Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1880-03-12

tnl6 Wholesale Onslaught on tue REMAINING
be %justi6ed, Why not strike intel
ligently 1t ascertained abuses, and not Wild.
" and madiy, without %jnstice or discretion,
al ftte entire system? The gentleman from
Connecticut, Mr.. Hawley, made some strange
assertions in-,he course Of his remarks, and
among others that We we're acting under du
ress. This house is o%ver.awed by the post
master-general, threatened, menaced, and all
that. But this overshadowing power has
been impotent to accomplish all things, and
with the fiery defamation of the gentleman
still ringing in our ears we cannot say, in
the language ofthe poet
o eloquence, thou vast undone
Vast from thy native country driven.
And blOtted out the stars of heaven!
In what does this alleged duress consist ?
In the order issued by the postmaster gener-
al that on this lat day If March all star SER
vice should be cut down to once a week in
order to prevent a deficiency in the appro.
priation. And this after notice of the an,ic-
ipated deficiency in the present service had
been in the hands of the appro-
priation committee since the 9th day u las,
December.
That order would affect the service all
OvSA suS SO.A0.ly oAAhs. ous Wuos :
the effect of this bill? In all the older
states, such as Connecticut, and where they
have complete systems Of railroads, the star
service is unimportant and has long been es.
tablished. Perhaps they have required no
increase or expedition of service during the
last or the current fiscal year I; or, if any
has been made it has been on short lines,
where the additional expense would not ex-
coed $4,000. So they are not touched by this
bill, aud saved from the effects of the men
acing order, while the blow Of hot indigna.
ton leveled against alleged abuses must fall
on the west, the far west, where the star
service is everything to the people and t.
the prosperity and development of the
country. Ia this the kind Of disinterested
justice that members from the older portions
of this union propose to deal out to the ter.
%ritories and young staAse lying west of the
Mississippi river? If it ia I will give the
gentlemen fair warning that they had better
be diligent in the use of their power while
they possess it, for the day ia near at hand
when that pc yer will slip from their GRASP
and be transferred to the great, growing, lib
eral west and northwest.
The gentleman from Connecticut, Mr.
Hawley, made use Of the following language;
"If the idea of the gentleman from Kan
sas that We can strike off the expedited ser.
vice and get off with something like a mil
lion to cover the deficiency be correct, very
veil. We shall have discharged our duty
when we (meaning the committee on appro
%priations) have called your attention to this
shameless and defiant infraction of the tat.
ntes Of the United States. I have said it de.
liberately."
1 fancied I felt the dome on the capitol
tremble. Brave words. Are they as just as
brave? No, they are not. They do great
injustice to the acknowledgement, virtually
charging him with an impeachable ofense,
and were unwarranted and uncalled for. Ii
is alleged tina, the acknowledgement def
antly and shamelessly violated the law in
exceeding the appropriations, and yet in the
same breath denounces him in unmeasured
terms for presumine to cut down the service
in order to avoid a deficiency.
/ presume fthis order had been conf-ed
in it's operations to the country west of the
Mississippi it would have had none of the
elements of menace or duress in it. Az
we'll stated by the gentleman from Kansas,
Mr.. Haskell, there is no deficiency, and
will not, cannot be until the end of the fs.
cal year. This house has been apprised of
the fact that If the present service ia con.
tinued it will result in a deficiency, and ak
ed respectfully to take action thereon. And
after waiting Two months and a hall, during
which time the committee on appropriations
has been "a silent "a the grave, the postmas.
ter general issued the order that has given
snch offsnse. IL congress would not pro.
vide against a deficiency then he was deter.
mined to do it himself. Gentlemen know,
OF ought to know, that it j. utterly impo~ei.
bic for congress to anticipate one year In ad.
vance all the needs AMI wants of the postal
service of this vast domain. And to esy
that no deficiency must be incurred, that
the appropriations must not in any event be
exceeded, is simply to cripple the service
and say that such exigencies as arose in the
rapid settlement and development Of the
Black Hill and other portlone of D.kota,
and the springing up Of a city like Lead.
vile, like magic, must await the tardy ac-
ton of congress before they can be supplied
with mail facilities.
Such narrow, contracted, and impractical.
BILE views have never before been advanced
with reference to this deparement in this
country to my knowledge. And it is an
oOmasASN soSs shoS AOA years pdbt-a0Q IOf
aught I know it may reach clear back to the
organization of the postofice department
the expenditures of this department have
exceeded the appropriations and I have
never yet heard Of q postmaster general be.
ing threatened with Impeachment on &C.
count of it After all that has been said
about %extravagant, non-pay,ng lines, the
fact remalns true that the expenditures o
the department over the receipts for 1875
we're less than they have been since 1866
when the service was partially restored to
the southern states. Now, wherefore, al
this tempest in a teapot? If abuses hav,
crept into the service let them be corrected
and in that work I have no doubt the post
master general and his subordinates will b,
found willing colaborers.
l wish to call attention to one other fact
When the service was placed on the route,
from Sidney and Bi.marck to the Hills. tht
population was comparatively small and III,
mail matter not large. Bnt the wonderful
growth Of that country rendered more expe
ditious msils and better service an absolut,
necessity. To day, as l am informed. thes,
two routes carry daily from one to two
thousand e-pounds Of mail matter each. 1
II