The New York Herald Newspaper, December 25, 1848, Page 1

TH NO. 5318. VERY IMPORTAN FROM THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Post Orrice DerantMent, Contnact Orrice, December, 1848. To rue Hon. Cave Jonnson, Postmaster General :— Sin :—In obedience to your call for a statement of the views hope eg the rates of postage, and the changes in the mode of doing Post Office business, which I Rad axpousert to you in several conversations, ‘as the result of my examinations abroad, and my ac- tance with ourown system, I have the honor submit the following :—Yeu have referred to my ‘Opportunities of witnessing the operations of the best conducted offices in Europe. As the information re- eting them. other points than th: \bove nam- ed, may be interesting, and was obtained in pursu- ance of your instructions, whilst attending, under your directions, to the business of postal arrange- iments, I will embrace them in this communication, with such notice of the history and extent of ourown post establishment, as will show the gratifying com- parison it holds with thore of other countries. 1—Ustrornm Cuear Postace. ‘When in London, in 1847, | met with Rowland Hill. ‘The explanations of the principles and operations of the penny postage reform, on several interesting points, by its founder, drew my mind with increased earnestness to the consideration of a uniform rate, and the reduction of postage. ‘The prineiple of a uniform rate of postage in |, is sustained by the following argument - ‘An aversge that will defray tne cost of transpor- tation on the short routes, will, in the egeregate, defray the whole cost of transportation ; for the whole service consistsin their respe: localities of short routes.— "The long row:es are made up by the connection or com- bination merely, of the short routes. That circumstance causes no additional expense; consequently there is no reason, looking to cost of transportation as the only T REPO RT element of postage, for making any additional or fur- ther charge upon letters conveyed over the long dis- tances. That isa rule of easy application to Great Bri- tain, and which works out there, as its natural result, cheap postage; for, having an area of 116.700 square aailes, 8 population of 27,000,000, pretty equally diffused, and pervaded by an active commercial and manufac- turing business, it has no unproductive routes, and pro- duces a large correspondence to sustain a limited sys- tem of mail conveyance. But the most important cir- cumstance is, that in reducing their postage from high tates toa low and uniform one, they changed its na- ture from that of a tax, which it had been previously {yielding a net revenue to the crown nearly equal to $8,000,000 annually) to that of freight, or the price merely of transportation, including delivery, &c. Now, with us, the proportions are reversed. Our population, assumed to be 20,000,000 at this time, is spread overan ares, within the organized States, of 1.199,000 square miles, We have, consequently, numerous upproduc- tive routes, many of which yi id @ revenue less than the half of their cost. This circumstance, and the fact that the postage on newspapers cost of their transportation by about o: that this item of expense, and the cost of porting framked matter through the mails, cast upon the postage assessed upon charged letters, gives to our postage the character of @ tax. Make such sition of the burthens | have referred to as will relieve postage of this character; change ite nature, as they ‘aa im England, to that of freig duce it to the single element of sportation—then we may suc- ‘eessfully emulate the example of England in postage reform, relying on the more clastic energies 0! iz ‘and growing people te make up forthe disadvantages of greater territory and less population. We have a counteracting advantage in possessing s much larger family and friendly correspondence in proportion to numbers; and growth and developement will rapidl; augment the ameunt of business letters. I am well Batistied, from a general estimate, that the surplus cost of the unproductive routes, the expense of transport. ing newspapers beyond what the postage upon them defrays, and the amount that free matter would come to, if obarged with postage, could not be less, at the most moderate calculation, than $1,000,000 annually, The official correspondence of the departments of the government, including Congress, is the public's cor- Fespondence. Why should not the public nav for it. individual pays fot his? Itis the duty of the government to the citizen to establish and maintain Toutes, under a great variety of cireumstan not- withstanding they may be unproductive, asa portion of th: diansi and protection that allegiance entities im to; and public policy?requires tha’ the dif- fusion of public intelligence, through the circulation Of newspapers, be so cheapened as to be placed within the reach of of all. But 1s it just that this should be done at the exclusive expense of a class of citizens who bave no more interest in the matter than the rest of the publie? Supposing Congress should provide some other way for raising this $1,000,000 than by assessing it as a tax exclusively on the postage tis ers of private corres- ondence-—-then what woul required would be a etter postage revenue, equal to the actual cost of the traneportation of letters, of the amount indicated in the following estimate :—Assume the expenditure of the department st the amount of last year, put for easier statement at aroundeum. | am aware there is to be an increase of mail service; but there are apecial items of expenditure for last year sufficient, with the savings in the middle section, to make the sum here stated Surwer, Wa. Peer eens $4,400,000 Appropriation by Congress for the Tbjest stated. af se eeeee es 1,000,000 Newspaper tage not quite equal to that of last year, as somethin; of a decline may be apprehende: Then tl remains for letter age to produce . . post- Now the enquiry arires, how low can the rate of let- ter postage be red) d furnish this annual amount Of $2,060.000? The anawer, | am well persuaded, is to be found in the data, which our ewn experience in this y be tory to show what effect upon fevenue the reduction of the rate of postage has had in Great Britain, as well asin the United States, Great Britain, the former high rates averaged 7d. per single letter. This produced an nual revenue in the last year of their operation, tk et year aR eared The preeent rate is 1d., uniform, and the revenue it produced the first year, 1840, was...... vaes 1,360,604 5 2 Loss of revenue .........+e05+. £1,021,159 4 1114 —Equal to $4,942,410 72. Here is a reduction in rate of 86 per cent , causing a decline in the aggregate of 427-10 per cent. After a lapse of seven yeurs, there still remaips « decline of Tevenue of £356,735 15s. 0}¢d.—equal to $1,871,897 83, or 16 1-5 per cent. The decline in net is much greater than in their gross revenue; and | take this occasion to state that the whole mail packet service of Great Brit |, as well the home as the foreign, is charged ty the Admiralty, and not to the Port Ottice. In the publications of the day this large item of mail expenditure is omitted; consequently an exag; net balance is exhibited in their Post Off ments. T net revenue of 1847 was but 3a, 8d./after deducting the cost of their steampacket 8 other mail transportation. in being able to furnish demonstrations in favor of low idedly more encouraging charaster Prior to 1845, letter postage in tl averaging, in the’ respective amounts they yielded, 14g cents the single lette The revenue they produced—I # letter-postage revenue only— t year of their operation, 1845, wi +++ $9,060.181 38 Postage was reduced to our prerent five and ten cent rates, the first year’s re- ‘venue of which, 1846, wat........,.- 2,300,736 10 16 2,881,697 74 Lose im revenue... 