The Project Gutenberg eBook, The American Postal Service, by Louis Melius This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: The American Postal Service History of the Postal Service from the Earliest Times Author: Louis Melius Release Date: January 18, 2015 [eBook #48014] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN POSTAL SERVICE*** E-text prepared by Giovanni Fini, Donald Cummings, Adrian Mastronardi, The Philatelic Digital Library Project (http://www.tpdlp.net), and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/americanpostalse00melirich THE AMERICAN POSTAL SERVICE History of the Postal Service from the Earliest Times The American System Described with Full Details of Operation A Fund of Interesting Information upon All Postal Subjects By LOUIS MELIUS Washington, D. C. Second Edition Revised and Enlarged Copyright 1917 Louis Melius NATIONAL CAPITAL PRESS, INC., WASHINGTON, D. C. Postmaster General Burleson [1] [2] Biographical Sketches of the Postmaster General and His Four Assistants Albert Sidney Burleson, of Austin, Tex., Postmaster General, was born June 7, 1863, at San Marcos, Tex.; was educated at Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, Baylor University (of Waco), and University of Texas. Was admitted to the bar in 1884; was Assistant City Attorney of Austin in 1885, ‘86, ‘87, ‘88, ‘89 and ‘90; was appointed by the Governor of Texas, Attorney of the Twenty-Sixth Judicial District in 1891; was elected to said office, 1892, ‘94 and ‘96; was elected to the 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62d, and 63d Congresses; appointed Postmaster General March 4, 1913, and confirmed March 6, 1913. John C. Koons, First Assistant Postmaster General, entered the service as a Railway Postal Clerk; was transferred to Washington and made Post Office Inspector, subsequently made Chief of the Division of Salaries and Allowances and member of the Parcel Post Commission, in which latter connection his services were considered of especial value and importance. Appointed Chief Post Office Inspector and upon the resignation of the late First Assistant Postmaster General, Daniel C. Roper, was named to succeed him. His legal residence is in Carroll Co., Md. Otto Praeger, Second Assistant Postmaster General, was born in Victoria, Tex., 1871. Legal residence, San Antonio, Tex. Took a course of instruction in the University of Texas and was a student on political economy under David F. Houston now Secretary of Agriculture. Engaged in the newspaper business at San Antonio in 1887—San Antonio Light and San Antonio Express; was for a time city clerk of said city; was engaged in newspaper work as Washington correspondent when appointed Postmaster of Washington, D. C., and in August, 1915, was appointed Second Assistant to succeed Hon. Joseph Stewart. Alexander Monroe Dockery, Third Assistant Postmaster General, is a native of Missouri, born in Daviess County, educated at Macon Academy; studied medicine, graduated and practiced it for a while but later engaged in the banking business. Served in Congress from March 3, 1883, to March 3, 1899. Member of Committee of Appropriations, twelve years; Committee Post Offices and Post Roads, four years; Governor of Missouri from 1901 to 1905; was author of the bill extending the special delivery system to all post offices; also extending free delivery service to small cities; advocated the first appropriation for rural delivery. Chairman of the commission which bore his name, constituted by Congress for administrative reforms in the conduct of public business, and author of the act creating a new accounting system for the Treasury Department and many other public measures which have made his name familiar to the public and political life of the country. James I. Blakslee, Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, was born at Mauch Chunk, Pa., December 17, 1870. Public school education, supplemented with special courses at Bethlehem Preparatory School, Cheltenham Military Academy and High School, Pottstown, Pa.; was connected with the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania railroads as telegraph operator and assistant yardmaster; Lieutenant, Company E, Eighth Regiment, National Guards, 1897; commissioned same rank and regiment, U. S. Volunteers, and appointed quartermaster and commissary, Reserve Hospital Corps, U. S. Army, during the Spanish-American War. Removed to Lehighton in 1899. Chairman Democratic Committee of Carbon County, 1905. Assemblyman, Pennsylvania Legislature, 1907-09 term, and subsequently made Secretary Democratic State Committee, where his organizing ability won him national recognition. [3] PREFACE This little work on postal affairs aims to familiarize postal employes and others with the operations of the Post Office Department in all its varied and numerous details. No attempt was made to cover the wide field of postal activity and inquiry for which a much larger book and much greater space would be required. It is simply meant to be a book of reference, a sort of hand-book on postal subjects for busy people who may