Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1870-03-02
Watohman Sc journal.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1870.


all obey TO govern the country with the highest
amount Of intelligence We may make present
% the Postmaster General Of our franking privi-
lego and yet insult the people by accompanying
t with petty postage tax on the local circula-
tion OF county newspapers. This, it seems TO me
Is useless ahront, and calculated 10 give adyant-
ages b. the metropolitan press which il does not
seek and ought not 10 have
2. Nor ought we for moment to erect any
barriers against the right Of petition. In its
broadest sense that should be free Il would be
iuul rcprooch II, under our form Of government,
that sacred right should have less consideration
than under an aristOcratic form Of government.
When the British Parliament abolished their
tranking privileges they expressly excepted " pc
tit0ns or addresses 70 her Majesty either House
OF Parliament Shall we do less? Shall Con-
gress be more inaccessbe2 ! cannot svInpathize
with the idea that the petitions coming in for the
abolition Of the Thanking privilege, even though
without spontaneous origin ought 20 have been
subjected TO the prepayment Of postage. The
people have a. much right, and they ought %
have more, ~ send their petitions free o. Sena-
tors and Representatives as any other c1mmuni-
cations. II not why u0t2
3. There may I've some one or more persons still
living 10 whom the Thanking privilege has been
granted by special act of Congress. EX-presi-
dents have usually had that courtesy extended 10
them, a- think 10 was to President Fillmore II
80, any act Withdrawing il would appear rather
uiAltAlNNNf Nllls except AlI HNIt HlukH reason .
generous deeds should not De recalled The heart
of great nation would scorn the act.
!. The General Post Office Department should
also have, as should all the other Executive De
partments, the right 10 sendand receive all official
letters and documents absolutely free, including
the large foreign correspondence Of the State De
partment The Government is a unit and there
Is no more reason in favor of tree matter for one
than another. There will be no additional cost of
transportation, and il would he the merest chilI's
play 20 make appropriations, as we would have 10
make them, TO pay the Post Oihce Department for
pOstages which really cost the Post Office Depart
ment nothing and which in the Treasury balance
sheet could not fail b. figure largely on the de-
bit side as on the credit side. This subject re-
qulres especial study. and the Committee on Post
Oihces and Post Roads ought not b. jump it over.
expecting any more convenient season 10 adjust
such iaboriOus details in the last weary hours Of
a long session Of Congress
0. some provision, also, must be made for doc
uments already in process of manufacture, or
such as will not be completed, like the Congress
siJnal Globe, Patent Office report. &c until after
It Is proposed 10 have this law 60 into opemtion
8. The Agricultural Department was ostab-
lished as faint recognition Of the most impor-
tant interest Of the country, Whatever short
comings may have heretofore been obvious il is
very clear that this Department was never better
or more economically managed than now. Ii has
been sometimes rdculed with stale wit, but not
now, as furnishing common varieties Of flower
seeds which never germinate, and the slight ef-
iorts made 70 contribute something 10 the culture
and 10y OF the door-yards of humble cottages NAV
not always have been successful but its earnest
work Of securing all parts Of the world for i'm
proved varieties Of seed for agricultural crops
have been rewarded with fair share of success,
aud are fully appreciated by all the intelligent
farmers OF the country These parcels Of seeds
have been hitherto sent through the mails free Of
T. l.. Ls - a
can b. properly and widely distributed Cut of
the thanking privilege from the Agricultural De
partment and its pulse will cease to beat. Ii will
be dead. The farmers Of our country ask for few
hYOrs, but they will not submit 20 be entirely
ignored and treated with contempt Ii will not
do 10 abolish the Agricultural Department under
pretense OF ablllshing the franking privilege
senators iOust stop the slaughtering bill Of the
House long enough 10 ingraft a saving clause for
that interest which one would venture 20 strike
at openly and directly
And these he capped by rule which ought
to control all legislation on the Get
thus
The Post Office Department has not been self
supporting Institution since the time Of General
Taylor, when il was under the control Of the late
Senator Colamer, then Postmaster General. Tx
cept, perhaps, for ocean mail service ia my udg-
ment it should be made 10 he strictly sell-sup-
porting us is the Patent Office Mhy nOt2 1t
was never the idea Of its founders that it should
be a charge on the Treasury The post office Of
Great Britain not only supports itself, but also
annually contributes q Surplus to the national
revenue. When we depart from the seli-support-
ing theory we embark on a shoreless and bottom
les sea. II We have departed in practice, as We
have most conspicuouslyi we should return at the
earliest possible moment let the mail service he
paid for by those who enjoy it, facilities These
are its proper metes and bounds All beyond is
indeensibe upon any sound principles of ecOn0-
my. We must come back upon this solid ground
or confess that we are unequal 20 Ourproper task.
II II be said our mail routes have largely increas-
ed. answer, 81 have our Post Office revenues
The cost OF transportation on many Of our old
mail routes OF the country has been very much
diminished and the receipts of the post offices on
these routes within the last twenty years has
been frequently doubled. Formerly Admnistra-
tons we're equal to this duty, with a latitude OF
free matter equal % the present, and did not ask
10 be pr0pped up by the abolition Of the franking
privilege. But if the latter measure shall be
conceded, expect it will be, We shall have the
right to demand that the Post Office Department
shall no longer be a heavy load of expense. Its
deficiencies mus come to an end. When they do,
that fact will be proof of craftsmanship and en-
title the Postmaster General TO honor and credit
as one of the most efficient officers, as believe he
is, that We have bad in that Department for many
years nope ne may succeed
Mr., Morrill, said he should vote for the bill
abolishing the franking privilege, means of
facilitating reform III the public printing,
which he had suggested last year but when
this shall have been secured, he believed the
public interest would require restoration of
the franking privilege, in modified form,
embracing the points above raised.
Josh Billings Answers to Correspondents.
Fred-Yew aint obliged to ask the girls
mother if yu may go home with her from a
parti get the girls endorsement and 90 in !;
it ar proper enough to ask her to take your
arm, but yeu have no right to put your arm
around her waist unless you meet bear on
the road, and then you are supposed to re-
linquish your hold as soon as the bear gets
safely by.
WAip-You are right-mules live to a
lonely age; have known them myself to
live one hundred years, and not half try
You are also right about their being sure
footed have known them TO kick boy
twice in a second, ten feet off,
OtfH ""c- Nui lhIuiiJ stuups mV' ihO
more | think about it the more | can't tell
As near as can recollect now, think
don't know, Much might be said both ways
neither may be right Upon the whole l
would or wouldn't, just as | thought, or
otherwise.
Phttarch-You're mistaken; the Shakers
don't marry. If young Shakers fall in luv
they are set TO weedin onions which cures
them forthwithy. | can't tell you how much
it takes to join the Shakers but believe the
expense used to be, including having your
hair cut and learning to dance, 65 dollars.
Sportsman-You inquiry is not exactly
in my line, but haste to reply as follows,
to-wit; The right length to cut off a dorg's
tail has not been fully discovered, but it is
undoubtedly somewhere back of the ears,
/ .l.l a. -.