6... eerie ees » 778,485 64 —Being a reduction of 211-5 ‘per cent. Now the reduction in rate that produced this de- cline, was 66!; per cent, the present 5 and 10 cent rates being averoged at 63; cents per letter, according ‘to a caloulation—(made on rather imperfect data to be eure)—of the several amounts yielded by thore rates respectively, The decline in revenue here is less, in proportion to the reduction of the rate, than it is in England, by some 7 or 8 per cent. The next year’s revenue, 1847, realized an advance upon that of 1845 of 1085 per cent. Five per cent represents the general progressive growth of the department, as it does the ratio of increase in the population of the United "States, and there was, consequently, a recovery from the first year’s fall of revenue to the extent of 5% per cent, But this ceased with the recond year—for the inerease of the revenue of 1848, over that of 1847, is but in the ratio of the general increase of the depart- abcut five per cont. It in still $309.87 28 lens @ reverue of 1845. The feregoing statement e exclusively. een that 6055 per cent of reduction of the auses a decline of 21 1-5 per cent, in A uniform five cent rate is tweuty-one n the present rates averaged at 6%; reduction in revenue that 21 per cent re- n in rates would produce, would be, according to the foregsing proportions, 7 9-10 per cent; and this pro- portion, deducted from Inst year’s revenue, would leave $3,086,680 08. ‘This is $435,630 08 more revenue for the next year than the preceding table calls for, and shows that the rate is higher than what the prinoip! of low postece here assumed require, If Congress ap- propriates for postage on free matter only, or merely abplishes the franking privileges, the rate could be put at five cents uniform; but this would still involve a tax npon the letter postage pi to meet the surplus ex- penre of conveying newspapers, and of the uaproduc- tive routes. ‘ A uniform three cent is 62°; per cont Joss than our pretent rates; and that per centage, according to the scale of reduction, exhibited by the oporations of 1845-46, will cause # decline of revenue of 194-5 por — «$9,850,804 10 6 160 21 er cent le: : ite. Th ‘The revenue of last year. Reduced 194-5 per cent.. o 2 oatage revenue of. $2,686,043 80 $ 50.000 iethe amount dosired. This demonstrates that'a three cent uniform rate is sufficient, and bare- Jy sufficient, to raise an adequate amount of letter post- age revenue, provided it is relieved of all charges and Durthens, beyond that of the cost of the tra © jetters, Including their delivery and other incidents ‘Ae tom two cent rate, it is wpparent, sccording to Leavy MORNING EDITION----MONDAY, DECEMBER the tests of all our experience, that it would not yield the desired amount of revenue. Two cents iS @ trifle less than the English penny according to the legal standard of the relative value of Bri- tieh and American coin. And in view of their advantages, especially in their high rates of foreign and transit postages, which average, probably, twenty cents per letter, and amounted, in 1547, to $3,023,076, we a much more arduous undertaking, if su cessful, with three cent rate than was aocom- plished by the British experiment. Considering the vastness of our territory, and magnitude of our system of mails, and the still greater extent to which it must be carried, three cents here will be # far chesper rate, in cement een to service performed, than one penny in gland. There is on An int not touched on in the foregoing ealculations—the possibility that the present commis- sions to postmasters, when cast on the reduced amount of revenue, may not give sufficient compensation. Butin respect to that, we can do as before. it and see. There will, probably, be a recovery on the second year from the fall of revenue of the first eats ving @ proportion of increase beyond that of the regular of the department. And this may afford t! of enlarging the commissions if it shall be found neceesa: The same policy commends uniform rate for Ravepanenm, which I would put at our lowest deno- mination of coin, one centthe single newspaper, not to exceed two ounces in weight, where regularly issued to subscribers. Transient newspapers and pamphlets I would charge with the letter rate, if reduced to three cents, with this restriction in all cases, that the weight of the newspaper be limited to two ounces, and pam- slets to three ounces, with power to the Postmaster jeneral to classify small periodical pamphlets issued to subscribers with newspapers, Our ses postage rates are confused and multifarous. There is @ six cent postage on private ship letters, if delivered at the port, and two cents addition toin- land, if addressed elsewhere. There is a ten cent packet rate for the Weet India Islands, or islands in the Gulf of Mexico, and a specific rate of twelve and a halfcents for letters to and from Havana. There is a twenty cent rate to Chagres, thirty cents to Pana- ma, and forty cents to Astoria, or other places en the Pacific within the territory ofthe United States; and, finally, there is the twenty-four cent packet rat the European ports. And the matter is made more complex, by subjecting some of these rates to the ad- ditional charge of inland postage, and relieving others from it, Let all rea-going letters pay one uniform rate—the same, whether conveyed by private ship or government packet—whether from or to the port of an interior post-office. It is important that the power should be possessed by the Executive, of arranging with foreigmcountries, uniform transit rates of post- age, with the privilege of pre-paying. ilst it would promote convenience, to have internatie: ments that would allow of optional payment country, on the direct correspondence between them, still, that is not indispensable. But in respect to cor- respondence between two countries, that must be con- veyed across the territory ofa third nation, there must be an international arrangement between that third country and one of the others, to enable the letter to reach its destination, unless the party has an agent in fat intermediate country to pay, at least, the transit postage. The super-addition of rates should be avoided. Let the ship postage pay from its departure, and to its it may be in the United States. isfactory to the parties to know familiarly in a stated amount, what the whole charge is, and the simplification of the accounts is alone » sufficient reason. If government retains the prerogative of exclusive mail conveyance, it must provide for the transportation of unpaid as well as pre-paid matter. But it is wire to induce the pre-payment of postage. It better adjusts the expenditure between the parties—it simplifies the aecounts and lessens the labor of b poresneecigl There- fore, a postage of twice the amount of the pre. paid rate should be imposed on the letters of those who, ins! of paying it themselves, put the government to the trouble of eollecting it of the other party. This might be modified somewhat, the better to adaptit to ourcoin, Il.—Cnance ix tHe Move or Mattixe Lerrers axp Newsrarers—Bacoinc Mais, axp rorwanprne THEM To Distant Orrices. Our forms, commencing with the post bill, are com- plicated; and vet the ob‘eot for which thev are ™.2, ihe oy 8fe eae rc, 18 not obtained, for they provide nd checks practi- cally. They do not secure a thorough accountability on the part of the postmasters. A like feature of inse- curity extends to our mode of ‘ing the mails, which gives all the postmasters and their clerks on the route, access to the contents of the same bag. It is the purpose of distributing offices to consolidate the sm: mails from the various offices within theic district, for distant points, into large ones, for that portien of the route common to them, witha view to more certain despatch and greater safet; t the proper yeintss to separate them for their respect destina- ions; yet Say bare the effect, in numerous cases, to withdraw mails from their direct cours, and oth wire to delay them, simply to be distributed; thu oes, Causing additional dete: G expense to the departmen distribution commierions, for doing that which it injury to the service. Numerous alterations and o rections have been and numerous attempts— but the defects are not oved, The schemes of bag- ging. forwarding and accounting, are all based upon the plan of mailin, nd there. all the defects of our system have theirroot. Nothing but a radical ehange ean reach them. infancy ofour post establishment, when the re few, it may have been possible, agreeably t design of the arrangement, to compare at the General Post Office the post bills, with the ac- count of mails sent, and the account of mails sent out of one office with the accounts of mails received of another, and vice versa. But this has become imprac$ ticable, and has been #0, doubtless, for the last fifty years, In practice, therefore, we are without the de- sired checks to procure complete accountability on the art of the offices. Our system was borrowed fom the English: but theirs, at this time, possesses not a feature, in the particulars referred to, that cor- ids toours. After a longer experienee, probably, ofthe defects we jare now suifering. they at lengt! abandoned the old system as incurable, and adopted a one. Each post effice in the kingdom of Great Britain (London, Edinburg and Dublin excepted) is furnished with a list of what is called its corresponding oftices.