The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1849-01-25


| edition rs they furnish US subscr ibsrs for s,sss
pie Of low rates. my judgment i, is INDISPENSABLE that
everything which passes through the mails should be
taxed for its transportation. and this is dametrcally o-
wish TO abolish the Thanking privilege and for the same
reason, consider this amendment very material in
Engagement upon the principle of the BILL which is 10 re-
duce the rates to the lowest practicable point but to
make everything chageable.
Mr. WESTCOTT inquired whether the amendment
that newspapers shall 60 free Of postage '.whin the
congressional district" in which published, would be
prssudSsdi sy he esHd9S amendment sssas
Mr. CAMERON inquired what was the question be-
ut The 1 VICE PRESIDENT The amendment, submitted
by the gentleman from Pennsylvania himself
Mr. ALIEN called for the reading Of the amendment.
The VICE PRESIDENT restaied the question.
shall very briefly and with such force Of language as
can employ express to the Senate the reasons which will
govern my vote.
establish post offices and post roads, is conferred
cusvey upon the Congress OF the United States. The
very fact OF the power being conferred exclusively upon
the federal government, imposes upon this government
the duty OF establishing post Offices and post roads, aud
therefore is that Congress has established post offices
and post roads throughout the republic And Con-
gress would have been under the necessity Of
tabIishng post offices and post roads, if there were not
printed within the whole republic solitary newspaper
say. then, that the post office establishment OF this
country, in order to accommodate the country with in
formation by the transmission of their private correspond
would have been precisely in the same condition as
the number of routes to the number OF post offices,
to the number OF mail bags as TO the number OF mail
agents. and the items OF expense If there were not
newspaper printed in the United States II 10 true,
sir that the transportation Of printed matter through the
mails augnents the burden in each mail the extent of
its weight, and creates addition to the expense OF
the government equal to the amount OF power necessary
to transport the accumulated BURDEN and this is all the
expense incurred in consequence of newspaper crcua-
ton.
fact-and it is of fundamental importance in this dis
cussion-hat the post office esabshment throughout
great Establishments there were not newspaper print.
ed in the republic. That being the case, sir. Congress
has proceeded upon the ground that the larger part Of the
necessary to sustain the establishment should be
levied upon the private correspondence Of men, because
private correspondence related purely to private business
and had no connexon whatever with the political organ
izaton of the country WE'LL sir, the mail being under
the necessity of opening between the various points at
LARGE the post Offices established and being under the
those points not, the request here is. that nasmuch
your mail carriage is to travel between two given
points, you will take along the newspapers printed at one
point-the point from which the mail starts We ask
this, sir not favor 10 the publishers OF newspapers
merely, but ask it favor to the immense number
of persons who take and read the local press.
come now to the question, what will be the loss to
what proportion will that loss bear to the anticipated
benefit?
And first as to the loss The postage on all printed
matter during the last year was $787 900 desire to
say here, sir, that shall disregard and throw of fac
lions all references make to figures for the sake Of
more easy and simple comprehension OF what say. On
printed matter. including newspapers OF all kinds and de-
Sc q III amos anS
whole OF these the postage last year was $787 900
In order to ascertain what will be the loss TO the public
necessary to inquire what proportion OF this postage was
paid upon other printed matter, besides public newspa-
pers We have not, SIR in the Post Once Department,
the archives OF the government. any data upon
which to arrive at positive conclusion on that point
But, in conversation with one. perhaps more competent
upon this point he Informed me that he thought It would
be fair computation to say that onefourh OF the whole
printed matter that passed through the mail might be COM
pretended under the name OF pamphlets Leaving there
fore. three fouhs Of all the revenue which rises from
the transmission Of printed matter to newspapers alone
ooo That, sir. includes the whole postage newspa
pers OF every kind and description circulated throughout
the republic This proposition relates 10 papers ccula
ting over circle of sixty miles from the central point OF
Another question arises what proportion OF the
revenue the law stands. is collected for the trans
poration within, and what proportion without, that
thirty miles and this is question. sir, upon which
we have no data to calculate. have, however, from
my knowledge Of the general state OF affairs ns n ,
newspapers-w the amount of their subscriptions and
with the description of people who are their subscribers
upon this subject suppose, sir that three Of
the whole revenue paid upon the transmission OF
newspapers, is paid within the circle OF sixty miles;
circulate free The amount of postage paid upon this
three fouhs, then, will be $43i 900 am giving the
adversaries OF this proposition all the advantage OF the
largest computation am giving them figures from which
they may show the largest imaginable loss to the public
treasury and yet they cannot carry beyond $431 600
Now, sir, assuming that this loss to the public
treasury, it is at the time saving to the people
Bear that in mind that that which is loss to the public
treasury is saving to the people, and not an exPend
ture II is barely omission to collect that much OF the
taxes which now collect from the people. What IS
it, sir 1t is the diminuton OF the tax upon the pnvl-
lege of reading this country to the extent OF $3
that is the the privilege OF reading newspapers
and that is the which propose TO repeal to that
extent go
Now SIR let us see what is the benefit likely to be dis
pensed TO the people from dimnution OF their taxes TO
the extent and in the way by which this proposition
seeks to reduce them. The newspapers in the United
States are perhaps in number about 400. have some
data upon which think / may fairly draw the con-
cuson that they are in number about 2,4Oo But
in order to keep within probability, or, rather, n
order TO keep within positive facts IN my estimate,
papers have various calculations to number and As to
time The large city papers publish an immense edition
daily; the small country papers publish limited edition
weekly the papers OF the intermediate towns between
villages and cities publish larger circulation than the
village presses, and publish them two or three times
week There is therefore. possibility OF doing more
than striking the mind fair average a. to the extent
DO that srassuming the number Of papers to be two
thousand. assume the circulation OF the whole to be
but week (none Of them are less than that and
many of them daily but the publication TO
be week, and the number circulated to be- on an
average, 900. There are, then, circulated m ihe
United States thousand newspapers each circulating
weekly thousand of their prints, making N al "a
L II