THE HEAD POSTMASTER
The supporters of an Established Church have often argued that the
presence in any town or village of a State official pledged to the
promotion of righteousness and the spiritual life is a national asset,
and that it is to the advantage of every citizen to have a centre of
sweet reasonableness provided for him at the rectory or vicarage. It is
certainly a tradition of English country life to look to the clergyman
of a parish to take the lead in many local matters, especially in those
of a philanthropic character. But there is also in every village and
town another State official who in consequence of the varied nature of
his duties is the guide and counsellor of the public in a number of
their temporal concerns, and who is by virtue of his office appealed to
constantly on matters which lie far outside his official labours. For he
is always “On his Majesty's Service,” and he is expected to live up to
that position, to be a walking _Encyclopedia Britannica_, a local _Who's
Who?_ a financial adviser, a boarding and lodging house agent, and to
know everything, in fact, which the clergyman does not know, and is not
expected to know. The Post Office is regarded not so much as a centre of
sweet reasonableness as a centre of light and information which can be
applied to without money and without price. The growth in the importance
of the office of postmaster has been continuous since the earliest days
of the Service, and this is of course easily explained by the story of
the Post Office which I have been telling. At first, as I have already
pointed out, the postmaster was usually an innkeeper. He provided horses
for the King's posts, and it has to be admitted that for this purpose he
selected as a rule the worst that were in his possession. The duty of
receiving and despatching letters was left to a waiter or chambermaid,
and frequently, as there was no separate place set apart for Post Office
work, letters were sorted in the bar. A surveyor reported on one
occasion that “the head ostler was often the postmaster's prime minister
on matters relating to the mails.” When the mail coaches were put on the
road, it was felt desirable that the innkeepers should no longer be
postmasters, and a change was gradually introduced in the conditions
under which the office was held. For a great number of years in most
towns of the kingdom the postmastership was held by a local tradesman,
and he carried on his own business at the same time, just as
sub-postmasters do at the present day.
The change was certainly for the benefit of the public, and the mail
service was treated more seriously by the postmaster. In some ways he
was a more important public servant than he is to-day. In the days
before telegraphy he was also a central news agency. A circular was
issued to all postmasters in 1812 in these terms:—
“TO ALL POSTMASTERS, G.P.O.
“_April 1812._
“It has long been an instruction to many of the postmasters and agents
that they should transmit to me for the information of his Majesty's
Postmaster-General an immediate account of all remarkable occurrences,
that the same may be communicated if necessary to his Majesty's
principal Secretaries of State, and you will not fail to act in
conformity thereto. Your assured friend,
“FRANCIS FREELING, _Secretary_.”
That injunction has become a dead letter, and the most that a postmaster
is expected to do in this direction is to note any references in the
local press to matters relating to the Department, and to send copies of
the newspapers to the Secretary, General Post Office.
With the growth of Post Office business, the Head Postmaster has become
a Civil Servant: he is now provided with an office of his own, and he
usually gives up his time to the Service. A Head Postmaster is not
allowed to interest himself in any business, such as banking, insurance,
or parcels delivery, which would bring him into competition with his own
Department. Unlike the centre of sweet reasonableness at the vicarage,
he is compelled to be absolutely neutral at election times, and the
postmaster is expected at all times to be discreet and guarded in the
expression of his political views. Sometimes, therefore, it happens that
the centre of sweet reasonableness is really at the post office and not
at the vicarage.
In the old days a knowledge of horses was the chief requirement in a
postmaster, but year by year additions have been made to his work, and
he is now required to be not only a smart business man but to know a
great deal concerning many different activities. He is responsible for
the despatch and delivery of the mail service in his district, but he
also has to look after a large banking business, including money order
and postal order systems: he has to know something of telegraphy and of
the telephone, and in addition to his Post Office business he does work
for the Inland Revenue, such as the sale of Inland Revenue and Fee
Stamps and the granting of dog, gun, establishment, motor, and game
licences. And the latest duties which have been placed upon him are the
payment of old age pensions and the working of a portion of the National
Insurance Scheme.
At the Head Office in London every official has to specialise more or
less, but a Head Postmaster cannot afford to do this. In addition to the
various duties I have mentioned, he has to manage a large staff of men,
to preserve discipline, and to see that the sub-postmasters of his
district are performing their duties properly.
