seat of the federal government was associated in its passage with another act of Congress, which excited the displeasure of Virginia as a breach of the federal constitution. This measure was the assumpsit of $21,500,000 of State debts; and the same journal of the house of delegates and other records show this dissatisfaction to have been vehemently expressed by Virginia through her legislature, on the 23d day of December, 1790, (see 13 Henning, page 237;) and the report concludes on this point with these words: "With the association in these respects which twined about the location of the federal district, it is not rationally to be inferred that Virginia would have extended an ill-timed generosity, thus identified with the first breach of the federal constitution. It was yet due to her own honor, and to that fidelity which has always distinguished her obligations, that she would not recede from her promise in the resolve of the General Assembly of the 10th of December, 1789." "The journals of the house of delegates for the time in which that act was on its passage, clearly show that the State adhered to its purpose of making the advance,' and refused to make it a grant.'

In support of this position it has been alleged, both by the report afore. said and the petitioners, that the old Congress as far back as 23d December, 1784, (see volume 4, Gideon's edition of Journals of Congress, page 458,) had, by ordinance for that purpose, decided on the establishment of the seat of government near the lower falls of the Delaware river, and that the same resolution ordered contracts to be made for erecting the needful edifices, in an elegant manner, by commissioners appointed for that purpose; and that this location, and the public buildings contemplated by it, failed to be erected, because of the want of funds required for that purpose. It appears to your committee, by the historical evidence of Marshall's Life of Washington, that Congress failed to appropriate money to carry into effect the resolve of 1784. (See volume 5, pages 258, 259.) Virginia urges that she offered to advance this money to the use of the government of the United States, to avoid a like failure. In confirmation of this intention to advance or lend, and not to grant or give this money, it has been urged, in behalf of Virginia, that an offer was made by the General Assembly on the 28th of June, 1783, (see page 97, journal house of delegates,) in these words: "That if the honorable Congress should esteem the city of Williamsburg, in this State, a fit place for their session, the assembly will present them, on their removal thereto, and during their continuance therein, with the palace, the capitol, and all public buildings, and three hundred acres of land adjoining the said city, together with a sum of money not exceeding one hundred thousand pounds, this State's currency," &c. This series of resolutions has the following proviso: "Provided always, that should Congress thereafter remove from the city of Williamsburg, or from the lands before mentioned, that in such case the lands se ceded, with the buildings, shall revert to the commonwealth."

Thus showing that when Virginia intended a present, she so expressed herself; and that where her intention was only to advance money to the use of the government of the United States, she was also explicit in the language she employed. Reference was also made to other cases to show the meaning attached by Virginia and other States to the words "advanced to the use of the United States."

Among the documents filed with the petition are two letters of General Washington, while President of the United States, which are shown to be all in the State Department that relate to the public buildings, and only one

of these has any notice of the claim now under consideration. That letter is addressed "to the commissioners of the federal district," written from Philadelphia, under date of the 29th of August, 1793, and has this pas sage in it: "In what manner would it be proper to state the account with the States of Virginia aud Maryland, they having advanced money which has not been all expended on the objects for which it was appropriated?" From this clause the petitioners infer that General Washington regarded the money as an advance, rendering necessary an account of it to be kept with those States. They claim the benefit of the further inference, "that this advance was not all of it used for the objects for which it was appropriated," and that it was applied to other uses of the government.

It is proper here to state, that an extract from the account of the Commissioners of Public Buildings, furnished from the office of the Register of the Treasury, shows that the sum of forty thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety-five cents was received by the Commissioners of Public Buildings from Virginia, between the 17th of September, 1794, and the 1st of June, 1802, and it is entered "account of moneys received," and the several sums so received are stated as dona. tions; and this is all that appears on the treasury books (as the register states) in relation to this subject. The records of the treasury depart ment of Virginia show, by certified copies, that the first payment of this advance to the United States was made the 15th of April, 1791, and the last on the 8th of January, 1795, and making in the whole the sum of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. It may have been that the sum of $40,999 95, part of this $120,000, was all that was used by the Commissioners of the Public Buildings. If so, it accounts for the statement made in General Washington's letter of the 29th of August, 1793, that the money advanced by Virginia and Maryland "was not all expended on the objects for which it was appropriated."

