Weekly Messenger, Volume 3, Number 137, Vevay, Switzerland County, 27 June 1834 — Page 2
Post ?filce Drparttiiint. Ex.! rack from ire Report if the Muj-jrity. MIS. r'.VIG MARE THE FCLLOWIXQ KEPOHT. The Committee on the Post Oince and Fost lln-ulsia obedience V the resolution, of the Senate --!' the 29lh of March, A. I). 1034. r r-rf-en ier! to inquire into the condition of (he Fcst Ofiioe Depaitmenf, and having made progress in their invetigaton, now report Thrit yo'ir committee ? at an earlv day, after the' were invested with authority so to do, called fir a statement of the available clahns due trom po-tmater nn-.i others to the department an ! of the funds on hand, ami also the amount of its debts. In answer to this inquiry, they were informed t!i;it it won't' be the work of several month?, with ail the disposable force r! the depart ment, to prepare the statement; the shortest time oameil as possible, extending much beyond the probable adjournment ofCongiess.
fur the use of the department
within that quarter, and prior to
the 1st day ot April,
Fliey fin J that, oi: (lie lit July, ICC'., t! ere j Po-f musfci Genc-ial has, in Us r?rrii atirm lextrn allowarxc-s in the fmirTr.fr fvijTC v.i-il
I was a eurplti' fund of
g2E3.0C3 00
Which will Ichtc oC the receipts of that quarter, in the hands of postmaster?, en that (lay. 203.704
A considerable portion of this sum, probably, was received by this department in drafts on postmaster?, but to what amount your committee have no means of ascertaining. They therefore lake the above sum ? the nrnount due for that quaitcr on the 1st of April, 1034. This estimate of the sums due and outstan-
lirg. will still appear lartre, if we compare
314,704 .That on the 1st, July, 1823, the
fiirplus land was according to the statement of the former Postmaster Genera?, 239,140 17 Dot according to the statement of th present Postmaster General, it was reduced to 230.109 00
Which, for tnc purpose of (he present estimate merely, your committee assume to be correct. And on this supposition, the available funds of the department were diminished in
four years
52.C00 00
it with (he amount of similar claim; under a iTIie receipts for postages duiiii
former administration ; at a time, too, when (lie department was not involved in debt and
had no paiticular reason to press its coilec (ions with peculiar urgency. It appears by
... i! General; maoe on the 25th of November.
when such were n il (o he had. your committee received conjectural estimates, gwern to by the
Iieauj oi the approj
V,y tho-e, it
largely insolvent, and that since some time in the year 1332 the Postmaster General has with out warrant of law, borrowed from the hanks
large arris of moae
nose of snstainir.fr it, Th
iate luieax.
appears thai the department is
that four years, was
6167,519 00
And the expenditures for the four year C.'
:o.ii9 oo
1 )ans were made
Conors;, and with i :ie of the 5T;nual
:
;i:ri5 no
1G29, that, on the 1st day of July of that year the uhd: amount due and oustanding in ll'.e hands of postmasters and others, was .$'91,400 21; and we can see no mod reason why the amount of h a'anccs should have been
suffered to rise to $280,429, much less to the i
enormous sum of 000,000, as is estimated by the chief clerk, especially at a lime when
on interest for the pur-: thc department is insolvetit, and bor rowinr'
it. 1 ,ie interest account, J (Vom banks, and overdrawing its deposites shows that some of those J daily, and even descending to ask the credit t'uiinr the last session o!'!nf iii,ii-i,!n:.!i t.i mhnn ii ;.i i! w.-.d nnrnt.-i.
in a short lime after the !nrv functions
Dot, admitting the sum estimated by your committee to be due from postmasters, the crcdils of the department will stand thus: A m nit r f f T n i ! i !i l.i r? 1 1 f r V rv.- - f 'i mo i -rvri.
