Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1834-12-11

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first of July last had been reduced to two
! hundred and sixty eight thousand ninety two
dollars and seventy-tour cents. 1t appears,
also, that the revenues for the coming year,
will exceed the expenditures about two hun
drcd and seventy thousand dollars, which
with the excess Of revenue, which will result
! from the operations Of the current half year,
may be expected, independently of any in
crease in the gross amount of postages, to
! supply the entire deficit before the end of
! 1895. But as this calculation is based on the
| gross amount Of postages which had occurred
within the period embraced by the times of
! striking the balance, II is obvious that without
! progressive increase III the amount Of posta-
! gcs, the existing retrenchments must be per-
! severed in through the year 1896, that the
! Depa-imcnt may accumulate surplus fund
! sufficient 10 place 1t III condition Of perfect
ease.
! Ii will bc observed that the revenues Of the
Post-Olficc Department, though they have in
! creased, and their amount IS above that of
any former years, have not fallen short of the
estimates more than hundred thousand dol
lars. This is attributed in IA great degree, to
the increase Of free letters, growing out of
the extension and abuse Of the franking priv
! ilegc. There has been gradual increase in
| the number Of executive Offices to which it
has been granted; and by an act passed in
March, 1888, it was extended to members of
Congress throughout the whole year. Ii is
believed that a revision Of the laws relative to
the irankiHg privilege, with some enactments
TO enforce more rigldly the restrictions under
which it is granted, would operate beneficial
ly to the country, by enabling the Depart
ment at an earlier period, to restore the mail
facilities that have been withdrawn, and to
extend them more widely, as the growing set
Elements OF the country may require.
To measure so important to the Govern
ment, and as just to our constituents, who
ask no exclusive privileges for themselves,
and are not willing to concede them to others,
] earnestly recommend the serious attention
of Congress.
The importance of the Post Office Depart
ment, and the magnitude to which it has
grown, both in its revenues and its operations,
seem to demand its reorganization by law
The whole of its receipts and disbursements
have hitherto been left entirely to Executive
control, and individual discretion The prin-
ciple is rs sound in relation to this, as to any
Department of the Government, that as little
discretion should be confded to the Execu-
tive officer who control it, as is compatible
with its efficiency. 1t is therefore earnestly
recommended that it be organized with an
Auditor u Treasurer of its own, appointed by
the President & Senate, who shall be branch
es Ofthe Treasury Department. II
our attention is again respectfully invited
to the defect which exists in the Judicial !
System of the United States. Nothing can
be more desirable than the uniform operation
of the Federal Judiciary throughout the sew
eral States, all ofwhich, standing on the same
footing as members of Union, have equal
rights to the advantages and benefits result
ing from its laws. This object Is not attain
ed by the Judicial acts now in force, because
they leave one fourth of the States, without
Circuit Courts. N
1t is undoubtedly the duty of Congress, to
place all the States on the same footing, in
this respect, either by the creation of an ad-
lItlonal number of associate judges, or by an
OF the circuits assigned to those
llready appointed so as to include the new
States. Whatever may be the difficulty in I {
proper organization of the judicial system, SO
Is to secure its efficiency and uniformity in {
III parts of the Union, and at the same time to t
void such an increase of judges, as would {
ncumber the supreme appellate tribunal, it q
hould not be allowed to weigh against the Z
,reat injustice, which the present operation of {
he system produces. C
trust that may be also pardoned for re- c
ewing the recommendation | have SO often d
to your attention, in regard to the n
node of electing the President and Vice
resident Of the United States. All the re- Il
lection have been able to bastow upon the 4
u5ject, increases my conviction that the best i,
lterests of the country will be promoted by RI
lie adoption Of some plan which will secure, c
| all contingencies, that important right of II
to the direct control of the peo- Il
e. Could this be attained and the terms of h
lose officers be limited to single period Of Ii
ther four or six years, | think our liberties Il
ould possess an additional safeguard. Ii,
AT your last session, | called the attention C.
Congress, to the destruction Of the public b.
nllding occupied by the Treasury Depart in
lcnt. AS the public interest requires that io
mother building should be erected, with as G.
tile delay as possible, it is hoped that the he
lcans will be scasonably provided, and that a,
icy viii be ample enough to authorise such W
enlargement and Improvement in the plan II
f the building, as will more effcctually ac- @,
the public officers, and secure the d
nblic documents deposited in it, from the ii
lsuaIties of fire. ii
have not been able to satisfy myself that SC
Ie bill entitled, can act to improve the nav al
atlon of the Wabash River" which was m
mt to Inc at the close of your last session, tn
ight to pass, and have therefore withheld in
ON it my approval, and now return it to the re
enatc, the body in which it originated. il;
There can be no question connected with b,
C administration of pablc affairs, more inn c,
'rtant or more difficult to be satisfactorily
'alt, than that which relates to the rightful Il,
Ithorty and proper action Of the Federal 20
overnments upon the subject of Internal I'm W W
ovemcnts. To inherit embarrassments g.