, 1860-09-14
MIsmannCement OF the EsUAt OMto De-
pArtments
[CoErtspozdencs of the Ph!1A. P1ess.l

WAsnisGzos stpt- 10, 156o-
The protest of the Hon. Preston King, chair.
man Of the Republican National Committee.
against the manner in which the Republican
documents are withheld BY certain Postmasters
will meet hearty response in every liberal
mind. Nothing has so disgracec the conduct
Of the present administration Is the manner in
which many oI the officials connected with the
distribution Of letters and newspapers, st rari-
Gus points in the free aud slsve States, have
prost,tuted themselves for the purpose Of Pleas
ing their Washington masters. The Postolfice
nesriY affects every class and condition of soci-
city. The people generally realize the fairness
or injustice Of the way in which their Govern
msnt is administered, BY the regularity and safe
ty. or the uncertainty aud neglect, with which
they receive their correspondence and their
printad matter.
For more than three years. however, hun
dreds and thousands Of our citizens hare been
suffering from the intentional mismanegement
Of our PostofIices. Not only hare the Republi.
caus complained, bu! Democrats, known to be
opposed to the policy Of the Administration.
had to endure the insolence and the inatteution
Of these Postoflice officials. Newspaper pub
lahers have been feaEtully injured in their busi-
ness BY these outrageous practices. Their sub
scrlbers, in numbers Of cRses, hare failed to Ie-
ceiEe their papers, or have only received them
days alter they bad reached the Postot1ice. 10
such IN extent has this unparalleled a!rocity
been carried, that, in some parts Of the free
States, journalists have been forced to estab.
lish routes for themselves, in orcer to deliver
their papers to their subscribers. Some Post
masters have openly declined to forward ths
New York 1Fs9u'.e, on the ground that it is an
ineendiary paper: and these merceuaries have
not been confined to the outhern States. in
most Of which auch = thing az Republican
journal il not permitted to circulate al ali!
have known cases in which mail agents on
ths cars have impudeutly refused to deliver
Republican or anti.Administr;tion Congress.
man who franks letter to ONO of his coustitu-
rnts! The chances are all against its ever
reaching ifs destination. But il this orxaniz.d
band OF dependents resolve upon preventing
the distribution of documenA they can do It
most effectual]y. They may affect to send them
from one oftics aud DELAY or destroy them in
are animated by this shameful aud criminal
disposition; but l am sorry to say, there are
few exceptions to the rule. Such an evil is not
only culpable in the highest degree, but it must
end in the worst consequences. No future Ad-
ministration will, Of course, consent to equal
ths malignity that has disgraced the present,
bnt il the example set By Nj. Buchanan and bis
ssipendiazics is not rebuked, 1t will be followed
to greater or less extent by hia successors.
The question whether our entire Post 0fIice
Department is rot failure is not new one,
The heayy Losses Of our merchants, bv accident
Or design, in the transmission Of vslube letters,
the appalling frequency Of enbezzlement by
Postmasters, tie reckless refusal of some TO
distribute documents and papers, and the low
and degraded partisauship that las turned the
whole concern into a mere machine for the
qualification Of private malice, arc all 10 many
arguments, Hundred tine1 confirmed and
strengthened during the prestnt 6zmpqigr in 1avor