10 THE DINGEE &. CONARD COMPANY'S 



POSTAL AFFAIRS. 



The wonderful convenience of sending and receiving small packages of plants and other goods dy 

 mail, is next in importance to having our letters and papers delivered in the same way. The vast 

 increase in mail matter of this kind shows that the measure has met a great public want. There is, 

 however, considerable opposition to allowing the mails used for this purpose; not from the people 

 who pay the cost or the persons who do the work, but from some of our honorable senators and con- 

 gressmen, who appear to think the mails should not be permitted to carry anything but letters and 

 papers and such miscellaneous private matter as it may please them to frank ; everything else, they 

 say, should be left to the express companies. The people think Congress need not be afraid to carry 

 small packages of plants, &c., in the mails. There is plenty of room for the express companies, and 

 they are perfectly able to take care of themselves. The express is an indispensable institution; we 

 use it continually for heavier packages than can be sent by mail, and ship large quantities of goods 

 in this way, but a very large and important part of the country is not reached by any express, and it is 

 well known that express charges on small packages, for long'distances, are frequently so high as to 

 be entirely prohibitory. The Post Office Department can carry small articles cheaper than the ex- 

 press ; it has special facilities and all the machiner}' for doing it, and it covers the whole country 

 from ocean to ocean. 



People have learned that many little conveniences can be obtained by mail that otherwise could 

 not be haci at all, and as the whole Post Office Department is owned and paid for by the people, it is 

 reasonable that it should serve the people in every suitable way — in fact, this is what it is for. 



The people are willing to pay the cost, but insist that it shall be made as low as is compatible with 

 honest and efficient service. The present rate of postage on this Guide and on plants is i6 cents per 

 pound. This rate seems unreasonably high in view of the fact that the neighboring government of 

 Canada carries the same articles for 4 cents per pound. Is there any good reason why mail matter 

 should not be carried as cheaply in the United States as in Canada ? 



A good deal is said at Washington, about the necessity of the Post Office Department being self- 

 supporting, the truth is, it should pay as large a portion of its expenses, as can be done without detri- 

 ment to the vast interests it serves, but no more, the balance, if any, should be cheerfully provided by 

 Congress, for the reason that the mails are a necessity of civilization and good Government, as much 

 as the War, Navy, or Interior Departments, which are maintained at Public expense, because they are 

 essential to the prosperity of the Nation. 



The Post Office Department is one of the most important institutions of the Government. Though 

 ably managed, and of incalculable benefit, it is still susceptible of improvement, and we all wish to 

 see it pushed to the highest degree of usefulness. Cheap postage favors the widest dissemination of 

 intelligence, and therefore encourages education and social culture. The experience of this and 

 other countries has shown that rates of postage should be fixed as low as possible. We hope 

 the day is not far distant when ordinary letters will be carried for one cent each, and other mail 

 matter proportionately low. The money order system has proved a great success — it affords facilities 

 for remitting money with absolute safety — and should speedily be made a part of the Post Office ser- 

 vice, and its advantages extended to every Post Office. Besides these, and other important improve- 

 ments, we must have Postal Telegraphy, now working successfully in several European coun- 

 tries, and last but not least. Postal Savings Banks, These improvements can only be secured by 

 a well-defined public opinion which shall demand them as a necessity of the time. As public opinion 

 is made up of a number of individual opinions, it is very important that all should use their influence 

 in the right direction, that honest and capable men should be sent to Congress — men who are 

 thoroughly alive to the wants of their constituents and the country, and whose actions cannot be in- 

 fluenced by corrupt motives. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Garden Roses. — We are frequently asked for Garden Roses, as though only some varieties of 

 Roses were suitable for garden culture. This is a mistake. All Roses are Garden Roses, and do 

 best when planted in open ground in summer. 



Hardy Roses. — People often write, " I want Roses that are hardy and that will bloom all the 

 time." When such requests come from the South, they can be filled to the letter; there the Ever- 