iH.uiii yj i a t in in t;iu liuuis 'wrinv3 i . i j
report of the Po
n aster
Gjiit-rwi, which states that thcte is an available fcurj bn f;n,l oa had of Q202 Til 1 -10. and winch
deficit
The amount offends sunk by the department since it came under thc superintendence of the present Postmaster General, beyond the amount of its rccepts, is t?(. The sum on hand, according H his statement on the fi st of
July, 1C29, Amount of debts on the 1st of April, 1G34, over and above its available funds,
Aggregate,
:03,C2"
1.031,1 II
hi reports, presenttd us an fiioimom nfreaae j proceeds of postages for the same foMrHjWrs
Hlsnof mi)l transportation. In Ida rprif.it ar iin the whole Mate. w
The Report coniludc with the following
resolution?: 1. Rnolvdi Tiiat it is prorcd and a!r.iit(rl that laru'e sum of money hare been borrswcd at dilli'iei.t K-rjul-:?. h the Vof-t M-st r b'enrral. in order to make up the le(ifii-n 1 1 the means (.'f rarriny on the. businei-.s of 1'.e Pi.-t OIlcc; Depaidncr,?, without antliority tiven by any law of ("ongiess; an that, a
V oi gres? alone possesses the power to nrrow m;i:t'V on the credit of the United State?, ail such to:. tracts for loans by the Po;t Master General are illegal nnd void. 'J. R(--)kc!. That -ver;vl reports of the Post Master General contain? sfaferrrents which, "u? si!b-er'ict pap.ers, he admits to !c erroneous: that others especially, these of the ISlh of
April. l!Nh, as.d the J of March, 1831, are
compHti int: the Pre side nv's message of l)i
cemher, 1 E22, he states that the annual trans portation of the mail on the 1st of July, IT29 was 13.700.000 miles; and in that accompaning the President's message at Hie C( mrercement of the pre.-cnt ses-ion rf Congress, l,r states, that on the 1 st day of J u ? r, lCo3. it warj 2C.C5 1 .4 C o miih's, makinir an jm iea e of (ranspoi 'ation from the 1-t of July, 1 29. to the. 1st of July 1834, of 1 3.1 5-1.4 0 b mile?. From the knowledge which your committee possesed of the geneiid situation and business of the department at those peiiods. it appeared to them that the statement tarried the stamp of improbability upon its very face. They therefore, for thc purpose of ascertaining as nearly as possible the state of the matter, c. tiled on the cfiiccrs of the derailment
for the particlar data on w hich they had ;inconsij(e:il with each ofhf r; and that, there-
founded their efttnriatcs, and ashed also lor 'ore, reiiar.ee can not ic placed on me irtiiti
of any wro
present er luturc. It is n!so worthy ok remark, ing within the 1st day of Jan. 183-1, 33,725 '
i .Tit inis iai annua! report s? wnoiir silent on j i ).
he sahiect of thesQ h
aa
do. for postages aecru-
lh-.t the Postmaster inj in the Quarter ending the 1st
General lias, since the commencement of this j day of April , 1034, iave!ij-jin, -presented to your committee Fund's deposited in so'lvent banks, that aid troat the. Treasury is necessarv to enable hint to carry on iha operations of the depart- Making the nrcrratc of credits
meu, and na? Hated that S450,000 is thej considered available.
