The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1855-12-07
PosT OFFICE DEPARTMENT,


fleeing man will deny:
Posi- OFFICE DEPARTMENT
November 20, 1855.
SIN Nv attention as been called to publication in the
newspapers of memorial addressed to the President of
the United States accusing Of neglect and indifference
towards repeated complaints by the citizens and special
petitions and remonstranees by the Chamber OF Commerce
of New Orleans in reference to the irregular transmission
of the great northern and eastern mail The petitions and
referred TO have reached me- nor are
any such papers file in the Department. Otherwise
would have given them that prompt and respectful consd
GRAFTON which, in view of the highly respectable source
from which they are said to have emanaed they would
have been Justly entitled Complaints Of failures and m
Irregularities in conveying the great mail between Mont
gomery and Mobile have been received it is true in the
ordinary weekly reports from posmasters but the depart
nent has neglected to nict the proper penalties and
to increase them in amount as occasion required.
So from being Indifferent to this subject it has been
one Of lively to from the period Of entering
upon the duties OF my office Finding the means OF trans
portation between Montgomery and Mobile entirely mad
eguac to meet the public wants. endeayored to place It
on more satisfactory footing by efecting arrangement
in October 1882 for the employment of an additional
daily line of tour-hose coaches the land part OF the
route with the stipulation that the contractor should fur
pish vehicles Of sufficient capacity to carry all the mail
every rp and that the steamboats, employed the river
part should be Of suitable size and structure for the regu
lar performance OF the service and under TIC exclusive
control of the contractors that breaches OF con-
nexon might by OF any other person or per-
cons having right TO interfere with its arrivals and de-
partures To this improvement additional pay TO
contractors with the understanding, Also that an extern
sion of their contract the succeeding term OF four
years would be recommended to Congress-which was
accordingly DONE and the extension obtained after con-
siderable opposition. The difficulties of this route and my
plans for improving it specially spoken of in my first
annual report dated Decemberl 1858.
For time the transportation of the mails under this
new Arrangement effected with much regularity The
reports of posmasers show but srteen failures make
the trips in contract time or as to preserve connexions
during period Of nearly twenty mouths-say from No
yember 10 1853 when the additional line Of stages was
put the route up to the Goth june 1855; and of this
plumber arose from causes entirely beyond the con-
troll of the contractors Within the same period they
sonay failed take through all the document and
paper bags in due timeor which proper 6nes inn
posed But with such exceptions the service was per-
formed with astonishing regularity. Indeed it appears
that from the eth july 1854 10 3oth jane 1855 not
single failure Of the letter mails occurred whereas there
sixy-sx failures within period Of Ten months pre-
vious to commencing the double daily line of stages
After the FIRST Of July last the failure became frequent,
owing the contractors alleged TO their inability
troll the service the steamboat portion Of the route.
This difficulty had taken special guard against
the time of ordering additional service by STIMULATING that
the steamboat should be under the exclusive control OF the
contractors that breaches of connexion might
by reason o. any other person OF persons having right to
interfere with s arrivals and departures Fines were,
therefore, imposed amounting to $500 during the quar-
ter ending 30th September last; and finding that i'm
provement took place. but rather that tho failures became
the fines increased to S3l50 for the
month OF October This did with the hope that the
tractors could be aroused to proper Of their duty
and make provision to fulfil the plain Requirements of
their contracts instead of which they entirely aban
doned the service the dth Of November and made it
necessary for the department to resort to temporary
arrangements for preventing the entire stoppage of the
mail on their route Immediately the receipt of in
formation Of this fact forwarded Instructions by tee-
graph to special agent in the neighborhood to make
porary provision for the due performance Of the service
and on learning that he had passed beyond the point
which was thought likely heproper arrangements might
kemost expcdiousy Elected despatched another agent
to the spot with ample instructions to the Importance of
the route and the necessity of keeping IL in regular and
efficient operation II may be proper TO remark that in
transporting the great mail the route from New York
to New Orleans by railroads. steamboats, and coaches is
to be expected that part another Of this long line
failures, by accident otherwise will at times
which, though il may be equally the interest of the depart
men and the carriers to avoid hem il is not in human
genuity or power altogether to prevent.
Respectfully, JAMES CAMPBELL,
Postmaster General
To POSTMASTER, New Orleans, La.