Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-08-28

~ yum S"PHOIt any unflgnleOuS con-
stltuiion, nor become part or parcel of anv
unholy compacts; but on the other hand, if
they have such compacts we will labor faith
fully to destroy them.
Why then may We not use the U. S. mail?
Is it not right to have mail routes and Post
Offices established! Yes. "But it was
done by a bad government, it is said. Does
that alter its intrinsic excellence, or the hem
efts il confers upon society Many a house
is builded and owned by a man morally de-
PRAYED. Shall we therefore refuse to rent or
use it! Suppose the owner does make a bad
use OF the money we pay him. Are we re-
sponsible for thatl 1t is evidently his own,
and we have nothing to do with the use he
makes of it. The Post Office is a separate
department of the government, and the mo-
ney we pay for the use of it goes only to sus-
tain that ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS it is used
for a good purpose, although done by a bad
organization. But if it ,cere 1sed for a bad
purpose, they alone are responsible who use it,.
"But the oath which the Post Master is
obliged to take to support the Constitution is
an objection to its use,' say some, "and in..
wolves the Disunionist in the support of tho
government" Not so. The Disunionistss
have no more 10 do with the Post Master.
than the man who buys a piece of woollen
cloth OF the manufacturer, has to do with the
men who raised the sheep that furnish the
wool out Of which it was made. Tho Past
Master is not our agent, it is the Government
mat we employ to transmit our letters. and
the Government has very tyrannically pro-
hibited any one else doing it under severe
penalties. If the Government choosos =
act an oath of allegiance from its agent who
FHS the mail bags, it, and not We. are resnor-
slble for that action. We consider il pnnc-
cessary, foolish and wicked. Suppose the
Government should require that every MANN
iacturer OF china, glass, carthen, iron and tin
drinking vessels should take an oath Of allie
glance and that it monopolized the manu-
iactlTe OF the article would any one imarine
that we sustained the becamo
responsible for its acts by buying an earthen
pitcher or a tin cup? If we 60 to a MANN
iacturer OF cloth and employ him to weave us
a piece, are we responsible for the manner in
which he treats his workmen, for the nricos
ne pays the farmer for the wool, for the wa
ges the farmer gives his hands. and so on f.
the end of a long chaptera No one will nro-
tend that we are, for the manufacturer is NOT
our agent in these various actions. All that
we employ him to do for us, is to furnish 4
piece OF cloth; and there is nothinr mora
wrong In purchasing cloth than in payinr the
carriage on a letter, and the latter is as cood
an act as the former. Neither of these thinrs
require that wrong should be done. that in.
justice should be inflicted, and if the mann
tacturer and government are unjust or tvran-
meal, they must answer for it themselves.
Though no question of principle is invoIv-
Ell IN this matter, yet it., as all other actions
which have in themselves no moral charac-
ter may or may not be eXpedient. If we de-
sign purchasing goods of a manufacturer who
docs not give his hands a full equivalent for
their labor-and where is the one that doesl
we must first decide whether by purchas-
ing or by not purchasing, we do more GOOD
to the cause of humanity. So in the trans
mission of letters. Circumstances NAV oc-
cur when it will become inexpedient TO use the
U. 5. mail. When Hale & Co.'S, private
mail carried for six cents a letter for which
government charged twenty-five, we THOUGHT
1t lneXpediert to employ government. If 90
vernment derived a splendid revenue from
Tho Post Office department, instead of its be-
ing a heavy expense to it as has always been
the case, and lift employed that revenue to buv
men for gladiatorial shows, we should think
1t lneXpedient to use ii in ordinary cases, al
though we might with propriety resort to it.
II by so doing we could prevent the purchase
Of men for such purpose. We therefore. I'M
der present circumstances, feel no more hest
fancy in using the U. S. mail, than would q
fugitive slave in using The National road as
a means of aiding him in his flight from
bondage.
The subject of tax paying we leave for
consideration next week.
[ NoTE:-An apology is due to Il @ friend
VINO asked us the Questions referred to in the
above article, for the delay of our answer
A press OF other matter seemed TO claim pri-
ority. The reply we have given has been
written some time, but been crowded out by
that which could not so well be delayeI.l
Samuel Lewis.
II -