“It has just been stated in congress, that the two houses had ordered fifty-five thousand copies to be printed, of the Report of the Commissioner of Patents: and that the cost to the country would be $114,000. This Report is a huge document, printed in large type, with a large margin, containing very little matter of the least importance, and that little so buried in the rubbish, as to be worth about as much as so many ‘needles in a hay-mow.’ Then, this huge quantity of trash, created at this large expense, is to be franked for all parts of the country, by way of currying favor and getting votes next time, lumbering the mails, and creating another large expense. We have taken the trouble to weigh the copy of this document, which was forwarded to us, and find its ponderosity to be 2 lbs., 14 ozs., or, with the wrapper, about three pounds! The aggregate weight of the 55,000 copies, is therefore eighty-two and a half tons! Eighty-two and a half tons of paper spoiled; and the nation taxed $114,000 for spoiling it; and then compelled to lug it to all parts of the Union through the monopoly post-office and the franking privilege! Poor patient people!
“Such taxes, to be defrayed by high postage on letters and newspapers, grow out of this franking privilege; and the power which congress reserve to themselves, of distributing free, as many documents as they choose to print at the public expense! These documents, it seems, are the grand means resorted to by many members, of ‘currying favor’ with the influential, and thus ‘getting votes next time!’ ”
A late number of the Boston Courier contains the following humorous but not untruthful description of this franking business, written by a correspondent at Washington:
“The object of assembling the representatives of the people is discussion, not business; or at least, no other business to speak of. And this is labor enough for any man. Why, one gentleman of the house informed me that he had 2700 names on his list of persons to whom he must send documents, and he is not a candidate for re-election.
“Now, let us suppose that the average number of each member's document constituency is but 2500, and that each gets four favors only from his servant in congress. This would throw upon the shoulders of each member the labor of procuring, and franking, and directing ten thousand speeches in the course of a session. What more [pg 037] business than this should be expected of a man? especially, when we consider that the representative must receive and answer, at length, all sorts of letters, from all sorts of people, upon all sorts of topics, from Aunt Peg's pension to Amy Dardin's horse. If each member requires 10,000 speeches to his constituents, somebody has got to make them. And as there are something over 280 members of both branches there must be a supply of about three millions of this kind of ‘fodder.’ How can it be otherwise than that the congressional talking-mill must be kept constantly going? And what a famine would there be should it stop grinding? Going into a Western member's room the other day, and seeing him with his coat off in the middle of the apartment, up to his middle in documents, and speeches, and letters, laboring lustily with his pen, I alluded to his press of private business.
“ ‘Stranger,’ said he, ‘I never came to congress before, and I never want to come again. I tell you that this office of member of congress is not what it is cracked up to be. I calculated to have a good time here this winter, after racing all over my district, and making more than five hundred stump speeches in order to get elected. But the fact is you can see the way I enjoy myself. It is what I call the enjoyments horribly. Why, sir, I never began to work in this way before in all my life.’ I asked, ‘How comes on the loan bill in your branch?’ ‘O, they are spouting away, sir, and here I am franking the speeches. The Lord only knows what is in them.’ ‘And the Ten Regiment Bill?’ ‘I know nothing about it, and don't want to. Look at them thar letters,’ pointing to a two bushel basket of private correspondence—‘not one half of them answered; look at these speeches, not a quarter of them franked. What attention can I give to loan bills and regiment bills? Sir, I must attend to my constituents.’ And we left him to his labors. Our impression is, that it takes all day Saturday, and Sunday too, to bring up the franking and letter writing business of the week, for the members seldom get out to church.”
VI. Letter Postage Stamps, for Prepayment.
In England, as a part of the system devised by Mr. Rowland Hill, the prepayment of letter-postage is greatly facilitated, and, of course, the tendency to prepayment is increased, while the management of the post-office itself, in all its departments, is simplified to the highest degree, by the use of adhesive postage-stamps. The stamp is a small oblong piece of paper, with a device upon it, (Queen's head) so skilfully engraved and printed as almost to defy counterfeiting, against which indeed the small value of each one, the danger of speedy detection, and the high penalty for counterfeiting a royal signet, are equally effective safeguards. The stamp is coated on the back with an adhesive gum, which securely fastens the stamp to the letter, by being slightly wet and pressed down with the finger. These are printed in sheets, and are sold at all post-offices, at precisely their postal value; 1d., 2d., or 1s., as the case may be. The postmasters purchase them for cash, of the general post-office, and are allowed a deduction of one per cent for their trouble. The small shop-keepers of all descriptions, who buy from the post-offices without discount, generally keep postage-stamps to sell for the accommodation of their customers and neighbors, just as they would give small change for a larger piece of money with the same view. Such a shop would lose favor by refusing to keep stamps to sell.
Each individual buys stamps for his own use, in as great or small numbers as he pleases, always at the same rate. You keep them on your writing-desk, along with wafers and wax. You carry a few in your wallet, ready for use at any place. You seal your letter, and [pg 038] direct it, and then attach one of these stamps, drop it into the letter-box, or send it to the post-office, and that wonderful machinery takes it up, passes it about, finds the owner, and delivers it into his hand, without any additional charge. Nothing can exceed the simplicity of the process but the perfection of its working.
As the current value of these stamps is the same in every part of the country, and is precisely identical with that of the coin they represent, they serve as a currency to be used in payment of small sums at a distance. This is more useful in England than in the United States, because there they have no bank notes of small denominations. But even in this country, as soon as they are in general use, they will be found vastly convenient in making small payments at a distance.