Bureau of the First Assistant Postmaster General

This Bureau has prime responsibility for general management of the 42,000 post offices of the country. As a part of its responsibility for post office operations the Bureau authorizes allowances for clerk hire, city and village carrier hire, rural-delivery service, and other expenses for each post office. The management function is carried out by correspondence directly between Bureau officials in Washington and the 42,000 individual postmasters, who report to the First Assistant Postmaster General. The First Assistant frequently calls on the inspection service to investigate conditions in post offices and in the city and rural delivery services, and to recommend action to be taken. by his Bureau.

Bureau of the Second Assistant Postmaster General

This Bureau directs the movement of mail and specifies the surface and air transportation facilities to be used within the United States and its possessions and between the United States and foreign countries. These functions are performed through the medium of 15 division general superintendents of Railway Mail Service, 116 district superintendents of Railway Mail Service, and 5 regional superintendents of air postal transport headquartered at strategic points over the country, as shown in charts VI and VII in the appendix. Instructions regarding the handling of foreign mail are issued to postmasters direct from the Bureau at Washington.

Bureau of the Third Assistant Postmaster General

This Bureau is responsible primarily for general supervision of the financial operations of the postal service; supervision of the postalsavings system; general conduct of the money order and postal note systems; supervision of the manufacture and distribution of all postage stamps, postal cards, and stamped envelopes; general direction of the domestic registry, insurance, and c. o. d. services; and classification of the mails and supervision of the collection of postage thereon. Postmasters receive instructions from this Bureau almost exclusively by general orders or written instructions.

Bureau of the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General

This Bureau is responsible primarily for the custody and distribution of equipment and supplies, conduct of the Government-owned motor vehicle service and the authorization of allowances for motorvehicle hire, administration and operation of Government-owned buildings in which post offices are located and authorization of allowances for the rent of other postal quarters, production and distribution of post route maps, and general supervision of the mail-equipment

shops where mail bags and locks are manufactured and repaired. Control of field operations is carried out by means of general orders and written instructions to postmasters from Washington.

Bureau of Accounts

This Bureau, under the comptroller, is concerned principally with prescribing the forms of postmasters' accounts and the methods of reporting; administrative examination of all postmasters' accounts; general supervision and administration of the Retirement Act; operation of a cost ascertainment system designed to determine the revenue derived from and the cost of carrying and handling the several classes of mail matter; and compilation of statistical reports and operating statements for the Department. This Bureau does not have final audit responsibility for postmasters' accounts, this function having been delegated to the General Accounting Office by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921.

The administrative examination functions of the Bureau of Accounts are performed in Washington in the case of all first-class post offices, but are performed in the field at 56 "central accounting" post offices, under instructions from the comptroller, in the case of all second-, third-, and fourth-class offices.

Bureau of the Chief Inspector

This Bureau, under the chief post office inspector, is concerned principally with the inspection, audit, and examination of procedures of every post office and of every bureau of the Postal Establishment in Washington and in the field; the investigation of mail depredations and other criminal offenses against the postal service; the conduct of special service investigations and installations as requested by the Postmaster General or the Assistant Postmasters General; and negotiation of leases for post office quarters. These functions are performed through the medium of 15 inspectors in charge located at 15 division headquarters, as shown in Chart VIII in the appendix. Office of the Solicitor

This office is concerned principally with matters of legal interpretation, representing the Postmaster General before regulatory commissions, assisting in the conduct of cases by or against the United States Government having to do with postal matters, and drafting legislation to be initiated by the Post Office Department.

Office of the Purchasing Agent

This office acts principally as a clearinghouse for requisitions of the various bureaus of the Post Office Department, advertises for and opens bids, places orders after the committee of awards has designated

the successful bidder, and certifies accounts for payment. This office takes no responsibility for specifications or availability of funds, these subjects being left entirely to the requisitioning bureaus.

Office of Budget and Administrative Planning

This office is concerned principally with preparing long-range plans for improvement in operation of the Postal Establishment, forecasting the volume of business as the basis for budget estimates, assisting the various bureaus and offices of the Department in the preparation of budget estimates, submitting budget estimates to the Bureau of the Budget, and appearing before congressional appropriation committees in support of budget estimates.

Office of the Chief Clerk and Director of Personnel

This office is responsible primarily for office management of the Post Office Department in Washington, conduct of all personnel activities within the Department, and liaison with the Civil Service Commission.

