Litchfield enquirer., 1835-03-05
From the National IateIiigvRcer Of F1day.
 THE POST OFFICE.

n1Ously) fnr reforming the administration of the Post Office, received lts first and second reading, and was referred 10 the Post Office 1 Committee.
 l Nwas concurrence nf circumstances rath- < 1 CT remarkable, that. on the saFsar n1Urning. the Committee appointed by the House of Rep. rcsentativps in June last to examine into the affairs of the Post Office, should have brought in it's Report. The Report was presented by Mr. COnnnr, the Chairman "f the C"mmit- tee. and, without reading, (heeaUse ufi's great lengthy was ordered lO lie "n the table, and tO be printed. Mr. k, Whit1lesey, "u behalf of the minority of said Committee. who, he said, had not been able iD take, in all particn- lars, the sa.ne views as ibt- G7 53rity of the Commtier, offered 8 repnE3 "71 iheir, part ]; which vas also ordered to lie Ua sie tasie. and to be printed.
 We have not, of course. had 1t in our pow CT to read any material portion ofthese ina, DOrtant and vOluminOus dOruments. But, desirous IO see to what conclusion the ma jOr- l ity of the Committee had arrived as the result of their investigation, Wp turned tO the last pages of their report, and found them there stated in such frank and manly terms, as to do honor equally to the spirit and intelligence 1 of the Committee, who have dared to be hon est in the teeth of the party. We copy the concluding paragraphs of the Majority Re port fthat of the Minority we have not yet examined)-to which thrre is no occasion to ask the attention of every reader:
 "The Committee, in concluding this brief analytical review of the results of a very pa. tirnt and lab"rious investigation of the condi. tion and proceedings of the Post Office De- partment, should not consider their duty as fully discharged 10 the House, and to the l,Iv tso al, eral conclusions to which their minds have been brought. The few propositions which follow, and which condense these conclusions. this Committee doubt not, if examined, in a 1 spirit of candor and impartiality will he ad- l mitted, as just cOrOllari-s from this report list. The finances Ofthis Department have hithSS::::.: .:-n managed without frugalisy. sys- trm, intelligence. or adequate puunS ntl''ty. The cardinal principles of an enlightened economy have been violated. Ignorance of the real fiscal ability oft the Department has long prevailed. Expenses have not been kept within the limits of income. Means have not ] been proportioned tO the ends sought to he attained expenditures tO the benefits to be purchased. The records of the Department, in this vital particular. have not been kept with method and accuracy; for the data they fur nish conduct to widely varying results. The accounts of 'he receipts. expenditures. and losses of the Department do not. in fact. illus-. 1 trase. wi:h+certaSuty, the assSxai~ ~Rscdt cOnttf ton of the Department. No conm"n lest or standard appears, at any time, to have been employ ed L" detect srrh casual errors as might creep in to derange the balance between re. ceip,s and expenditures and hence the exist 1 ing unfortunate excess of the latter over the fnrmer. The absence ofsuch test produces the effects, of incertitud+ and doubt, upon the mind, as tO the accuracy of the conclusion which it may reach by any ordinary process | of investigation; and upon the practical Ope- rations of the Department, of perpetual liabii- 1 ity tu fall into error. without any certain mode uf its detection. This evil is within the reach ur Legislation. and should be corrected by es- tablishing p'oper system of checks and bal ances."
 l "2d. The negligent and unsystematic form of making & preserving mail contracts issuch, that no human mind could comprehend the whole. and maintain in order so complicated a machine as the General Post Office. The contracts are now, and have at all times, which have fallen under the observation of the committee. been most loosely constructed. Ii is occasionally impossible t0 penetrate their 0bscurity; often difiicnit to decipher their in- terDeatiOns and marginal notes and always tO be doubted whether they SO framed 1 and executed as to be available in law. An ocular inspection of the Mail Contract Books can alone convey an adequate idea of the care less and confused state in W hich they are kept. Certain it is that the experiences of one gen. eration of laborers in this branch of this busi- ness of the office cannot be transmitted, thrO' him to another. Knowledge tif acquired) is to be obtained rather from those who keep the books than The books themselves; and the consequence is that the loss Of the book keep CT is the extinction of all certain light.
 The Head ofthe Department can alone ap- ply the corrective to rhis evil.
 ''Sd. The mode of preparing advertise ments for malt contracts has practically inver- ted the ends of the law, VI hich epjoiDed it, The law designed it great safeguard a. gainst fraud and irnposition.by bringing the sa : lutary principle of competition into active and beneficial operation. The usage Of the De- partnent. in conj junction with the highly rep reh-nsible practice of receiving amalgamated bids, has frustrated the wisdom of ihis precau ton, and rendered the system of lettings, in regard to the more important routes. little more than an empty form or a bitter mockery.
 The interposit"n "f the legislative power is, in the opinion of the Committee. "nneces- sary in this instance, as they deem the exist ing enact ments adequate to their object.
 ..4th. The practice eff granting extra allow ances has, at various dates in the history ol this Department, run into wild excesses; some