The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-01-18
THE POSTAL SERVICE.
HOW THE SOUTH rs TREATED IN THE
MATTER OF MAILS.
Especial Correspondence Of the Democrat !
WASHINGTON. January 10. 1879

Especial Correspondence Of the Demoeratl
WASHINGTON. January IS. 1879.
Human nature" said wise Martin Luther.
Is like drunken peasant on horseback. Prop
him up on one side. he falls over on the other'
II has been our duty. several times of late. to
Impress this lesson of the great reformer on
certain OF our Democratic friends In Congress
who have allowed their zeal for retrenehment In
public expenditure to outrun their discretion.
In their patriotic anxiety 10 check the wasteful
extravaganza of their Radical predecessors.
who, between iobbery and jobbsry. brought tho
country TO the brink of bankruptcy some of
them have fallen over on the other side" A
reasonable reduction in public expenditures
and retrenehment Of wastefui appropriations
are desirable and patriotic procedures. But an
iudiseriminate assault on nil appropriations
does not constitute economy; nor is re-
trenehment always q saving to the public
To regard all appropriations for the public
service as the Western pioneer Is said to regard
q tree-viz. as "a natural enemy" to be- forthwith
ods d2wnIs no. the heght 81 true true political
omy ought to occupy the mind OF statesman
Tor that government Is not necessarily the. best
which ls the most cheaply administered In It's
Let US take TO- day. as an example. our postal
communities ton-that great artery by which the
thought and business OF the country Ia con-
Quoted from It's heart to Its extremties There
is no branch Of the government la which the
than this, and none where the appiiestion ri
the rigid economy and restriction OF Its limits
| attempted by some OF our congressman could
oe more lpJnrious ana unWise. In view oil the
| To an extended and efficient mail service IN
OF some OF the richest and most yalnabis seeo
| ttons OF our country III we are to continue the
march of progress. its facilities should be. In.
water. Wherever II goes. like Noaf's dove. it
brings back the oliye branch. and peace and
snS 2sy aso Il hdday III tr@a and sqh Bgs A.
obtain from the government the contract for
| carrying the malls. were the true pioneers who
opened 10 the East the new world Of the Pacific
slope. The present value Of California and our.
railway communication with It are the fruits OF
that wise piece OF lberality on the part OF the
large Drained men who then controlled our
| In these railway days 1t is the fashion to nm
derrate the old stage lines as too slow to be r,ss-
full and to curtail the already insufficient postal
accommodating afforded to the more remote
The strenuous efforts now being made by
oi the Southern members Of Congress to
carry their rigid ideas OF retrenchmeLt Into the
| Postofiee Department are as mistaken as they
| are doubtless patriotic. and II successful will
recoi most heavily on that portion Of the people
looked at home and reflected on the peculiar
position and needs Of their friends and neigh
borsf
Is the argument good. that because the settle
Inents are comparatively few. the population
sparse, and the number OF letters passing from
point; 70 point less than in the more densely
there Is less need Of mail facilities? II ID shown
by official documents. and notably In the able
that while the service OF the Southern States iny
1861 comprised 10000 600 miles. In 1876 It com
sSosn Se ~s s y + ase f%bss s
been increased nearly 30 per cent In fourteen
years II has been actually decreased 20 per cent
in rhs the Southern ai err States during that term.
to-day is less than In 1861. while for the w6oie
COUNTRY it Is fully 80 per cent more.
i We commend these facts and figures To the
| serions attention OF Southern members Of Com
gress. since they touch the special interests OF
those they were sent here to represent VIII
bear examination2 Lot us look Into them.
Sparse settlements and limited CORES pondenee.
are are me ds,in fnei pleas In Of gross
vice Of The Northern and Southern sections OF
the Union To the advantage Of the former and
Postofllce Department for several successive
administrations has been ceded TO the South. as
witness Postmasters General Blair, CresweIi
| The value Of correspondence to the country
Of Iarge is 70 be estimated not BY. the number OF
and value Of their contents. Many hundreds st oY
familiar epistles. containing family gossip ap-.
pllcations for office, or a!natory effuslons, can
be outweiRhed by few lines from Southern
planter In country neighborhood concerning
| the disposal OF his crop: and pages OF the rni
sR z, baa , scsss 70 wond
of a Southern factor who has the bendlinp OF
| the planters coming crop. -
large and comparatively Isolated tracts Of Iand
remote from towns and cities For stock rails
Ing large and almost boundess plains are
reqnisto, precludlng the possibility Of large or
neighboring. settlements. Yet the production
and disposition Of cotton. sugar. nolasses and
stock eof immense interest TO tho producer,
Il II rsrssA L.. a.
Southern and Northern cities rs well as to Bis
SECTION and the country at large.
as nake Ior instance 2 . Sontnern planter who
| hogsheads OF sugar. yet who writes. perhaps
not q dozen letters year. The few letters be
those articles to the country ar large as well ag
mako or mar the fortunes Of his business cor
respondepts, whose other operations are regu-r
correspondents. also. his fifty or sixty laborers
| are supplied from every section Of the country
with the thousand articles needed for clothing.
food and manufacture of the merehanfable
article OF produce. The single planter and his
| solitary letter may thus represent the wants
ss own. Yet were s each @ onv1 70 write q, singiy. the
multiplication OF the letters would be regarded
az an argument In favor of Increasing the fac1i-
| vice In that vicinage. which proves the fallaey
| OF the pretext alleged.
But larger view even inaP fro os enIayyeS % eg
postal communication. There y ho Dsteer edu-
Gator OF the masses. to whom nIgner lnstffu-
tions are barred. and badly managed common
schools in sparsely peoDled districts are "a de-
lusion and snare"
ored the daily mail bag adds more 10 his men,
tai eulture and knowledge Of current events
To an tho school can do. After ne has mastered
the A b. G of elementary instructions given
him ir those schools the newspaper and even
the patent medicine clrcnlars, 80 literally CIR
enlafed By his Northern brethren, largely con-
trtbnte TO the number of laborers who read. and
educate themselyes By reading and rejecting.
These are but few out OF many proofs that
might be addgced to prove our statements. We
have confined ourselves to but one branch of
the government. because It Is one that comes
most directly home to the great masses of the
people. ana ID outside of the sphere OF party
polfties. Ii is sectional, fnasmuct as Il shows
that the distribution Of the advantages and ex-
Denditnres OF that department discriminate
unfairly and unwisely against one section and
In favor of the other. under pretexts az frivo-
lous as they are false. For both the facts and
the hgures prove that the Southern share In the
distribution OF the general expenditures Is dis
Droportionate, and has decreased IL per cent in
I'm Ira -