The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1851-12-03
For the MiMcrs' Exprcss.

For the Minors Express. ca
MHssRs. EblroRsA-W lille it cannot be de- til
lied that Mr.. Fitz Henry Warren, in his ca
Dacy Of Second Assistant Post Master Gcner. Il
II, has done great deal for Iowa in the way p
'f mail facilities, by accommodating The int II
rior and thinly settled portions of the State '
with new Post Offices and new mail lines, it is g
no less true that he is blind to the "short com Il
ings of John Frink Il Co. who monopoiize the is
carrying IF the mails, not only in Iowa, but |
throughout the whole Northwest. A Post Of {
flee is Of very little use unless the mail be de- a
Hvered into il, and the people no better &C I
comnedatcd by Daily mil, arriving .ssemi-
occasi ,nally than they. would be by atri-weeky
Iowa have too much cause to complain of the
Irregular ty or non arrival of mails is the object
Of the pr sent communication. ss
Bat it may be well to anticipate question
which, il omitted, would be asked with great
propriety. Were our mail arrangements better
provided for under former Administrations than
at present. Not at all The reverse was the
! fact, and will be sustained by my friend the
| late excellent Post Master of this city, who
! held the office with entire satisfaction to the
public for ten or eleven years, that all our Pc
titions and circumstances for accommodations
commensurate with our growing wants, and
for the correction of abuses, were almost to-
tally disregarded under the Administrations Of
Van Buren,, Tyler, and Polk. The post Of
Second Assistant Post Master General has
been filled for many years past by the most a
droit politician that the party in Iowa could Sc
lect, and whatever my individual opinion may
be of the private, or moral character of Fitz
Henry Warren, it is plain that in our regard
at least he has shewp disposition TO improve
on the economy of Bal Brown. Cave Johnson,
under whom Brown served was so tight listed
that many doubted whether his selish heart
could afford room in his body for soul, and he
was therefore selected for the Post Office De-
partment with a special view, to its economical
t Administration. The word economy has not
yet found place in the vocabulary of Mr.
; Collaner Mr.. Hall, but it is contended, on
the contrary, that Warren is allowed full scope
to follow the bent of his own inclination
If the statements which have made above
be true, and | think the positions which
have assumed will not readily be controverted
by the impartial of either party it only re-
mains for me to show, first, that there are glar-
ing frauds perpetrated with impunity upon the
people of northern Iowa, in the delivery of
! H., hiatt Il,
in the cognizance of the Department at Wash
: ington, and lis Agent here. Nor do hold the
Editors of our papers entirely guiltiess, for al
, though they have made many complaints Of
mail failures and Irregularities, believe they
have been made aware of the facts which | now
submit, and have KEEP. silent.
think am not mistaken in saying that the
Hon. George w. Jones informed the people OF
mail route from Galena to Dubuque was abol.
ished-that is that it no longer had distinct nu-
merical character, but that by special order OF
6 the Department it was blended with, and made
, a part of, the route from Chicago to the Miss
!. issippi River. The effect of this would be,
terminus of the route, and that the Eastern
mail would not be detained at Galena or any
other point on the line more than ten or fiji
teen minutes. This is as it should be, and
/ what the people Of Dubuque had often asked
from former Administrations, for we could see
no reason why the great Eastern mail should
stop short of the Mississippi river at point
several miles in the interior of Illinois. | re-
member very distinctly that the qualification of
the people was very general towards the ap-
proach of the first of July 1850, when the change
was to take place. and that it generously
expressed towards General Jones and Fitz Hen
ny Warren. The change worked admirably du-
ring the month of July. Horses were harness
ed awaiting each arrival of the stage at Galena
and other stations on the route, and it was for
warded on here from Galena at whatever hour Of
the day or night it arrived there. A letter writ
in Dubuque at early breakfast hour on the fol-
lowing Saturday, and the people were highly
gratfed. But this concession was short lived,
for tie Hotel keepers of Galena lost dollar
and half on each traveller who pushed for
ward on his route to Dubuque. The elite of
Galena were deprived Of the privileges of cx-
h,biting the beauties of s'Houghton's Bay
to admirinr strangers, and the contractors were
sometimes Obliged to send special conveyance
with the Mail Whatever the causes may have
been that operated at Washington to bring
about change is a matter Of little importance
t, our enquiry. 1t is enough for us to know
that change was effected by authority, from
six o'clock in the morning to four o'clock in the
afternoon, and so it continues to this day. The
contractors have the privilege Of delivering
the mailhe at any time they please, between
twelve at noon, and four p. Nj. To allay the
feeling Of Disappointment which this change
Produced the Mail A gent, Mr. Mix, and others
gave out that the change gain of fourteen
hours, and that it should be understood as the
day prior to the former time ofarrival, but some
how or other we lost day in the transit of let
ters, for from that time to this, no letter arrives
here from New York in less than six days and
half 1t will be born in mind too, that
| while these changes were being made the Rail
road was in full operation from Chicago west
ward to EIgin, AZ miles. Perhaps may be
told that the papers published on Saturday in
New York and Boston arrive here on Wednes-
day or Thursday following, but it should be
known that these papers mostly, if not
all, weekly, and that they maiied for the
west on Wednesday or Thursday prior TO their
date.
But how stands the case at present? Up to
the middle OF September last the terminous Of
the Chicago Railroad vas at Elgin but it was
completed twelve miles farther about that time,
and some thirteen miles more to Marengo,
about the first of October, but we have yet no
change in the time of arrival here. The mail
now leaves Chicago at o'clock in the morn
ing, and perhaps another in the afternoon, and
in four hours they arrive at Marengo, about six
~ Eight miles. They put on board of
IN ~