Washington sentinel., 1853-12-15


the former, il is matter Of surprise that the
| have been forwarded by one daily coach in
manner at all approaching regularity.
| These facts rendered most imperative Tho
necessity of providing immediately more ade
qnate means OF conveyance; and accordingly
on the 18th October last, second daily line o
fourhorse coaches was ordered between Mont
gomery and Stockton, Alabama, to connect
with the steamboat line between Stockton and
Mobile, with the stipulation that the contrac-
tors should furnish vehicles of sufficient capa.
city TO convey whatever mail may be daily
received ut Montgomery or Stockton, and that
the steamboat employed between Stockton and
Mobile should be of sufficient size, structure,
and fitness for the regular navigation of the
Iensaw river, and be under the entire and ex-
elusive control Of the contractors so that no
breaches of connexion should occur by reason
of any other persons having a right to interfere
with its arrivals and departures.
The compensation allowed for this additional
service is $4,000 per annum, being one-third
less than pro rata of the present pay, with the
agreement that, if the service shall be well and
faithfully performed, the extension of the con-
tract on the same conditions over the succeed
ing term of four years, commencing lst July,
should Congress decline to authorize such ex-
tension, the rate Of additional pay shall be
raised to 100000 per annum, still one-sixth
less than pro rata, for the residue of the ex-
listing term. 1t was further stipulated that the
contractors, by the lst November, 1863, should
place on the route full additional every other
day line, and double the road, if necessary, to
carry off all the mail matter every day, and by
the 18th December, a full additional daily line;
the increased compensation to commence, in
case of faithful compliance with these terms,
on the lst November.
The terms OF this agreement are favorable,
in view of the great public benefits expected to
result therefrom.
The stipulation as to the extension of the
contract is reasonable and proper, because the
present contract expires on the 30th June next,
and the contractors could not be expected to
provide at great expense all the additional
stock necessary for second line, for seven or
eight months only, without some guarantee
against loss in case of being underbid in the
competition at the next letting of contracts, the
existing laws not providing, as was formerly
the case, that new contractors shall purchase
the stock of those superseded
To secure certain important benefits to the
mail service, similar extensions were some
years since authorized by resolutions Of Con-
gress on routes from Washington city to AQUA
Greek, and New Orleans to Mobile.
1t is believed that hereafter the service be-
tween Montgomery and Mobile will thus be
freed from the irregularities by which it has
heretofore been characterized, and that it will
be performed to the satisfaction both of the
public and this department.
This improvement, together with that on the
Wilmington and Manchester railroad, will place
the great northern and southern mail line in
such condition, throughout its entire length, as
to encourage the expectation that mails, du-
ring the ensuing winter and thereafter, will be
conveyed with a degree of certainty and regu-
larity heretofore entirely unknown.
Our local mail service on the Pacific is
strongly marked by two peculiarities, especially
in lCalifornia-very high prices, and great diff
Guilty in giving that people the mail facilities
which they require. At the same time, it ap-
pears from the reports that the performance Of
the service under the contracts is characterized
by fidelity and energy Qualities which are put
in great requisition by the flooded state of the
roads at particular seasons of the year.
The present cost Of transportation in steam
boats is about thirteen cents eight mills per
mile; in coaches, about twenty cents per mile;
and in modes not specified, about thirty y-four
cents six mills per mile; while the cost Of
similar service in the United States, excluding
Oregon, New Mexico, and Utah, is in steam.
boats about nine cents per mile, in coaches
about five cents and five mills per mile, and in
modes not specified about four cents and seven
mills per mile.
These mail prices, however, are not ont OF
scale with those of labor, living, and commodi
ties generally, in that region Of country.
The most striking discrepancy appears on
comparing these prices which the government
pays in California with those which it receives
for the same work. mean the rates of post.
age. The one is graduated to the highest scale
of prices, .and the other to the lowest For a
single letter of half an ounce the department
receives six cents when prepaid, and ten cents
when unpaid, and for each pound of printed
matter, which comprises very large proper
ton of the contents of the mails, about five
cents pound the cost to the department for
transportation across the isthmus alone being
twenty-five cents pound. The necessary con.
sequence is, that the cost of mail service in
California greatly exceeds the revenue it Yields
And notwithstanding the government incurs
a heavy unrefunded expenditure in supplying
the citizen of that State with his letters, news.
papers, and other mail matter, the citizen him.
self employs other facilities for the conveyance
of his letters, and pays therefor at rate from
20 to 40 fold greater than the government
charges for similar service.
The facilities referred to are the expresses
Government has not been able to keep pace in
its organized mail arrangements with the
movements Of the miner. His settlement is
suddenly made and rapidly extended, long be-
fore the mail contractor and postmaster can be
provided. The expressmen are at hand, and
the wants of the miner are immediate. His
orders are all sent by them to the central post
Office, to which, not knowing where his event
ual location will be in the gold region, he has
directed his letters to be addressed. The post.
master has favored the expressman in the
prompt delivery of his letters, and has received
in return a compensation much larger per let
ter than any commission ever allowed him by
the government. The express charge is 81 pei
letter, 81, and so on, rising, in some instances,
to So, according to distance. Once commenced
the habit Of the miner Of relying on the ex..
presses is continued long after the post office