This is
attributed in a great degree to the increase of free letters growing out
of the extension and abuse of the franking privilege. There has been a
gradual increase in the number of executive offices to which it has been
granted, and by an act passed in March, 1833, it was extended to members
of Congress throughout the whole year. It is believed that a revision of
the laws relative to the franking privilege, with some enactments to
enforce more rigidly the restrictions under which it is granted, would
operate beneficially to the country, by enabling the Department at an
earlier period to restore the mail facilities that have been withdrawn,
and to extend them more widely, as the growing settlements of the
country may require.
To a measure so important to the Government and so just to our
constituents, who ask no exclusive privileges for themselves and are not
willing to concede them to others, I earnestly recommend the serious
attention of Congress.
The importance of the Post-Office Department and the magnitude to which
it has grown, both in its revenues and in its operations, seem to demand
its reorganization by law.
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