 He won general election by just short of 3,000 votes.On September 10, 1837 Pratt was appointed to the Committee of the Militia, and on December 11, was appointed to the committee on public buildings.On March 19, 1838, Pratt introduced a bill to drastically lower postage rates, and argued that high postage costs disproportionately affected the poor, and that it was effectively a tax on intelligence, as it hindered the free passage of information.