, 1875-01-07
Puaet Sound dispatch.

Ruaet Sound 1ispateh.
MAIL InREauIARrrrEs.-T Portland
! Bulletin calls the attention of the Postal
Agent to the fact that there are great
| irregularities in the transmission Of let
ters between this State snd the East.
For example. three letters written and
mailed the same day. at the same Office.
and sent to the same address, ought to
get through on the same time. and yet
we know of instances of this kind where
10 a very important business transac-
ton three duplicate bills of exchange
we're scattered through the mails . week
apart. .a-, sspi
If such is the demoralized condition
of the mail service in Oregon, it is in6-
nlteIy worse on Puget Souni. No man
here can mail letter with any certainty
of the time it will reach its destination.
or when reply can be received. and
these irregularities are often the cause
of serious damage end inconvenience in
disarranging business relations. The
newspaper mails are entirely unreliable.
Daily transportation of all mail matter
between the East and South and two
points on Puget Sound-Olympia and
Tacoma--and from thence to Seattle
three times q week, are contracted and
paid for by the Department. It fire.
quently Happens that we receive but
one newspaper mail a week and rarely
more than two. On Monday morning
of this week we counted twelve copies of
the New York Herald and four copies of
the Olympia Courier, all Of different
dates, and all delivered at the same
time, together with Port Townsend
Argus aud several Victoria papers which
had passed up the Sound and returned.
What is the use of Postal Agents. when
this state of things is continued from
month to month and not a contractor or
postmaster has been known for years to
be called to account for neglect?
We remember when We held post
office under Amos Kendall, every post
master was required to do the duties of
special agent, to report to the Depart
ment every failure on the part of the
contractor to deliver the mail on sched-
ule time. and every neglect on the part
of other pOstmasters to mail all mailable
matter deposited in the Office previous
tc the departure of the mail. In 1888,
the fines of the Northwestern Stage Co..
carrying the mails between Cleveland
and Chicago, for failures to run on
schedule time and for allowing newspa~
per mails to lay over. amounted to their
entire subsidy, notwithstanding the al
most impossible condition Of the Man
NEE swamp during a portion of the
year. If a newspaper subscriber did
not receive his paper on time. the posts
msster of the delivery Office was under
instructions to investigate the cause Of
failure. and report the same to the De-
partment, with the affidavit of the pub
Usher as to the time of its delivery at
the post Office. and the certificate of the
postmaster as to the time of its arrival
at the Office of delivery. and when the
neglect was traced to any postmaster he
was promptly removed. Every post
master was required to mail all mailable
matter deposited in his Office or drop. box
thirty minutes before the departure of
any mail; to keep his Office open drr-
ing all the business hours of the day. as
regulated bv the general custom of the
merchants and Traders Of the town the
rule then being from 2 to 8 O'Clock
and to have all mails ready for delivery
within one hour after arrival. A post
master who could not afford to conform
to these rules vas at liberty to resign; if
he failed to observe them strictly, he
was promptly removed. These rules
undoubtedly still exist in letter. but are
utterly ignored practically. Every msil-
carrier and postmaster is swo-n upon
the Holy Evsngelists to perform certain
duties to the public which they almost
uniformly notoriously neglect. and their
superior officers. also acting under oath.
take no measures to enforce the laws,
aud the public interests suffer accord
ingly.s We once asked an lrrascible old
Attorney General how it happened that
certain customs prevailed in the State
offices which vere clearly in'violation of
law. "Young man." said he. THAT
was many years ago) "you have yet to
learn that among politicians and office
holders perjury il . id sight more
common than prayer" The manage
ment of the Post Office Department il
illustrates the proposition.
BAPTIST PAsroR.-Rev. J. A. Wirth.
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