The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-07-25
De-
jLTING POSTMASTERS.
souF5
sf Much Trouble to the Govern
ment TreaSnrY.

tne poS ptfice department it must not
De tahf for granted that the postal
serVAo1 the country can never be
iuauo f-sustaining said represent
a'iVe = le department of justice, who
was u rs way west to collect on a
Juugn Pit against a defaulting post
niaste ION the Pacific coast The main
cause the deficit is the number of
posel sters in small places who de-
iauio pa leave worthless bonds against
whicl practically nothing can be col
1ecOeu They are usually for petty
announ and more often than not are
INC 1t of ignorance and bad book
AS soon as a postmaster
s'oPS fndlng in his report it is taken
lor grafted that something is wrong,
ana an inspector is sent to go over the
ooohs' When the accounts are straight
eheo ct the post office authorities get
luogmRt against the postmaster's
ponosl1en. These judgments are then
turneuPver to the department of JUS
Vlce lo1 coIlection. In nine cases out
OF zen 1.-THE amount defaulted is not
worth III this trouble and expense, but
inc lnef have to be prosecuted for the
sake policy, for if postmasters were
alIoWe4to default with IMMUNITY the
postal Service, as far as the smaller
olnces Pre- concerned, would soon grow
demor4ized and all discipline would be
Ho un fnd. These claims are prose
cuteu Tth the utmost formality, and
spectl agent for the department of
1ustleHs sent to the scene of action,
arme3with authority to levy on every
thies zies4aL--T The department clerks
look Upon these trips as soft snaps,
and the fellows who stand in well with
their superors can have as many as
they wish. The soft snap part con-
sists in travelling all over the country
with first-cass accommodations at the
expense of the government.
The postmaster in small town is
generally the owner of store. While
big man politically, he is usually a
mighty small one financially. His
bondsmen are often just as irresponsi
Bile. 1t is looked upon as a mere mat
ter of form to go upon a postnsaster's
bond, and many qualify when they
have no property. When the bonds
prove worthless nothing of course can
be done at the time. In such a case
we transfer the judgments and trust
to luck that the bondsmen will some
day strike it rich and have something
to levy on. The postmaster got behind
in his accounts. There was probably
no fraud intended, but the man had
supreme ignorance of bookkeeping
and got all mixed up. He was under
one thousand dollars bond. the funny
thing being that ten men had qualified
in one hundred dollars each for him.
When went to levy on the judgments
l found that not one of the men was
worth over fifteen dollars in tangible
property. All the postmaster himself
really owned was pair of mules When
these were put up at auction by the
sheriff no one in the place would bid
on them, and the postmaster laughed
at me as he bought them in himself for
trife
But there is often danger as well as
profit and amusement in these trips.
Some months ago was sent to a little
place in Georgia. As soon as l arrived
the news was circulated that United
States marshal had come down after
the postmaster. The man. friends held
"a secretSmeeting. When it was over
they armed themselves with Win
chesters and formed a bodyguard
around the postmaster. Then they all
marched to the hotel where | was
stopping and called me out l tried to
convince them that l was a chance
visitor and had no designs on their
chief citizen, but it would not work.
They gave me till train time to get out
1got. The government never collected
anything on judgments.-N Y. World.
af,u,prry che aclYed &c thew car loolyipp