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JEFFERSON'S PLAN FOR THE POST OFFICE
>I am currently writing a book on the U. S. Postal Service. I am a >former Postal employee of 25 yrs. I remember in 1978 when the USPS tried to >stop e-mail and the Internet. My employment and experiences have compelled >me to write this book. I feel that the current USPS is a threat to civil >liberties and was wondering if Jefferson made any comments about the Postal >Service in his time. Yes, Jefferson did comment on the Post Office. Apparently, he had a plan for the post office which he presented to President Washington in 1792 (ME 1:287), though I have not seen the details of that plan. In a letter he wrote from Paris in 1785, he mentions of the Congress (before the new constitution): "They have adopted the late improvement in the British post office, of sending their mails by the stages." (ME 5:197) In 1791, he mentions the Post Office bill before Congress. (ME 8:266) He mentions the use of the stage in transporting the mail in 1792. (ME 8:320) (ME=the Memorial Edition of his writings, Lipscomb and Bergh, eds.) There are a few more references to post-riders and post-roads, the rapidity of the posts, etc. If you are near a large public or university library, they probably will have the Memorial Edition, and you might want to check the index volume for these references. There does not appear to be any extensive materials on the post office -- just incidental mentions. Jefferson's plan for the Post Office mentioned above was supposed to have been committed to writing. It is not in the Memorial Edition, but may be in the Papers of TJ (Boyd, ed.) which is as a rule only available in large university libraries.