General Post Office

“ In concluding his letter to the general post office recommending the application of the lieutenant governor, Heriot added that there was a strong desire on the part of influential people in Upper Canada that there should be a deputy postmaster general for that province, as well as one for Lower Canada. ”

“ With regard to the administration of the Post Office, it may be remarked, that so long as the office of Post-master General is a political appointment, it is impossible that the individual selected, however anxious he may be efficiently to discharge his duty, can do more than acquire a general knowledge of the vast and complicated mechanism he is supposed to direct. ”

“ In the Foreign Department with thirty-five men, there were only 250 superficial feet where they must perform their duties. The accommodations for receiving letters were so inadequate that when a foreign mail was being made up, the windows were crowded with an impatient and seething mob waiting for their turn to post their letters. The condition of the Penny Post Department was no better. In 1814 a committee of the House of Commons reported that a new General Post Office building was absolutely necessary. ”

“ The Postmaster-General has to defend the policy and conduct of his Department in Parliament, 262and he has to pilot through the House in which he may be sitting all measures relating to the Post Office. He has magnificent opportunities, and as he is the largest employer of labour in the country, his policy on all industrial and working-class questions is a matter of national concern.
We often hear the question asked, “Does a change of Postmaster-General make any difference to the Post Office?” A change certainly makes sometimes a great difference to the staff. ”

“ Neale, at his own cost, was to establish a postal system, comprising a general post office at a place agreed upon, and one or more subordinate offices in each county. Couriers were to be available to take letters anywhere within the colony—without postage if on public business, at rates fixed by the colony if they were private letters. But no person need employ the post office, should any other more convenient or cheaper mode of conveyance offer itself. ”

“ The London mail coaches of the period loaded up at about half-past seven at their respective inns, and then assembled at the Post Office yard in St. Martin's-le-Grand to receive the bags. All, that is to say, except seven coaches carrying West of England mails—the Bath, Bristol, Devonport, Exeter, Gloucester, Southampton, and Stroud—which started from Piccadilly.
A contemporary writer said:—"Wonderful building, the new General Post Office, opened [Pg 74] in 1829, nearly opposite. They say the Government has got something very like a white elephant in that vast pile. ”

“ The Act sets forth that "Experience having shown that the settling a Post Office is the best means to maintain trade, convey dispatches, and discover dangerous designs, it is enacted that there shall be but one Post Office, and one Postmaster-General and Controller to settle Posts, who shall carry all [Pg 236] letters except those sent by known carriers, or merchants' letters of advice sent by ship-masters; also, except private letters sent by messengers. He is to have the horsing of all who ride by post." ”

“ The free transmission of the correspondence of members of the legislature, the council urged, should be provided for. The deputy postmaster general should be removable on the joint address of the two houses of the legislature; the salaries of all officials should be fixed, and perquisites of every kind withdrawn. Finally such alterations should be made in the rates of postage, such post offices established and such arrangements adopted for the regulation and management of the service, as were called for by the joint address of the two houses. ”

“ The Engineers In writing of the activities of the General Post Office, it is difficult to know where to stop, or in that slaughter of the innocents which must always take place when space is not available, to decide who is to be spared. We certainly cannot leave out the Post Office engineer. ”

“ Shortly after the Liberals had come into power, a Post Office circular was issued granting to the secretaries of the branches of the various postal organizations the right to make representations to the Postmaster-General relating to the service and affecting the class of which the branch of an association was representative. In matters solely affecting an individual the appeal had to come from the individual himself. ”

“ The duties of each of these heads are very clearly defined by Postmaster Morgan, and each head is held to strict responsibility for the faithful and efficient conduct of his division or department. The postmaster himself is ever ready to give advice and counsel, and is the most accessible of executives, not only to his staff, but to employees of all rank and to the public. He in turn requires of all of his aides not only a thorough knowledge of every detail of their work, but also that they shall be as accessible to those under them and to the public as he is himself. ”

