, 1864-12-07
WEDNESDAY, DEC Z, 1854.

CHICAGO,
.szaz.as=s=az
The whole number Of bounty land warrants issued
granting 2Sa,1G0 acres Of land. The estimated
y to s as S
rear eleven millions. New pcnsion agencies have
been established dG1ing the year at Columbus, O.,
ana Fafseid toSa cenEals ill., ind psser
DEL The number Of pension examining surgeons
I'll the uarE pension fund bearing ccItain portion
The money arising from sale Of prizes captured
at sen and Invested under q recent act OF Con.
grcss, Se,o55, SIS all Of which IS invested in ak
per cent gold bearing bonds: TIC Commissioner
recommends similar army fund, BE also recon-
IN carly day at New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis.
and several other Southern cities, and iucrease the
enlnzics Of clerks.
Kcpor: OF tho Postmaster General.
The following is a summary Of the points
Of general interest in the report Of the Post
master Gener al:
FINANCIAL CONDITION.
The postal revenues for the fiscal year end
ing june 50, 1864, were 81, ,433 ,253.78, and
the expenditures during the same period,
st., GA, ,77SG 20; showing an excess Of the lat
ter Of $20o, ,532.4 The excess Of receipts in
1864 over 18G1-tle first year Of the rebellion
was s4 ,oss ,aT .3s- As an exhibit of the cx-
the revenues Of 1864 were estimated ut an in
crease Of per centum on those Of 1862, while
they actually reached IN increase OF 43AH per
cent; and the expenditures which hnd been
estimated ut St3, ,ooo, ,ooo, fell s55, ,a1s.so short
Of that sum.
: ESTIMATES TOR 1866.
The estimates for the year 1866 arc as fol-
lows: Expenditures, $14 ,0o8, 500: gross reve.
nues, SIS, ,1s4 541. giving q deficiency Of
9?13 ,9q52 81 from which must be deducted
the amount Of the permanent appropriations
to compensate the department for carrying
free mail matter, S7Oo,0 900, by which the es-
tlmGtcd deficiency is reduced to S3l3 ,953.2l.
ISSUE or STAMPS AND ENVELOPES.
During the fiscal year 331 05i ,G10 postage
stamps, to the value Of SIC, III, 81 2G 81. .i93
stamped envelopes amounting to $765, l3.50
and l,61I, 500 newspaper wrappers amounting
to S. ,490, were issued; total value SO, OH,
$40. Sc, an increase Of 6 Is per cent over 1868.
Notwithstanding this enormous Issue tic
Losses Of stamps In the mails amounted only to
$l,2cG and Of envelopes sS1.80.
srrPLY OF STAMPS TO THE ARMIES.
Postage stamps are regularly supplied to
the armies of the Potomac aud Cumberland
through special agents Of the Department,
located at or near the headquarters of each.
Since tue Inauguration Of this practice, about
the 1st Of July last, the agent at City Point,
W., hes e..ld stamps amounting to ST, 90
and the agent Of the army at Chattanooga,
S5,210.
TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS.
On the seth Of June last, there were in the
in operation with length Of 139, LIS miles as
follows, viz: Railroad 23.Gl8 miles; steam
boat, 7,ao7S miles; "celerity, certainty and
security" .1o9,e7S miles; costing s55l5, ,4413.
The aggfegnte compensation Of route agents,
local agents, mail messengers baggage mas
ters aud agents on steamers was $5lG. .753;4 u,
on the Goth Of June, 1864, s56ls. 1901 makes
the total cost Of mail transportation at that
date, &, sc55 20 .4s.
The contract for tile service from Atc!li5on
or st. Joseph to Salt Lake City, is in the
hands Of Ben. Holiday, Of New York, at
$50, CO..; and from r. Salt Lake City to Folsom n
Dinsmorc, Of New York, at s3s5, ,ooo.
The contracts are from October l, 1864,
to Sept. 80, 1865. Paper and document mails
for the Parilc cnast are to be carried BY sen
yia New York and Panama, ct $3.50 COZ per
auuum. The contract for the California end
Oregon route, terminating Sept; IL, lsN, PFC.
service to 1866 and 1868. But one bid was
received, TINT Of the California Stage Com
pany, a1 $a350, 900 per annum, which was deem
ed cxtrara"aut, aud accepted only to JuncS3,
1895, only, with view 10 again invite com
petition, which has been done. The contract
70: service on the route from ", CLOUD, Min
ncsota, to Peu,bina In Dakotah Territory, was
extended to June 30. 1865, and the trips in.
crensed from one to Two PET week, at an in
crease Of compensation Of Sl7, ,1G7 per aaau:n.
