Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1855-03-30
abr ltmIsl:arg CbranI:lt.
.,,,.x. wAsC.s 80, 1850.
New Postage Act.

Ho.;ca is hereby given, that, ngresaoly
No'io. o, # Congress approved March 3D.
is55, the following rates OF l0<'ns0 ,5,, l,g
10 be charged, on and eflSr Tie pr" ,; "Gy
Of Apra next, in leu OF those no" es''O
li.hed, to Wit; .n., :, ,bc
~ ho,wyen ,Ia,os in the United States .
for apy distance not exceeding three 'ngu s,
sand miles, three cents and Tor any as us
tancs exceeding three thousand miles, 'sH
'eI;rl From and after said first day Of April
wa novment ou letters is required, except .
ing upon such az are to or from a . Ioi1's.
conptrv. or to officers of the government
on onicis! business. The frAlAlng priVl- .
ece remains unchanged.
From and after the first Of January
eighteen hundrld and ffty-six, postmas-
ters are required to place postage stamps
upon all prepaid letters en- winch such
stamps may not have been placed by the
writers,
Bv the second section Of the act, the
Postmaster General is authorized to es-
tablish a uniform system for the reglstra-
,ion Of valuable letters. This provision
of the law will be carried into effect, and
special instructions therefor Will be issued
to postmasters, as scon as the necessary
blanks can be prepared and distributed.
JAMES CANlBEbh,
Postmaster General.
Post Of;ee Dlpa''"'caf, March ., lS'9'
rvTbe above provisions are mostly recei-
we'd with APPRECIATION, but we think that which
REQUIRES prepayment in all cases VIII not
bear examination.
Asa financial measure, il is of doubtful ex-
,edi-ncy. The 5 cts received on unpaid
letters, will balance all dnes on letters unpaid
and not called for, for many Of these letters
would not be put in the mails If prepayment
were required. And even If few dollars
more we're realized by the change, they are II
no account whea compared with the absolute
injustice of the rule and the suspense and
despair il will occasion.
PERMANENT NAV benefit the Editorial corps
as mhcn as anv othrr class Uf cius"n7 and
vet. we protest that it is grossly UnJUs; 10 us.
Whenever We send leterS On our own huSi-
ness, we pay for their passage; AMI mis- Is
doubt ess the case " u eggrr man VINO Is
man, But we often send letters which are "i
no advantage to Us. anl f,r which il IS not
rish, that We shall he compelled 10 pay ; and
we receive letters TOR which II IS right that we
should pay. This Is the exPr7ience.no doubt
of us all. Occasional impoSlionS Of letters
for which we should not pay, are no JuS,idca-
ton for forcing upon US code Of impo>Itlnns,
We had rather suffer loss from a boor or a
knave. OCCASIONAL, han har" injustice I'M
posed upon us, dali" h. the Government.
That the time fixed for this law to 90 into
effect is too soon. admits o. no doubt. From
the origin of,he Postal System. people have
prepaid postage or not. at 'helr option. Inc
poorest and most needy could send to whom
,bev desired. bv mail, even when they had not
enough to pay the postage. If lost, no money
was los,-only the letter and its contents, f"l
the time being. Those most needing 1t, arc
by this rule cut of from the Post Once and
no, onfv the sendcrs, but those also expecting
letters, will often suffer cruel suspense and all
the ills of 'hope deferred
So radical is this change Of custom, that IN
many cases the mos, attentive reader Will
overlook the stringent requirement. Blu; II
such would be ,he misfortune Of the most in
telligeni, how sadly will the poor and i.'i'erate,
or those who read but litl!e, be disappointed
in sending or dropping letters, and snpPoSins
they are on the way,when they are lying dead
in the Pos, O.fce
II in the hurry Of business you forget 10 pay
your Ietter or its weight Is greater Than your
stamp will carry. ne same egil enSues; 1t Is
no, for varded.ana Won not only safer the loss
Of the benefit your letter was inle' ded to be-
STOW, ,bu, you may have hard thoughts towards
the person TO whom i, was directed, or rice
pers0.
More than that, when you hare paid in ad-
vance, you have no certainty Of the delivery
O: the letter, and no security for the making
good of the loss lis non-receptIon may occa.
sion. The inducemcut Of paying when the
work is done" is denied the letter must be
paid in advance; but the Government shirks
all responsibility and you know not where
the miscarriage has occurred.
The same error lies in the registration of
money entrusted to the mail. You must pay
CTS. additional for having it registered; bu,
II never received, You have 10 remedy, and
must lose il. Registration nav prove the
fact of your having sent the money, (and its
face thus expose lis valuable contents y but
the Power which thus signs and seals itself
morally responsible for the delivery Of wha,
you entrust it by It's agents, is not amenable
If /, fails Of delivery,
Truly, " Uncle Sam" mot the "Sam" We
"read about" we hope is hard master. In
common law, common Carriers VINO receive
pay Tor and undertake to deliver specified
articies at certain point in certain time are
accountable for any failure in the implied
contract. Now, Uncle Sam is no, only bona
noe common carrier, but he taxes us all TO
make up any deficiency the system m ay have
In sustaining Itself; he JorJid,, moreover, by
hnes and penalties, any persons from inter
ierins with him in that line Of business and
ne mus completely monopolizes a branch OF
p'iSe-TequireS us 10 pay in advance
PO~ an lot Of agents and servants foT whose
cdfetesSneSS or e..aIip,s h, ,ror-, be .rcor, n.