| Show written for this paper BISSELLS BIG JOB WASH washington agton D C nov 26 1893 the most overworked men in washington today are president Clev elands cabinet ministers every one ot of thern them has his hands full carlisle has been boiling his brains for months over bonds and bullion gresham is almost distracted by the situation in the sandwich islands hoke smith is wondering how the soldiers vote can be gotten b back c k to the democratic party by new pension t legislation and wilson shannon bissell is is worried to know how to make the small postal appropriations meet the immense deficit which the lack of business and the hard times is creating in our postal revenues I 1 have devoted this week to a study of our new postmaster general he is by no means an ordinary man he is not only a hard worker himself but he understands ho how w to get work out of others his experience peri ence as a railroad president and a railroad lawyer stands him in good stead in the post office department and he seems to have grasped its work and its possibilities remarkably well bissells mind is an analytic one he gets at the nut of a question at once and he bother himself over details he prides himself on his power of organization and he is able to give the drudgery of his office over to his subordinates he has in fact very good executive abilities and I 1 find that he is making some radical changes in our post office methods I 1 called upon him this week he was sitting behind the desk in the office of the postmaster general where john wanamaker used to sit about a year ago the desk which is a big flat topped affair of black walnut had still its plate glass top below which lies a map of the united states but there was less litter about it and fewer papers upon it and the man who occupied the seat behind it had fewer lines of care in his face postmaster general wanamaker took his life very seriously when he talked his blue eyes became grave and perceptible crows feet appeared at their corners comers his hair was roughed up with much running of the fingers through it and he bore all the aspects of hard work the new postmaster general works perhaps perhaps just as hard but he seems to do his is work more easily he gets to the office at in the morning and he works away here until at night putting in twice as aa many hours as any of his clerks still he does not look over tired he is a well dressed healthy looking giant with a big head fastened to broad fat shoulders by a strong neck he stands over six feet in his stockings and I 1 venture that he weighs pounds he is a clean looking man and he seems to be as healthy in mind as he is in b ody body he is noted for his reticence concerning himself and his department and he is is one of the few public men who do not like to see their names in the newspapers he will talk freely enough provided he knows he will not be quoted and he is not an aristocrat I 1 sat sometimes and watched him as he rece received ived his callers A number ot of them were business men and among others were some who had questions to answer or propose concerning contracts I 1 w was as surprised to see how quickly he seemed to grasp each situation as it came up and how positively and quickly he passed upon them I 1 find that he is making many radical changes in the organization of the post office department he is cutting down expenses to the lowest notch wherever they do not impair the efficiency of the mails HOW THE HARD TIMES AFFECT THE POST OFFICES the postmaster general finds it imperative pera tive to reduce our postal expenses the hard times have confide considerably ably lessened the postal revenues th there e re i is s no business barometer more sensitive than the post office the mail increases or decreases in proportion to the amount of business done and it is safe to say that there has not for years been such a radical falling off in postal receipts for the pas past t thirty or r forty years there has been an average increase of about seven per cent a year in the postal revenue over that of the year preceding this increase has been so regular that when congress has made its appropriations it has haq allowed for it it did t that h at last year yea well the revenues went a along I 1 ong all right up to the of june an and d during the first three months of mr bissells term the percentage of increase was more than eight per cent over the receipts of the corresponding months of last year in july the hard times began and the percentage of increase dropped during that month from eight per cent to three per cent at the close of august it was found that the receipts were four per cent less than they were during the august of 1892 this was a decrease of eleven per cent over what had been an and the same story will probably be told as to the other months of this fall the result is that the appropriations will not equal the expenses and the postmaster general is having his hands full in trying to make the ends meet UNCLE SAMS ECONOMY it is interesting to note how the postmaster general is economizing in a big business like that of the post office it is the little things that count and a hundred thousand dollars has just zt been saved by cutting off an order for a billion of the big columbian s stamps am s there is little difference between the