Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1852-01-10

partment, and $l,o23,25o is paid through the
Navy Department.
Tie annual transportation within the Unitde
States (cxrpding the service in Calitonla
ard Oregon, which is now, for the first tire,
reported and embraced in the tabular STATE
ments Of the Department. exceeds that of tie
preceding wear 6,lG2, ,855 miles, at an ncreas-
ed Of s5l7llO ais ..-
The whole number of post Officers in the Uni,
ted States. on The Goth day of June last. Wa
/ 1875. There were 1858 post Offices estaO.
llSIied, and ESQ discontinued during the wear
! The gross revenues of the Department for
He fiscal year. including the appropriations for
! the trankeG matter OF Congress, Of the Depar;-
I ments and officers Of Government and excIr-
ding the foreign postages collected for and
: payable to the British Post. office, amounted to
! S6727,866 IS.
! The expenditures for the same period Tex
! Guiding S20, 500 49, paid under an award Of
! the Auditor, IN pursuance ola resolution of tie
last Congress, for mail service on the Ohio and
mississippi rivers i'll 1882 and 1888, and the
amount paid to the British Post-otlice ior for
elgn postages collected for and payab to that
otice) amounted to $6,924566 70, leaving
balance OF revenue over the proper eXpend-
lures OF the year of $603.299 80.
! The recei pts iorpostuges during the year Tex
cluding the foreign postages collected for arG
payable to the British Post Office amounted to
/ ss6,3i5,747 q, being an increase Of 1897 ,G0l
| 10, or lS 65-l0O per cent over the like receipt
| for the preceding year. 49,.
| The reduction of postage, under the Act Of
March last did not take effect until the coD,-
Increment ofthe present fiscal year. The ac-
counts for the first quarter under the operation
of the reduced rates, will not be settled before
January next; and no reliable estimate of the
receipts for the present year can vet be made
1t is believed, however, that they will fall far
short of those Of the last year. The surplus
OF the revenues now on hand is however, so
large that no further appropriation from the
Treasury, in aid of the revenues of the Depart
ment, is required for the current fiscal year;
but an additional appropriation for the year en-
ding June 80, 1853, will probably be fonnd
necessary when the receipts Of the first two
quarters of the fiscal year are fully ascertain
ed ..@3 .sr- r.#' '
In his last annual report the Postmaster re-
commended reduction of postage TO rates
which he deemed rs low as could be prudentIy
adopted, unless Congress was prepared TO al-
propriate from the Treasury, for the support Of
the Department, Il sum more than equivalentto
the mail services performed by it for the Gov
ernment -t. 81" .asI'5#. asE. -.n
The recommendations Of the Postmaster
General. in respectto to letter postage except on
letters from and to California and Oregon. wef,
substantially adopted by the last Congress.
He now recommends adherence to the pfesen,
letter rates, and advised against further reduc-
ton until justified by the revenue of the De-
partment. -e rs 5@E
II, IL de hate 4Jr~ ~,to oP.
tage on printed matter be so revised as to rem
der them more simple and more uniform in their
operation upon llelasses of printed matter
submit the Recommendations of the report to
your favorable consideration. y s$
The public statutes Of the United States
have now been accumulatiag for more than
sixty years, and, interspersed with private acts
are scattered through numerous Volumes and,
from the cost of the whole, have become al
most inaccessible to the great mass of the CON-
munitt. They also exhibit much of the i'll
congruity and imperfecton Of hasty legisla-
ton. As it seems to be generally admitted
that there is no common law" of the United
Staes to supply the defects of their legisla-
ton, it is most important that that Legislation
should be as perfect as possible, defining every
power intended to be conferred, every crime
to be made punishable. and prescrib-
ing the punishment 10 be inflicted In addition
to some particular eases spoken of more at
length, the whole criminal code is now lamen-
tabiy defective Some offences are imperfectly
described, and Others are entirely omitted; so
that fragrant crimes may be committed with
impunity. The scale of punishment is not in
all eases graduated according to the degree and
nature of the offence, and is often rendered
more unequal by the different modes of impri.
sonment, or penitentiary confinement, in the
different States. ~. >a# a, 1913
Many laws of permanent character have
been introduced into appropriation bills, and it
is often difficult to determine whether the par
ticular clause expires with the temporary act
of which it is part, or continues in force 1t
has also frequently happened that enactments
and provisions'o of law have besn introduced in
to bills, with the title or general subject of
which they have little or no connection or re-
lation In this mode. of legislation so many
enactments have been heaped upon each other,
and often with but little consideration, that, in
many instances, Ills difficult TO searci,out and
determine what tits the law. @sz 8l8aar
as The Government of the United States is
emphatically government of written laws
The statutes should, therefore, as far as pract.
cable, not only be made accessible to- all, but
expressed in language plainand simple as to
be understood by all, andarranged in such me-
thod as to give pefspIcuity to everysubieet.--
Many of the States have revised their public
acts with great and manifest benefit; and re.
commend that proslsion be nladeby law for the
appointment Of II commissions to revise the
pubic statutes Of the United States, arranging
them in order, supplying deficiencies, correct
ing ineon9raities, simplifying their language.
and reportingahem to Congress for its action
An act OF Congress approved 30th septem-
Der, 1850. contained provision for the exten-
sion Of the Capitol, according to such plan as
might be approved by the President, and ap-