not care to read lengthy accounts or stories which a few paragraphs might sufficiently explain, or care to wrestle with columns of figures which are best given in official reports and chiefly valuable to public men for legislative purposes, for comparison and survey. All necessary postal knowledge of immediate public interest is herein set forth in such compact shape as to acquaint the reader with what he might want to know, or direct his inquiry to sources of wider information if the desire was not satisfied with the reference thereto which this work might afford. In general it will be found amply sufficient for all ordinary purpose as the scope of subjects is as wide as the active operations of the Department at present include. The special articles referring to subjects of general postal interest cover a considerable range of inquiry and deal more fully with those matters which are but briefly mentioned in that portion devoted to the purely business details of the Department. Much of this material is new and all of it treated so as to interest the reader. These articles on general postal topics in connection with the other matter herewith given, relating to the service, may please some one here and there and perhaps justify the publication of this little contribution to the literature of the time. L. M. Washington, D. C. March 15, 1917. To Mr. Ruskin McArdle, late Private Secretary to the Postmaster General, now Chief Clerk of the Department, whose friendly regard I have long enjoyed and whose courteous and considerate treatment to all with whom his official relations have brought him into contact, this little volume is respectfully dedicated as a mark of appreciation and a token of deep and lasting esteem. The Author. [4] [5] ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT The operations of the postal service are conducted by divisional arrangement with the duties of each accurately and specifically defined. Previous to this administration much of the work of the various bureaus was found to be overlapping each other and exercising a separate authority in correlated matters. These officially related duties were each brought under a proper head, insuring prompt attention and fixing a definite responsibility which has been found to be of recognized benefit and value. OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL Postmaster General.—Albert S. Burleson, Texas. Private Secretary.—Robert E. Cowart, Texas. Chief Clerk.—Ruskin McArdle, Texas. Assistant Chief Clerk.—William W. Smith, Tennessee. Division of Solicitor.— Solicitor.—William H. Lamar, Maryland. Assistant Attorneys.—J. Julien Southerland, North Carolina. Walter E. Kelly, Ohio. Edwin A. Niess, Pennsylvania. John A. Nash, Pennsylvania. Bond Examiner.—Horace J. Donnelly, District of Columbia. Law Clerk.—Arthur J. Kause, Ohio, Division of Purchasing Agent.— Purchasing Agent.—James A. Edgerton, New Jersey. Chief Clerk.—Frederick H. Austin, Missouri. Division of Post Office Inspectors.— Chief Inspector.—George M. Sutton, Missouri. Chief Clerk.—J. Robert Cox, North Carolina. Appointment Clerk.—Vacant. Disbursing Clerk.—William M. Mooney, Ohio. OFFICE OF THE FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL First Assistant Postmaster General.—John C. Koons, Maryland. Chief Clerk.—John W. Johnston, New York, Division of Post Office Service.— Superintendent.—Goodwin D. Ellsworth, North Carolina. Assistant Superintendent.—William S. Ryan, New York. Division of Postmasters’ Appointments.— Superintendent.—Charles R. Hodges, Texas. Assistant Superintendent.—Lorel N. Morgan, West Virginia. Assistant Superintendent.—Simon E. Sullivan, Maryland. Division of Dead Letters.— Superintendent.—Marvin M. McLean, Texas. OFFICE OF THE SECOND ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL Second Assistant Postmaster General.—Otto Praeger, Texas. Chief Clerk.—Eugene R. White, Vermont. Division of Railway Mail Service.— General Superintendent.—Wm. I. Denning, Georgia. Assistant General Superintendent.—George F. Stone, New York. Chief Clerk.—Chase C. Gove, Nebraska. Division of Foreign Mails.— Superintendent.—Robert L. Maddox, Kentucky. Assistant Superintendent.—Stewart M. Weber, Pennsylvania. Assistant Superintendent at New York.—Edwin Sands, New York. Division of Railway Adjustments.— Superintendent.—James B. Corridon, District of Columbia. Assistant Superintendent.—George E. Bandel, Maryland. OFFICE OF THE THIRD ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL Third Assistant Postmaster General.—Alexander M. Dockery, Missouri. [6] Chief Clerk.—William J. Barrows, Missouri. Division of Finance.— Superintendent.—William E. Buffington, Pennsylvania. Division of Postal Savings.— Director.—Carter B. Keene, Maine. Assistant Director.—Charles H. Fullaway, Pennsylvania. Chief Clerk.—Harry H. Thompson, Maryland. Division of Money Orders.— Superintendent.—Charles E. Matthews, Oklahoma. Chief Clerk.—F. H. Rainey, District of Columbia. Division of Classification.— Superintendent.—William C. Wood, Kansas. Division of Stamps.— Superintendent.—William C. Fitch, New York. Division of Registered Mails.