Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-16
THE FEDERAL CAPITAL.
A SELF-THOUGHT MODEL OF A
POSTMASTER GENERAL.

A Persistent Reformer Snubbed-The
End of Fraud-Exit the National
Board of Misunderstanding Post
masters Salaries-The Granite Ring
Waking UO Funny Man.
WASHINGTON, March 10. - Horatio
King way back in the misty past was at
one time Postmaster General of the United
States. 1t struck in. He has never got
over it. Since then he has spent his time
in running the Post Office Department
through the medium of the newspapers.
1t is seldom that you pick up Washing
ton newspaper which does not contain
plan of reform or reorganization of our
postal system by H0ratiO King.
AS may be imagined, Mr..
King Is not a very popular man
around the Post Office Department. 1
have even heard him voted bore there;
and have also heard the announcement of
unanimous vote to that effect in many
other places. Mr.. King took it into his
head at the commencement of the last ses-
sion that official postage stamps were a
nuisance-eyen fraud. So he wrote
much and lobbied much to have them
abolished. The House did strike out the
provision for them. The Senate Commit
tee on Appropriations put them back. The
Senate struck them out again. Mr.. King
was just too much elated to hold him.
self. He went TO the Post Office
his foes. otherwise the officials there. He
did not triumph very far; he was shown
the bill as it finally passed. There was
provision in it for official postage stamps.
1t had been put there when the bill was in
the conference committee. Not as much
as usual has been heard from Mr.. King
since this news was communicated TO him.
Mr.. King is the man who wrote some time
ago to the Commissioner of Pensions, and
received reply directed to " Mr.. HOratiO
King" King wrote back in protest. He
said that he had once been Postmaster
General, and certainly thought he was en-
titled to be addressed as - Honorable"
Ball.
Not tear will be shed, think. There
will be no display of mourning | opine.
The heavens will not be hung in black |
venture. 1t goes out of existence on the
first day of July next. 1t would have
been better had it never been born. re-
fer to the sO-called National Board of
Health. 1t got no appropriation, not even
the little one that was given it by the first
session of the Forty-seventh Congress. 1t
will make feeble kick, but 90 it must
1t was one of the biggest frauds
that was ever foisted upon the country. 1t
kept large lot of officers and employees
under big pay; it interfered with the State
health authorities; it did no good and
spent millions. One of its neatest tricks
was the payment Of large sums of money
to the members of the board for articles
on this or that subject. 1t was job when
it was enacted into existence, and has
been true to its origin.
A law passed at the last session directs
a Encouragement of the compensation to
be granted to Postmasters. The salaries
of the Postmasters in Boston, New York,
Chicago, Cincinnati, st. Louis,
and Baltimore will be greatly raised by
the law. The fourth class Postmasters-
those who are not paid salaries but COM
missions on the amount of stamps can
celled at their Offices-will also get in
creased compensation. This is good
thing for the small POstmasters. Their
compensation will be very considerably
increased. AS there are post offices where
the pay of the POstmasters does
not foot up more than $50 year, the tax
payer cannot growl if the incumbent OF
that office should get $75 or 500 year.
1t has been held for many years by Post
masters that in the adjustment of salaries
under the act of 1864 the Post Office De-
partment put them at too low a figure.
Postmasters, therefore, prepared claims
iOl iuCItdStt compensation eAIcIlu-
ing back to 1864. These claims number
among the thousands. Congress at its last
session recognized them and directed
their payment when adjudicated by the
Post ONCE Department. 1t has been dis
covered that another mistake in hurried
legislation was made. No money for the
payment of these claims was appropriated.
The department will, however, adiudicate
Them, and Congress will doubtless pay
them in time.
A city paper IN announcing some two
or three days after it became a matter of
news that the Secretary of the Treasury
was investigating charges that
a granite ring existed in this
country, said that the man most active in
pushing those charges was named j. G.
Mills. 1t was in reality A. G. Mills; but
there is j. G. Mills in the city who has
nothing at all to do with the matter. He
has little fun in him, however. He has
written letter to Supervising Architect
Hill, one of those accused of being in the
ring. He says: II am reformer and
always was. / am sorry that my scheme
was given away so soon. l am willing,
like all reformers, to do the right thing.
/ will haul off for $500, ,000-nothing less.
If the other Mills should want to be bought
off also l wish it to be distinctly under
stood that he is to get no share of my $780,
900. have no connection whatever with
the shop over the way" PoToMAC.