Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-14
The Washington Postmastership.

II NAV be conceded that the Postmaster
General and the President could have
made much worse appointment than
that of Or. Grandfieid' ito the local post
mastership. Instead of choosing man
long resident i'm Washington as federal
employe claiming legal domicile in MIS-
souri, they might have selected some po-
litiCal dead-duck from a remote state.
entirely unfamiliar with Washington. VINO
would see i'm the Office only pension and
solace for a political cripple. Or lnsteau
Of selecting a man skilled in postal al
fairs through long connection with the
national postal department they might
have rewarded with the office as sop
or bribe some partisan "heeler, the rep
resentatve OF some race or class or as
ISOLATION of voters. Or they might even
have put the postmastership upon the
same degraded basis as our recordership
Of deeds. which, supported entirely by
local fees-a local Office pure and simple
is prostituted by the national govern
ment to partisan vote-getting uses.
That the President and Postmaster Cen
eraI have refrained from doing these
things, and have appointed good ana
competent man. long resident in WASH
ington as federal employe. to the local
misunderstanding, is to their credit, and
Washington is duly appreciative.
While il is conceded that this appoint
ment might easily have been worse. II is
not conceded that il could not have been
better For the Postmaster General and
the President might have found equally
as good and competent a man for post
master who hailed from Washington
and not even technically from Mis-
souri,: VINO was here as a part of the
local community and not as an employe
Of the national government. claiming vot-
ing residence elsewhere; whose appoint
ment was sought by some substantial
fraction of the local community. so that
in making il the President might seem
at least to give heed to local public
sentiment and not contemptuously to
ignore il: who was chosen as repre-
sentative Washngtonian under the ap-
proximate home-rule principle, and not
as il the postmaster was merely the
head of a minor bureau of the national
Post Office Department.
An opportunity was afforded to reverse
the bad precedent set in 1899. when the
postmastership was taken from Washing
ton. the community. and handled as a
we'll paying annex position In the national
Post Office Department, to which. if the
exigencies of national politics required. an
assistant postmaster general might be
promoted. To succeed Washingtonian
"A popular and efficient New Yorker, an
assistant postmaster general. was then
appointed. Instead of a Washingtonian, a
popular and efficient Missourian, an as
sistant postmaster general. is now ap-
pointed.
The platforms Of both the great political
parties have in times past declared. either
specifically concerning the District or
generally concerning the District under
the classification of territories, that all
the federal officers appointed for it should
he selected from its bona fide residents.
The postmastership of Washington is a
federal Office. DIR. Grandfield is a bona
fde resident, not of the District, but of
Missouri
The District had hoped that the post
mastership would cease to be a mere
annex to the national Post Office De-
partment, and in fairness to the local
community would he handled as IL the
people of the city were to receive, short
OF the right to vote. all of the considera-
ton that il given to the people of other
American cities. The opportunity to en-
phasize that Washington. the city, Is a
distinct municipal! entity and should not
in any of its phases or functions be sub
crdinated into bureau or series of bu-
reaus of departments of the national gov
ernment. was afforded. This opportunity
has been neglected. and thoughtful Wash
:ngtonians. who hope that the local part
rer in the National Capital partnership
is not 10 be further Inundated and min
imized, but is TO receive more consideratt
and fairer treatment every year until The
end of perfect justice is reached, are
"a ppointed and grieved.