— Superintendent.—Leighton V. B. Marschalk, Kentucky. OFFICE OF THE FOURTH ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL Fourth Assistant Postmaster General.—James I. Blakslee, Pennsylvania. Chief Clerk.—J. King Pickett, Alabama. Division of Rural Mails.— Superintendent.—George L. Wood, Maryland. Assistant Superintendent.—Edgar R. Ryan, Pennsylvania. Chief Clerk.—Lansing M. Dow, New Hampshire. Division of Equipment and Supplies.— Superintendent.—Alfred B. Foster, California. Assistant Superintendent.—Vacant. Chief Clerk.—Vacant. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR FOR THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT Auditor.—Charles A. Kram, Pennsylvania. Assistant and Chief Clerk.—Terrence H. Sweeney, Minnesota. Law Clerk.—Faber Stevenson, Ohio. Expert Accountant.—Lewis M. Bartlett, Massachusetts. Electrical Accounting System.— Chiefs of Division.— Louis Brehm, Illinois. Joshua H. Clark, Maryland. James R. White, District of Columbia. Miscellaneous Division.— Chief.—Jasper N. Baker, Kansas. LATEST FACTS OF POSTAL INTEREST Report of Postmaster General; Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1917 The long continued agitation between the railroads and the Post Office Department over the method of payment for mail transportation is in process of settlement by actual tests. The contention is whether the basis of payment shall be by weight or by the space used. While the space rate is the higher of the two it lends itself to rational readjustment, and is therefore best for government needs. The tests made show a saving of about $7,000,000 per annum by the space method. The efficiency standard now required of Postmasters, has it is stated, greatly improved the service and the announced policy of the Department to reappoint all those who render meritorious service has been adhered to and will be continued. During the year ending June 30, 1917, 38 second class offices were advanced to the first class; 135 third class to second, and 1,203 fourth class to third. Average annual salary of post-office clerks is now $1,142 per annum, city carriers $1,126.50. Removals of employees for cause are now rarely made, statistics show less than one per cent in both the post office and city carrier service. [7] It is recommended that where because of unusual conditions, rural carriers cannot be obtained at the maximum rate of pay, advertisements be issued calling for proposals for the performance of such service. Motor vehicle routes are now in operation on a total length of over 41,000 miles, averaging 54 miles per route, at an average cost of $1,786.49 per route. There are now 43,463 rural routes in operation, covering 1,112,556 miles. Cost of rural service decreased 0.011 per patron during the year 1917; cost per mile decreased 0.114 cent per mile. The cost per mile of travel by star-route contractors is $0.1024. Cost per mile of travel by rural carrier is $0.1510. This difference in cost is receiving departmental consideration. Shipment of parcel post packages increased 14 per cent in 1917, the increase representing more than 25,000,000 pieces. Cooperation of postmasters in bringing the insurance feature particularly that of partial damage prominently to public notice, has resulted in an increase of over 8,000,000 insured parcels over the showing of 1916. Growing carelessness in addressing letter mail resulted in 13,000,000 letters being found undeliverable during 1917, an increase of 21 per cent. The report shows an audited surplus for the year of $9,836,211 the largest in the history of the department. The increase over the preceding year was 5.66 per cent, while the increase in cost was 4.45 per cent. The audited revenues for the year amounted to $329,726,116. Remarkable growth in postal savings is shown. In 1917 there were 674,728 depositors with a total of $131,954,696 to their credit. The average balance for each depositor was $195.57. This was an increase over the previous year of 71,791 in the number of depositors, $45,934,811 in the amount and $52.90 in the per capita balance. [8] [9] CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE Latest Facts 7 General Postal History 11 Beginning of Personal Communication 12 Postal History of England 12 Penny Postage 13 General Post Office in London 14 French and German Postal History 15 The American Colonial Period 16 Under the Continental Congress 16 The Crown Postmasters 17 Post Offices and Post Roads Established 18 The Period of Progress 18 Postage Stamps Introduced 19 Progressive Steps Taken 19 Historical Data 20 CHAPTER II Questions of Finance. Postal Revenue—How Derived and Expended Revenues and Expenditures 21 Method of Expenditure 21 Appropriations 22 Auditor 23 CHAPTER III Departmental Operations—General and Detailed Descriptions and Cost of Service History of Rural Free Delivery 24 Rural Delivery Defined 25 The Struggle for Rural Delivery 25 The Advantages of Rural Delivery 26 Rural Delivery as Viewed by President McKinley 27 First County Rural Delivery 27 Country-Wide Extension, Rural Delivery 28 How Rural Delivery Enhances the