St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-29

spectful considerate and honorable. He repre-
sents the views of the postoffice department,
is charged with high responsibilities, and is
often governed by instructions of which you
are ignorant. The postmaster is appointed by
the president of the United States and is re-
sponsible to the postmaster general for his
administration of the Office. He cannot evade
that responsibility by devolEing portion of
1t upon you. He must execute the laws and
the rules Of the service as they,are prescribed
to him, and where discretion is permitted him
it must be exercised carefully Fand conscien-
uously on his own sense of responsibility. The
clerks and carriers should at all times feel
free to make suggestions to the postmaster
either in their own interest or for the benefit
Of the service. He should at all times feel
free to consult them to- any matters in
volving their interests. But the final decision
rests with him, and he is responsible to his
superior officers for that decision It is one of
the inherent rights of American citizenship to
hold and express opinions on all questions.
You do not surrender this right by becoming
postal employees. If the postmaster commits a
fragrant wrong it is your right and your duty
to report his action to the higher authorities
and have it corrected. In the ordinary dis
charge of his duties you cannot expect that
he will at all times do the precise thing which
you would wish him to do. But if he is worthy
of holding the place he fills he will have some
good reason for doing as he has done, and he
would be both faithless and cowardly to sur
render his convictions and be governed by
the wishes or opinions of others contrary
thereto. If you have postmaster worthy Of
the position, give him your confidence; give
him credit for purity of motive and honesty
of Judgment, and Loyalty support him in the
execution OF his arduous task. His tenure of
Office is brief and yours is permanent. He
fulflls an important position for The time being
but you and your fellow employees, who are
under the protection of the civil Service law
do the important work Of the system. Your
record accumUlates from year to year, good or
bad, and part of that record / trust will al
ways be that your relations with my suctess-
ors in Office are as pleasant as they have been
with me. sias----s
Your relations to the postoffice department
at Washington are more intimate than those
of any other class of employees. Your appoint
ments are made there; your records are kept
there; your suspensions and other punish
ments all reported there, and your dis
missal from the service can only be accom-
plished there. 1t is thus of the utmost i'm.
portance that you familariZe yourselves
from the beginning with the rules and re-
division keeps close watch over you. It's
rules for. the government of force num-
| than 600 towns and cities are necessarily
precise rigid and inexorable-they are not
onorous, they are not unjust. That they can
be readily complied with is best evidenced
by the fact that they are complied with every
day and hour of your lives You will not
be excused for any dereliction On the plea Of
| ignorance. It is your duty to know the rules
| and II you know them and obey them your
relations with the department will be en-
tirely satisfactory. There is an old adage:
Blessed Is the country whose annals are
/
BLESSED is the mail carrier who Is never
heard of for his record is Esecure."
One feature of your relations to the post
office department. which WIFI ahenceforth be
of increasing Importance, iS@its inspection of
your work AS your uniform involves a spe-
cial guaranty Of good morals, so your eight
! hour day involves the corelary of a recip-
rocal obligation. No power can compel you
to work more than eight hours a day-I am
even sternly prohibited from allowing you
to do it, SO solicitous is the government for
your welfare-or the integrity of it's overtime
funds. On the other hand, you owe every day
a full eight hours honest. fair faithful act
i've work. You stipulate for this; you agree
to give It; you are paid for it. know that
nearly or quite all of you Intend to give it,
are willing to give it, and do give it. The
department has right to know that you give
it, and will find some way to ascertain
whether you give it or not.% Postmasters are
| inspected frequently, without notice, to see
whether the government funds are on hand.
The army the navy and al branches of the
public service are inspected rigidly at short
intervals You cannot escape scrutiny, and
you will not ask to. The method put in
vogue by the department last summer was,
to say the least, startling in its novelty and
very severe as test. That the letter carriers
of the country in general, and those in st.
Paul in particular, stood this test so well is
a triumphant vindication of their character
and efficiency. That the results Of the es-
pionage have been a marked improvement in
the service, one can deny. Whether it is
the best system of inspection or. even a
proper one at all, is question for congress
and the department to settle. If that system