The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-11-05
THE POST OFFICE
AND THE PEOPLE
Details Of American System De.
scribed BY M. G. Cunniff.
HOW THE MACHINE IS REGULATED

Congress the Governing Povver-An-
cient Methods stiIH Obtain-ERect
OF Its shortcomings on the Public.
How Our system Compares with
That OF Foreign Countries.
The Worlds Work for November
contains the first Of series Of articles
by A. G. Cunniff on the American
postal system. Prefacing his article.
Mr.. Cunnin states that it Is his pur.
pose ITO tell the facts about our post
Office, with the hope OF arousing inter
est in the department. Of the govern
ment's business which most nearly
touches every citizen; TO lead to a reali-
zation Of its shortcomings and 10 help
to secure improvements which viii
put the United States post Office service
on a par with the service Of other civ
flied lands
The following is taken from Mr.. Cum
niff,s article
/ asked Postmaster General Payne
how, in his opinion, the United states
post office compares in efficiency with
private business organizations and
with.foreign post offices.
"How do know ?" said be. @Tye
been postmaster general only a year"
An assistant postmaster general. once
invited to address a convention Of post
masters, jokingly replied, 50 runs the
story
u cannot 60. I couldn't tell you
anything anyway. What do l know
about the postal businessT
Said another Assistant postmaster
general:
If a man attends closely to his work
he can learn TO manage one of these
departments IN about four years. Then
he goes out and another pupil comes in
the chances are, a politician. A busi.
ness? Why, it's Simply training
schoolr'
These three remarks DO not argue
that the speakers were regarded even
in cynical Washington as poor off
cials. Indeed the two assistants were
quite the reverse. But inquiring into
the workings of the post Office it is nee
essary first 70 understand the weak
ness Of the system at the top. and here
it is
The postmaster general, however,
and his four assistants are not the post
Office. 1t was apparent as early as
1904, when there was only one assist
ant postmaster general, that the pollt-
ical heads Of the post Office do not be-
long to the machine. The machine be-
gins with the chief clerks and superin-
tendents ana their army Of civil service
subordinates. who hold their places
while administrations come and 90 and
who manage the postmasters. the
contracts, the delivery service, the
money order system, the inspections,
These officials put their initials on ex-
ecutive documents aud hand the docu-
ments, great piles OF them, to the as
sisfant postmasters general, who sign
them. 1t would require omniscience
for an assistant postmaster general to
know whether he should sign or not
He trusts the initials, a system stiIl IN
vogue In brief. the system IS one in
which the permanent subbrdinates
have every chance 60 direct all but the
most wide awake OF their temporary
heads 1.-The cart before the horse. The
attorney generals office superintends
the enforcement of postal laws. A
brunch Of the treasury department
audits the accounts. though. unlike al
other branches Of the government the
post office is Its own bank and does not
use the treasury fer regular banking
purposes. But the service of the at
torney generals office and Of the treas
ury department Is not paid for BY the
post Office Mlsft bits Of three depart
ments with separate accounts do the
country's postal business.
The machine has grown UP, not OF
ganically, but by accretions Of mre-
lated departments. under laws passed
in 1894. Occasionally a postmaster
general has conceived Of an improve
ment In the service. Postmaster Gem
eral Wanamaker tried to reorganize
It. There are men in the civil service
machine today who know more about
post office affairs In their own depart
ments than any outsider could possibly
know who would like to make inn
provements. Why can't they? Simply
because the real directors Of the post
Office have been the members of the
committee on post Offices and post
roads IN the house Of representatives.
Congress must necessarily decide the
policy of the post office, but It is a be-
wiIderihg complication Of an institu-
ton, already complex, to have some Of
its most powerful quasi officials IN a
house committee.
Instead Of working on business prin-
ciples the post office machine is gov
erned by d bulky book Of laws that
has grown from the slim book Of 1904
as fast as successive congresses have
cared TO pass postal bills. Rates Of
postage are changed, service Is rem
dered, contracts are made under regu-
Iations passed by men dead for genera
tons, whose laws were made for a
post office which as late as 1s78 cost
g., total av4,and if4ty.nz only ssxfat II pOsfs