— There are usually some four or five; andit can mail to no others. The post bili contains but two items— the amount of paid letters, and the amount of unpaid letters, entered by the mailing postmaster in two blanks provided for that purpose. The receiving postmaster counts the letters, and enters in two other blanks, provided in the bill, amount of paid and of unpaid, and signs it. If his entries disagree with the mailing postmaste: his assistant countersig: and the last entries ar: taken at the accountant’s office as giving the true amounts, Here is a check at the outset. Each post- master is furnished with a blank called, a month! voucher. One side is to contain the amount of ail letters sent, arranged under the heads of his corres- ponding offices, in columns of paid and unpaid; the other side the amount of all letters received, under the heads of the corresponding offices from which received, im columns of paid and unpaid, and each entry is to be made opporite the date of mailing, well on the received side as the sent side. As the offices from and to which each office receives and fends mails are designated, and are generally but few in number, there is no difficulty in keeping this a count, and in comparing the accounts sent, of one office, with the accounts re , of its correspond- ing office, and vice versa. Here is the second check. The firet by the neighboring postmaster, the last by the accountants at the General Post Office. vouchers sent in to the Gen the expiration of each month, thore post bills wherein there is ® discrepancy be- tween the entries of the mailing and the receiving Postmasters. with them only ma ie end of F the account is closed ly return postmaster, and the led; at the Ge- neral Post Office. What there is in the foregoing that we have not, is the principle of mailing to designated offices only; the simple form of the post bill; the principle and practice of the receiving postmaster checking upon the mailing postmaster; and an effec- tual comparison, by means of the monthly vouchers, between the accounts of mails sent and mails received, hua sdeuring accountability by a complete system ot checks. But a post office must have letters to send to other pot oflees than its four or five corresponding oflices ow are they, Ly the English regulations, mailed and forwarded? As foilows:—One or more of the eorres- ponding cffices of each office is designated as ite for- warding office. If the letters to go beyond are paid, their amounts are entered on the post biil to the cor. responding forward office, which enables it to check © against the mailing post. fd, they ure tied up with the other letters, but are not entered on the post bill. The paid letters, being fully ehecked, aro sent on by the forward office, through the torward office of ite circle of corresponding offices to their destination, without further post bill, The unpaid letters go forward from the mailing office, through its forward office, and 40 on without post bill, until they reach the last forward cflice preceding their offics of destination, at which hey are placed under post bill, #0 as to raisean secount and check upon, the receiving postmas ry unlike, but ‘vastly preferable to, our w xpensive scheme of distribution Jand is used rolely with a view it for the purpore of tracing or r—& use that is attempted here to hich it is very ineffectual in ao- ter bat wi In England, they farnish tisfactory able letters in mail, by ion. For a fee of one shilling dition to the ‘tage, which a is iy coord of the ipt given. it accompanying bill, specially bill, and sent in such manner as to is in the mails, It is noted by spe- entries at h forwarding office, and when de- livered, a receipt is teken. As to local letters, received and delivered at the same office, the like checks are’ mainteined in respect to thera as to mailed letters, The sorter makes out a letter bill for all he finds in the box; and the deliver- ing clerk, or letter carrier, acknowledges thele amount by entries in blanks provided for that purpose. This chargen them in favor of the postmaster, and the post- master in fayor of the General Post Oflice, A monthly pas one voucher is kept on the same principles that have al- ready been explained, It is sent im to the aecountant with all the letter bills; and the amounts they con- tain, after being corrected, on examination, placed in the quarterly returo and charged on the ledzer. ‘The mail bag, which {s generally made of canvass, goes under s and is opened only at the office ad- dressed. Thi an incident to their scheme of Le ing, founded on the arrangement of corresponding and forward offices, and would be entirely impracti- cable with us, unless our mailing system was adapted to it. As to London, and partially so, as to Edinburgh and Dublin, the scheme of mailing and accounting is es- eontially different, iculars, from the fore- in some parti going; but as we have not in the United States an place, that, Ii vw vy ondon, may be set down as the uni- ‘sally acknowledged and common centre in all re- 8 , I will not trouble you with an account of their peculiarities. For they cannot with advant be in- troduced into our arrangements. Our civil divisions are so different from those of Great Britain, that we must, I tisfied, devise entrael system of post operations for the large offices in each of our States, rather than adopt the London arrangements. The foregoing is but a hasty sketch of the character- istic points in the mode of performing the post office business in England. Much that is incidental and explanatory, might be added; but in this connection it would serve to confuse, rather than elucidate. ‘The question is, shall we adopt that system? The difficulty lies at the outset. When the change is made, the duties of the offices will not only be butter per. formed by the postmasters and their clerks, but with far more ease and despatch. The great workin under- taking this change consists in laying off the post of. fices of the United States into circles, so as (o give to each one of our 16,159 post offices its specified list of corresponding and forward offices. Besidesa thorough knowledge of the couree of the mails, a particular know- ledge of localities must be obtained, so that the mails shall be made by these arrangements to run in the channels of trade and busine: It would require too lorg a statement to point out the complexity and mag- nitude of thi bor, When | considereé the numer of our offices as compared with those of Great Britain, ing houses.) offices, and the extent of the territory of our Stat which is ten times as great as that of the United Kingdom, | dis- trusted the practicability of making this radical alte- ration, and keeping the circles of offices properly adjust- ed amid the incessant changes going on among post- masters, sites of offices and courses of routes, the rapid increase, from year to year, of new offices and port roads. But the object to be obtai: is too important to be abandoned. The Improvement of our system can be accomplished in ne other mode. Subsequent reflection has satisfied me that the difficulties can be overcome, if sufficient time is allewed, and Congress makes a suit- able provision to carry out the undertaking. ‘The prospect that uniform postage will soon be es- tablished, renders the change more urgent. Our mode of performing post office business must be simplified, 20 as to be done with greater despatch and accuracy ; and whilst every scheme of revenue should be provided, with