The Portland daily press., 1873-03-29
Railroad Mail Service.

In various States the conflict between the
people and the corporations has been most
prominent the present year and assumed diff
ferent forms; but the pending issue between
the government and the railroads by which
the mail service of the whole nation is threat
ened with delay, is the most important. The
difficulty grows out of the fact that Congress
has fixed certain compensation per mile for
postal cars for the year, while the railroad
powers demand double that sum and refuse
the service unless the price demanded, be
= paid. The Postmaster General replies that
9 he has no power to yield to their demand as
the rates have been fixed by. Congress and
that all he can do if the companies refuse to
do the service, is to make the best use Of the
advantages afforded and wait until Congress
meets next winter, when he would ask for
more power. fl
On the side of the department., the New
York Herald represents the Postmaster
General as saying that the rates demanded by
the companies are so extraordinary that they
cannot be employed. He also stated in reply
to question as to what the authorities would
do, that the extent ofthe power of the gov
eminent over railroads had not yet been fully
defined but if the roads bring about the issue
they will find what the power Of the govern
ment is, since Congress will probably decide
that railr dads being post routes, ARE under the
control of the government and may be COM
PEELED to afford proper facilities at reasonable
rates, and refusing to do so, Congress may
declare that the Postmaster General shall
and locomotives as the public interest nay
require and then admonish the companies to
keep the tracks clear for the purpose.
The Postmaster General hopes that there
will be no occasion for the exercise of this UNI
usual power by the federal government
warning the companies that If they refuse to
perform the postal service required they twill
get scorching from Congress in December"
On the part of the railroad companies there
is demand of forty cents mile for running
postal cars where they now receive no more
than they did before the adoptionIof the pos
tai car system and less per mile than they
transport cars of the cheapest kind of freight
in the slowest freight trains. The rate re-
ceived was adopted before the introduction of
postal cars when the mails were. carried in
the half of one baggage car. In 1854 the pos
tai car system was introduced as an expert
ment between Philadelphia and Baltimore
and was soon after adopted on all the leading
- railroads, greatly facilitating the distribution
of mails in trdnsitu which during that period
have been largely increased. All the while,
the companies have been running these pos
g tai cars, the Post Office department has prom
d Used adequate compensation; but for nine
years Congress has refused to grant the terms
required and as a final resort the companies
propose to take off the cars April 1st.
Thus briefly are the two sides to the dis
pute stated. 1t is very possible that the rail
road companies feeling that they are masters
Of the situation have demanded an exorb-
tant price for the service But on tae other
hand IL what they state is true, they certain
ly do not receive fair compensation unles.
their ordinary charges are extravagant, as We
fear they are in too many cases. The compa
mics should be offered fair compensation fol
providing and running postal cars
which, it seems, could be easily
fixed by men of experience and then some
measures taken to make them SEE that it is
for the mutual interest of the people and coun-
try operform the service, At any rate tits not
case where the railroad corporations can dis
creetly show determination to play the ty-
rant as the people of the country are not in
the best humor to have service that has be.
come public necessity interrupted because
corporations that are their creatures and in
certain sense are their servants forget
the nature ofthe relation that exists between
them. 4 'a so |--'