Value of Farm Land 28 Per Capita Cost, in Rural Delivery 29 Some Necessary Conditions, Rural Delivery 31 Annual Cost per Patron by States and Pieces Handled 31 Population and Extension, Rural Service 32 Motor Vehicle Routes, Rural Delivery 32 Village Delivery 34 City Delivery 35 Star Routes 35 Postal Savings 35 Money Order System 36 Stamp Books 36 Postal Cards 37 Division of Stamps 37 Classification 37 Purchasing Agent 38 Dead Letter Office 38 Mail Locks 39 Mail Pouches 39 Post Office Supplies 41 Special Delivery 42 Foreign Mail Service 42 Topography Branch 43 Division of Post Office Service 44 American Postal System 45 Considerate Treatment of Newspaper Mail 45 CHAPTER IV Special Articles Stamp Manufacture, Bureau Engraving and Printing 46 Post Office Inspectors 48 Railway Mail Service 48 Parcel Post, Opposition Thereto 49 Interesting Facts. Postmasters General 53 Withdrawal of Letters from the Mail 54 Handling of the Mail in Department 54 Cost Accounting 55 Cleansing Mail Bags 55 Farm-to-Table Movement 55 Postal Service in Alaska 57 Standardization of Post Offices 58 Postal Savings Circulars in Foreign Tongues 58 A Patriotic Editor 59 Damage, Parcel Post Mail 59 Opinion of Daniel Webster on Mail Extension 60 Blind Woman on Pay Rolls 61 Wanamaker—Four Postal Reforms 62 The Rural Carrier as a Weather Man 64 New Box Numbering System, Rural Routes 65 Wireless Telephones, Rural Service 68 Parcel Post Exhibits at County Fairs 70 The Great Express Service of the Government 71 The Telephone and Parcel Post in Cooperation 72 Speeding up the Service—Rural Mails 73 Training Public Officials 74 For the Benefit of the Fourth Class Postmasters 76 Public Work and Private Control 77 Protecting the Public Records 78 Registry and Insurance Service, 1916 78 Readjustment Rate, Second Class Mail 79 Peculiar Customs, European Rural Delivery 80 What Was a Newspaper in 1825? 81 Women in the Post Office Department 82 Railroad Accidents, Construction of Cars 83 Public Ownership of Telegraph and Telephone—Burleson 83 Liquor Carried by the Mails 84 How the Post Office Department Helps the Farmer 85 Expediting the Mails on Star Routes 87 Abraham Lincoln Postmaster in 1837 88 A Central Accounting Office for Each County 88 Millions of Money for Good Roads 89 $14,550,000 for Rural Post Roads 91 Mail Extensions by Air and Motor Truck Routes 92 Care Required in Preparing Contracts 93 Birthday American Postal Service 93 List of Postmasters General 94 CHAPTER V Miscellaneous Matters General and Financial Summary 95 Items of Interest 97 Old Laws and Regulations 104 Queer Collection Holiday Mail 108 Feeding the Cats 110 Couple of Distinguished Canines 110 Soldier’s Sister a Mail Clerk 112 [10] Index to Items of Interest 112 THE AMERICAN POSTAL SERVICE CHAPTER I General Postal History The need of communication was doubtless one of the earliest activities of the Ancient World, not for public use but for government purpose. In Holy Writ we learn that the Israelitish Nation made early use of the means at hand. In the first Book of Kings it is stated that Queen Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed with the King’s seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles in the city. In the Book of Esther mention is made of sending letters by posts to all the King’s provinces. There are also evidences that the Assyrian and Persian nations established stations, or posts a day’s journey apart, at which horses were kept ready saddled with waiting couriers for the transmission of public orders and edicts. Xenophon mentions that Cyrus employed posts throughout his dominions and Herodotus speaks of the large structures erected for post stations. The mail service of China dates far back into antiquity. It is said that in the fourteenth century there were 10,000 mail stations in the empire. Peru, remarkable for its early evidences of civilization, had according to the historian Prescott, communication established from one end of the country to the other. There is, however, nothing to show that ordinary human affairs received any attention at this early period, the activities of rulers being devoted entirely to governmental interest and concern. The affairs of commerce and trade were probably carried on by personal enterprise, by voyages of trade discovery by water or expeditions on land. The method of using couriers for transmitting intelligence was evidently long continued, being the only means known by which such need could be met, or the one which most naturally suggested itself. The Romans employed couriers for the promulgation of military and public orders to their scattered provinces, private letters being sent by slaves or by such opportunity as occasion afforded. It is said that Charlemagne employed couriers for public purposes, but the practice was discontinued after his death, special messengers being used when occasion required. England employed couriers for public purposes in the thirteenth century, and in the fourteenth century Louis XI returned to the practice of employing mounted couriers and established stations but only for government purposes. The