“ During Allen's farm of the cross and bye post letters, missent letters were no longer forwarded to London, but any postmaster, into whose hands they came, was instructed to place them on the right track. [198] Four years later a third office was instituted, a Money Order Office. No order could be issued for more than five guineas and the fee for that sum was 4s. 6d. It was started as a private speculation by some of the postal officials and so remained until 1838 when it was taken over by the General Post Office. ”

“ The delegates, therefore, recommended that the post office departments in the several provinces should be separate and distinct from one another, and under the control, each, of its own provincial government, which should appoint all officers, make arrangements for mail service, pay all expenses, and retain all collections, except the balances due to Great Britain on packet postage.
For expenditures common to all the provinces, there should be an office of central audit in Canada of which the postmaster general of Canada should be the head. ”

“ The absence of organization was more noticeable in the Maritime provinces, a condition which the commissioners attributed to the failure of the deputy at Halifax to establish general regulations, and to the want of travelling surveyors or inspectors, who might have introduced uniformity of practice among the postmasters. ”

“ Work who had direct supervision of the 52,000 post-offices and more than two-thirds of all postal workers. By persistent efforts to build up the spirit of the great army of postal workers and bring the public and the post-office into closer contact and more intimate relationship, the postal system has been placed at last on a footing of service to the public. ”

“ Persons who hold the office of Postmaster abroad are of so great quality that they disdain to correspond with a man of his mean condition. Some satisfaction may be given him, but he has very much enriched himself upon the place. He is said to be worth £800 a year in land. The office of Postmaster-General being now vested in the Secretaries, the carrying of letters is a business of State. If Witherings shall insist upon his patent, His Majesty may sequester the place into the hands of the Secretaries. ”

“ The Post Office, as we have seen, had hitherto existed chiefly for the benefit of the aristocratic and moneyed classes—those of the latter, at least, who were Members of Parliament, then rich men only—the general public having to pay dearly for the privilege of using the Department for conveyance of their correspondence. ”

“ The duties of the office were to audit the accounts of the several provinces, returns of which should be presented annually to the different legislatures; to collect and transmit to England the balances due from the four provinces on the packet service; and, in concert with the postmaster general in each province, to make all necessary arrangements for the transmission of the mails along the chief or central route from Canada to Halifax and between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. ”

“ You will arrive at the Post Office Department at 2:15p.m. where you will be met by the Post Master General, Winton Blount, who will escort you to his office on the third floor where you will meet key members of the Post Office Department. ”

“ The greater portion of the Civil Service at this period were up in arms to claim their right to the franchise, and the Post-Office, as represented by the clerical staff, particularly played its part. The Post-Office clerks took the lead, and joined with the rest of civil servants in the general demand to be treated as loyal and intelligent citizens. Many meetings were held, at which M.P.’s and influential speakers attended. ”

“ The Row at the Post Office.—As the Savings' Bank Department has for years been the Cinderella of the Civil Service, this is a subject that will not create much interest; however, you might possibly extract a pleasantry out of the name of the present Postmaster-General in connection with the now-appeased employés. With a little trouble you should be able to say something quite sparkling about what the "officers" hoe to Raikes! ”

“ Suggestions for improvement are invited and considered from those within the service as well as those without, and it is believed that a full measure of usefulness will not be attained until the American public, which in this sense includes the postal workers themselves, are convinced that the service belongs to them. ”

“ She respected her husband in the same way as she respected the General Post Office, as something large, secure and fixed; and though she knew the small number of his talents she appreciated his abstract value as a male. ”

“ One agency, for example, whose head has promised early and vigorous action to provide greater efficiency is the Post Office. One of the oldest institutions of our Federal Government, its service should be of the best. Its employees should merit and receive the high regard and esteem of the citizens of the Nation. There are today in some areas of the postal service, both waste and incompetence to be corrected. ”