The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-07-20

The JNatS NO persons are more closely In |
terested, than the publishers Of newspapers, in |
the judcious and efficient management Of the |
mails. Carlessness, ignorance, ineficiency in
postofice officials, and all others concerned in
the Transmission of the mails, send their eonse-
quences more grievously upon journalists than
upon any other class. Subscribers don't care
to take paper, for which they pay regularly,
unless they receive It regularly, and papers
uniform and timely reception by its subscribers
depends, in almost every instance, upon those
who manage the mails We are burdened with
letters from readers Of the Ezpress, complain
ing that they sometimes receive ocr paper not
oftener ,h,n once month, that they subscribe
| TO papers for the purpose Of reading them, but
that it is quite impossible t. read unless they can
receive them, that they are aware of no good
reason why they cannot have the paper every
week, as they have semi weekly, tri weekly, or
daily mails, &C. Now, all this makes serious
journal, and even, TO the retention of what il
has. Accordingly we are concerned, deeply, in
having the mails efficiently cared for and few,
we think, have been subjected to greater annoy
ance, by their ignorant anagement, than our-
selves. 1t is not fair to forget, however, thai
mail Irregularities are not peculiar to Iowa
Much the same complaints prevail everywhere
Eastern exchanges contain murmurs at the non
arrival of papers, letters &c, about angry a
those which are heard in this State. There is
too, more reason for Irregularities in the trans
mission Of the mails in young State, like Iowa
than in the older States. There, mail lines ant
postofices have been long established and ar.
clearly known and defined. Here, the country
is SO new and comparatively so little known tina
occasional instructions Of mail matter, thou q
vcxatious, are not wholly without excuse
There seems to be an inclination to attribut,
much Of the evil and inconvenience in the trans
mission Of the mails through Iowa, to the man
agement Of the postotfice in this city. We d,
not think this just. The postmaster here is only
responsible for the speedy distribution and pro
per direction Of what mail matter comes into hi
hands. When he has sent the matter by way
of that postoffice, being on the direct line iron
this place and nearest the Office of reception, h.
has done his duty. For instance, matter who's
destination is some comparatively unknown an,
out of the way Office in the southern portion O
johnson county, should be sent directly by wa,
Of Iowa City. The postmaster there, then, viii
easily give it its proper direction while, if sen
from this place directly to the receiving office
the intermediate postmasters would be likely
from ignorance Of the locality of its destination
to drec, it wild Of its mark. Not little ofthes
complaints should be charged to the account O
bad and incomprehensible directions. postnas
tiers are not omniscient, and when they receiv
matter, for example, directed to "John Smith
Three Points, Iowa." they may rcasonabIyIbe a
some loss to know in what particular part q
Iowa "Three Points" are situated, and woul
. naturally conclude that the direction was nc
sufficiently pointed. Charity is to be exercise
in these matters, and we should look at the sub
ject in all its bearings, and not concentrate a
, the blame upon one Office.
The duties of the postmaster in this city al
heavy and Iaborious, but simple. The chief de
, sderatum in postmaster-a desire and willing
ness to discharge his duties well-we are conf
) dent animates the official here. He is anxiou
to do his duties well, and is competent to per
form them. We think, then, that the censur
5 concerning mail irregularities, should be moi
generally dispensed. 1t is not our purpose, how
ever, to show quarter TO official Incompetence,
carelessness or negligence, no matter in whol
found. Whenever we know that faults hay
been committed. and by whom, we shall poi,
out the abuse and hold the offender up to publ
condemnation. For it is certain that, if a
pos,masters did their duty, there could be sma
cause for complaint