National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-06-28
The Post-offce Department and the

settlements of the Republic. Wherever
the pioneer carries his axe to clear the
forest the mails will follow him to the
nearest store at which he and his neigh
bors buy their supplies. Wherever the
spirit of enterprise and adventure may
carry the miner to. explore the earth for
minerals, be it in California, Nevada, Col
orado, Montana, Idaho, or elsewhere,
| the mails will follow him. The question
is not asked: Will it pay? As soon would
the Government inquire whether court
fees would pay the expenses Of the admin
istration Of justice in given dis
triCt as to inquire whether the extension
of mail facilities to new region would
pay the cost of carrying the mails. The
| inhabitants of the crowded cities are not
even required to cross the street if the
| post-office is on the opposite side. The
| letteT-carrier system comes to their relief
A three-cent stamp will not only pay for
carrying halfounce letter from Boston
to San Francisco, but also for delivering
the letter in the latter place at the dwell
ing of the person to whom it is directed
Before a railroad route had been sur
veyed to the Pacific coast the Govern
ment contracted for the carrying Of
daily overland mail by stage from St.
Louis to Sacramento, although Salt Lake
was the only intervening station of any
consequence between the Missouri and
the Sacramento Rivers.
Under the administration of Postmas-
ter-General Key and that of Mr.. Maynard,
who followed in his footsteps, the liberal
policy was shown to be the least ex-
pensive. Every year brought increased
expenditures, but the receipts were in
creased more rapidly than the cost of
service. Nearer and nearer came the
postal service to being selfsustaining
while the hestarroutes were being expedited.
Expediting star route. Mystic phrase!
Definition: Carrying the mails more
frequently and more rapidly than before
over the routes served by stages, wagons,
riders, OF other methods than railway OF
steamboat.
Before the star routes were expedited
there was private post-otfice department
known as the express system. In this
the Government had no interest and
over it had no control. The mails were
so slow and infrequent that they were
little used. The express companies are
by law required to attach a three-cent
stamp to every letter they carry. But
they do not of course carry letters for
that price. They have stamped envelopes,
upon which they also put their own COM
pany stamp, and these they sell at ten
cents apiece. 1t is not long since letters
which were to reach their desti-
nation within any reasonable time
in the region west of the Missis-
sippi must go by express. The
pioneers in the great territories from
Mexico to the British Possessions
and in the new States could not
communicate with any promptness with
the homes they had left behind them
unless they patronized the private
express companies, paying ten cents
letter, while in the cities Of the older
States neatly uniformed messengers made
haste to bring letters to the doors Of the
houses to which they were addressed
without extra charge. The city delivery
system is an outlay without one penny's
return. Three or four mails day are
thus distributed to the people of the
older States, while a sham reformer tries
to kill two birds with one stone by de-
priving the new communities of mail fa-
cilities and placing them at the mercy of
his friends and patrons, the express
companies.
If ever the country was imposed upon
and coarsely swindled out of its applause
it is by Postmaster-General Thomas L.
James, who serves the express companies
at the expense of the people, and gets
praised for securing to those companies
practical monopoly ofthe mail business
over thousands of miles of road So far
from being a reformer, he is benefting
private interests under the pretense of
carrying out postal reforms. He is the
creature of express interests, and will be
found at ali times their willing instru-
ment. These interests aid in making the
outcry against mail star routes in order
that they may have substantial mo-
nopoly of the business on these same star
routes, both for letters and packages.
In this connection we cannot refrain
from expressing the opinion that the
political interests of ex-senator Platt, of
New York, are in conflict with the in
terests ofthe express company of which
he is the president. Itwould be a source
of strength to him if he would disc onnect
himself from this rival of the Go vern-
ment. He is reputed to have made
Thomas L. James Postmaster General 1t
has not turned out creditable piece of
work. Now, the raid made upon the
star-route mail service by Mr.. James is in
the direct interest of the express COM
panies. Mr.. Platt is private
citizen and may prosecute his pri-
vate express business in the manner
most conducive to success. But he must
realize that his presidency of an express
company andi its connection with the New
York Central Railroad is a serious embar-
rassment in a struggle which seems likely
to finally result in a test of political
strength between that great corporation
and those it can control on the one side
and the people not under its control on
the other. Mr.. Platt is wealthy. We
hopehe will surren der the private interest
to the public one, and not longer even
annasr TO he in the attitude of one sus-
tanning Post-Office Department which,
under cover of opposing star-route ex-
trayagance. builds I'D private express