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THE 2TATIQNAX, TRIBUNE: WASHINGTON, D. a.'ffUNE 17, 1S82.
-r --nfj.' Sgff&tf &?&&g 'V War''
'i'HE Matiohal tkibune
(Established 1877.)
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Oft 3 7 7? "?
The validity cf the public debt of the United
States, authorized dy law, including debts incurred foh
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tk3ed." Sec. 4, Art. XIV, Constitution cf the United
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EMEREO AT THE V.ASHIXCTON PCST-OFFKX AS ECCOND-CLASJ MATTEB.
WASHINGTON, D. C, JUNE 17, 1S3
In forwarding his subscription for Tjie
National Tribune from Lawrence, Jfass.,
Gen. George S. Merrill, Commander-in-Chief oj
the Grand Army of the L'cpublic, says:
"The hold advocacy of The National
Tribune of the rights of the soldier elicits my
hearty approval. Keep on as you have legnn,
and do not consider your work accomplished
until every soldier who is entitled to a pension
receives it, and every soldier's icidow and every
soldiers child arc provided for by the Govern
ment. (Signed) Geo. S. Merrill."
Official Organ of the Grand Array.
Executive Committee Sixteenth
National Encampment G. A. E.,
Baltimore, March 31, 1SS2.
To the Editor National Tribune.
Sir: I am so much pleased with the fearless
advocacy of the soldier's inia-csts pursued uy
your paper that J have taken a personal interest
in introducing it into this Department. J fur
ther desire to make it the OFFICIAL ORGAN of
Tins committee, and will furnish you weekly
with so much of this commit Ice's correspondence
as will be interesting to our comrades throughout
the country who intend visiting this city on the
occasion of the assembling of the National En
cainpmeni, in June 7icxt. Yours, very truly,
"War. E. W. Ross,
Chairm an Executive Committee
If the Senate will act as promptly as the
House Las done, the legislative, judicial aud
executive hill under which the clerical force
in the Pension Bureau is to he increased the
measure will have become operative before
the next issue of The National Tribune.
In the apportionment of the twelve hun
dred additional clerks in the Pension Bureau
and kindred offices for which the Legis
lative, Executive and Judicial appropriation
bill makes provision, it is to be hoped that
the general law requiring preference to be
given to ex-soldiers and sailors will be faith
fully adhered to. The law has been shame
fully ignored in the Departments, but cer
tainly in the Pension Office we may expect
to see it duly observed.
The West Point cadets are greatly agitated
over the report that another colored lad is
about to be admitted to the Academy. We
trust the report is not true, not because we
think our embryo lieutenants ought to be
spared the awful humiliation of sitting in
the same class-room and drilling in the same
rank with a person of color, but because it
would really be a pity to subject the latter
to the insults and indignities which are sure
to be heaped upon him by his fellow-cadets,
and which it seems this Government of ours
is not strong enough either to prevent or
redress. And, besides, how would it be pos
sible for any well-bred colored youth to do
credit to his race if exposed daily to the
corrupting influence of those vho think it
honorable to persecute a leas fortunate com
panion. No ; West Point is no place for a
colored lad who respects himself and desires
to avoid bad company.
The value to the Grand Army of a news
paper like The National Tribune, which
circulates in every Slate and Territory of
the Union and has correspondents in every
Department, requires no explanation at our
hands. The paper speaks for itself, and we
are glad to know that its worth is heartily
appreciated by our comrades in every section
of the country. Among the members of the
Grand Army, however, there are still many
who are unacquainted with its merits, and
we appeal to our subscribers to make a
special canvass of every Post and send us a
club from each one. It is our aim to unify
and strengthen the interests of the Order
and recruit its membership, and to do this
it is necessary that we should have the
active surport and co-operation of every
comrade. With a circulation of one hun
dred thousand copies The National
Tribune will wield an irresistible influence
and be able to enforce the rights and protect
the interests of our ex-soldiers against all
opposition.
THE Senato should lose no time in taking
up the bill increasing the pension to S-10 a
month for men who lost a limb in the ser
vice. . Don't delay the measure,
Victory in Sight.
