The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1859-01-16


~ Justly claimed postal xx sta theft ffagisnd aai
received ID by She Panama ros oot u 80 zoe ~
annun which soafcely laos ~ sae dsg~sssass @ny
portion OF that Ia the sha, ~ fosisrs Caagrcss
having by an act q July al Iss. ps,hIsT ios ts ay.
mcns OF the extraordinary e.psss s4isnia sss -
nccs out OF the pstsgcs coeciel Mus sgu k41 Teas
antepec passage has been e.tsabshsd. ~sh ~@mdy a.
equal chance Tor some yeATa q make any material
turns 10 the department. 4hs great ssssiA1a Foais- a.
net stand soleiy ss.a y, e tassf s~sssx 81
ditional communications With caiicrnis, oFeeon, Ard
Washington They intsndci % spfa4i yai 0uf pap
ulatioa. to mad tot tie hardy tssmses nov haGss ~
their dipping, g. develop the syrcutusi aud nlnesai
resousees "a country IN iass g. a.soovss s
tornss bstwecn the saisy tse M~~s~sissa sst as
one which new rcposes on th~ shotcs az re fs@s4st
But we need not go 10 California a. uiaslssA ~ y
prove that IL will not 10 strike down al sai sss
that will not pay 1 again rlfes yca,o ni~sgiAisous
Document No los OF last sc~sll aA.l Assa 10 stle,
ment appended 10 tls report az conslsae sss susgui
information this subject IL shows ,se -rass fvfe,
nues from hostages. and the sale u ssiaS h esf Sta
the compensation of posnasers and te Incl saf "a
penses of their offices the net fcseDus the eusi u s
portation. and the surplus deficit 90 cs STATE Atr
paying the cost of transportation. IL eahshas Tbs ~
Inarhabie hct THAI thc yoas sums fasd ssr - abs
department Tor blanks, Wrapping paler postage stamp
and stamped envelopes, advertising uail lsss 49, ssso
divided pro rata to each State, and the tsssn
postage collected at Boston and Now ork yrsuse
70 the several governments for whom II c0iled Ma.
der postal treaties be taken out pass ts
expense OF its mail supplies. asg aiase stsasr
With these facts before me ia making cut my las, an
/
we had reached nearly the maximum oos 81 furnishing
mail facilities to whole country - Suggest certain
measures to the consideration OF Congress f whA the
and expenditures If they could not he bgonsit
10 entire aud perfect equality, might nevertheless ap
proxmae SO nearly Us to reconcile the public mind -
| the discrepancy
The first of these that Congress should more en-
phatcaliy declare that hereafter the Postmaster Gen.
era in advertising and accepting bids for mail service
shall have reference the conveyance passengers o.
freight OF any kind other than regular mail matter This
is probably the meaning OF the present law but no r,t
master General since its enactment has been able
sst the opposite construction Nothing ba p,s aoris u
prohibition would be likely to succeed. The opinion sas
advanced that this change in the law would probably a.
feet saving of 81 900, 900 IL may he less more
the book and heavy document business may Increase
diminish in Congress and the various departments Ii
could not be effected at because II could not, la JUS
ce and fairness to the present contractors be carried
until their contracts higher grade OF service had
1 expired If it effected at once by allowing one
mouths extra pay it is than probable the parties
would besege Congress for relief from losses stock
| stages, &c rendered unnecessary by the change
The next suggestion ws 'tlt ii Congress desired 10
relieve the treasury from the acquisitions upon il by this
department., they might take the bill g. 33T) intro
duced at the last session by distinguished memler Of
the Senate, and make it the basis great and decided
Improvement in the revenues Of the department That
bill proposes no mutilaton dimnuton Of the present
service but based the distinct idea that whilst the
people desire and entitled to large and liberal postal
accommodations they both willing and able 20 pay a
fair prie for themust what it furnish them
no more no less 10 arrive at this true and just stand
| ard required many experiments Accordingly, many
different rates of postage have been tried and their actual
results carefully noted in all the reports of the depart
mept These reports show that under the rates OF post
age letters and printed matter fixed by the law OF
lS45, Statutes at Large, vol 8, p 1922 the revenues
and expenditures about equal small surplus as
often small deficit Since the passage Of tho law of
1851 Statutes, vol 3 p 5s7 fixing the present rate of
three cents &C. the Of expenditure over the reve
nue. has been regularly and largely Increasing These
facts obviously suggest that il Congress is determined
to make the department selfsistainng one, the
surest means of doing would be to 90 back to
the rates of 1915 In doing this they would have The
knowledge and actual experience of the past any other
rates could only furnish eonjeetures of the future The
bill under consideration Is. 337) fixes the rate of five
cents for any distance under g. 900 miles and ton cents
for that distance. This differ very little from
uniform rate Of five cents for ali distances as there are
very few letters sent inland 5000 miles. The es-
Inmates made by the most experienced officers the de-
partment that the provisions Of the bill would raise
the revenue from hostages about s3500, 000 tahing
to p'eo The 4 section relation 70 The transmission Of 3ublio
Documents. What the provisions Of that section would
effect it is difficult anticipate. The government now
approprates $500 900 annually compensation for free
matter transported and delivered Congress and the
executive departments under the aoon that the post
age on the matter conveyed would to that amount
IL believed IN the department. however that the post
age would come TO more than twice that amount-say
81, 100 900 for congressional books and documents
alone without taking into view the immense correspond
OF the executive departments and the mass Of
returns accounts packages aud parcels received and sent
from the General Land Office the Pension Office the
Patent Office &C. 1t is clearly right the Post Office Is
considered having been established simply for the con.
yenicnce of individual citizens in transmitting their cor
responencc FROM place to place, for which they
pay the full amount Of the COST that the government
whcnever wants its correspondence books documents
&c, transmitted should, like all Others, forward
and not h but the full for the services rem
dercd. ut it, the other hand the Post Office is to
be regarded as great government institution establish
cd not by law merely, but by the constitution itself in
order that it might have regular and perpetual channel
through wlu 70 transmit its orders and instructions to
all its agents. civil and military and receives prompt and
reliable information from all parts Of the republic in re-
turn then the interest of individuals becomes not only
subordinate, but almost lost in the dignity and import
OF the institution Nor is its high nationality d
minished when it is regarded the great agent of com
merce aud the pioneer and patron of Christian cviiz
ton. ' t&9& aetfA
Recurring however to the Senate BILL No 33T OF
last session, suppose 1t to be reliable say that under
its provisions tho would be increased some four
or four and half millions Ii Congress to incor
porae In it the substitution of postage stamps in lien Of
the frankins privilege recommended in my annual re-
port, 1t would most probably add million more If used
by the members to the extent as they now use their
franks. have no idea, however, that this would be
the fact in relation to the OF the stamps Menbeys
would not have such large accounts made against them
but would content themselves with such reasonable
number would fairly protect them from loss by cor
respondence with their constituents Besides the two
houses would at every session. look to their contingent
fund, and IN protecting it, would thereby protect the
Post Office Experimentation having carry millions po
millions of letters and documents to all parts of the con
try for no compensation at all For these considerations