186 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (REDUCTION OF POSTAGE.) 



" There is no feature that more peculiarly character- 

 izes the Government under which we live, there is 

 nothing perhaps upon which its peculiar character 

 depends more than the rapid, constant, and general 

 intercommunication between its citizens. Unlike the 

 countries of Europe, no material obstacle of dialect, 

 much less of language, interposes itself from one end 

 of the republic to the other; no class privileges or 

 prejudices separate one portion of the community 

 trom another; the methods of communication are 

 various and extensive ; and it may safely be affirmed 

 that there is no country in the world where there is 

 the same uniformity of habits, opinions, and modes 

 of action as in the United States. Of the various 

 methods of communication that of rapid, punctual, 

 and safe correspondence by mail is the most impor- 

 tant and the most highly valued by the citizen. Were 

 our post-office the most efficient and the best conducted 

 in the world, and were it at the same time the most 

 expensive branch of the General Government, it is be- 

 lieved that no one would object to the cost, whatever 

 it might be. 



" 1 ollowing the exarm 



ments of the Old World, the framers of our Constitu- 

 tion invested Government with a monopoly of mail 

 operations. The people of the United States have 

 never seen fit to revoke that power. It then unques- 

 tionably becomes the duty of Government to bring 

 our postal establishment to the highest possible state 

 of efficiency ; but the almost unanimous voice of pub- 

 lic opinion declares that our post-office is entirely in- 

 adequate to meet the wants ot the people. . . . 



" With very material reductions of postage that we 

 have had within the last twelve years, "\ye do not be- 

 lieve we have established that rate which will best 

 accommodate the public and give the highest rev- 

 enue. All experience, both in our own and other 

 countries, demonstrates clearly that the number of 

 letters written and sent by mail is in proportion to 

 the facilities of transmission and in an inverse ratio 

 to the cost of postage. The postal statistics of every 

 nation show conclusively that, however great the re- 

 duction of postage, the revenue and profits have in- 

 variably increased. . . . 



" It might not be unreasonable to maintain, with the 

 economy of management attending a uniform rate of 

 postage and the vast increase of correspondence that 

 would attend a material reduction of charges, that the 

 Post-Office would sustain itself under the uniform 

 rate of 1 cent. One half of the postal revenue of 

 Great Britain being clear profit, shows that this rate 

 would be abundantly able to support the post-office in 

 that country. Without, however, instituting a direct 

 comparison between that country and this, we are 

 fully convinced that a uniform rate of two cents a 

 letter is the most equitable and convenient charge 

 that can be made ; a rate that will eventually produce 

 the largest revenue, and a rate justified by every 

 consideration of justice, economy, and sound na- 

 tional policy. . . . 



" With most persons of ample means three cents 

 would not . be considered a high rate of postage, but 

 with large numbers of the poorer and humbler classes 

 that charge unquestionably abridges correspondence 

 and retards business and social intercourse. 



" Hon. A. D. Ilazen, Third Assistant Post- 

 master-General, uses this language in a public 

 document concerning a discussion of postal 

 questions : 



" The deficiency of revenue from the Treasury to 

 meet the expenditures was only 7*5 per cent, at the 

 close of the last year ; and with a gain of more than 

 10 per cent, in receipts over expenditures during the 

 past three years, it is not improbable that the postal 

 service, will be self-sustaining within the next three 

 years. More than this : with the increasing intelli- 

 gence of our people ; with a continuation of our pres- 

 ent business prosperity ; with the rapidly-growing 

 density of our population, more especially in the 



sparsely-settled regions of the country ; with wise 

 and faithful administration of the Government, the 

 way will be paved not only for a still greater efficiency 

 of the service, but for a reduction of postage, even on 

 the basis of an equality between the postal receipts 

 and the postal expenditures. The present decade 

 may witness a reduction of the domestic letter rate of 

 postage from three to two cents upon these conditions. 

 The Post-Office Department must continue to keep 

 pace with the development and growth of the ma- 

 terial interests of the country : if it would deserve 

 to remain the ' cherished favonte ' with the Ameri- 

 can people. 



"Again, ex-Postmaster-General James uses 

 this language in his official report : 



" If these suggestions are deemed worthy of con- 

 sideration and Congress carries them out, the reduction 

 of letter-postage from three to two cents will be possible 

 within three years. I believe the reduction could be 

 accomplished without a proportional diminution of 

 receipts, which followed the adoption of three -cent 

 postage in 1851. The people have shown their ap- 

 preciation of cheap postage. The introduction of the 

 postal-card, instead of diminishing the receipts, has, on 

 the whole, largely increased them. Two-cent postage 

 would. I believe, after one or two years' trial, pro- 

 duce the same result. It is my deliberate judgment 

 that two-cent postage is possible in the near future. 



" This was under date of Nov. 15, 1881. 



" The message of President Arthur, submit- 

 ted to this House under date of Dec. 4, 1882, 

 is strong, forcible, and clear in its distinct and 

 unequivocal recommendation of the 2-cent rate. 



" The proposition is a simple one, that any 

 reduction, large or small, in the rate of post- 

 age that may be directed by legislation will 

 benefit the masses of the people. I assert, Mr. 

 Chairman, that the mere statement of the 

 proposition carries its own conclusion. The 

 census enumeration of 1880 gives the statistics 

 showing the average degree of education of 

 the people, and the statistics of the Post-Office 

 Department show to what extent the people 

 have exercised their educational opportunities 

 and have availed themselves of the facilities 

 of the Post-Office Department. 



"As illustrating the extent to which the 

 mails of the country are used, the following re- 

 port, which has been incidentally referred to 

 by the gentleman from Kansas in his debate 

 with the gentleman from Massachusetts, for 

 the year ending Dec. 30, 1880, will best indi- 

 cate that which I am referring to, and will ex- 

 plain the general as well as special effects of 

 postage relief which the people of each and 

 every State will enjoy when the reduction 

 recommended is accomplished. The table I 

 refer to, and which I will append as a part of 

 my remarks, and which is a part of the report 

 as emanating from the Committee on the Post- 

 Office and Post-Roads, is based upon the result 

 of an actual count of mail matter originating at 

 all the post-offices and railway post-offices of 

 the United States during the first seven days 

 of December, 1880. I use the data of Decem- 

 ber, 1880, because no count has been made for 

 the year 1881. And right in that connection, 

 before referring to the table, I want this com- 

 mittee to understand the exact relations that 

 the American people hold with the people of 



