fatal tendency to the Post-office Department,
and its decay has commenced. Unless arrested by vigorous legislation, it
must soon cease to be a self-sustaining institution, and either be cast on
the treasury for support, or suffered to decline from year to year, till
the system has become incompetent and useless. The last annual report of
the Postmaster-General shows that, notwithstanding the heavy retrenchments
he had made, the expenditures of the department, for the year ending June
30th, 1843, exceeded its income by the sum of $78,788. The decline of its
revenue during that year was $250,321; and the investigations made into
the operations of the current year, indicate a further and an increasing
decline, at the rate of about $300,000 a year. Why this loss of revenue,
when the general business and prosperity of the country is reviving, and
its correspondence is on the increase?"

The report of the Senate Committee at the same session, made Feb. 22,
1844, says that "the cause of this great falling off, in a season of
reviving prosperity in the trade, business and general prosperity of the
country, cannot be regarded as transient, but, on the contrary, is shown
to be deep and corroding. The cause is the dissatisfaction felt generally
through the country, but most strongly in the densely peopled regions to
with the rates of postage now established by law, and the frequent resort
to various means of evading its payment."

The result was the passage of the act, now in force, by which the postage
was reduced one half, to begin on the first day of July, 1845. The last
annual report of the Postmaster-General gives the result. He says:

"It is gratifying to find that, within so short a period after the great
reduction of the rates of postage, the revenues of the department have
increased much beyond the expectation of the friends of the cheap postage
system, while the expenditures, for the same time, have diminished more
than half a million of dollars annually, and that the department is in a
condition to support itself, without further aid from the treasury."

The number of chargeable letters passed through the mails in 1843, was
stated in the Report at 24,267,552, yielding the sum of $3,525,268. The
number for the year ending June 30, 1847, was 52,173,480, yielding
$3,188,957. Thus the reduction of price one half, has in two years more
than doubled the consumption, and already yields nearly an equal product.

The experime