“Judge Blair’s administration of the post-office department has given evidence of a sincere desire to promote the efficiency of the service, and has been marked by the introduction of many important improvements and reforms,—among them the establishment of the money-order system and the new travelling post-office, the simplification of post-office accounts by the substitution of salaries in lieu of commissions as compensation to postmasters, the free delivery of letters by carriers, with various other plans calculated to increase the postal accommodation of the public and further the interests of the service. He has been a faithful and efficient head of the department, and, as such, leaves a record of which he has no cause to be ashamed.”[43]
There is no question whatever that Postmaster-General Blair studied the interest of the department with an eye to its future destiny. He nourished it, watched it, and we may well say the postal tree is now known and appreciated by its fruit. In 1863 the “Boston Weekly Gazette” thus speaks of him:—
“At a time when war and finance are the all-absorbing themes, nationally speaking, but little attention is paid to the most quiet of our government departments, but none the less important,—the post-office. Of the management of this department too much cannot be said in its praise. When every thing is confused with crowded railroads and the interruption of conveyance threatened by the exigencies of other public service, every thing proceeds in the post-office department with almost the regularity of clock-work. Scarcely a mail fails in its destination, any more than if peace prevailed in the land and men had nothing to do but to think of duty connected with transportation exclusively. We think Postmaster-General Blair entitled to the warmest praise for this state of things, that certainly redounds greatly to his credit. No man has ever filled his position who has received more unanimity of approval; and not a complaint is heard of his management. We make these remarks simply because it has surprised us that our own papers to the farthest points reach with such regularity and promptness, and letters from all parts of the country come to us strictly on time.”