205,704 3 1,4 4 G
.s320.975
t:na'.'.e-.t 6ua thai wal serve loat purpose. The uai borrowed and overdrawn en hanks to the 1 1th April, 1331, and then csting :.s a debt against t lie department, are stated by the oHic-rs to he .103,600 And they stats the amount due to contractors on the 1st of April,
G35.O0O
Making the aggregate of its debts g 1,1 23, GOO
They also state that there w as on the 11th April, 1834; a balance of deposites in hanks in favor of the department of 37,000 95J Of this there were deposited in banks which have failed 5,445 07
Leaving- to the credit account hinds in bank, April 11th, 1 G34, available,
31,545 SGI
They also reported, as a conjectural estimate, that there was due from postmasters for postages accruing prior to Jan. 1st, 1834, 300,000 The books from which this estimate was
drawn, have been examined by the committee,
r.nd the result of that examination leaves no doubt that the amount of this credit is greatly
Four fifths of that sum supposed to have been expended in the four first yeais of the present Postmaster General And the aggregate revenues of the department for those four years, was Making the aggregate expenditures for the last named four
years
Fxccss of expenditures over the
.93,731,032
original papers showing thc calculations! but they were told that those papers were ali destroyed. Vour comm. Iter havii.2 subpmnaed Dr. Thomas ISradlev to attend hi fore
iSiem, and uive evidence, placed in his ban.-5? the advei th-emenls fo mail contracts, and the book containing the statement of extra allow-! allowances, an-! ;;tvf: directions that be should be furnished with ail ?uch ir.foi mat ion from the department as would enable him to make a full and fair estimate; and they instructed him to make out and report to them uadcr oath, a true statement of the amount of traiif portation, in miles at the periods ahove mentioned. After he had proceeded very far with his estimates, and was neatly
ire.jdv lo make I. is report, your committee
was informed, tin oug'i their chairman, that the calculations from which the report tl
, was made out had
.303
preceding four years,
,53.333.10-1
exaggerate-:!.
It appears that the receipts of the department for the last quarter of the year 1033, according to the best estimate that can be formed.
the books and accounts not hating been made uu as they should have been.) amounled to ,$167,149 That there was deposited by several postmasters in banks, during said quarter for the use of the dapaitraent 332,904
Leaving an apparent balance out-
Ftanding in the hands cf postmas-
Thc amount of debt3 due on that day, as stated by the oflicers of the department, was 1,123,000 Balance against the department on final settlement cf all its accounts, would be 803,625 The above eslirnafe doe. by the department is taken entirel upon the credit of the officers of thc bureax to which the superintendence of those, accounts properly belong. They profess to have given them with all practicable accuracy, and your committee.
having t.a particular reason to doubt their correctness, have not gone into an investigation with a view to test them. Willi respect to the credit and outstanding of claims of the department, your committee could not place the same reliance on the general estimate presented them. The a-
mount was much larger than they had rea
son to suppose correct from their knowledge
of the general course of business in the de
partment; and their investigation has satisfied
them that the error was CTen larger than they at first anticipated, amoantine; ns has
been already shown to upwards of 500,000 Your committee hare also made, and here present an estimate of the revenue and ex
penditures of the department for thc last quarter year 1C33, by which it ill be seen
that, without some real and substantial reform in the manacemcnt of its concerns, there is
little prospect that it will extricate itself from
the present embarrassments. It appears as stated above, that the receipts for postages in that
quarter amounted to 467,449
Thc transportation for the same quarter amounted to 522.714 Incidental expenses to 27.935
ters, oi
134.545
Total expenditure, 550,109
But it is understood that considerable sums