Beginning of Personal Communication As early as the beginning of the thirteenth century the need of personal communication was recognized and the University of Paris arranged for the employment of foot-messengers to bear letters from its thousands of students to the various countries in Europe from whence they came. This plan lasted until 1719. In the fifteenth century an attempt was made and the custom prevailed for some time, of sending letters by traveling tradesmen or dealers who made regular trips in certain directions for barter, purchase or sale. The tremendous stimulus given to the development of commercial conditions by the crusades, made business intercourse necessary, and the post riders who had surplus horses soon found use for them in the conveyance of passengers and ultimately in the transmission of general information which finally resulted in a fixed compensation and which method remained in use for a considerable period. The real beginning of letter posts for private and business purposes, dates from the year 1516, when Roger, Count of Thurn, established riding posts in the Tyrol, connecting Germany and Italy. A letter post had been established in the Hanse towns in the thirteenth century, but the actual commencement of such activities dates from the year 1516. The Emperor Charles V made these riding posts general throughout his dominions and appointed Leonard, Count of Thurn, his postmaster general. The Counts of Thurn and Taxis held this monopoly by regular succession for many years afterward. The rapid growth of English civilization made postal progress necessary for its people and this brings us to the period of most interest to students as well as the average reader. The Postal History of England As much of our postal system is naturally based on that of England from our early Colonial dependence, it is of interest to note the various steps of English progress and development in connection with the subject. [11] [12] The first English postmaster general of whom any account can be given was Sir Brian Tuke, who is described on the records of the year 1533 as “Magister Nuncrorum, Cursorum, Sire, Postarum,” but long subsequent to this appointment of a postmaster general the details of the service were frequently regulated by proclamation and by orders in council. During the earlier years of Queen Elizabeth, most of the business of the postal service to and from England was managed by the incorporated “Merchant Strangers” who appointed special postmasters among themselves. The accession of James I, necessitating more frequent communication between London and Scotland, led to many improvements in the postal service. It was ordered that the posts should travel not less than 7 miles an hour in summer and 5 miles in winter. In 1619 a separate postmaster general for foreign parts was created. Thomas Witherings was one of the successors in this office and entitled to rank as one of the many conspicuous postal reformers in the continental service. All letters were then carried by carriers or footpads 16 or 18 miles a day. It required two months to get answers from Scotland or Ireland to London. He directed that all northern mail be put into one “portmantle” directed to Edinburgh and separate bags to such postmasters as lived upon the road near to any city or town corporate, which was the first step in the separation of mail since carried to such perfection here and elsewhere. Penny Postage Attempted The income from the post office in 1643 was but 5,000 pounds. Ultimately the posts both inland and foreign were farmed out to John Manley for 10,000 pounds a year by an agreement made in 1653. About this time an attorney of York, named John Hill, ventured upon the plan of placing relays of post horses between that city and London and undertook to convey letters and parcels at half the former charge. He aimed to establish penny postage for England, two-penny postage for Scotland, and a four-penny postage for Ireland. But the post office was regarded in that day as a means of revenue and incidentally of political espionage and government did not approve of such individual enterprise. His letter carriers were literally trampled down by Cromwell’s soldiers, and the enterprising attorney narrowly escaped severe punishment. Another attempt at penny postage for London was established by William Duckwra, a custom house employe, and Robert Murray, a clerk in the excise office. Duckwra carried for a penny and registered and insured, both letters and parcels up to a pound in weight and $10 in value. He established hourly collections and ten deliveries daily for the central parts of London and six for the suburbs. The Duke of York had, however, a patent covering this service and suits were laid against him which put an end to his enterprise. The systematic employment of women in post office and telegraph service was for a long time an experiment and a problem, but it afterwards proved a success. Under new regulations in 1870, women were employed as telegraphists for eight hours daily with pay according to age, intelligence and practical