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Postmaster General Payne offers guidance to postal employees regarding political activity in the classified and unclassified service. Relevant sections of the Postal Laws and Regulations are printed after the letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-10-01
Postmaster General Payne encloses an amusing editorial for President Roosevelt. He has gotten the impression from his travels in various states that the Republican party will be victorious in November.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-11
Postmaster General Payne writes William Loeb that public sentiment in the western states favors President Roosevelt in the upcoming election and that business in general is thriving. He hopes to be useful to the campaign in Chicago and will be traveling in New York and Washington, D.C., in September.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-26
Postmaster General Payne informs William Loeb of the response he sent to Senator Penrose regarding Penrose’s request that James Rankin Young be selected for the Chief Clerkship of the Post Office. Payne also tells Loeb of his plans to travel to New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-09
Postmaster General Payne sends President Roosevelt a newspaper clipping about the Colorado labor dispute and shares his opinion that Roosevelt refusing to meet with the miners took more courage than Judge Parker sending a telegram to the Democratic National Convention. Payne also discusses his travel plans.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-12
Postmaster General Payne sends William Loeb a letter from Senator Boise Penrose to show to President Roosevelt about the appointment of a postmaster at Dallas, Texas.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-06
Postmaster General Payne writes to William Loeb to request President Roosevelt’s opinion regarding Assistant Postmaster General Edwin C. Madden’s request to promote Mrs. Miller.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-02
Postmaster General Payne explains the circumstances under which James T. Metcalf, the Superintendent of the Money-Orders System, was removed from the job. Payne reprints an article from the Washington Post on the matter and shares pieces of the investigation into Metcalf’s actions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-06-25
Referring to a letter from the Tolber R. Ingram Music Company, Postmaster General Payne informs William Loeb that he has not heard of the company. Payne has also not heard of a particular piece of music nor has the Republican National Committee taken any action that was referenced in the letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-06-02
Postmaster General Payne informs William Loeb that the Post Office Department did not make any changes to the rural free delivery districts that are included in Indiana. He further states that the district includes Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. Because the district is so large, there has been no talk of change.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-18
Postmaster General Payne replies to Representative Brownlow’s letter by indicating that he does not want to appoint John Bell Brownlow as representative of the Post Office Department at the exposition in Portland, Oregon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-11
Postmaster General Payne informs President Roosevelt that action regarding the consolidation of the Nelliston and Fort Plain post offices in New York state has been suspended pending further investigation. Payne has also ordered that no changes be made regrading fourth-class offices in the New York 25th Congressional district.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-21
Postmaster General Payne explains to President Roosevelt the reasons for his removing Huldah B. Todd from her position as postmaster general at Greenwood, Delaware, and appointing Jacob L. Houseman to replace her. Delaware Senator J. Frank Allee spoke with Payne about making the change, on the grounds that under the agreement he and Senator L. Heisler Ball came to regarding referring appointees to office. Allee alleged that Todd had engaged in partisan activity in her office.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-08
Postmaster General Payne updates President Roosevelt on the state of the post office investigation. Charles J. Bonaparte and Holmes Conrad have been away for the summer, and have not been consulted yet, although the investigation has proceeded in the meantime. Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Joseph L. Bristow has a large number of cases pending in the District Attorney’s office, waiting to go before a grand jury. Indictments are expected, and Payne does not believe that it would be wise for the government to publicly release information on the investigation before the grand jury has finished.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-08
Postmaster General Payne follows up on a previous letter he had sent to President Roosevelt to further explain the post office issues in Delaware. The department’s practice had been that fourth-class postmasters’ appointments were subject to change any time after having served four years. Payne explains that he allowed a newly-elected Senator to make a new appointment to postmaster in Delaware because the current postmaster represented a minority faction of the Republican party.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-09
Postmaster General Payne will speak with Charles J. Bonaparte and Conrad Holmes when they are here this afternoon. He also informs President Roosevelt that although George. A. C. Christiancy has tendered his resignation as assistant attorney in the Assistant Attorney General for the Post Office Department, Payne has yet to accept it, and will not do so until the investigation is closed. Payne questions whether Christiancy’s resignation should be accepted.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-09
Postmaster General Payne has received a letter of introduction for the Samuel W. Shepard of Syracuse, New York, who has just been made temporary secretary of the National Association of Letter Carriers and editor of the Postal Record. The postmaster general of Syracuse has asked for a six month leave of absence for Shepard so he can devote himself to these new duties.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-15
Postmaster General Payne informs President Roosevelt that he has made arrangements to leave for Virginia Hot Springs this evening. He will be absent for a week.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-15
Postmaster General Payne was shocked at the clipping in the Washington Evening Star that stated that fourth-class postmasters are in the classified service, and believes that President Roosevelt is as surprised as he is. Payne had asked Charles J. Bonaparte to examine the Civil Service Act and rules and regulations to ascertain whether fourth-class postmasters were transferred to the classified service, and encloses the reply that he received. Payne balks at transferring the fourth-class postmasters to the civil service, as it would be a radical shift.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-15
Henry C. Payne arrived in Galveston. He expects to be in Washington, D.C., on April 28.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-15