, 1864-02-13
IMPORTANT TO EVERYBODY,
POSTAL REFORMS.

POSTAL REFORMS.
There is scarcely any agency performed by
the Government which more intimately con
Germs the comfort and convenience OF the
people, or which more directly reacts On the
business facilities Of the country, than the
regulations established with regard to the
transmission nnd distribution Of private let
mails. The reader will find In another part
oil To- days paper IN interesting table contnn
ine statement Of the manner In which let
tefe are distributed in the principal countries
masters receive their compensation In such |
countries. It will be seen that the carrier
system universally obtains, and that this ser |
vice Ia In most cases performed without fee
the exceptions being confined to localities |
where the sparsencss Of the population 1ust1-
ra1ity Of the rule, however, shows the direc-
tion IN which postal reform under this head |
has steadily tended in Europe.
Weare indebted to the present et[lclent Post
master General for the partial Introduction
OF this system into the administration Of our
postal service. The law authorizing the Tree
delivery Of mail matter BY carriers took effect
on the first day Of July last. About til It
lime the system was put in operation ut
forty-nine Of the largcr Offices, with compc-
Ing In the aggregate four hundred aud
ton Of $500, $50 Willie we cannot hope,
With the present distribution Of our popuia-
tfon and the extent Of our country, to attain
the point reached BY European governments
under this head, VIC may at least mark the
progress they have made as indicating re-
form which should be adopted wherever the
conditions Of Its existence are found. VIC
laye the best reason to know that Air. Blair
is disposed not only to give the system il
extension as far as practicable. Ample but
we'll guarded provision to this effect has been
made In the revised code Of the laws relating,
to the Post Office Department., which Was
submitted by him ut the last session Of the
Thirty y-Eeyenth Congress, and to Which tue
attention of the present Congress Is again in-
| yited in his last annual report.
There is also in this proposed revision Of
| our postal laws (which Is for the most part
visions of which would be but slightly ae
fected by the notifications sugsested) an
other Recommendation ns to which the prac.
| tice md experience of Europe may be studied
with advantage We alludc to the mode ita
which postmasters are remuncrated for their
services. It. will be seen that it is every
where regulated by fixed rates In the shape
| Of salary, and not left to be ascertained by
calculations based on tho number Of letters
received and apparent amount Of service ren-
dered. This hitter method involves tho
keeping; Of cumbrons accounts for no other
| purpose than to ASCERTAIN whnt ia to be paid
In nny given case, when in point Of Fact the
Department can readily arrive at tho approx
mate rate Of payment from the average rcren-
| ues OF the post Office during series OF years.
Hence hr. Blair proposes IN Lis revised code
to divide post offices and the compensation
| of postmasters into FIVE classes, and to fix
these classes according to the annual average
OF compensation to the postmastcr6 durinE,
four years last past, with provision to meet n
the cases where returns may not havo been
received for each quarter, and combining the
average to q less period when revenues are
increasing. It is not proposed in any case to
change the amount of pay. The tirst class
has has been between Is, GOO md s., ,oc0; second
clrss, between g., 600 and s., 600; third class,
between 81, COO and &, 900. fourth class, be-
tween 500 and 81, 900; fifth, less than 800
Salaries thus ascertained by the annual aver
sums, but in no case to exceed the average
The advantage Of this change, whether re-
l. gard be Lad to the convenience of the Depart
ment or to the, satisfaction Of postmasters.
to be sod s arc
strike us as being judicious, and wo hope the
suggestions Of Mr. Blair may receive at the
hands Of Congress the attention to which
| they arc entitled
There is one point to which, in conclusion,
nc would particularly advert. We al1ude to
the Recommendation which the Postmaster
General has renewed In his Inst annual report,
that postal money oruef oe estapusneu TO
facilitate tho transmission OF 5mall sums o.
| money through the mails, which would not
only Grove great convenience to civilians
ami soldiers. f3nt 1yonld almost entirely oh.
Wy eue, s, 1attars t,a -roa{ ~
tAtE e1E 'ose - Atons5 .e..sJ} AuS S 49, 1 -.
1ority OF which enclose smal! renittance5;
, The present Congress has Just SHOWN ltsei1
properly mindful Of the comfort OF our sol.
,fers in the field by providing that II ticles ol
. cIothfnr comnrised fn uacEage not exceed
. -. - 1onnJs - wo.rhf . o53-oeaad ~ INV
lng two p4anas N mg., tEata orrin ~ ao
T., 4ha ar1o;es ~ Tia Tnited States nnv r.
!: transmittaj In the ,n,tis By antborizfner s.the
nnEtoI mnnev or]er srstem.n Conrrcss Yould
crondnrc % n lie increased comforf Of our sol.
,,;1 Taa;.,or ~ "a eo,no +;n,e 1cthin
daeEs- "1uc P1acuis, ~ tue ea1le tlao tt1an y
, the reach OF al 1a:nity lot tne SAFE remit.
.. tance OF small sums It is matter OF sufpflse
! | that this desirable refqrm has been 60 long
. . | nostnoned in the United States-NItional Il:
, | ilryioenc-.. Eh i
!, Ike en1na issuo of tho InteHiqenekr from
/ - ..4,,.o ~. .1,..o a,-to,ns +ho f,11ou-
t WHICH W. tahe tne apo's eon.a4no Liz AVIAN"
ing table, alluded to IN the aft1c1e:
The following table shows the manner II