Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-12-16

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could net fail 70 be Otherwise than highly satssas
tory. The lines 10 Bremen and HavTe touching st
Southampton should be continued; and. If practi-
cable increased 20 semi-montbly service. A Brs-
men company are row running fne steamers semi-
a monthly hstEeen New York ard Brrmeubsven. car
rying The nails for the pos'ages H this can be done
BY parties IN Bremen, Why not also by enterprsir 2
citizens Of the United St4ies and tbus secure req
i ular and permanent weekly semmanicafioRi Sash
an arrangement Would not only afford The best and
! cheapest means for tle transmission Of the mails
i between the United States and continental Europs
and Il may Be 10 and freu the Bast Indies by ias
way Of Trieste, bat it would also be higaly adyan-
i tageous 10 commercial point Of view With refer
] ence to an American oyeraDdc mmunication 10 In
dia via Trieste, | am credibly Informed that ego
liaiiops are pending 70 this end be Ween The Lloyd
/ Steamship Company Of Bremen and Trieste and the
Intermediate railroad companies; aud that il is in.
tended TO take effect so soon q weekly line is es-
/ tablished be Ween the Unlted States s0d Bremen
Il is believed that ihis route viii furnish cheaper
and better facilities of eoRlnpn cation than any
! isting route
/ Bat if the compensation for ocean steamship SER
vice is 10 be limited 70 the postages il cannot be ex
pected that psrties will contract for so shOrt term
as two years, and eblgae themselves to carry dur
ing the winter months would, therefore. respect
fully recommend that the law b SO lar modified as
TO extend The for all sueh contracts 10 period
not exceeding ten years, al the discretion # the
I Postmaster General
As regards line from some suitable port ia the
United States 10 Brazil and the exteusion OF a.
| Caiforuia line from PaBama 70 the s5uth Pacific
coast, which for commercial a. we'll as fer msii puF-
poses. ii is 50 desirable should be established aad
he line from New Orleans TO Vera Cruz il is sppa-
rent that the postages 10 be derived thtr from Woud
deiray but tri1iug port on Of the expense Of the
service regard it as highly important that me
line 70 era Or should be eontinued From The
hrst OF July 10 the first CT November Of this YEAR
there D mail line fa1 f-arrr
service IS now performed for the postages only in
the hope that Congress will immediately aulhorizs
the making Of contract at a reasouable eonpsn-
satlon. respectfully recommend this, and that
the same authority be granted respecting lines 10
brazil aua the south Pacific. The contract or the
Charleston and HaVsus line viii expire On the Beta
OF June next and this, also, IL s apparent, will
cure other aid than what could be derived from the
lostages to sustain t. The Vera Cruz ga HaYsna /
lines As wei as the lines to Caforuis, should BE-
ehsseo as eoasiEise and, whether susesP5ihle Of
oehz sustained from the postages OF not ssOaldnO,
IA myJucgmeat, be subject to that restriction But
vain reference 70 all lines where this restrict on is
not imposed would respectfully recommend ghtt
the postmaster General be prohibited from enter Z
ing into any eonrsct, except lunder advert sement
inviting proposals in the ordinary way The ob
lection here Ofore urged against the system Of ad-
yerlsement that irrepOnsibe parties Witlunderbid,
for the purpose Of selling out for bonus others
who are able 10 perform the service viii no longer !
bold as regards foreign lines since the act Of June
y, lo4e, prohibits the transfer Of any contract for
transporting the mail to a foreign country
ln my last annual report recommended an sps I
preparation for one years extension Of the mail I
steamship contract on the Paci6c between Panama /
San Francisco and Astoria in order that The ser /
vice by the Connecting lines on the Atlantic and Pa
CHIC SIDES OF the lsthmus Of Panama might termi-
naie simultaneously originally intended by Con
gress. specific appropriation for his purpose !
