The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1851-02-23


Mr. BORLAND. desire to say one word and 10 sug-
gest The from Maine and others that such an
amendment this il adopted, necessarily carries along
with II another amendment. which is not provided Tor
la the bill, stands before the Senate there ID an
appropriation OF s5O0,O0o Tor this very purpose. As
ported iIom the committee. the sum was one million OF
doats but has been eduoed 10 FIVE hundred thousand
dollars la The law OF le45 two hundred thousand dol
lars annually appropriated for this purpose Now,
II abolish the thanking privilege II IS necessary TO
| amend the bill By striking out that Appropriation
Mr.. CASS. would simply remark that consider the
ranking privilege the privilege OF the people, and
OF The representative all and believe that this amend
men would cut of the principal means OF communication
between the representative and his constituents Why
the representative may receive letters 10 the OF
hundre OF dollars And is he 10 take them aud pay
| for them ...'
has been very correctly remarked that there is not
Legislature IN The Union that does not provide for these
expensesnot The same way that we do il is true but
IN way that Is effective and that is BY paying for them
| The honorable senator from Maine mir. HAMLlEl says
document Is worth receiving, il worth paying for
why, book may be worth receiving but not worth pay
ing for through the post office And OF what time would
we get these documents 10 constituents through the
old channels OF communication Not until long after the
subjects had become old II am 10 Judge from the i'm
mense number of letters get asking every day Tor docu
ments of every description, should say that the public is
anxious to receive them Instead, therefore. OF TINS
proposition being OF reform, some gentle
men contend, Is, my opinion quite the reverse is
taking step backward,
Mr. HALE. did not mean 10 say one word upon
| this subject, and | SHALL say but very few now
Now the idea that there is not legislative assembly IN
the world that does not have the ranking privilege is
all moonshne There are now this Union thirty
legislatures, and doubt there is OF them that has
the ranking privilege.
j Mr.. CASS: did not say that there was
| Mr.. HALE. But hear that there three or four
that have that privilege in substance
Mr.. CASS. Not at all They pay for their mail mat
MIR. HALE They have not tina, privilege in any
/ form. know of no legislature that has, though am
told that there They have not any such priv.
ege my Slaie-they never dreamed OF such thing and
uQpftQ a
BY every delberave assembly in the world, speak with
out the book Now, if the honorable senator from
purpose of being bored with applications for pub
lie documents | think that is one of the greatest
arg umens in favor OF abolishing it that have heard
Of | receive these letters and they are increasing
upon me, nine out of ten Of them being from men.
women, and children that never heard of before.
and that knew nothing about, except that they want
public documents. had letter the other day from a
gentleman in the city OF Boston, who wanted me to fur
nish him with copy of the Exploring Expedition APP
piled to the chairman of the Committee on the Library,
and he told me that could get II for hundred dollars
but that altogether beyond my at present,
of course declined [Laugherl great many OF these
applications are of this character and if we refuse to abo
sh this ranking, for the purpose OF encouraging them
! think we will have enough OF them
/ My friend from Delaware [Mr. SpRUANcEl wants to
/ know what to do about petitions. think that
those who go for the right Of petition further than the
receiving OF the petition and putting it on tina. table or
under it, could adopt no more expeditions and teicous
plan of quenng agitation, far petitions
I'D, than by adopting this amendment for they would not
get half SO many OF them and thus they would be carry.
ing out the compromise OF the last session
Laughter For that reason shall be IN favor OF abol-
ishing this ranking privilege,
Again: do not know how other gentlemen find 1t;
but lind, for one, that get great many more letters
than want would rather have tariff applied TO pre-
vent this great influx of letters Perhaps may be differ
entity situated from other gentlemen about these times
There great necessity find how the public feel
ing is in different parts Of the country upon certain sub
jec,s. But that necessity is temporary and periodical
occurring only once in four years, and think we had
better not legslae Tor this particular class Tor II gentle
men are anxious TO get applications of this Sort lei them
pay the postage for them.
| would be willing to make direct allowance out OF
the treasury 10 pay for such letters senator's
from their peculiar positions, are likely 10 be troubled
wh-proyide for this particular case, and then apply
the general law confess that for one ami favor OF
abolshing this Thanking privilege think IT is entirely
wrong | am in favor OF doing something for the cause
of abolition il it is only the abolition OF the Thanking
privilege [Laugherl For that reason am in favor OF
the amendment, and hope the Thanking privilege will be
!, abolished.
The question being taken upon the amendment Offered
by Mr.. BRADBURY, by yeas aud nays II was rejected
! yeas 10, nays 3i-as follows:
Dickinson, Dodge OF Wisconsin, Dodge OF Iowa, Hale
sa ka So' Ae T.5S a %"t' asG Bell Bo
land, Cas- Clarke, Clay Cooper, Davis OF Massachusetts
Hunter Jones M,.on, Miller Pearce, Pratt Rusk, sebas
an seward, Shields Smith, Sone, Spruance, Sturgeon
Upham, Wales, and Whitoomb-SL
: Mr. RUSK have an amendment, to come in at Tho
e end OF the nth section, as follows:
"And the moneys Appropriated for the Post Office Depart
by the 2lh section OF the establish certain bost
and for other purposes March g. lsi7
remaining undrswn IN the treasury, shall be subject to the
equsuon OF the Postmaster General for the service of the
Post Olbce Department, sandng the have
remained unduwn for Than years after Il has be
come subectto such disposition"
The question being taken upon the amendment it wa,
, agreed 10
/ Mr.. CHASE. | sdbmit the following, 10 come il
the thirty line of the ID section to insert after III,
words .'bank books the words land parcels of printed
matter" The only effect OF il will be that where there are
two, three, four pamphlets in one parcel they
shall go by weight, and not BY number
Mr. RUSK. 1t only renders plain what really in
tended by the section from the first.
The question being taken upon the amendment il wai
i adopted.
I, Mr. DICKINSON | desire to call the attention of the
! chairman Of the committee to what deem a defect IN
this bill propose to give bum opportunity to prepare
amendment, II he sh all deem one necessary TO in.
corporate into the bill. II IN relation to what called
! pamphlet postage. The postage upon pamphlets now
averages about one cent per ounce. As am informed
by this bill II is for any distance exceeding three hun
bred miles cent, and then il goes increase in
ratio which makes the postage pamphlets far more
than il is now-probably double what il, is Now
the object OF the bill, and OF The chairman OF the
mittee, 10 reduce the postage but am informed by
association of booksellers in the city OF New York, that
this bill shall pass this form, the postage pamphlets
will be largely increased II the chairman of the com.
mee does not prepare and offer amendment, will by.
and by offer my self make these remarks for the
purpose OF calling the attention of the chairman the
matter.
In the mean time, have amendment to offer, to come