Show the new postage law there has been much said oti oft late and considerable sid erable anxiety hanif manifested ested in relation to the new postage arrangements arrangement under the act passed by congress last winter which will be iff Torce ii force from and after the first day of july monday next some being of f the opinion that it will operate very injuriously to the inhabitants of the great basin and others that it will noty not the whole matter depending upon the proper construction of the law the question is not in our opinion very difficult of 0 solution it thelah the law supposed to affect the matter is to be construed literally and according b to the common usage of the english language and no forced construction b be placed I 1 a c d u upon on it by interested parties as is lp eise cise otten often n the case where there ia a any ambiguity ill in the he phraseology ay of st statutes atut or other documents that that may be in question re fering to matters under consideration affecting the rights of parties the section of the new now law regulating the rates of postage between the states and territories ri on the pacific and those east of the rocky mountains upon which a diversity of opinion exists reads as follows SEC 14 ad mod bt be it further enacted that the act of third of march ei eighteen eteen hundred bundred and fifty five entitled an act further to amend alnena the act entitled an ah act to reduce and godif modify the rates of postage in the united st states and end for other purposes 11 passed march third eighteen hundred and fifty one be and the same is ig hereby so modified as to require the ten cent rate of postage to be pre paid on letters convel conveyed ed in tile the matl mati from any point in t the he united states ates east of t he the rocky mountains to any state or territory on the pacific and from any state or territory on the tiie pacific to any point in the united states east of 0 the rocky mountains and all drop letters shall be prepaid by postage stamps 2 under this section it it is contended by some who probably have never traveled the entire entire distance across the continent and perhaps have not duly considered the geographical location and relative position of the great basin in which utah and nevada territories are situated that letters sent from hence to any point eastward east warA in the united states should be charged with ten cents postage and that on letters sent hither from the states and territories eastward the same amount should be paid while oters others are firmly of the opinion that the present postage of three cents is all that can lawfully be required we have carefully examined the matter and have not been enabled to discover from froin the phraseology of the law how the ten cent rate opinion can be deduced the points designated in the law are definite and not subject to 0 o dispute if there are any doubts asto a to the Jo cation of can be determined beyond all controversy by aslica a f few ew questions which almost any school boy can readily answer the law requires the ten cent rate of postage to bep be pre repaid paid on letters conveyed in the mail from any point in the united states east of 01 the rocky mountains to any state or ter tea an on the pacific and vice versa now the only thing to be determined is the geographical position of the great basin in which utah is situated Is it on the pacific no Is it on the pacific slope certainly not what intervenes between the waters flowing into the basin from those flowing into the pacific A range C of the high C lofty and with few exceptions except lona iona passable impassable rocky mountains Is utah on the east of the mountains indicated 2 surely not for a alow low range of said mountains intervenes between the waters of the valley and those flowing toi to the gulf how then we ask can ten cents be required for conveying a letter from fort 1 etY etz illch laich ip ig ph them east of the rocky mountains to att rake bake gity givy aich iq x in grant any stall se gri territory on the pacific ay not by law for it will wili not sot bear that ontra C tin for utah uta h territory Is ia not included in either of the designated sections of 0 country to and from which if a letter be conveyed ten cents centa shall be charged for its transmission on the other hand it would atwould most certainly be unlawful to charge len ien cents for conveying a letter to laramie or to ariy ady point in that direction from salt lake city because it would not be mailed in nor conveyed from any state orter or territory on the pacific the part or portion of the united states to and from which ten cents per letter is required for conveying 1 from points east of the rocky mountains from erom the facts thus ascertained it cannot be otherwise than apparent to all that the ten cent arrangement is entirely inapplicable to utah territory for it is neither on the pacific nor east of the rocky mountains y it may maybe be alleged as is often the case when law will not bear a desired construction st that such buch was the intention of the lawmakers law makers but it is the letter of the law that is in force and binding upon those who administer it aad we hazard nothing inas in as berting a that the very definite and precise wording of the law in question will not authorize nor justify any postmaster either in ia utah or nevada in requiring or charging ten cents for conveying a a letter not exceeding a half 0 ounce 11 nc 0 in wel wei weight 0 ht in the mail of the united states to any state or territory east of 0 the rocky mountains neither to any state 0 or 1 territory teryl tory on th the pacific paci fec fic if the law lav should be considered to mean east ast and west of the rocky mountains it would not alter the case in the least so BO far as utah would be concerned for the territory is neither on one side mountains nor on the other it is neither on the atlantic nor the pacific slope but on the top of the rocky mountain mountains and under the new law as well as the old the citizens have an unquestionable right to have their letters conveyed in the mails throughout the mountains and down either slope by pre paying the lawful postage of three throe cents without being c sud sub subjected I 1 to the unjust operation of a statute statu te en acted for other and specific locations |