The Whig standard. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1843-1844, 1844-03-29

Edition of the LIFE OF CLAY, by OLIVER
OLDscHooL those desiring copies will send their
orders eary-price $l5 per thousand.
MR.. KENDALL. AND HIS ENORMOUS
EXPENDITURES IN THE POST OFFICE
DEPARTMENT..
Mr.. Kendall formerly, under General Jackson
and Mr.. Van Buren,, Postmaster General, having
devoted his time and talents to the manufacture
of tracts filled to overlooking with falsehood, ma
lice, gall and bitterness, and all uncharitableness
towards Mr.. Clay, whom he most grossly defames
and Whites before the American people; and be-
ing also engaged in the pious and laudable I'M
dertaking of interpreting natural events into
"signs" (Which :" a wicked and perverse genera
ton" alone ".seeketh") Of Gods anger with, and
vengeance upon the political opponents of Martin
Van Buren,, for preferring honest men and patriots
as rulers of the nation we feel great reluctance
in calling his attention to matters of vastly less
moment to the American people, and to him per-
sonally, than the hidden and occult meaning of the
falling of piece of tin with E. Phuribus Unum
painted on it, in the Senate, the bowling of dog,
the mewng of cat, the flight of crow, or the
screech of an OWL nevertheless, with all our
unwillingness to disturb the profound studies, or
interrupt the divinations of this modern SIMON
MAeUs, we cannot refrain from directing his
eye to few facts which we are about to state,
and we ask it as particular favor, that whenever
he has OWNED all the ways of Providence, and
kindly informed US of the evil that every event,
even the most natural, portends to the Wing
party, he will turn his eye to them, and give us
little light thereon. We are particularly DESTROYS
to know how it happened that the incidental
expenditures of the Post Office Department rose
from seventy-five or eighty thousand dollars per
annum, up to four hundred and thirty-seven
thousand dollars, in one or two years, under his
administration of the Department!
In his annual report as Postmaster General, in
December, 1886, he said, ut is expected that
the Department will have surplus of cash in
Bank before the first of August next exceeding
$700,0OO!" In his previous annual report, he
had represented the Department to be, when he
entered it, almost in hopeless condition. From
his annual report made in December, 1887, it APP
pears that his anticipation of surplus Of 100000
was more than realized. He says, in that report,
"In 1885 the Department was laborng under an
extraordinary debt of 100000; in 1887 it has
surplus Of $6OO0oO."
The year preceding, namely, in 1886. Mr.. Ken
dali had recommended an alteration of the rates
of postage, with which Congress did not think
proper to comply. He now. in 1887, pluming
himself upon his successful management of the
Department, lectures that body in the following
language: In consequence of the failure Of
Congress to reduce the hostages at the last ses-
sion, arrangements have been made to improve
the mail service beyond the extent of the accru.
ing revenue, so as to absorb the surplus. The
career of improvement has been arrested by ap-
prehensons of a reduction of revenue, growing
out of the general commercial embarrassments
but no reduction of the service contracted for is
at present contemplated"
This is certainly very extraordinary cause to
assign for an extravagant and wasteful expendi-
ture. He admits that there was a great com
mercal embarrassment" from which an appre-
hension is entertained of ga reduction of rev.