United States. Post Office Department

Perry S. Heath sits on a “higher up” stake as August W. Machen, James N. Tyner, the Bureau of Promotions, and “Rural Free Delivery” are swept along in the current of the river. The United States Capitol building can be seen from afar.

Comments and Context

President Theodore Roosevelt’s determination to confront the recently revealed but long-festering incidents of corruption in the Post Office department involved firings, reforms, investigations, and outside help. In the latter regard, the president invested James Garfield and Charles Bonaparte with investigatory powers, and encouraged the crusading zeal of Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Joseph Bristow.

Some of the major obstructions, however, were with naïve associates like Postmaster General Henry Clay Payne (whom Roosevelt regarded as honest but not always competent) and mid-level officials. One such was Perry S. Heath, onetime associate of Roosevelt and publisher of the Salt Lake City Tribune; he was also Secretary of the Republican National Committee and First Assistant Postmaster. A clerk names Seymour Tulloch had claimed as far back as 1900 that Heath was acting corruptly, both in financial matters, and handling improper activities of Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna.

President Roosevelt points his finger at a bird with the face of Postmaster General Henry C. Payne that utters various words and phrases: “Hot air,” “Wind bag,” “Stump speech,” “Liar,” and “I just laughed.”

Comments and Context

The excellent caricaturist Charles Green Bush apparently had a lapse in perception, or extra ink to expend, in this bizarre depiction of a rotund President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903.

The concept of the cartoon, however, was typically and unerringly prescient. The parrot is Postmaster General Henry Clay Payne, and the issue at hand was the burgeoning Post Office scandal… or scandals, of complicated and often long-lived venality. Neither Payne nor Roosevelt was every implicated in the scandals, and the president admired his associate’s honest; but he sorely regretted Payne’s naivete. 

President Roosevelt attempts to wrench open a fire hydrant connected to the “P. O. investigation” hose. A group of men—”Extravagance,” “Unlawful contracts,” “Grafter,” and “Political hanger on”—examine the end of the hose, where water has already begun to drip.

Comments and Context

This cartoon from the reliably Democrat Cleveland Plain Dealer indicates how the public viewed the burgeoning Post Office scandal and revelations at the time. Although the Republican Party had been in control of the national government since 1897, and for all but the Cleveland presidency’s years since the Civil War, the public perception of Post Office corruption was endemic to national “politics as usual.”

A large portion of patronage jobs were dispensed through post offices; parties relied on the postal service to accomplish their ends; and the assignment of postal routes — including the hoped-for Rural Free Delivery routes — invited corruption.

New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt and Surveyor of Customs James Sullivan Clarkson fly in the air as they try to stop Uncle Sam who is driving a “Post Office investigation” car toward the “P. O. Dept.” The car crashes through “politics” barriers and throws a “politician” off to the side.

Comments and Context

In this awkward cartoon about the beginnings of the Roosevelt Administration’s efforts to discover corruption in the Post Office department and reform the service, Uncle Sam is featured instead of President Theodore Roosevelt. It is a reminder that one of the unique aspects of cartoonists’ treatment of Roosevelt is that he largely supplanted the iconic symbol of the United States, so vivid was in personality. In this cartoon, although seem only from behind, Uncle Sam drives the car — an indiscriminate, road-busting flivver, then often viewed as a menace.

Another interesting figure is James S. Clarkson, still identified with the Post Office. When Roosevelt was appointed Civil Service Commissioner under President Benjamin Harrison in 1889, Clarkson of Iowa was appointed First Assistant Postmaster General, charged with responsibility for fulfilling local Republican patronage jobs. He replaced Democrat postmasters and officials at an annualized rate of 30,000.

President Roosevelt stands in front of the Republican elephant and looks at Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna. To the right of the Republican elephant is a white elephant—”Post Office scandal.” Caption: Ring Master Roosevelt: “I think we would have a better show if we didn’t have that white elephant.”

Comments and Context

Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna was by no means the only, or major, political figure tainted by the burgeoning Post Office scandal in 1903. Yet the cartoon depicts him for two reasons: he was implicated in revelations about his seeking favors (postal distribution deals and rebates of charges) dating back to 1900; and at the time of this cartoon’s publican he was chairman of the Republican National Committee. Any scandals, of course, could redound on the party (Roosevelt himself was never implicated, although many Republican office-holders and bureaucrats were).

The cartoon is notable as a very early example of Gorge McManus’s work. He drew his first awkward cartoons — note the insertion of a photograph instead of a caricature for Roosevelt’s face — for the St. Louis Republic, a Democrat paper, and evidently was noticed by the paper’s major Democrat rival, the Post-Dispatch. McManus was hired… to draw, however, for its publisher’s New York City outlet, Joseph Pulitzer’s World.