experience. At the close of 1880, there were a thousand women so employed in the cities of London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, and nearly as many in minor postal positions throughout the Kingdom. General Post Office at London The necessary authority for the establishment of a general post office at London to cover the British dominions, including the American Colonies, was given by act of Parliament in 1657. Under this act the postal affairs of England were conducted for a great length of time with but little if any improvement. It was not until the memorable pamphlet of Sir Rowland Hill was issued in 1837 that any real progress was made or any attempt made worthy of mention. Postal conditions were so unsatisfactory that he made the whole subject a matter of profound inquiry and his pamphlet on “Postal Reform” stirred the nation and led to a complete reformation of the entire postal system and was the beginning of the British post office as we see it today. The important events in English postal history given above and that which follows in chronological order are abridged from the Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1891—1720, organization of cross roads and rural posts; 1753, establishment of post office in American Colonies under Benjamin Franklin; 1774, improved mail coaches and organized mail routes; 1821, first conveyance of mail by steam-packet; 1830, first mail coach by railway; 1834, postage stamps invented by James Chalmers, Dundee, Scotland; 1835, overland route to India; 1838, Postal money order system; 1840, general and uniform penny postage (per half ounce); 1855, first street letter boxes put up in London; 1856, Postal Guide issued; 1861, Postal Savings Banks instituted; 1870, transfer of telegraph to state and postal cars [13] [14] introduced; 1881, postal orders issued; 1883, parcel post established. French and German Postal History The French Postal System was founded by Louis XI in 1464. It was largely extended by Charles IX, 1565, and generally improved under Henry IV and Louis XIII. Napoleon abolished the board system by which the French service was then conducted and recommitted the business to a postmaster general as it had been under Louis XIII. Napoleon greatly improved the service in all its details, and the measures he adopted and the reforms he introduced in 1802 remained in force for many years afterward and are probably in use now with such additions as developments suggested. The most important reforms in French Postal History were the extension of postal facilities to all the communes, effected under Charles X, 1829; adoption of postage stamp, 1849, under Louis Napoleon. Issue of postal notes to bearer, 1860; Postal Savings Banks, instituted 1880. The development of the Prussian or present German postal system was mainly due to Dr. Stephan, who was also the chief organizer of the International Postal Union. This Prussian system, incorporated into the admirably organized post and telegraph service of the empire, began with the Great Elector, 1646. In Strasburg a messenger code existed as early as 1443. A postal service was organized at Nuremberg in 1570. The first mail steam packet was built in 1821; the first transmission of mails by railway was in 1847; telegraph service in postal affairs, 1849. A regular delivery by letter carriers attached to the state postal system existed in Berlin as early as 1712. These principal items of postal history concerning France and Germany are condensed from the excellent articles upon the subject as found in the Encyclopedia Brittanica, edition of 1891, as well as the information on English postal history, for which acknowledgment is made in its proper place relating to the Postal History of Great Britain. The American Colonial Period The earliest attempt to provide postal facilities for the colonies was in 1672 when Governor Lovelace, of the New York colony, established monthly service between New York and Boston. An office was later established at Philadelphia from which weekly mail was received and sent. By the signing of letters patent in 1691 the control of the American posts was vested in Thomas Neale, commonly called the “Neale Patent.” In that year Neale and the Royal Postmasters General appointed Andrew Hamilton, Postmaster General of America. All the colonies except Virginia cooperated with him in improving and extending the service. A weekly post was established between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Boston, Saybrook, New York, Philadelphia, Maryland and Virginia. Five riders were engaged to cover each of the five stages twice a week. In 1707 the crown purchased the good will of the American post and continued John Hamilton, the son of Andrew, in that office at an annual salary of 200 pounds. In the year 1737, Franklin became postmaster at Philadelphia and generally supervised the other offices of the colonies. In 1753 he was one of the deputy Postmasters General, but was dismissed in 1774 by Governor Hutchinson, of Massachusetts, because of his adherence to the patriotic cause. Under the Continental