The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1856-01-08


The approptission made by the act Of March
., 1883, 70 supply dshasacies IN isb6.s. iioSis1
Total vi means Qr Ae0i0673
Leaving deficiency 80 be provided BY ACT Of 1850
Congress OF liSsfoi
+ ~ NJ "a 3 80 ses VS. sso lQ,l 9p024
The service on the several United States mail steamship
lines during the past year has generally been peftotpsd
o. H. Collins III RsSs @
reguari excepting the 1ost " As wreck q me
Arctie il septsmbss 1854 new steamer Q take lhs
place of the Arctic in OF construction and
uadsrsssoa upon she line On the
Bremen and Hsyre lines tbs full number u trips pas eeen
s been no irreenIarity bat between New Orleans and
Asripwail there have been several failures principally
owing the contractors aiege to the prevalence Of the
Francisco and Panama the mails have been conveyed with
great regularity and despatch and with or two excep
lions the connexions have been duly maintained at San
Francisco with the route Astoria. The trips the
Charleston and Havana ne have been performed according
contracts but yet the New Orleans and Vera Cruz
roa,e seInimonihly service only has been rendered
~ Ihavo adopted the plan pursued Ia last annual re-
port of presenting In the form Of appendix the prin-
cpal operations and results Of the foreign mail service du
ring the year. shown In the tabular statements prepared
by the Auditor which accompany this report These re-
suits stated in the appendix marked A. and compare
whole very yoralAy with the operations Of the pre-
ceding year. to some Of the more prominent Of which
The aggregate amount OF posagss-sea inland and for
eignon the mails conveyed during the year BY the United
States lines of exceeds the previous in
the OF $751; 060 H. This increase 10 chiefly confined
10 the mails conveyed by the Collins steamers, and was
caused by the temporary withdrawal IN November 1853
OF the British packets Of the Cunard line running be-
New York aud Liverpool In consequence OF which
the Of mas conveyed between those ports by the
steamers Of the Collins line was largely Increased AS !.
is understood be the purpose of the British government
place their again upon the line 10 the month Of
january next when they will their regular trips
from New York every alternate Wednesday the tempo
0f lOlliDa line,
their withdrawal will OF course The increase OF post
ages compared With the previous on ma's
by the Collins line ST. BY The New York and
Hayre line $3.50 46 and by the New Orleans and Vera
Cruz line $87I "a: while the decrease by the New York
and bremen line was $7353 "a by the New York and
CALIFORNIA; lines $3.50 Ob and BY the charleston ana
1t is fact worthy notice that the correspondence ex-
changed with Great Britain during the year. under our
postal with that country was considerably
less than In the pcceding the decrease o.
the amount Of hostages being $5O,0so s6.
tween he United States and Prussia in closed malls
der postal treaty with that country was $200b7s ~
being increase Of $Slol5 rs over the sum realized
during previous year that class Of
During the last fiscal year net revenue Of $5,05l 4s
has been derived by this department on the
exchanged with Bremen after deductng
paid to posmasters and also the United States inland
hostages on those malls which shows an Improvement IN
that branch Of the foreign mail service over the
OF the previous year. when the acc0un exnDlted net de
felt to the United States Post Office OF $lbOl ~ ~
should be observed however that the sums Psd Dy the
government for transportation under the exisung
with the different steamship lines are not en-
braced in the calculations prepared BY the Audi
tor for this department the results Of which are stated ia
the appendix Ihe actual cost OF transportation was also
included in these calculations the result would show
heavy the postal of the United States from
the foreign mail service The extent OF the loss s readily
asceraned BY comparing the receipts from hostages with
the contract pay of the different steamship lines.
The annual compensation Of the Collins line il $858OOo
The amount paid that line for mail transportation du
ring the year. the omission OF haEp having been caused
by the loss of the Arctic $S41 800 while the total Uni
ted States posage both and inland the ettss and
newspaper mails transported by the line during the year
S454ssl H. Deducting the inland postage on letter
mails which cannot be claimed IS belonging 70 the sea SER
vice. and the from hostages only 1871
32s 3d. showing excess of expense by this line OF
l73 80.
nnu, while the total United States posages mails con-
veyed during the year $ll732l 10. Deduct the in
land postage mails conveyed by this line and the reve
nue. derived from hostages only Was $76037 o. q
The contract pay OF the Havre lns is $4,000 per
nrm The total hostages on mails conveyed during the
year was $ssol ~ and the hostages after deductng
the United States inland, was $72789 81.
The total hostages, inland included mails conveyed
during the year by the New York and California steam
including the isthmas service, was $77ls35 s.
The total hostages on mails conveyed by the Charleston
and Havana line during the year. was $3.50 10 and the
cost of transportation S58,332.
The total postage mails conveyed by the New Orleans
and Vera Cruz line S5647 49, and the paid for
transportation, S34,0o3 ~.
teal operation Of the foreign mail service il contained in
the appendix, careful examination OF which is
mended.
In last annual report referred to the large
nuay drawn from the treasury by the Collins line Of
er and recommended that the sx-mouths notice required
by the act Of July I'll 1884, should be given II is
cssary that should again refer 10 the important fact that
the Collins line OF steamers is receiving from the govern
ment eight hundred and fy-eeht thousand dollars for
twenysx trips while the British government paid the
Cunard line eight hundred and sxtysix thousand seven
hundred dollars for 6y-two trips 70 the injurious
effects which the establishment Of this monopoly must
have upon the commercial OF the country Their
original contract entered into by them after full consider
alton bound them to build five steamships to maintain
and subsst four passed mdshipmen and malagen and
for the mail service they to receive the of nine
teen thousand two hundred aud City dollars trip Congress
has relieved them from that part OF their agreement which
the Post Office Department has taken advantage Of
part of the which empowers it send mail
agent and which obliges the company TO accommodate
and subsst him. and the company, instead Of building
FIVE steamships stipulated in their contract have built
but four With the knowledge that the company had built
but four steamships that they had been relieved from two
onerous conditions of their conractone by Congress,
and the other by the action Of the Post Office Department
in spint OF muncencs and liberaty, the 2lst Of
July 1861 OF compensation was increased to
fhirty-three thousand dollars trip Temporary embar
rassmcnt caused by the compc-ys entering into
terpe may have been the Of this action tho
Of Congress- but these longer exist Apart
from the prices fixed in their contract the paid
by the British government IT, in opinion full equiva
lent for this servica and IL tor this that again
refer M but whatever unexpected outays there on
them in truly liberal and generous spirit Since the pas
If nc of