Year: 1861

The Postal Systems OF the United states


and Enginns,--The Annual Reports.


We received, by a curious coincidence, in
Wednesdays mail from Washington, and in the
Transatlantic mail on the same day, both the an
nual report of our own Post Cflce and the an
nual report of the Postmaster General of Great
Britain. An abstract of Postmaster Bar's re-
port appeared in the HERALD of Wednesday,
with the Presidents Message. The report in
full was given in yesterdays paper, and
will well repay perusal. This report evinces
care and thoughtfulness, with determi-
nation on the part Of our new Postmas-
ter General to do full justice to the interests Of
the people in the administration Of the inn
portant department over which he presides.
The recommendations Of changes in the postal
laws are few, and, in the main, judicious Mr..
Postmaster Blair is graduate Of West Point,
and, rs one of the constitutional advisers of the
President in a most unprecedented period, has
been largely occupied during his few months of
Office in aiding and assisting the President in
Cabinet council to bring the rebellion within
the grasp of our land and naval forces
That has now been accomplished, and with
the return of the revolted States and the ap-
proach of peace Mr.. Blair will have room for
the exercise of all his abilities and all his UNI
firing industry in reorganizng our broken pos
tai arrangements and aiding our legislators in
accomplishing much needed postal improve
mcnts.


The Postmaster General knows that the
country is quite unanimous in the opinion that
our postal system is one of the most miserable
in the civilized world, and that very many of
the inconveniences under which we labor
would have been removed by legislation years
ago but for the clogs and opposition intcrposed
by some Of the inglorious ciphers who were his
predecessors in office. We need Postmaster
General from one of our large Eastern cities,
and it is some Improvement to have one ap-
pointed from the vicinity of Washington or Bal
timorc, rather than 60 to the backwoods of Ken
tucky or Tennessee, 10 benighted region of
Pennsylvania, or have thrust upon us a miscra
bic piece Of red tape that has long been without
strength color or substance. Perhaps how
ever, we have no more reason to complain of
either The head or tail Of Buchanans admins
tlation, as represented in this department. than
we have OF the maladmnistration in every
other. Getting the Post Onice four or five mil
lions in debt is small crime compared to the
embczzlement OF national or Indian bonds by
the million, and the stealing Of arms sufficient
to enable the conspirators 10 hold the power of
the nation and five hundred thousand men at bay
throughout long and bloody campaign. The
former eicte management Of this great depart
ment has given the present incumbent q better
opportunity to distinguish himself by the
striking contrast that we hope to see in his
management, as compared to al least four Of his
immediate but by no means iilusIrious prede
cessors. But we will not anticipate. If Mr.
Blair is The man Of business We believe hiia
to be- We shall soon see The good results of
his energy and ability. We are particularly
deSirous that he should sec the important part
that this State and more densely populated and
commercial portions Of the country play in the
filling of the Golfers OF his department. lie may
not be aware that New York city contributes
one-tcnth. the State of New York one-ffth, and
New ork, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania forty
per cent Of the entire correspondence and postal
revenue Of the country. BY facts like these the
head of the Post Office learns two important
items. He secs what communities have the
largest interest in the postal establishment and
where he must so to stimulate correspondence
and increase the revenue of his department.
Fourteen of the interior and planting SAFES of
the South and Southwest write no more letters
aud pay no more postal revenue than the
State of New York alone, while a real improve
ment like thai Of uniform and low rate OF
postage, with greater facilities for collecting
and delivering letters in cities and largo towns,
would double the postal receipts in short
time in i commercial community like that OF
New York


We are reioiced TO see that the Posime tcr
General has recommended the return Of all
dead letters to the writer's, except printed cir
cuiars, those that are anonymous or those evil
dently worthless. a letter is property. and by
its retGrn TO the writer, when not delivered to
the person addressed. serves this valuable
purpose, that il informs the one sending it that
il has never reached its destination. We think
however. that all extra charges on letters, in





needless complication, and one that stands in
the way OF that system of uniformity and sim
plicitv without which there cannot be Il good
postal establishment. The charging q rate Of Il
few cents, the collecting OF the rate by the post
master who receives and delivers the dead let
ter to the writer, the putting of the recipient
TO The trouble of taking out his money to pay
SO small sum, and then parting with the sum.
all make up series OF taxes on time and
means that are not compensated for by
the few thousands obtained. In Great
Britain a letter starts from the hand
of the writer, and. whether it is delivered as di-
rected, or forwarded from one place to another,
or is returned rs a dead letter to the place
whence it started, it has no tax on it beyond
the original prepaid rate. This all comes even
in general average. and leaves the postal ma
chincry more simple and more easily carried on
by both the public and the postal authorities and