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Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233)

Chapter 11. Records of the Government Operations Committee and Its Predecessors

Table of Contents

Records of the Government Operations Committee and Its Predecessors, 1814-1988 from Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States

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Committees discussed in this chapter:

• Public Expenditures (1814-80)
• Expenditures in the Navy Department (1816-1927)
• Expenditures in the Post Office Department (1816-1927)
• Expenditures in the Treasury Department (1816-1927)
• Expenditures in the State Department (1816-1927)
• Expenditures in the War Department (1816-1927)
• Expenditures on the Public Buildings (1816-1927)
• Expenditures in the Interior Department (1860-1927)
• Expenditures in the Justice Department (1874-1927)
• Expenditures in the Agriculture Department (1889-1927)
• Expenditures in the Commerce and Labor Departments (1905-13)
• Expenditures in the Commerce Department (1913-27)
• Expenditures in the Labor Department (1913-27)
• Expenditures in the Executive Department (1927-52)
• Government Operations (1952-68)

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Records of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office (1816-1927)

11.36 The earliest records of this committee date from the 17th Congress (1821-23).

Record Type	Volume	Dates (Congresses)
Minute Books	3 volumes	1889-91 (51st), 1907-09 (60th), 1911-13 (62d)
Docket Books	1 volume	1889-91 (51st), 1907-09 (60th), 1911-13 (62d)
Petitions and Memorials	1 inch	1911-13 (62d)
Committee Papers	1 foot	1821-23 (17th), 1829-31 (21st), 1843-45 (28th), 1891-97 (52d-54th), 1905-09 (59th-60th), 1911-15 (62d-63d), 1917=19 (65th)
Total volume	12 feet and 7 volumes (6 in.)
Committee Records Summary Table

11.37 The minutes of the meetings held during the 1911-13 period, document the committee's efforts to review economy and efficiency of the Post Office Department's operations, conflicts of interest by postmasters, and the political involvement of postal employees (62A-F11.2).

11.38 Only a few petitions and memorials exist for this committee. Most are from various groups calling for an investigation of the Post Office Department's actions against a socialist weekly, The Appeal to Reason (62A-H8.1), or protesting the Post Office Department's actions against certain publications, including the Woman's National Daily (62A-H8.2).

11.39 Over 90 percent of the committee papers consists of listings of bidders for contracts for mail delivery routes during the years 1891-95 (52A-F15.1, 53A-F13.1). Most of the remaining records relate to reports of and examinations of Post Office Department contingent expenses. Among the most interesting of the committee papers are those of a subcommittee appointed during the 59th Congress to determine whether the Post Office Department was harassing E. G. Lewis, publisher of The Woman's Magazine and Woman's Farm Journal (59A-F13.1, 59A-F13.2, 62A-F11.1).

Table of Contents

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Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition (Doct. No. 100-245). By Charles E. Schamel, Mary Rephlo, Rodney Ross, David Kepley, Robert W. Coren, and James Gregory Bradsher. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989.