The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1844-12-04
POSTMASTER GENERALS
REPORT.
PosT OFFICE DEPARTMENT, .
25,h November, l844. :


25h November, lS44.
TO the President Of the United States:
SK-lt will be gratifying 10 you, and no doubt
to the country, TO be informed, as preliminary TO
detailed report OF the operations OF this Depart
ment, during the past year. and OF It's present COLI
diton, that for the time II has been under the SUI
pcrlnteEdence OF the undersigned, and during the
whole OF your administration, its current expenses
have been met by its current revenue, and the
amount OF service IS now greater than at the COM
mcncement OF the year 1S4l.
A further extension OF the usefulness OF the De-
partmen,, would have been made, but for embar-
easements and difficulties it had to encounter by
the operations OF private mails established upon the
leading lines of post roads connecting the impor-
tant commercial cities and towns OF the United
States.
In the absence of that legislation heretofore
suggested as necessary to protect the Department
against the nroads upon It's revenue there cause
OF congratulations, if not surprise, that have not
yet been compelled to curtail the service below its
preset amount.
The total transportation OF the mail by horse and
in stages, railroads, and steamboats,, for the year
ei hIis 'a at e cost 81 81 ST.. was IS
miles, exceeding the transportation for the year
1871 by Ala, 100 miles.
ing the 3Oth June, 1884, was as follows.
N Ns%sps sSs,1 Postage. ss7ss g
S Miscellaneous receipts, n,a ass e
Total revenue reported, $4,2s7. 2s5 SO
Inc tOtal amount oil expenditure scLtleQ ana palQ
for the same period is "a 296, sS7 20.
The year which has passed has been dstin-
gulshed IN many portions OF the country, particu-
and foods interposing distractions to the regular
transit of the mails, which it was impossible for the
most vgllant and enterprlsng contractors to over
come. With exceptions OF this kind, the service
has been generally well performed by contractors.
The revenue collected by Postmaster, with very
few exceptions, has been promptly paid and ac-
counted for, and il is worthy Of remark, that of
the $l7 4SS 1857 IS collected by Postmasters with
in the last four years, material loss has been,
will be, sustained by the Government
upon the Department, have been, during the same
Il gives me pleasure to say of the disbursing agent
Of thus thai ne has discharged his us,
OF appropriations, tor the last four years, which
have been discussed by him, is $40, s52
6s His accounts have We, been beer regularly settled az
and every dollar legally and properly accounted
for.
The various duties Of the Assistants and Clerks
of the Department have been well and efficiently
performed
The Report Of the First Assistant Postmaster
General OF the extent and nature of the service for
the last eight years, with costs OF transportation,
accompanies this report. refer to this report
containing valuable statistical information Of the
amount OF capital employed in the transportation of
The mail. II will also be seen by the same report,
that at the recent lettings Of the MIDDLE section,
without any injurious alterations OF the service, the
sum OF 9l, All has been saved, compared with the
amount paid under the former contracts
The number OF cases OF mail depredations re-
ported TO the Department, for three years preceding
the 18th October, 1874, is niReteen hundred and
thirty Amount OF alleged loss, $462, 49,
Amount OF money recovered, or loss satisfactorily
1 ascertained, $780,, PAP. One hundred mail depre-
dators have been arrested and tried, during the
| am warranted in the expression Of the opinion,
| that the number OF mail depredations has been d.
mnshing within the last few years. and greater
security, by greater vigilance, has increased public
| confidence m this mode OF transmitting money
| from one portion Of the country to the other.
From the above facts il may be inferred that the
| Special Agents OF the Department have not been
altogether unmndfu Of their duty. II is not alone
to silent Investigations into cases Of losses by mail
| that their labois have been confined. They are
charged with general outdoor superintendent OF
the service and the preservation OF the public pro-
| perty OF the Department..
The necessity and importance OF such supervi-
sionand the advantage Of strict system OF respon-
sbty may, in some degree, be known from the
| value and amC unit expended annually for portion
OF this public property. Take tor instance, the item
| OF mail bags. The amount expended for this pur-
pose for the four years, including the amount Of
accounts suspended prior 10 the lst OF July, 1910,
which amount OF suspended accounts was paid in
ls4l and 1912. was $2l6 ss9. The amount actually
| July, 1874, is $70,55S 40.
| The members oil the convention who framed the
Constitution OF the United States felt the necessity
that the power to establish post offices and post
| roads and to conduct the operations OF the mail,
was one which, 10 be useful and commensurate
with the wants Of our extended country and diver
slied interests must be exclusively vested in the
/ Congress of the United States, whose Legislative
functions and supervision would pervade the whole
| sphere OF the operations OF that power.
/ The expense OF the system must be sustained by
| the same power winch created and controls it,
For reasons obvious TO those who founded the
post Office system of the United States, the prin-
ciple that It must sustain Itself by Its own ope-
rations, was eDgrafied into the first, and has
been adhered TO IN every subsequent, act OF
| legislation concerning the Department. Whilst
| it has ever been required to sustain its own ex-
| penses, unlike the system In some other coun-
tries, ii has been regarded source OF revenue
| to the General Treasury.
Our predecessors seemed to have adopted the
rule that those who used the Post Office Depart
ment for private or individual purposes or bene fits,
should detray the expenses OF transporting and deli
yerng their letters That as II had TO be sustained
by tax OF some sort, the mode OF collecting that
tax by postage on letters, &c., being voluntary,
was deemed most equal, and has heretofore proved
| cepiable TO the community.
IL was thought, in the infancy Of our Republic,
| that II was unwlse, II not UNJUST that those who
did not the Post Office should be directly taxed
| Tor the benefit Of those who did. Hence they i'm
posed such tariff Of postage as, in their Judgment,
would best attain the great object OF sustaining the
l Department az the least practicable amount
The wisdom and Justice OF this rule are not over
turned by the fact that the mode OF collecting the
| revenue has been changed from system Of direct
taxation and excise TO the imposition Of a revenue
tax upon imports.
| If the Department is to be continued under the
control oil the General Government, as il should,
cannot imagine any mode by which it's expenses
can be met, more equitable, more Just, than by the
i collection Of as much postage. and no more, upon
the matter which passes through the mail, as will
| be equal to the demands OF the service
1t IL to the fact that the Post Office Department
has been compelled 10 rely upon its own energies
and resources that its great and rapid extension
| and usefulness are mainly to be attributed
The Head Of this Department, feeling his respon-
| sibility TO the public, would not permit the service
to expand withou, a correspondent increase in its
receipts. which would, at the same time furnish
| evidence OF extended usefulness. His responsibility
| m the Goyernment and a lust regard for his own