The Republican journal., 1873-07-17
Concentrated Meanness.

Concentrated Meanness.
The administration press OF the coun-
try is a good deal exercised concerning
the position of the party before the coun-
try, in respect to some of the acts of the
late Congress. The salary grab in the
past, and the increase Of pay for the flu
ture, are bad enough; but when this gen.
crosby TO themselves is contrasted with
their meanness to the people, there is APP
parent sptetul purpose toward the lat
ter. The most contemplate form in
which this manifests itself is the cutting
off OF free carriage of newspapers to sub
scribers within the county of publication
and of the free exchange of newspapers
with each other, both of which have favor
ably stood the test of scores of Years. OF
this act Forney's Press, leading admins
tration paper, says
Complaint is justly made by many of our ru i.
raj contemporaries, that while congressman
have been very generous to themselves in the
matter of salary, they have been guilty of an
the privilege of receiving their county papers
free of postage and in compelling the same pa
pers TO pay postage on exchanges. If it be
urged. in defence of the action of Congress.
that the privileges of free exchange and free
circu aion within the county are in effect a
subsidy granted to the makers and readers of
newspapers, it NAV he answered that enliehten-
ed governments find it a wise policy to facj]i-
tate the spread Of intelligence, and even to af-
ford some forms of direct assistance to that OBJ
l1a No ,n,Nt a.
encourage ignorance, most certainly not Re-
public which is only successful in PROMOTION
as the citizens are intelligent Granted that
The present remission of postage is kind of
subsidy, It's benefits are not confined to anv
one class of people, but every person who sinh.
scrlbes for county paper gains by it in two
wavs-hls paper Is neWsler and better than it
Is likely to be when the publisher is obliged to
cut down his exchange list, and it costs him
nothing for Hostage. The State maintains free
even greater agency for the dissemination of
knowledge and the education of the people in
their important duties as citizens.
Thus while Congress and the President
take millions from the treasury to increase
their already large salaries, they levy up
on the people of the ,untry, the agricul-
tural and laboring population, tax of
twenty cents each upon his county news
paper. Heretofore farmers and other cit
liens have received an insignificant re-
turn Tor the hundreds OF millions of dol
lars they pay into the Treasury annually
in the shape OF tariff and internal reve-
nue. taxes upon everything they eat, drink,
wear, see OF use any way, shape or man
ner, in the poor privilege of having the
weekly paper of their county come to
them through the mails free, but only ap-
parently free, of postage; for whatever
the cost OF transmission may have been,
they paid it in their taxes which went to
support the mail service The publish
ers OF weekly papers also derived some
benefit from the postal laws as they exist
ed, in receipt without direct postage of
their exchanges, and in the facility for de-
liverlng their issues to subscribers in their
counties. Now all is changed. Subscrib-
ers to weekly papers in the counties of
publication must pay direct postage, and
publishers must pay postage on exchang-
es. These changes have been made with
out petition-without single word of
complaint, from the people. Surely this
administration and the Forty-third Con-
gress are entitled to be remembered.
The license experiment in Connecticut,
the past year, has been watched with con-
siderable interest by students of the vari-
Gus aspects of the temperance question
The years returns from all the county
commissioners in the State, with the ex-
ception of those representing Litchfield
county, give total revenue from liquor
selling licenses of $178,000, which, with
the addition of Litchfield's quota, will
doubtless swell the sum to 100000.
There were 1926 licenses granted in all,
1900 of which belonged to the 300 class,
while only sc dealers paid 5000 for their
selling privilege OF the towns reported.
76 have given licenses, and 73 withheld
them; and as this proportion will prob
ably be maintained in the remainder of
the towns, prohibition, does not pre-
vail. In very many of the towns, how
ever, where no licenses have been issued,
it is doubtless the case that the average
number OF places where liquor is sold is
about the same as before the license law
went into force--and this for lack of a
sufficiently severe public sentiment to en-
force obedience to the law On the whole,
although some Of the ultra temperance
people have deprecated the existence of
the law and prophesled an increase of
rum-selling and intemperance from the
effects of it, the facts seem to indicate that
the thirsty public has drank no more nor
less than when the prohibitory law by it.
self was depended upon to restrain its
appetite, while without any additional
harm, the towns of the State are 1920, 900
better off than before.
After repeated failures Professors Wise
and Donaldson, have found parties will
ing to assume the expenses OF their pro-
jected aerial voyage across the Atlantic
The New York Graphic company, with