Washington telegraph., 1850-01-02

with postage passing the mails, Tue las
) year, reckoned on the postage received
amounted to sixty-two millions.
On all these letters the postage collect.
ed was $2 882, 1852, on newspapers and
pamphlets $816,O16. The letter postage
pays now not only for its own cost. bu
also for what the paper postage falls short
of its proportion, and also for all the other
operations and services ofthe Department,
including the expense of all the matter
carried for the public without pay from
the Government
The heads of the different Departments
frank all the mail matter sent from their
respective Departments, and receive
free all to them directed Under the act
of 1e45, an account was kept by the post
Office Of the city of Washington of al! such
matter received by the Departments for
the year ending June 80, 1849, but no
account of the matter sent from them.-
The postage on that received, at the
present rate, was $25O,3s3 83. and the
amount as then estimated at the Treas
ury, OH the matter sent, would be fully
equal, SO that the same then amounted to
$500,767 g. In 1S47 this mode of pay
ment was abolished, and the only provis-
ion since, for this service, is an appropri-
alton of two hundred thousand dollars per
annum.
The principal part of the franked mat
ter, for which no payment is made to the
/ Department, consists in the letters, papers
ard documents franked by the members
of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives. BY report from the clerks office
of the House of Representatives, it ap-
pears that during the two sessions of the
3Oth Congress, ending in March last, the
extra number of public documents for
distribution was 37O, 800, and their weight
was 467,762 pounds. Printed speeches
! folded for members to frank, 6,5S2, 800,
which are estimated at one ounce each,
All ,531 pounds, The one half of this
shows the annual amount of this matter
from the House of Representatives the
two past years, This does not include
the written correspondence of the mem
bers. or the mail matter by them received.
No report direct from the Senate has
been received bnt by report from the,
post-office in this CITY, it appears that
during the year ending June 30. 1919,
the number of free written matter sent was
4S4,21O, and the number received was
8l9,293, making an aggre gate OF speeches
and documents amounting to o,32O, ,Ooo.
| The letter and pamphlet postage on this
matter would have been $7937O9. by
| law, two cents each is allowed eveiy
postmaster for the delivery of a free la
ter or package, if his income does not eS-
| ceed $4,000 per annum. For the GeliY-
cry of nine-tenths of the millions of print
ed speeches, franked and transported il
the mails, without compensation thele
| is paid two cents each, not by the person
who sends, or by the person who receivts
it, or by the country as for public servite
but by those who pay postage on ther
private correspondence. Congress is lo
| decide whether the franking by Its mem
befs is to continue. But The postage On
the remainder, together with that Oh tie
respondence of the members and the
relief of the expense of the transportation
| and delivery of this franked matter, would
enable the Department to sustain itself,
| though the postage were materially re-
| duced on letters If Congress continue
this franking as valuable public service,
! Mr. Collamer says that II is but just and
proper that the letter correspondence, by
a reduction on its postage, be relieved
| from its support; and that provisions be
made therefor. in the same manner thai
other branches OF public sevlce is sns-
tanned, The Postmaster General does
not propose any change i'll newspaper
and pamphlet postage, although that post,
| age is not in proportion TO the cost OF
their transportation. lie. thinks that II
would be desirable to have fixed sum
granted from the Treasury for this public
service as free matter, and then the
| postage so reduced and arranged as TO pro-
| vide ior the remainder; but that course
is impractloahle, as the money from the
| Treasury cannot be drawn until that from
! postage is first exha hausted; and, therefore,
the only safe way Is TO make reductions
of postage, from time to time, until JUS
tice is produced by leaving balance, to
| be annually drawn from the Treasury,
equivalent to the public service perform
ed, and no extent OF reducuon which
| does not produce this effect is sufficient
/ so long as public service is required to be
performed free of postage.
| On the subject OF reducing the postage
on letters. Mr.. Collamer says:
The most obvious and prominent fea-
ture now in our postage is the double
price, ten cents, charged. The reduction
of this ten cent postage and charging all
single letters at five cents each, would
much simplify the manper OF accounting.
4 and render the same both more faclle and
perfect-would remove the dissatlsac-
| 49, r hp IItf
F, the postage in different offices, even III
the same vicinity, but separated by tins
arbitrary line, and would promote and en-