ds, where
there are millions of people who never taste of bread, and where the
majority of the people are said to be unable to read or write, with a
population of 8,175,124, less than half the population of the United
States--there are 28,587,996 letters mailed under the influence of penny
postage. The population of Scotland and Ireland together is 10,804,081,
not half the present population of the United States; the number of
letters in a year is 57,257,165, being more than _all_ that are sent in
the United States, franks included.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. I am brought to the close of this essay, with only a
brief space left to be filled, and with many subjects of remark
untouched--the Exclusive Right of the Post-office--the History of Postage in
this country--the Sectional Bearings of Cheap Postage--the Postage Bill now
before Congress--the Moral and Social Benefits of Cheap Postage. This
pamphlet has been wholly written since the vote of the Publishing
Committee, which must be my apology for some repetitions. The main
arguments cannot be overthrown, until men disprove arithmetic.

Who can doubt that cheap postage would bring three times as many letters
as are now sent by mail in this country. And that would give a greater
revenue to the post-office than it now receives. It is impossible to doubt
the success of cheap postage, when once it is established.

Now is the favorable time for its adoption. The astonishing success of
cheap postage in Great Britain is opening people's eyes. The rapid
progress which public opinion has made in the last six months in favor of
cheap postage, creates a confident expectation that congress will yield to
the first resolute motion that shall be made, and adopt a well-considered
system, of which two cents letter-postage shall be the basis, with a
general provision for prepayment. The details will be easily adjusted when
the principle is adopted. Let us have no evasions, no half-way measures,
to delude with false hopes, and to stand as obstacles in the way of the
only true system.

Why should I enlarge upon the benefits of cheap postage? The only question
to be asked is--What shall every man do to obtain it? The answer is, You
must understand its merits; you must talk with your neighbors, and get
them interested in its favor; you must write, if you can, for the papers;
you must unite, without delay, in signing and forwarding the following
petition to congress:

_To the Senate and House o