The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-02-03

The public mind bias besn 30 tnusn exc"eo
on the subject Of ssPos, Office Retorms' a"o
..cheap POSTAGE by the ince.sau, Efforts Of the
newspaper press in lhe Northern cues, espec'
ally in New York, that have been induced 10
luin aside from pres are OF laborious du''es ~
examine how far the complains when we he"i'
of the unrea sonabie postage now imposed ny
law, are wen founded, aud how far the reforms
50 loudly called for are prac'icsble, Thai y LAX
upon the transportation Of letters aud newspar
pers may be burdensomc, will no, deny bu' 80
is every other species OF tax for the support OF
Government. The tue consideration L. Is 'he
tax in the one case or the other, necessary iof
the well being of,he community And Is ,ne
amount Of the lax greater t'an The unavoidao'e
expenses of the establishment require we
have seen that for series Of years the income OF he
Post Office Department has been barely equal TO-
and in seyerai instances it has iuen greatly oeio"
the expenses incident To the support OF the es'so''h-
ment. Ii any feasible plan for lsssenng the expenses
80 as not to impair The efficiency OF the Post once
were proposed should be Of the last TO object TO
a proportionable reduction Of the rates 81 postage
but cannot consent nor do believe that majority
of the people Of their representatives. VIII ever
consent To such reduction OF the rates OF postage,
az will either deprive very large portion OF The coun'
try fi.m any participation IN The benefits OF tue sys'
ten, make the expense OF conveying inc pune
mails a charge upon the Treasury Department. 10
show think conclusisey that one or other ether OF
these results must follow the all Pion OF senator
MeTricks bill, OF any Of The schemes proposed ny
the New York editors, the object uf this article.
Il appears by the report of The Postmaster General
the opening of the present session OF Congress iha'
the whole expense OF The Department In the year
1 "a
whole revenue 81 295, 925 49, II cannot be expected
thut the erpenses hereafter be materially sened
but on the while our settlements are perpetual
~ widening and extending over he vast territories o
the Wes, new villages, towns and cities sPf'hSns w
in every part of our rtill sparsrly settled county, u
is absolutely certain that those expenses must be CON
stan ~ augmentipg, unless il becomes the policy o
The Government cut off from all share III the bene
fits Of the mail establishment, every post route wh'c
does not carry sufficient correspondence 10 de-
fray The expense of transporting the mail WhctheI
such policy can ever he resorted 10 by Congress- oi
whether if resorted to- will DO tolerated 10y the
people remains 10 be seen. AT all events, Then, hay
be taken certain that no material reduct"n OF INC
1pensts Of mail transportation Is TO be looked or
Let us see hat chance there Is for augmentation
OF revenue by large reduction OF the rates OF postage
With view to lay before Congress such facts "a
mig hit enable that body to arrive at right under
standing Of the subject, and test the practicablty o
the establishment 10y adopting the favored
SC hrme of a large reduction OF the rates oi postage
the Postmaster General has collected the actual mum
Der of letters and newspapers, &C., received at every
pos, office in the United States October last. BY
comparing the aggregate amount Of postage collected
ia that month with the gross revenue for the year as
stated in the annual report will lie seen that TAILS
short of the average but is Sufficiently accurate oi
due investigation of,he subject. | shalt only use
so much Of the returns for October relates 10 eer
postage, an extension of my examination into The
amount accruiog on newspapers and pamphlets would
this essay too cnmbrous and my calculations toe
complex 10 be z, nerally understood.
II appears that during the month Of October there
were received at all the post offices OF the United
States 2,036 GAO letters upon which the postage
charged amounted 10 1926, 756 10. being fraction
more than IA, cents for each letter OF these, tn,
proportions were as follows