■No. 6. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



83 



lonosi anil honorobls men, wero mere gamblers in 

 niillieiry trees and epeculmors upon iho public credu- 

 iiy So it is likely to be in respoct to other ogricul- 

 iirnl improvements. We inuet not expect to reach the 

 ;oal at which centuries have aimed by a single leap 

 The public mirtd by groat paino-tnking has just come 

 ,0 that healthy state in which it begins to take an in- 

 erost and find a rich pleasure i.i agricultural inquiry; 

 ui.l ihe ignorant are ceasing to sneer at book-farming 

 in.l have become willing to rend end to listen. They 

 u'l J now to bo nourished by ihc calm and reasonable 

 <:i;.iiKntof facto and eiperimenle ; but to approach 

 : now with mere thcoroiical calculations, and 

 ^os 80 extratragant that they transcend all reason 

 : I xpectations and experience, will only create dis- 

 pppuintmont and disgust, and essentially injure the 

 treat cause, which many of the best and most intelli- 

 tent minds of the community have so much at heart. 

 f There is a great deal of valuable matter in the re- 

 toort besides that to which we have referred, of which 

 tt'o shall hereafter avail ourselves. 



To Coriespondeiits."Post Office and Postage. 



We do not agree with our respected friend from 

 Cayuga, that the decision of the Post Master is wrong 

 in regard to endorsing ucws-])apcrs. If " A. B's com- 

 pliments to C. D." mean nothing, then the writer can- 

 not complain that he is not allowed to put them on the 

 paper. But they mean a good deal ; they signify the 

 good will of the person who writes ; his kind remem- 

 brance; that the paper coincs from him; and would be 

 understood generally to imply that the writer was well, 

 and invited attention particularly to something in the 

 paper. If it was lawful to put so much, why should 

 it not be lawful to put compliments also, to E. F., and 

 G. H., and so on, inserting as many tender messages 

 you please to the mistress of the household, and so 

 through all the aunties and Cousins down to Boots and 

 Betty, the scrub. The mail is designed for the general 

 accommodation and comfort j for the aid of business 

 and commerce, the diffusion of intelligence, and the 

 maintenance of social intercourse, the great charm of 

 lite. Every man or woman, therefore, who in any 

 respect whatever avails himselfof its advantages, should 

 be willing to pay for those advantages, and not at- 

 tempt to evade then- obligation by any sort of skulking 

 whatever. 



Then we think it the imperative duty of the Gov- 

 ernment to render tlois form of communication as rapid, 

 as certain, as dilTusive, and as cheap as [wssiblc. We 

 therefore protest against the late proposition of the 

 Post Master General to increase the 18 3-4 c<nt post- 

 age to 20 cents. If the present extension of mail con- 

 veyances and facilities are not sufficient for thedemands 

 of the country, then let the Government make them so. 

 If the income •f the office is not sufliciont to meet the 

 expenses, supply it from other sources, if we are ever 

 likely again to have any thing to give. Let the public 

 accommodation in this matter be the first object. The 

 rates of postage are already much too high. Reduce 

 your 25 cent postage to 12 1-3 and your 18 3-4 to 10 

 cents, and your 12 1-2 and all others to 5 cents, and 

 there can be very little doubt that the revenue of the 

 Post Office would be greatly increased. Then put an 

 entire stop to the franking privilege excepting in the 

 Great Departments of Government, and the health of 

 thb great concern now complained of as "in a poor 

 way and very much inclined to consumption," v.'ould 

 be speedily restored. Si;ch a change wcuid greatly 

 fnultiply the epistolary correspondence cf the country ; 

 ojid the unfortunate itidividuals, who are just taking 

 their departure at the gi'eat points iq steamboats and 

 cars, would not be dunned with, "Sir, I was too late 

 for the mail, (nine times out of ten a lie) will you take 

 a letter," SJid theii fir^d themselves legularly tiansform 

 ed into U. S. Mail bags. Twenty and thirty letters, 

 gs we know by experience, are not an uncommon num- 



ber to be offered to one individual, because the writers 

 "unfortunately missed the mail." 



We believe as much as we live, if all postages of 

 single letters were reduced to ten or cvcnsi.x cents, and 

 double letters to fifteen cents and five for every addi- 

 tional sheet for any distance, and the payment of this 

 [lostage always riMjuirrd when the letter is deposited or 

 rather stamps j)urcha.sed, and the franking privilege 

 abolished or much limited, the revenue of the Dcimrt- 

 ment would be essentially incrca/!ed, and sufficient for 

 the purjioscjj of the country. 



I'ost Office nnd Postage, 

 [frea letter from Cajpiga County. "^ 

 How could we live if the mail was stopped, and the 

 post office closed "? Yet I well remember when in a 

 populous neighborhood of another state, scarcely any 

 person thtught of visiting the post offK-e, if such a 

 place was even known. "HovV did ynu get letters 1" 

 By private conveyance. "And your ncwspapersT' 

 From the printing office in the city, at the distance of 

 twenty-five miles. 



Within the present century, Scijiio P. O. was kept 

 in the village of Aurora. It was calh-d so, because it 

 was the only office of the kind in that old town, tliougl: 

 the population even at that tunc was great. 



the Post Master General construes a memorandum to 

 mean any Ihinp thnl U mriikn. on a ncvs]ml>er bc.wks Ihc 

 direction. For instance: If a person sends a newspa- 

 per with his name or. it, to ir.dicntr •.vheiice << came, 

 ought it to be considered an offensel But I wlllgoono 

 step further : f uppose he writes on the margin '^ A.B i 

 compliments In C. D," and no more, would a liberal con- 

 stntction of the law make it an offence 1 It is equiva- 

 lent to the simplest act of recognition when we meet a, 

 passenger in the road. Not a word is spoken in one 

 case, nor an additional word in the other. It wrongs 

 the Department out of nothing, for no man would 

 write a letter for the purpose of saying no more than 

 that. He communicates no more intelhgencc thantho 

 man who silently touches his hat. 



