The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-12-29

|
Secretary of War, Secretary OF the Trea.
.ury, Secretary of the Interior, and Sec.
retary sfthe Navy.
With the Presidents Message, yesterday, we
received the reports of the Secretaries of the
| Denart aud the Postmaster General
which we condense below:
POSTMASTER GENERALS REPORT.
The whole number of post-ofiices in the
United States on the 30th of June, 1853
| was 2s,53a of which ALI are PRESIDENTIAL -
established by the President. The number
established during the fiscal year was l,i55
and the number discontinued s3,, being ne'
increase of 562. The number of postmasters
| appointed during the year was 7,5aS, OF whom
! 1859 We're appointed to fill vacancies occasion
ed by resignation, S67 by removal, 295 by death
2N2 by change of names and sites, and i,455 b,
the, establishment of new offices. The nun
Der OF OFFICES 30th June, lS5S, was 1887.
The transportation statistics show that or
the 30th of June 1889, there We're in operation
| s,s23 mail routes under 1853 contractors, witt
length of 26u,G52 miles, divided as follows
! Railroad 26,0fu, steamboat 92U9, coach 63,Uii
| inferior modes Is, ,192. The total annual trans
portation OF mails was So, ,30s, ,lGa miles, cestin,
Sa4oe,F57, at an average cosrby rafsroad of
cents ana mills per mile, steam boat 25 4 cts
coach 10 cents and SO mills, and inferior mode
cents 10 mills. Compared with the service
reported June 30, 1855, there is decrease o
Dol miles IN the length of mail routes, and al
1
portation, with an addition of 81 673, 500 to tn
| cost.
On. the 30th of June. 50 there were in ser
VICE 40 route agents at a compensation o
| s5oo,oofi 81 express agents at $780, 700; AZ loca
| agents al s2a,eiS; and $40 mail messengers A
| Si9o,999. This amount added to the cost o
service, as in operation in June, '5S, makes
| the total on the 30th of June last Slu OgI o3I
which by reductions in the cost of service from
| June TO September makes the total on the 3Ott
| of September S9,4374t0
The actual expenditures OF the department
| in the last fiscal year, including payments fol
| letter carriers and foreign postage was Sli
| l5S. .uS3 63. But to this must be added IiablIi
| ties which could not be paid, owing to III,
failure of Congress TO make the usual appro
| priations, which Will make the total expendi
| lures (and liabilities) SIS, 75l,O92 50.
The gross revenue for the year from letter
carriers and foreign postage, was s., ,96s 4Si u
| being an increase of per cent. over the reye.
nue. of the year ending June 80, 1858 but still
| So $50, 900 26 short of the expenditures.
The estimated expenditures for the yeal
| 1860 are Sii,S7i ,5i7, and the means applicable
TO defray this amount are estimated at Slu.
222. .53i, leaving a deficiency for that year o
| Si,s6,Ug2, to which must be added S1lO,23I in
| the hands of pos tmasters and only to be avail
ed of when collected, making the total def.
| cheney S5.526, ,32l. The estimated expenditures
for 166l are SIS, ,665 1885, and the means $3.50.
I'll, leaving deficiency Of S5,9eo, ,42i for tha
| year
The aggregate amount of postage, (sea, in.
|
from Europe by the several lines OF mai
| steamers employed by this department wa:
S4Si,G6 81, and by the British packets of the
Cunard line, performing an equal number o
trips. SsO5, 500 6i The North German Lloyd
| and Ham burg lines of mail packets also con
veyed mails 10 and from Bremen and Ham
| burg. respectively, the postages on which
amounted 10 SIS, ISL II, making the total post.
| ages on United States and European mails
conveyed by all lines during The year, 81 333ss,
, 4i9 50.