Thursday, June Sib, was a red-letter day
for our ex-soldiers and sailors. On that day
the House of Representatives took up and
passed without the formality of a roll call,
the bill to increase the pension of those who
lost an arm, hand, leg, or foot, or sustained
an equivalent disability in the service, from
twenty-four to forty dollars per mouth, and
at the same sitting the House began the
consideration of the Legislative, Executive,
and Judicial appropriation bill, in which, as
wo have heretofore stated, provision has been
made for the long-desired increase in the
clerical force of the Pension Bureau and
kindred offices. Elsewhere in our columns
will be found a full presentation of the fig
ures and facts upon which this increase is
based, and we advise our readers to study
them attentively. In opening the discus
sion, Mr. Cannon made a very frank and
straightforward explanation of the necessity
for the increase recommended by the Com
mittee on Appropriations, and his statement
of the matter leaves little or nothing for us
to say.
The amount appropriated for the purpose
by the bill is Sl,7-12,-130, and it is distributed
as follows : for S17 additional employees in
the Pension Bureau, $3 ,013,400; for 16G ad
ditional employees in the Surgeon-General's
Office, $224,200 ; for 167 additional employ
ees in the Adjutant-General's Office, ?200,60O;
the balance being divided among the Second
and Third Auditor's, Second Comptroller's,
and Sccrciary of War's Offices in the propor
tion necessitated by the increase of work in
the first named offices. It is expected that
with this enlargement of its resources the
Pension Bureau will bo ablo to adjust all
the pending claims which numbered on the
1st of April 2GS,55-1 as well as all new
claims that may be filed from day to day,
within three years from the 1st of July.
Some of our readers may be disposed, per
haps, to ask why tho committee, while the
matter was under consideration, could not
just as well have made provision for the set
tlement of all claims wi thin one year as in
three. The reason is that they found that
to be a jmysical impossibility. It is unfor
tunately the case that there is but one hos
pital record in the Surgeon-General's Oflice
and not arranged in alphabetical order at
that and it is in such a bad state of preser
vation that even with the aid of photo-lithography
it is impossible to make additional
copies of it. Consequently only a limited
number of clerks can be employed in search
ing it at one time, and it has been ascertained
that with tho maximum force at work on it,
it will require fully three years to complete
the examination. We do not know whether
or not the committee considered the practi
cability of employing a night force in addi
tion to a day force; that would double the
working power of the office, and, if possible,
should be adopted.
Of course the expediting of the bnsiness
of the Pension Bureau will render it neces
sary to make much larger annual appropria
tions on account of pensions for the next
four years, but the ultimate cost to the
Government will not be increased thereby.
According to Commissioner Dudley's esti
mate the following appropriations will be
necessary to meet the payments on account
of pensions for the next four fiscal years:
June 30, 1883 100.000,000
3834 350,000,000
3S85 300.000,000
1SSG 75,000,000
Total 425,000,000
After the last-named year it is thought
the annual pension charge will be about
45,000,000, gradually diminishing as death
and other causes abridge tho roll of pen
sioners. Theso figures at first sight may ap
pear very large, but it must be remembered
that $305,000,000 will be in part for arrears
of pensions and in part for 235,000 new pen
sioners, and the $45,000,000 annual pay
ments after 18SG will be on account of
400,000 pensioners, which will then bo the
total number on the rolls. As wc have
already pointed out, however, the only ques
tion really involved is the policy of paying
$425,000,000 during the next four years or
extending the payments over a longer period.
Ii is admitted that the Government owes
this sum and must pay it some time, and
in our opinion there are the strongest pos
sible reasons why it should be paid now
rather than at a later period. In the first
place national honor requires it. This money
is a part of tho debt which the Government
owes to the soldiers who fought its battles
and they aro in sore need of it. The bond
holders are drawing interest on the debt
which the Government owes them, and are
not at all anxious to be paid, but our crip
pled veterans havo nothing to support them
but the sacred promise of tho Nation to
"bind up their wounds." "urcly if there is
any object more than another to which the
surplus revenues ought to be devoted it is
the fulfillment of that promise. In tho
second place sound policy requires it. As
Representative Cannon forcibly said:
"The time to pay the debts of an individual
cr nation is when he or it lias the money to
pay with. Under existing revenue laws, after
the payment of alt expenses ot tho Oovern
meut, including interest upon the public debt
and including the sinking fund, our surplus
revenues amount or ihol to &1 00,0(19,40 J. Do.
