Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-12-17
rhe rarmers on Free pelivery.

| The Congress or national convention OF
| farmers then In session ut Savannah,
| Ca, demanded OF the Congress OF the
| United States. IN a resolution adopted
| IN Thursday last. that no further reduc-
| ion IN the present rate OF letter postage
should be made untIl mail matter IL de-
iyered az least three times week In
III townships" having n population OF
ten or more per square mile.
The word township" Is not in use In
Virginia, but all o. us know what
township Is. thls being the word en-
Dioyed In many States. particularly the
New England States. TO designate what
we in Virginia call 'maglsterisl dis
tricts." The word township was used
in the Underwood constitution as this
constitution stood IN 1869 when II was
ratified by the popular vote. but II vas
stricken from that instrument in 1876.
when some amendments were ratified.
This demand Of the farmers OF the
United States Is reasonable one. Il
has been a good many years since we
set in motion this ball Of free delivery
Of mail matter i'm the towns. villages.
and hamlets OF the United States. 1t Is
measure which experience will prove to
be one Of the most popular that Congress
ever adopted. i viii operate to spread
INTELLIGENCE amongst the masses, en-
courage lettcr-writing, draw the cities
and the rural districts nearer TO one
;,,.
orally. and Will promote intercourse be
tween the city merchant and the country
merchant No law more beneficial to the
public at large will soon be passed. The
last Postmaster-General favored this
measure. but the present, we are sorry
TO say. has declined 10 recommend It
to Congress. basing his declinatlon to
do so upon the assumption that the
masses In the rural communities do not
ask for nor desire free delivery. He also
objects to the proposition that 1t VIII
cost the Government more than It Will
yield.
These objections nre untenable. They
are by no means new, but have hereto
fore been employed again and again
when improvements IN the mail service
have been proposed and advocated by
men abreast with tho times or perhaps
we should say ahead of the times. Inc
rates Of letter postage fifty odd years
ago were Is cents on single letter "a
sheet Of PAPER no envelopes being then
in use,) sent out of the State, II IL cents
or Ga cents on letters sent not over
certain number Of miles within State,
and all postage, whether on letters or
newspapers, was collectabls at the office
Of delivery. when II was proposed 70
authorize the use OF stamps and en-
velopes, and to base the rates Of postage
upon weight, there was much opposition
TO the proposed changes. And the law
requiring postage on newspapers to be
paid at the Office whence forwarded,
and on the weight OF the mail matter,
was not passed until after the close OF
the war between the States.
There IS another proposed reform IN
the postal service which IS Of less i'm
portance than the measure we have just
been advocating, but stu worth incorpo-
rating into our laws. We allude-to the
70 allow newspaper clippings
TO be pasted upon postal cards and thus
sent through the mails. This proposition
Is advocated by the London Times as
one that ought 10 DO agreed TO Ii Eng
land. We add that we cannot Imagine
any good reason why II should not be
agreed TO without dissenting voice in
the United States.
All wisdom did not die with the men
who brought our postal system up 10
its present state Of efficiency; and there
fore we may expect many future improve
ments in It.