Congress But Franklin was not to remain idle for when the Continental Congress met at its second session at Philadelphia, July 26, 1775, they resolved to have a post office system of their own and he was selected to carry on the work. A salary of $1,000 per annum was voted him with permission to employ a secretary and a comptroller with a salary of $340 per annum to each, and a line of posts ordered established from Falmouth, New England, to Savannah, Ga., with postages 20 per centum less than those afforded by parliament. However, Franklin’s great diplomatic ability soon secured him a transfer to a wider field of usefulness and his son-in- law, Richard Bache, who had been comptroller, was named to succeed him. The ledger kept by this gentleman is still preserved among the archives of the Department. It consists of about 3 quines of foolscap, written over in a neat and legible hand. Ebenezer Hazard, who had been the Constitutional postmaster at New York, so termed to distinguish him from the British deputy at that place, was appointed to succeed him. In 1782, an act was passed by the Colonial Congress establishing a line of posts between New Hampshire and Georgia, the salary of the deputies not to exceed 20 per cent of the revenues. The rate of postage at that time on letters weighing not over 1 penny-weight and going not more than 60 miles was equal [15] [16] [17] to 5½ cents and a proportionate charge for greater weights and distances. The Crown Postmasters In a well-written article in the Washington, D. C., Evening Star, of July 26, 1913, upon the occasion of the celebration of the one hundred and thirty-eighth year of the American postal service, the activities or self-assumed powers of the English or crown postmasters and its effect in encouraging the independent sentiment of the time was stated as follows: “These crown postmasters had, or at least they exercised, the right of ‘spying’ upon the mails intrusted to their care. This made it difficult and dangerous for the liberty- loving colonists to communicate with each other. The zealous representatives of England also professed to exercise a supervising care over the newspapers which were printed in the colonies, and made arbitrary rules and regulations against those who were too liberal or outspoken in their expressions of condemnation of things as they then were and who dared to urge the liberty and independence of the colonists. Some papers were shut out of the mails and some were forced to tone down their utterances. A pound sterling was demanded to carry 250 papers, 130 miles. “The post office led in the unification of the colonists. Paul Revere was the confidential post rider of Massachusetts. The tea party in Boston Harbor would have been but a neighborhood affair but for the agency of the post office and the patriotic publishers who spread the news up and down the Atlantic coast. “The postal service did more than any one other agency to unify and unite the colonists. It brought their interests and endeavors to a common meeting point. It brought the leading men and women to know and exchange ideas one with another. Printing presses were established about the same time that the postal service was begun in America. Postmasters enjoyed the privilege of sending their mail free of postage, so most postmasters became publishers. In this way the news of the doings of the various jealous colonists was disseminated and the opinions of these early postmaster-publishers were given wide circulation. It added an incentive to trade and intercourse. By making the colonists acquainted it dissipated jealousies. The growth of the post office from the humble beginning of a sturdy carrier from New York to Boston loaded with ‘divers letters and small portable packages’ (you see they had parcel post even in those days), solidified the colonists and made their independence possible.” Post Offices and Post Roads Established During the Continental Government, the receipts of all the post offices did not exceed $35,000 and in 1789 were $10,000 less. February 20, 1792, an act was passed establishing post offices and post roads within the United States, the first general law. The contracts made were to run eight years and the salary of the Postmaster General was increased to $2,000, and $1,000 for his Assistant. The original number of post offices (that is for the first year) was seventy-five and the mail routes less than 2,000 miles over which mails were carried by horse, stage, or sailing packets. In 1795, the number of postoffices had increased to 453, and the routes to over 13,000, and the net revenue to over $42,000. This closes the period of Continental management, except ordinary details and changes which bore no relation to any especial object or purpose. The Period of Progress From 1801 dates the great advance in modern methods, ideas and accomplishment. It then occupied forty days to get a letter from Portland, Me., to Savannah, Ga., and bring back an answer, and forty-four at Philadelphia for a reply to one addressed to Nashville, Tenn. Ten years later the time had been reduced to twenty-seven