The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-04-06
The expenses Of the United States Post Oce In 1863
amounted to 1902 756, oonsLstn9 Of ths folio wing


Mail transportation. 9ee 3os
General miscelaneous expenses ........... 703 100
Total general mail expenses. .s5, $40 oos
Compensation TO postmAsters. 81, ,82l 474
salaries Oh cierks....... 5ooS20
Stationery ........................... 4l,4S4
Total for work, &c, in Post ofces. -. s2,37274s
Grand total entire postal expenses. .SI9s2,75
We have here s2,372,7Is for expenses In our Post
Offices TO go agsns. 81 l39 10 In the Post Omces OF
Great Britain bat we have in round numbers "a GOO
T, ,stmasters while the whole number OF o.
subPosimasters In Great Britain amounts 10 but little
over 5000. tins circumstances not equal We will
then deduct frtm the expenses of Post 0oes two
thirds OF the amount OF all ths salaries OF Postmss
ters 3lt) and that will leave S1l5s432 to 70
sgainst the OF 81 lilo for tho ksd of ser
vice In great Britain. Now have taken away l6 900
Of the lahores in postal service and once sup
pose that the remaining Postmasters and clerks could
attend TO the what do get as the result OF their
sbcrsr IL certainly not 10 be supposed that they
could do the work with mplcated and heteroge
neops system; but II they could perform it. no does IL
with the results Of the labor in the British Post
Oces In 1862 there 9b 524 letters mailed In
the Untec States aud Ia Great Britain during the
year ae9 According 70 .he above expenses eve
ana reoepton-independent of transportsti ionthe
OF sl2 ob while the same number Great Britain cost
81, 1858 being less than one.fourth the amount wers
the British method Of doing business complicatsd
!aborious and expensive as ours their $40 mil
mailing and handling s4 400 instead Of ST. l3e Ilo
and this besides and post pense
On the other hand, were our system simple, Uniform.
and IN cen,equenee as cheap, a. theirs, our ninety six
million letters would have cost S2s7 9C8 instead Of
SlsS,433 or we could have despatched four hundred
million letters at the Same cost aud trouble that II now
takes for lesa than one fourth Of that number.
Nothing IL said OF papers, books and pamphlets but
as they are hniiar In both countries, 1t would not affect
the general result we ADDED TO the expense OF the
post Offices OF Great Britain given above the salaries
OF all tho letter carriers IN the kingdom, ( 400 936)
would only be about 30 900 for every million letters
FAR from half the sum that our letters cost. These
giganti, results in the British Post Office are most GER
tainly attained In simplifying labor by making postage
uniform II may appear at first like small after that
have three rates OF letter postage drop let
ters one for general post letters that less than 1900
miles and another for distances hey ond miles II
may appear TO be OF h.te consequence that We have
two methods Of paying for our letters, either in
computing the rates OF postage by weight But these
not small matters unimportant. In the mailing
and delivery ofa hundred million letters and tn.
asement OF twenty four thonsand post offices, IL In
question OF millions Of dollars. So long 90
the principle that Post oce must sustain ITSELF IL
bectm question OF high or low rates Of postage.
duced at once 10 the greatest uniformity and plcy
the single rate Of letter postage might to-day be pat a:
have our Post Office revenue and expenses as nearly
balanced a. they are a. present
striking result Of the benefits OF uniformity In post
age aa measure OF economy, IL shown in the compare
tive cost OF attending to the mailing and transporting
letters in Great Britain and the United States, and In
Great Br AIN before and after the rates uniform
In Great Britain in 1882 the before the ntroduc
ton Of unotm postage there wtre s2 47o, ,5D6 letters
and the expenses OF the Post Office amounted to
so,Is4,ssI. his shows an expense OF $40 for each
thousand letters In 1883 the number Of letters by
mail In Great Britain was 4lo as9 and the gross ex
pense OF the Post Office s70o3 39g This amounts 10 SIT
for every thousand letters 50 that In proportion TO the
business done all the expense OF attending 70 the mails
in Great Breat Britain is only little third what
Il was before there uniform postage And how Is 1t
in the Uaitsd States In lsb2 the number Of letters
mailed wa 95s9c a2i, and the s.tirs postal expenses
s7lts lto being expense OF sra fos each thousand
Ie,tsrsa strong contrast TO the ST fora thousand
letters in Great Britain.
Can any one seriously think that there Ia financial
advantage n having letters between the Atlantic and
Pacific states pay ten cents with letters other distances
paying three and drop letters one while in consequence
OF these several rates we are burdened with varied
complicated isborious and expensive system s there
any reason in believing that there any other result
the gross amount Of pos,ases collected IN the states
ana territories mentioned, IN the year isSa;-
Iahiorna. @b6, ls3
Usgon ,siii,ory i9sos
Washington ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. l,62s
.'.'''.''...'....'. i,so.
- -
iotl.. .'.........,....... 1910, g6s
'e deduct one OF th. for the postage on local
tsrs and papers going 5000 miles, and which Is
ehsssa double ,he rae o, mai matter sent less than
s0v mes lhe late law has raised this TO ten eents)
one nan 2, h-sso sl-may be considered As the pro.
u or surplus derived from the high rate Of postage II
70 ms an equal sum Tor the postagss coleefed
&C. aha have $50 eas As the gam aecruins to our
omcs oepartment from the double rate Of postage
Tor iong Ana What does y cost 70 eoi,ec this
sum OF $3.50 o0 why II costs a. the least calculation,
over million and hsn OF dollars or more than eight
tunes tns sum gained. .-
Mr. hIes then gave hs attention TO the fTanking sys-
tenn, and presented the following ttatistcs;--
Quantity Of mad matter sent from Washington during
tbe month OF January, 1884 upon which no postage Is
collected and showing the amount Of revenns that
Souo accrue the same was charseabe with postage
ana prepaid
Numoef OF le'Nrs nhnEed oy members OF
congress. '.'...... .........'............... II,IT
Melsh' oi 'he sans IN pouhos. .'....s.. 3,Sts
nnoeDt OF postsge on the same prepaid s',oo3 oZ
"eisnt OF pnbhc documents iranked BY
mfmUH oI Uongres' IDS ............ os3J5O5
nmount OF postsge on the same, u prepaid SiOsol 20
Amount Of postage the same, IL prepaid s6,7s2 40
Weight OF newspapers lbs. ............... Ill 002
Total amount Of postagss on The above (ths
,,oy,g.t |, a. ns.pp.ts' - Wv ''"1 s,oo ,o- mn
~. -... -