"This fiscal year our surplus will amount,
exclusive of the requirements of the sinking
fund, -to at least $141.000,0.00, and there is no
doubt for the coming fiscal year, alter wc shall
have paid every expenditure and obligation
of the Government, including piovision for
the sinking fund and $1 00.000,000 for pensions,
under the operation of the present revenue
laws, we will still havo at least $30,000,000
remaining to be applied to the reduction of
the public debt, and thero can be no doubt it
is much better to use tho money for the pay
ment of our debt arising from pensions
than it is to havo it in tho Treasury a
standing temptation to thoso who are seeking
to promote schemes at tho expense of the
Government and fo3tcr extravagant expendi
tures. If this money is not used for these pay
ments and tho timo of payment is unduly
delayed, not only will an injustice be done to
the pensioners by tho delay, but tho time may
come when, from business adversities of tho
people, the revenues may fall oil' and these
debts still remain unpaid, and tho alternative
will be presented of either borrowing or in
U it
(( (
u :
creasing taxation to realize money to meet
theso obligations."
These reasons ought be sufficient to con
vince any reasonable, person of the wisdom
of adjusting the outstanding pension claims
without unnecessary loss of time, and we
have abundant cause for thinking that the
general sentiment of the county has long
favored that policy.
In taking leave of this subject for the
present, wc cannot refrain from remarking
that to the members of the Pension Com
mittee of the Grand Army belongs much of
the credit for securing Congressional action.
By the clearness and force with which
they presented the wishes of the soldiers
themselves, they thoroughly dispelled any
impression that might have existed that tho
pending measure was the invention of a
lobby. We would fain believe also, that
the constant and earnest advocacy by Tin:
National Tkibuni: of an increase in the
clerical force of the Pension Office has not
been without its influence, aud the hope
inspires us with a determination not to
weary in well-doing until every just de
mand of the soldier for congressional aid
has been .fully complied with. Thk Na
tional Tribune led the fight against. Com
missioner Bentley, which resulted so
happily for the welfare of our pensioners,
and headed off the attempt in Congress to
repeal the arrears bill, and it now has the
satisfaction of knowing that the cruel delay
in the settlement of pension claims, against
which it has protested with all the elo
quence at its command, is about to come to
an end forever. It has been a glorious cam
paign and we congratulate our readers on
the result.
Iet the Grand Army Spealt!
On Wednesday next the National Eu-
campment of the Grand Army will be inau
gurated at Baltimore with what bids fair to
be the most imposing street parade that has
occurred since the war. In addition to tho
uniformed Posts, several veteran military
organisations of both armies, and a number
of crack militia regiments will be in line,
and the demonstration will partake of a
truly cosmopolitan character. The march
ing will doubtless be fine, tho music inspir
ing and the spectacle altogether superb. It
will be a fitting introduction to the festivi
ties of the occasion and Ave have not a donbt
will be attended with a great display of
popular enthusiasm. Our Baltimore friends
have engaged to give tho Grand Army such
a welcome as it has never before received in
the course of its existence, and they aro
abundantly able to make good their prom
ises. We are glad to know that such is tho
case. It is a pleasant thing to see a whole
community opening its arms to the old sol
dier and employing all the resources at its
command to do him honor. It warms
the blood just as did twenty years ago
the enthusiasm with which the old soldier
responded to the call for volunteers,, and" it
strengthens one's confidence in the patriotic
impulses of the public. The cordiality with
which all classes of citizens havo united in
this tribute to our veterans is an assurance
that the peace which has come to the coun
try is founded on something more substantial
than mere acquiescence on the part of the
South in the results of the war. '
But the parade, the excursion, tho ban
quet, the fireworks all the entertainments
with which the visitors are to be feted are
in reality but incidents of the occasion and
of less consequence than the deliberations of
the Encampment itself. Indeed thero is no
military order in the country which sets less
store upon public display than tho Grand
Army, or that performs its mission with less
of ostentation, and those who imagine that
merrymaking is the end and object of its
labors must be sadly ignorant of its true
character. We have heretofore indicated the
general nature of the business that is likely
to come before the Encampment at the pres
ent session, but there is one subject the im
portance of which merits special attention.
We refer to the attitude of the Grand Army
towards much-needed pension legislation.
