, 1860-03-05


the greatest efforts Of his life and cannot fail
Of making profound impression upon the
country We shall make room for it immedi-
ately aller the city election.
PENNSYLVANIA.
The action Of the Democratic State Conven-
ton of Pennsylvania on Thursday last may bo
briefly stated thus: The Administration men,
pure and simple, triumphed in the ozganiza-
ton by ten majority, according to Forney's
pager, tie Philadelphia Press. They holped
themselves TO all the contested seats By
similar vote. They took three Of tho four
delegates ut large to Charleston, to wit Bigler,.
Dawson and Baker. They gaye the other ono
to tho Anti-Lccomptoa -a{ontgomery'
They then nominated Henry D. Foster, Anti
Lccompton, for Governor, and elected a pretty
cleanlot Of Administration delegates to Charles
ton from tho twenty-five Congressional dis
tricts. Tho Philadelphia Bulletin thinks thot
Douglas has little Or nothing to expect from
tho delegation. The Press says "thero is a
a fair prospect that the real wishes Of Pennsyi-
"vania may find partial expression in the
"formation Of Presidential ticket and the
"plat1orm Of tie campaign Of lsG0."
FORMS.
Postal reform is matter which may ut all
times properly engross tho attention Of public
functionaries, the press and the people. But
ne do not understand that line Of policy to be
legiEmately called REFORM. which seeks to carry
society back twenty years in the scale Of postal
facilities We do not see any advantages to
arise from general curtailment of the mail
service, whether with or without the sanction
Of law. We do not believe that 4 return to the
old rates Of postage would bo move in the
right direction. In short, VIC disbclcye utterly
in the policy Of advancing backwards to postal
perfection.
On his accession 10 Office Postmaster Gen
eral Holt found the expenses Of his department
far in excess Of the revenues, aud he resolved
TO cipher down the aggregate cost Of trans
porting tie mails somehow. We will not stop
to discuss the right or wrong Of tile fact that
three-cent postage and a multiplication Of mail
routes have rendered the Post Office Depart
1nent u burden on the Treasury. Both tic
Treasury aad the Pos. Offices belong to the
people, md We firmly believe, if the question
wero submitted to tic country for direct
vote: VIII you have the deficiencies in the
Post 01ico revenue made up by appropriations
from the Treasury, or by extensive reductions
in the mail service ?-tho answer would be ii
1avor Of the former system by foEr-1ifths Of the
Whole people. Mr. Holt thought differently
He commenced cutting at the mail service il
such q way as to cause infinite discomfort tt
the rural population in various parts Of th'
country, yet not in such q way-not in such I
degree-as to bring the expenditures within
tho receipts Of his department. Thus hi
system did not acquire the dignity Of prin
clple-thatis, it did not meet the requirement.
Of those who call for u selfpaying mail scrric'
while it did meet the exccrations Of thou
sands Of people who suffered by tie delay O
the total cnrtailmant Of their reading matter
It is not our purpose to criticisc severely tt
action Of the Postmaster General in this be
hnlC It is not quite consistent to abuse 81.
cabinet officers for proaigacy, and the seventh
Tor economy. But it has been recently ascer
tained that Mr.. Holt has acted suit'tont author
siy Of la.r in curtailing the mail service Of IL,
country. It is discovered that the postal law
authorize the Postmaster General to increas
but not to diminish the service, aud We 1earl
that concerted effort will shortly be made j,
Congress to pass an order requiring that office
to restore all the routes lately discontinued
We have no meaas Of knowing how many o
how extensive changes have been made in th
Northwest, but We do know that tho outer
which has resulted from them kas been long an,
loud. Towns in the lead region Of Illinois an,
Wisconsin which have been receiving dali.
mail for twenty years, have been reduced to
1ri-weekly others which have had tri-weekl.
the same length Of time have been cut o:
with weekly; and still others have bccl
stricken completely from the Post Office rolls
The great Galena and Minnesota stcamboa
mail hns been suspended altogether and til
contract annulled. True the contract wa:
made in good faith by the company, in July
1853, to run four years-carryins 4 daily u,ai
both why's and making ninety landings up ans
down. It was cancelled by Mr.. Holt without
legal authority-withouta pretense Of fulfill
ment on his part, Of its tcrms The form O
contract Issued by the department declare.
that it may he set aside by the Postmaster
General upon the payment Of thirty days ser
vice in advance as graluity to the contractor
It is held by the contractors that the Ian
authorizing this annulling clause was repealed
in 1888; and VIC learn that Mr.. Holt defend
its employment in the contracts which he ha
entered into, not on the grounds Of law but Q
precedent But certain it is that in the ca-e Q
the Minnesota contract he did not even tende
tho thirty days allowance especially called 70
as condition Of annulment on tie part Of til,
Postmaster General Admitting the rightful
mass Of that claim, he said he had not th'
money; nevertheless he discontinued tho rout.
and left the company to be ruined by otie
contracts, which bind them 10 that particula
route, that precise number Of trips and thu
exact number Of landings, for the full term Q
four yeaza.
But this case is only one Of many, which
appeal to the public senso Of justice. An ovez
land mail route was established not long since
from Independence. No., to Stockton, Cali(or
nis-quita unwisely established as We think
The contract was awarded to citizen Of Mis-
souri. 1t required the construction Of a roaE
acfoss the plainsr the building Of large mum
ber Of bridges and tue erection Of hous
every twenty miles between tho two st1rtin,
points. The contractor went faithfully Il
work, graded his road, built his bridges ans
houses, bought his wagons and mules, e1pcnd
ed all Of his own money md oil ho could bor
row On the faith Of tho government no in
considerable sum. When everything was il
readiness for the work. the contract WAS tori