SN. England and J. F. Strohm, Victor de la Cora, Aaron Milhado, Geo. B. Dieter, Boston. Boston. New York. Norfolk. New Orleans. Wurtemberg. Louis P. De Luge, N., New York. *Ferd. L. Brauns, J. G. Syze, { Penn., New Jersey, and Frederick Klett, {Delaware, Philadelphia. Lecpold Bierwirth, John A. Merle, Baltimore. Philadelphia. New York. New Orleans. IX. POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 1. Post-Office Statistics for the Year ending June 30, 1849. 4,943 Number of mail routes, July 1, 1849, Length of mail routes, July 1, 1849, miles, Amount of annual transportation in miles, Cost of same for year ending June 30, 1849, Length of routes connecting this with foreign countries, covered by regular United States mail conveyance, Annual cost of same, chargeable to the Post-Office Department, Increase in aggregate length of routes, since July 1, 1848, 167,703 42,544,069 $2,428,515 11,169 255,692 4,190 298 . 16,747 4,495 Increase of inland mail transportation since July 1, 1848, in miles, 1,531,490 Gross revenue for the year, (For details, see post, page 149.) Expenditures for the year, Excess of gross revenue for the year, $4,905,176.28 4,479,049.13 426,127.15 During the year, 921 new post-offices were established, and 333 were discontinued. 2,782 postmasters were appointed in consequence of resignations; 183 in consequence of deaths; 284 for changes of sites of the offices; 921 to new offices; 2,103 by removals; 11 where commissions expired, and were not renewed; 26 where commissions were renewed; 23 by becoming Presidential appointments; in all, 6,333. 2. Revenue and Expenditure of the Post-Office from 1st July, 1836, to 30th The above statistics apply wholly to the revenue under the old law. The following table shows the income for the first four years under the new law: * Including the distance from New York to Chagres, and from San Francisco to Panama, both together, 6,640 miles. The cost of this service is provided for by navy contracts and appropriations. * Including fines and miscellaneous receipts. From the above tables it will be seen that the annual average income for nine years, ending 30th June, 1845, was $4,364,625; and that for the four years under the new law it has been $4,179,836. The average expenditure for the nine years was, $4,499,595; and for the four years it has been $4,217,441. The average revenue from letter postage for the nine years was $3,807,993; and for the four years it has been $3,428,430. The diminution of the revenue from letters, newspapers, and pamphlets, for the year ending June 30th, 1846, as compared with the preceding year, was $825,156, or 19.32 per cent., and as compared with the average of the nine years preceding, it was $893,132, or 20.59 per cent. In 1847 there was an increase over 1846 of $388,277, or 11.27 per cent.; in 1848 over 1847, of $285,522, or 7.43 per cent.; and in 1849 over 1848, of $584,139, or 14.20 per cent. Thus it will be seen that the income from these sources for 1849 was 13.58 per cent. greater than that for 1845; and 12.21 per cent. greater than that of the average for the nine years ending June 30th, 1845. The average rate per cent. of increase in the postage on letters, newspapers, pamphlets, &c., for the years 1847, 1848, and 1849, was 10.96, and for the years 1847 and 1848, 9.35. Temporary causes, as the retaliatory postage act of June 27, 1848,† and the Presidential canvass, increased unduly the receipts for the year 1849; and 9.35 per cent. is more nearly the average annual increase of revenue. The revenue from papers and pamphlets has steadily increased since 1837. increase is attributable partly to the increased rates on pamphlets by the act of March 30th, 1847. postage on newsSince 1847, this newspapers and The reduction in the expenditures has been made in the lettings in the different sections, where the service has been taken at reduced prices, under that provision of the act of 1845 which directs the acceptance of the lowest bid, without regard to the former contractor, or the stock which he may have had on the road, and irrespective of the mode of conveyance. The actual cost per mile for transportation of the mail for the year ending June 30, 1845, was 8.01 cents. For the year ending June 30, 1849, under the operation of the law of 1845, it was 5.06 cents, making a difference of * Including fines and miscellaneous receipts, except for 1848, the amount for which year does not include fines. † American Almanac for 1849, page 211. 