Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1880-03-18

CanRYIxG LETTERS III ExPREss
The telegraph has announced that an
effort Is being made in Congress to pro
hibst Wells, Fargo L Co.'S Express Com
psny from carrying letters The bin
shoud be promptly KILLED The prohi-
bitiou would prove . calamity to many
new mining sections on this coast. Wells.
Fsrgo & Co. are always pioneers when =
new mining camp springs into existence,
not unfrequently supplying the only mail
facilities for many months before tie red
tape officials Of the Department at Wash
ington can be induced to establish 8
PostofHce. The argument that the reye-
nue. Of the Government Is curtailed, not
to say defrauded, by the carrying Of
overweight letters by Wells. Fargo &
Co, is In no sense true The Express
Company is IS ~exacting in this regard As
the Postal Department. requiring ali let-
tsrs to be fully and legally covered With
United States stamps And this seems to
be the chief, If not the only argument
advanced in favor of the proposed prehi-
bition. Why not, then. incorporate .
clause in the law making it an ozense FOR
any Express Company to carry over-
weight letters, and stop at this This
would remedy the evil, if such an evil
really exists. which does mot. and ssiIl
leave in existence an institution OF the
greatest convenience to the public Ii
matters no. how many letters Wells,
Fargo L Co. carry. the Government gets
full pay for every enveloPs- The San
Francisco Bulletin Of the 18th has . fair
and truthful editorial article on this sub
ject, from which we quote as follows:
No prohibition of that kind shoald be
made. The express companies Of this
coast have furnished facilities which never
would have been furnished by the Posfofsce
Department. Wells, Fargo & Co have
transported letters TO remote mining camps
where there vas no mail facilities. or where
they are wholly inadequate Moreover,
this compan has carried valuable letters,
not only with greater dispatch, bat with q
far greater measure Of safety; and although
the Postofhce service has bern greatly i'm
proved on the Pacific coast il is often safer
to send . letter by express than by mail.
One other fact. The express company, by
reason Of this service. has actually In
creased the Postofice revenue. 1t has doEe
this by carrying letters wherever there Was
no Postofice facilities. so thai without the
aid Of the express, no letters could be sent
to remote places.
The intlma,ion that the revenue had
been decreased because the express POM
pany had carried letters Of more than half
an ounce in weight for one postage, is not
true SO far A. our observation goes. nor is
it true according to the testimony Of those
who have large dealings with the express
company. The latter is puncfilious in this
respect. 1t demands that the full postage
shall be placed in stamps on every letter
carried by express Some OF the large
mining companies. knowing how strict the
rule Is in this regard, keep scales In their
Offices, and never let an express letter 60
out without the requisite number Of stamps.
If. by any inadvertence, . letter goes with
out adequate postage stamps to the express
Office, the stamps are placed ON it there
and the charges collected. The reason Of
the Commission is, therefore.
No doubt the objections come in good part
from local Possmssters, who lose q certain
amount Of commissions on the sale Of
stamps. These are bought ly the thousand
dollars worth at the central office. The
express company has frequently trans
ported letters on horseback, and by means
Of men on snow shoes where NO mziI-car-
riers were commissioned to go. 1t has IT.
forded most desirable facilities to the peo-
pie of the Pacific CoAst. They have for
years been willing. for greater certainty, to
add fhe express charges to the postage. and
not complained of the Ak They
bear the burden. whatever il may be, cheer
and they have not asked for any such
as that suggested by this Post
Office Commission.
Indeed. it would be . calamity to the peo-
pie If their facilities were now cut OF for
sending letters by express. The service re-
1uired, especially among the mining camps
Of the Pacific coast, is special and peculiar.
No mail facilities have ever adequately dis
charged this service, and it il not likely
that they will hereafter. The Government
has heretofore ignored this service in good
1t has been slow to let contracts for
carrying mails sixty or . hundred miles
from beaten thoroughfares in the noun
tains in order 10 reach . mining camp where
the service in the summer must be per-
formed by following . trial, and in winter
by some hardy adventurer on snow shoes.
II the Government gets its full revenue on
every letter it ought to be satisfied that the
service Of transportation Is performed graf
~uitously for thousands of people. inasmuch
as they are satisfied to pay for these greater
facilities. The reasoning Of the Commits
sion is wholly inconclusive- Ii takes no
account Of the peculiar e~xigencies Of this
part Of the country, and it ignores sltogesh-
er the real services which the express com
panies have actually rendered in these
mountainous regions. Such = report ought
TO go on the top shelf and season there for
the next quarter of q century 1t viii be
time enough TO heed its suggestions when
the people nave offered complaints that
these enlarged facilities are in the way Of
their prosperity.
THE Chicago Tribune is authority for
the statement that New York, Maine,
Ohio. Illinois, New Hampshire. Connec-
ticut, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin.
Minnesota, Colorado and Oregon have
secured quarters for their delegations to
the Republican Convention at the Grand
Pacific Hotel. Pennsylvania and several
other States viii be at the Palmer. Iowa,
North Carolina, and many others. at the
sherman The proprietors Of the leading
hossis refuse TO make arrangements with
the general public for rooms during Con-
vention week. until after May /. Every
body will have . chance, and there viii
b. NO increase of rates-
The 81. Louis Republican says : He