The Washington herald., 1918-12-23

the number of persons engaged, di-
reCtly and indirectly, in carrying and
distributing letters by my mails was
about 100 Several women were EN-
ployed as postma steTS and they We're
very prompt and efficient
Meanwhile the United States au-
thorities became very fidgety and un-
happy because Of the great falling off
OF the receipts. at Boston and Phila-
delphia particularly. and wherever
my mails went generally For il WAS
not unusual for my mails TO contain
eight or ten times as many letters as
Uncle Sam had for the two places
above named. but in the winter sea
son was often twenty-four hours
ahead of L. SIS slow coaches. My
orders were get to your destination
anyhow. and at any cost" while gov
eminent was tied down by red tape
to contracts by special routes" "spe-
cial steamers" and special railroads. go
was Independent of them all and used
them all as suited my convenience.
Rv using my mails the public was en-
abled to save from to 10 per cent on
its postage bills account
This happened in 1854, during the
administration of President Polk. His
ed Cave Johnson Cwaggishly called
Cavity Johnson, from his emptiness.
He was, I think. the stupideSt
man who ever held that Office. except
so n"ps. tho p"cscnt incumbent
thereof. When Professor Morse ap-
piled to Congress for a small sum tc
aid him in establishing his first line
of telegraph wires. etc. from Balti-
more to Washington. this man John
son begged Congress to do no such
stupid thing, "as it would be as feasi-
bic TO run a telegraph from Washing
ton to the moon, as it would be from
Baltimore to Washington" What 4
prophet!l
Well. this man johnson set his spies
and detectives to work, to watch and
annoy me in my business, and by
means of decoy letters. and the fire.
quent arrest of my messengers and
other employees. he imagined that h,
could force me to shut up shop. He
didn't. But he put me to a great deaI
of trouble and unnecessary expense: at
one time having me under 81. .OUl
bond. tno tramp was ever arrested a
quarter as many times as I was). and
my expenses for lawyers. L. s. mar
shal. and court fees were in the neigh
borhood of 500 900. outside of nv reglI-
lar business disbursements. But !
managed to beat him TO the last
When | had succeeded in accom-
rlishing what public clamor had failed
to do for forty years, that is. by
proving practically that L. S. pos
taSe could he materially reduced: al
The session of the Congress of 1S44-45,
Postmaster-Genera Johnson in his
20
mended an immediate reduction OF
postage. "as the government was ut
terly powerless TO prevent unscrupu-
lous persons from infringing upon the
rights % of'the government" And
Congress did, early in the session. for
the first time in fifty years, amend
the worm-eaten law of 1895. This new
law took effect on the first dav OF
July ls45. on the morning of which
day the last "Hale's Independent
Mali was delivered, and its projec-
tor subsided into obscurity and for
getfulness. For there are probably
not hundred persons in the country,
sixty years of age, who know half
as much about cheap postage, as do
those who have read this brief article
have endeavored. Friend Editor to
answer some of your inquiries. and
hope i have succeeded in giving in
formation which viii be gratifying
and useful to your readers. The
foregoing is but a sketch of the sub
ject which was elaborated more fully
in lecture which / wrote upon The
Origin of Cheap Postage in the United
States The lecture has been listened
to by several audiences. who were
much satisfied herewith. and so was
l. III il should happen that any OF
your readers are connected with any
association which may desire to hear
II. am ready for a cali within a
reasonable distance from New York.