The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-12-30
IRREGULARITIES OF THE MAIL.
The New York Tn une says

Ihe new OK I'M um Says
"tThe public agents and advertisements OF
the New Jersey railroads impudently proclaim
that passengers will be taken through from
New York to Washington, nightly, by the tram
which leaves this city at p. NJ, and that the
passengers which leave here by the +. M
train, via Amboy, will be set down at Phlladel-
phia in Az hours, or at 61a Z. M.
1T has been our fortune to go over the first
named line 6ue times within the last SIX or
eight weeks On three of these occasions we
were planted in Philadelphia after the cars had
left that city for Baltimore, with which they
should have connected; and on the 9Th instant,
the last time we went through, we found that
the failure to connect had taken place every
DAY during the month !, and of course the regu-
lar afternoon mail from this city for the South
had regularly failed at all points south of Phil
adelphia during this period, and the passengers
compelled TO lie over
It may not be generally known to our COM
mercial public but the fact is, that the South
ern mail, which leaves here at 2. NJ, does not
usually go through to Washington that night,
as it purpnrts to- and as it should, but lies over
at Philadelphia till the next day; and all IN
consequence of the inexcusable failure OF the
cars to reach Philadelphia in time to connect
with the Baltimore train Why the Post Ofbce
| Department does not remedy this, we do not
know, for We have never asked. The afternoon
mail from New York is now almost uniformly
a day behind at Washington, and yet nothing
seems to be heard about it, except in vague
grumbngs in private circles, where the cause
seems often not to be understood"
We know something by experience, of the
shameful conduct of these New Jersey Monopo-
lies 1t is entirely within the power of their
agents at any time to make the connection
with the cars at Philadelphia. A very slight
increase of speed would effect it. But, they
are sordd and reckless. The comfort and in
forests of the Public are nothing to them.
The irregularity in the transmission of the
mail is not however, confined to this route.
There is scarcely a route in the country judg-
ing from the complaints of our subscribers, on
which the mail service is properly attended to.
There are places in Illinois which the Era does
not reach till month after date There are
post offices in the Western Reserve 10, where
it is not delivered till two weeks after publica-
ton The delays on the route between here
and Cincinnati, plain and diroct as it Is, are
outrageous. The bags are made up carefully
in our Office, every Tuesday evening, and start
from here in the cars the next morning at six
O'Clock, for Cincinnati, via Wheeling. At the
farthest, they should reach Cincinnati by Satur-
day morning but our subscribers constantly
complain that they do not receive their papers
till Monday morning-fve days from Washing
ton-and this in a country of steam and rail-
roads! We have been informed that at some
little place, Frostburg or some other burg"
the mail on this route lies over one day II
this be SO, it is disgraceful. If the contractors
on the Wheeling route cannot do better than
this, they should be kicked out of employment.
There are two other routes-by the Lakes and
by Pittsburgh. Why will the Postmaster Gen
eral submit to the imposition of a Company
that consults more its own convenience than
the interests of the public service
Mr. Hubbard, the Postmaster General, is an
energetic man, and, had he time we have no
doubt would effect important reforms. But
short as his time is he certainly can do some
thing to remedy the insuferable delays and
irregularities on the principal mail routes
We recollect that when editing a paper in
Cincinnati, similar delays used to occur, and it
was ascertaned that some of the mail bags
were then occasionally thrown out to make
room for oysters ordered from Baltimore