Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-03-16

on the day of purchase, but it is sufficient to
say that it is not likely to exceed So. COO 600
per week. He will not in any case pay more
than the market price, nor impair in any case
the resumption fund.
wells, Fargo al Co.'s Letter Express"
Business.
WASHINGTON, March 15th.-The report of
the committee appointed by the Postmaster
General IN January last to examine into the
operations and effect of the "letter express
business OF Wells, Fargo & Co., SO far as the
same was embraced in the report of an in
vestigation of the matter by Special Agent
Sharrets, OF the Department, was submitted
to the Postmaster General on Friday last.
| During the course of the examination II. f.
Page, of California, appeared before the COM
mittee and made both an oral and written
argument in behalf of that company and of
! the people of the Pacific coast interested in
its welfare. The report refers to Section
1898 OF the Revised Statutes, as embodying
| the law which permits the transmission of
letters in stamped envelopes outside of the
mails, and says: Under this law, as appears
from the report of Special Agent Sharrets,
and partly from the admissions of Mr.. Page,
Wells, Fargo Il Co., in addition TO tteir
ordinary express business, have established
and been operating for years letter-canying
department of immense magnitude; whose
| headquarters are the city of San Francisco !;
whose ramifcatious extend to every one of
the Pacific States and Territories, even into
| foreign countries; that in the management of
| this important establishment the company
employs between 400 and 500 men, nearly
one-fifth of them being Postmasters keep or
hand for sale envelopes prepared purposely
for the business OF the company, selling them
at an advance on Government prices who
regularly receive, dispatch and deliver letters
and such envelopes in the manner substan-
italy as is done by the postal service that,
in short, Wells, Fargo & Co. ere carrying,
without any Governmental control or super
vision whatever, an extensive postal service
| of their own, of considerable profit to them
selves, which they endeavor by every means
in their power, to render more efficient than
the regular service, which has therefore be-
come formidable competitor with the Gov
ernment for the public patronage. Besides
this, it appears that they have banking
house in San Francisco, the correspondence
of which, as well as that of the Western
Union Telegraph Company and the Central
Pacific Railroad Company, they have, under
some mutually advantageous arrangement,
for q long time carried and still carry free :;
that is, without either postage stamps
or stamped envelopes After entering further
into the details of the business, reference is
made to the fact that the Institution had its
origin in the early days of American settle
ment on the Pacific slope, when the Govern
ment had provided very. little mail facilities,
or none at all in some cases, for persons who
were swarrning the country in quest of gold.
Now, however, it continues when the post
Office has extended its route to every hamlet
in that region, whep its service of the same is
as expeditions and frequent as the public ne
tu q hon, No mi
mously of the opinion that as measure of
public policy, to say nothing of the legal con-
siderations, the company, no longer catering
to an essential public want, should be re-
quired to give way, so that the Government
may exercise the right on the Pacific coast, as
everywhere else, to complete monopoly in
the custody and carrying OF the mails. The
report then refers to the legal objections to the
letter express business of the company, and
maintains, first, that the manifest intention of
the company in creating a postoffce depart
ment, as explained by subsequent legislation
and interpreted by distinguished law officers
of the Government, was to give it the ex.
elusive right to carry mails. On this point
numerous decisions are given where the pri-
vate letter carrying business has been broken
up on decisions of the law officers OF the Gov
eminent. Second, that another serious vio-
lation of the law by Wells. Fargo & Co.,
which should be no longer tolerated, is the
employment OF Postmasters as their agents.
This it says, is against and damaging TO the
public service. Third, the most serious fea-
ture of this business, and altogether unjusti-
fable, which the officers representing the
company, the report says, do not make q
pretense of defending, is The free conveyance
of the correspondence of Wells, Fargo & Co. s
banking house, as well as OF the Western
Union Telegraph Company and the Cen
trail Pacific Railroad Company, pre-
viously referred to. This practice, the report
says, is in utter violation of law BY it the
Government no doubt loses thousands of
dollars of its revenues, and is still losing large
sums Besides these legal objections to the
business, the report notices two practicable
objections, which il saws are sufficient to
justify its suppression. One of these arises
from the danger that the postage on large
quantities passing through the company's
hands is either insuficiently paid or not paid
at all. The other arises from undoubted
delays that occur in the transmission of let
tiers. where people deposit them in street.
boxes of the company, mistaking them for
boxes of the Government. In conclusion,
the committee says: 1t Is our de-
liberate opinion that the letter express
businers of Wells, Fargo & Co. Is, in all its
phases, at variance with both the letter and
spirit of the postal Lave that its operation is
calculated to iniure and degrade the postal
service, and that the interests and dignity of
the Postofice Department demands its i'm
mediate discontinuance. We think, more
over, that the free conveyance by this
company of the correspondence of its bank
Ing house and the Western Union Telegraph
Company and Central Pacific Railroad Com
pany is a gross wrong to the Government and
an indefensible infraction of the law that
ought to be at once interdicted. The report is
signed by A. B. Hazen, Third Assistant Post
master General, A. a. Freeman, Assistant
Attorney General, d. b. Parker, Chief
Special Agent, II. John Jameson. Assistant
Superintendent of the Railway Service, and
James H. Mari, Chief Clerk of the First AS
sistant Postmaster General.
Labor Troubles at CIiicaGo-The Chinese
Question.
CHICAGO, March l5th.-About 100 furni-
ture frame makers made demand this morn
ing for an advance of 10 per cent in wages,
and it being refused, struck. They claim
that many hundreds more will shortly ioin
them, while the furniture makers express
confidence that the strikers have no back
bone and will collapse.
The Socialists held a meeting tonight
heard addresses from their leaders on the
Chinese question, and adopted ultra resolu-
tons against the immigration. They formu-
l.tteu u peIlLlou 10 the lily council quar-
antine against the Chinese, and threaten dire
things in case they come 20 Chicago in any
numbers, declaring that bloody revolution
would ensue, and that the Celestials would be
hanged to the lamp-posts. They were es-
pecialiy afraid of the leprous diseases which
the Chinese would bring. The usual Social
list orators harangued the audience.
The Case OF Major Reno.
CHICAGO, March 15th.-The Inter OCEANS
Washington special says: 1t will be recoI-
lected that Major Reno, to prevent his dis
missal from the army, telegraphed to the
President, asking to be allowed to resign.
The matter was discussed in the Cabinet, aud
Reno was notified that his resignation would
be accepted but it was not Forthcoming.
Several weeks went by, and no resignation
appeared. Finally Judge Newell, of St.
Paul, Reno's counsel, appeared here to beg
for mercy, and it was apparent that the
resignation scheme merely a ruse to gain
time in order to secure influence to prevent
the President from Diminishing him. In the
meantime the friends of Reno are making a
strong effort to secure mitigation of his sem
tence. Reno now refuses to resign on the
advice of friends, on the ground that to do so
would be confession of guilt. The members
of the Court which tried him unanimously
recommend mercy, saying the articles of war
made their verdict unavoidable. General
Sherman and General Terry indorse the rec