checks to insure accountability, that needs it most which is made up of emall amounts, for there is greater tendency to neglect and oversight, arising from the indifference with which small sums are apt to be regarded. individually, though, in the aggregate, they sweil to millions of dollars. The corresponding and forward system of mailing, as it may be technically called, has been an indispen- fable adjunct to low postage in England, bringing every penny paid for postage to the ledger of the Accountant General, and giving the public the as rance,that what has been so well earned has been faithfolly accounted for, ‘That part of the post office system in England, which is carried out in thelr London atrangements, called the central system, cannot be introduced here. In lieu of it, I would have a class of primary offices, to consist of one from each State—perhaps two, or more, in the larger States. The difference between them and the great body of offices would be, that they would be placed in direat correspondence with a far greater number of offices. Each office should post bill and bag mails to some of the other primary offices to be designated, and to all of the ordinary or second class offices within their State or district, situated on the direct lines, radiating from the primary offices. They should be }isted for that purpose, aud these, in turn, should mail dizect to such primery office, Out of the great body or offices I would form the second class offices,to embrace the chief portion of them; also, third class, which I would call, asin England sub-offices. Sub-offices neither k render accounts. he allied the ‘The principal ‘office sends out a p one side outward, stating the account of the mail as despatched, with blanks in it for the sub- postmaster to make corrections, and the other side inward, on which the sub-postmaster enters the account of his mails re- turned, with columns for the principal postmaster to make correetions. And in keeping the monthly vouchers of this account for himself, the prinofpal post- master keeps it also tor the sub-postmaster, and ren- ders it to the General Postoftice. All such post bills are to be sent in with the monthly voucher. ‘They have still another classin England. Railway offices, occupied by two clerks ata time, at salaries : from £80 to £200 per annum, with an allow- ef 10s, sterling per day, each trip. Mails are made up to them as ferward offices only ; and as such, they make up mails to other offices, and check upon the'mails received from other offices. They receive no postage, but render regular monthly vcuchers, to serve as checks upon postmasters in correspondence with them. There are advanteges in this, in giving des- patch, but gained at too great a cost. Another objec- tion arising here, would be, that our cars do not ran with sufficient steadinesr, to enable #0 much clerical duty to be performed in them. To secure equal des- | patch, and not increase the number of route agents, I suggest the following ragulation :—Where the party will pre-pey by means of a letter stamp, and will write | on his lett ray,’ instruct the postmaster to put it | in a way bag forthe route agent, under a lock, for which is provided with @ key, without post bill; for the portege being paid by the stamp, a post bill is un- necersary in reference to the accounts. The agent can deliver it to the office addressed, by placing itin | the pouch for raid office. The postage stamp shuuld not be obliterated in such @ case, either by the | ortmaster Ces orby the route agent. It should done by the receiving postmaster before he delivers it. The rending postmaster should keep and render a monthly voucher of way letters so sent, as necessary in the settlement of his commission account, and for other purposes; and the route agent should keep and render such a voucher likewise, by way of ch s duty which he canecasily perform. The and the direction of the writer to “way,” will enable this facility of imm without post bill to be extended, und cations, to other routes than railroad ters on the principal lines up to the last moment be- | fore departure. There is but one objection to this—the tendency of this class of letters to multiply to a num- ber beyond the ability of the route agent properly to attend to and dispose of them. This facility has not been extended to the public at all in England, owing doubtless to this objection, When the appre ate proper modifi- and to late let- | turned to the writer, This is wrong. which it plies, and retained exclusively for their use. The primary office mails shonid go and return under the large brass lock, The forward office mails under the rmall brass lock; and all other mails under the fron lock, Recetvinc Maits.—The mail beg, on beingre-opened, should be turned inside ou! ad made of such form and materis a 8 delivery, if the amounts agree with the entries of the mailing Postmaster, the bill will be retained for about & year and then destroyed. If they disagree, the bill wilt be sent with the monthly voucher to the General Postoffice. The letters that are to be forwarded will be sent on, if paid or postage stamped, without post bill, simply by tying them up with the matter for the proper office; if uppaid with post bill, if the letters - dreseed to a corresponding office; otherwise not, Eve letter for delivery should be impressed on its back, with the office dates stamp, to show when it was re- ceived. The amounts in the post bill, according to the Receiving Postmaster’s count, he will enter on the receiving side of the monthly voucher, opposite to the date of the bill, and under the head of the mailing office. Of mis-sent, redirected and dead letters, I will speak hereafter. Newsrarexs.—The practice of the English Postoffice furnishes no regulations suitable for this country, as to the mode of mailing newspapers and accounting for their postage. There, government receives its remu- neration for conveying newspapers in the mail in a stamp duty of one penny on cach newspaper; and as every newspaper published pays the stamp, it is immaterial what number of them is placed in the mails. Foreign newspapers are subject to spe- cific postage rates, varying from ‘4d. to 4d; but there are mailed as letters. They impose, also, a specific postage of 1d. on newspapers, handed into an office delivered from the same; but this amounts to what it was intended for, a prohibition—to prevent publishers from using the penny posts as their carriers In France, newspaper postage is 4 centimes, (four-fifths of a cent), on a sheet of small dimensions, and it must be pre-paid. In Germany, it is one-fourth of the le:- ter rates for the distance according to weight. Transient newspapers should be mailed and for- warded an letters, As to those regularly issued through the mails to subscribers, a plan should be devised that will enable an account of them to be kept and checked, but which will not subject them to be overhauled. singly, for the purpose of mailing, on each despatch of the mail. he practice of calling on publishers for a list of the nomber of papers sent by them to each post office, has become obsolete, from their neglect and Tefusal to farnish it. I beg leave to suggest the tollow- ing regulation:—Every post office, where a newspaper is published, should, in the course of the first month of each quarter, have a special and minute mailing of all newspapers sent from it, made, at least, once, though at the hazard of losing despatch by the outgoing mails of the day on which this mailing is done, for the pur- pore of taking a full list of the newspapers sent, giving the names of the post offices, aipbabesioally arranged, and the number of newspapers sent to each, with the frequency of their issue, whether week.y, semi-weekly, tri-weekly, or six times a week. As the result of this, @ voucher of newspapers sent should be trans- mitted to the Auditor of the Department, soon after the expiration of the first month of each quarter. Every office in the United States should im- mediately, after the expiration of the first month of each quarter, send a youoher of newspapers received, showing the number of newspapers received thereat, and ths pote office from which received, alphabetically arranged; with an additional statement