Evening star., 1961-12-24
BY CECIL HOLLAND
Star Staff Writer

BY CECIL HOLLAND
Star Staff Writer
OF all high officials brought
to Washington by President Ken
nedy, none has taken more easily
to the rigors of the New From
tier than Postmaster General j.
Edward Day.
Mr.. Day, who gave up South
ern California's balmy climate for
the politically uncertain weather
OF the Nations Capital, recently
took a look back over nearly a
year in the Kennedy cabinet. He
found it and Washington -
much to his liking.
For one thing, the 47-year-old
lawyer and former insurance
executive discovered in the far
flung and deficit-ridden Post Of
flce Department challenge
which appealed to him. AS a
businessman. he considers him
self fortunate in having drawn
an assignment permitting imagi-
nation as well as singleness of
purpose.
In another way Mr.. Day also
is fortunate. He is singularly
blessed in harboring no burning
personal political ambitions
which seem to comphcate the
lives OF many high Federal Of
ficals, including some in the
Kennedy cabinet.
The KueheI Race
In California next year Sena-
tor Kuchel, the Senate's Repub-
lican whip. will be up for re-
election. Some people have en-
tertained the thought that Mr..
Day, a highly articulate Demo-
cratic champion, night use his
lofty cabinet position as a Jump
ing off place to run for the
Senate.
But Mr.. Day said:
Il wouldn't consider it under
any circumstances"
Mr.. Day. who has in his own
words "hoed down" in Washing
ton, contends there are more
suitable" candidate in Cali
fornia. Speaking for himself
alone and not for the admins
tration, he has a man in mind
he would like to see run for the
Senate against Senator Kuchel.
He is Tom Rees, 36-year-old
State AsSemblyman from Beverly
Hills, with whom Mr.. Day has,
worked on the fringes of Cali
fornia politics for quite a while.
AS it is, the Postmaster Gen
eral is obviously enjoying himself
in directing a department with
$4,000 employees and $4,000 in
stallations, with SO billion pay
roll, or rs per cent of a total
department budget of more than
$4.3 billion.
For him it has been a busy
year. First of all, he had to try
to obtain some mastery over the
intricacies of the services which
handles more than IS billion
pieces of mail a year, or enough
to fill a train of railroad cars,
as he likes to point out, stretch
ing from Boston to San Fran
cisco.
The Management Lood
BY diligent work that never took
hours into consideration Mr.. Day,
who gained management expert
ence in running the Prudential
Life Insurance Co.'S West Coast
operations covering 13 States,
now considers he has got on top
of the management of the Post
Office. II feel it's under con-
troll" he said.
AS one step in this Mr.. Day
meets for breakfast every Tues
day morning at 7:30 o'clock with
his top assistants whom he de-
scribes as outstanding men" to
whom hours mean nothing either.
1t is mo holds barred" give
and-take session discussing all
problems, present and potential,
in the department.
When he organized the weekly
meetings, Mr.. DAILY said, Lets
don't write memos" The de-
partment, Mr.. Day added, has
mo big bureaus with walls
around them" and the meetings
provide "the freest possible ex-
change of information on the
most casual basis"
This is followed every Wednes-
day with conference call to
the Is regional postal offices,
with an average of $4,000 en-
ployes each, for another exchange
OF ideas on postal problems.
The postal service is often re-
ferred to as "the biggest business
in the world" This is a source
of some anguish for Mr.. Day as
businessman. He considers
the description inaccurate. 1--WE
are in fact the largest civilian
organization in the world" he
points out. But we are not q
business. Many of our opera
tionS and policies are and should