At the last annual Encampment, held in In
dianapolis, a committee of fifteen was ap
pointed to take into consideration the entire
question of pensions, and a sub-committee of
this general committee appeared before the
Pension Committees of both Houses, during
the present session of Congress, for the pur
pose of presenting the views of the Order in
regard to tho legislation most needed at the
present juncture. The members of this sub
committee, which consisted of Commander-in-Chief
George S. Merrill, of Massachusetts;
Past Commander-in-Chief Lewis Wagner, of
Pennsylvania; Past Department Commander
Tanner, of New York; Past Senior Vice De
partment Commander Paul Brodie, of Wash
ington, and Medical Director Azel Ames, of
Mass., urged, .'is a matter of the first import
ance, that a large increase be made in the
appropriation for clerks for special pension
service in the Surgeon-General's and Adjutant-General's
Offices, and that the working
force of the Pension Bureau itself be iiraoti
cally doubled. They were given a very cor
dial hearing, and later it was agreed to re
port in favor of tho proposed increase. Since
then that report has been made to the House
and decisive action lias been taken. We
suppose the action of the G. A. R. commit
tee will come up for approval at the com
ing Encampment, and it seems to us that it
would afford a fitting opportunity for that
body to put ou record officially its
hearty endorsement of the prompt action by
Congress in this matter. It is a question in
which every comrade is directly or indirectly
interested, and so far as our observation goes
the sentiment of tho Order is unanimously
in favor of the bill as reported by the com
mittee. Certainly the influenco of the Grand
Army, if exerted at all, ought to be em
ployed in behalf of the thousands of deserv
ing soldiers whom the inability of tho Pen
sion Bureau to settle tho claims on filo has
depriving of the aid to which their sacrifices
entitle them.
One 35111 That is All Kiglit.
"The bill is all right," said Mr. Robinson,
of Massachusetts, when the act to increase
the pension of all persons now on the rolls,
or hereafter put thereon, who lost an arm,
hand, leg, or foot, or suffered a disability
equal thereto, from $24, the present rate, to
$40 per month, was called up by Mr. Curtin,
the old Avar GoA'crnor of Pennsyh'auia, in
the House on the 8th inst., and passed
Avithout a dissenting voice. The bill is
indeed all right, for it does only bare justice
to a class of pensioners avIio have fared
badly on the meagre alloAvance $6 per
Aveek hitherto made them by the Govern
ment they sacrificed so much to defend.
The beneficiaries under this bill are not
very numerous, and the increased expense
Avhich it Avill entail is only a trifle compared
Avith the sums of money which Congress has
voted for less Avorthy purposes. But even
Avcre it otherwise, the bill Avould deserve to
become a law, since it is based upon every
consideration of equity and justice. The
Government is bound, by every principle of
honor, to make good, so far as it can, the
losses that Avcre sustained by our ex-soldiers
and sailors in its defense. It has expended
many millions of dollars in indemnifying
loyal property-OAvners for the confiscation
of their crops and cattle and the destruction
of their buildings during the war, yet these
losses are trivial in comparison Avith those
Avhich our crippled veterans sustained on
the field of battle, and if any obligation rests
on it to make a full return for the losses
incurred in one case a much greater obliga
tion exists in the other. To be sure it can
never make a full return for tho loss of a
leg or an arm ; no one has ever succeeded in
measuring such a loss in money. But it
can, at least, make such a return as Avill
make the cripple secure against Avant during
his lifetime, aud that is the sort of return
Avhich the bill in question provides for. It
may be said that $40 per month is a very
liberal allowance, but it is none too liberal,
considering that, as a rule, these pensioners
have families to support other mouths to
feed as Avell as their own. The Government
cannot afford to ignore the fact that the
bullet which crippled the soldier crippled
his family also, and that in many cases it
rendered the latter as helpless as if he had
died of his wounds.
Besides, observation shows that as years
go by the disability of this class of pensioners
becomes more serious, and in many cases
medical attendance a costly luxury is
necessary. The stumps of amputated limbs
often occasion trouble, and it has frequently
happened that death has resulted from
wounds ten, fifteen, and even twenty years
after their infliction. And who, lot us ask,
for a pension of forty dollars dnring the
remainder of his existence, Avould be willing
to lose a leg or an arm, a hand or a foot?
No. As Mr. Robinson observed, the bill
is all right, and Ave congratulate our readers
that it will become a laAV brrore the close of
the present session of Congress.
The Age of Military Genius.
