Memoirs of John Adams Dix; comp. by his son, Morgan Dix.

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XMEMOIRS OF JOHN ADAMS DIX.

the best that could have been made. The field for the display of executive ability was an ample one, and he possessed
the confidence and esteem of the business community.
Twenty-one years after that date the memory of the General is still warmly cherished in the New York Post-office,
and men who knew him then as their honored and beloved
chief delight in recalling incidents of his vigorous, wise, and
kindly administration. I have had no greater pleasure, while
engaged in compiling this hurried record, than in gathering
information respecting those days from such men as Postmaster James, the venerable Mr. Forrester, Messrs. Yeoman,
Bradley, Dunton, and others of the staff. Their statements
to me ran somewhat as follows (I give them nearly in the
language of the narrators, and therefore place them in quotation marks):
"When he went into the Post-office he found it in a state
of alarm and uneasiness, no one knowing what was to come,
and many supposing that a complete sweep would be made,
without regard to merit or demerit, by way of satisfying public opinion and exhibiting a specimen of thorough reform.
General Dix, however, reassured them, promising a radical
investigation of everything connected with the service, but
guaranteeing justice to every man; and he kept his word.
No one was turned off except for incompetency or neglect.
To each one who came inquiring if he might hope to remain
the same answer was made: 'As long as you attend to your
business properly you shall stay here while I do.'
" IHe made it his first business to master the details of the
service. He looked into all matters, great or small; nothing escaped his attention. The men said that no one had
ever asked so many questions before. He would give no
order until he understood everything that it involved. He
introduced improvements in the method of cancelling stamps
and in that of making out the way-bills, in requiring a careful comparison of the bills, and in counting the letters. He
was the first to pay off the employ6s by checks payable to