In the first section of the cartoon, the “Congress” cat is asleep as “graft” mice eat from the “public lands & timber” and “Post Office Dept” bags and the “National Treasury” barrel. One mouse says, “Why don’t you get a basket? You can carry more.” Caption: When you consider the conditions that existed for years in national affairs– In the second section, Roosevelt holds a “reform” big stick and tells the “Congress” cat to “Get busy!” Congress replies, “You are violating all precedents.” Many “graft” mice lie dead on the ground.

Comments and Context

It is interesting to note several important historical facts as conveyed by political cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling.

With fewer than two months left in his Administration, and as the cartoon makes clear, President Roosevelt was as earnest as ever he had been, in this matter and others, fighting corruption.

President Roosevelt asks Attorney General Bonaparte, about the case of Holton, which was brought to him by Post Office Inspector James E. Stuart. Stuart believes that Holton has served a sufficient time, and says that Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis and District Attorney Edwin Walter Sims concur in this and have recommended Holton’s pardon. Roosevelt asks Bonaparte to take up the case and report to him about it soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-19

Postmaster General Wynne tells William Loeb that both Comptroller of the Currency William Barrett Ridgely and Attorney General William H. Moody have stated it is in violation of the law to detail clerks to the White House from the Post Office Department or a post office. As such, Postmaster John A. Merritt is responsible for three months pay illegally given to the clerk detailed to the White House. Wynne inquires if the Executive Office has a fund that could reimburse Merritt, or if he needs to go to Congress for relief.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-05

Acting Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Conrard informs Postmaster General Wynne that a petition has been received and transmitted to Division Headquarters. An order has been issued to investigate the issue immediately. Referring to another matter, Conrard informs Wynne that it falls under the jurisdiction of the Second Assistant Postmaster General, and that he does not have any information on the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-24

Acting Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Conrard informs Postmaster General Wynne that while an initial request for a leave of absence by Edmund Rothschild, a letter carrier in New York, was denied, further developments have led to a reversal of this decision, and a letter has been written granting his request.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-24

An article in favor of Frank Wyman’s reappointment as Postmaster of Saint Louis defends him against allegations of his complacency in a recent Post Office corruption scandal and describes the approval he has among the city’s business, finance, and labor communities.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-26

Postmaster General Cortelyou confirms receipt of President Roosevelt’s letter about his talk with New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward, and mentions his own interesting talk he had with Ward while he was in Washington, D.C.. Cortelyou mentions that shortly after taking office he had begun working on some portions of the”international postage scheme,” but that they were not received favorably by Great Britain at the time. He will update Roosevelt on what progress has been made when he sees him in Oyster Bay.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-09

The author of the memorandum would like President Roosevelt to call the Post Office Department’s attention to the fact that members of Congress cannot visit the department on business without being held up at length speaking with clerks and constituents who have grievances or would like a promotion. In particular, the author writes, women clerks spend a lot of time in the corridors of the building speaking to members. This issue is not limited to the Post Office Department, but visits there are more frequent than to other buildings.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-04-13

President Roosevelt thanks Senator Lodge for his letters and asks him to write as often as possible, as he feels out of touch with politics. He is exhausted from all his activities in San Francisco. He will take up the Post Office matter as soon as he gets back, and asks to hear Lodge’s thoughts on the matter.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-05-13

President Roosevelt intends to settle the Post Office matter when he returns to Washington, D.C., and he is thankful that August W. Machen is an inheritance from Grover Cleveland. Roosevelt believes that his western trip has been successful, but he is glad that the trip is almost over, even though William H. Moody has been “a real comfort.”

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-05-22

President Roosevelt is concerned that Democratic newspapers are crediting Assistant Postmaster General Robert John Wynne with bringing the Post Office scandal to light, instead of Postmaster General Henry C. Payne or Fourth Assistant Joseph L. Bristow. The newspapers try to blame Payne and Roosevelt, “concealing the fact” that they came into power long after the events took place.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-06-15

President Roosevelt has a better understanding of the Payne-Wynne dispute and sees both of their viewpoints. He has been enjoying the company of the Jusserands and riding Wyoming, his new horse that is too fond of “trolleys and automobiles.”

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-06-25

President Roosevelt provides updates on the Post Office investigation and the Alaska boundary dispute. Roosevelt would prefer that the Alaska negotiations end before the presidential campaign.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-06-29

The Post Office scandal continues to grow and several prominent Republicans will be implicated. There are several other matters President Roosevelt would like to discuss with Senator Lodge privately. The Roosevelts had a lovely summer and Ted has now physically passed President Roosevelt.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-09-15

President Roosevelt had a pleasant last few days of summer. He describes to Senator Lodge what he read recently. Roosevelt also discusses his political struggles including the Miller case with the labor unions, the various Post Office scandals, and renewed opposition to the Cuban Reciprocity Treaty from the American Protective Tariff League.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-09-30