e ordinary red two cent stamp and the columbian stamp in size but the difference is big enough to make the columbian stamp cost just about one hun dreith of a cent more than the red stamp the columbian stamps cost just about seventeen cents a thousand while the red stamps cost only seven and one half cents a thousand the change means a saving of ten cents on every thousand stamps or of aioo zoo on a million stamps and of io oooo on a billion stamps the last administration made a contract for three billions of these stamps at seventeen cents a thousand it was thou thought that there would be a great demand for them but they did not sell the people did not want them and it was to the interest of the depart ment to be released from their contract after considerable ati cn the american bank note company kompany agreed to let the postmaster general off from he last billion he consenting to take up to the amount of two billions of the s amps the contractors could have heldtke department but they did not and thus uncle sam will have just io oooo profit off of the opera operation t ion THE NEW POSTAL CARDS another economy has just been m inaugurated augu rated in the making of the postal cards during the past few years we have been using three different styles of cards there was a little white card for a cent for the ladies a yellow barn door at the same price for the big business man and a middle sized card for general use it has cost considerably more to make the three different styles than one and the postmaster general has decided decided to use but one card and the one fixed upon is of the size used by the international postal union and postal cards will now be the same all the world over we use such an immense quantity of these cards that the saving in in the new contract amounts to a year the contract is made for four years and the total saving will thus be 28 oooo it is a one cent business but the saving means a fortune MILLIONS IN LOST MONEY ORDERS it will be sur surprising rising to ao many people that the postal service of the united states by no means pays its own expenses uncle sam has as for years been carrying letters and mail below cost and it is estimated that the post office de apartment part ment will need about every year from the appropriations of congress this is so notwithstanding that the mails are carried over the pacific roads without any cash outlay on the part of the post office these roads owe the government and the amount of money due for carrying the mail is credited to their account if it were not so the department would have to pay out about additional every year so that it really costs a a year more than it brings in the most expensive part of the business is the carrying of of second class matter which pays only a cent a pound and which costs on an average about seven cents a pound to deliver all of these items are being closely looked into durin during these hard times and every bit of postal posta revenue is being scrutinized the postmaster general beneral in fact has been materially helped helped through the money order fund we have had a money order system since 1864 and during all this time orders have been issued and paid for but the money has not been called lor for at the other end either the orders have been been lost or stolen or the parties receiving them have failed to collect them these sums have accumulated until they have now between two and three million dollars of such money in the treasury department from this fund there was recently credited to the post office department part ment 1250 and this is now be ing applied to the deficiency of the current year I 1 made some inquiries at the de depart part ment as to whether any improvements t were contemplated in the postal service and I 1 find that it is the postmaster generals idea not to attempt any experiments at the present time Heisa he is a great advocate of thorough organization and of complete development he believes that the postal service can be improved by investigating its needs strengthening its weak spots and perfecting its present system he is is not at present seriously considering any matters connected with the postal tele telegraph raph postal telephone or the pneumatic tube be system for cities evidently believing that such experiments necessitating the expenditure of great sums of money should be left to more prosperous times BISSELL AND CIVIL SERVICE during my call I 1 had a few words with him about the service and find that he is thoroughly in favor of civil service rules and thinks that these should be enforced as far as possible he told me that these rules had been extended to fourth class postmasters and that these are now allowed to remain in office for four years whether they are republicans or democrats unless good reasons ar are given for their removal the ap appointments coln of postmasters ar are 1 now mat maae almost entirely on petition from om the people pe 0 and the postmaster general cited a case oi of a city in which there was a delegates convention called by the members of the democratic party of the city where the delegates elected their postmaster the different candidates came before it and one of the defeated ones moved that the nomination of the successful man should be made unanimous this was carried and