The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-12-02
r, al RefoTr,.

About the first thing tho New Con-
gress, with its Democratic House of
Representatives., terms its attention to,
should be the repeal Of the obnoxious.
features which were cngrafted upon the
postal iaws ut the list session. Until
that change was made the mails were
dsiiy becoming more and more useful to
the common people of this country,
through the cheap and prompt transmits
sion, not Only Of letters and postal cards
but also transient newspapers, small
psfccls OF II .r~chandisc, books seeds,
Cuttings, &c, &c. The mails were not
unduly DufLhencd by their geaerL use for
this hE, the cheap work they
were pcrfornin. made sad in.oads upon
the incomes ef fhe Express Companies
Il was claimed Immediately after the ad-
iOurnment that the change in the law,
whereby this cheap and popular, and we
may add, righteous work, was performed
by the government was made al the in
st:gation and by the direct manipulation
of these vrtEOus express companies. II
this is true. then the companies manifes-
ted less than their usual business shrcwd-
ness-fer no such grab game can be
played upon the people aud made "to
stick" That tic changes were made by
some sort of "hncue pocus"-with no dis
cussion either in Congress or by the press
of the country-is evidence enough that
those who were at the bottom Of the
movement eithcr feared the influence Of
an enlightened public sentiment. or were
trying to "stcal a march, However il
occurred there should be no delay in the
repeal. The postal service is intended
for the use and accommodation Of the
great mas Of the coEmOn people Of this
'cuI7Rry md should not be run" an hour
IN any way 10 build up or protect the in
7creSts of the soulless express companies
Hho have for years hlcd the public clear
Down to the last point of endurance. EX-
perience has shown that ~cheapening the
rates Of postage has almost invariably re-
suited in increasing the revenues Of the
department. The present almost excep-
t~ionless rule that everything that passes
through the mails should pay something,
IS Tigif. Let there be as little dead
heading rs possible, but make the service
useful to the people, to the utmost ex-
tCnt, by the transmission Of transient
newspapers. books, and other small par
GELS, at the lowest rcmunerative rates.
We believe in 'protecting' American and
home industries, bat the monopoly OF
these express companies is not one that
in our judgment needs any SPECIAL lcgisla'
ton to build it W. Each one has eyciu'
sive privileges on its own lines OF rail
raad-and thai is enough. Il the stock
holders can't make their enterprises pay
under this state Of things they had better
turn their attention t. some other uscfH
field of labor-as for instance, raising
corn at 90 to 30 cents per bushc3, or wisat
at 80 or 20, as Western farmers have
been doing for years! They should
he taught an impressive lesson by this
Congress, by the prompt repeal Of tht
obnoxious features Wh!cn uiey haFc "bi
The credit Of ENGRAVING uron the posta
laws. 1t would pay them well for theil
selfish, soUlless, Chiseling is~teEmeddiinG
with The laws and the rights of the PEG
PIE, ly making the use of mails even
cheaper and more universal than it was
before. Let everything that passes
through the mails pay something-enougl
80 as to not to become a burden upon the
g0vernmcnt-but make their use for The
general purposes Of the people as cheal
as possible. Voters in every Congre-'
sional District in the Uuited States should
write to and petition their members tC
set this thing right before the holidays
Let there be no delay.