The Yazoo Democrat. [volume] (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1858-18??, 1859-02-19
CHEAP POSTAGE.

We Cdhe tue AOltUWluB lrOu Tue L or Olu
son Reveille, merely remsrking that we
regard it is very sound piece of Mason ny !:
One of the best things to make everybody
feel the good of the government is heap
POSTAGE Fifteen years ago it took Que
fourth of laboring mans daily hire to pay
the postage on letter from home, and W
rccollect some instances in which letters
were detained in the Office, awaiting a sui
fcient accumulation of money to buy them
out The Post Office Department can be
made vast convenience to the whole peope
and it strikes US as no more important that
it should be made to defray its own expen
ses, than that the Army and Navy should
pay their own expenses. Cheap postage Is
perhaps as great an Incentive to the ac1uisi.
ton of knowledge as any one, as it is cal
culated to get up spirit of letter writing
and newspaper reading which would be
checked, at least to some extent, by high
rates. The idea that tue ranking privilege
is instrumental in scattering. knowledge
broadcast among the people, is the chief ar.
gument in its favor, aud if the argument b.
good as applied to tree postal matter for thq
officials, it is equally as good for cheap
postage to the people-the principle is the
same The man who blessed God for free
Gospel, and who had been church member
for twenty-five years without paying dime,
was not exactly fair illustration of the
value of free Gospel, no more than one
who abuses his frankug privilege by send
ing his wife's hoops home by mail is a
proper Illustration Of the beauties Of cheap
postage We have somehow grown up to
admire that feature in our political economy
which makes us feel that it dom cost us
dime for all the freedom and protection we
enjoy in this happy land. Every few years
a crisis comes a political crisis, and men
swear that the government Is eating up the
people with taxes when it is all false, for
no man need to pay a dime unless he
chooses If he dresses in homespun aud
tow linen, instead of purple aud fne linen
and eats hog and homiDy, instead Of import
ed nick nacks, he can live as independent
as an ab,rlgine, and pay tribute to no man.
1t is the policy of a free people to be free.
And it is the wisdom Of free people to
open all the avenues of learning and letters,
aud to cheaper the highway to the greatest
happiness that free men are or can be per-
mittcd to enjoy. Our country is 50 sim
pli6ed in its varied internal relations that
the people can be as free as the feathcrel
forresters" if they will s. let it be.
Cheaper postage-correct the abuse and
grant the moderate use Of the flank ny
privilege aud mike up all defcicuccs out If
She Common fund If members OF Con
gress would frank some of their valuable
public documents, such as the explorations
and surveys to the PaciEe--geological works
Of different kinds, and even tariff statistics,
patent office reports, &C., &c, to the male
and female schools aud colleges Of the
country, they would reach the rising gen.
Grafton with vastly yalusble information
Instead of that, they are sent by some Con-
gressmeu always excepting our OWN to
cross road politicians who can control few
votes and don't care for any book that has
no 'picters.'
Wehope present rates of postage will go
unchanged. We hope newspaper postage
will be free. We should be glad to see the
frauking privilege untouched, and if we
must economist, do it in some of the big
broad ocean wide contracts, where all the
stealing is done and nobody party to it..
If the government can't get along without.
raising the price of postage, let her borrow
The people will feel more kceny and com,
plain more Justify over such trcspass upon
convenience aud cheapness, than they would
if you raised the tariff on salt and sugar,
and there's no necessity for either