oxtibiting what number are delivered free, and what are refuse tobe taken out, giving the names of those refusing, and the names and offices of those receiving free. AS the postage is to be taken at the commencement for the entire quarter, there reports will enable a complete account to be kept upon returns from the sending and receiving postmasrters checking upon each other, of the - whole newspaper postage for the quarter, The addi- tional statement will enable credit to be given the re- ceiving postmaster forthe number of free and refused newspapers. By this means, the overhauling of the newspapers, before each departure of the mail, will be avoided, except on one dayin each quarter. Carefully prepared blanks should be provided for the above re- turns, and blank notices to be filled up and sent in by each postmaster, that he bas no newspaper return of either kind to make, whenever that js the case. Ina hewspaper postage journal or journals in the Auditor office, or in the dead letter bureau, the newspaper re- turns could be duly collected and ready for comparison on the coming in of the postmaster’s monthly vouchers or quarterly return, And with said quartely return should be sent an additional youcher of newspapers Sent ; also, of newspapers received, whore newspapers have been sent or rece! Yon to those already ceportea. Accounrs,—-The iirat exhibit is the m er, to be eent in soon after the end of month have ulready-described it. I would make this addition column for amount of Postag mped letters, If the office isin correspondence with a primary office, it returns two monthly vouchers for posted letters; for those sent to and received from such primary of- fice, and for those sent to and received trom all other post offices. If it be an office having tbird monthly voucher of letters will be required. There should be also a fourth monthly voucher for local letters. Fifthly, a newspaper voucher received for the first month of each quarter, and followed up in the third with am additional newspaper yousher. And sixthly, @ monthly voucher of mis-sent and re-directed letters, overcharged covers ond receipts, and dead let- ters. This youcher requires a more particular descrip- tion. ‘The accounts thus far described, fix the liability of the postmaster, not only for the postage prepaid to him in money, but’ also for the unpaid letters coming to his office. Some of there may have been mis-sent, £& | some misdirected, some overcharged, and some remain on hand uncalled for. How is he to get credit for | them? By this monthly voucher of mis-sent, redirect ed, cvercharged, and dead letters, The process is ag follows:— On mis-sent. or mis-directed letters, received atan office, that fact is entered in red on their fé they are then mailed forward in their true d tion, with an sppropriate post bill, and the ex- amination of the same by, and signature of, the receiving postmaster will ‘constitute the check. On overeharged letters, the fact and amount of overcharge is to be entered on the covers, and they retained, or receipts taken from the parties of the amount refunded ; and allowance for overcharge will be made only to the extent shown by the covers and receipts. Such overcharges and the amounts of re-directed lotters, will be entered on the monthly youcher——as should be also that of the dead letters returned—and the present very objectionable provi- sions of law respecting dead letters should be so modi- fied as to aliow of the following arrangement | Dean Lettens.—-A letter uncalled for remains in the office till the end of the quarter, and is then ad- vertived; and not till the expiration of three months from the time advertisement commences, can it be sent to the General Post office dead ‘letter, and | then it is possible for it to remain on hend three months longer before reached in its turn and opened. So that » letter of value may be in the Post office and Dead Letter cffice nine months before it is re- I would advise bended, manifests itself, 1t must be guarded against by proper restrictions. Letters of value and im- portance, should not, of course, be sent as “way,” bat go under the eeeurity afforded by regular mailing and bagging to the place of distribution. The division, then, of post offices, would be:— 1. Primary offices, kept by postmasters, 2 Post offices, kept by deputy postmasters. 8. Sub offices, kept by sub-deputies, Maitine.—Adopting the simple form of the English port bill, we should add to it a third column, fur *“ amount of postage stamped letters.” This will be necessary for the commission account, and for other important purposes, as we have no stamp office in the United States I would have a uniform blank for post bill, and require the name of office and date to be filled by the office stamp (this adde to its authenticity); and in all cases that it be signed by the officer actaally in charge of the mailing at the time, be be postmaster or clerk. In England, the post bill is colored. There are practical advantages in this. These from a primary office should be of one color ; those to it, of another; and those be- tween ordinary offices, of a third. should be filled with—Ist Amount of paid letters, being those only actually paid in money at the ofice | (this is the admissionof @ debit); 2d, Amount of ua- paid letters (this is a charge ogainst the corresponding postmaster); 3d, Amomnt of postage stamped letters (this is merely ‘a memorandum). The office dated stemp should be impressed on the right band upper corner of every letter, and, underneath it, the paid mp in red, if the postage has been paid in money the offiee; and the rate stamp in black, if an un- aid letter, Mails will only be made up to the offices isted as the corresponding offices; and for distant places, to such of them as are distinguished as the forward office, aa hereinbefore described, Of the un- paid letters, care will be taken to enter only those for the delivery of the oft omitting from the post bill those that are to be for- warded beyond. The items of each post bill, with its dste, should be entered on the sent side of the monthly voucher, under the head of the office mailed to, Office stamps should be provided for every office in the United States, They are better for being made of wood, because more [tenacious of the ink, an cheaper. far They should be used on all letters sont or nd in filling up Dianks of dates in post bilis, They should be re-set eaeh day with the proper di nd in the large offices, re-set after the first mail has gone out. with the addition of A under the date; and after the second mail has gone out,Jwith B. This will serve to settle many disputes whether a letter was handed in in time for the out- going mail; and on the Office Day Memorandum Book it should be® stamped every time aa: re-set, to fur- nish evidence of that fact, It would be an improve- ment to have the year in the stamp, as well as the day ofthe month, Letters mailed should be stamped ss above stated, on the right hand upper corner; and | letters received in the mail shouid be stamped also on the back. Bacoina,—As looka and keys are already obtained at ‘great expense, and as mails can be closed and vpened by means of them with much greater despatch n when tied, sealed, and stamped, we had better continue in the vse of the look ‘and key. In respect to mails for distant pointe, we might adopt the English practice of realing and stamping. This, in view of the porsibility of surreptitiously obtaining keys and of making false ones, | consider the safest, Thi m of It should be The post bills | the following :—Primary offices, and such other post | offices of the larger class as may be ro instructed, should make return of dead letthrs on the Ist and 15th of each month—all other post offices on the 1st of each | month, When letters are refused, or the persons ud- dreseed are “dead,” or “gone away, not known where, | they are to be rent to the Dead Letter office on th | first return day, without being advertised. But in | each care the cause should be written in red ink | across the face of the letter, In all other cases, the letters on hand at the expiration of the | fortnight. or the month, (except those received by the | last mails) are to be immediately advertised, and those | remaining by the next