The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1862-01-20
Congress out Of Temper.

The stlf-sacri6co required for tho abolition
of the Thanking privilege Is having an unhappy
effect upon tho temper of Congress, as shown
in the bill just introduced into the House by
MIR. CoLPAx, to prohibit the delivery of ncws-
papers on post roads, except through tho Gov
ernntht mails. 9 If we Members II Congress
are not to have FREQ postage" Mr.. CoLPAx
Gays, "you people shant have free papers.
If wo are compelled 10 yield time honored
abuse you must yield q timo.honorsd priv.
lego."
That CONGRESSES really possessed with so un-
worthy a spirit We cannot believe. II tho
county is to DO taxed and II Is right that tho
newspapers shoulI bear portion Of tho burdcn,
let 1t come. We of the SUS, representing the
very portion Of the people by whom the tAS
would DO most severely feh, chserfully in
favor of it. But do not lot us rush hsadlong
into an already exploded folly, like this of Mr..
CoLFAx. It needs not the momory Of "thO
Oldest iDhabitant" to recall the time when this
same measure was acted upon-whon this Mr..
CoLFAX, or some other equally astutc individ.
ua, put the Government up to running nows-
paper expresses, to drive tho regular express
companies out VI tho business Of carrying nows-
p'porr.
The experim ont was triod aud proved a mis-
erab'c failure. not that tho thing might not 10
DONE If rightly attempted, but tho plan was
III. considerod and lacking in enterprise, causing
more expense than profit to the Government
and an almost untold loss to tho news dealers.
If Government would keep news bags open at
the railroad and steamboat stations, into which
the publishers might at tho last moment throw
their largott parcels and IL these parcels could
DO thrown out at all tho little towns and vii.
lagos as the train passed through; IL, in short,
the formality of post Office deposit and delivery
could be all transacted promptly and certainly
on cars and boats, then the publishers aud news
dealers would welcome the change.
But tho machinery required for supplanting
private expresses by Government would prove
more extensive and moro expensive than, pro-
bably our Legislators suppose. Besides tho
facilities, already alluded to, a. the first requi-
,ite, provision must be made Tor assuring tho
value Of the packages sont, as Is now done by
! tho express, and also, for running at least on<
extra mail car from the large cities, whore tn,
newspaper parcels alone would far excood In
bulk the whole mail. How many employee
and agents would DO required to conduct such I
business We leave Mr.. Colfax 70 compute. Evi
IDENTIFY the game is not worth the powder. Bet
ter farm out 'licenses' to tho express compa
MES to carry newspapers at certain rates.
II, however, Members of Congress seriously
contemplate any change in tho conveyance o
newspapers, they should by al means study
well the history of tbs past and study also tho
newspaper business of New York, in all its do
tails. Let Thorn ride up the Hudson Rive
Railroad in tho car devoted exclusively to car
rying and folding newspapers, and witnes
tie operations Of the city agencies through
which hundreds of thousands of newspaper
pass every day. Then may they ackno Sledg
an ignorance Of practical things which tho,
would now DO slow to confess.