New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-05-18

Ty'siu The Union. IIiO i7SasO sialIiosoI5slsso ~
Here several "routes'--as laid down in the
Post. Office books-are thrown into one, for tho
purpose Of showing the cities that are connected
together and the tract of country that is trav-
ersed. Every figure is taken from the official re-
port of the Postmaster-G General, giving distances
and compensation without regard to the number
of Companies owning the roads between the
places mentioned.
We now cone to the important difference be-
tween the system pursued in England aud thatin
the United States. To those unacquanted with
the localities Of the principal railways in Great
Britain, it NAV be mentioned that the rallwaysof
the first class run over all the main routes in the
Kingdom, and hold precisely the same important
place in Great Britain that those in the next
table denominated frstcass do in America
Our heavier, mails are between Portland Boston,
New-York, Buffalo aud Chicago, and Philadel-
phia, Washington aud the Southwest. Thehrst-
class railways in Great Britain and those OF tho
same class in the United States, perform SINH
lar services; and while those of Great Britain
get an average of 1886 mile, and those in the
United States S22y mile, We shall show thai,
all things considered, our railroads are paid tho
highest But the difference is not seen here as
clearly as in the roads that we denominate Sec
ond-cass. The second-elass roads enumerated
in Great Britain and the rest of the roads In tho
Kingdom, not mentioned separately, comprising
lour-seyenths of the whole, sos miles out Of
7,803-get an average of only S4i mie--being
less than four cents mile for each mile Travelled
in year; while all of our roads Of a similar
class get $50 mile, being more than nine cents
a mile for each mile the trains run.
There are two considerations in this compen-
sstion for carrying mails by railway. With Us
there is no principle laid down by law as rule
Of action in making the contracts, 30 that il be-
comes dead pull between the POst-Offce De-
psrtment and the Railway Company, the ons
getting the service as cheap az possible, and the
other striving for the largest sum that can DO
obtained. Then, too, the amount Of room asked
for in railway carriage is oftentimes far greater
than is actually needed. If q railway furnishes
a certain amount of room-ten feet of q cars
length, or thirty feet-t is only fair that that
space should be paid for, whether filled up or
not, for the difference in expense of carrying FIVE
pounds or five. tuns, where the space required 10
the same, is little or nothing to the Company.
The wide difference between service on English
railways Of a second class and ours of second
class is that We require travelling post-ofiee
and they do not. The frst-class roads, those
running oyer the principal routes in Great Brit
ain, as We have enumerated above, have a COM
plete travelling post-oihce and postmaster, and
those are paid 800, 5000 $500 or $500 mile and
in some instances more. North of Newcastle-on~
Tyne, the great route TO Edinburgh by way Of
Berwick-on-Tweed, there is no travelling post
office, though the main mail between London and
Edinburgh goes on the west side of the Kingdom,
through Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle. Tho
reduction Of the cost Of conveying mails BY
railway has been one Of the most serious ques-
lions they have had to deal with in Great Britain,
and they have dealt with il successfully. With
out economical arrangements and good manage
ment, this item of expense would have swal-
lowed up all their postal revenue, and then tho
Chancellor Of the Exchequer would have asked
them 10 abolish their penny postage for higher
rate. Parliamentary Committees have been ap-
pointed to report, with power to =" send for per-
"sons and papers," and they have given the re-
suits. Mr.. Rowland Hill, in his testimony be-
fore the Committee on Postage in l5i3, called
their attention to the regulation Of the space
occupied in ralway-trains By the Post-0aiee
for conveyance Of the mails and the guards"
He gave one instance of mail, the average
weight of which was less than 80 pounds, where
the space occupied was sufficient for I6 psssen'
gers. He said he believed more than flO,oOo
year was the actual Gloss resulting from THIS
Z" Encouragement" If this is of Importance in
Great Britain, where they have 1000 miles OF
railway and prospect ofbut very little increase,
how much more so must it be in the United
States, where there gre some 10000 miles, ana