this department of the government, whose head, the post master general, is a member of the cabinet, exists by virtue of section 8, article 1st of the constitution, where are these words: “congress shall have the power to establish post offices and post roads.”
from small beginnings, in early colonial times, and continued through the revolutionary war, it has grown to be one of the largest and most important departments of the government. the security, speed, and cheapness of intercourse between all parts of the country and with foreign lands, is of the utmost importance to business and commerce; it encourages social intercourse and intimate relations among the people, and is of no small consequence in developing their intelligence and promoting their improvement.
by successive laws of congress it has been perfected to its present state of excellence. the duties connected with it are performed by many thousands of persons in every part of the country. they are of average intelligence and education, and must be trained to their work almost without personal instruction or supervision, yet so complete is the organization, and so pervading the influence of the central power, the regulations so simple, clear, and precise, that mistakes are extremely rare, considering the great number of transactions, and instances of misconduct in office are probably less frequent than in any other branch of the public service, though employing persons well trained and under close surveillance.
the post master general is appointed by the president and the senate for four years. his office is in the general post office at washington. he has three assistants, appointed in[361] the same manner as himself. he has a seal of his office, an impression from which must be affixed to the commission of every postmaster in the united states; and also to all copies of papers and documents that may be wanted from his office. this only can give them official value of the same importance as the original papers. he must give bonds as security for faithfulness in office, and take the usual official oath.
he has the entire direction and management of the department, and the appointment of all local postmasters (in law considered as his deputies), whose salary is less than $1,000 per annum. all others are appointed by the president and senate.
that its business may be more conveniently arranged and prepared for his final action, it is distributed among several bureaus, or minor departments as follows:
the appointment office.
includes the divisions of appointments; bonds given by postmasters, agents, and clerks; salaries and allowances, where they are not provided for by law; free delivery in cities; and the agency of blanks used in the extensive business and reports of the department. this office is in charge of the first assistant post master general.
the contract office.
this includes the divisions of contracts for carrying the mails, by persons or companies; the inspection of the entire process of carrying the mails, to secure their safe, regular, and prompt delivery; mail equipment, or the supply of all the material and conveniences for transportation of the mail, furnished by the department; special agents, and mail depredations, which has the care of all violations of law and the conduct and accounts of all agents employed for the suppression and prevention of abuses; and the topographical, which has charge of maps and diagrams of mail routes, and geographical information, required for the various branches of the service. it is in charge of the second assistant post master general.
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the finance office.
this is separated into the divisions of finance, which has charge of the entire cash receipts, transfers, and disbursements of the department; of postage stamps and stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, and postal cards; registered letters and seals; and the examination of dead letters and their return to the writers. dead letters are those not taken out of the office to which they were sent. after being advertised three weeks in some newspaper near the office where they were sent, they are returned to the general post office, where they are examined; and if they contain money or valuable papers they are returned to the writers and an account of them kept at the general post office. the sums, so lost and taken care of, amount annually to tens of thousands of dollars. the third assistant post master general has charge of it.
the money order office.
the money orders system furnishes very convenient and safe banking facilities for the transfer of money in small sums. it diminishes as much as possible the exposure of money to loss by theft or otherwise, through the plan of depositing in one office, and sending a certificate of such deposit which is good for the money at another office. immense sums are so exchanged and business facilitated without any actual passage of the money from one point to the other. when it is necessary to preserve the balances it is done by, and at the risk of, the department.
no more than fifty dollars can be sent in one order, nor more than three orders to the same person in one day. the number of these offices is more than 1,400.
the rates of commission on money orders are,
on orders not exceeding $10 5 cents.
over $10, and not exceeding $20 10 cents.
” $20, ” ” $30 15 cents.
” $30, ” ” $40 20 cents.
” $40, ” ” $50 25 cents.
no fractions of cents allowed in orders.
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when a money order has been lost or destroyed, a duplicate can be got, by the person who bought the order or by the person it was bought for, by applying either at the office where the order was bought or at the office where it should be paid. the money order department is in charge of the superintendent of the money order system.
an international money order system, between the united states and switzerland, went into operation september 1st, 1869, whereby the exchange of postal orders between the two countries is effected through the agency of two post offices termed international exchange offices. the office of new york city being set apart for the united states, and that of basle, in switzerland, for that country. the amount drawn for cannot exceed fifty dollars in one order, three orders only can be obtained by the same person in one day. the system works satisfactorily, and will no doubt be extended to great britain, and perhaps other european nations at an early day.
the office of foreign mails.
it has the care of all foreign postal arrangements and the supervision of the ocean mail service. it is presided over by a superintendent.
the auditor of the treasury for the post office department.
this is a bureau of the treasury department, which, for convenience, is located in the general post office. to this officer is assigned the duty of auditing the accounts of the post office department, all communications relating to the accounts of postmasters, mail contractors, and other agents of the department, are addressed to this officer.
the head of so large and important a department of the public service is properly a chief officer of the government and has a seat in the cabinet.
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number of post offices and miles of post roads in the u. s.
in 1790 there were but 75 post offices, and 1,875 m. of post-roads.
1800 ” 903 ” 20,817 ”
1810 ” 2,300 ” 36,400 ”
1820 ” 4,500 ” 72,492 ”
1830 ” 8,450 ” 115,176 ”
1840 ” 13,463 ” 155,739 ”
1850 ” 18,417 ” 178,672 ”
1860 ” 28,498 ” 240,594 ”
1870 ” 28,492 ” 231,232 ”
postmasters general.
samuel osgood, mass., sept. 26, 1789.
timothy pickering, mass., aug. 12, 1791.
joseph habersham, ga., feb. 25, 1795.
gideon granger, ct., nov. 28, 1801.
return j. meigs, o., march 17, 1814.
john mclean, o., june 25, 1823.
william t. barry, ky., march 9, 1829.
amos kendall, ky., march 1, 1835.
john m. niles, ct., may 18, 1840.
francis granger, n. y., march 6, 1841.
charles a. wickliff, ky., sept. 13, 1841.
cave johnson, tenn., march 5, 1845.
jacob collamer, vt., march 7, 1849.
nathan k. hall, n. y., july 20, 1850.
s. d. hubbard, ct., aug. 31, 1852.
james campbell, pa., march 5, 1853.
aaron v. brown, tenn., march 6, 1857.
joseph holt, ky., march 14, 1859.
horatio king, jan. 1, 1861.
montgomery blair, md., march 7, 1861.
william dennison, o., oct. 1, 1864.
alexander w. randall, wis., july 15, 1866.
j. a. j. creswell, md., march 5, 1869.
” ” reappointed march 17, 1873.
marshall jewell, july 1874.
