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Charles Willis Thompson writes in the Washington Post that while George von Lengerke Meyer is the nominal Postmaster General of the United States, it is in fact Frank H. Hitchcock, the First Assistant Postmaster General, who runs the Post Office Department.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-07
Frank H. Hitchcock has two competing job opportunities. President Roosevelt and Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer want Hitchcock to stay in his position as Assistant Postmaster General, while Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou wants him to replace the current Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Hitchcock is dismayed that the press makes him out to be the only man who can assess the current political climate in the Roosevelt administration, and swears that he is not currently campaigning for any candidate for president. Hitchcock has traveled around the South, Midwest, and Pacific coast, alarming local politicians who assume he is campaigning. Hitchcock has jurisdiction over several thousand postmasters in the United States, further establishing his influence over the nominating process.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-01
Secretary of the Treasury and former Postmaster General George B. Cortelyou delivers a speech in honor of Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer. Cortelyou describes how the post office is improving under Meyer’s supervision. Cortelyou mentions that the postmasters are being treated by their supervisors as equals and are building morale among the different members of the office. The new policies offer a more meritorious system of promotions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-22
Postmaster General Payne encloses a memorandum of correspondence between himself and Representative Jesse Overstreet, chairman of the House Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, concerning the preparation of data submitted to the committee. Though Payne and Overstreet discussed the information that the committee had pressured Payne to produce quickly, that information was not published in the report on the Hay Resolution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-16
Representative Bates writes to President Roosevelt expressing concern over the health of Postmaster Henry C. Payne and a possible investigation of Payne’s involvement in fraud within the postal system.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-07
In her draft of a speech in response to her trial on The Woman Rebel dissemination, Margaret Sanger discusses social problems and the manner in which birth control can address these issues and help the working class. Sanger critiques anti-obscenity laws and the notion of birth control education as pornography. She asks whether former President Roosevelt is truly moral for encouraging large families and she is immoral for encouraging small families. Sanger also addresses the charge that her article concerning an assassination attempt incited murder. She includes quotations from well-known ancient orators and writers and also from Roosevelt, claiming that if these writings on assassination are not accused of inciting murder, she should not be accused of such either.
The Margaret Sanger Papers Project
1916-01
Margaret Sanger writes of her efforts and struggles to bring birth control education to working class women in order to combat issues such as infant and maternal mortality, abortion, and poverty. Sanger argues that it is unfair that she is considered immoral for urging working class couples to have small families while former President Roosevelt is lauded as moral for encouraging them to have large families in order to prevent race suicide.
The Margaret Sanger Papers Project
1917-04
Margaret Sanger writes that the first edition of her journal The Woman Rebel was returned by the postmaster because it violated anti-obscenity laws. Sanger sarcastically declares her intentions to be more patriotic, claiming she will follow former President Roosevelt’s example and champion for large families. However, while Roosevelt stated the country needed large families to prevent race suicide, Sanger claims that large numbers of children are necessary to “uphold” all of America’s areas of failing–public schools, factories, asylums, prisons, courts, and “slums”–in a satirical critique.
The Margaret Sanger Papers Project
1914-04
Senator Foraker supports Judge Daniel Thew Wright’s appointment and does not believe Wright should lose party standing due to his participation with the fusion movement in 1897. Foraker has been surprised at the opposition to Wright from George Barnsdale Cox and Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna. Foraker opposes Herman Henry Kohlsaat’s appointment as postmaster general.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-28
Print shows a full-length portrait of Thomas L. James, Postmaster General, standing, facing left, among papers emblazoned with stars littering the floor, holding a stamp labeled “Indicment” [sic] in his right hand.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1881-10-19
Concerned for Postmaster General Henry C. Payne’s failing health, Lucius William Nieman hopes that President Roosevelt will issue a statement vindicating him from the post office scandal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-06
Postmaster General Payne responds to President Roosevelt’s inquiry concerning the investigation of Assistant Postmaster General Perry S. Heath’s connection with the post office irregularities. Payne encloses recent correspondence between himself and Joseph L. Bristow, Fourth Assistant Postmaster General.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-29
Postmaster General Payne notifies Assistant Postmaster General Joseph L. Bristow that President Roosevelt is requesting a progress report concerning the investigation of the office of First Assistant Postmaster General Perry S. Heath.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-13
Postmaster General Payne has been served a subpoena to appear before the United States Commissioner in New York. He has been advised by Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt not to obey the subpoena since he cannot produce the documents he has been asked for as they are held by inspectors across the country.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-15
Louis E. McComas asks permission for his letter to be brought to President Roosevelt about S. Davies Warfield’s reputation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-10
Postmaster General Payne recommends that William Grant Edens, assistant general superintendent of the free delivery system in the post office, attend a meeting of the Letter Carriers’ Association instead of Charles T. McCoy, who is under investigation for inappropriate action.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-27
Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Bristow writes to Benjamin F. Barnes inform him that he has enclosed a report relating to an article in the The Sun.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-30
The Assistant Attorney General for the Post Office responds to allegations of misconduct while serving as Attorney General.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-27
Commission for a postmaster that has not been filled out or signed. The section “during the pleasure of the Postmaster General of the United States” is circled.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-29
Presley Marion Rixey informs President Roosevelt that the health of the Postmaster General has worsened. Rixey states he will send a Navy physician when he travels, and he hopes to write to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-14