Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1859-02-25
From the U. S. Economist and Dry Goods Reporter
Post Office Reform,

The spasmodic attempts that are being made to re-
duce the government expenditures WILL of course end in
nothng-the numerous parties interested in every branch
# expenditure will not listen to reduction in any one
since to touch one threatens ALL The Post office Las
become of late years vast engine of corruption and its
weight upon the Treasury is annually oIerOus 1t
is admitted by all parties to be monsrous abuse and
yet no one makes any serious efforts at reform As
al IN such cases all put forth phantom that with
vehement outcries they pretend will remedy the matter
knowing at the time that it is sham-an effort
to get credit with the public for reform that they do
not intend. Like the bold humbug of Mr.. Grow and
his partzans who vote for throwing the public land
open to settlers, in order to get public sympathy,
when the real object is only to embarass the Treasury
The same class of persons clamor for abolishng the
ranking privilege, by which letters and docu-
ments franked during the session. as remedy for
100000 deficit in revenues. The same support
appropriations of $4,000 for the Aspenwal mail line
to California 100000 for additional semweeky
line, and $250,000 for the Tehuantepec ne making
$l60O0O0 for mail service that yields $3l 900 gross
revenue The Ocean steamers swallow other large sums
The land mail contracts for the four great divisions
North South East and West whereof one falls in every
year, they being for four years each another
of immense waste, added to thousands of posmasters
appointed for political rewards at salaries far above the
receipts Of their offices. All these and other wastes
the far to outrun its MEANS but they
er attract the reproof of the sham refOrmers. loud
mouthed phanthropis will make terrible cutlery over
few thousand dollars, ess paid in mileage to
Members of Congress- but will support every possible
scheme for punderng the Treasury in favor Of cqueS
of SPECTATORS All that class which contends for high
tariff has encouraged large expenditures of the govern
Tent loose patronage of the post Office and giving away
the public lands because in their view all these may
make plea for higher duties, which they conceive to
be beneficial to the country although it is hardly cred
BILE that intelligent persons at the present day should
honestly hold such belief Although it is very con-
venient to camor against rival party extravagan
the extravaganza itself is never objected to- Who how
ever the public service in spite of the large expenditure
becomes much neglected hardly to its end,
reform becomes necessary This is the with the
post Office. 1t device of former age of a very
imperfect state of civilization for the government to
derake to administer the post Office or the carrying Of
letters 1t is of the old government functions that
passing away should longer be permitted toexs as
monopoly destroying private enterprise. TO do away
with it and discharge 100000 government officials would
no doubt monstrOus in the eyes of the politician
but it must come to that The service can be done by
Individuals far better than it is done, at cent
per letter and newspaper In fact the city newspaper
service is scarcely done at ALL 1t is with the ut
most difficult that newspapers be got through the
Office. The law says that weekly papers shall be crcu
lated gratis in the county where they are printed
any supp0ses that he exercise that right con
rred by the law let him try to send papers in that way
If it not for the machinery of expresses by which
bundles of papers sent to agents for distribution IN
all the large towns the large issues of city papers would
become impossible such is the utter neglect and ine
cency of the postoice department in that respect
The opinion is growing with the public that private
enterprise the true way of administering the pOsoc
and the whole vast engine of political corruption which
now exists under that pretension must come to the
ground