were received frcm posmaster?, exclusive of the deposites in banks, which is estimated to reduce the amount in their hands for receipts duiing the hut quarter of I 833, to 03,725. Which sum, resulting from the several t!ata to which we have access, is fixed upon as the nearest approximation to the truth, attainable within the limited time, which it was in
our power to devote to this pail of the investigation. We believe, however, that anv acquainted with the books, and the course tf bniiness cf the department, and whose atten lion was exclusively devoted to the subject . :ti'i !, in a little time, estimate the amount cf debt due to the department with a verv near approach lo accuracy; and that the otlit is r.f the department can at any time w i'h-
Exress of expenditure over the
revenue SS2.660
Which continuing in the same ratio throughout the year, would
bear an annual deficit of 340,640
An opinion was expressed by the immcdi
ate predecessor of the present rostmaste
General, in his report of November 13, 1 027 that the department, by a vigilant admin
istration ol its affairs, would be. able to sup
nly all the wants of the community, and in
few years to pay into the IreasHry an annua
sum of .S500.000. 1 his estimate seems lo
have been grounded upon the rapid increase of the receipts for postages, the improvement of roads and means of conveyance, and the
reat and increasing number of passengers in
i i . . . . . i
i a P-w cays, maive an attract s.aieineni .ho .,.,. !! In the nrof.u .,f i bo
ot t!s fi-cal cor corns at the tci initiation of a pv q titer, sufficiently neonate fir the oidini"n poses oi geneial inlci malion or legis bi'ifin . I he hiCers of the department, also estima ted the .loiount due fi out postmasters for pes
yen- 1 o .. -, at 7 'ii committee exarnierj
ti ..h!e, the data u; was ivi.vie, and th.ev
th
iiecrumg within the 1 st qaai ter ef l he
,5500.000
eontiactor, and thereby lessen the cost of transportation of the mail. And jour com mittee entertain no doubt that, had its affairs been conducted prudently, w ith a view to the public iutcie.-t, the anticipation would at litislimo have been realized: unless indeed i(
should hate been thought expedient to reduce the postages, and thus relieve the c in noitfity of a jait of its piesent burden in the transaction of business, and the genes al diffu ion of know ledge. Ie. order to present this subject more dis
mount, jtinedv to the Senate, your committee have It is e,:imal"d bv the chief clerk of the de-Hakeii and here present, a comparative vew part men. that the netl recepts for po.t-ig,. J)0f KM revenue and expei dituies of the doin the lust quarter of 1033, will amount i nartment fur the four car fu st pre ccd ing.
ir as prac
oi winch 1 1 1 i - estimate have i oa.wi l.- l.ts v
? this sum is also much above the true a-
- Within that time some new mail routes were established, and some improvements were made in previously existing routes, but all these bear a very small proportion to the increase of expenditures. Possessing, therefore as this department has done, those increased elements of prosperity and means of usefulness, it appeared obvious lo your committee that there must have been some mismanage
ment of its affairs, and a lavish expenditure
of its funds, to reduce it in so short a time
to its present insolvent condition, and to ren
der necessary the appropriation of so large
sum as four hundred d- lilly thousand dollars
from the treasury to enable the Postmaster
General to redeem its credit, and carry on
its essential operations.
And before determining whether they
hotild recommend such appropriation, your
committee thought it their duty to ascertain
as far as practicable, thc accuracy of the several official statements which were mide to them, as well as those which have from time
to lime been transmitted to Congress touch
ing tne condition of the department; also, that
Ihey should investigate the cause of the sud
den insolvency of this important department of the Government, which has heretofore sus
tained itself from its own resources, which,
in former years , actually contributed $1,303,-
063 to the general revenues of the country'
and which was but a few years since in a
most flourishing and prosperous condition.
The prosecution of that inquiry was atten
ded with much difficulty and embarrassment.
