Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-01-14
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
:, .,.r.t 10 the Editor of the Penn. Inquirer.

IN,
,x.h .n;madversion has been justly excited
. a;ffarent narts of the Union, by men OF all
tiles and nersuasions in consequence OF the
pc pc evident defalcation in the Post Once De-
sortment Nor could this deficiency be favour
ahv accounted for so as to satisfy the mos
crednlous of the administration prints, mu 1cl
less to appease the outraged Ieehles VI uio 0
interested portion OF the community o,,tben-
Rut the deficiency has at length been autlsn-
t;callv answered by an expose printed py oIuei
of CONGRESS. This is published IN an oc1asI
,,o,nnoe of some thickness, called the btue Ooo"
hv MANY as technical name, analogous W 'lie
Red or Black Book of England. IL gives a."
account of the different departments " md
Mont the officers and salaries OF eacn, amo o
.he;r Incidental expenses during the last wv
wears besides the congressional APPROX .ar
ar in conformity with the total amount VI Apply
priations. ,+ onv notice of the
other departments in looking over the eAPeI-
ses of the Post Office department during tle
last wear. one is singularly struck with the uli-
nrecedented anomalies which present theni-
SELVES in almost every branch of that estaolisn-
ment particularly in the mail contracts l y
an attentive observer, 1t appears that every ooi-
tract must have been made by speclal idVoul-
must have been made with political paruldns'
,rho were inS1lced to give in an estimate OF eX-
nense somewhat or considerably lower thail
other rivals. i'm order that the preference mieh'
annear TO have been made solely from an econ
omical motive in the department. Whethef
each contractor was acquainted with the oiiic5 !
estimates proposed, and were lnduceG W oiu
lower from a mutual undefStanollS llin' .1
wonld be amply compensated Tor all expenses
raaI or q lleged. over and above the sum specifl-
ed in the contract
Thus there is scarcely an average OF one
contract in forty wherein this extra allo"-
ance is not paid to a considerable amount -
in MANY instances to an amount equlVdlehl "
the ORIGINAL contract in many instances more
than double To enumerate these instances
would fatigue your readers like myself lshail
therefore give YOU one or two examples, from
which you can easily infer others: -,
The annual contract or compensation OF -. M.
Bull, of Pennsylvania, was, S4|o w
The extra allowance for last year, end
ing September, 1oof VI
The annual contract Of Thomas Car
brey, Virginia, was, Sooo w w
The extra allowance was, oSou w
The annual contract Of Stockton and
Stokes, of Maryland, was, SoO.Soo w w
The extra allowance was, 2S,9oS w
And so in other instances. In one place, the
contract was for $4,000 dollars, and the extra
allowance made was 5000. Now what could
have warranted the payment OF such sum as
%, 900 dollars, without any specification having
been made by the post master, and perhaps
none by the contractor?
The sum paid for advertising to f. 2. Blair,
was 42. 900 dollars during the last two years, for
the Post Office Department.; for the Depart
ment of State, nearly &C, 900; for the Treasury
Department, nearly 5000; for the Navy, nearly
$4,000, &C. amounts in some instances equlva-
liant to all paid to other establishments through
out the Union. Thus for instance, in the Irea-
sury Department, your paper received only ~
dollars, and the American Sentinel Is; while
the Globe received 1894 dollars. Similar com
parsons might be instituted in other instances,
some of which may be given hereafter.