The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-11-17
The POST OFFICE
AND THE PEOPLE
Details of American System De-
scribed by M. G.. Cunniff.
HOW THE MACHINE Is REGULATED

of Its Shortcomings ON the Public.
How Our System Compares With
That of Foreign Countries.
The Worlds Work for November
contains the first of a series of articles
by NJ. G.. Cunnif on the American
postal system. Prefacing his article,
Mr.. Cunniff 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-
cation Of its shortcomings and to help
to secure improvements which will
put the United States post office service
on a par with the service of other civ
ilized lands.'
The following is taken from MI. Gun
niff's article:
I 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 l knowy' said he. "I've
been postmaster general only a year"
An assistant postmaster general, once
invited to address a convention of post.
masters, jokingly replied, so runs the
story:
81 cannot go. l couldn't tell you
anything anyway. What do l know
about the postal business?"
Said another assistant postmaster
general:
IF a man attends closely to his work
h 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. bust
ness? Why. it's simply a training
SCHOOL,"
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
sessary first to understand the weak
uCSS VI lAC SyOlc1A III llC lOD, anu lCIc
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 polit-
ical heads of the post office do not be-
long to the machine. The machine be-
gins with the chief clerks and superin-
tendents and their army of civil service
su%bordinates, who hold their places
while administrations come and go 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 and hand the docu.
ments. great piles of them, to the as
sistant 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 still in
vogue. In brief, the system is one in
which the permanent s%ubordinates
have every chance to direct all but the
most wide awake of their temporary
heads-the cart before the horse. The
attorney generals office superintends
the enforcement of postal laws. A
branch of the treasury department
audits the accounts, though, unlike all
other branches of the government, the
post office is it's own bank and does not
use the treasury for 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. Misfit bits of three depart
ments with separate accounts do the
country's postal business.
The machine has grown up. not or
ganically, but by accretions of unre-
lated departments, under laws passed
In 1894. Occasionally a postmaster
general has conceived of an improve
ment in the service. Postmaster Gen
eral Wanamaker tried to reorganize
1t. There are men in the civil service
machine today who know more about
post office affairs in their own depart !
ments h any outsider could possibly
know who would like to make i'm
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-
wildering 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 a bulky book of laws that
has grown from the slim book of 1894
as fast as successive congresses have
cared to pass postal bills. Rates of
n0stagp are CHANGED servica is ron