The A'igorous debate Avhich Aveut on in
the Senate last Aveek over the compulsory
retirement clause in the army appropriation
bill, brought up once more the vexed ques
tion as to the age at Avhich an officer of tho
army ceases to be fit to command. We do
not propose to discuss tho matter in these
columns, AA'hich are much too small to
accommodate all the ponderous arguments
Avhich our dignified Senators aro Avont to
hurl at each other in tho course of their
intellectual encounters, but it may be of
some interest to our readers to show Avhat
the teaching of history is on this point. To
begin Avith, then, it may be laid doAvn as
a general proposition, subject to very rare
exceptions, that all the great battles of the
Avorld have been won by men Avho Avcre
either in the prime of life or had not yet
reached the climax of their physical powers.
Alexander the Great Avas sighing for more
worlds to conquer before he Avas thirty years
old, and died at the age of thirty-two. Ju
lius CicsarAvas commander of the fleet before
Mitylene at tAveuty-two, had subjugated
Great Britain at forty-five, and died the
victor of ever five hundred battles at the
age of fifty-six. Hannibal's career is a still
more conspicuous illustration of youthful
prowess. At twenty-six he Avas commander-in-chief
of the Carthageuian army in Spain,
and at thirty-one he had achieved all his
brilliant victories in Italy. Both the eldor
and younger Scipio Africauus Avon their
great triumphs over Carthage beforo they
Avere forty. Coming down to later times
the rulo still holds good. Thus the brief
period of ten years embraces all of Charle
magne's most famous campaigns. Crowned
king at tAventy-six, he Avas master of France
and Germany at twenty-nine, conqueror of
Italy at thirty-tAvo and of Spain at thirty
six. Peter tho Great, of Russia, organized
his army at twenty, at thirty had Avon the
great battle of Embach, aud one year later
founded in a Avilderness the stately capital of
the new empire. Coming down to still later
times, the career of Napoleon supplies us
Avith another startling illustration of the
military genius of youth. Ho Avas a general
of brigade at twenty-five, commander-in-chief
of the Italian army at twenty-six, and
had laid all Europe at his feet before he had
reached his fortieth year. It is equally re
markable that tho average age of the mar
shals Avith Avhoso aid all his great cam
paigns Avero fought, was but forty-four,
Avhile tho Italiau, Austrian, and German
armies were officered by old men. Our
experience in the rebellion also shoAved the
A'alue of young blood. A contributor to tho
United Service Magazine is authority for the
following statement:
"Tho aA'erago ago of twonty of our most
distinguished generals, namely, McDowell,
j McClcllan, Buell, Hunter, Grant, Pope,
jtosecrans. rosier, uurnsme, Steele, Curtis.
Meade, Gilmore. Sherman, McPherson, Thom
as, 3Iookcr, Howard, Scolleld, and Sheridan
was forty-one. Tho average ago of Hancock,
Howard, Sedgwick. Slocum, Sykcs, corps com
manders at Gettysburg, as also McClernaud,
McPherson, and Sherman, corps commanders
at Vicksburgh, avus under forty.
''In the confederate armies it av.is the
younger officers avIio gaA'C the greatest strength
to their cause. Tho averago age of Ewell,
Hill, and Longstrcct, corps commanders at
Gettysburg, was forty-four. Stonewall Jack
son, avIio in the first two years of its history
imparted to the Army of Northern Virginia
its spirit of dash and daring, died at thirty
nine. Stuart, the cavalry leader, Avon his
fame and died at thirty-one."
In other Avords, should Avar be declared to
morrow, we should probably have to look to
our lieutenants rather than our gray-haired
generals for successful commanders.
Tho Turin." Commission.
The nine members of the Tariff Commis
sion have at last been nominated by Presi
dent Arthur, and it turns out that they are
all or nearly all Protectionists. Naturally
the Free Traders are greatly disgusted and
use very contemptuous language in speak
ing of the character of the Commission. It
Avould have suited them much better had
the President selected such professional
revenue reformers as Da-id A. Wells, J. S.
Moore (the "parsee"), or Edward Atkinson.
Doubtless Mr. Arthur foresaw that some
body Avould have to be disappointed and
determined to make his choice without re
gard to whom it Avould, please or offend.
Had he appointed five free traders and four
protectionists or five protectionists and four
free traders the same accusation of injustice
would have been brought against him, so
that Ave do not see how he could possibly
have escaped censure under any circum
stances ; and, indeed, Avhy should the work
of revising the tariff be entrusted to Free
Traders who are only interested in getting
rid of the tariff altogether?
