The elements which make up our postal department are those which politics create. These are constantly changing, and every change produces its own creatures. The very resignations are the consequences of these changes, and not of the desire to secure other employment. Men would rather owe to themselves the right of leaving a position than submit to the pompous notice from an official, commencing with, “Your services are no longer required,” &c.
The number of resignations alone during the year ending on the 30th of June, 1862, was 2902, the removals 2786, out of 19,973 officers in the loyal States and districts. The resignations were nearly fifteen per cent. of the whole number, and resignations and removals combined about twenty-eight per cent. of the whole number. The new appointees must acquire a practical postal education before they can promptly and accurately discharge their duties. It is evident that a system so liable to constant and large changes in its administration must be defective in many elements of completeness. The theory of our government requires a direct official responsibility to the executive head, and that the term of office should be limited to the proper discharge of that responsibility. The principle is correct. But the proper compensatory principle requires retention of good officers, as truly as it requires the discharge of incompetent incumbents. This principle can be carried into effect only when public sentiment shall be so clear and uniform as to make itself felt by all public representatives influencing appointments.
NUMBER OF POST-OFFICES.
The number of post-offices established on the 30th of June, 1865, including suspended offices in Southern States, was 28,832; number subject to appointment by the President, 702; by the postmaster-general, 28,170; number of persons engaged, 85,000.
APPOINTMENTS
| Made to fill vacancies caused by resignations | 3,575 |
| Removals | 925 |
| Deaths | 229 |
| Changes of names and sites | 132 |
| Establishment of new offices | 586 |
| —— | |
| Total appointments | 5,447 |
The number of offices in the late disloyal States is 8902, of which 1051 were reopened on November 15, 1865.
Number of route-agents, 387; aggregate compensation, $229,522. Number of local agents, 51; aggregate compensation, $30,949. Number of special agents, 33; aggregate compensation, $82,790. Number of baggage-masters, 110; aggregate compensation, $6600. Number of postal railway-clerks, 64; aggregate compensation, $75,000.
John Milton Niles.—This gentleman was born in Windsor, Connecticut, August 20, 1787, and was bred to the bar, and went to Hartford in 1816 to practise law; in 1817 he was there concerned in publishing the “Times,” which he edited for a time; in 1820 he was appointed postmaster at Hartford by President Jackson, and held the office until made a Senator in Congress in 1835, in which position he remained until 1839; in 1840 he was appointed postmaster-general by President Van Buren; in 1842 he was again elected to the United States Senate, served six years, retired to private life, and died May 31, 1856.
Francis Granger.—Born at Suffield, Connecticut, December 1, 1792; graduated at Yale College in 1811; admitted to the bar in May, 1816; he was elected a member of the New York Legislature in 1825, and again in 1826, 1827, 1829, and 1831; in 1828 he was a candidate for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, but was defeated; and in 1830 and again in 1832 he was run for Governor with the same result; in 1834 he was elected to Congress; in 1836 he was a candidate for Vice-President, and received the electoral votes of the States of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky; he was again elected to Congress in 1838 and in 1840; appointed postmaster-general March 6, 1841, but resigned the following September. His successor in Congress thereupon resigned, and Mr. Granger was again elected to that body. On the 4th of March, 1843, he finally retired from public life.