The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-03-30
THE POSTMASTER GENERALS VIEWS.
Mr.. Crcswen Thinks the Government
Can and Will Break UP the Combine
tion-His Letter to the Attorney General.

Mr.. Creswell Thinks the Government
Can and Will Break Up the Combine
tion-His Letter to the Attorney General.
WASHINGTON, March 20, 1873.
The Postmaster General made the following re-
marks to your correspondent this evening with
reference to the postal car difnculty:-
''They can't preserve the soldity Of their COM
bination We can always break it at some
point or other. Take, for instance, the
western mails out OF New York. We
could secure one line, say the Erie Railway and to
that road we could throw all the mails and make it
an object for it to give two or three every
day. Then we could pay that one railway for
the entire weight OF the mails. II it carries
$4,000 pounds, under the last bill, it would
be compensated for every pound. That
would make very handsome thing for one rail-
road. In such case that particular railroad would,
of course give out that 1t was the great mail line,
and thus we could get the great western mail
through in good time, and only the people along
the line Of the roads that refuse to carry
postal cars would be the sufferers, which
would reduce it to local fight between those roads
and the people living along their line. Coming fur
Their South, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has
offered to do anything we want them to do, and by
the LIST OF June. certainly by the 1st OF July, we
shall despatch two lines Of postal cars by that
Washington by the Point Of Rocks Railroad,
which will be finished by that time. Thus all the
mails between the East and West would be for
warded in due time. The railroads cannot keep up
their combination against the government for
another reason. The interests OF all diff
fer; no two Of them stand on pre-
cisely the same footing. The four great
roads, the New York Central, the Erie the Penn.
sylvania Central and the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
roads, are jealous and distrustfu Of one another.
All the government has to do is to use one Of them
against the other Therefore don't think that the
railroads can maintain their combination against
the government"
The Postmaster General further informed your
correspondent that Mr.. Bangs, the Superintendent
Of transportation, had telegraphed him yesterday
that he expected definite answer from the refrac-
tory roads to-day; but no despatch having been re.
ceived from Mr. Bangs since then, the Postmaster
General believes that he left New York this even
ing and will be here tomorrow morning.
Mr.. Creswe has sent a letter to the Attorney
General to-day, asking his opinion on all the ques-
tons arising out Of the complications with the
railroad companies and requesting him to define
the powers Of the Post ONCE Department. AS the
agent Of the government the Postmaster General
also propounded to him the following questions:-
what additional legislation can 6ongress pass upon
the subject and what is the duty OF the Post once
Department under the existing legislation in case
the railroads should refuse to run postal cars
GENERAL cREswELL's LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL.
In opposition TO the statement made in commu-
nicat,ons published In the Philadelphia papers in
behalf OF the railroad companies participating IN
the present war upon the postal service, to the
enect that none Of the companies who have pro-
vided and run railway Post once cars have
heretofore received dollar more OF CON-
pensation on that account, the Postmas-
ter General shows In a letter this day adj
dressed to the Attorney General that in cases In
which the utmost limit Of compensation fixed by
law had not been reached, the Department has
paid additional rates, ranging from ten to twenty
y, i've dollars per mile per annum Tor cars OF this