Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-04
THE CITY POST OFFICE.
What the Postmaster General Says
About the Building.

master Generals report referring to the city
post Office: The Washington city post Office has
long been a reproach to the capital and a dis
grace to the country. 1t surely will not be
tolerated much longer. l have to report still
further evidence of its inadequacy. A COM
mission made up Of the first assistant post
master general, the second assistant
postmaster general, the commissioner of
pensions, the supervising architect of the
Treasury and the postmaster of the
city, proceeded, under authority granted by a
recent act OF Congress, to find out whether the
court OF the pension building might be used
for a new local post Office. An additional task
was to see if other and better quarters could
be procured. The commission has reported
elsewhere that the court of the pension build
ing could not be made suitable even by {, Law
lsh outlay OF money and that the business of
the pension office would be seriously i'm
peded. even If the health of the clerks
was not impaired by such a change. Five
other places, mentioned in reply to advertise
nents, were also examined. All were found
TO be poor. The present quarters. wretched ms
they are, must be endured, and the only thing
left to is that the insufficient and
unworthy building on Louisiana avenue should
be leased again at a very high rent, provided
that the lessor will expend a certain sum for
repairs to make it habitable.
OPPOSED TO LEASING A BUILDING.
While the offer is made by private enterprise
to erect a suitable post office building if long
lease can be secured, it is poor economy to en-
ter into such a contract. 1t is better to suffer
the present inconvenience for two or three
years until the government can erect a good
building. Tn suggestion Is made in some
quarters that a separate structure be built for
the city post office, and that a commodious edi-
hce be built else for departmental
use. The true idea, however, is to group all
the postal business and the city post office I'M
der one superintendent in one well-planned
building, to be in every sense a model home
Tor departmental and post office work.
THE CROWDED DEPARTMENT.
The cramped condition of the departmental
force is well stated elsewhere by the chief
clerk. In 1880, when the city post Office had
to be moved away from the departmental
building, there was but one office, the topogra-
piers, maintained outside. Az early as that
Postmaster General Maynard realized the
absolute necessity of some comprehensive i'm
provement in the very near future. Now there
are five branch Offices maintained outside of
the departmental building, and although almost
400 clerks have been moved to these additional
quarters, yet a larger number than ever before
crowd the present building. Compared with
the other departments, the Post Office depart
ment force fare badly in this respect. Each
clerk in the State, War and Navy building has a
third more space to work in than one of ours.
Inc railways OF the Post Office departmental
building are jammed full of files, and made not
only uncomfortable but unhealthy. Two hun
dred and forty thousand quarterly reports are
received annually from the postmasters,
and 100000 weekly statements come in each
year from money order and postal note offices.
Money orders and postal notes alone to the
number of 17,000,0 900 annually have to be
handled. All of these files and records must
necessarily be preserved a certain time. and al
though they are destroyed as promptly as
seems proper they are constantly in the way.
THE QUESTION.
The question is simply whether the govern
ment cares to go on in this way or not. Here
in Washington mails of tine departments and of
the two branches of Congress must be col
lected and dispatched to all parts of the coun-
try. In the present city post office the clerks,
who have doubled in number since 1879. when
the city post office was first leased, simply
cannot perform promptly this important work.
A delay over night is a days delay, and a
delay over night is a common thing.
The government is paying $4,000 annu-
ally for the use of small buildings
scattered about the city-buildings which ac-
cOmmodate these branches of the Post Office
department but poorly, and which, scattered as
they are, add to the cost and impair the eff
cheney of the whole service. Tie entire postal
business carried on in Washington should be
conducted under one roof. This is the credit
able way; it can also be shown that it j is the
economical way; and in view of these facts, 1t
Is respectfully recommended that a commission
be appointed by Congress to select a site and
forthwith purchase q suitable property upon
which to erect a new building in which to con-
sOlidate the bureaus of the department and the
city post Office.