Litchfield enquirer., 1842-12-29
REPORT OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL.

Postmaster General. L eXnlDuS an improve" ment in the revenue of the department, that l may be regarded as proof of the efficiency | with which its affairs have been conducted. l This improvement has not been produced l by an increase in the number of letters
 transported, but by enforcing upon the l postmasters a rigid accountability. To complete regular quarterly settlement of
 accounts, with 13, 3,633 contractors, must re- 1 quire not only great labor on the part of the subordinate agents, but vigorous su- perintendance. If one would compare the speed of trans 1 portation on those mail routes on which by far the greatest number of letters are con- 1 veyed, and from which consequently the greatest amount of revenue is derived, with what it was eight or ten years ago, it will l be found that its rapidity has been nearly doubled within that period, in consequence of the opening of railroads on those routes. 1 The Postmaster General makes no alluSiOn ] to this change in the mode of transportion, but to complain of the extravagant con- pensation demanded for the conveyance of l the mail on railroads.
 In the statement of the Postmaster on this
 point, there is an indistinctness, doubtless
 inadvertent, which would lead casual rea- der to a very erroneous impression of the comparative cost of transportation of the mail on railroads, and in other modes. This statement is in the following words: "The cost of rail road transportation for the last year, stands at $b432,569- The whole length of mail road in the United States, is l40,732 miles, costing $3,087, ,796. Of this length of mail road, only 3,O9l miles is rail road transportation, at cost of $432,568 Only one forty eighth part of the whole number of miles costing one-seventh part of the gross sum-" Sz lo oE<l <l.o~ oG conveyance by the male of road, when it is known that on nearly all the 3O9l miles of rail road, the conveyance is daily in each d. rectaon, and on many of them t,oice q dag, while over very large portion of the l49,- 732 miles, the conveyance is only once tceek each aoay, and much of that upon the back of single horse. The whole amount of mail transportation for the year is stated, in the beginning of the report, at 34, ,S35, ,99l miles, at a cost of $3,O87,796, or 9 cents nearly per mile, including the transportation on horseback. The 3,O91 miles of railroad transportation, If we suppose it to be equal to daily transportation each way over the whole, and twice 8 day over a third part of the distance, is equal to $3, ,000, ,O0O miles annually of rail road mail transpor- tation, for the a bove named sum of $432568; or an average of one mile for IA 1-2 cents. Now this difference in cost, between the two kinds of service, does not strike us as greater, or even SO great, as might be ex- pected from the nature and amount of the service. That is to say, IA l-2 cents per mile for rail road transportation, the mail often weighing from half ton to ton, at a speed of l5 to 20 miles an hour; and the average cost of 9cents mile for the whole transportation, large portion of which is ] performed oA the back of single horse, carrying pair of saddle bags at the mode rate jog of three or four miles an hour.-- The comparison is here made because the cost of each description of conveyance is not given. The average of all transporta- tion exclusive of that by railroad, appears to be, as nearly as we can calculate it,
 something over eight cents for each mile.
 The Postmaster Generals exposition of the abuse of the franking privilege is de- serving of attention; and calls seriously for remedy. The most obvious remedy would be to withdraw the franking privilege altogether, as has been done in England, and to require postage to be paid for the transportation of letters on the public ser vice, as we'll as private letters-the postage so paid to be charged by the officers pay ing it to the government account, in the l same manner as other expenses
 The Postmaster General alludes to the 1 public call for reduction of the rate of postage, and admits the reasonableness of F it, but does not recommend any plan for 1 reduction. We would not recommend so l sweeping reduction as has been made in l England. but we entertain little doubt that 1 with some reasonable curtailment of unpro- ductive routes, and reform of some present | gross abuses, by the aid of appropriate le- gisfation, the rate of postage might be re- duced one-half, and the income still found E adequate to defraying the expenses of the establishment We do not suppose that it l would be of much use to bring forward | project for this important improvement now, because there would be little chance of it's | being carried through Congress. But it is I an object deserving of the serious attention 1 of the department to be prepared for pres- 1 sing change on the first favorable oppor- tunity.
 It will be seen that the Postmaster Gene ral has obtained information on the subject l of the effect of changes in the rates of post. age in England and France, through the l agency of Mr. Duff Green, who has made a | report on the subject. This report has not ! yet reached us. The Postmaster General ] proposes to make report on the question of an alteration of the rates of postage, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate. passed at the last session.-Bost. Dailv Ada.
 MT. John Perkins was fined 8, by the Police Court at Boston, day or two since, for tying his wife to bedpost, to prevent her from "going out shopping"
 1hs Last Lie.-The London Morning Chronicle says :-" Shareholders in America make practice of feeding swine with the dead bodies of their ne-