2.05 cents per mile, or more than one fourth of the cost in 1845. In the reletting of the contracts in the Northern Section, which embraces New England and New York, in the spring of 1849, the cost of service, so far as it was open to competition, was still further reduced, averaging nearly three cents per mile for each mile of transportation of the mail in carriages or on horseback. In the railroad and steamboat service, where the monopoly excludes competition, the cost is increased, and the transportation amounts to nine cents for each mile the mail is carried. It is this item, more than the increase in the number of the mail routes or in the frequency of the transmission of the mails, that causes the increasing expenditure. The mail service to Bremen, via Southampton, under contract with the Department, cost for the year, $200,000. The gross amount realized in postage from that service for the year ending Oct. 4, 1849, was $61,114.20. The gross amount received from June 1st, 1847, to October 4, 1848, was $29,082.51. The following is the detail of the receipts and expenditures of the Department for the contract year: — Letter postage and stamps sold, $3,882,762.62 Transportation of mails, $2,577,407.71 819,016.20 Compensation to postmasters, 1,320,921.34 43.75 Ship, steamboat, and way letters, 36,174.45 3,254.21 Wrapping-paper, 99.50 Office furniture, 23,936.03 4,219.69 61,813.32 20,276.38 20,802.71 4,586.50 Excess of gross revenue for year, $426,127.15 Mail depredations and special agents, 21,223.00 Undrawn appropriations in treasury, exclusive of the $200,000 above charged, Clerks for offices of postmasters, 317,218.36 Miscellaneous payments, 70,437.89 265,555.55 Post-office laws and regulations, 31.75 Total expenditures, $4,479,049.13 including former appropriations, $691,682.70) Unexpended revenue of Department, 3. Business of the Post-Office and Compensation of Postmasters. It is estimated that the number of letters paying postage, including ship and steamboat letters, drop-letters, and printed circulars, which passed through the mails for the year ending June 30th, 1849, was 62,000,000, of which number 15,500,000 were subject to the ten-cent postage on account of distance. Besides this number, there were not less than 5,500,000 free and franked letters, and 2,100,000 dead letters were returned to the Department. During the two sessions of the Thirtieth Congress, ending March 3d, 1849, the extra number of public Documents for distribution, ordered by the House alone, was 370,350, and their weight was 467,762 pounds. There were 6,584,500 printed speeches folded for members to frank, which, at one ounce each, amount to 411,531 pounds. This does not include the written correspondence of the members, or the mail matter by them received. By a report from the City Post-Office in . Washington it appears that, during the year ending June 30, 1849, the number of free written mail matter sent was 484,210; number received, 819,293, making in all, 1,303,503. There were 397,630 printed Senate speeches, and 170,715 Senate, and 3,448,250 House documents sent during the year, making a total of 5,320,098 free written and printed matter, which, if not franked, would have been subject, as computed, to a postage of $792,709. The commissions allowed postmasters are as follows, viz.:— 1. On the amount of letter postage, not exceeding $100 in any one quarter, 2. On any sum between $100 and $400 in any one year, 5. On the amount of letters and packets received for distribution at offices designated by the Postmaster-General for that purpose, 6. On all sums arising from the postage on newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets, 40 per cent. 331 66 30 66 12 66 7 50 66 7. Box rents not exceeding $2,000 per annum. The postmasters at New Orleans and Washington have special allowances for extra labor. To the postmasters at offices where the mail is regularly to arrive between the hours of 9 o'clock at night and 5 in the morning, the commission on the first $100 collected in one quarter may be increased by the Postmaster-General to a sum not exceeding 50 per cent. To postmasters whose pay does not exceed $2,000 per annum, two cents are paid for the delivery of each free letter or document. The term letter postage includes all postages received, except those which arise from newspapers sent from the offices of publication to subscribers, and from pamphlets and magazines. 4. Rates of Postage within the United States. For a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight (avoirdupois), sent not exceeding 300 miles, A letter over half an ounce in weight, but not exceeding an ounce, is rated with two charges of single postage; over one ounce, but not exceeding two ounces, with four charges; over two ounces, but not exceeding three ounces, six charges of single postage, and so on: there being two additional charges for each succeeding ounce, or fraction of an ounce, beyond the first ounce. When advertised, two cents additional are charged on each letter, or four cents, if the advertising costs so much. The postage of a single letter to Oregon or California, via Chagres and Panama, is 40 cents, to be prepaid or not, at the option of the sender. 5 cents. 10 66 |