The New York herald., 1861-12-08

""yo ~ compromising anu NOT eXOrDltant rates.
We hope it will be done.
The badly mixed up system Of carriers fees,
extra pennies and partial deliveries in cities are
commented upon; but no good result can pos
sibly como out of ii till some strong hand cuts
the Gordian knot, by establishing one uniform
rate for both drop letters and those that go the
longest distances.
Now, in regard to the report OF the Post
master General of Great Britain, we see curl
Gus and instructive contrast to the workings of
our own postal establishment. Lower charges,
great simplicity and convenience, large profits,
and an enormous use of the postal machinery,
that VIC are utter strangers to- One thing they
do not have in Great Britain. They do not have
over two hundred and fifty different rates of
postage on transient printed matter, in pack
ages weighing not over one pound and a half,
the rates levied with subtlety that would drive
Philadelphia lawyer mad, or make Jesuit
hang himself or forget all his vows. We have
the luxury of studying, consulting and using
quarter Of a thousand rates ON printed matter,
before getting up in the scale above the size of
an ordinary duodecimo volume, while the Bri-
tish people have just four different rates on the
same matter.
We see in this last report from st. Martins
le Grand the usual records of the progress of
the establishment that was created by the magi-
cal touch of Sir Rowland Hill. The British
public sent by mail during the year 564 900, 900
letters, or at least three times as many as
We're sent through the post Offices of the
United States, with its reputation of having
better educated population than any other
nation in the world. There were 1000, 900
newspapers, and 100000 book packets.
Nearly two million of dead letters are returned
to the writers-they call them ''returnedn let
ters, as they are not suffered to die on their
hands as ours do-and these are sent back with
out any charge whatever. The total income of
the British Post Office was $l6,9lO,0OO with
clear profit to the treasury of over
S7,300000. Our postal authorities and postal
committees will please remember that the actual
cost-labor--of handling, receiving and de-
livcrng the letters that circulate in Great
Britain--o emitting expenses Of transportation
is not greater than the handling one-third
the number with us, owing to the
uniformity and simplicity Of their rates
and other arrangements. There are in
the United Kingdom 1885, money order offices,
by which over sixty million dollars are RENTED
annually without The risk or loss Of penny,
except in the case OF dead letter. which be-
comes 50 very dead that neither the person
addressed nor the writer can lie found.
Respecting The transportation of the mails.
the following extraordinary contrast appears:--
The mails arc transported $4,000 miles daily.
Of which $4,000 mlcs are done by railway.
$4,000 by coaches and CARTS and 10000 BY foot
messengers.
We hope to have The pleasure, during the
next two years, OF recording the position of onr
own Post CiIcc with IS many commentators rs
we can give TO the one in her Britannia Majesty i
dominions, and We are sure We shall be enabled
to do so if some Rowland Hill brings order out
Of chaos, by adopting the sheet anchor of every
good postal sysiem--uniformity ana simplicity
of rates and charges. In this we confess we
have large expectations Of our new Postmaster
General.
The New Satanic Abolition School OF
Morals.
We exposed yesterday the last new freak of
the Satanic abolition school or morals, and en-
deavored to make evident the manner in which
the Rev. Henry Ward Bcccher and his coli
leagues Of TIE Independent reconcile their fine
spun theories about social reforms with the
morals and the teachings Of very "curicns
book upon - city women and other "myete-
rics'' Of city li.e. prominently advertised in the
Independent. The weekly organ of this new
school Of morals. a. consistency is doubtless
q jewel which The aboli..onists claim to possess
It is no more than iais ,tat the morals they ad
vocalc, and those OF the book which they ad-
vcrtise should be regarded IL concident: and
for the benefit OF the general public Mc place
shcir two seis of ideas in juxtaposition, select
ing our quotations from tho Independent of De-
ccmbcr ).
Mrs. Harriet Beccher Stowe opens the ball
with an Introduction TO the second part cf her
uew novel,. The Pearl 0f Olr's Island" She
reminds her readers that her characters ha, .
no strange and wonderful adventures of ont
ward life, and the changes that occur to them,
and the history they make, is that of the inner
life that comeih not with observation.n In con
ncction with this description Of Mrs. Stoves
characters. the following advertisement. from
the same copy Of tho hdqcpdcat. should be
takcn:-
A CURIOUS BOOK.
fTY WOMEN; VIEW Ieitir CnARAt rvRs IlyvC IN
Mem YoaN--A singular novelty, filled with romance
giving the portraits and Tetrtritcs II fascinating ladies
old mems eariings lades o prpsure, dashing widows
women IN black. widows Gaug ghtors ladies of Il shion
adyenturesses, bag,s u les, confidence women ana
others mysterious to the outside world Fancy binl
ing $50 pages, fifty enarnyipgs Nailed free for only
sixty cslt cents-ogiginal price one dolkr Country
agents wanted
Beyond any reasonable doubt, the "charac-
ters' in this curious book" are Of the same stamp
rs those which Mrs. Stowe describes As their
''romancc"is is mysterious to the outside world"
ii must be Of 'that inner life which cometh not
with observations" and perhaps Mrs. stowe
would be willing to submit This "cnrious book
to those dear children who she 50 affection
ately addressed, and whom she hopes may long
..bc able to be pleased with chd's stories.'