Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1845-03-05

measure which IL proposed was, that 1t
would certainly throw the Post Office De-
partment, Or The larger portion OF its ex
pendi,ures, upon the Treasury Depart.
uienl. He knew of no reason why The
postage should be reduced below ten cents,
lha, would not apply to abolishing it alto
gelher. Why has any rate al all if il was
not adequate 10 The expenses of rhe de-
iparlmcnt
He had shown that the effect of this bill
would be 10 throw the burden upon those
who oush. not to pay ii, in order 10 relieve
those who, upon every principle of'human
justice. ought 10 pay it. This had been
very generally regarded as a question Of
taxation. When man paid so much into
The post office for letter, it was supposed
he was paying it as tax to The govern
ment. Now this was no such Iliing. He.
Mr.. McD.) no more paid tax when he
paid The federal government twenty-five
cents TO enable him to transport letter
cheaper than he could get i, transported
by private company, than he paid tax
10 wagner or boatman to carry his cot
ton. 1t was not paying a tax, hut paying
for services which The government had
rendered him, and which nobody else
could perform upon terms which suited
him SO well. Suppose you make private
contracts for he lransporallon Of your cor
respondence il would cost hesides The in
convenience Of having no system at all.
three times as much as you pay The gov
ernmeut.
This must be regarded as a general sys
tem-not system (Ur the benefit of one
portion of The Union, bul for all. And he
would ask, five were TO regard it as tax,
could the imagination of man conceive a
more just tax Than that which levies The
burden upon the person who receives tho
benefit ? Who ought to pay The postage ?
That was the whole matter: The poor
man, who perhaps never received letter.
and who paid ten dollars 10 The govern
ment in the form Of a duty on sugar, salt,
or iron? Ought he TO pay his tMr. Nc.
Duffiie's) letter postage? Ought he TO
pay the Letter postage oflhe Senator from
Rhode Island No: they ought to pay
their own postage. Let him tell gentle
men that the whole an ounl ofths system
would consist in relieving the nianufac
turing portion Of The community; and the
densely populated parts of the country.
from their postage, and 10 throw the bur
den upon the agricultural, or sparsely
settled portion Of the United States. Now,
he would respectfully suggest that i, would
be lust as reasonable he did not
know that it would not come 10 pass-ihat
The manufactures in The North, who had
vast deal Of correspondence in their bu-
siness. should ask first, that we should en-.
able them 10 keep up their establishments
by The enormous duties of a protective
system. and then that we should raise
funds TO pay for the transportation Of their
from Boston TO New York,
New Orleans, sc. They had just as much
right to come aud call upon the people Of
the South and Southwest u do that, as to
call upon them to pay for the transporta-
ton Of their letters. Now the people Of
h .hss pdc % fs wsse T'tHG Ire estG
lishment; but he was not willing to see a
measure passed which would break Up
one half Of The post offices throughput The
country. Under these views Of the SUBJ
iect, he p,olested against this as system
lending 10 produce revolution in this de-
partmenl grossly unjust in the distribution
Of the burdens Of this ground. II was
laying the foundation, in the post Office de-
pafllncut, Of system Of corruption, the
extent of which no human sagacity could
anticipate. Already il was lawful for The
head of that department to exercise the lar
sest control over he public opinion of The
country Of any officer under the go ern.
men,. He (Mr. Med looked lack upon
The extent of the influence which he had
oblained ia this department. when under
The administration of that energetic and
patriotic man, Judge McLean) who now
had a seal iu the Supreme Court of the
United States; and he believed, though
That gentleman was comparatively un-
known when he went into the department,
he came ou, one of the most popular men
iu the United States ? And how! He
was poor man; lie administered that de
parlmen, as it never had been administered
siuce; anil such was the controlling inffu-
encc which he had over The deputy post
masters all over The United States, from his
character for integrity and honesty, that he
kne@ those postmasters who had dealings
with him had feeling towards him ap-
almost to idolatry. No man in
The United States had the power TO exer-
else greater influence than the head of
his department, at lha, period. There
was never purer man there, thar Judge
Mclean. What then would be The ten
leuey OF this system in Ten years from this
time A corrupt man in that department
would be omaipo,en'. The department
has an exclusive and independent exis-
teuce. The Postmaster General wields a
power. He is given. in a
little clause Of this bill, discretionary
power.lo raise The salary of deputy post
masters Throughout, The United States. TO
be sure it was limited, to some extent; bul
yet it was a discretionary power; aud ev-
cry Postmaster General would have The
means of doing favor to any deputy post
master, or any number of deputy poslmas-
,ors ,hrouob,,ui the IIni,pl Sfates