New-York daily tribune., 1854-07-15


squadron 0f vessels tie coasts of Oregon art
California. in making appropriations for these pur
poses ask how much revenue l. received AZ the d-r
ent points, or il they pay their way - Certsnly not
All our coasts must BE- guarded; aud az al ports o
entry, there must be CustOu-lIouses whether fhel
"pay or not. That is what we gain by our Confed
Grafton; the weak points ere guarded and distant
snd scattered population have national privileges Al
the same price that the dwsiers in Boston and New
York de-. If We take California at what she i. worth
10 the mon Siate-iumisbine from fftfto eighty
millions OF gold "a year.--ls she not entitled
g~d P'o gro, 10 as cheap postal facilities as Ohio, New
I York or Virginia
But feel it is an insult to you AID your readers To
ask such questions TO attempt 10 combat such pal
pabe absurdty this Postage bill. How long will il
be before we shall have statesmen who can compre-
hend tie Post-Oiice a. a national establishment Can
any man tell q solitary reason why the Post Office
should be required 10 support itself any than the
War, Navy or Treasury Departments 50 long as
Government will have monopoly Of the carrying of
letters ard papers, and insist charging for the
vice, then the Post-Ofeo will have an income. So
would the War and Navy Departments have an income
/ if Government refused TO dispatch vessel to
protected coast regiment Of soldiers to q violated
frontier without State Territory city community
would pay down or become responsible for the expense
OF the protection required. But if it is insisted that
the PostOfce must sustain itself tia, might be done
! If we were not required 70 have the Department sup
pC1t also several million dollars worth of Government
and Congressional frankng. 1t could be done if it
was carried on in the simplest and cheapest manner
by having everything brought to great uniformity
possible.
Mr. Ods has great idea of the advantages of uni.
fcrmity by urging that all pOtages shall be prepaid in
order to simplify accounts and yet does not hesitate to
have tie absuTdity Of several rates of postage and
several methods ofcOmputing that postage Congress
siOna ard Government letters and documents are
FIRE; drop" letters cent; letters less than three
Thousand miles, hree rents; and that distance ten
oenfs. o Mr.. Olds-Mr. Uniformity Olds--Mr. Uni
M rae uaxIrtU s,11
" one, and greatly fear me, - old iogy Of the
most impractcable and bofoggcd and belossiled de-
scrption Charge every letter alike; Govern
ment, Congressional, "drop" California and 9TH
erwse. Have the Departments and Government
Offices buy and pay the Post-Offce Departments for
stamps stamped envelopes for all National Cores.
rcndence; and in this large amount of time to
the highest officers of Government that is thrown
away i'll the useless labor of 'irankDg letters. Get
at the amount of matter franked by members
OF Congress here the Capital only, aud have dis
burslng officer TO furnish each member with
his weekly quota Of stamps for erery week
hot he rs actually here al Washington; and
let them sell, use, do what they please with
these stamps or stamped envelopes. 7hcn let that
equ0t chance for all ers that mailed rhether drop
nus or to 90 to Gny Part Of the country no matter ho
sends hom be JUST TWO CENTS FOR EACH LET
TER UP TO HALF Al OUNCE. Over half an ounce and
under All Oun,e, double that and reckon no half
ounces beyond the FIRST ounce but if letter weighs
over an ounce, and not over two ounces, have
we should require no denomination of post
age stamps but twO four aud eight cents
unlessWe had one OF "a cents on purpose for English
letters. The advantage Of having no rates that should
divide ounces beyond the first would be: first a
uniformity Of method Of rating with that adopted
with fereen countres and second, great saving of
trouble by simplifying the business Then think
two cents too low rate and this method would bring
Il larger income and it would 20 the principle of
taxing the poor less than the rich for very few but
banks, corporations professional and business men
would ever send letters that would. weigh
ounce. Then adopt the English plan of requiring all
letters over certain weight, say over one ounce-tO
be prepaid. This would relieve the Department from
carrying a great many useless, weighty, and absurd
packages that are sent out of malice or ignorance
Then have carriers employed and paid to deliver all
letters and papers free in all the towns and cite and
this would stimulate correspondence particularly
for drop letters, that this principle alone Cetter
carriers would certainly add considerably TO the net
income Othe Department, while greatly increasing the
privileges TO the public. After adopting these improve
ments let any annual deficit be met by draft the
~. same theexpenses ofthe Navy
Treasury and Interior Depai.. ..naLis are now have
heard it rumorcd that this bill increasing .~'orlia
pOsages (thOsc letters that go 900 miles, 10 ten
cents, would probably pass the Senate and for this
reason.
Mr.. Gvin the indefatgabIc Senator from the Golden
State finding he cannot get such postal facilities bis
State requires is willing 70 agree TO compromise,
making direct bargain that if they can have weekly
mail with the Atlantic States, and corresponding in
of service in California, they will-n Calitor
nia-however unjust it may be, willingly pay dime
for their letters.
The absurd and completely mpractcable measure
Of Mr.. Olds's Postal b of requiring all postage to
be prepaid and after January 1855 prepaid in stamps,
is the most garng inconsistency of the whole. Think
of the large number of poor ignorant people that will
not know the law, that will forget that letters must
be prepaid. Think of the frequent of those
even greatly in the habit of writing, being out of
stamps on nights, Sundays, or such times that
the Post-Oticc is closed, 50 that stamps
can be procured, and that perhaps after
journey of several miles TO mail letter Then, too,
every single letter that is prepaid but happens to be
prepaid stamp too Observation-Disclosures letters,
prepayment is absolutely required, must be stopped,
the same if paid at ALT and the writer not only
loses all he has paid, but his labor OF writing. and all
the advantages that would have accrued from the let
ter; and then a long period viii elapse-eyen if be
hears at all-beore he learns that his Letter has mis-
carried.
Then look at Il case that Mr.. Ods seems never to
have thought Of Out of 22 900 PostO Offices there
will always be large number getting out of stamps
and the very onesfar off the frontier or in Cali
iorna Oregon-that will suffer most for the want Of
them. Then just office is out Of stamps,
that none be had, all outgoing mails at that
place must till supply of stamps is procured.
Will not in the Senate see the great distress
and confusion that this law must occasion, if passed
- try and amend it. Let The TRIBUNE put
m6Id the prophecy, that. if il does become law, it
- after a trial and innumerable hardships be re-
peaed, and cover its originator with confusion.
Really. Or. Olds is most unfortunate The
most unkndest cut of ALL - however, after his con-
catenation of burders and continued demonstrations
Of his inespacty for the place lie holds, is from The
Norfok (Na.) AreaS. That paper, after holding the
noc.or nm thp mink of statesmanslip and