any
plans of improvement whatever, for the advancement of knowledge, and for
binding the Union together, provided such plans come within the
acknowledged powers conferred by the constitution.

The post-office being, then, like the army and navy, a necessary branch of
the government, it follows that the charge of postage for the conveyance
of letters and papers is of the nature of a tax, as has been well
expressed by the present Postmaster-General, in his last annual report,
quoted above. "_Postage is a tax_, not only on the business of the
country, but upon intelligence and knowledge, and the exercise of the
friendly and social affections." The question before us is, How heavy a
"tax" ought the government of a federal republic to impose on these
interests? Every friend of freedom and of human improvement answers
spontaneously, that nothing but a clear necessity can justify any tax at
all upon such subjects, and that the tax should be reduced, in all cases,
to the very lowest practicable rate. The experience of the British
government, the prodigious increase of correspondence produced by cheap
postage, and the immense revenue accruing therefrom, demonstrate that TWO
CENTS is not below the rate which the government can afford to receive.
Let the people understand that all beyond this is a mere "tax," not
required by any necessity, and they will soon demand that the government
look for its resources to some more suitable subjects of taxation than
these.

Another rule of right in regard to this "tax" is well laid down in the
Report of the House Committee, for 1844: "As the post-office is made to
sustain itself solely by a tax on correspondence, it should derive aid and
support from everything which it conveys. No man's private correspondence
should go free, since the expense of so conveying it becomes a charge upon
the correspondence of others; and the special favor thus given, and which
is much abused by being extended to others not contemplated by law, is
unjust and odious. Neither should the public correspondence be carried
free of charge where such immunity operates as a burden upon the
correspondence of the citizen. There is no reason why the public should
not pay its postages as well as citizens--no sufficient reason why this
item of public expenses should not be borne, like all others, by the
general tax paid into the treasury." These remarks are made, indeed, with
reference to the franking privilege, which the com