CHAPTER XVI

THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT

The organization of the Post Office Department in 1860 was substantially that which had been introduced in the department following the passage of the act of July 2, 1836, and this arrangement continued, except for the introduction of several new offices and divisions, until 1872. Furthermore, as was pointed out in a preceding chapter, that organization was the result of administrative action, and not of congressional enactment. Prior to 1860, Congress had made provision for the following officers in the department: Postmaster General, three Assistant Postmasters General, Chief Clerk, Disbursing Clerk, three principal clerks, and a clerk acting as topographer. The distribution of the duties of the department among these officers and the establishment of bureaus or divisions for the administration of those duties were matters which were left entirely to the discretion of the head of the department. During the period from 1861 to 1872, however, Congress exercised its authority to provide expressly for certain offices and divisions in the department, although the Postmaster General was still permitted to define the duties of the offices and divisions thus created.

Superintendents of Money Order System, Foreign Mails, Blank Agency, Free Delivery, and Railway Mail Service; Chief of Dead Letter Office. The act of May 17, 1864, to establish a postal money order system, provided for the appointment, by the Postmaster General, of a Superintendent of the Money Order System, who should be charged with the conduct of the business of the money order offices, and the keeping and settling of their accounts. An act

113 Stat. L., 76, 79. The special purpose which led to the passage of this act establishing the money order system was the desire to accommodate soldiers who wished to send money to their homes. The creation of such a system, however, had been urged many years before for the purpose of freeing the mails from so-called " money letters, which provoked theft and robbery. Cf. Roper, The U. S. post office, 73 (1917).

of March 3, 1865, relating to clerkships in the Post Office Department authorized the appointment of a chief clerk in the offices of each of the three Assistant Postmasters General. Upon the express recommendation of the Postmaster General, definite provision was made in an act of July 27, 1868, for the appointment of a Superintendent of Foreign Mails in the department to have charge of the business of the foreign mail service, and a chief of division for the Dead-Letter Office in the Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster General. This act also provided for the establishment of a Blank Agency for the Post Office Department, to be located in Washington, and in charge of a Superintendent." A Superintendent of Free Delivery was appointed on November 8, 1869, to supervise the free delivery service established by act of March 3, 1863. This office was not made a statutory one, however, until 1873. A Division of Railway Mail Service was organized on April 4, 1869, in charge of a Superintendent. This service had been definitely established for the first time in 1865, although mail had been carried by railroads as early as 1835.*

Reorganization, 1872. In his annual report for 1868, Postmaster General Randall emphasized the need for a reorganization of the Post Office Department, as follows: "The rapid growth of the postal service of the United States since the present organization of the Post Office Department was established by the act of July 2, 1836, has devolved on its officers an amount of business so extensive, varied, and responsible a character, that a reorganization,

213 Stat. L., 515.

66

Cf. Checklist of Checklist "), 859; Tyne and Leland,

15 Stat. L., 194, 196; Postmaster General, Annual report, 1866, 15-16; 1868, 24. A Dead-Letter Office was first established in 1825, while the history of the foreign mail service dates back to 1789. U. S. public documents, 1789-1909 (hereinafter cited as Postmaster General, Annual report, 1895, 448-56; Van Guide to the archives of the government of the United States in Washington, 163 (1907).

12 Stat. L., 701, 703; Checklist, 871. Appropriation was made in the acts of March 3, 1873, and June 23, 1874, for a fourth class clerk to act as Superintendent of Free Delivery.-17 Stat. L., 556, 557; 18 Stat. L., 231.

'Van Tyne and Leland, op. cit., 161-62; Parson, History of the railway mail service, 48 Cong. 2 sess. (1884-85), S. ex. doc. 40; Postmaster General, Annual report, 1869, 15. Two additional special agents to superintend postal matters connected with the railway mail service were authorized by act of March 3, 1865.-13 Stat. L., 504, 505.

wisely adapted to the present and prospective condition of the service, is necessary to secure the greatest practicable efficiency in its administration." This recommendation was concurred in by his successor, Mr. Creswell, and on June 8, 1872, an act was approved reorganizing the department.

The act of 1872 provided for the establishment, at the seat of government of the United States, of a department to be known as the Post Office Department, the principal officers of which should be a Postmaster General and three Assistant Postmasters General, all of whom should be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. In addition to these principal officers, the act authorized the appointment, by the Postmaster General, of the following employees in that department; a Chief Clerk for the Postmaster General and each of the three Assistant Postmasters General; one Superintendent of Post Office Building and Disbursing Clerk; one Superintendent and one Chief Clerk of the Money Order System; one Superintendent and one Chief Clerk of foreign mails; one Topographer; one Assistant Attorney General; one Chief of the Division of Mail Depredations; one Chief of the Division of Dead Letters; one Superintendent, one Assistant Superintendent, and four assistants of the Blank Agency; a necessary number of special agents to conduct investigations; two agents to superintend the railway postal service; and a large number of clerks, messengers, and laborers. Provision was also made for the office of Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department, with organization and duties similar to those first provided for that office in 1836.'

