The republic., 1851-11-03
Chrnn Postage.

derstand it more thoroughly than that leglsla-
tor who derives.his power of Judging in the pre-
misses from mere intuition, we cannot hut think
that the suggestions Of Mr.. BATES are entitled
to great consideration. We apprehend, how
ever, that the report Of the Postmaster Cen
eral will furnish the country with the means OF
forming judgment upon the practical working
of the new system, in the light of which we
shall be better able than we now are properly
to- estimate the suggestions to which we refer
So much Of the article in question as relates TO
the alleged obnoxious features Of the present
law we subjoin for the benefit of whom 1t may
concern-and who is not concerned in this uni
yersal necessity Of employing the post
'Thc obnoxious features Of the present law i'm
/ pcriously demand the immediate attention OF Con-
gress Neither the rates of postage on letters, nor
| the tax on newspapers and printed matter, meet
the wishes of the friends OF cheap postage They
have uniformly insisted upon simplicity, uniiorIni-
ty, and chcapness: But the present law possesses
none of these requisites. On letters, the rates in
the United States arc three and five, elk and ten
| cents according to distance. Ocean postage 10
enormous, and too burdensome to be borne any
| longer. The rates of postage on newspapers are
30 complicated that few posmasters can tell what
they are, and those on transient newspapers, and
printed matter generally, are so enormous as to
amount TO a prohibition. A revision of this law is
| rendered Indispensable Other reforms are re-
| quired, some of which shall here notice:
| al Letter postage should be reduced to uni
form rate of iDo cents prepaid. This rate has been
successfully adopted i'll Great Britain. Ii has IN
creased the letters and the income of the post office
1t is the revenue point sufficiently low, TO encour
age tho people TO WRITE and to send all their letters
through the post ofiice and yet high enough to al
ford ample revenue TO pay the expenses of the De-
parment II this rate is adopted it will defy all
competition. for will attempt to carry letters
cheaper than the post office.
40. Ocean postage is enormous and burdensome,
especially upon that class of persons which Ia least
able bear it. 1t has been computed by those who
are competent to judge that about threequarters of
the ship letters arc written by emigrants, and are
letters of friendship and affection. The greater
portion OF them are from persons in roor circum-
stances and to tax them with t,oenfy. four t,Oenty
nine cents for single letter is cruel. To send
letter and receive an will cost servant girl
half weeks wages, and a poor man in the coun-
try will have to work day TO earn the value OF the
postage Of letter TO and from his friends in Eu-
rope. Were the postage reduced to a low rate, fen
letters would be written where now ia, and the
revenue in short period would be equal, if not
greater, than under the present high rates. Dur
ing the last twelve months the amount received for
transatlantic postages was not less than million
of dollars and three fourths of this sum has been
paid by the laboring classes letters relating to
their domestic relations and friendship.
"3. Next to the reduction of inland and ocean
postage is the free delivery OF mail letters in all the
large towns and cities. An improvement has been
! b,yt atp a. tof
letters to be sent by the mails. They con-
veyed to the post Office free of any charge; and the
next step necessary ia to them to be delivered
| without any addition to the postage. letter is
carried by the mails three thousand miles for three
cents, but if it Is sent three hundred yards from
the post office it is charged t,Uo cents, This is not
only unreasonable tax, but is attended with
much inconvenience, both to the carrier and the
receiver Of the letter. in the trouble of making the
change and the delay attending the delivery of
letters. If the prepayment Of the postage covered
the whole expense, carrier could deliver ten let
ters where he now delivers one, and fewer persons
| would be able 10 deliver them. Two cents cover
the whole expense of postage and delivery of let
| ters in London, and there is no reason why they
cannot be delivered in New York and other cities
as cheaply as they in the capital of Great
Britain. The expense TO the post Office would be
] paratively small, the income from city let
! tcrs would be nearly equal to what would be paid
| if efficient city delivery was adopted. If the
| free delivery should be adopted, 1t oud be great
relief to the people, and this like every other fac-
ty afforded by the post Office would tend to in
crease the number of letters sent by the mail.
'4. ThoJranking privilege should be wholly abol-
! ished This has been so much abused that the peo-
pie have loudly complained of it, and almost every
Postmaster General for the last ten years has re,
comm ended its abolition. Instead, however, of di-
minishng repeating it, it has been increased, 30
that two Gets of members can now exercise it, and
the cart loads Of frankcd matter sent from Wash
ington show that it is dead weight upon the De.
partment. At the last session one member had
twenty. eight large canvas bags of franked matter,
weighing not lees than fee thousand pounds To
cay nothing of the expense of printing and
binding millions of documents and speeches which
arc never read the burden, and labor, and cost to
| the poet Office arc incalculable. When newspapers
| were few i'll number, there might have been ne
cessiy to send out speeches and documents; but as
newspapers published in all parts Of the Union,
every important report and speech is published and
read long before it be printed and sent from
Washington. Let the members Of Congress be fur
nished with a sufficient number of stamps to cover
their postage, and these be paid for the other
expenses of Congress. The frank was wholly abo-
ished in Great Britain when the cheap system was
adopted 50 that Queen Victoria herself cannot
now frank letter!
'5. But the grievance which is now felt and
most complained of by The people is the compl-
Gated and burdensome tax on newspapers and
| other printed matter 1t has heretofore been the
good policy Of Congress to favor the circulation
of newspapers throughout the country, and accord
ingly one and a half cents the highest rate
! CHARGED TO regular subscribers for any distance,
and two cents, prepaid for transient papers These
rates plain and easy to be understood, and
few were disposed to complain of them although
they were much higher than they should be. The
new bill has siTty seventy different rates,
and so complicated, depending upon iceight and
distance, that not postmaster in twenty can tell
what postage should be charged upon newspapers.
| Again the rates are enormous. For example, u
newspaper in California, weighing one ounce or
under. is charged fUe cents prepaid, and if not pre-
paid Ten cents, and the for every additional