Tho fact is, however, that the Commission
is composed of very good material and all
the leading industries of the country aro
very equitably represented in its make-up.
Its members, Avith the exception of Mr. Por
ter, are not specialists, it is true, but they
are all familiar with, the practical Avorking
of the present tariff and will not be apt to
accept ingenious theories as facts. It must
not be forgotten that the Commission has
been created Avith a vieAV to taking the testi
mony of others rather than for the purpose
of recording its OAvn opinion, and that its
action is not in any Avay binding upon Con
gress. Its political complexion therefore is
of small consequence, provided that the per
sonal bias of the members does not prevent
them from giving an impartial hearing to
both the supporters and opponents of pro
tection, and the character of the Commis
sioners is in our opinion a satisfactory
guarantee that justice Avill be done.
Ex-Yice President Wheeler, the chairman
of the Commission, Avho it is now said will
not serve, is a gentleman of long'and A-aried
experience in public affairs, and it was on
that account, doubtless, rather than be
cause of any special knoAvledge concerning
the industries of the country, that the Presi
dent saAv fit to place him at the head of
the body. Mr. Hayes is supposed to be the
special representative of the woolen manu
facturers. Ho is said to be thoroughly
posted concerning the state of this industry,
and the Commission Avill benefit by his ex
perience. Mr. Oliver is one of Pcnnsyb'ania's
most distinguished citizens. He was a can
didate for the United States Senate in oppo
sition to Senator Mitchell, but is more of a
business man than a politician. Scarcely
any one could have been selected Avith a
more intimate acquaintance with the iron
interest than he possesses. Mr. Garland, of
Uliuois, is identified with agricultural in
terests, and is Avell known as the secretary
of several flourishing agricultural societies.
Mr. Ambler, of Ohio, is said to have been
selected on account of his knoAvledge of the
Avool-groAving and iron and steel industries
of the West. Mr. Phelps, of Missouri, who
is also known to have declined to serve, was
at one time Chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee of the House, but has not
taken a prominent part lately in public
affairs. He is imt down Avith hoAv much
reason Ave do not know as a representative
of the farmers. Mr. Porter, of the District
of Columbia, is too avoII known to need
particular mention at our hands. Although
comparatiA-ely a young man, he has acquired
the reputation of being one of tho ablest
statisticians of his time, and his Avork in
connection Avith the last census has Avon the
highest praise abroad as Avell as at home. The
two Southern members Mr. Underwood, of
Georgia, and Mr. Kenner, of Louisiana
represent respectively the cotton and sugar
interests and bear an excellent reputation,
so that tho Commission, if not brilliantly
constituted, promises at least to bo a good
Avorking body.
Itetluco tho Postage.
rostmasler-General Howe estimates that
his Department Avill be self-supporting dur
ing the coming fiscal year. This is a Aery
gratifying piece of intelligence, and Congress
should now consider tho propriety of mak
ing the reduction in letter and ncAvspaper
postage, Avhieh the public have so long
demanded. A bill for that purpose Avas
introduced in the Senate on the Gth inst., by
Senator Davis, of West Virginia, and during
tho desultory discussion Avhich ensued over
the question of reference, tho fact Avas
brought out that tho Senate Committee on
Post-Offices and Post-Roads is favorably
disposed tOAvards the proposition. It Avill
be urged against it, of course, that the
reduction of lotter postage from three to tAVO
cents Avill cause a heaA'y dimunition in the
revenues of the Department, but experience
sIioavs that tho ultimate effect of every
reduction in postal charges has been to in
crease the business and hence the receipts
of the service. Indeed, Avere it not for the
costliness of tho star routes and the loss
which the Department sustains in the car
riage of merchandise, Ave are inclined to be
lieve that letter postage could be safely
reduced to one penny. It is a well-established,
fact that on the mere carriage of
letters the GoA-ernment hoav makes a con
siderable profit, but the rates for second and
third class matter are so ill-proportioned to
the cost of the service that up to the present
time the general result has been an actual
los3. Hoav this comes about will be readily
understood Avhen we mention the fact that
merchandise, up to the limit of Aveight pre
scribed by Liav, can be shipped by mail to
San Francisco from New York for less than
it can be fonvarded by express from NeAV
York to Chicago, so that the Government
gets as its share of bnsiness only such mat
ter as cannot bo transported at a profit by
the express companies. Considered by itself
this fact Avould seem to afford a sufficient
reason for excluding merchandise from tho
mail3 altogether, or raising the rate so as to
cover the actual cost of the service, but it
must be remembered that to adopt either
course Avould be to place thousands of per
sons at the mercy of monopolies and deprive
many others living in localities remote from
railroads of all transportation facilities
Avhatever. It is doubtless the fear of such a
result that has deterred Congress from
making any change in existing regulations.
