SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON A RESOLUTION IN RELATION TO CHEAP OCEAN
POSTAGE, MARCH 8, 1852.
This proposition Mr. Sumner constantly renewed at subsequent sessions
of Congress.
Mr. President,--I submit the following resolution. As it is one of
inquiry, I ask that it may be considered at this time.
_Resolved_, That the Committee on Naval Affairs, while considering
the nature and extent of aid proper to be granted to the Ocean
Steamers, be directed to inquire whether the present charges for
letters carried by these steamers are not unnecessarily large and
burdensome to foreign correspondence, and whether something may not
be done, and, if so, what, to secure the great boon of Cheap Ocean
Postage.
There being no objection, the question was stated to be on the adoption
of the resolution.
MR. PRESIDENT,--The Committee on Naval Affairs have the responsibility
of shaping some measure by which the relations of our Government with
the ocean steamers will be defined. And since one special inducement
to these relations, involving the bounty now enjoyed and further
solicited, is the carrying of the mails, I trust this Committee will
be willing to inquire whether there cannot be a reduction on the
postage of foreign correspondence. Under the Postage Act of 1851, the
Postmaster, by and with the advice of the President, has power to
reduce, from time to time, the rates of postage on all mailable matter
conveyed between the United States and any foreign country. But the
existence of this power in the Postmaster will not render it improper
for the Committee, now drawn into connection with this question, to
take it into careful consideration, with a view to some practical
action, or, at least, recommendation. The subject is of peculiar
interest; nor do I know any measure, so easily accomplished, which
promises to be so beneficent as cheap ocean postage. The argument in
its favor is at once brief and unanswerable.
A letter can be sent three thousand miles in the United States for
three cents, and the reasons for cheap postage on land are equally
applicable to ocean.
In point of fact, the conveyance of letters can be effected in sailing
or steam packets at less cost than by railway.
Besides, cheap ocean postage will tend to supersede the clandestine or
illicit conveyance of letters, and to bring into the mails all mailable
matter, which, under the present system, is carried in the pockets of
passengers or in the bales and boxes of merchants.
All new facilities for correspondence naturally give new expansion
to human intercourse; and there is reason to believe, that, through
an increased number of letters, cheap ocean postage will be
self-supporting.
Cheap postal communication with foreign countries will be of
incalculable importance to the commerce of the United States.
By promoting the intercourse of families and friends separated by
ocean, cheap postage will add to the sum of human happiness.
The present high rates of ocean postage--namely, twenty-four cents on
half an ounce, forty-eight cents on an ounce, and ninety-six cents on
a letter which weighs a fraction more than an ounce--are a severe tax
upon all, particularly upon the poor, amounting, in many cases, to a
complete prohibition of foreign correspondence. This should not be.
It particularly becomes our country, by the removal of all unnecessary
burdens upon foreign correspondence, to advance the comfort of
European emigrants seeking a home among us, and to destroy, as far as
practicable, every barrier to free intercourse between the Old World
and the New.
And, lastly, cheap ocean postage will be a bond of peace among the
nations of the earth, and will extend good-will among men.
By such reasons this measure is commended. Much as I rejoice in the
American steamers, which vindicate a peaceful supremacy of the seas,
and help to weave a golden tissue between the two hemispheres, I cannot
consider these, with all their unquestionable advantages, an equivalent
for cheap ocean postage. I trust that they are not inconsistent with
each other, and that both may flourish together.
Objection was made to the resolution, as not being addressed to the
proper Committee, and a brief debate ensued, in which Mr. Rusk, Mr.
Gwin, Mr. Badger, Mr. Davis, Mr. Seward, Mr. Mason, and Mr. Sumner
took part. It was urged by the last, in reply, that the Committee on
Naval Affairs was the proper Committee, as at the present moment it is
specially charged with a subject intimately connected with the inquiry
proposed. At the suggestion of Mr. Badger the matter was allowed to
lie over till the next day.
On Tuesday, March 9th, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution
submitted by Mr. Sumner on the 8th, relative to Ocean Steamers and
Cheap Ocean Postage. On motion of Mr. Sumner, it was amended, and
finally adopted, without opposition, as follows:--
"_Resolved_, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads
be directed to inquire whether the present charges on letters
carried by the Ocean Steamers are not unnecessarily large and
burdensome to foreign correspondence, and whether something may not
be done, and, if so, what, to secure the great boon of Cheap Ocean
Postage."
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