The amount of letter postages upon mails
exchanged during the year with Great Bri
tain was S110,nS6; with Prussia, SIS 6l2 Us
| France, S2lS, ,77Uu5; Bremen, S}5, ,365 81; and
Hamburg, S22joi 95 being al decrease OIL
British mails OF S32 Isl So; on Prussan mail:
| of S}7, 1870 -; and All increase on French mail.
| of Sl2 9l3 63 on Bremen mails of Sl0i62 IL
and on Hamburgsrnals of SO, 70i u, as com
pared with the preceding year. Net decreased
letter postages on European mails, $50 695 43
He advocates the selection of American S team
ers for carrying foreign mails only where the,
sail on the same day with foreign steamers
and deprecates the detention of the mail fol
three days TO wait for an American vessel.
| The whole number of dead letters durins
the last fiscal year is estimated at 2.5U0,0u0
including about 500,0tO drop letters and So
! 600 "held for postage Deducting these two
| classes, the number of letters actually convey
ed in the mails, and failing to reach the per
| sons addressed. may be estimated less TT II
1000, 200 year. More than fifty per cent. O
the entire accumulation of dead letters occurs
|
cluding of course, the large cities and towns
He advocates the speedier return by post-of
fees of uncalled for letters to the Genera
Post-Office Department.
| On the subject OF the Portland and New
Orleans mail the statistics show that on The
Southwesa ael3E route via Knoxville, they run
2i1 times iRSchedule time to }S9 out of time
and on the Atlanta route via Wilmington run
4U3 times in schedule time to 2S6 ont of time
| In but two OF the StateS-South Carolina anC
| Elorida-has the cost OF the service been in
| creased. 1t was at the lowest point in thes.
| States, and in conse1 uence on the occasion o.
| the lettings in April last, this improvement
| amounting to s., ,653 was allowed. The heayi
est reduction-S i26, ,600-Was made in Mis-
souri,, in which State the postal expendi
lures fol the past year were SS727,U9O 81 anC
the receipts but S227, ,S67 63-showiug a loss
of Si992l4 81. The next largest curtailment
S9i,G2l, was in Texas, in which, with pos TIA
revenue of but SlO0,597 35, the outlay for the
service for the year ending June 30, was $723
| 3ot-exhibitlng an excess OF expenditure o
S622,7s %. In Louisiana the reduction was
| S75,3T9-the excess of expenditure over re.
| ceipts having reached lii that State the past
year S5Si ,3i5 81.
The Postmaster General fayors the aboIi.
ton, as far as can be, of distribution Offices He
also advocates the collection of postage or
newspaper exchanges, and urges lower rate
of compensation to railroads for mail trans
portation.
The Pacific mails have been the object is of re
duction. Upon taking charge of the depart
ment he found six mail routes to the Pacific
costing 81, IS4, ,697, and only paying 3339, AZ
He has reduced them to TWO, one by way o.
New York and the other by way of New Or.
leans which are to cost $35l 900 per ann um. -
The Tehuantepec he declares useless. Th.
Great Overland Mail, he hopes, will be dis.
| continued: or, if that cannot be done, that its
| expenses be charged on the public treasury
| and not the Post-Ofice Department. Ii COSTS
| S5o00OU per annum and pays $4,000.
| He strongly urges the abolition OF the frank.
| ing privilege, and thinks if the Stree matter ,
| was charged the rates OF postage IL would
| yield 81 ,SG0, 900.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
The authorized strength OF the army is
| fs 1fl5 men. On the lst of JDty the nunibel
was II Ass, of which not more tnan l,uoo are
| available for the Gaid. This little force is re-
| quired to man about l30 garrisons, posts and
camps and is scattered over an area OF 3,060,
| 600 so uare miles. The Secretary thinks that
| to call ours peace establishment is a mere
| abuse of terms. All the incidents pertaining
| 10 an active war establishment characterize
| our service throughout the year, excepting
| only the casualties upon the battle field; and
| these in our service, are far from being few
/ or insignificant. The sudden calls to which
| our troops are constantly liable, the length OF
marches to be made, the amount of real and
severe fatigue, privation, and hardship to be
endured by them, are not exceeded in any SER
| vice, nor at all eqralled on any peace estab-
| lishn ent whatever.
The war which, last year, was going on
with the Oamanches and kiowas Is still un-
finished, but the theatre of il is extended from
the western part OF our Texan boundary TO
the region lying towards the headwaters of
the Arkansas and Canadian rivers. Proper
meas ures have been taken to subdue those
tribes, and TO give perfect protection to the
routes from Missouri and Arkansas TO New
Mexico.
.In connexion with the subject of frontier de-
fence, venture o submit plan which, if approved
by Congress, wili am confident, be productive OF
great ultimate good to the country and an essential
enlistment Of men for the mounted corps, whose