But the object of the postal service is not
to provide a source of revenue for the Gov
ernment, but to secure to the public a cheap
and reliable means of communication be
tween all parts of the country, and the
smaller the charge that is exacted for that
service the more available it must become,
of course, to all classes of citizens, so that on
the score of public policy the rates of postage
ought to be reduced as often as the revenues
of the Department reach the point Avhere
the service becomes self-sustaining. As late
as 1825 the charge for letter postage was six
cents and the effect of every reduction sinee
then has been to ultimately increase the
Government's receipts. It is reasonable,
therefore, to expect that any deficit which
may result from the proposed further reduc
tion to two cents will soon be made good by
the larger use of the mails, which it will
naturally cause.
With regard to newspaper postage it ia
Avorth considering whether the time has not
come to abolish it entirely in the case of all
lona-fidc subscribers. As it is, subscribers
living in the county Avhere the paper is
published are not required to pay postage,
and we see no reason why, for instance, the
subscribers to The National Tkibune
should not enjoy the same privilege. The
press is undoubtedly the greatest educator
of modern times, as well as the chief bul
wark of the republic, and it would be an
act of wisdom, it seems to us, to make its
circulation free throughout the length and
breadth of the land. The same considera
tions which have brought about the reduc
tion of newspaper postage to the present
Ioav rates Avould warrant its abolishment
altogether, provided it would not entail too
serious a deficit in the revenues of the
Post-Office Department. It is not likely
that Congress Avill take any positive action
in regard to this subject during the present
session, but there can be no question that
the public demand for a further modifica
tion of postal charges must be met in the
near future, and it becomes our Senators
and Representatives to prepare the way for
it by a careful and thorough consideration
of all the interests involved in the question.
As harvest time approaches, the prom
ise of abundant crops grows brighter and
brighter, and we may look forward now with
confidence to a decided improvement in the
general business of the country early in the
autumn. During the last few months the
air has been thick with prophecies of an
impending financial panic, but as time goes
on and these sinister predictions are not ful
filled the public are beginning to realize
that they Avere based on mere conjecture,
and are less and less inclined to credit them.
The truth is, that the causes which usually
produce a panic are absolutely Avanting at
this time. A great deal of money has un
doubtedly been put into neAv railroads,
mines, and other speculative ventures, but
not to the same extent as in the period im
mediately preceding the collapse of 1873
and no such inflation of stocks exists now
as characterized the money market then.
It is true that there has been a percepible
shrinkage of trade during the first half of the
present year, but the decrease can be fully
accounted for by the falling off in the cotton
and cereal crops of the country, last year,
and there is every reason for believing that
business will recover its healthy tone as
soon as the farmers begin to realize on this
season's harvests. If our merchants and
manufacturers took fright every time our
croakers cried "panic" they Avould be in a
perpetual state of trepidation.
-' -
The National Tribune is at once tho
largest, handsomest, aud mo3t interesting
soldier's paper published, and no ex-soldier
or sailor should bo Avithout it. Read Avhat
your comrades say of it in our correspond
ence column.
Every modern improvement ha3 been in
troduced in the Mailing Department of The
National Tribune in order to secure tho
delivery of the paper to subscribers Avith the
least possible delay. In this, as in other de
partments of the paper, no expense has been
spared to secure perfect mail facilities, and
Ave have now the gratifying knoAvledge that
our arrangements in this respect are more
complete than those of any journal publish
ed at the National Capital. Each copy of
the paper bears tho name of the subscriber
plainly printed, and in order to aid as far as
possible the Post-Offico officials, the immense
mail of TnE National Tribune is classi
fied by States before leaving our publication
oflice. Any failure to deliver the paper
promptly must now rest with the Post-Office,
4
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