, 1862-02-05


at cost Of twenty-st hundred dollars per
annuna, whose services could be dispensed
with entirely If the system Of blanks were
abolished, as it ought to be. Their labor is
to no really useful end. They copy thou
sands upon thousands Of post-bills, foot up
thousands upon thousands Of columns Of /
fgures, to ascertain the commissions Of the !
Chicago Post Office, while the Postmaster |
is not paid in commissions but by fixed !
salary; and when the commissions arc
ascertained, for what purpose no mortal !
can tell, the whole mass Of sheets and post
bills, filing at least d half dozen large pa
per sacks, is sent off to Washington to Lie
undisturbed a while in store, then to be |
burnt, to make room for other sheets and
other post>bills that will follow On each t
succeeding quarter. !
Another example: In the distributing i
department Of the Chicago Post Office |
there are employed thirty-dve men at an
annual cost Of tweny-three thousand dol
lars. Dispense with post-bills, with count |
ing letters received, and comparing them |
With the accompanying bills, with keeping |
an account Of mails sent, with doing up t
letter packages in wrapping paper, au of |
which re hare shown to be unnecessary
and one half, at least, of this force, along !
with one half the cost, can be dispensed
with also.
These two items do not make a rcry
larger sum to be sure-a little over $4,000
but q corresponding reduction in all the
post Offices in which clerks are employed,
would swell the aggregate aggr annual saving to
some hundreds Of thousands Of dollars.
Add to this the amount saved by dispensing
with blanks and wrapping paper, and by
the abolition Of the frankng privilege, and
very considerable progress will have been
made towards rendering the Department
selfsustaining.
There is another reform, entirely practi-
cable, which We believe would ultimately
result in large increose Of the revenues
| the delivery Of letters By carriers in all the
cities and the larger towns Of the country.
Let us illustrate again by the Chicago post
! officc. In this Office there are twenty -one
men employed in connection with the de-
livery Of letters, at an annual cost Of
| S13,740. Now, after retaining sufficient
| number Of these men to open and assert
the mails for city delivery, with the sum
paid to the remainder at least forty lads
could be employed as carriers, aud a force
Of that number could deliver letters at least
four times, perhaps SIX times, day in the
densc1y populated parts Of the
city, and twice a day in the outskirts.
A city delivery, therefore, would not cost
the Government any more than it now
pays for delivery at the post office, and 8
charge Of one cent per letter on all letters
delivered or taken to the post Office,
would more than make good the
SUM now received for boz and
drawer rents. We believe, however,
that without any additional charge
for delivery, the Department would
derive very considerably increased rev
enue By the additional number Of letters
that would, under these circumstances, be
sent through the mails. lii an Interesting
conversation, last summer, with Mr. An
thony Trollope, who has been connected
with the postal service Of Great Britain for
the last twenty years, we were assured
that such had been the uniform
experience in that country, aud
that quite recently the experiment had been
tried Of delivering letters by carriers in the
more dcnscly settled portions Of the rural
. districts, with entirely satisfactory results,
In all such cases it was found that the in
creased number Of letters finding their way
, into the mails, more than made good the
cost Of delivery we believe, for reasons
that will be Obvious 10 any one who has
, studied the relative characteristics of tue
people Of the two countries, that the deliv-
: cry Of letters by carriers would result in a
!. greater proportional increase Of revenue in
|, the United States than has followed the ex
S pertinent in Great Britain. At all event:
: the truth can be brought out on trial, AMI
It trial can be made without incurring anJ
e additional expense. Why not make it
!, Why not infuse little life into the deaf
c bones Of our antiquated system?
4 Finally, to make tile Post Office Depart
e ment selfsustaining, there should be .
: check placed by act Of Congress upon rail
road companies in their charges for carry
r ing the mails. We are in favor Of giyjin
l. them, as we'll as every other servant Of til
l. Department, fair compensation for thci
1t services But why should the Departmen
Of Fay higher rates for this service than e.
ID press companies? Let the Government, i
le Ills respect, stand upon the same footin
Is with individuals and private corporation
j. Let it have fair play, and no shaving. Tb
S, result would be an enormous saving in IL
10 cost Of the service
d We commend the. foregoing considers
s lions to those members Of Congress VIII
Is have ignalized themselves during tie pre-
N cut session by efforts to render the post
y service selfsustaining We believe the r
ID forms proposed to he entirely practicabl
cd demanded alike by tue exjgencies Of Il
re Government and by the spirit Of the az
On They strike, in every instance, at positi'
We abuses and seek the accomplishment
lat the end By the substitution Of siml
Sc, and cheap processes for circumlocuto
ed and expensive methods, Their tenden'
re- is TO cheaper instead Of imposing an ad,
1T, tioDa1 tax upon knowledge and new !
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