Source of Management Personnel

All administrative positions in the Postal Establishment are filled by career employees with the exception of postmasters at first-, second-, and third-class post offices, the Postmaster General and his four assistants, the comptroller, and the purchasing agent, all of whom are Presidential appointees, usually from outside the service. In addition, there are a number of other positions in the Department and the postal service which may be and usually are filled from outside the service by the Postmaster General, such as the solicitor, certain administrative aides, and fourth-class postmasters.

Functions Performed for Postal Management

Certain functions essential to operation of the Postal Establishment are performed by the Congress and by other departments and agencies of the Government. The following are the most important examples:

1. The Congress, as part of its legislative function, has retained exclusive right to set rates for all postal services except that it has empowered the Postmaster General, with the consent of the Interstate Commerce Commission, to reform the rates for parcel post whenever necessary. The Congress also fixes the rates of pay for postal em

ployees, appropriates all funds for postal expenditures, and frequently imposes operating obligations on the Department.

2. The Interstate Commerce Commission prescribes the rates of pay to railway common carriers, other than urban and interurban carriers, for the transportation of mail.

3. The Civil Aeronautics Board prescribes the rates of pay to air lines for the transportation of mail.

4. The Civil Service Commission is responsible for conducting examinations and certifying registers of eligible candidates for employment in every entering classification of position in the Postal Establishment with the exception of a few exempted positions in the Post Office Department at Washington, and temporary positions in the field. The Civil Service Commission also conducts hearings on appeal from disciplinary action.

5. The General Accounting Office, through its postal accounts division located at Asheville, N. C., audits in detail the accounts of the Postal Establishment, including the checking of total expenditures against each appropriation and against the individual allowances made by the Department to each post office for each quarter. It also makes final settlement of accounts with postmasters.

6. The Bureau of the Budget reviews the various budget estimates with Post Office Department officials, recommends revision in presentation, and notifies the Department of the final amounts approved by the President for submission to the Congress. It also has authority to initiate studies of administrative procedures and recommend changes therein.

7. The Bureau of Federal Supply is empowered by law to perform all purchasing functions for the Postal Establishment, but has exercised this authority in only a limited degree.

Services Performed for Other Agencies

In addition to the conduct of postal functions, the Postal Establishment is called upon by other agencies of the Federal Government to perform certain services, for some of which it is partially reimbursed. The principal nonpostal functions of the Postal Establishment are:

1. Maintaining a country-wide information service on civil-service examinations for all Government positions, and conducting examinations for the Civil Service Commission.

2. Selling United States savings bonds for the Treasury.

3. Selling documentary stamps for the Treasury.

4. Selling migratory bird (hunting) stamps for the Department of the Interior.

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5. Performing custodial services for Federal buildings in which post offices are housed.

Of these functions, the only two for which the Post Office Department is partially reimbursed directly by the agency concerned are the sale of Treasury bonds and the sale of migratory bird stamps.

CUSTODIAL SERVICES

Of the 24,320 buildings designated at June 30, 1947, as first-, second-, and third-class post offices, stations, and branches, 3,257 were federally owned. In most instances the Post Office Department acts as landlord of these federally owned buildings, and the local postmaster is responsible for all operating services and for maintenance, except with respect to the building structure and its integral parts which are the responsibility of the Public Buildings Administration of the Federal Works Agency.

In many major cities, Federal buildings housing post offices contain office space for other Government agencies. This space is allocated, upon request, by the Bureau of the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, usually in accordance with recommendations by the local postmaster.

The Postal Business

In any consideration of the management problems of the Postal Establishment it is important to recognize that during the decade between 1937 and 1947 postal volume has grown steadily and that, except for war years, revenues have not kept pace with expenditures. In the fiscal year ended 1937, according to cost-ascertainment studies, revenues were 726 million dollars and expenditures were 770 million dollars, producing a deficit of 44 million dollars. In the fiscal year 1947 revenues were approximately 1.3 billion dollars and expenditures. slightly less than 1.6 billion dollars, leaving a deficit of about 263 million dollars. Preliminary figures for the fiscal year 1948 indicate that revenues were over 1.4 billion dollars, expenditures over 1.7 billion dollars, and deficit over 300 million dollars. Volume of mail is at an all-time peak and many factors point to continued growth of the postal business.

The Postal Establishment, although performing a routine public service, has become a large and swift-moving commercial enterprise. The increasing volume of mail and the growing deficit in recent years add greatly to the complexities of management, and demand the highest order of management skill.