was made in the aot Of June IA, 1858; but IS the 1
fourth section Of said act contains the provisions,
also, above mentioned, that the compensation under
any new ocean mail steamship contract shall be \
limited TO the postages the mails transported,
the question was raised to whether this provision
vas intended BY Congress to sTply TO the proposed
extension OF the Pacific mail steamship contract 4
This question was submitted TO the Attorney Gener~
al, who decided hat it could not have been SO intend
ed; and accordingly the contract with the Pacific I
Mail Steamship Company, which expired on the lst 4
Of October. 1858 extended at the same rate Of 1
compensation, TO the lst Of October 1859, the date
Of the expiration of the contract this side of the
isthmus; the company agreeing also to transport
from the Pacific terminus Of the Tehuantere trans
cit, 70 and from San Francisco, all nails regularly
conveyed between New Orleans and such Pacific ter
minus Of the Tehusntepec route, without additional
compensation.
The New York and New Orleans Steamship Com
pauy, running line Of steamers between those
cities via Havana, heretofore carrying only ship
letter mail, have entered into contract with the De
partment for semi monthly trips except in July 4
commencing 1st Of August last ard continue till
3Oth June, 1850, at . compensation limited TO tho
sea and inland postsges the mails transported /
Up to 18th November, six round trips have been per
formed, the average ray per tripamouniing to 1903
By the time the contracts for the CalfoInia lines
via Panama and Tehusntepeo. expire on the 1st Of
October 1889 it is probable that the route by Lake
Nicaragua Will have been re~Opened and in success
ful operation This presents the question, whether
one, two, all three Of these routes shall hereafter
be employed for mail purposes. The Tehuantepee
route is the shortest and most readily protected
against Interruptions; but it viii be comparatively
too new and the line Of staging too long TO furnish
with certainty adequate and satisfactory eommuni-
cation between AtaItie and Pacific possess
sions. While it is destined, no doubt. 10 become a
transit Of the first Importance and viii deserve the
highest patronage and encouragement, stil il can
DOr suPersede the necessity Of or more routes
through Central America Indeed every year is
demonstrating that the United States may need. not
only for postal but for commercial purposes Of vast
magnitude, additional transit routes The Panama
Isthmus route is now used only under contract
with the railroad company, who, in turn hold il BY
charter granted by the local government. This
company might, at any time, refuse TO contract with
the United States, or its demands for traus1orta~
titn might be 50 eKOFbitant to amount to 3 pro
hibi'ion. After much controversy, the department
has not been able to reduce the price Of transporta
ton OF the mails upon il bsioW one hundred thous
tirely too high for only 4S miles Of railrOsd and
there will be the same exposure to the eXOrbitant
demands upon the Nicaragua route, under tbs di-
recion Of private company. To relieve the de-
partment from condition 90 depended, as we'll as
10 create q competition which might prevent sxtOr-
lion it il of the highest importance hat The route
by Nicaragua should be re opened, and ils undis-
turbe use for the transportation Of the mails, pas
spngers, troops, and munitions Of war secured by
The solemn guarantees Of public treaty. Without
this in view Of the unstable condition Of the local
governments Of Central America, the safety and se
curiiy Of transportation csn hardly be relied on
CONTRACTS given By these governments TO Individuals
OF companies, in the absence Of regular ireay,
under which, if necessary, the power Of The United
States might Invoked TO enforce fulhlneat, may be
irregularly If not uuusly revoked and the departs
ment be embarrassed by the rival claims Of contend
ing parties, unable 70 determine satisfactorily with
whom It should contract.
The late treaties with China and Japan, and the
rapid growth and vast mineral resources Of Austral
Ia have made all the transit routes to Central
America Of Increased impoTtanee 10 the United
States By them the Atlantic section Of our eoun
try would be enabled equally with that Of The Pao
ic to par icipaie with the A-istio commerce which
made Tyre, Alexandria, Venice, and Genoa the /
market houses Of the world IL is the almost exs
elusive enjoyment Of this trade which makes Great
Britain the first commercial power Of modern times
The United States, from her mediste position be-
tween Europe and Asia, and from her agricultural
productions, particularly those Of cotton snd to-
bAeco, ought nov to participate largely in the ad-
vantages Of this trade. This she would be enabled
to do By the free use Of these transits and By the