There are about 50,000 clerks employed. Of these, the 1909-10 report says, 16,795 are railway clerks. Quoting the same report, there were 33,047 postoffice clerks in the service. All or nearly all of these are employed in the “Presidential” postoffice--offices of the first, second and third classes. Of the total number of clerks, 31,825, are employed in offices of the first and second classes. There were 424 offices of the first class and 1,828 of the second. That placed the service of 31,825 clerks in 2,252 offices. The report (1909-10), from which these figures are taken states 5,373 as the number of third-class offices. The remainder of the reported number of clerks (1,222) are, it is presumed, distributed among those 5,373 third-class offices. At any rate, in the statement of expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910, the Second Assistant Postmaster General, Mr. Stewart, presents the following showing of expenditures as compensation to clerks: Clerks in first and second-class postoffices (31,825) $31,583,587.37 Clerks in third-class postoffices, lower grade 540,891.31 Clerks in third-class postoffices, upper grade 663,632.20 The lower grade of third-class postoffices comprise those which yield the postmasters an annual income ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 and the higher grades are those with a compensation of $1,600 to $1,900 to the postmasters. In this connection, it should be noted that for the fiscal year there was paid, in addition to the amounts above named, the sum of $325,953.44 for what are called “temporary” and “substitute” clerks. Adding these various sums gives a total of $33,114,064.32 paid for clerk hire for clerks in first, second and third-class offices--in the “Presidential postoffice,” or offices to which the President has, by law or otherwise, been granted or permitted the right to appoint the postmasters. As previously stated, there is a total of 7,625 Presidential postoffices on the payrolls of which are carried the names of 33,047 clerks. In addition to these are 16,795 railway postal clerks. Beyond saying that the appointment and advancement of these last-mentioned clerks have been in the past--_and yet are_--largely influenced by assistant postmaster generals, superintendents and other chiefs of division in the Washington or department office and by Senators, Congressmen and _postmasters_ in offices of the first and second-classes, I shall not consider them further here, nor do I include them in the adverse criticisms I shall make of the clerical force and service of the department.