Administrative Divisions and Offices Created, 1874-1878. The provisions of the act of 1872 formed the basis for the organization of the Post Office Department for a period of about twenty years. New divisions and offices were created from time to time, however, both by legislative enactment and by administrative order. An act of June 20, 1874, made provision for a Chief of the Division of Postage Stamps, while the office of Chief of the Division of Inspec

Postmaster General, Annual report, 1868, 35-36; 1869, 38.

17 Stat. L., 283. Although designated as a 'department" in this act, the term "executive department" was not used in connection with the Post Office until the revision of the statutes in 1874.-Revised Statutes, 64; Learned, The president's cabinet, 232 (1912).

tion was authorized by act of June 19, 1878. This latter act also made provision for an Appointment Clerk in the Postmaster General's Office, and a Law Clerk in the office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Post Office Department. Divisions of Finance, Registered Letters, and Files, Records, and Mails, were organized, by departmental order, under the supervision of the Third Assistant Postmaster General, and a Division of Appointments was created in the office of the First Assistant Postmaster General.'

Distribution of Duties Among Assistant Postmasters General. Although the several Assistant Postmasters General had been definitely assigned by the Postmaster General to supervise the administration of certain matters in the department as early as 1836, such a distribution of the duties of the department did not receive statutory recognition until 1878. The legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act of June 19, 1878, organized the offices of the Postmaster General and the Assistant Postmasters General as follows: Postmaster General's Office, including a Chief Clerk, Appointment Clerk, Law Clerk (office of Assistant Attorney General for the Post Office Department), and Topographer; First Assistant Postmaster General's Office, including a Chief Clerk, a Superintendent of the Blank Agency, and a Superintendent of Free Delivery; Second Assistant Postmaster General's Office, including a Chief Clerk and a Chief of the Division of Inspection; Third Assistant Postmaster General's Office, including a Chief Clerk, Chief of the Division of Dead Letters, and Chief of the Division of Postage Stamps; and the offices of Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Superintendent of the Money Order System, Chief of the Division of Depredations, and Disbursing Clerk.10

Additional Offices and Divisions, 1879-1886. The office of Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, first established in 1869, was given statutory recognition in an act of March 3, 1879." The office of Superintendent of Railway Adjustment was organized on June 28, 1880, in the Second Assistant Postmaster General's Office, appropriation therefor having been made in the act of June

8

9

3 18 Stat. L., 85, 106; 20 Stat. L., 178, 202.

Postmaster General, Annual report, 1874, 44; 1876, 160; 1877, xviii. 10 20 Stat. L., 178, 201.

15, 1880. The act of May 4, 1882, making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department, authorized the appointment of a Chief Post Office Inspector, in the office of the Postmaster General. This officer was placed in charge of the Division of Mail Depredations, and the office of the Chief of that division abolished." Provision was made in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act of March 3, 1883, for two new divisions in the office of the First Assistant Postmaster General, namely, Salary and Allowance, and Appointment, while the title of the Blank Agency was changed to the Division of Post Office Supplies. A Division of Finance in the Third Assistant Postmaster General's Office was also authorized by this act." The act of July 7, 1884, made provision for a Bond Division in the office of the First Assistant Postmaster General, upon the recommendation of that officer, and the act of July 27, 1886, detached the Dead-Letter Office from the Third Assistant Postmaster General's Office and established it as a separate agency in the department, in charge of a Superintendent, subject to the general supervision of the Postmaster General." Office of Fourth Assistant Postmaster General; Reorganization of Department, 1891. The ever-increasing volume of work performed by the Post Office Department made imperative a reorganization of that department. To effect such a reorganization and a redistribution of the duties of the department, the creation of the office of Fourth Assistant Postmaster General was recommended by Postmaster General Vilas in 1887, and by his successors Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Wanamaker. Dickinson desired that Congress should go even further and prescribe by statute the exact organization and distribution of the duties of the department." In accor

12 21 Stat. L., 210, 234; 22 Stat. L., 52, 53; 219, 252.

13

22 Stat. L., 531, 560. The changes introduced by this act in the office of the First Assistant Postmaster General had been proposed by that officer in his annual report for 1882. Cf. Postmaster General, Annual report, 1882, 37.

14

23 Stat. L., 159, 190; 24 Stat. L., 172, 206. Cf. Postmaster General, Annual report, 1882, 37; 1885, 62.

15

Postmaster General, Annual report, 1887, 84; 1888, xxxix; 1889, 5. Mr. Dickinson, in an article written several months after he had retired from office, returned a severe indictment against the existing organization of the Post Office Department. He called attention to the fact that there