Here I encounter an old-fashioned objection common in England as well as in the United States, and which has shown itself at every proposed change in the postal service. It is said that the existing rate is not oppressive, and that there is no need of its reduction. Obviously it is not oppressive to Senators and Representatives, who send and receive unnumbered letters free; nor is it oppressive to their correspondents; nor again is it oppressive to the rich and thriving, for they contribute out of their abundance; but plainly and indubitably it is oppressive to the poor, and it is absurd to say that it is not. 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 means supply only the necessaries of life. All these are restrained in the gratification of those affections which contribute so much to human solace and strength. Do not say that practically there is little difference between three cents and one cent,--that the difference is hardly appreciable. A great mistake. Is it not appreciable in the cost of tea, coffee, and sugar? The reduction of one cent a pound in the tariff on sugar, of two cents on coffee, or of a few cents on tea, is not treated as trivial. There is the poor pensioner with eight dollars a month. She, too, has family and friends; but the postal tax interferes to arrest the congenial intercourse. Every letter adds to the burden she is obliged to bear. Her fingers forget the pen, and she finds herself alone. Nor is this hardship peculiar to the poor pensioner. An eminent citizen and valued friend, who has given much attention to this subject, states the case thus: “When one of my children is absent, I write a line every day. Suppose I were a poor widow, earning barely enough to make the two ends meet, and had children in the West, to each of whom I should want to write at least once a week, making in all several dollars a year; then the cost would be oppressive.” This simple illustration brings home the operation of the postal tax now imposed by law, and shows how it troubles those who most need the care and tenderness of the world. The tax on letters is like the tax on salt. If it must exist, it must be small, very small.