Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1857-01-23
The Pablo Doe umeaf Nuisance.

II is represented TO the Department says the
Washington Union that in many of the Post Offices,
particularly at the South, public documents are nj
lowed TO remain for weeks, and sometimes months,
without being despatched or delivered according To
their address We understand the Postmaster Gen
era has issued stringent instructions ON this subject
and that such delinquency the part Of any post
master, when reported 10 the Department, viii be
considered good cause OF removal.
The Augusta Sentinel thinks that. if tho Post
master General had ordered his subordinates 10
burn, or otherwise destroy, nine trn,hs of the
trash called Public Documents, with which the
mails are overloaded. he would have conferred
benefit upon the people.
Wagon loads of these documents ere sent To al.
most every oross.roud Posoilice in the country;
and If they were of the least advantage to those
who receive them. there would be less cause for
complaint; but a vast majority of them ut
terly useless, except to Congressman, and to them
their greatest use is for eectioneering purposes.
They know that the unsophis,icatcd voter thinks
it great honor when Senator A. or the Hon. Mr..
B. sends him big book; he takes it as a testimony
of personal friendship in the Hon. Gentleman.
thinks himself greater man than he ever sup
posed before, and is astonished at the liberality
of the Hon. gent, in sending him SO expensive n
work-forgetting that he pays for it ont OF his
own pocket, and that the aforesaid Hon. gent ex-
poets to get his vote as the price of his condo
scending attention. Many mans vote has been
bought or influenced in this way, by money flched
oat of his own pocket
There is the Presidents message for instance.
Congress has been, at great cost to the ooun-
try, debating since the commencement of the
session, whether they should print. we don't
know how many thousand copies of the Pres-
dents message. and doubtless great many thou
sand will be printed-the administration printer
will mako fat job ofit-the people will be taxed
to pay him thus indirectly for certain political
dirty work done-and some few weeks Lenee
when President PIERCE is out, or about going out
OF office. the people will begin to receive corpu-
lent packages through tho mail. containing the
defunct Presidents last message, aud franked by
the aforesaid honorable gents. BY tim, time eve
ry body who expects to read it will have Lnng
ago read the message in the newspapers. and if
the book is ever opened, it will be by some ardent
enquirer after knowledge who finds nothing more
interesting than that, dictionary, or a last
years almanac to occupy his attention.
The Patent Office Reports are, in truth the on
ly public documents sent out from Washington
which are OF the Last general interest and they
are swollen to at least four times the bulk there is
any necessity for. If the members Of Congress
would endeavor to have these reports abbreviated
to readable length. and then their frankipg
privilege to disseminate them together with the
seeds and cuttings of new plants distributed from
the Office. they would deserve thanks.
Paying an exorbitant price for useless iumbe
is not the only evil attending the Public Docu
ment nuisance. An unreasonable price has to b
paid for the transportation of the mails, whic
from their unwieldiness, frequently fail ar
lost. to The great injury of mercantile and othe
interests. The Post Office fails TO supper. iise
as it undoubtedly would. we're it not for this nui
sance. and this year its expenditures exceed it
income some two millions eight hundred thou
sand dollars. which has to be made good b,
taxation. Much of this deficit is attributed t.
the atuse of the franking privilege, which Presi
dent PIERCE, and we believe almost every othe