then, that this special agent adopts
this statement as his guide and deems it his
duty to devote himself to building up an
administration party" Mr.. Key first guar
antees offices as rewards for political adhe-
renee and then writes subsequent epistle
contradicting virtually his first.
The difference between the two letters is
easy of explanation was not intended
for publication, the other was. Mr.. Key,
however, might find it profitable to give to
the public yet third letter, reconciling the
difference between those already published.
As the matter looks just now Mr.. Key
stands in the position of a hypocrite and a
fraud.