Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-06-17

No. S, from which it appears that the annual
of the mail on the lSt OF July,
1882. was %, 632 $50 miles, and that the Increase
to that period from the 1st of July 1928, was
10 O22 291 miles, exclusive OF the addltlonal eX-
tent occasioned by the under estimate hereafter
nointed out. The report Of 1882, made the
whole amount Of the annual transportation 70
be 23625,O21 miles, which is 1909 miles less
than the result Of the calculation now made
This mode of ascertaining the amount OF the
annual transportation was deemed less liable
to error, than any that could be resorted TO. be
SIDES further security for its correctness is fur
nished by the fact, that the length of each route
is given. and the number Of times the mail is
transported thereon; SO that any error contain
ed in it, may be easily detected. The fact OF
discrepancy between the report OF 1882 and the
calculation now made, to the small amount OF
1900 miles in so many millions. affords sTohg
evidence of it's general accuracy, and especial
ly when it is considered, that the calculatlon
now made and exhibited exceeds the amount
then reported. The idea that the report OF 1882,
from any motive, placed the annual transport
tation of the mail beyond the true amount, is
disproved by the fact that it falls short of Try
a calculation now made, from the most unerr-
ing data that can be obtained.
In this place we would state, that the commit
tee employed DR.. Phineas Bradley, one OF Ihe
late Assistant Postmaster Generals, who called
to his assistance his brother, Abraham Bradley,
the other late Assistant Postmaster General, 10
aid them in their Investigations. 1t was suppos'
ed, that the long experience of these gentlemen
in the department, would enable them to prose-
cute some branches of the inquiry with more
facility and success than could otherwise be
done The report ofthe result of their inquiries
has been furnished the committee, and compar-
ing it with the reports Of the department, we
discover a considerable discrepancy, tor which
we can readily account.
The Messrs. Bradleys observe in their report
that the Postmaster General reported, IN NO
vcmber 1929, that the whole length of post
roads was 10000 miles; in $780, he reported
them to be lis, 176 miles, in 1892 he reported
them to be only 104 467 miles; and in 1883, he
reported them to be 1895 miles.
The facts appear to be as follows: the late
Postmaster General, in his last report, Novem-
Der, 1923 reported the length of post roads TO
be ,536 miles This must have embraced
the new routes which had been established by the
law Of the preceding Congress- as it exhibited an
increase Of 5000 miles greater than the statlstl'
cal account OF the Department showed Tor the
preceding year.
The present Postmaster General in his first
report of November 1929, assumed the last re-
port of his predecessor as the basis OF his state
ment. He did not questionlts correctness he
had estimated an addition of between four and
five hundred miles in putting into operation
few additional routes within the year; making
the total amount lis 900 miles. In 1880, he pre-
dictated his report on the same presumption, that
the last report Of the late Postmaster General
was correct, and reported an increase of l7G
miles. which had been added by the establish
ment of a few routes to furnish the seats OF JUS
tee to some new counties which had been es-
tablished in some of the States within that perl
od and by varying some Of the old routes, SO as
TO increase their distance, for the purpose OF CIV
fo loron pfc ore H.
borhoods This gave the number Of lis, 176
miles in 1880 In the mean time, he had caused
route books to be made, in which the names or
the several Offices on each route are gwen, the
distance one from another, and the total length
of each route; the length having been ascertain
ed from the POStmaSterS on each route, IN con-
sequence Of circulars addressed to them by the
Postmaster General. In 1892 he took the sum
total of all these routes from the route-books,
showing the whole length of all the post roads
to be only 104,467 miles, The discrepancies
which they (the Messrs. Bradleys) speak Of ap-
pear to have been Occasioned by the estimate
which had been made in the report OF the late
Postmaster General; and the dimlnutlon from
rs 176 to 104 467, is produced by the present
Postmaster Generals correction, in giving the
true amount Ofmal transportation, ascertalned
in the manner heretofore stated. The route
books are in the department, open to inspection;
and ifany errors exist in them, they are subject
to correction. Between the report OF 1882 and
that Of 1888, the new routes established by the
law of 1882 were brought into operation, which
added more than $4,000 miles to the length of
post roads, and increased the total amount to
1895 miles The Messrs. Bradleys state they
have endeavored to ascertain the length of post
roads in seven States and one Territory, by ex-
aiming the advertisements for proposals, and
when the distances are not advertised, by mea-
suring the distances on the map; and in the re-
suit they have found difference, or what they
assert to be an error of 4, 1876 miles. This is
what might have been expected, when compar-
ing their imperfect and uncertain method Of
calculating, with the correct method of the de-
partment. They do not inform us what States
and Territory they took, nor whether they in
Guided the new routes which went into operation
in 1888; nor do they furnish us with any detail
Of the routes, with the length Of each, as the de-
partment has done We have been furnished
by the department with detail Of all the routes.
and the length of each, which certainly is the
most satisfactory statement that can be given;
but the Messrs Bradleys state, that in seven
States and one Territory, they have found an
error, without pretending to have examined the