Mineral Point Tribune

INCREASE IN POSTAL CHARGES.

The same Congress that made itself infamous by the passage of the salary grab, has again made a mistake at the expense of the public. The last National Republican convention resolved that "the way ought to be prepared for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage." Instead of this, the forty-third Congress, during the last hours of a late session, enacted a law altering the postal rates, so that its own speeches might be sent over the country free, while the postage charged to the public is doubled in price. Instead of a half a cent an ounce, the rate is now altered to one cent an ounce on books, pamphlets, prints, engravings, transient magazines and newspapers, circulars, samples, and in fact all articles sent by mail, except letters, and newspapers and periodicals sent by publishers. The additional tax upon the people is largely due to the immense lobbying influence of express companies, to whose advantage the increased rates of postage will ultimately turn. The enormous rate will cause most articles more bulky than simple letters to be sent by express, that otherwise would have been carried by mail at less expense. Instead, therefore, of this benefitting the public, it will double the postage on periodicals, many of which are a necessary medium of knowledge, and the increased tax will fall into the hands of the express companies, who can now demand almost any rate they wish. It affects, generally, the reading public, and the injustice of the affair is fully understood by those who have to pay four cents to send a paper from Mineral Point to Dodgeville, or probably more so by those who have to pay four cents to send a paper across the river from Dubuque to Dunleith, while two cents would forward it over the continent and across the ocean to London. The people have little reason to thank the last Congress for this legislation: on the other hand, their interests demand its speedy repeal.