return day aro to be transmit. | tea to the Dead Letter Office, Letters left in an office | to be rent, but which cannot be mailed, from the ille- gibility of the addrese, or having no address, or being addrested to a foreign country without postage being pre-paid, should be immediately enclosed to the Dead Letter Office, having written upon them in red ink, | | “cannot be mailed” | A Ddlank should be provided, called the account of mitsent, redirected, and dead letters, overcharged | covers and receipts for the month of -~~, and in its | columns, opposite the p: r dates and under th name of the post offices to which the redireoted letters are rent, should beentered the amounts, The dead | lettera are entered by their number and amounts, op- | potite the dates on which they are sent to tha Dead | Letter Office, The post bills that accompany the re- | directed matter, should be sent by the receiving post- | master to the Dead Letter Office. I will here remark | that in view of the increase of duties there arrange- | mente would impore upon that office, its force should be considerably increared | might be called the Inspecter of Dead Letters, will be the examiner of all claims of oredit for redirected and dead letters and overcharges; he should have charge of the correspondence as to missing, lost aud returned letters, and might, with great propriety, have charge of the newspaper journal, and the examination of the accounte of newspaper postage | will here state that ia ay examination in the Dead Letter Office in London, I found that, notwithstanding their cheap rates and pre-payment of postage, there was returned 1,579.72 dead letters and newspapers for the year ending 5th January, 1847, The postage on the letters, (1,078,562 in number,) amounted to £7,643, of which £341 3s, Lod was paid; and that there were in those letters £507,574 6s. 7d. in bills, and £8,969 108 94 in cash. The num- ber of dead letters in France is nearly 300,000 per annum. Qvantenty Reronns.—These should be made up and rent in with the Inst monthly vouchers of the quarter immediately after its expiration, It should contain » dedit— 1. For the primary office letters, stated in three 2. For Fest Office letters generally, stated in same amounts, ly months, way. 3, For tol letters, also, stated in same way. 4. For wapapers as per first return. 4s per additional return, stampe 1. By febarned leteers net overeh . return snd overe! EE see re ese yg ma mon letters caltested Ute, renee bo on ———, amount of postage and mailing will require a bag for each office. labelled with the names of the two offices between 6. By gratuities for ship letters, 6. By incidental allowances, during the quarter in addi- hly youch- 1848. ud-office, then s | The principal officer, who | | horre kept and ured ; | ment. Tus Levexns—Sbould be drawn up to correspond, and £0 as to exhibit on one page the accounts of cach ott ofiice for the year; and they might, asin the British ‘ont Office, be made up of printed bl thing toenterin manuscript but the amounts—thus saving the time of the clerk for more important duties, and ensuring greater accuracy. A more general use of printed blanks would much improve the service; and in view of the great multipli tioa of letters, and increase of duties, that low por will produce, will bave to be resorted to asa neces labor-saving facility. In England they are provide a uniform kind, for every species of notice, return or youcher. The account books are made up of printed blank theets, and even envelopes for accounts, dead letters, &o,, with printed addresses, are furnished to the postmasters, This goes far to ensure despatch and aceuracy, Reaistnatiox.—I would adopt the English plan for fornishi ling and receipt of valu- le letters ; providing special means for tracing them the mails, and giving greater security in mailing and forwarding them, This is easily accomplished, if we adopt their general mode of mailing. Dut the at- tempt to engraft it upon our present system will prove afailure and a deception. | have already described the process of registration. If made to answer the pur- pose designed, it will greatly benefit the public. ¢ will somewhat improve the revenues. The registration fee in England is equal to 24 cents, besides the postage; and | was told that the number of lettersin that coun- try that paid this high charge were very great, being used in cases of payments, legal notices, and in many other instances where the evidence or the assurance was detired that the information sent was brought home to the other party. As to compensation of postmasters, our present mode by commissions is decidedly preferable, in my judg- ment, tothe English, which is by specified salaries Commissions are beat suited toa changing and grow- ing system, as they always proportion the remunera- tion tothe amount of business done, But | see no good reason for a separate commission on newspaper postage. Let the accounting be simplified by having but one set of commission rates, embracing both letters and newspapers; and if. class of sub-offices should be authorized, the commissions for sub-deputies, 1m con- sideration of their being relieved of the keeping and rendering of accounts, might with justice be put at lees rates than thore of other postmasters. Uniform rates and pre-payment of postage will greatly facilitate the business of mailing and account- fog. Yo Great Britain pre-paid letter, not exceeding a half ounce in weight, is sent through the mi any part of the kingdom at their minimum rate, and the unpaid letters at double that rate. ‘This disori- mination insures pre-payment im moat oases, and it is further aided by a legal provision that subjects the writer to the payment of the postage, and to proso- cution therefor if necessary, in all cases where his letter is refused by the person addressed, In Germany, the writer is equally liable to pay the postage on his refused letter. The English scale of progression is somewhat peculiar ; it counts the half ounce but once. When the letter exceeds an ounce, be it ever sosma'l an excess, it is subject to four rates of postage—as much so as if it weighs two ounces ; so if it exceeds two ounces, it pays six rates, the same as if it amounts to three ounces in weight. This scale simplities the businers at the cfices, and counteracts the tendency to make up large letters, which sometimes runs into an abuse. 1 IIL—Rattroap Marr Service. In France, the right of sending the mails by railway, free of charge, is secured im the char- ters cf incorporation; and in Germany, both the mails of the Prince of Thurn and Taxis, and of the several governments, are conveyed, free of cost,on the ruilways of that country. In Hngland, the railway companies are bound, under heavy penal- to take the mails at such hours and speed as the Postmaster General shall prescribe; and as to comp:n- tation, if they and the Postmaster General cannot uponit, it is to be decided by arbitrators chosen Band an ‘umpire appointed by them, if neces- sary. The prices paid by the British post office vary 1d. to 2s, 9d. the tingle mile; 1d. the single mile, ‘nglish count dastance, is equal to $14 72-100 per mile per annum, daily service, as we state it. The 2s 9d, compensation is equivalent to $451 93's per mile per annum daily rervice. The cause of this enor- mous difference is best explained in the language of the Secretary of the Britieh Post Office, Col. Maberly. “Some trains (he said) are run in the middle of the night, when they would not have a passenger to convey; others are run at hours when they are fall of passengers, In the one case, you would get very excellent terms; in the other, you would be obliged to pay very high, because you must pay the expense of the train, the police, the night establishment and every cther expense incident to your order.” We have no such eervice performed in this country as here describ- ed. I find, notwithstanding this extravagant award of $461 9215 per mile per annum in favor of the North Union Railway Company, that the prices pald for rall- road mail conveyance in England in 1547, averages, according to the best data that could be obtained, 13 2.10 cents for each single mile. The railroad mail ser vice in the United States stands for the lust year at the average