Evening star., 1902-08-29
POST OFFICE FIGHTS
Representatives in Congress
Affected by Them.
SOMETIMES DEFEATED
DISAPPOINTED OFFICE SEEKERS
TAKE REVENGE.
Great Number of Offices That Fall to
Some Members and the Trou-
bles They Entail.

bles They Entail.
In a dispatch in The Star a few days
ago remarked a postal official this morn
ing, in referring to the defeat of member
of the present House for denomination one
of the reasons advanced therefor was that
he had made enemies through unpopular
post office appointments
The shelving of this representative calls
up post offices as they relate to members of
Congress, and he Is but one of hundreds of
men who have met their Waterloo by rea-
son of the animosities engendered by the
distribution of patronage along this line.
w lille representatives home machine is
largely builded upon this patronage, and
most Of his recommendations are made
with view of strengthening his hold upon
denomination, it is the same machine
which often fiattens out his political future
and prospects like a runaway automobile
going over a stray chicken in the roadway.
There are number of representatives
who have no postmasters, meaning that
they come from the large cities, and their
districts are such that they have no voice
in the selection of the postmaster. City
delegations often unite upon a man, but it
Is the senator, or the two senators, depend
ing upon the distribution of the patronage
in the selection Of the postmasters of the
very large cities. Instances are familiar
to Washingtonians where appointments of
postmasters not agreeable to senators have
been held up in the Senate until the tangle
has been Strengthened out, not the
case may have been, the members of the
upper house being very Jealous of their con-
stitutional right of confirmation, and SEN
atorial courtesy, time honored and reveren-
TALLY respected, going great way to sus-
tain the objecting senator. If the fights are
bitter here the intensity of feeling at home
may be imagined. A senator usually die
tates the appointment of a postmaster In
his home city under a practice which has
prevailed and been respected for many
years. l refer to the senators and repre-
senatives of the dominant party, the other
side not being taken into consideration by
either party.
Some Very Large Districts.
Members of Congress who have few or
no appointments Of postmasters are re-
lieved of a tremendous lot of arduous and
often thankless work. The general public
has little conception of the bitterness which
is aroused in a lively post office scrimmase,
even when there is no change in the admin
istration, while with a change it is often in
tense and lasting. Members who have
large humber of post offices in their dis
tricts are almost daily at the department
during the session upon one matter or
another connected with appointments,
designations, establishments, discontinue
ances, change of name, mail routes. time
schedules, mail messenger service, salaries
and allowances, change of site, the renting
of buildings for post offices. rural free de-
livery, and a score Of other matters IN
which their constituents are directly intar-
ested. Much Of their correspondence has
to do with these matters. Place yourself
in the place of Delegate Flynn Of Okla
homa. Mr. Flynn has served half dozen
terms: He has probably the largest num-
hov- 50 1Rl.,
other delegate or representative. though
some of the southern members have a large
number of the smaller offices to care for
when their party is in power Mr.. Flynn
had on July / of this year III fourth-class
offices and thirty-siX presidential offices TO
worry with, about as many as there are
post offices in the states of Delaware,
Rhode Island, Nevada and Ctah combined.
1T is rarely that senators mix UP in
fourth-class post Office fights unless drag
ged in by circumstances. These tussles arc
by common consent given over to the rep
resentatives of the different districts to
light it out and to sweat blood over the
senators having enough troubles of their
own.
A Members Life Not Picnic.
Next to Mr.. Flynn probably comes Rep
resentative Marshall of North Dakota with
$50 fourth-class offices, and there are forty
two presidential offices in that state, North
Dakota having but one representative at
large. Mr.. Marshall is one of the members
who plays to a full hand in the post office
game of selection, does Representative
Mondell of Wyoming. who has 324 fourth
class offices. and Representative Suther-
land Of Utah, who has 326, these two lat
ter states having but one representative,
respectively.
ION the other hand comes little Rhode
Island with but 11S fourth-class Offices for
two representatives to divide while diminu-
tive Delaware has 153 of these offices with
one representative, or about as many in
each Of these two states as some members
have in one or two counties in their dis
tricts.
Maryland has 1,Oa3 fourth class post Of
fees and six representatives, or an av-
erage Of only about ITO to a district. Vir-
ginia with a congressional delegation of
ten, has 3.677 fourth-class offices, or an av-
erage of about 367 offices to a district,
while West virginia, with delegation of
four representatives. has about 1000 fourth
class post offices, or an average of 500 in
district.
These figures are instructive In showing
the discrepancy in the number of post Of
fees some members have over others, and
the labor and trouble entailed in keeping
them filled to suit adj concerned. 1t is lit
tie wonder that representatives fall by the
wayside in the attempt to please every
body. In a district, say, with 800 fourth
class post offices there are an average of
at least ten applicants for each office, MAX
ing total post office seeking army of 5000
They Smile Sad, Wan Smiles.
perhaps one-half OF these candidates
stand no show whatever of consideration
while the other half possess claims and are
backed by factions which have to be reck-
oned with by the representative In making
up his mind which one he will select as the
recipient Of his recommendation, for it is
his recommendation which will carry with
the administration. except in the isolated
cases where 1t does not
SIT is for the representatives recommen-
dation, consequently, that the struggle is
made at home, and it is against his recon-
mendation that the contest is made at the
department when a fight is on, and the
contestees endeavor to throw the represen-
tatives recommendation before the Post
master General in fourth-cass office
case, and in the case of presidential Of.
flee before that official and the President
Failing to win out, the beaten candidates
return home, get out their knives and
grindstones and from that date industri-