Undoubtedly the status of the postmaster has risen considerably, and in
large towns he occupies a high and influential position among the men of
business. His immediate superior as a rule is the surveyor of his
district, but the postmasters of the largest towns in the United Kingdom
are their own surveyors. These postmasterships are the prizes of the
professions, and they include Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester,
Glasgow, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Belfast, Cardiff,
Nottingham, Sheffield, and Hull. The salaries attached to these posts
vary from £725 to £1000, and the postmasters are frequently Civil
Servants who have passed the highest examinations on entering the
Service, and they are invariably men of superior education, ability, and
experience. Yet so long does it take to root out an old association of
ideas in the mind of the British public, that a postmaster is still
regarded in the minds of many people as merely a man who sells stamps
and perhaps fancy articles.
Let me take the city of Liverpool as an illustration of how the growth
of Post Office business has raised the importance of the postmaster. In
the year 1775 there was only one postman in the town, and by the year
1900 the numbers had risen to 800. It is true that in 1775 the staff was
already considered inadequate. A petition was sent up to London in that
year asking for another postman, but it was not granted. The reply,
however, did not deal with the necessities of the case, but declined to
accede to the petitioners' request on the ground that “not more than one
letter carrier has yet been allowed to any one town in England.” So
firmly established even then was the power of precedent in the official
mind. In the year 1839 the weekly number of letters and newspapers dealt
with at Liverpool amounted to 103,201, and in 1900 the number had risen
to 4,823,694. Of course, all the other large towns in the Kingdom could
show similar increases in proportion to their size, and these figures
take no account of the increases in other kinds of Post Office business
which have been equally significant.
Let me take as another illustration the city of Bristol. Here we have a
city which in the race for priority of position has been “passed over”
by younger and more pushful rivals like Liverpool and Hull. Yet the
growth of the Post Office business here has been extraordinary. There is
an old official record which consists of an application by a postmaster
of Bristol for an increase in his salary. The request was granted by the
Postmaster-General in the following minute, which is dated 13th December
1686: it is addressed to the Governor of Bristol. “You are therefore of
opinion that the said salary (£50) is very small considering the expense
the petitioner is att and his extraordinary trouble, Bristoll being a
greate Citty, but you say that you doe not think all the things he setts
down in the aforesaid accompt ought to be allowed him, the example being
of very ill consequence, for (as you informe me) you doe not allow
either candles, pack-thread, wax, ink, penns or paper to any of the
postmasters, nor office rent, nor returns of money; you are therefore of
opinion that tenn pounds per annum to his former salary of £50 will be a
reasonable allowance, and the petitioner will be therefore well
satisfied: these are therefore to pray and require you to raise his
salary from £50 to £60 accordingly.”
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[Illustration]
_Photo_ _Clarke & Hyde._
THE SORTING SCHOOL.
This pupil is busy learning general sorting—that is,
dividing the mail into districts. Notice the map of England
and the names of the London railway termini in front of him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The General Post Office has altered very much in its methods since those
days, but the care with which it evidently sifted a claim for increase
of pay two hundred years ago is equally marked to-day if we are to
believe the almost unanimous verdict of Post Office servants. Certainly
this particular concession does not appear to have been extravagant. We
are reminded indeed of the waiter's remark to David Copperfield, “Never
mind the ink; I lose by that.” The Bristol Post Office has advanced
since those days. Even so late as 1855, the staff numbered only 80; at
the present time it is considerably over 1500.
The smaller towns show similar increases in proportion to their
population. Even where the population is stationary, there is increase:
the post office is more in request by the inhabitants. Rarely, indeed,
is there a tale to tell of decline. There is one curious instance in
recent years of a Head Office being reduced to the rank of a sub-office
on account of bad times, and it is curious because the explanation lies
back in the mail coaching days. Bawtry is the first town in Yorkshire,
on the Great North Road, and it was here that in olden times the High
Sheriff of the county was accustomed to meet kings and queens on their
journey to the north, welcome them to Yorkshire, and escort them through
the county. The town flourished in the coaching days: it has a
magnificent wide street, fine old inns, but it never adapted itself to
the modern conditions. Scarcely a house has been added to the town
during sixty years. Nevertheless Bawtry struggled gamely on as a Head
Post Office on the strength mainly of its former importance, and
possibly because of a sentimental objection at headquarters to deal
hardly with a town distinguished in Post Office history. But facts had
to be faced, and in the Post Office Circular of the 13th March 1900,
sentence was pronounced in these cold words: “On and from the 15th March
Bawtry will be reduced to the rank of a railway sub-office under
Doncaster.” “The calamity of railways” had been Bawtry's misfortune, and
there was something distinctly cruel in her new designation.
But almost everywhere in Great Britain the story is quite different: new
post offices have to be created, old post offices have to be enlarged,
and the importance of the postmaster increases. It is his own fault if
he does not take a high position in the business circles of the town
which he serves.