of 13 49-100 centa per singie mile. "1 believe we would bave better service performed between the port offices and the depots, especially at the large citi and make more satisfactory arrangements with the companies, if we were to confine their service to the rails, a8 in Great Britain~ and if the department were to-construct its own roper deduction would have suit- agents, on other rail- ngton and Philade'- tiling prices for railway mail rervice by arbitratio 1am persuaded, unfaverably regarded in England, a searching investigation baving fet on foot into one of these awards, through a jamentary Committee, and great reluctance since ing been manifested in getting up avy moi bie In reference to the vexed questions o road compenration with which this Department is a: noyed, | humbly ask, why are not the committees of Congrese, and Congress itself, the best arbitrators? Let the Department send in its eatimate.epecifying thecom- peneotion for each road—let it be heard in explanation and the companics in opposition, if they desire; and inthe Appropriation Act for the service of the de- partments let a sebedule be referred to or incorporated which will rettie each case, and leave no chance to dispute afterwards what the law is in the matter. Tho absolute power of the British Postmaster General over railways enables hii to fix departures and arriva! at hours that best suit the public convenience, in respect eolely to their mails, Instead of their chief mails being despatched, aa ours are from New York, at half-past four in the afternoon, they are not per- mitted to leave London till nine and ten at night— thus allowing ample time for the preparation of cor- rerpondence after the business of the day is over.and ample time to mail it after it is deposited in the office, On the same principle the mails are brought into London at from three to five o’clock in the morning— giving rvfficient time at the office to open, assort. and prepare them for delivery at the eerlie hours of the day. For want of such pot rapgements are imporsible here, wherever t! nies find itis not for their interests the best accommodation of the t night, roa phia. The mode of ; to run at IV. Mait Contracts, In France and Germany they are made at fixed prices—being in France a certain allowance for each horee and each driver for each six miles of travel; and in Germany an allowance per mile for the ordinary tervice, with @ share sf the profit on extra work, and a nominal allowance for each which, however, is after- wards modifed according to circumstances, ro as to be sufficient to pay expenses, and give a pro- per rate cf interest on capital, and gratuities to postillions, that are very p omgow A provided forin their arrangements, even to the item of “ beer money. Coptracts are given, with sureties for faithful per- formance, and for @ certain term of years, varying from four to six. Onthe continent, parsengers are conveyed by the post departments. Notro in Great Britain; that is there exclusively the business of the mail contractors. On the principal routes the depart- ment obtains the couches of one set of contractors, | h builders, avd the service of horsing the nd conveying the maiis in them of another, colied the mail contractors, with privilege to them to convey @ limited number of paseengers at their own profit, Contracts in Great Britain are let on full competition, and for a term of years; but do not ex- pire at the time set unless the department or the con- tractor gives three months previous notice; nor does it ceace at aay subsequent time but upon auch notice, except in care of the dea‘h of the contractor, or its annulment by the Postmaster General for default, disobedience of orders, er insolvency, which can be ordered at any time for thors causes. ‘The highest con- tract price for building and keeping coaches in repair war, in 1847, 13 10d. per single mile, the lowest 43 4d. per tingle milo, This would amount at the maximum to $17 $4 per mile per annum, daily service, and at the minimum to $0 49 per mile per annum, daily service. ‘The contract prices for horsing and conveying the mails varied from 0 to Gd. per single mile, (ion for the business of transporting travel has reduced the average price of coach service below that of their horse or cart posts; and much below what eimilar transportation costs on the con- tivent; but then, in France and Germany, the Department derives revenue on such routes from parsenger fare as well as postage. Tha English mail contracts are of the same general character with ours. The duties of the contractors and powers of the Postmaster General are stated with much more particularity, Forinetance, it is stipulated that one team of hor#es shall not be driven so far as to become neceseary to water them, and a conchman shall not be confined to a single stage, but shall drive as great an extent of the road as the Postmaster General # prescribe. The power of ordering the dismissal of a driver, which din our contracts, is extended in theirs to the horses and every part of the establish: They reserve to the Postmaster General the betituting another contractor for cause ulling the contract of charging expen: procuring substitute service; and of f feiting the pay accruing since the last pay day, where the contractor bas been in default and dismissed. The contracts for the rural posts and other inferior by the Surveyor of the district, and name, acting in bebalf of the Postmaster General, right of appeal is given to A e Postmaster General from the decision of the Surveyor against the contrac. im the contract. I do ks, leaving no- | Compett- | post poor fund. In France the punishment isto place | the driver who falls beh: bis time at the foot the roll,, which ia kept of all drivers, with a view to their promotion ; and if the fanit continues, reduce him to a route yielding an inferior tion. It would | be an improvement to have the contracts instead of | I] at one time in each rection, to end on so that an entire service of one quar ter of the Union will not be left to the hazards inel- dent to a new eet of contractors. ¥ y Posts. An immense postofice business is done in Lon- don and Paris in transporting letters from one part of the eity to another. Four huadred and fifty letter-carriers are employed in Paris, and as my memorandum shows, 1367 in London, (st » pay of from Lbs to 80s sterling per week) besides superinten- dents, surveycrs, inspectors, clerks, sorters, sub-sorters, and meesengers, connected with the seme branch of rerviee. itis estimated that the number of letters in circulation in the delivery of London, exclusive of those of the General Post, was, in 1547. over thirty-three mil- lions, It is a great mistake, which rome have fallen into, that this service is done without charge to the citizen. He pays as much postage for « letter con- veyed from one street to the next in London, as from Landsend to the Orkneys, viz: ome penny. in Paris the city postage was, in 1847, 3 sous. Letters are de- livered ten times a day in London, and from 6 to 2 in its environs, extending tweive miler from the General Postoffice, In Paria the deliveries are made seven times aday, A complicated and extensive organization is devoted to this business, embracing aub-offices, re- ceiving houses, and accelerators. Krom it a large revenue is derived; and it is further used to collect letters for the (ieneral Post, and to de liver the letters which have come through the mails without apy additional charge The city port business in the United States in performed chietly by private enterpriae, At the rate of three or four cent#, which the law imposes, or at the English rate of one penny (two cents), individuals can wi bid the government for this businees—and there i 0 legal prohibition. To compete with them guccessfully, not only must the city postage be reduced, but the department must get up like arrangements to those of London and Paris, The plana you have in contem- plation of re-arranging the carrier service with aub- | cfllces and receiving houses, accomplishes all purposes, so far a8 public accommodation is concerned, a! a0 to the citizen of one cent per letter; which is two- thirds lees than in Paris, one half loss than in London, and from one half to two-thirds, or three-fourths, less than our present city rate. The objection is, sacrifices all revenue from city post letters; but all that we have hitherto obtained, bas been insuffieient to meet the cost of their conveyance. It will not effect @ free delivery of General Post letters ;—but that is an extra accommodation, rendered aftor the letter has performed its regular circulation through ; and, before it is extended, vither exclusively izen who lives within eaxy access to theoffice, or to all, whether far or near, our firat efforts, it appears to me, hculd be devoted to the mcre needed and more equal reform of reducing postage on matter within the mails to its minimum, VI.