,
the sum of three thousand five hundred and thirty-six dollars per
annum! The list of advertised letters of the Boston post-office,
which is semi-monthly, averages from fourteen to sixteen columns
of the Boston Times. If efficient carriers were appointed to
deliver these letters to their address free of expense, this list
would be reduced more than one half; thus a saving would be made
in advertising, besides the collection of a large amount of
postage. I would further remark, that requiring _four cents_ to be
paid for advertising, in addition to the postage, frequently
deters poor people from taking out their letters, and thus the
cost of advertising, as well as the postage, are lost to the
General Post-office. An efficient free delivery would save the
department thousands of dollars every year.

"3. A free delivery of letters would increase the revenue by
causing the greater portion of the drop letters to be sent through
the post-office, instead of the private offices now established in
different parts of the city. The only reason why the City Despatch
Post failed was, that they charged more than the private penny
post offices. But if these letters were delivered free, charging
only two cents as drop letters, nearly all the city correspondence
would be conveyed through this medium. The increased income from
this source alone would in a short time be amply sufficient to pay
the salaries of all the carriers.

"4. The post-office would not only command all the drop letters,
but afford such easy, safe, and cheap facilities for the
conveyance of letters, that it would be the means of increasing
the city and country correspondence to an extent which can hardly
be estimated. Thousands and tens of thousands of letters which are
now sent by private hands, or through the private penny post,
would then be deposited in the United States sub post-offices,
both for city delivery and to be forwarded by the mails."

The extent to which such a system of Free Delivery could properly be
introduced in this country, can only be determined by experiment. That is,
to decide in how many and what towns there shall be a Free Delivery, and
how far from the post-office the Free Delivery shall be carried,
experience must be the guide. A city and its suburbs might all be included
in one arrangement, as New York with