Kaján Imre szerk.: Vásárhelyi Pál és a reformkori mérnökgeneráció (Budapest, 1995)

Kovács Gergelyné: A reformkori magyar posta 59

MRS. GERELYNÉ KOVÁCS THE HUNGÁRIÁN POST IN THE REFORM ERA The study treats the situation of the Hungárián Post prevailing in the reform era in three parts. In the first part the legal situation is presented, that the Post Offices of the Hungárián kingdom, connected with the Habsburg Empire through its kings, through the sovereigns of the Habsburg Empire were under the control of the Hungárián Royal Couneil of governor-general and not directly under the control of the Court as a consequence of our constitutional law valid in the reform era. The measurements of the Empire were only come intő force, when those did not heart constitutional or national interests. Therefore the Austraian government did not allowed to mérge the Directorate of the diligences considered as its priváté company with the mail considered as a national public institution. Aíter presenting the legal and managing situations the study deal with the organizational network and staff of the Post and with the tasks of the postai services and those of the post-houses. Through the analysis of a promissory oath the obligations of the post-office clerks are explored, but the administrative and checking tasks are known írom the contemporary documents as well. In this chapter-part it will be clear, how the sparse network, the letter-censorship, the inaccurate tariff-calculations led to the social boycott of the post. In the third part the services of the mail and those of the coach-post are surveyed using literature selections. The picture delineated in the accounts of travel and priváté Communications show well concerning the persons utilizing the postai services that the Post approached at the end of the reform era the role of a public institution and it was accepted by the society. Summarizing it is a historical evidence that the laws, the organizations accomplishing those cannot achive neither social nor economic prosperity without obtaining the society and without its active participation. 61