and thirty days. By 1810 there were over 2,400 post offices and the post routes covered over 37,000 miles. Marked improvements began soon after this period. The office of Second Assistant Postmaster General was created and the scale of postages changed. Single letters of one piece were charged from 8 to 25 cents, according to distance. Sunday delivery of mail at post offices was inaugurated about that time in the face of great objection from the religious bodies of the country, the strife being kept up for many years. In 1813 the mails were first conveyed in steamboats from one port town to another, the Government paying 3 cents for each letter and 1 cent for newspapers. The postal laws of 1816 made a further change in postage which lasted until 1845. The new scale charged letters consisting of one piece of paper, not going over 30 miles, 6 cents; not over 80 miles, 10 cents; not over 150 miles, 12½ cents, and not over 400 miles, 18¾ cents, and for greater distances, 25 cents. On the ninth of March, 1829, Hon. William T. Barry, of Kentucky, was [18] commissioned Postmaster General by President Jackson, and called to a seat in his Cabinet, being the first Postmaster General to receive that honor. Postage Stamps Introduced Early in 1836, pony expresses as they were called, were put into operation on the principal turnpike roads of the Southern and Western States for the purpose of carrying letters of persons desiring greater expedition, press news and Government dispatches, at triple the ordinary rates, but the experiment was abandoned, not proving profitable. In July, 1838, the Department was reorganized and an Auditor appointed. The office of Third Assistant Postmaster General was also created at that time. Railroads were declared post routes by act of Congress, in July, 1838, and the mails carried upon them. Postage stamps of the five-and ten-cent denominations with the faces of Franklin and Washington, respectively, were introduced in 1847. Previously all postages were collected entirely in money, prepayment being optional. July, 1851, a new series of stamps was adopted, consisting at first of denominations of 1 and 3 cents, but afterwards of larger amounts. Progressive Steps Taken Rapidly sketched for reference, the more important progressive steps that followed show that during the administration of President Tyler, while Hon. Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, was Postmaster General, many reforms were instituted, such as cheapening the postage, improving the manner of letting routes by contract, prohibiting private expresses, and restricting the franking privilege. Prior to this period, letters were not rated by weight but by enclosures. For instance, a letter containing three banknotes for which the single letter charge would be 18¾ cents for over 150 miles, was then charged 75 cents, the inclosure making it a quadruple letter. Under the new system the rate was measured by the weight, all weighing not over half an ounce were regarded as single letters and carried for 5 cents for distances not over 300 miles and 10 cents for greater distances. In 1850 the “foreign desk,” from which ultimately grew the admirable arrangement of the Postal Union, was instituted by Hon. Horatio King, of Maine. Through the efforts of Judge Hall, of New York, Postmaster General under President Fillmore, the postage on letters was reduced to 3 cents. The registration system came in under Postmaster General Campbell, of Pennsylvania, during the administration of President Pierce. The Free Delivery Service was inaugurated in 1863 by Hon. Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, also the money order system in 1864, in Lincoln’s administration. The Railway Mail Service dates from July, 1862, when Judge Holt, of Kentucky, ordered its establishment, the first railway postoffice being from Quincy, Ill., to St. Joseph, Mo., on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railway. Historical Data A summary of historical data covering some of the principal features of postal progress may be given in chronological order as follows: Postage stamps first issued at New York, July, 1847; stamped envelopes first issued, June, 1853; letters registered, July, 1855; newspaper wrappers, Act of Congress, February, 1861; Free City Delivery, July, 1863; Money Order System, November, 1864; International Money Orders, October, 1867; Postal Cards, May, 1873; Postage reduced to 2 cents, October, 1883; Special Delivery, October, 1885; Rural Delivery, October, 1896; Postal Savings, January, 1911; Parcel Post, January, 1913. The maximum number of post offices in the United States, 76,945, was reached in 1901, since which time by the introduction of rural delivery the number has steadily declined, 21,011 having been discontinued. July, 1916, there were 55,934 in operation. Extent of post routes in miles in 1790 was 1,875. In 1915 the number was 1,672,169. The miles of service performed in 1915 amounted to 617,527,795. The entire compensation paid to postmasters in 1789 was $1,657. In 1916 the estimated amount was $31,150,000. [19] [20] [21]