The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-10-09
The Postal Law.


A special despatch to the Boston Journal
says that from inquiries at the Post Office De-
partment it is certain that Senator Hamlin in
tends, upon. the reassembling of Congress- to
call the attention of. the Senate to his oonnec-
ton with the amendment to the postal law
which doubled the postage upon transient news
papers, and upon all mail matter of the third
class To this question, which was so long
feature of sensational discussion in the press,
Senator Hamln's friends claim that there is
side which has not yet been heard, and that is
the explanation of Senator Hamlin himself,
which, it is said, will be something of this sort:
Senator Hamlin insists that be has been great
ly misrepresented from the beginning. He
charges the responsibility fer this legislation
upon other parties. The purpose of the amend
ment was, 10 preserve to the public the right to
send four-pound packages through the mails
This right the express companies, by their
agents and their wining and dining lobby,
sought to destroy. The express companies so
endeavored to amend the law that the weight
of such packages should be reduced to very
Insignificant amount. BY such legislation they
hoped to drive that character of matter from
tne malIS, anu 10 IOrC6 III luIU Tue express COul-
Danes, upon such conditions as the latter might
determine. The agents of the Railway Postal
Service endeavored to prevent such change
in the law, and to retain the four pound PACK
age.
Senator Hamlin, it is claimed, co operated
with the agents of this service TO this end.
Through an inadvertence, and 10 ignorance
VIII CHI is scarcely excusable in somebody, the
amendment which was intended TO satisfy or
de eude the friends of the express companies,
while really defeating their ultimate object, was
so drafted as to apply to all classes of matter
contsned in the respective sections of the post
al code, and not to the package mail alone. The
purpose of the movers of the amendment was
solely to increase the postage upon the package
mail, without excluding it from the mails. BY
this course it was believed that the principal
objection made to the four-pound package
would be removed, and that it could still be
carried by the Government without loss. The
Post Office authorities were quite willing that
the rate of postage upon the four-pound pack
age should be doubled, provided that packages
of that bulk might still be carried 10 the mails.
They considered that to double the price would
make the packages source OF revenue, or at
least cause them to pay the expenses OF their
transmission. The Post Office authorities state
that the results have fully justified the expec-
tatioDs of the department 10 this regard. The
revenues of the department have been largely
increased under the operations of this amend
ment, while the number OF packages has not
u6CT6dSeu. Ou biit COutAdiy, tuO phChaEO
is rapidly increasing even under this double
tariff. The Post Office Department can now
carry matter of this class to California without
loss of money, which formerly was not the case
aud it can carry the packages to all points east
of the Mississippi river at moderate profit.
These results seem to have answered the ar
guments of the express companies as regards
the package mail. These companies desire to
practically exclude the four-pound package, on
the ground that the mails were overburdened
with this class of matter, and that the govern
ment was carrying it at a loss. The Post Office
Department at that time showed By statistics,
which have not yet been controverted, that the
mails were not overburdened. They could not
show that on the longer routes packages OF this
bulk were not transported in the mails at loss
to the government They sought to answer
this objection by permitting the postage upon
package matter to be doubled. The amend.
ment by which this increase as to one class OF
matter was made, was drawn in general terms,
and was made applicable to all the classes OF
matter contained in the sectioapf the pcstai
code in question.