Evening star., 1902-01-02
Many of the Fourth Glass Resign
Annually.
4 RECOGNIZED TERM OF SERVICE
Bitter Contests for Vacancies
Sometimes Occur.
CAUSE OF RESERVATIONS

'fhe old adage that government en-
ployes may die but they never resign does
not hold good as to postmasters," said a
postal official to a Star man this morning.
1T will prove a matter of singular in
terest anent the question of federal office
holding that one out of eight fourth-class
postmasters resigns annually, despite the
fact that the competition for these places
is as fierce as scramble among school
boys for pennies, and that there are on
average at least five applicants for
each office. In some instances there will
be a dozen and more applicants, each
stepped in the belief that he and he alone
is worthy of and is to receive the plum,
and that the other candidates will only
land as also rams
'In no other department of the govern
ment service are the contests to secure
places so earnest and at times rancor-
ously bitter, and, once secured, the res
ignations SO proportionately high as in
the postal branch
The Bitter With the Sweet.
Nearly every man in a fourth-class
post office community thinks himself es-
pecially qualified to become the postmas-
ter even though he modestly refrains
from entering the ranks of the fighting
aspirants. The fourth-class postmaster
is pointed out with pride to visitors as an
object Of local Importance. His office is
the loadstone which draws his neighbors
to his store, for the bulk of them are
Storekeepers. In fact in many rural COM
munities, the successful candidate VIII
open new store upon the strength of the
post office.
But, alas. Admired with the sweets
of federal office holding and local conse-
quence, there is a tinge of the bitter that
caused S.791 fourth-class postmasters out
of 72,479 to resign last year, an increase
Of 77S over the preceding year. There
were S95 deaths.
THE fact that such a heavy percentage
of this class of postmasters resign, for the
annual average percentage is about the
same forces the conclusion that the Office
is not the snap that the aspirants con-
cluded it would prove. The large increase
over the preceding year is noteworthy,
and one of the contributing causes. no
doubt, Is the present activity in business
and the good times. When the times are
hard the candidates for fourth-class post
offices thick huckleberries on a
mountain side. About every man in the
community is a candidate, and l have
known of innumerable cases where there
have been from fifteen to twenty appli-
cants for an office paying $500 a year. and
all fighting and petitioning the department
and their representative with an intensity
of purpose worthy of better things. In
good times he is a poor specimen of a man
who can't make this sum in most any
community, and the proportion of candi-
dates lessons accordingly.
Department More Exactfng.
Another reason for the designations lies
in the fact that each postmaster must give
a bond Of from $500 to $1,000. Some men
lack the confidence of their neighbors when
it comes to money, and they fail to secure
the office for this reason. Again, in presi-
Dental offices, which become such when the
compensation of the fourth-class postmas-
ter reaches $1,000, new bonds re-
quired as well as new appointments. Uusal-
ly the incumbent is reappointed, but there
are exceptions, and men resign to avoid
removal.
The department is at present run with
greater exactitude and attention as to de-
tails, and postmasters are constantly being
instructed and reprimanded as to their du-
ties from Washington. A higher degree of
ability Is demanded, and postmasters are
not permitted to conduct their offices negli-
gently and devote their attention to any
thing else to the injury Of the service. In
shcrt the good old days when members Of
Congress rewarded their followers with post
offices, the appointees doing little work
as possible, are gone for good. The re-
ward may be made just the same but If
the appointee does not fill the bill, out he
goes.
Thus, the appointees to the smaller Of
fees soon find that the compensation is in
adequate to the amount Of work demanded.
There is but little more bookkeeping and
accounts to be kept in an office paying $500
year than there is in an Office paying
800 a year. so the little fellows throw up
the sponge. Many men who do not like to
work resign to avoid dismissal. A lazy
man prefers to hold down the cracker bar
rel in the store, and let somebody else make
the departmental and carrier reports and
attend to the hundred and trivial du-
ties so he retires, his political aspirations
seriously singed.
The FOur-Year Tenure Satisfactory.
1.-The department last year filled 1900
vacancies, which is about the average num-
Der of postmasters yearly appointed. I'm
der the rule Of the department, even
though there has been a change of admin
istration, fourth-cfass postmasters are now
allowed to serve term Of four years from
date Of appointment unless sooner re-
moved for cause. Formerly, upon a change
of administration there was wholesale
sweep, but now the rule has been too firmly
established to be shaken. 1t works ad-
mirably from the departmental standpoint,
has greatly increased the efficiency of the
service and has generally proved satisfac-
tory Presidential postmasters are COM
missioned for a fixed term of four years,
and the rule places the fourth-class post
master upon substantially the same footing
if he behaves himself and conducts his Of
flee properly.
Most members of Congress keep in an
indexed book the names Of all the fourth
class postmasters in their districts, with
the date of appointment. and they are
che cked up they expire. the members
know that the Postmaster General will not
remove a postmaster except for cause be-
fore his term expires. This saves the men,
bers barrels of trouble.
'In districts which are not represented
by members of the same political complex
ion as the administration the department
selects referees, whose recommendations
are generally final, though subject to re-
view. These referees are defeated candi-
dates for Congress, national committeeman
and men otherwise prominent in the political
and business worlds of their respective To-
calities. Where district is represented by
a member Of the same political faith as the
administration his recommendation usually
carries If the candidate has good record,
unless the administration senator mixes
things up by a counter recommendation,
and then there is trouble for all concerned.
Happily, in the great bulk of cases har-
mony prevails, but where it does not post
office controversies often engender the bit
terest personal and political feeling, and
many are the tombstones in the cemetery
OF the politically dead members Of Congress