Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-05-17
Fr,u fhe National Iateiiiyeneer.

W..
Of The d~ssssl Pos, oics, that what we incidentally
s6fd the other day. touching the financial condition
Of shjs Department Of the Government Ia true"
sa1 no are therefore ssksd .to retract it," go
place before our readers the facts upon which
oundcd the casual remark that that Department has
been ~bsought upon the parish, we insert the report
Of the Post Office Committee. with the document
which accompanied It. we should have done this
nndesso discussion in Congress. and VIC did no, de-
sire TO t6rssaal the discussion. Moreover, cp-
pos3lioo 10 che Post-ofice Reform not to tho
psa brought in but to the prescription Of those who
put out, and to the principle Of that proscrip-
sioa, and had particular desire to engage in
controversy with the ncumbcnts. But since they
win court the exposition. by official mputs,ion upon
%, &C shall not avoid it,
The sum recommended to be appropriated from
the Treasury for the support of the Postofice rs.
tablishneut, for the present year, is ety-six thou
sand dollars II 10 currently reported that larger
frst asked for. and il is already known that
forthor appropriations, OF larger amount, will be
wanted for succeeding years. What every one
qnainted with the subject knew, and what we very
distinctly predicted twelve months ago, has happen
el. Appropriations of money from the Treasury
must be mado to support the establishment, or Il
must stop WHISTLER the deficiency in its resources
DO the consequence of additional allowances for the
expedition or for the frequency of the mails il is
deficiency still, and is justly imputabie the ubs,rac
tia from tho service Of that Department of long
tried AMI well experienced officers and the supplying
their places with persons either wholly or in de.
gree destitute OF the requisite experience and nfor
nation And how could Il be otherwise. How could
Pcrsons, wholly new IN complicated concern,
know how to proportion their aim to their means,
Who ever rung the hob with the first QUOT he pitch
ed, or drove the mark with the first arrow that he
speG How would raw lands mun sail q ship or
salt seaman drive team s-ficld? In the nature of
things, It could not be otherwise than that errors
should be committed in the outsc, of IN entirely new
administration Of the Post Office. Tho very desire
to obhge and accommodate. in itself laudable, must
ffnA nnsYif htnAr~
would havo resisted and avoided during lie past
year, rs it has done heretofore: II is casting no
imputation the officers themselves to say that
they have had to call upon Uncle Sam for help.
That they have done so, their own Report and tho
Report OF the Committee, ehew beyond denial y
Tho fault 10 in the system upon which, i'll order to
convert The Department into an instrument of po,i
cal rewards and punishment, the 6rst second, third
and fourth OF the elder and most qualified officers
were displaced, to make way for individuals whose
party principles were Of the right complexion IF
Mr. McLEAs would have consented to be instrumen-
tai IN the party Procc!, he would. IN all probability
have been still the Chief of the Post Office Depart
ment, and its revenue would have still been ade-
quatc to its support.
This ID the 6rst time since the establishment of
the Government, that appropriation has been ask
time that an establishment. intended, in purt as q
source of revenue. and at some times relied upon as
such, has turned out the reverse and become bur.
then TO the Treasury The fact is worthy of remark
II
neral Post Office, through irs organized peculiar or
gan, ct untruth-an accusation entitled to some no.
tice when issuing from official source; having shewn
that we have stated nsthing than truth; having
Rasiss shs
IN addition, TO give utcrunce 10 few of the refec
tfons winch perusal of it have given rise to. There
arc some things in il which ore not recopclea Bile
With the facts within knowledge or within our
reach. We do not retort the courtesy of the De-
parment, by saying that thoy rnot true" butt Is
at present advised they require explanation.
In the answer TO the fourth query supposed TO
bave been made by the committee, the Depart,
fnent states that the number of new routes applied
for exceeds two hundred and. without any Intmaion
OF the number of miles, the rate per mile, or ON
what data their estimate is founded the cost is
pumped down at eighty six thousand dollars wear
As the Department has not taken the trouble to OBJ
tain the length Of each route from the member who
advocates It, or. less exactly, to inter it from the
map applying to the number Of miles the average
rate, as has been the customary practice We are O.
bged to resort 10 calculation TO arrive at our concIu
sions on the subject. Male on neg routes have
been usually carried but fortnight until their
utIity was tested, and the expence of such Transport
taton has averaged three dollars q mile. If W
strike OH from the two hundred routes one ffh ma
as being already established, and estimate the ave-
rage OF the residue al % miles each they will amount
to tour. thousand miles, and tho annual expense
OF the transportation Of the ma thereon will be
twelve Thousand dollars. Mail bags locks, KEYS. &c
rnsy be set down at tweve hundred dollars: go
that tho whole expense would be less than a 9Th
part OF the expense estimated. That ia the estimate
IS too high, tor the objec, stated, by sixty thou
Again: these routes, il established, would no,
GO into operation until tho LIST Of January next
and no payment would BIO made for them until
May 1881 two months after the end of ne next
session Of Congress 1t would be time enough, at
the next session then, to get nm appropriation for
the purpose avowed, if our calculations are az cor
ted.
But how sit that any appropriation at all will be
wanted for these additional mail routes, What has
become or the surpfns spoken Of IN tho Postmaster
Generals last Report What has become of rho
2So,os7, with all the natural and regurai increase
o. hostages which srses ffUm increase of popula-
Ton and business! To aid on this subject we ha We
Inc annual Reports Of the late Postmaster General
e 's9e OF products and expences annexed to the to
ole OF fost Offices, and Dir Barrys Report Transmit
ted ny the President of the United States to Congress
Any ono may zee, from these that the funds OF the
General Post Office ought to be more than adoouais
70 the support Of the establishment, with all the new
routes added. -"
10 save the trouble Of calculation and reference we stale
10 seneeI terms that appears, by reports and table
nat for the last four