The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1921-04-28
CHARLES B. QUINN GETS
MEMPHIS POSTbiASTERSHIP

! appointment. as postmaster 40 Mem
! phis was announced Friday and held
no Saturday, arrived in Memphis
Sunday morning apparently upper
| turbed BY the ION again, off again
policv Of the postoffiee department
at Washington.
When the news that the appoint
ment had been held no leaked out
Mr.. Quinr's friends especially lead
ers in the lily-white organization
rot busy They kent the telegraph
wire TO Washington hot with irqufr-
les % Ia what ii all meant, while
both the telegraph and the long dis
lance telephone wires carried mes
aages from Memphis to Republican
leaders in other parts of Tennessee
urging them to get busy in Mr..
0uinn's behalf Meanwhile Mr.,
Quinn was peacefully enscorned irra
Pullman on the return trip to Mem
phis. 4
Some Memphis officials are of the
opinion that President Harding Is
about To announce that he has de-
cided to revoke the Wilson executive
order placing first, second and third
class postmasters under the civil ser
vice, and to restore them to their old
status as party patronage.
Mr.. Quinn will succeed G. w Met
calf, Jr., whose resignation was ten
dered 10 Postmaster General Burle-
son about a year ago, after term Of
service Of about seven years. Later
"A. @. Mcclellan, assistant postmaster,
was nominated as MIR. Metcalf's sue
cessor by President Wilson, but the
appointment was not confirmed, and
Mr.. Metcalf has continued to serve.
While the appointment has not
been confirmed, no opposition Il is an
ticipated. Mr.. Quinn has been promi-
nent in Republican politics III Ten
nessee for a long time. More recently
he took b whirl in Memphis politics
and was twice chosen to fill vacancies
on the city commission, caused by
resignation Of members Of the COM
mission. The first occasion was in
1917, when he was chosen as sue
cessor to Ennis Douglas at the same
time that H. H. Litty was named
mayor to succeed Tom Ashcroft. Mr..
Quinn served al fire and police com
missioner until August, 1918.
In August, when under the pro-
visions of d law passed in 1917 BY the
legislature, IT was necessary to elect
d mayor To fill out the remainder of
Mr. Ashcroft's unexpired term there
was some talk of Mr.. Quinn entering
the race as the candidate Of the
Crump- Walsh faction. The fact that
he was a Republican stood in the way,
and Frank Il, Monteverde, who was
serving Oh the city commission AZ a
successor Of George Blackwell, was
the candidate at the head Of the ticket
which won.
MFR. Monteverde's first official act
3as mayor was to appoint Mr.. Quinn
city claim agent, which position he
filled until the resignation about two
months later of w. 4. McLain, who
gave up his post dis fire and police
commissioner To enter military SER
vice. Mr.. Quinn was first made COM
missioner Of streets, bridges and
sewers, while G. w. Miller was
transferred to the office Of fire and
police commissioner. Later the two
swapped offices and Mr.. Quinn again
became vice-mayor and commissioner
of fire and police, in which position
he served until the election Of the
present city administration in No
vember, 1919.
Mr.. Quinn served on one of the
city draft boards during the war, and
was in MANY wavs identified with
war work. Prior to his election to
the city commission he had been en-
gagged in the insurance business, to
which he returned after the 1919
election.
A dispatch from Washington under
date of Wednesday to the Commercial
Appeal says that opinion as to the
status Of Charles B. Quinn's cam
didacy as postmaster at Memphis
since the sudden withdrawal of his
temporary appointment il divided.
Representatives Scott, of the Eighth,
and Brown, of the Third district,
smiled obviously at the suggestion of
sinister significance in that wholly
unexpected action. Both expressed
confidence in the reappointment Of
Quinn, whose present predicament
they ascribe to some sort Of blum
der or correctable misunderstanding
On the other hand, there are i'm
terested persons Of the opinion that
Quinn has been permanently elini-
mated from the contest and that the
revocation of his appointment was
the prelude to this fate. Their con-
tention Is that this monkey wrench
was thrown into the machinery with
the knowledge that the effect Of the
resultant arrangement would be to-
put Quinn out of the running. APP
parentlv the ugly feature Of the
whole incident is that Quinn was
given the temporary appointment BY
First Assistant Postmaster General
Work, whose action was subsequently
revoked by Postmaster General
Hays, who stated at the time that
the Memphis postmastership contest
would be disposed Of the following
week by an executive order.
-. rans 49,