It is also proper to state, that although the first act of Congress for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States did not include within the federal district any part of the territory of Virginia, a supplemental act of Congress was passed the 3d of March, 1791, (see 1st vol. Laws United States, page 214,) extending that district into Virginia, and embracing as part thereof the town of Alexandria. The first advance by Virginia was made on the 15th of April, 1791, a few days after the passage of this supplemental act of Congress.

The return of this money was never demanded by Virginia until the present session of Congress, nor in any other manner than by the present petition. By the act retroceding that part of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac to Virginia, the United States retained the customhouse and post office, and expressly provided, as the condition of the said cession, that it should never be liable for the debt of the corporation of Alexandria.

The railroad to which this claim has been transferred by the commonwealth of Virginia, extends from the city of Alexandria to Gordonsville, and would form a connecting link in the line of railroad communication from Boston to New Orleans.

The foregoing is a presentation of the facts relating to this claim, and of the arguments by which it has been urged before the committee; the members of which have deemed it most proper to submit the same, and ask the instructions of the Senate upon the subject.

The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred "a bill to reduce the rates of postage," have had the same under consideration, and respectfully report:

Among the many very important subjects which claim the attention of Congress, there is perhaps few more entitled to earnest and matured consideration than the adoption of the best system of mail communication throughout the Union. It is peculiarly proper that a people living under republican institutions, which, to be permanent, must be based upon the virtue and intelligence of the community, should enjoy every facility of intercommunication, in the cheapest possible form consistent with the efficiency of the means employed. The system heretofore in operation in this country, however good in some points of view, is, in the opinion of the committee, embarrassed by radical defects, to remedy which a thorough change is necessary. Up to the present moment the expenses attendant on the management of the complicated machinery incident to a difference in rates of postage and the credit system of payment have, of necessity, burdened the people to an unwarrantable extent, whilst they have absorbed in a great degree the resources of the department, and prevented the application of them to the diffusion of knowledge in the most safe and prompt manner practicable. It is true that notwithstanding these expenses, the transportation of the mails has been effected not only without charge to the government, but has contributed very large amounts to the national treasury. But it is also true that had these expenses been saved by some economical plan, the funds thus expended might have been advantageously employed in the extension of mail facilities, an increase of the number of post offices, and the improvement of the conveyances in which the mails are carried. The inevitable consequences of a difference in the rates of postage is to render the accounts of the various offices more complicated, thereby increasing the amount of labor to be performed, and requiring a multiplication of agents to do the work, thus enhancing the expenses and enlarging the patronage of the department. Uniform rates, on the other haud, simplify accounts, reduce the number of offices required, and by these means lessen the expense and diminish the patronage of the government. When all letters are charged alike, it

is only necessary to ascertain their number, and register them; whereas every difference of rate superinduces the necessity of making distinct entries, so as to classify and discriminate between them. To do this, additional clerks are required, whose salaries must be in proportion to the responsibility connected with their respective duties, whilst the rate being uniform, honesty and a moderate degree of capacity will insure sufficient accuracy for all practical purposes.

If, to uniformity in the rate of postage, prepayment be added, a most prolific source of labor and increased expenditure will be cut off. Under the credit system, when a mail arrives, the unpaid letters received are to be entered and charged; consequently, in the offices in large towns, clerks are to be employed for this duty, which is a laborious one. Of the letters thus received, a large portion are taken out and paid for; but, as experience has shown, a considerable number remain in the offices until the period for advertising, when lists are made out and sent for publication, at an expense of two cents each. Nor is the trouble at an end even here. Some of the advertised letters still remain, and, at the time prescribed, are to be forwarded to the dead-letter office at the seat of the general government. These letters are to be opened and disposed of, by clerks appointed for the purpose at high salaries; and the contents, which are sometimes valuable, are to be deposited in a place of security, or sent to the address of the writers. In the meanwhile, the service of transportation, and all the duties incident to the transmission and examination of them, will have been performed at great cost of money and labor, and, after all, the department receives nothing. It is scarcely necessary to add that, in case of prepayment, by far the greater portion of this trouble and expense is avoided; and if the letters be sent to the dead-letter office, the department will have received at least compensation for the transportation of them. In connexion with uniformity and prepayment of postage, there are two cardinal principles essential, in the opinion of the committee, to the efficiency and productiveness of the transportation of the mails:

1st. That everything, the bulk of which is not too great, should be carried under the protection of the mails: and,

2d. That nothing should be so carried without being subject to a fair charge for the service rendered. Under the first of these heads, it would seem proper to extend mail facilities not only to letters, pamphlets, and newspapers, as at present, but also to all articles in parcels of a moderate size, such as books and commodities of much value in proportion to their bulk. By such an extension, the government would avoid competition with express companies and individuals, who, under the present system, elude with impunity the provisions of the law on the subject, and continue to transmit mailable matter, as it is termed, thus defrauding the gov

ernment.

Under the second head the franking privilege, which, as the experience of every day shows, enlarges the mass of matter sent by the mails, without any remuneration whatever, and frequently interferes with the transportation of letters, newspapers, and other mailable matter;-the committee are perfectly aware that the abolition of the franking privilege has heretofore been one of the chief obstacles in the way of a reform in the post office establishment; but they cannot help believing, that when the matter is placed in its true point of view, so as to expose the enormity

of the evil inflicted on the public by the exercise of this privilege, those who have been its advocates will be among the foremost in effecting its removal. Every man has an interest in equalizing public burdens, and it is believed those who act in behalf of the people should and will be ready to do away with an immunity, the effect of which is to oppress every private citizen, and prevent, in a great degree, social and business. correspondence. The committee think that the abolition of the franking privilege, in the manner proposed in the bill herewith reported, will operate not only for the benefit of the people at large, but will lessen, to a material extent, the labors of public servants, by making postage payable by those for whose benefits the mails are carried, and preventing the vast influx of correspondence by which their time and attention are occupied. As it is the intention of the committee to appeal to the sound, practical sense of the country in behalf of the change recommended, they propose to avoid all unnecessary display, and to place before the Senate the results of experience, in the most concise and best authenticated forms, leaving it to Congress to decide when such information as can be relied on shall have been laid before it. The circumstances attendant upon the earlier periods • of our national history, disposed us, naturally, to adopt the system of post office arrangements which had been in use in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, with its variety of rates of postage, its franking privileges, its credit system, and the heavy expenses connected with its administration. Instead of charging letters by weight, we imposed the tax on every distinct piece of paper, however small; and, treating the transportation of letters as an individual and specific service rendered to each citizen, rather than as a public advantage, to which all were alike entitled, without reference to any peculiar locality, we charged in proportion to distance; confining the privilege to letters, newspapers, and pamphlets. Whilst this system answered its object, to a certain extent, we were disposed to submit to the tax, however unequal and exorbitant, rather than appeal to experiments, which might eventuate in disappointment and loss. Year after year rolled round, and habit, which reconciles man to almost anything, caused us to forget the possibility of a change for the better. To the rich and prosperous the charge upon each letter, however uncalled for and excessive, was but a trifle, when com pared with the gratification of receiving business or social information from correspondents or friends. The poor did not find leisure to write, except under the pressure of necessity; and the expense of postage furnished a convenient pretext to the negligent, as well as the needy, for depriving themselves of the gratification of epistolary intercourse.

Notwithstanding the expense attendant upon the old system of postal arrangements, the department has always more than supported itself, and has contributed a very large amount to the national treasury, after defraying its own cost; and however objectionable the system might be, it was scarcely to be expected that those who enjoyed peculiar advantages under it, in the form of franking, &c., would seek for a change in the absence of any expression of the public will upon the subject. To convey some idea of the amount paid into the national treasury by the Post Office Department, the committee would state that, according to a report made as far back as 1834, (Report No. 285,) the department had paid over no less. than $1,103,927 (one million one hundred and three thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven dollars;) and although at a subsequent period (in 1841) Congress voted $497,657 (four hundred and ninety-seven