Newbern weekly progress., 1862-01-21
THURSDAY MORNING, JAN. 1e, 1862.

| WE have received an elaborate report IT
pamphlet form, of Mr. Reagan. Post Master
t General in which he reviews the operations
Of the department from its incipiency up 70 The
present time.
a careful perusal OF this document. We
! think, will at least, satisfy the reader that the
duties of that important position have not
been wholly overlooked and will go very tai
to dispel the gloon that has heretofore over
! hung the irres,uarity Of mail accommodations
Very many complaints have been ind1lge1 il
! 6g Newspaper men and others, at the expense
| Of the Post Master General, which We nave ro
doubt were based upon real grievances, bat
which have been unjustly hurled against Ar.
Reagan.
It is no easy matter to adjust the machinery
of a new government and bring al! the parts
readily into play particularly a department
so extensive and complicated as that of the
post-office.
Tn his report he reviews at conside-
rable length the controversy between the
department and the various Railroad compa-
MES and charges that very large number
OF roads have refused TO close contracts and
enter into bonds, thus, while they are willing
TO perform the work for the pay, studiously
avoiding any responsibility, the result Of which
has been, mail trains have been detained for
any and every trivial pretense and connections
thereby broken and mail detentons made
greatly to the prejudice Of the service
IIo ol hot Of, ,nail
able matter, such as news papers and periodic
ais are carried over the roads as freight and
delivered by SPECIAL agents, express agents
&c, to parties contiguous to the great thor
oughfares, thereby robbing the government
Of large amount Of its legitimate revenue and
giving to persons living the lines Of these
roads an undue advantage over those who live
in more remote regions, notwlths anding the
latter are put to the additional inconvenience
of waiting much longer for their mails.
He also charges that Postnatcrs, instead of
directing letters direct to the Office Of destIna-
ton, when the location is known as directed
in their instructions, almost invariably bundle
them together and send them to the nearest
distributing office thereby keeping the public
Ohl VI tIiSiA mans N"J W wv iOi'SoSi AiA
cheating the department out OF a large sum of
money unnecessarily paid to distributing Post
Masters in the way of fees for services they
ought never to be required to do, For all
these difficulties aud irregularities, aud many
others, not enumerated here, he calls on Con-
gress to assist him by legislation as far as
practicable.
he puts down the whole number of post
Offices in the Confederate States, now, at $500.
The umber Of dead letters received and
opened up to this date he puts down at S,512.
The number Of letters held for postage, at
1918 Nine hundred and sixty-sevea dead
letters contained in money s., 5l,8O, and
l,811 contained drafts, bills ofeXchange, notes
and other valuable papers, amounting to
81, ,236. a43 81, large amount of which be-
longs to persons not residents of the Contede-
rate States, and will be placed in the hands Of
the proper judicial officers to be disposed of
un Ter the Sequcstration Act. Six hundred
ana ninety four dead letters, containing money
to the amount of 81 59S so, have been returned
to the writer's thereof Fifty letters,
containing s352, O5, have been sent to the OF
ncGS at WHICH LLCS w tI Z W CG u0ils =! S't
to the proper persons by the Post Masters and
have been again returned to the department
unclaimed. One hundred and fifty-two letters
coutainidg $44, 145, have not yet been sent
ont and 81 letters, containing $3.50, belong to
non residents.
The first delivery of postage Stamps by the
contractors was made on the 18th OF October
last, since which time /, ,430, 700 have been re-
cciyed, all Of which have been sent to poSt-of-
fees near which large bodies of troops We're
located, with a view to their special bcne-
fit.
This might furnish hint to our Post Mas
ter The Post master General, perhaps, don t
know that we have any soldiers here and that
may be the reason he has not been able to get
stamps.
In addition to the foregoing, the report
contains much that is both interesting and in
Structiye.
CoURT MARITAL. officers court, we