But the Post Master General has the jmixr to say 

 that a compliment so written and so sent shall subject 

 the receiver to letter postage, or the tcritcr to a fine of 

 five dollars ; and out of 



' Respect for liis high place" — 



I would on no occasion offend him in this particular j 



but it is bad policy for an officer to strain his authority. 



Home League-"Protcct»ve Tariff. 



Those who take but a superficial view of trade and 



When its ramifications, are very apt to hail a protective tariff" 



wheat was carried to Albany in sleighs at a cost of 75 

 cents a bushel, money was hard to get, and post office 

 bills not so easily paid as at present. Letters and pa- 

 pers were luxuries that but few persons could well af- 

 ford, to much extent. Now there are seven post offices 

 within the limits of that old to^vn, on the two stage 

 roads between Auburn and Ithaca, besides four more 

 at least which arc kept in the eastern parts of the dis- 

 trict. 



These notes are intended to show the general and 

 increasing interest that is felt in the Post Office De- 

 partment, an establishment which necessarily requires 

 millions for itssupport. Thisrevenueisderivedchiefly 

 from atax upon letters. With a liberality adapted to 

 republican institutions, newspapers weighing several 

 times as much as a letter that is charged twenty-five 

 cents, are carried throughout the whole length of the 

 United States for one cent and a half— so we may all 

 be politicians. 



This liberality however, is not met in all cases in a 

 proper spirit by our citizens. Under the shelter of a 

 newspaper, many contrive to send intcl!igenc« which 

 ought to be subject to letter postage, and which is sub- 

 ject to it when foiUid out. IL>norable, upright minds 

 however, that have roflcc!«l on the matter, will refrain 

 from such practices ; and be willing to bear their propei 

 proportion of the burdens imposed by the Government. 

 The law of Congress requires the postjnaster when 

 any thing is written on a newspaper, which u 'iiounls lo 

 (^mc««)™^^'/K;«,tocharge letter postage for it, ami if the 

 recdvcr will not pay it, the paper is sent back, and the 

 writer subjected to a fine of five dollars. All laws of 

 this nature, leave much discrclionary power with the 

 Heads of Departments, and it is very desirable that they 

 should receive a liberal inteqirctation. It is very desi- 

 rable that whenever a citizen is mulcted, that both he 

 and the community should be satislird that the intent 

 and meaning of the law, as well as the public welfare, 

 required it to be done. 



When a person writes a letter on a newspepcr, or 

 transfers a letter already written to a newspaper, by 

 dotting or underscoring aprf/i/ctAvord for each u'rittcn 

 word, as they occur in succession, — it is clearly an at- 

 tempt to evade the law, and to wrong the Department 

 of its just dues. No candid person can say a word in 

 defence of such practice, and it ought to be discounte- 

 nanced by every good citizen. When the penalty of 

 the law overtakes such cffcndcre aftoj due warning, ft 

 ii^ a just punishment; and the hands of the postmaster 

 ought to be strengthened to perform the duty. ' 



Inmy judgment however, it is a different affair when 



as the only panacea to bring back a healthy, prosper- 

 our trade to the nation. 



My experience goes to prove that the pecuniary ills 

 we now suffer, are by no means chargeable to a dim- 

 inution of tariff under the compromise act, but i ather 

 to the abuse of the credit system. Now my agricultu- 

 ral friends, I appeal to your expcnencc in relation to 

 the credit system ; have you not seen at a farmer's ven- 

 due, cows, horses, oxen, and all implements of hus- 

 bandry, sold 50 per cent, higher on a credit of 13 

 months, than they would bring in cash 1 The samo 

 extra price for credit will apply to all our imported 

 goods. When wc can pay England with paper prom- 

 ises, we always buy too much, hence the outcry for a. 

 tariff to stop the overtrade ; but when wc have to pay 

 specie for goods, the check to excessive importation i» 

 sufficient, without an extra tariff. 



As long as England would take our State Stocks 

 and United States Bank Stocks at par, our banks dis- 

 counted freely and our imports were excessive; but 

 now when these paper credits have exploded, and we 

 must pay specie for the excess of our imports over our 

 exports, the necessity of a protective tariff is don« 

 away. 



If I was asked what was the leading cause of Iha 

 present money pressure, I should say it was the depre- 

 ciation in State Stocks, they no longer being available 

 in England at any price. Six millions of specie had 

 to go forward last fall to pay for goods, which at other 

 times had been paid for in scrip; this brought our 

 specie paying banks to their marrow bones. Had 

 Ejigland continued to take scrip, there would have 

 been no present panic, but our debt to her would soon 

 have been so large, that our export of cotton and to- 

 bacco to Great Britain, would hardly have paid the in- 

 terest of it. If I mistake not, this failure of our credit 

 is a better protection against British manufactures, than 

 .50 per cent, increase in our tariff. Hence my doctrine 

 is, let us have a tariff for revenue only, but let it be im- 

 posed with such discrimination as will protect those 

 branches of our manufactures that most need it, while 

 it promotes free trade with those nations wh» take ex- 

 clusively tlie products of our industry in payment for 

 their produclions. 



To say the least of the evil of a protective tariff, its 

 tendency to inflation is inevitable ; ruinous competi- 

 tion and reaction must follow— the extravagant habits 

 it entails upon community palsies all the humble char- 

 ities of social Ufe, and brings economy and self-dcnid 

 to shame. 



Old HuMPiiBEy of the Geneseeb. 



