Thursday 12th November 2009 - Who'd be a Postmaster?

          I think I've said this before, but I really rather like sitting in libraries and reading.  And it's not (just) the scenery and the hired help: it's the peace and quiet, and the other people doing the same thing.  If I won the lottery, it might be enjoyable to have a library of my own, but it would be more important to organise access to specialist libraries open to like-minded people.  Anyway, this not being a 'Glasgow' place, I've spent a week sitting in nice library reading background about Post Offices and Postmasters.

 

          Postmasters of the nineteenth century came in four classes, depending on the amount of business they did.  They were largely political appointments.  It is said that if you went to a nineteenth-century party convention, most of the people there worked for the Post Office.  And the more desirable the income, the more likely it was that a change of President would result in a change of Postmaster.  It was part of the "spoils system" developed by Andrew Jackson, the 7th President (1829-37), although that probably owes more to his Vice-President and successor, Martin vanBuren, the first serious political organiser in the world, whose work ultimately resulted in Tammany Hall.  VanBuren was the first President not of British ancestry, probably not a 'proper chap' at all.

          Anyway, postmasters of the fourth class often did the job as a favour to their neighbourhood: they didn't make much money, if any.  So our subjects, the worthy Glasgows of Ohio and Pennsylvania likely saw it as what supermarkets would now call a 'loss-leader', to attract people to their store and village.

          There are many stories about the difficulties of running a post office in those days.  In the 1890s there were volumes of racy tales about the activities of the 'Special Agents' of the Post Office Secret Service.  In a time when miners entrusted packets of gold (hard to believe, isn't it?) to the Post Office, temptations were high.  The Postmaster had to get two people to stand bond for him.

          My favourite story is about congress deciding to change the remuneration of 4th-class postmasters (apparently they were always tinkering with it).  To save money, they had the bright idea of changing from a salary based on the level of business to a commission based on sales of stamps.  The system involved allowing postmasters to buy stamps at huge discounts, 40-50%.  Well, you can tell what happened, can't you?   Sales of stamps by 4th-class postmasters went through the ceiling, while, surprise, surprise, sales of stamps in nearby towns and cities went through the floor.  There are some things governments just shouldn't do.  Although it was Richard Nixon who finally removed the post office from executive control (so he wasn't all bad!).

 

          Later that night, I was mulling over the vast difference between talking about something, and writing it down like this, where anybody can see and comment on it.  I was really thinking of yesterday's little homily on conditional mood on road signs.  If I'd been talking about it, I would certainly have said "subjunctive".  Writing about it, I had to look it up (isn't the internet wonderful?).  In fact, in that context (the use of 'modal' verbs) I always used to say 'subjunctive'.  I hope nobody copied me.