Individual Liberty - Evernote

they carried they had to pay a tax of more than three cents. Exclusive of this tax,
Wells, Fargo & Co. got less than two cents for each letter which they carried, while
the government got three cents for each letter which it carried itself, and more than
three cents for each letter which Wells, Fargo & Co. carried. On the other hand, it cost
every individual five cents to send by Wells, Fargo & Co., and only three to send by
the government. Moreover, the area covered was one in which immensity of distance,
sparseness of population, and irregularities of surface made out-of-the-way points
unusually difficult of access. Still, in spite of all these advantages on the side of the
government, its patronage steadily dwindled, while that of Wells, Fargo & Co. as
steadily grew. Pecuniarily this, of course, was a benefit to the government. But for this
very reason such a condition of affairs was all the more mortifying. Hence the
postmaster-general sent a special commissioner to investigate the matter. He fulfilled
his duty and reported to his superior that Wells, Fargo & Co. were complying with the
law in every particular, and were taking away the business of the government by
furnishing a prompter and securer mail service, not alone to principal points, but to
more points and remoter points than were included in the government fist of postoffices.
Whether this state of things still continues I do not know. I presume, however, that it
does, though the adoption of two cent postage may have changed it. In either case the
fact is one that triumphs over all possible sarcasms. In view of it, what becomes of
Editor Pinney's fear of ruinous rates of postage and his philanthropic anxiety on
account of the dwellers in Wayback and Hunkertown?
Appreciating the necessity of at least seeming to meet the indisputable fact which I
opposed to its championship of government postal monopoly, the Winsted Press
presents the following ghost of an answer, which may be as convincing to the victims
of political superstition as most materializations are to the victims of religious
superstition, but which, like those materializations, is so imperceptible to the touch of
the hard-headed investigator that, when he puts his hand upon it, he does not find it
there.
"The single instance of Wells, Fargo & Co., cited by B. R. Tucker to prove the
advantage of private enterprise as a mail carrier, needs fuller explanation of correlated
circumstances to show its true significance. As stated by Mr. Tucker, this company
half a dozen years ago did a large business carrying letters throughout the Pacific
States and Territories to distant and sparsely populated places for five cents per letter,
paying more than three to the government in compliance with postal law and getting
less than two for the trouble, and, though it cost the senders more, the service was
enough better than government's to secure the greater part of the business."
This restatement of my statement is fair enough, except that it but dimly conveys the
idea that Wells, Fargo & Co. were carrying, not only to distant and sparsely populated
places, but to places thickly settled and easy of access, and were beating the
government there also, - a fact of no little importance.
"Several facts may explain this: 1. Undeveloped government service in a new country,
distant from the seat of government."