REPORT OF THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT, UPON CLAIMS OF POSTMASTERS UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 17, 1882. 1885. REPORT OF THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT UPON CLAIMS OF POSTMASTERS UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 17, 1882. WASHINGTON, D. C., November 17, 1885. SIR: I have the honor to report to you the action taken by the Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, under the act of Congress approved March 17, 1882, entitled "An act authorizing the Postmaster-General to adjust certain claims of postmasters for loss by fire, burglary, or other unavoidable casualty." Since this act went into force it has been the practice of the Postmasters-General to make their report required by this act on the 1st day of December in each year, for the preceding twelve months; and the portion of the last fiscal year included in the period from July 1, to December 1, 1884, was covered by the annual report for 1884, and the action upon claims during that period was fully detailed in that report. A list of the claims allowed during the period from December 1, 1884, to June 30, 1885, inclusive, is herewith submitted as Exhibit A. A list of the claims disallowed is herewith submitted as Exhibit B. It has not been deemed necessary to repeat in this report the lists already reported as above stated for the previous year. The total number of claims allowed during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, under this act is. 385 The total amount of claims allowed for money-order funds lost or destroyed 18... The total amount for postage-stamps, stamped envelopes, newspaper wrap. pers, and postal cards lost by fire, burglary, or other unavoidable casualty is... $5,930,38 22, 447.01 Making a total of....... 28, 377.39 The loss of money-order funds during the fiscal year for which claims are allowed arose as follows: Lost in transit... Lost by fire.... Lost by burglary $3, 155.00 175.08 2,600.30 5,930.38 The loss of stamps, &c., for which claims were allowed during the fiscal year arose as follows: The number of claims disallowed during the fiscal year was 165, classified as follows: Reasons for disallowance may be summarized as follows: Not presented within the period prescribed by statute... ........... 28 54 24 21 Because the evidence produced was not deemed sufficient to warrant allowance. 38 Of the claims reported as disallowed, 28 were disallowed without examination of their merits, for the reason that they were not presented within the periods prescribed by the act of Congress, viz, within six months from the passage of the act, in cases of losses which occurred prior to its passage, and three months from the date of the loss in cases arising after the passage of the act. The claims disallowed in former years since the passage of the act, for the same reason, number 31. In addition to the claims formally presented and disallowed for the reason mentioned, many have been withheld by postmasters, who have found upon inquiry at the Department that the presentment was barred by the operation of the statute. The limitation of the act has worked peculiar hardship upon a number of postmasters. Especially has this been the case with those who have lost remittances of money order funds, but have no knowledge of the manner in which the loss occurred. In such cases they promptly reported the loss to the inspectors, but in the expectation that the money would be recovered, have refrained from presenting a claim until, through their oversight, the time had elapsed in which the claim could be presented. Others have been misled by the supposition that their mere notification to the Department of the fact of loss constituted a claim. The presentation of claims for credit on account of loss by fire is frequently by inadvertence delayed beyond the period prescribed by the statute, for the reason that the records and papers of the postmaster, from which the information as to the amount of the loss could be obtained, were also destroyed in the fire which caused the loss, and the claimants are dependent upon the Department for copies. In such cases the postmasters frequently write for copies of previous returns rendered by them, and await the action of the Department in furnishing such copies. Delays in sending the desired information have often lulled them into inactivity till the bar of the statute had cut off their right to present a claim. Among the disallowed claims during the fiscal year are several in which the losses occurred prior to the passage of the act referred to. |
