New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-27

Of letters sent" which sfterward has 70 be tran
scribed and sent 10 Washington to be stored away
among other oficisl documents, to prove it was
sent and that the postage was paid by threecent
stamp Besiie the stamping and entering, bull
has 10 be msde out, officially informing the Post
master at Katona that on the 18th day of August
A. d l-55. letter was sent from the Post Office
at New York City. upon which the postage had
been paid by stamps TO the full amount OF three
cents. This bill is then. with tie letter, put into
wrapper and directed kstOna, y. \. the per-
haps in the extreme hurry of the moment, Is made
so much like that the sorter who puts 1t IN the
bag mistakes il for New.Jersey, and sends II on IN
that direction for week of extra travel But II
il reaches it's proper destination, 1t Is to be IN
wrapped of its superfuous covering and compared
with It's postb bill before delivery, and that bill after
ward must be entered upon accou1; OF mails re-
"ceived and both bill and account sent to the office
at Washington.
This case, bad ss it IT, may be, often is, still
worse. The same family having occasion to
send letter to the same destination, deposit it
in enc of the Government boxes near their
residence full six hours before the mail
closes. and il could and should be taken 70
the nearby railroad station By the person who
opens tie box, and simply dropped in bag,
which could go up by any tran, and the let
tiers could be sorted by the baggsge-master, and
delivered without cere mOny to every postmaster
slorg the route. But, no! it IS taken from the
box down TO the Post. 0fhte. where 1t arrives
half an hour before the time for the wagon to
leave for the cars but the letter cannot go for
ward tO.dsy because "the mail is closed
And SO it is with every mail that leaves this
City-it is closed" from half an hour to four
hours before its departure. That is, every letter
that is not lucky enough to reach the Post-Ohce-
where iogyism sits with its feet glued to the anti
quated footstepssof its predecessors-before the
time fixed by regulations for the mail TO close
it must lie over until the next day
The case related while since in TUE TRIBUNE
of the French lady who was compelled to stop in
her mid.iourIey because she was not provided
with properly cut piece of paper, tied with red
tape. called passport, was sufficiently prepos-
ferrous; but of how much more importance Is it
that every man, woman and child in this cOun-
try is compelled to stop every day on the jour
pey of life TO conform to the routine that holds
in check our whole correspondence. Ii 1t
were 8 necessary delay we would no! say
word, bat il is not for oil thi, numbering ma.
chinery of stamping, wrapping, and making
post.bills, and keeping accounts, except for
registered letters" should be utterly abol-
ished, ard all that should be required TO insure
letter going to Boston by the four-o'clock
train should be to drop it in tAe bag at the
Post Office, or at Canal. street, or Thirty-sec-
ond.street, at any tim, Of day up t, the very
moment Of starting. If the writer does not
put his letter into sufficient wrapper, aud give
il sufficient direction, that is his business aud
not that Of the Post Office Department. All
that is requisite, or rather all that should be
requisite, is that be should pay the postage;
and all that is requisite for the Department to
do is TO carry and deliver the letter in tae least
possible time. Do away with all the numbering
machinery that is worse than useless, and in
eight and half hours from the time letter
vas written here it could be delivered 20 the
person addressed 10 Boston. There is no need
that il should ever enter either Post, Office, here
or there Why should it, If put in the Boston
bag a. the railroad station, all che letters
could be assorted into small bags on the
road ready for q messenger who would stand
waiting at the b stOn station, and hurry them
of to the receiving places of the letter deliv-
erers, who would hurry them away to their
owners in less time than it usually takes to 90
through the routine at the Post.Ofhce. This s
only what the eIpressmen do, and it is fact
that we can get large trunk delivered in a
remote part of the city in far less time than We
can letter by the same train. Why The
trunk is feet is not compelled TO go through
antiquated fOrmalities-it has paid its fare, and
it is ready for its owner. Even if it arrive 1t
mic nisht. its owner is not as in case Of letter,
obliged to wait till morning before he can look
at its contents.
Free the Post. Office from the incubus OF the
franking priyege-relieve it from the enormous
expense of useless blanks and twine," and the
TRANSFORMATION of the tuns of useless lumber which
those blanks make-dispense with all the wasted
labor Of filling up those blanks-let the mail be
carried with the same speed that an individual can
travel and letters delivered as quickly as his
baggage-and let the whole be conducted with
only ordinary business sagacity, and the United
state Post Office will carry newspapers free and
letters for three cents, and clear million of dollars
year.
Shall We ever have this most important OF al
the departments Of Government 80 improved that
it will be of any benefit to the people As it is
now, il is an unreliable piece of machinery that
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