The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-12-26
2O7

Proridsd, That no post office or mail route shall
be abolished or discontinued in consequence Of
any diminution Of receipts resulting from the op-
Grafton Of this law
Mr.. Ashmun begged leave to say TO the gentle.
man from Illinois, and to all gentlemen like him.
that he should have no apprehension on the sub
ject of the curtailment of the mail service by the
diminution Of postage he had no fear upon the
subject lie had given great attention TO the mat
ter, aud was satisfied in his own mind that there
would be no necessity for any curtailment. There
would be- after two or three years, as large an
amount Of gross receipts as now. He would con
sent TO accept the amendment of the gentleman
from Illinois, as an amendment to the proposition
moved yesterday by himself as q substitute to the
first section
MIR. Caldwell of Kentucky desired Mr.. Ash
mum to accept the following.
rIot"'d, mat no post Office now in existence
shall oe ulscontlnueI, nor shall the mail service
on any mail route in any Of the States or Terri
tories be discontinued or diminished in conss-
| quence OF any diminuton OF the revenuea that
may result from this act. AaI prorid,d. G,,iL.l
| That il shall be the duty Of the Postmaster Con
eral to establish new post Offices, and place the
mail service on new mail routes established or
| that may hereafter be established in the same
manner as though this act had not been passed
| And prorldsd further, That the compensation Of
the postmasters shall not be diminished in conse-
| quence Of the passage Of this act
After some conversation between Mr.. Ashmun
and MIR Caldwell,
Mr.. Potter accepted the amendment az a mart
OF the amendment which he had proposed as a
substitute for the bill
Mr.. Meade was in favor Of FIVE cents uniform
rate
Mr.. Conger was in favor Of the lowest possible
reduction of postage The argument, that this
branch OF the Government should sustain itself
had always been uttered whenever a proposition
to reduce postage had been made as also the ar.
gument that it would render the Post Office De-
partment and the Treasury bankrupt The ex-
| perience OF The country was, that the reduction
OF 1871 had enabled the country to % on giving
increased facilities and furnishing sufficient reve
nue. for the support of the Department He was
in favor of n uniform reduction Of two cents, for
the reason that he believed that such reduction
would yield revenue sufficient 10 enable the De-
partment TO sustain itself At the same time he
was in favor of granting such facilities as the
public interest of every section demanded He
stated frankly, that if the Department could not
sustain itself with such reduction he would make
up the deficiency from the General Treasury
lie denied that the petitions for the reduction Of
postage had been circulated by the large cities,
but asserted that the people were zealously in IA
WI VI ~ iAc wac III ldNOT Vi reducing tue posi-
age on newspapers 50 TO discriminate in favor
of the country presses, and ut the proper time
would offer an amendment providing that in the
county Capitalization, and within thirty -6ye miles
from the place Of publication, all newspapers shall
be sent to actual subscribers free Of POSTAGE. Je
would also oRcc amendment 70 abO ..sn the
ranking privilege which he said was no benefit TO
the members, but Just the reverse-a burden
Mr. Thurston spoke against that part of the
bill which charges four times the amount OF post
age on letters, and three times the amount of
postage on newspapers from Oregon and Califor-
MIA. Ii struck him that it was discriminating in
favor of one part Of the country against another.
The people of California and Oregon claimed to
be citizens Of the United States and did not in
tend to be driven out of it by any action which
might be adopted or recommended here at the
centre of the Government He did not see why
the system of uniform postage should not be
adopted in regard to Oregon aud California, as in
the other portions Of this country. He spoke at
length of the expense of transporting the mails to
California and Oregon. If the people of those
countries belonged to one common country, if the
same common flag foated over them, why should
they not be governed by a uniform law, comforting
equality upon all, and which would enable them
all to become acquainted with each other2
After some further discussion, the Committee
rose, and the House adjourned.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 90, 1850.
The House went into the Committee of the
Whole on the Private Calendar Three or four
private bills were acted upon-the COMMITTEES
rose, the House concurred in the action, and
then adjourned till Monday
MONDAY, DECEMBER %, 1850.
No business Of Importance was transacted by
either House today. Both Houses adjourned
over till Thursday.