New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-12-05

in the failure Of the Postal Appropriation
I'LL at the ccond Hesjon OF the 18th
again advertised May II, 1860 TIE service 70 cSnmsneo
the Atlantic routes Oct. l, and on the felnc iou
Dec l. Deciions on the proposals. received were h~S
July 9l Tie aggregate amount Of the bids afceptea
teiy at tie rate OF $5J3 6ii per anpun, W M
70, tie remainder Of tie fiscal year ending sapo nS
yeeI which is $780,, ]53 less than the sum S'o',oVN
appropriated. ,.,,.,
After tie act Of March 1872 making pna 10,
compulsory, had gone into operation, %as ioene
large numb, ~ OF unpaid letters continued D w poesa'
Surr osnp that this was the result Of lack OF khoWI-
edge on the Part Of the public. OF the requrehehs u
tie new law the Department directed ina! I'D al soSn
the PARTIES addres,ed should be aassd w Sor
Poetmastr m that such letters had been deposted ier
transmit sion aud would be forwarded on receipt OF Inc
portage ibis practice has been continued ior more
than five years. but the evil which II was Established
to correct ,ll continues The lac. Una, 'hs
laws exact the prepayment OF all domestic ietters
certainly az notorious any governmental Nguhlgh
can rosiby be made, and yet these letters not only
continue TO be lodged unpaid IN the dilerehs r0Ss,
Oets but at several points they have OF late been on
the increase In New-York their average number IL
SO daily and liz presumed that in like proportion they
are received at The ether PostOtces throughout the
country. Regarding this as evidencing ae.erni;a-
ton on the pant Of portion Of the correspondents uSing
tie nails TO evade tie postal laws, the practice OF noi
fying tie Tarieswlich has been one involving much
labor and expense-has within few weeks been aban-
doned ard this class Of letters are now sent nj once 10
the dead-leer Office. This appropriate disposition OF
item will, il is believed, be promptly followed oy
general COM lance with The law.
The same iudsposition 10 obey the postal laws mas
been manifested by the uon-payInent Of the carriers
fee en- letters collected from the boxes for the mails IN
these cities in which this feature Of the penny post has
been introduced The act of July 3 1886, ia inpera"
tive in requiring the prepayment OF this lee ana con-
curing 40 do fully in ts policy, have not felt JUS
tilted in sus pending III any degree modifying It's ope
rsion Az however the date of it's enforcement ~ 10
recent, It has been deemed adyisabe to pursue Tor
limited period the course already mentioned as having
been adopted in reference TO another class oil e'.es
after the aseage of the act Of March lS3 lhe ie
tes are now retained for the payment OF the carrier
fee and the parties addressed are msFe the pSy
ment which should have been MADE oy the w has
Through the press and by paeards on the letter D1xes
every possible publicity has teen gwen 10 ber s eanse
nmerons letters continue be deposited IN the poes
on which the carriers fee is not paid Ihe courtesy Of
tie Department in giving the notice alluded Saina
appreented has been the means OF provoking muchb
ter an senteless aninadveion on the part oil those
who find themselves overta ken by the unpleasant con-
sequences of their neglect or fraud or OF that OF
their correspondens To all this il s sufficient TO re-
1ly that the postal authorities but performing
plain ard simple duty in enforcing this law, and II en-
baua,mens ensuei but proper mat they snoua ful
upon those by whose wlnl or needless conduct they
have been superinduced Ignorance 30 defiant OF all
attempts at its ghtenment, or indifference 30 insen
sibe alike to duty and 10 interest," may well be permit
ted suffr
ing any serious II IL proper TO say that eu
ralle negligence s not by any means confined TO the
correspondents Of our own country. In England, as
appears from the last report of the Postmaster General
more than III eco letters posted during the year
1859 without any address at all while is added 20
are daily posted at the principal Office in London, I'M
sealed Were ne duty Of the public in reference TO its
correspondence faithfully performed as Is that OF the
Post Office DEPARTMENT much Of the complaint now
heard Of its inegularity and Encouragement would
cease.
PENNY POST.
In the last annual report it recommended that
the proyifon Of the act of 1926 levying postage of
one cent on "drop leters should be repealed IN Or
| der that the Department, by reduction OF ITS rates.
! might be- enabled more successfully TO compete with
private expresses in the delivery Of the local CORE
| spondence Of the cities. This repeal was made, but
Congress went further, and declared that thereafter
the charge each letter delivered by carrier should
be not exceeding one The effect of this was to
take from the Department the discretion In regulating
| the charge which had been conferred upon il by the
acts Of July g 1885, and March 3, 1851. IL has been
satisfactorily ascertaned that in the smaller and
sparsey populated cities and towns the compensation
liked by The recent act is wholly insufficient 10 support
the carrier system. Yet in this class OF cities and
towns tie public demand the delivery OF their letters
by car1icrs, and are entirely willing IN pay lot the
sery ice rate of compensation which would render it
remuneratiye. As the discretion previously existing
upon tie subject has never been abused and az there
is no probability that the rate would ever be rlsed be-
You'd what would be necessary TO render the carrier
eystem self.sustaining, beyond what would be
cheerfully submitted 10 by the public, recommend
tlat the provision OF the act Of last session be repealed
and that tie Department shall have authority TO col
lec euch postage all letters delivered by carriers
shall lie deemed necessary 10 compensate them for the
service provided that il shall not exceed two cents per
Letter.
1Le acts Of July g 1885, and March O. 1851, eontem
plated that the charge sbonld be made for the de-
livery Of letters into the PostOce for their delivery
at the donic Of the citizen. From some unexplained
caue tlis provision Of the law was not executed and
the service Of delivering letters into the PostOoe for
| transmission has been gratutously performed. No
reason could be urged in support Of this usage since
tl seryce, thus rendered without any return, has al
ways, to the extent Of s performance, cost the DE.
paItneut much that for which compensation has
been exacted Orders have accordingly been given for
the enforcement Of this view Of the law and the
derived from this source added 10 the other receipts
Of the carrier system, will give adequate support in
tie large cities the low of cent established
by the existing law provided it command the
tire local correspondence for delivery. This be
ecomIGshed only by placing the postal system on the
footing in the cities that it occupies in the rural
clearly fertseen BY Congress and in the tenth section
Of the oct Of March >, 1851, the Postmaster-eneral
authorized 10 establish post routes within all cities
and towns vile the Postmaster are appointed by the
President OF the United States BY virtue OF this sct
have by formal order declared all the streets lanes,
ayenues &c, within the corporate limits of the Cities
| Of Boston, Eew-York, and Philadelphia 10 be post
roads and have notified all engaged in the Transporter
ton and delivery Of letters for compensation in said
cities That they would thereby expose themselves to
the penalties lmposed by the third section Of the oct Of
March g 1877. Tie private expresses in the cities
Dane ed have aequieseed in the legality Of this step,
with the exception of in Philadelphia, known as
BloOds Express" which has continued the regular
delivery Of letters in defiance Of the order of the De-
partment.
A bill in equity wac Gled with view Of restraining
the company from this habitunl end persistent violation
Of the postal ws but upon full argument aud consi-
on lyai he