The postmaster is in all matters of discipline given wide powers, but in
questions relating to the business of his office, he has to be guided
largely by rules and regulations and by instructions from headquarters.
The reason for this is obvious, because in a big Department like the
Post Office the first requirement is uniformity of practice, and it
would never do for one way of dealing with a matter to be in force at
Bristol, another at Liverpool, and yet another at London. But it is the
same in the Post Office as in all other big undertakings; everything
depends upon the quality of the man who holds the position, and the Head
Office in London retains the right to control his actions. One man can
be trusted with responsibilities, another requires leading strings, and
the machinery of the Department is flexible enough to deal with both men
according to their needs.
I repeat myself when I draw attention to the close relationship which
exists between the public and the Post Office. Indeed the story of the
Post Office can best be told sometimes by letting the public speak for
themselves. A large number of folk have probably very confused ideas of
what the regular duties of a postmaster consist, but they know he is
approachable: news and correspondence go through his hands, and in their
eyes he has taken all knowledge for his province. In no other way can I
explain the extraordinary applications for help and information which
are constantly received by postmasters.
If a man wishes to arrange for his marriage to take place he applies
without hesitation to the clergyman of the parish or to the registrar of
the district, but if he wants to know of a lady whom he can marry, he
more frequently consults the postmaster. The following is not by any
means an exceptional application of this kind:—
“DEAR SIR,—Enclosed you will please find a letter which I would like for
you to give some young lady or gent—lady preferred—who you think would
like a correspondent in this country. Will correspond on topics of
general interest.”
We all recognise this as an ingenious beginning of a romance; in its
earliest and most artful phase it is even comparatively indifferent to
sex.
A good postmaster must of course be domesticated and know the comforts
of home. A lady wrote to the postmaster of Goole in these terms: “Not
knowing of a good Registry Office for maids in Goole, I am writing to
ask you whether you happen to know of a good cook general who is wanting
a situation. I am wanting a thoroughly respectable trustworthy girl, age
about twenty-four years; must be able to do plain cooking well and be
clean in work and person, good at getting up in the morning, and small
amount of washing done at home, such as house cloths and servants'
underlinen; other things go to a laundress, including caps and print
dresses.”
A postmaster is allowed wide discretion in replying to such letters, and
the answer to this correspondent was that the postmaster had been for
years in search himself of a woman of the age of twenty-four who could
do plain cooking, get up in the morning, and not object to “small amount
of washing done at home,” and when he had found her he claimed the right
to the first refusal.
The postmasters at seaside resorts are constantly appealed to by
intending visitors, not on the postal facilities of the various places,
but on other matters which are presumed to come under the observation of
the Post Office. For instance: “Miss P. would feel much obliged if the
postmaster would kindly inform her if dogs have still to be muzzled at
Eastbourne, and whether the order is likely to be taken off soon. Also
if the band plays regularly once or twice a day on the parade.”
A gentleman entered a seaside post office and demanded to see the
postmaster. He then asked this unoffending individual if he could cash a
cheque for £10, tell him the best hotel in the place, and direct him to
the nearest hairdresser.
Another postmaster, who by the way was a church-warden and a reader of
the _Daily News_, received this letter from a total stranger:—
“The Postmaster,—Sir, will you kindly send one of your selections for
the Grand National as a trial, and if satisfactory I will pay you.”
It is difficult to understand what was in the writer's mind when he
sought this information at the Post Office.
Other inquiries stick closely to Post Office business, but are perhaps
even more unreasonable.
“TO THE POSTMASTER OF HERTFORD
“DEAR SIR,—I am a boy fourteen years old, and I live in a small town
in New Jersey on the Delawar river. My father is a horse doctor, and
has practised medicine for several years. Several boys of the place
have been saving old cancelled stamps to see how many they could get
of different kinds, and I thought I could save them too. But as I have
just commenced I have not many different kinds, when it came into my
head to send to England, as I knew they spoke the same language, so I
got my geography and selected your place on the map. Now I would like
you to get me all the different kinds of stamps you can. I would have
put in postage for you to return your letter, but your stamps are
different, and I know it will be useless, but I will send you American
stamps or any favour you may ask. Hoping you will regard my letter as
a true one.
“I remain to be your friend as soon as possible. Please let me know to
the best of your knowledge whether Wales, Scotland, and Ireland use
the same kind of stamp. Hope we may meet some time before we die.”
Our cousins in America are constantly appealing to postmasters for
information.