the name of the successful nominee received the she appointment from the department here hem WHAT HE THINKS OF government clerkships CLERK SHIPS while talking to the fhe postmaster gen esal the other day the subject of govern ment clerks came up and I 1 asked him whether he would advise young men to get places under the government he replied that he would not and said that the short hours and the he work seemed to demoralize the employed emp loyes said he it seems to me that the hours and the work here are injurious to character the clerks work from nine until four and there is a tendency for them to become machines they have not the incentives to good work that you find fiad in other branches of business and if I 1 had a boy I 1 would not want him in the department just in bithis connection I 1 have a in in buffalo who wrote me the other day wanting a place in the 7 department he is now a letter carrier in buffalo and when I 1 first met him he was blacking my boots in a barber sho shop P he attracted my attention by his knowledge of geography ol 01 the united states A man who was being shaved asked aj whether detroit was the capital of michigan when this boy broke in and said no it is not it is lansing I 1 then asked him what was the capital of louisiana he replied baton rogue and connecticut said I 1 hartford is the capital now was the boys r reply ly it used to have two capitals har hartford elrd and new haven but they fiat have c changed i ed IV that and it has now only hartford I 1 then asked the boy where he went to school and he told me that he was going to night school and learning as ed E test best he could I 1 gave him an order on 1 one of the book stores for what books he wanted and took an interest in him from that time on well he got a fair education and one day he surprised me by coming into my office and telling me that he had passed the civil service examination and was working for uncle sam he had received an appointment as letter carrier and he is is now makin making 9 1000 a year he has been saving his money and investing it and he is now worth a nice little prope property rt he is a bright young man and lugh though I 1 did not tell him so I 1 think he is far better off in buffalo than in a washington department apartment part ment MR BISSELL TALKS OF THE PRESIDENT at this point the conversation turned to president cleveland and the postmaster general chatted interestingly of his early association with him it is now nearly twenty years since the two began an their practice in the law at buffalo in connection with mr lyman K bus bass who had been a member of congress mr bass left the firm in 1876 and from that time on it went under the name of cleveland bissell in speaking ot of it I 1 said S suppose tu omose r mr Bissel lyou let your our mind run back back fifteen years to the time when you and the president was practicing law together at buffalo had you any i idea ea at that time that grover ca cleveland nd might be president of the unit united states and yourself a cabinet officer 1 I can easily answer for myself said ahe the postmaster Get general and almost as well as to the president I 1 never had any ambition to engage in politics and at that time I 1 was devoting myself to th the practice of law during the first years ot my legal association with mr cleveland it was my idea that he might go on the bench and I 1 was wag at that time anxious to have him accept a place as one of the judges cf of the superior court and aad I 1 spoke to him about it but he did wt not take to the idea he has an A eminently judicial mind and I 1 have always thought he would have made as great a reputation as chief justice of supreme court of the united states ashe as he hasas has as president it is the judicial character of his mind that fits him so well for his present position his head is always clear as to great questions he makes up his mind after considering all sides of a question and he is is generally correct his judicial ability was recognized in the courts of buffalo it used to be that the judges there in deciding a point of law would ask the opinion of some of the lawyers present upon it i t before making their judgment and I 1 have often noted that it if grover cleveland was in the court room he was man whose advice was sought this was so when he was quite a young lawyer and he made himself noted at the bar as a safe and conservative counselor HOW GROVER CLEVELAND WORKS was he much of a student I 1 asked yes replied the postmaster general president cleveland has always been a hard worker he likes work better than anything else and he was as industrious dust rious as a lawyer as he is as president of the united states I 1 first knew him in the law firm of lanning laning cleveland landa folsom way back in in 1869 1 I had just graduated from yale and I 1 acted as one of the six clerks for this firm for a time they had a big business they were attorneys for the new york central and other railroads and their outside practice was large cleveland was the hardest worker of the firm I 1 have never neer known a man who worked harder to master all the details of his cases it seem to make much dif difference terence whether the amount involved was big or little and he often put as much time on small cases as he did on large ones he |
