EXPENSE OF OUTLYING ROUTES.
The last Report of the Postmaster-General shows the operation of the existing system in this respect. By the Statement of Receipts and Expenditures for 1868-9, it appears that in no less than sixteen States and Territories, including the District of Columbia, the Post-Office was more than self-supporting, there being an excess of receipts over expenditures of $3,571,315; while in the other States and Territories there was an excess of expenditures over receipts amounting to $4,727,175.[97] The self-supporting list, with each surplus, is as follows:—
| States and Territories. | Receipts. | Expenses. | Excess of receipts over expenditures. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | $309,244.35 | $293,667.27 | $15,577.08 |
| New Hampshire | 198,238.89 | 165,370.21 | 32,868.68 |
| Massachusetts | 1,389,731.76 | 740,121.42 | 649,610.34 |
| Rhode Island | 149,800.95 | 76,046.78 | 73,754.17 |
| Connecticut | 418,048.99 | 312,415.28 | 105,633.71 |
| New York | 3,818,667.45 | 2,186,196.21 | 1,632,471.24 |
| New Jersey | 343,192.64 | 297,402.18 | 45,790.46 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,734,987.75 | 1,135,969.06 | 599,018.69 |
| Delaware | 49,291.11 | 45,496.69 | 3,794.42 |
| Ohio | 1,185,718.44 | 1,166,145.19 | 19,573.25 |
| Michigan | 550,107.68 | 537,012.97 | 13,094.71 |
| Illinois | 1,442,300.26 | 1,125,034.22 | 317,266.04 |
| Iowa | 438,636.79 | 398,381.21 | 40,255.58 |
| District of Columbia | 123,422.70 | 111,746.40 | 11,676.30 |
| Alaska | 316.72 | 150.00 | 166.72 |
| Wyoming | 18,086.09 | 7,322.37 | 10,763.72 |
| Total | $12,169,792.57 | $8,598,477.46 | $3,571,315.11 |
Here I ask confidently, considering the nature of the Post-Office and the unquestionable importance of encouraging correspondence, if it is just that the letter-writers in one part of the country should be constrained to make the large contribution attested by this table, for the benefit especially of those at a distance, and also of the country at large. Rejecting again all idea of casting this expenditure upon the distant places and the pioneer, I insist that it should be borne by the Treasury rather than by remote letter-writers.
It is easy to exhibit the extent of this charge, and its palpable injustice. Begin with an illustration. Suppose a common carrier, with an interest beyond his business in an undeveloped part of the country at some distance from his daily line, makes a deviation to this outlying settlement at a daily loss, but looking to the growth of his interest there for ultimate remuneration. It would not be just for him to levy on all his customers along the main line for the expense of this deviation,—making them not only pay for their parcels, but contribute to the development of the outlying settlement. Nor would this enforced contribution commend itself, if urged in the name of charity or as a patriotic service to an infant community. The customers would insist that their parcels should pay only the legitimate cost of transportation and delivery; or they would soon find another carrier, who would charge them simply for their parcels, without adding the cost of opening new settlements. But the National Government is our common carrier, turning aside at great expense to develop and supply new places, to its great ultimate advantage in the sale of public lands, the growth of population, and increase of the revenue; but it is not justified in casting this large expense on the correspondence of the people.
Already the Nation assumes the expenses of the Territories before their admission as States, paying the salaries of their various officers and the cost of administration. For equal reason the Nation should assume the expenses of these outlying post-routes.
By the kindness of the Postmaster-General I am enabled to present from the records of the Department two authentic testimonies. There is the post-route from San Antonio to El Paso, a distance of seven hundred and four miles, with the annual cost of service, $126,601, and the annual receipts from offices on the route, $3,137. There is also the post-route from Kelton, Utah, to the Dalles, Oregon, seven hundred and sixty-five miles, with the annual cost of service, $130,278, and the annual receipts from offices on the route, $3,822. Other instances might be adduced, but these are enough to show how seriously the postal service is burdened by obligations which plainly belong to the Treasury.
In former debates of the Senate, an incident was mentioned by Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky,[98] which illustrates the character of these unproductive lines. During a journey in Tennessee in the summer of 1844, the Senator had occasion to go to an outlying post-office in the interior of the State, on reaching which, late at night, he found the postmaster had gone to bed, leaving the mail-bags in the wagons. To his inquiries concerning this singular circumstance, “Why, Sir,” responded the official, “we don’t take the bags out at all; we don’t even look into them; it is so seldom we receive anything, we don’t think it worth while.” And upon investigation it in fact appeared that there was not a letter in any one of these bags, and had not been for a month. But this costly mail-service was at the expense of the correspondence elsewhere. The letter of the distant seaboard was a contributor.