The annual reports of all contracts enter
ed into by the department within the prece
ding year, have, in two instances, been whol
ly omitted by the present Postmaster Gcner
al, and, in a third, the report came too late to be refered to by your committee, and to
aid them in their investigation. No answer
has yet been given by the Secretary of the
Treasury lo a resolution of thc Senate adop
ted on the 1 1th day of March last, on motion
of one of your committee, which calls for co
pies of the duplicates of contracts, bids, and
extra allowances which the law requires," should be filed in thc office of the Comptroll
er of the the Treasury. Thc duplicates of
contrcts and bids are said to have been con
sumed in the Tieasury buildings; and it was
also communicated to us by thc clhcer em
ployed to answer the call.J that no statement
of extra allowances had been hied there by
the present Postmaster General. And th
report of the Postmaster General, which ac
companied the President's message at the o
pening of the present Congress, appnzes u
thai his prior repoils as to the liabilities and
resources of the department are erroneous. Thus the check?, few and ineffectual as they are, w hich law imposes upon the transactions of the department having been in a great meao.! e. disregarded, or rendered abortive, and no certain means left us lo determine the
acuiacy of the statements and reports issuing from it, except by causing calculations to be made in all cases where there were data lo found them, and by compaiieg those reports with themselves, and with each other, vour
trasportation for II
been found, and that a copy could be furnished. It was accordingly done, but came too late fjr your committee to compare it with the actual routes, and with the advertisements and books of the department. And it contains nothing of itself to enable us to determine on its correctness. It stands, therefore, on precisely the same ground with that of the annual rrpoits above' mentioned, and requires the same evidence to sustain it. Thc report of l)r Bradley, in whose dili
gence, integrity, and knowlege of the subject we have the fullest reliance, is hereto attached, verified by his oath. It shows that Irans portalions of thc mail on thc 1st of July, 1C29,
just after the department came under the su-
lerintcndence ot the present I ostmaster ben-
eral, was 15,209,039 miles more than it is sta
led in the annual report above referred to; and that the transportation on the 1st of July,
1333, was 21,156,044, instead of 20,054,405,
being 5,697,651 miles lesi than the I'oslmas terGeneriil has reported.
Thus, by underrating the amount of trans
portation at the time he came into office,
and accuracv oi the coir.rriunicaticns mr.de bv the Department. 3. .-o.W. That it is fully proved, thai r. prac lice prevails in the Post Office Depaitn:et:t of granting contracts on bids w hich vary from the advertisements, and of changing and altering contracts in mate rial respects lifter they have been accepted, and that this practice prevents all fair competition among persons wishing to make contracts, is calculated to give undue advantage to favorites,
anil is in v;oialuei t l law. -1. RchjIicJ, That it appears, that Tin individual who made a contract for the transportation of (he mail, was required to give it up (or no oilier reason tiiar. that it might be given to another, desirous of having it, and that the act of the Department, in requiring such surrender and in elletUiig the transfer, was illegal and u: just. 5. Rcsor.n', That it appears that the propcs.ils for carrying thc Mail on the route from Chicago to G recti ilav, was withheld from advertisement; that the contract therefore was given in another name, but really and truly fo one of the clerks in the Department; that the compensation proposed in the bid was raised w ithout any increase of service, an. I that the transaction is a direct breach of law. 0. Rcso&ut, That extra allowances have been granted to contractors without anv in
crease of duty or service on their part, ami
that in otner cases extra allowances have been
made which arc unreasonable, extravagant.
and out of all proportion with the increase of service.
7. Erroherl, That the Tost Master General has established Steamboat lines, for thc transportation of thc mail, by private contract, at an enormous expense, and w ithout authority
of law.
8. Rcsvhrd, That the public credit bus been pledged for the benefit of individual contractors, and that contractors have been soli
cited and induced to aid, with their personal
, ;,c; ,:.- ,!. n credit, the business of the Department: and nd exaggerating itsincc that time, the I ost- ., . ,, . . .. ' ,, . r ii . r !!,: ,. that all such transactions arc uniustihablc laster General has lallen into an error, as to ,. J
master
the amount f hich he has increased the Irans-
of the mail, of no leS3 than 7,206,690 miles.
Your committee not having performed per
sonally the labor of this part of thc examination cannot vouch for the accuracy of thc above estimates, but they believe them to be nearly correct; and if Ihey err, that the error
will be found to be approachtng too near, ra
ther than departing too widely, from the
statements in the official reports ol the department.
J he annual expense of transporting the
mail under existing contracts, with all im
provemtnts, was, by the report of the Postmaster General of ihe 30lh Nov. 1033, set
down at 2 033,209 42
The Blue Book of September,
1332, gives the agjjregate of all mail centracls and extra allowance at 1,392,920 14
to V''r committee have nrretlaincd that thcie w as deposited in banks
:o,ooo
unl the four ) ears next follow ing the time
at which it was placed under Ihe sup-niiteu ddiice uf the present Pott mailt i General.
committee adopted this course, and thus they belh ve have been able to arrive at a cone hi sion veiy ncailv collect as lo the gereial value of tho.-e leports and statements.