—Tur Franxine Patvirece Is abolished in Great Britain; but members of Parliament are entitled to receive, free of charge, petitions addrersed to cither house, provided they are sent without covers, or in covers open at the sides, and do not exceed the weight of thirty-two ounces. Addresses to the Queen likewise go free of postage. Im France, the franking privilege is extended by order of the Minister of Finance to certain public officers for their official correspon- | dence only. In the German States the king and royal family, and Postmaster General, enjoy the franking privilege. Government officers possess it for their | official correspondenc id the Postmaster General 1s authorised to extend it to societies for the promotion of science and arts and benevolent objects ; but their | correspondence must pass unsealed VIL. Money Onpen Orricen. On the continent, special provisions are made for the conveyance of money through the mail —the department ensuring it. The French cha: amount to an average of five per cent on the de- posite of coin—and an order payable at any of the cflices in France will be given for such deposite, at a charge of tive per cent, with a stamp tax, if the crder is over ten francs, eual to seven c:nts, In Germany the like facilities are farnished by the mails, either for forwarding the money in specie, or by an order, at a complex scale of charges founded on their portage rates—gold and drafts bsing placed | at half the charge of silver. In England orders are not given fora lurger amount than £5, ana the charge is threepence for orders of £2 aud less, and sixpence for orders over. Thie facility for transmit- ting small sums, is used in Great critain to an enor- mous extent, the transacting suounting, in 1847, to £14,115,153 198, Od. sterling. Iwas told tha it ccoupied the time of but three elerk nearly 300 officers and clerks are employed at the prin- cipal office in Alderrgate street; and it hase braach in every considerable post office in the kingdom. | brought with me acomplete and voluminous set of all the forms and blanks, but believing it unsafe to con- nect such operations with our present defective mode of mailing, forwarding aud accounting, | have deemed it premature even to enter upon the discussion whether it would be expedient aud proper to establieh such an Institution in eonnection with che Post OMce Department. VIL.—Miscrtimseovs Marten. I find the following features common to the mail estabii#bhmente of Great Britain aad the continent: — 1. A fireal officer, not subordinate to the head of the Department, to act as treasurer, and to check upon the accounts of the Portmaster (i In England Iraw that the accounts kept in detail were in the charge of an officer appointed by the Postmaster Ge: neral, called the Accountant General. The fs cfficer first referred to who 1# commissioned b Lords of the Treasury, in styled the Receiver General. 2. Guards to accompany the mails, furnished by the Depaitment with fire arms, livery and @ chronometer, to be returned when their service o-ases. The wi sre half a guin week in England, with permission to rolicit fees from passengers. On the railways they receive £70 @ year. advanced 10 £100 on the third year of service, to £115 on the tenth, and to £13) on the fifteenth 3, Registration of letters for an extra charge—on the continent called recommended le In ease no indemnification is made'by the Eng- , but there is by some of the German lishments, to the extent of 20 thalers in & Prompt return to tke dead letter office, when the party addrested cannot he found, excapt those warked * poste restante,” or “to be Kept till called for.” | 6. The limitation of letters by weight. In England, | the single letter cannot exceed half an ounee; in France, @ quarter of an ounce; in Gemmany, three- | fourths of # loth, now changed under « deeree of the recent Postal Congress at Dresden toa loth, which is half an oune 6. The conveyance of money by mail under special regulations. (See money order office. | | 7, A division of post offices into at least two classes. Thore that account to the General Post Office, | those that do rot. In France and Germany, one e | alone, tor a district, receives the accounts of all the | offices of that vietrict, and renders those accounts with its own to the geueral office. In Great Britain, it | is only those that are subordinate in ot | that rencer their accounts to another offi 4 of and this is the division into prin- the general office cipal wnd sub offices that the growth of our depart. ment will compel useventually to adopt. If, with tl division of the post offices, a similar one should be an to the routes, arranging the inferior ones into dinate class, to be attended to under specific in structicns, by certein portimasters or looal agents designated for the purpose, both in contractiag for the fsrvice and in supervising it, great relief would be aflorded tothe auditing branch and to the contract office 8 The most general mode for paying postmaster’ or balances, is by remittances through the mail de I consider inferior to ours, javing stated what arrangements aze common to the several European aye ms, 1 will now refer to such as are peculiar to each. In London, they have no postmaster. Théy sudsti- tute for that office a superintending president of inland and foreign mails. salary £700; and a superintending President of district posta, salary the same. Every thing coming and Roing through tho mails, falls under | the cbarge of the former, and whatever of mail matter originates and is delivered within the populous circuit of the London delivery, extending twelve miles in each direction from the office at St. Martins Le Grand, is | under that of the latter—the one accounting with every mail, and the other every day, to the Avcount- | ant General 1 witnessed the making up and despatch of the evening mail, Theoperation was superiatend- | ed by two presidents; there was said to be $09 persons | on duty, but there were, apparently, but 500 im the | rooms, They had ‘pewerfal coaijjutor in a steam engine, that performed the labor of conv | | fecond storie | district p tite wings of the building windows were clored against Pers. except those avcompanied by ti and ‘sd. till 7 P. M., and 6d. till half past 7 levated derke of the presidents. | raw the stamping, he obliterating of the pos amps, the sorting of the letters to the route desks the counting up of the untof the pre-paid by the mailing clerks, ase e t the returns of the receivers, the billing of the unpaid, the tying up, the wrapping, and. the bagging. The great numbers. and the activity of the scene, made it one. apparently, of indescribable confusion; yet each had hi» allotted part, all cases of doubt and questions of discretion were brought to the presidents, and promptly auswer and so alcel; was this (his multifarious and immense labor adjust to the time ret, that, as the last bag passed through the door. the clock struck 8, and the four immense e t g o d newspapers was the fice on that oecasion, the account of this vast amount of matter prepared, checked, com. pleted, and on its way to the Accountant General; and the money collected by the receivers and window clerks, accompanied by a veritied statement, was paid. ia gt tracts. It is specially r contrasts j amd the fines are appropriated to the over to the Receiver General. ‘The uniform rate of postage, and the discrimination im favor of pre-payment by a difference of e half of the charge, are peculiarities, as yet, of @he British poat cfMice, though after the Ist January next a similar reform will go into operation in krance, Their pre-