The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1843-11-13
From the Eastern Argus.
POST OEElCE REFORM.

ldlthfui discharge oil his Official uuues, we die
nevertheless as decidedly and as strenuously IN
favor Of thorough, and in fact. somewhat rd-
dicdi reform in the Post Office Department, as
our contemporaries can be, who abuse him the
most vehemenuy. But it is not the Executive
Officer, that attempts the execution OF an unpo-
pular and odious law, that we wage war against,
but the law Itself. Ii is not the officers Of the
Post Office Department that should be quarrel
| ed with, but the system, portions OF which re-
quire 10 be overhaueJ, and altered so as 10 con-
form to The present wants OF the community.
The machinery OF the Department was well
enough till the introduction OF steamboats, and
railroads oIened the door for the establishment
of private expresses on all the great thorough
fares, more rapid, if not more safe, and cheaper
than the Government performed the same du--
ties; thus taking the business GU, OF lis hands.
and greatly diminishing its revenues, and at the
same time, augmentlng It's expenses That
some change is absolutely necessary, seems TO
be admitted on all hands, Tut there is diversity
Of opinion in regard TO is character and extent,
both OF which we propose bnefy TO discuss In
this article. But before examining either, we
declare unc mpromisng hostility 10 the policy
that has prevailed from the foundation of the
Government, Of throwing the Department upon
its own resources for its support, The Consli-
tuition regards II as II does the army, navy, and
mint, as a neces sary NATIONAL concern. and in
discussing its present merits and dement's, and
the changes necessary 10 impart to II It's highest
degree OF usefulness, we propose TO view II IN
the same light.
The Army and Navy and national police are
necessary to the protection of the country against
violence from without and ANARCHY within, and
the Mint to furnish uniform standard or mea
sure Of value; and the Post Office TO furnish
cheap, regular, and safe transmission Of wrlten
and printed intelligence.
We regard the Pos Office Department as one
of the most essential branches of the Govern
meui Without it, how could the city and The
country hold regular cheap, and daily, or even
weekly intercourse How could the printed
sermon or the pamphlet, filed with eloquent
essays on all subjects; the newspaper with IN
formation Of al that is passing upon the face of
the whole earth, and the business letter, or The
epistle of family friendship and love, circulate
from tho Atlantic to The Lokos, AID from Maine
to Louis ana
The Post Office Department i, one of the
great moral machines Of the Nation. IL value
in binding together the most distant points, in
keeping up familiar acquaintance with lhcmost
distant neighborhoods, in facilitating internal
trade and in carrying on foreign commerce. and
spreading all kinds Of information, is ndi .peusi
l. 10, l., -, ,f,.1
quire> grea, changes and Improvements, VIII ci
should be made Wi h bold hand, and without
stoppi 2 at the responsibility Of throwing nd
lion or two Of expense upon the Treasury, an
nual!y, beyond is receipts. We say the ncces-
sary reform, should be made without regard TO
| their expenses, though We verify believe, il the
! lowest letter postage was no more than three or
four cents and the highest en- orff,ccn, and the
lowest newspaper Two or three mills, and the
! highest ten or fifteen mills, upon newspapers of
medium sizr aud doubled or quadrupled upon
the larger shcels-that the receipts Of the D.
! parimeut, instead Of b,ing diminished would be
greatly increased; for the newspapers and let
ters which uow go outside of the mail and
which in the deHscly settled and revenue pay
ing sections, probibly exceed by ten To one
those that 90 in II, would be carried by the Co
yernment, while The correspondence of the un-,
try would very soon be doubled or reblcd, and
the circulation Of printed matter rapidly in
creased
The New York T ibunc says
"Can any consderalo doubt as 10 tho true
course, with the example Of Great Britain before
him, There the reduction OF postage by three fourths
IL.
reduction Of the receipts, which five years will en-.
tirely replace. There not one fourth of the people
habltualy read write here three-fourths do so.
Is 1t not clear that reduction Of rates Of post
age two-thlrds would increase the Post Office revenue
/ How can the Postmaster General hesitate"
We should rather say hou can Congress he
sitafc2
It i, with a good deal Of diflidencc that we
totally dissent from the opinion Of a shrewd bn
siness man, who has had the very best oppouu-
nifty Of becoming intimately acquainted with the
workings Of the Post Office Dcparim nj, but we
cannot but regard tha suggestion Of Hon. Amos
Kendall in his Expositor, TO abandon to private
expresses the mail business on the great tho
roughfarcs a, grave error The Government
should accommodate the public cheaI er and bet
ter than it can be done by private enterprise, but
not abandon il to doubt and uncertainty. Be
sides, it i, the most productive routes, where
convey ancc i, the cheapest, that it is proposed
to abandon it which If carried into execution,
would certainly throw the less productive upon
the Treasury for support But we do not ap-
preheBd that there is any danger Of the adoption
Of so great an error, Notwithstanding it is coun-
tenanccd by such high authority.
The fact that barrel Of -four is carried from
Troy to New York for IL l-2 cents. while let
trr hr mail cnsfs Is "a CT ltsf nnilc1h hu lie