The weekly Placer herald., 1854-02-04

Extract from { hn PHStma ster
80 9. General'S Report.


and very great difficulty in giving rha'
people the null facilities which they re-
1uire. At the same time. it appears from
the. reports tina, the perfprmlnce of tht
service under the contracts Is chartcferlZ
ehby Fl leitv aiiI energy--qui'l'IeS wh,rh
are in great requIston hy the h'ooe"
state nf the roads at particular seasons
of the year.
The present cost Of transportation IN
atea,nb,ats in California Is about thirteen
cents eight mills per mile; III coacheS'
about twenty cents per mile; a'ld IN modes
not specified, alb ,ut thirty -four cents SIX
mills per mile; while the cost ot similar
service in the United States, excluding
Oregon, New Mexico and Utah, Is. IN
steamboats, about nine cents per mi e, IN
coaches about FIVE cents and five mills per
mile, and in modes not specified, about
four cents AMI seven mills per mile.
These mail prices, however, are not
out of scale with those of labor, living,
and commodities generally, Ill that region
of country
h.. The most striking discrepancy appears
on comparing these prices when the
Government pays in California with those
which it receives for the same work.
meanthe rates of postage. The one Is
graduated to the highest sea- of prices,
aud the other to the lowest For single
% letter Of half an ounce, the department
receives six cents when pre- paid, and ten
cents when unpaid, and for each pound OF
= printed matter, which comprises very
large proportion of the contents ot the
mails, about five cents a pound; the cost
to th6 department for transportation across
the iSthmIS alone being twenty-five cents
"a pound. The necessary consequence Is,
that the cost of mail service in California
greatly exceeds the revenue it yields.
: And notwithstanding the government in
ours a heavy unrefunded exp 'aditure in
supply ing the citizen of that State with
his letters, newspapers, and other mani
matters, the citizen himself employs other
facilities for the COW vance of his letters,
and pays therefor a rate from twenty 10
forty fold greater than the government
. charges for similar service.
The facilities referred to are the ex-
presses. Government has not been able
to keep pace in its organized .rall ar
rangemeuts with the movements OF the
miner. His settlement is suddenly made
: and rapidly extended, long before the
mail contractor and postmaster can be
provided. The express men are at hand
and the wants of the miner are immediate.
His orders are all sent by them t" the
central post Office, to which not know
ing where his eventual ln"atinn will he in
the gold region he has directed his let
ters tn he addressed. The postmaster has
favored the expre>Snan in the prompt
delivery of his letters. and has rereived in
return a compensation much larger per
letter, than any commission ever allowed
him by the government. The express
charge is 81 per letter, 50. and so on,
rising. in sOlne instances, 10 5, according
to the distance Once commenced, the
habit of the miner of re ying on the ex
presses is continued long after the Post
Office and mail route have reached his
neiyhhorhOOd.
Different influences combine to produce
this result. The prime pal one, rs Is IA :
legged, the utter fai ure or refusal of the
central postmaster, at whose otfre his
letters come from the States, to forward
them the mail.
In respect 10 the viciou. practices at
the larger offices in Ca lfornIa, which
have so much retarded the Use OF the
mails HllI eHfOurhgctI l0e eHlpIitllleIt Ol
expresses, the present inrunbenlS of those
offices have been special y instructed
and have given assurance that they shall
be discontinued.
Much confusion is found to exist in the
arrangement and operations of the offices
in California. Several appear to be in
operation that were never established hy
the Postmaster Genera and u general
. misunderstanding prevails among post
masters as to The restrictions placed hy law
upon their expenditures in respect to office
rent, clerk hire, Sc. These things have
all been ''rouyht to the attention Of the
special agent of this department, who has
been instructed specially in relation to
them, and instructed to report; aud this
leads me to the consideration Of the de-
fertive nature of the agency provided for
that remote section of the Union An
agency Of higher functions than those of
mere special agent should he provided
for the charge and supervision of the en-
tire mai service on the Pacific. The
officer should be Of the grade of assistant
Postmaster General, and should receive
SALARY equal to th'r>e received hy officers
of similar grade in California. Under
the charge of faithful and able officer OF
this descri ptinn, the routes could he IT III
contract at less cost 20 the department
anf more efficient contractors obtained