Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-12-11

also think that postmaster should be entitled to small
the of mills Tor about "a cents
per quarter weekly paper for delivering from his office
subscriber each newspaper nonow chageabe with postage
have the honor be, respectfully, your obedent
servant j. W. FARRELLY, Auditor.
Hon. s. d. HUBBARD, Postmaster General
The attention of Congress should think be called to
the fact that although the 9th and 7h sections of the act
Of Sd March, 1851 before referred to- provide that ne
ther the compensation Of postmasers the ordinary
tension of mail service should be diminished in conse
quence Of any dmnuton of the resulting from
that act no provision made for the protection of the
rights and interests of large class of persons employed
contractors special routes, and mail messengers
whose compensation depends upon the amount received
from hostages at the offices supplied by them.
There not less than 500 persons employed in
rying the mail for the nett proceeds of the Offices supplied
limited however in every to certain equal to
that paid for similar service public routes in the
section.
On few of these special routes the amount collected
is than sufficient pay the contractor and consi
derabe balances remain to be applied to the ordinary
expenses Of the Department, but large portion of
them the amount received under the old rates Of
postage insufficient to pay the compensation allowable
for his service Upon this class of contractors the reduc
ton of hostages operated with great hardship and
additional allowance to the Postmaster has still further
diminished the fund which alone be applied to the
payment Of the contractor.
On the 18th of March last the Senate adopted resou
tion by which the Postmaster General requested to
embody in his next annual report answers to
questions embraced in the resolution relating to the bu
siness this Department and its receipts and expend
under nScal
ending Both June, 1852.
Much of the information sought by these questions
could be furnished in the form desired from the
counts ordinarily rendered by posmasters from the
books of the Auditors Office, in which the accounts of
this Department kept Neither could be it furnished
with perfect accuracy for the whole year in any other
mode than by prescribing to before the CON-
mencement Of the year, form of accounts to be
kept for this object in addition to those required
from them and nearly three months of the year had
elapsed before the passage of the resolution 1t obv
ousy impossible to overcome this difficulty.
DESTROYS however, to comply far as possible with
the request of the Senate the late Postmaster General
referred the resolution the Auditor for this Depart
ment Immediately its receipt and desired him to adopt
such ramained in his power for collecting the
information called for.
By correspondence with postmasters at the principal
Offices and from the returned to his Office for
settlement the Auditor has made lin where perfect
accuracy could not be ataned estimates which deem
ed reliable and has thus been enabled to furnish in his
annexed report to most of the questions refer
red to-
The whole number Of paid and unpaid letters
which have passed through the post Offices
Of the United States during the last fiscal
year was 95, 100, 524