The postmaster of Campbeltown received this letter:—
“DEAR SIR,—In the month of August 1774 the heroine Flora Macdonald
sailed from your village in the ship _Balliol_ for America. Can you
and will you be kind enough to answer the following questions? What
day in August did she sail? How many emigrants with her? How did she
come from Skye to Campbeltown? What day did she land in America? Was
it on Cape Fear? What was the name of the war-vessel in which she
returned to Scotland? What year? Where did she land? What was the date
of Kingsborough's return?
“I beg to say I am writing a history of the Highlanders in America, in
which I shall attempt an extended sketch of Flora in this country.”
But even when correspondents write on Post Office business they are
almost as hopeless. The postmaster of Enniskillen received this
communication: “I wonder if you will be so kind as to address and mail a
letter to me for a party I wish to reach and have forgotten their
address and even their name.” All that the man knew about “the party”
was that she lived with an aunt and was engaged to be married. It was
impossible, at least in Enniskillen, to locate a lady with so
conventional a record.
Questions of this kind are much easier: “I am taking the liberty of
writing to ask if you will kindly refer me to some good responsible
forage merchants, fruit salesmen or commission agents, greengrocers,
&c., as I am desirous of ascertaining information relative to turnips
(principally), potatoes and apples, and oblige—Your's, &c.”
The postmaster of Southsea saw a week's work before him if he attempted
to answer this letter:—
“DEAR SIR,—Please send me addresses of furnished apartments and say
terms per week for one sitting-room and three bed-rooms. Also send me
a cheap guide to Southsea, giving a plan of the streets, &c. What is
the area and width of the marine lake? Are there good rowing boats
with sliding seats and outriggers on the lake and is there a good
rowing club? If so, give address of the club secretary. Can good
bicycles be hired? Is there a good covered riding school for
horse-riding? If so, give name and address and terms for riding
lessons. Can first-class saddle horses be hired? If so, say the usual
terms per hour and give the names and addresses of the best livery
stables. Is the beach sand or shingle? and is there good sea-bathing?
Is there a school where type-writing and shorthand is taught, and can
good male or female clerks be obtained who are first-class
type-writers? What salary per week do they usually get? Can electric
baths be obtained? What is the usual charge? Is the winter and spring
very mild, and is Southsea recommended by the doctors? Do you have
much snow or wind in winter and spring? Is there a good gymnasium?
Please give an address. Reply by letter. No post cards, please.
F. N.
“P.S.—Generally speaking, are people satisfied with Southsea when they
come?”
It is refreshing, after reading this exhaustive examination paper, to
come across a simple and courteous demand from a Greenock sportsman to
the postmaster of Dunfermline:—
“GRINOCK.
“KIND SIR,—Will you be so kind too let me no the date of Dunfermalane
raises is and you will oblige me.
“E. N.”
Or even an honest inquiry such as this, of the postmaster of
Weston-super-Mare:—
“Is there an opening hear for a practical tripe and cow-heel dresser,
and to cater for the public generally in reasonable price dinners?
Should want a place for poultry and piggeries outside the town.”
Piggeries _outside_ the town are to be encouraged, and we hope the
postmaster did not throw cold water on the enterprise.
These letters sufficiently illustrate the view which is often taken of
the uses of a postmaster. And yet there is reason in the attitude of
some of these correspondents. The need is evidently felt for a public
inquiry agent in every town who will supply local information. Many
seaside and inland resorts for visitors have now an officer who is
advertised to deal with inquiries; but in hundreds of places the man or
woman who seeks information can think of nobody to ask except the
postmaster. It is a tribute to the way that the Post Office links itself
up with the lives of the people, and nobody but a very churlish
postmaster would do other than his best to help his correspondents.
Still the public ought clearly to understand that such services are not
included in a postmaster's duties, and the inquiries might as reasonably
be addressed to the Chief of the Fire Brigade or the Lord-Lieutenant of
the county. But perhaps these gentlemen already receive their share of
miscellaneous attention.
There are people who think that in a huge undertaking like the Post
Office, which works largely by routine, personalities don't count for
much. There are others who think that by minute organisation the success
of a system can be guaranteed. The human factor, however, still has to
be reckoned with, and the city or town is fortunate which has a wise and
sensible postmaster. It has been said that “the most depressing thing in
the world is a dull person administering faithfully an elaborate system;
and one of the most inspiring sights is an original man making the best
of an imperfect system.” The Head Postmasters of the General Post Office
include both kinds of men, and sometimes when we are blaming the system
it is the man who is at fault. And when we sometimes blame the man he is
really doing his best with the system.