Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1873-06-19
Abolition of Franking.

ing is not the largest advantage &C
crueing to the public treasury. IF con
fined to its legitimate use there was
no such great harm in the privilege
but it was the exceeding abuse tt
which il was subjected and the grea
incidental expenses attaching to it thai
made it so offensive of late years
One of these barnacles of the frank
ing prerogative came from the Gov
eminent Printing Office, whose expen-
ses will be very largely reduced when
the abolition takes effect. This reduc-
ton is one of the strongest arguments
in favor of the new rule.
We find in the st. Louis Globe an
interesting sketch of the history of the
fianking privilege, which is somewhat
curious. The custom of franking was
supported by good and substantial
reasons. In popular government
like ours communication between the
people and their representatives can
not be too frequent and free; in a
government which depends for its
stability and success on the politica
intelligence of the whole body of the
people, every facility should be furn
ished for acquainting the people with
what Is doing at the National Capital,
not merely with the actual Legislation,
but with the grounds and reasons on
which Legislation is based. These
were the considerations which begat
the system of franking in this country
The principle though excellent in
its reason and inception, was easily
abused in the pretended interest Of the
people. The temptation to overdo
the business was All easy one. 1t cost
comparatively little more to print ten
thousand copies of a report than to
print five thousand, every step Of the
work, from setting up the matter in
type to handing it through the post
office, helped the influence ofthc mem
bers and injured nobody, that is, no.
body who would complain. But in q
moment of popular discomfort, the
ranking privilege was caught with
heaps of useless books numbering the
mails; it figured unpleasantly in the
expenses Of public printing and Of the
Post-office Department, and it was
thrown overheard. 1t may have been
from high-minded sense OF the i'm
portance of the public feeling, OF il
might have been pretext to grail
back pay but it is gone, and while
the presses are busy day and night
ito close up business" 1t is wortl
while 10 ask ourselves whether We
would like to have it back. Congress
men will not part with so highly cher
ished a prerogative without another
struggle, and the prospect of its revi
val is before us.
TO the argument that the informa
ton conveyed in public documents il
desirable or necessary, it may be an
swered, that the value Of any public
document to any citizen is measured
by the prices he is willing to pay fo
it. There is no one SO poor as not tC
be able to pay the low postage Oh ;
printed book, and if any one is so de
voted to his country's welfare as tt
be DESTROYS of mastering the interest
ing contents of the five volumes of tn,
Ku-Klux Report, or the two stout
volumes of "Alleged Frauds in the
New York Custom-house," and is YET
unwilling to pay the few cents of pos
tai charges on them, it will be Il fl
punishment for his stinginess if he b'
compelled to pass his life in Ignorance
AS much of any of the reports a.
has public interest is nearly Away
supplied by the press while the sub
ject is fresh and vital, and there arr
few who care for the bulky and tedi
GUS details furnished at such enor
nous cost to the Treasury and frank
ed about the country to people who
regard them as so much waste paper
1t is different of course with the scien
tlflc and technical publications. sent
out by the Government Printing-ofiice
and which have fairly repaid theil
cost, if only by the added dignity
they have given to the name of the
United States in the minds of the
civilized world. These are class
apart and are to be considered by
themselves. The cost Of mailing such
works as the Medical Reports of the
War, of the Geological Report of the
Survey of the Fortieth Parallel, bears
such an insignificant proportion to the