Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-02-12
The Overland Mail Route from Saint
Paul to Pugeps Sound. '. A..

The following Is the bill now before Con-
gress on this subject, as framed by the Sem
ate Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads,
and reported therefrom by Mr.. RICE, to the
United States Senate, on the 26th ultimo
SECTION l. Be it enacted by the Senate and House
Of Representatives of the United States Of America
in Congress assembled, That the Postmaster Gen.
cral be, and he is hereby authorized, to contract
Tor the conveyance of the entire letter mail from
st. Paul, in the State of Minnesota, and the head
Of Lake Superior, in Wisconsin, to Seattle, on Pu.
get sound, IN the Territory Of Washington, for six
" ars, at cost not exceeding three hundred thou
sand dollars per annum for semi-weekly service.
SEC 2. And be it further enacted, That the con-
tractors shall have the right of pre- empton to
oi, or reserved, at each point necessary for sta
ton, Lot to be less than ten miles distant from
each other and provided that no mineral land shall
be thus exempted.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said
service shall be performed within twenty days for
each trip; and that before entering into such
tract the Postmaster General shall be satisfied of
the ability and disposition of the parties bona fde
and good faith, to perform the said contract, and
shall require good and sufficient security for the
performance Of the same the service to commence
within threee months after signing the contract.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted That the cost
of said service be paid out any money in the Trea-
sury not otherwise appropriated.
To the meagre provisions of this bill, the
Pioneer and Democrat makes these objection
airy remarks:
"The Bill provides for the conveyance of q let
ter mail semi-weekly for six years from st. Paul
and Superior to Puget Sound, ut cost of $500, 900
per annum each trip to be reformed in twenty
days MI. ,.-.., o-o.;
ton, if the amount of remuneration granted to the
other lines is any measure Of the real cost of the
service.
"The injustice of it will be manifest by compar-
ison with the amounts appropriated on the other
routes. The Southern route from st. Louis and
Memphis. yiG Ell Paso to San Francisco, obtains
for a semi-weekly service, six hundred thousand
dollars per annum for the main line alone besides
a large amount of subsidies for tributary routes
and feeders. The middle route, from st. Joseph,
Missouri, TO San Francisco, obtains $320,0 per
aunum for u semi-monthly service. The first OF
| these routes for the same amount, obtains twice
| the remuneration proposed to be granted the Nor
them mail QUITE and thu second obtains more for
| a sem-monthly service on the Central route than
this bill asks for semiweekly service on the Nor.
thern. proposition so ridiculous, it ought to be
observed, did not emanate from Mr.. Rice, but was
engrafted the bill originally introduce by him,
Chairman.
The Pioneer further expostulates against
the transparent sectional fauoritism,' in this
matter, as follows:
"The people Of the Great Northwest demand
that the Northern route shall be put upon an equal
footing with the other routes. and they appeal with
confidence to the nation against such sacrifice OF
their interests and their rights to the seciOndk d
noritism manifested in this matter by the Govern.
| nent."
We are glad to find our contemporary
beginning to "hestate and talter" over "the
acts of Southern gentlemen" just as the Hon.
James Cavenaugh recently did in his democ.
racy, on the floor of Congress, when the en-
tire South and the Democratic party showed
some of this same sectional favoritism" by
refusing the Ten Years Credit on their Pre-
emptions to the hardy Actual Settlers; and
this too in the same breath that the Democ.
iacy in the U. s. Senate were voting and urg-
ing the $30,OOO,0OO bill to obtain Cuba in
order to create more Slave States for the spe-
eial and peculiar ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the South!
VIM. H. Seward was right when he said, that
"the very constitution of the Democratic Party
commits it to execute all the designs of the
Shareholders, whatever they may be-" The
present design is plainly to depress the North,
prevent its growth and advancement-and to
up with the South, at every cost and haz-
ard