The New York herald., 1851-12-23

point, it would not require second to glance ss
the index, and, in case this were not
hoad sns the map sa
would leave no room for doubt. The map
should afford an outline of counties only, with the
through routes connecting STATE or pTinop.! 0ess
routes (by which mean routes directly connecting
and depending one upon the other,) should be
marked in red ink, indicating the highest grade of
service as steamboat or railroad, while the other
routes, connecting county offices with such special
offices as might happen to be st connecting points,
should be In black ink, varied to indicate daily,
hi;weekly, semi weekly, and weekly service;
man could place letter on the proper routes, no
matter whether the Office addressed happened to be
one mile or one thousand miles of. The practical
q sub. office, for example, in Maine letter Is do
posted for John Jones, Beals Mills sub-ofice in
South Carolina. The mailing postmaster, If he
did not know how to mail 1t, would glance ct the
thousand sub Offices under my arrangement, they
would all have plenty of time to do this, since ths
amount Of business is small, and since all osaer
accounts and difficulties are sbolished,) by which
he would perceive the number of the route "a we'll az
the county in which situated. This discovered, the
whole difficulty is solved; for all hs has to do is to
mail the letter to the proper county of,e, or the
oc from which it is supplied The letter, when il
reaches the great through route, Of course placed
in the proper bag, whi7h will not be opened until
the proper point is reached. Under this system OF
mailing, pO9tma aetor may not only pOlnt Ous t0S
exact route any letter has to travel though it
two thousand miles, but by referring to the several
routes, be will tell you the mode OF conveyance on
each, the combined distance, aad the exact day
nd hour the letter ought to reach ts destina-
tion, by due course of mali. few years service
would SO famiarize postmasters with the internal
structure OF post routes and mail supply, THAI,
all this information would accumulate upon their
minds, without reference to books or maps.
The arrangement Of the routes could of course
be great y improved to carry out this plaa,
which is the only way to secure direct mailing.
The expense of preparing and printing q book
and map, such as describe, would not exceed thir
ty Thousand dollars. 1t may appear strange to ths
reader that this has not been done long ago, since
tits calculated to rebound vastly to the character
Of the mail service, no less than to the pecuniayy
advantage Of the government. 1t is ssrange-it is
very strange. But what will be thought when 1
assure my reader that, net only has the Depart.
ment failed to do this, where annual saving of
over four hundred thousand dollars is within it's
grasp, but it has absolutely neglected to furnish to
Iostmasters a copy of the regulations for tas 60
vernment of the service. Nay, more, it has neglect
ed, until few weeks ago, to furnish List Of Ia,
post Offices, even. AS tor maps Of post routes, it
has not a half dozen copies later than 1886, sincs
which time the number of offices and routes has
doubled and the business of the service has CORES
psndpgly tzcreased' Here is the largest branch OF
the government going ahead in darkness, many OF
its officers notoriously ignorant and incompetent,
and provision Whatever made to enlghten
them in their duties. And why? All! To answer
that, were to wade through quires Of foolscap.
l have not the time: nevertheless, might sus-
gest some resons-the principal one is this al
abomin mate them. The Postmaster General employs
postmasters upon commissions very we'll. IL is
their interest to raise all the revenue possible
as to save all in their power Very we'll; post
master having no laws or regulations before him,
performs the functions of his office in q manner to
suit himself He practices, if he chooses, petty
annoyances, and the people, not understanding
their rights, submit to it. When, however, case
Of In p ma ori i0in AT
written decision is furnished. which settles it, Ba.
suppose similar case occurs elsewhere; another
written decision isfurnished. Suppose another, and
another case; they all get written decisions; snd
why Because if he were to lay down q general
rule to correct previous imposition, thousandor
ten thousand cases Of the same nature might coms
up, and the consequence would be- thousands OF
dollars would have to be paid out to answer
"clams."
Ths Is one reason; but there are others, which
have no time to dwell upon. Before leaving this
instance to which was myself party, illustrating
the abuses Of our post establishment.
In interpreting the law oflS45, Hon. Cave John
son, In his instructions to postmasters, said: "On
all transient newspapers (by which is meant news
papers not sent from tho office Of publication to re-
gular subscrbers), circulars, handbills, &c. three
cents shall be prepaid" Sc. Under this clause,
publishers charged three cents for every ne vs.
paper sent to Others than regular subscribers. Ths
tax was felt to be 50 raordinary, that ths press
very generally denounced it, and Mr. johnson, per-
ceving that the terms of the Law did not warran.
such construction, countermanded it in an ofi,ial
letter published in the Washington Uwton, q CODY
OF which was sent to several leading postmasters,
and the notce cut out and posted up in their respsc
tive Offices This couhtermsnd read, "On all traa.
sient newspapers (or newspapers not sent from ths
Office Of pubication-omitting the words "to re.
gular subscribers), three cents shall be prepaid,
&c. BY this new Interpretation, publishers we're at
liberty, as previously, to send specimen copies of
their papers agents and Others to be used In pro-
curing subscribers for them. But, Notwithstanding
this, postmasters continued to exact the prepay
ment, ana probably not less than sixty thousand
dollars were thus collected in the principal cities Of
the Union, Of which the writer himself paid nearly
twelve hundred dollars Having paid Ii under pro-
test, appealed to Judge Collamer, when the whole
facts Of the case were eiicted, and portion Of tbs
money refunded. But, although there are maay
other eases, exactly like ths-ths money not being
paid under protest, or the circumstances having
been somewhat varied-not cent has been re-
funded except in ny own case, Although tas
prr.yuee Of p5stmasters had been thuI made known
TO the Department, no instructions were ever san.
out by the Postmaster General until year or more
subsequently, and, upon inquiry here at New York.
was surprised to Ind the postm ssters requiring
publishers 70 prepay. Ms usual such nice ofsa-
ces As these bear their o~n Scmment
But Cave johnson, like the prsssnt Postmas'sr
General, was opposed to the general u-ation OF
printed matter In the mails. Upon the reda,so
r.se: y lD s'ng into operation, he was spprshsa-
ercumber the mails, and greatly add to the sxpsnss,
Of transportation and on this reason he threw up
the obstacle in the way Of publishers already msn-
toned, BY which the circulation Of their pub,i,i.
tions, II wa, thought, would be greatly ourtailsd.
Judge Hall has done the same thing, and has eve,
gone farther than 7" his llustrious predecessor In
comparison With the ratss for letters. Mr.. Hall is
said to be great man In small things aud is mu,i
complimented for his industry and closs scru,iay
into the sm aller "details OF his ofce Those com o.
mtnts, A. happen to know, are we'll earnsi; bat,
| am sory 70 be CON p lied to add, earned at toe
expense OF more lofty, fsr-seelDs, and c,mprshsn
siye administration Of his functions, by waca great
evils are nourshed, aud sprout out pps1 the asiss
OF little ones lie ostenslbly recommend led rsJI:st
rate; but While the people asked for bread. hs ha
given them a stone. While postage gensraliy
seems low, IL is encumbered with 50 many "rases'
and Determinations, that the whole thing Ia hasf
10 understand, and rebounds equally against tas
government ~ well rs istiyiduals Errors sud mL,-
spprehensions are continually occurring, and the