Portland gazette., 1805-04-22
FOR THE GAZETTE.
TO NIX. QUERIST.

~ NAkN QCEI(lol
YOUR piece, entitled t" TIE ecs1,tny Of
tie prtEnt ad,aimifrati0n," publfhcd in the Gaz-
ette of the 1T init. Contains fome malicious in
linuations, which could not fee palmed upon
the public without endeavouring 70 refute.
Granting that the net proceeds Of the pof-
office, were III 8oI fixty ieyen thouiand dollars
and in 8o4 but fourteen, does it follow, that
the teveral poitmaftcrs have embezzled the pub
&c money I! No fir be it known to you, they
lavc accounted for every cent Of IT. When
you FAY " the revenues of the individual Off
ceS have doubled at Legf Gnce 8ol," you /beak
tbe thing that is not. On the contrarr,t the decteaie
Of revenue in the individual Offices, is in due
alto TO that Of the whole and this not on the
principles TO which you al!ude, but on thote
which every well-wiihcr to his country will be
proud Of mean thole true economical ones
which aim at the good of the people, and not
the Paultry trhte of revenue of fifty three thouf-
and dollars which IS the difference
Pickering and Haberiham for fnifer views
no doubt agpointed lach deputies as we foolifh
people could conGide il 70 that we thoughtlef-
ly threw our letters, whether of importance or
not il made little difference, into the poit Office
and let them ihift for themftlves. The revenue
increafed 10 fait that one would think we all did
nothing but write letters, and then iend them
by the mail juit to fee how fate they would 90
At this rate we ihould all have been ruined.
But new, having new poit matter general,
and new deputies, the tables are turned, thank
heaven, and our eyes are opened % our true
interetts, and we iaved from rum. Initead Of
fquandering away our time in writing letters,
and our money IN Poitage, we now write as fel-
dom as poilible, and then look out for private
conveyance.
A man ufed to travel TO Bottom with no other
confequence than what his own money, and his
own buiinels gave him but now, tits fifty TO
one, has own money is not the tenth part of
what he carries and the letters he is charged
with IS OF greater bulk than his Cloaths. This
helps his telf love, and is a; once making bet
ter man Of him For according to the doctrine
(by inference) Of the greatef philofopher now
living, we are all perfcG, negroes excepted, if
we can only bring ourielves to think TO- BeGdes
this way Of doing bufnels efablifhes friendly
lntcrcourie among neighbours and makes us bet
ter diipCted TO each other it being fettled
axiom among al philosophers, +" 1 hat mans
gratitude riles in exact proportion to the bene-
fits he receives" 1t alto makes us more alert.
Formerly we had nothing to do but walk away
like drones, with our letters 10 the poft-ohice !;
whereas now we NUT itep round the town
brilkly, fometimes for two or three DAYS, to
ieek fomeb dy by whom TO fend them. You
iurely can't deny that this is for the beit for
1t keeps US from the ruff Of idlenrfs; a fure
way to keep Us out of mitchell
Moreover, we have heretofore been in the
habit Of fauntering into the poltoffce almot
any ttirring hour in the four-and twenty; but
now, having to 60 lometimes twice or thrice,
perhaps to no purPofe, we are encouraged to
feek for other conyeyances. An additional help
to economy. sd
Hence it is plain, Gr, that the deputy pof-
matters are no defaulters (; but that the decreale
OF this revenue is done with deGgn, and thar
with Jingle eye to our good. For you Zee it
IS plain, fir, that the lef5 the revenue is from
the polt Office, the better il is for us as ndividu-
ais. If it is true that the revenue in four years
has decreafed from 81 TO IA thoufand dollars !;
IT follows that it will take no great while to
INK it wholly. The pott-ofice thea mutt be
Imported BY otner revenues, when it viii be
viewed in its true light. l mean a public nuif-
ance, and viii of courie be as it ought to be,
abohthed- And then Milter Querih, hope
we ihall hear, no more of your grumbling.
HUMPHREY QUIZARRO.