Plainly and indubitably it is oppressive to the widowed mother, whose best comfort is correspondence with her absent child; it is oppressive to the child corresponding with mother, sister, or brother; it is oppressive to all whose scanty…

Look at the Baltimore platform or candidate, and you are constantly brought back to Liberty as the animating impulse.

All these are restrained in the gratification of those affections which contribute so much to human solace and strength.

So in the days of Slavery it was argued that the slaves did not desire freedom, and that their condition was not oppressive.

The habits of a people are in a great degree the result of the laws under which they live; the high charges of our Post-Office have induced, amongst all but the richer classes, a habit of abstaining from epistolary communication, and it…

And thus again Slavery and Liberty stand face to face,--the slave-ship against the Mayflower.

They may not know the loss they sustain; but that does not alter the fact that they do sustain a very great loss; and it would be highly criminal and cruel voluntarily to inflict such a loss upon a person merely upon the ground that he…

The oppressiveness of a tax is not to be measured by the insensibility of the people on whose shoulders it is laid.

It is a curiosity of despotism that the people are too often unconscious of their slavery, as they are unconscious also of bad laws.

A wise and just Government measures its duties not by what the people bear without a murmur, but by what is most for their welfare; and it is to this criterion that I bring the question of cheap postage.

Is not the advantage so eminent and unequivocal that the Government can no longer hesitate, especially at this transitional moment, when our country is passing from the Old to the New, and the people more than ever are assured in their…

This injustice becomes more apparent, when we consider the disproportion between the cost of other transportation and letter postage.

To my mind it is unjust that the letter everywhere should contribute so largely to the transportation and delivery of other mail matter, while in some parts of the country it contributes besides to postal facilities elsewhere.

It is humiliating to think that the people of this Monarchy send at the rate of twenty-six letters for each person, while the citizens of our Republic send only at the rate of twelve for each person.

Here I find unquestionable reason to conclude that we have not a proper rate of postage.

Better any possible loss of revenue than the postponement of such a good.

Not to make money, but to promote the welfare of the people, and to increase the happiness of all,--such is the precious object I would propose; and here I ask no such question as, “Will it pay?” It may not pay in revenue at once, but it…

Unhappily, the Post-Office, whether at home or abroad, has been from the beginning little more than a taxing machine, a contrivance to raise money, or a “milch cow” with fruitful dugs.

Instead of a mere taxing machine, or contrivance to raise money, or “milch cow” with fruitful dugs, it should be an omnipresent beneficent minister, reaching its multitudinous hands with help and comfort into all the homes of our…

It is because Senators see the Post-Office only in its least elevated, not to say its most vulgar character, that there is any hesitation.

Contemplate for one moment, if you please, its great and beautiful office.

It is the universal messenger of a people, bearing tidings of all kinds, whether of business, hope, affection, charity, joy, or sorrow, and articulating them throughout the land.

There is nothing that man can do, desire, or feel, which is not contained in the various and abounding errand.

Every day this messenger flies over the land, from city to city, from town to town, from village to village, from house to house, leaving everywhere the welcome token.

Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.