The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-12-26
ELECTION OF rosrHAsrEE,.


At the last session Of Congress Rep
re eaiative Grout, of Vermont, intro
dueed a bill TO provide for the election
of fourth-class Postmasters, bat the bill
was reported to the House adversely
and therefore came TO naught. The
VermoHter, however, doesn't propose
10 be disposed of in this manner, and
has again presented his bill and
announced mis- intention to urge the
matter until his idea has been acted
upon favorablyi and "the postofices
have be removed from politics" The
proposition TO elect postmaste.s is an
old one, but the plan proposed by Grout
Is new. 1t is, that each fcErth-class
postmaster shall keep at his office an
open registry for the use of the people
who get their mail there; when it shall
appear that a majority Of them want a
new postmaster, the Postmaster Gen.
eral is 70 be notified, when that official
shall hereupon appoint commissioner
who doesn't belong to the town where
the postofice in question is located, to
issue a proclamation calling a public
meeting of the residents of
the town where the postofice is.
Al this meeting the voters shall ballot
for a postmaster. The name of the
candidate having the highest number of
votes shall be sen; TO the Postmaster
General, who may appoint him to the
Office; or, if he still refuse, "a second
meeting must be called and anothe-
person chosen. Just how this would re-
move the pOs.ofices from politics
Mr.. Grout Is perhaps the only man who
can explain: the voters would divide on
party lines in this matter quite as GER
tsinly as in the case of any other off,
Ger; bnt why should they not so divide?
Why ought the postoffices to be taken
out OF politics any more than any other
offices7
There are two good arguments
in favor o. the election OF postmasters
by the people. One is, that it
woald reduce the patronage of
the Federal Administration. The
control of millions of votes a,s
II the power to appoint postmssters
and that control has been exc -cised
corrupJly in the past and will be so
exercised while it shall exist Another,
sDd very good argument in favor OF
eiseting pOstmasters, is that OF all the
officers in the government the one in
whom the people should have most
confidence is the postmaster. There
cannot be that degree OF confidence
which should exist SO long as the post
master IS the creature OF the Prssite %
or POsImGster-General, and the people
have no VIII in his selection. Here in
Utah the case is very forcibIy illus
trsted. Perhaps four out of five Of the
postmasters here have been selected
because Of their enmity to four out of
i've OF the people they serve. IN some
the only man in town who is
an open and avowed enemy 10 the peO-
pie IS the postmaster, and il is his en-
NIFTY that gets him the office. 1t Is not
70 be expec ed that the people will have
the confidence in such d man that
should exist, aud it is hardly the thing
% look for such postmaster TO be as
accommodating and worthy in the per
Torrance Of his duties as he would be
were his tenure OF Office dependent on
the retention OF the good viii OF the
people he served.
The postmaster should be elected by
The people the same as any other OFF,
Ger, but the plan Propos ID by Mr..
irout would prove little if any improve
nent on the present system.