In oulcr toarrount for the ii.ci ease of ex-1
pen?e in the Iranspoi lalion of the mail, the T.sw of 1S0S, v. 2, p. 10:)2. t IW5, vol. 3, p. 10S8, s. 10. J Sec 13.
Making a difference of expendi
ture not accounted for, of 40.396 20 This difference is wholly unexplained. No answer has yet been given to a call made
by the Senate, on the 1 1th day of March last,
on a resolution ollcrcil by one of your committee, for a statement of the sums paid for transportation and extra allowances, if any, omitted in the Blue Book, which would have enabled them to present an explanation of the discrepancy; and we can perceive of no mode of accounting for it, consistent with the .correct administration of the deparlmcnt, and a careful and accurate examination of the japers which issue from it, and under its official authority.
Fi. P. Johnson is the contractor for carrying
(he mail on .several routes in Indiana, num
bered II, 17, 10, 1, 2f, -27 ami II, from
thc 1st of January, lNh0, to the 31st of December, 1S33, at a yearly compensation of .s'kOOO. There arc no less than eighteen different modifications and additions to (his single contract, for which lie. receives in the nggirgale yearly 1 1,502 IS in addition to what I. . . . ...
ne recciveu ny coniraci amounting in the four years to .rJI()S 7'J; and all this private arrngcincnt without advisement or competition. The red amount of postages received in the State of Indiana, according to the report ol the Postmaster General of the SSih of Feb.
1'vll, was :V .'.) U?, falling short by 1,N0 f;l, of pa ing the yearly c.itni nHoicum c on this single contract. The increase ol the postages during the. continuance of the coutiaet. will not, in all probability, bring up the receipts to a sum sufficient lo discharge these
anil improper.
I). Rrsoktd, That it does appear that mail lines have been established to run more frequently than once a day, at a very heavy expense, where no adequate public object required such provisions. 10. RcrolverJ) That pecuniary transactions of a very irregular nature are proved to have taken place between the contractors and some of the chief officers of thc Post Office Department. 11. Resolved, That the Post Office Department is now deeply in debt; its a flairs in disorder; its accounts and reports irregular and unsatisfactory; that it is justly thc subject of public complaint, and demands a radical reform. 12. Rcsohcd, That the incidental expenses and secret service money of the Department has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished. 13. Resolved, That it does appear that an agreement was entered into between two companies of mail contractors, the express object of w hich was to put dow n competition in the transportation of passenger?, in their respectiuc mail routes; that said agreement was drawn by an officer ef Ihe Department, and entered into at his pressing instance, and that it was sanctioned by the Post Master General; and that such agreement, so sanctioned, is an interference with the honest pursuits of the free citizens of these United States ; that ft tends lo establish an odious and oppressive monopoly; and is an unjust invasion ol private rights. I 1. Rcsoh-cd, That it does appear that Mail Contractors have received large extra allowances, and have, about the time of receiving such allowances, become the proprietors or contractors of new spape r presses, of a parli-
zati character. It also appears, that a newspaper editor, in the State of New Hampshire, is a contractor for carrying the mail on numerous routes, "with paper privilege," nnd that every such act or artifice, tending to unite thc press with the: Post Office Depailmenf, is a dangerous abuse and ought to be collected.
Pmmising htya. An ohl lady in New Bedford has two M)n, aP'l 0 and 12, who are, -be says, sech real New I V I'm del e, that w hen shut up in a close mom an hour together, they would make live dollars a piece piotil, in swapping jackets with each other,
TaHJng. ' Pis a sign of great vanity, rather than good fensr, to Vie fond nf talking much; the more ingt'iiiom hear, and give fool-, leave to prattle, people of little, braia luve naturally a great dtul of tongue.