Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-02-21
ALEXANDRIA:
FRIDAY MORNING, FEB. 81, 1884.
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.


We have amused ourselves in endeavorlng
to imagine the outcry that would nave oeen
raised, had the present condition OF the POST VI
fee Department occurred during the time that
Mr.. John Quincy Adams was President OF the
United States There would have been the
horror-stricken Richmond Enquirer-the amaz-
ed and COMPOUNDED Eastern Argus-the indig-
nant press throughout the whole country max
inc clamor sufficient to disturb almost the ash
es of the dead. We should never have heard
the last of it. Double-distlled abuse-concen-
trated calumny-torrents Of the strongest invec-
tives, would have been poured upon the head of
the already abused, illuminated and denounc
ed Adams; and we should have had him and
his Cabinet perhaps hung in efigy, certainly
gibbetted in the newspapers But, as the So
phomore writes, Temporal mautdntur ct nos, &c.
Truly, truly it is so. We live in another day,
and other men rule over us. Those who then
would have made the hills echo with their de-
nunciations of profigacy, inattention or cor
ruption,-are now as still as death: their voices
are mute: we hear not even murmur OF dis
content, or a whisper Of uneasiness.
And what is the actual condition of the case?
Why! we do not know all: the veil of secresy
hangs, as yet, over the dark transactions of the
Department;-bu we know enough to show us
that an important branch Of the government,
one in the well conducting of which every citi-
zen is directly interested, is disordered, dlsar-
ranged, BANKRUPT-in debt to contractors-in
debt to individuals--in debt to banks; that it is
supported by loans and indulgences; that its
books show miserable system Of holding up
contingencies to make up for failures contracts
and other expenditures; that it is enfeebled, and
in some instances paralysed; that the public do
not repose confidence in it; and, finally, that UNI
less something is done to restore its energies
and its usefulness, it will cease to be any thing
else but miserable government machine, made
use of for party purposes alone, without vlgor,
stability, or disposition to further the ends and
wishes of the public.
Now we put it to every man, who has eyes
to see and ears to hear if this is not a correct
statement Of the present condition of the Post
Office Department Doubtless vigorous efforts
are now making to bring things straight, and
we sincerely hope these efforts will prove Who'll
Iy SUCCESSFUL. Dul, DIS tIcy dStudiiy llO" otohu
and exist there can be no doubt but that they
are just as we have here represented them to be.
We unhesitatingly say, that such a state of
things would have covered the last Administra
ton with disgrace and ignomy: it would have
added thousands to that triumphant majority
which hurled them from Office, and lessened the
regrets of those who witnessed with pain the
IL al, ,;,,;ct
ton Of the Government. And why should it be
otherwise now? Why should the wretched eX-
cuses and subterfuges and explanations of those
succeed in shutting the eyes OF the
people to the notorious fact that through pro-
fligacy, ignorance, or incompetency, the Post
Office Department is BANKRUPT The reason
is obvious Power covers with its broad shield
the guilty-and they are safe. Power throws
its protecting agis around corruption or lncom-
petency-and they repose without fear or mo-
lestation. The people have learned to respect
power to fear power, to reverence power
Those in high places can now do what once
they dared not do The jealousies of the peo
pie are lulled to sleep, and POWER, stealthily but
firmly, makes its strides to absolute and un
mited command.
Let it be remembered, that in thus arraigning
the Post Office Department before the bar of the
public, and demanding its trial and condemna-
ton, we make no personal charges againt those
engaged under its head in its management and
control Many Of these, we know, are faithful
competent officers: the Chief Clerk, we believe,
is highly valuable one. We speak generally
of the Department, and the mode and manner
in which its affairs have been ordered to be con-
ducted- mode which has resulted in their dis
order-a manner which has ended in their en-
tire dsorganization.
RETROSPECTIONS.