Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-03-20

lin, postmaster Of Philadelphia.
In 1853 Franklin commissioned as the British Pos
master General for the American colonies. There wei
then but 1852 miles Of post road in operation in the
try At this time the mails sent from PhiIsdflphi
tp the North week in summer and fostigI
in winter The next year 754) that great man repere
With great complacency that he had improved them
far az New York. to tr-weeky in and weekly il
winter Towards the latter part Of his term which wa
abruptly terminated in 1774, lowing, he says, to
sfreak administers he succeeded in making the concern
quite profitable to the mother country His dismissal
followed soon afterby like appointment from source
far more acceptable to him. viz the Congress Of the Con-
federation which, on the a7th Of July 1775 unanimously
elected him Postmaster General having the previous
resolved to have establishment Of the kind for the
colonies He was allowed salary Of $1,000 year, and
to appoint secretary and comptroller at $84o; also,
deputies at such points he might deem suitable Hav-
ing, in the following year been appointsd higher
trust, ne resigned the Office.
Richard Bache, his comptroller and relation elect
ed his the 9TH of November, 1776. The
Lputian about four quires of fooscaT
paper bound in boardsin which this gentleman kept the
accounts of his deputies eighty in number may still be
seen at the Department
Ebenezer Hazard was elected to the Office the 2St
Of January, 1882 He had previously served posmas
ter in the city of New York; also surveyor of the
posts. The public archives exceedingly bare of nfor
nation 10 regard the administrations of Messrs Bache
and Hazard Prior 1885 there old box in the
garret of the General Post Office which supposed have
contained the records of those times and to have PERISH
ed in the conagration of the building which occurred in
December ofthat year. AS however, they probably
of but ordinary abilities, and the operations Of the
establishment owing to the disturbed and impoverished
condition of the country, very limited the ntell
gence referred to- possessed would not it is presumed
possess much interest.
Since the commencement of the present Constitutional
Government $780, there have been fourteen Postmas
General the average duration Of whose term has been
about four and half years.
Samuel Osgood was the first head of the Office selected
by Washington His reports show that he possessed fine
abilities He had previously served as Delegate from
Massachusetts, in the Colonial Congress The establish
ment was then located in New York. whence it
moved to Philadelphia by direction Of Congress- near the
close Of 1890 The post roads in the United States did
not exceed in length thousand miles, consisting of
long zgzag route from Wscasset in Maine via the prn
cipal towns the Atlantic seaboard to Savannah, IN
Georgia. wtha few connecting crossposts ON no portion
of which was the mail conveyed oftener than trweeky
and on part Of it hut fortnight The entire an
nual cost Of the service S22 T02 The number of
post offices vas seventy fve and their gross yield
per annum In 1851 only about sixty years thereafter
the length routes in operation was 1885, 2s0 miles the
annual cost of transportation thereon $8 754 the
gross revenue Of the Department $67S6,49s and the
number of officers 10 GOA Then only narrow district
in the Eas..-aranst States penetrated by the mail
Bags Now they routes far west Of the Father
of Waters and while set of the Departments car
look upon the blue Atlantic another water their
seeds in the broad Pacific The present Postmaster &C.
neral may truly say
No pent up Utica contracts our powers:
The whole boundless continent is ours.
SO rapid an advance in this particularndicating, OF
corresponding strides in the general progress
naonhas not been witnessed in any other land during
the history Of the world
The following were the only Offices the period refer
red to yielding OF 81, 900 per annum, viz.
Philadelphia New York. Boston, Baltimore Richmond,
Petersburg Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Norfolk. and
Charleston.
In his report the Secretary of the Treasury dated
January 90 1890 Mr. osgoodset forth sad lack Of
ergy and producyeness in the establishment its
having in no year exceeded $350o0 To remedy this he
advised the adoption of plan Of letting out the mail
contracts which would the service of individuals
possessing the requisite capital; also more equitable
tariff of postages The then in operation, besides
possessing the defect Of charging by pennyweght and
grains rated in his opinion letters going large distances
with tax almost prohbitory His report also entered q
against the provision
master General responsible for the default Of his deputies
which feature was struck Of the passed for
the regulation Of the establishment He deposited in the
United States Treasury, during the hirywo months Of
his official term Sl5, 1872 nett proftsof the
His successor, Timothy Pickering, Of Massachusetts,,
appointed November Z, 1894 of the first men in
the country and doubt whether the nfantle operations
Of the post Office sl in extent amounting to but little
more than cerkship afforded adequate field for his
abilities The public archives show but few reports from
his pen in his capacity Postmaster General The act
of February 90 1892 raised his annual salary $4,000
which, years subsequently, was advanced to 81 400
The first extended postal Law enacted in 1882; the
next in 1872 In addition to other judicious improve
ments introduced into the latter cheaper scale Of
posages arranged in Federal money, and tariff for
newspapers for the transmission Of which legal pro-
vision had hitherto been made, viz cent and one and
half cents according distance half of the to be
retained by the postmastes collecting it, The fact that
this newspaper scale remained unchanged till 1916 fur
nishes proof Of its judicious basis.
II may be proper to state here that the fundamental
postal law was revised several subsequent occasions
prior the year 1926 when assumed the shape which
it st retains The operation each occasion may be
spty compared the pulling down Of an old tenement
and erection its ruins Of enlarged and otherwise
improved one.
Mr.. Pickering having in February, 1875, been trans
ferred to the War Department Joseph Habersham, Of
Georgia. appointed Postmaster General on the 18th
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