AnMY MAILS.
Iuauily has been made Of Lieut.. Gen. Grant
relative to the existing arrangement for sup
plying our armies with mails. He replies
that tie system of receiving and forwarding
mails now in operation is entirely eatislacto.-
r., and that sour soldie1a reeie|c their mail
matter with as much regularity and prompt
ness as is possible for nr1nies in the field, and
with perhapsas much celebrity and security IS
the most favored parts Of the country. He
adopted Of excluding civilians from the malt
service within the lines Of the army, and de-
failing for that duty enlisted men Of ntelli-
gence and reliability, will be continued.
COST or DISTRIBUTION.
The expense attending the work in twcn-
ty.tTo distributing post Offices amounted
during the fourth quarter Of ls0i to nearly
year, or about e per centum Of the SAolc cz-
pensc Of clerk hire In al Offices,
RAILWAY POST OFFICES.
The mailing of n1l letters direct from GRE
office 10 another being Objectionable, railway
OF travelling post Offices have been cstab-
ljshcd. The requisite cars for the purpose
are prepa1ed for one daily line between New
York and Washington, and By means ofclerks
taken temporarily from tug post Offices AT At
| New York, letters intended for distribution at
either Of these points are distributed In the
cars, and 20 arranged that they can be dis
| patched without delay on connecting routes.
| 1}y this means the Transmission Of letters Is
expedited from twelve to twenty -four hours
/ Similar experiments have been made On the
| routes from Chicago to Clinton, Davenport,
and Dubuque. iowa, with equally satisfactory
results, It is hoped the final effect will be tc
reduce the expenses connected with Inc
present plnn Of distribution.
STATISTICS or FOREIGN sERr1cE.
The aggregate poztage upon the corcspon
dence exchanged with Great Britain, Prussia,
| France. Hamburg, Bremen, and Belgium
omounted to 81 ,s99, COS. SO, being an excess Q
*174 $50 4S over last year. The col collections Il
Europe to s517 7,s75.o1 excess Of collection:
il the United States, 1885,, ,855.G7.
EXPENSES OF TRANSPORTATION.
By the foreign steamships Of the New Yora
ena Liverpool, Canadian, Bremen and Ham
hurr lines, f0,SS6501. BY British contract
mali ppckets Of the Cunard and Galway lines
S6ao a4O.68. Amount paid for mail steamship
service to and from Europe, 1911 ,74o.H-
BR1r1zH NORTH AMERICAN pRoyfy.7s.
Tie total postages on the correspondence
| exchanged with the British North American
provinces during the5car amounted to S3M,
previous year. This extraordinary increast
Is probably partly owing to the fact thai
| large numbers Of rebel agents, symIa athi.ers
and refugees have taken up thcir tcmpo:a7,
abode in Canada. ..
wEsE INDIAN MAILS.
The total postagcs conveyed to and from
the West Indies amounted to $50, 990.18, ant
the cost Of transporting the same to ant
from Hayana and other West India ports Wal
sI0, sos, being 81, ,G53.15 less than ths
/ United States pustages on tue malls conveyed
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN MAILS.
| The United States postages upon the COT
rcspondenee exchanged with Central aud
South America, via Aspinwali and Panama
amounted to $14 206.51 all Of which was pale
| to Cornelius Vanderbilt for the sea and 18th
mus transportation.
| NEW LINE OF NAIL PACKETS.
During the rast year new line Of Frencl
| mali packets has been established betwee1
| France and the United States, the steamship:
| plyingnt present direct between uavrc and New
| York. An arrangement has also been concfu
ded for the transportation Of The mails fort
nightly between Boston and Halifax, Canse
and Pictou, Nova Scotia, and Charlottetown
Prince Edwards Island The transportion O.
the mails between port Of the United States
! north of the Potomac River and Rio de Janeirt
in Brazil, to commence on or before Sept. 1st
1865, has been awarded to the New York Nue.
vitas & Cuba Steamship Co., at $240, COO PEI
annum, the sum 10 be divided equally be
tween the two governments.
ROUTE FROM SAN FRANCISCO 70 JAPAN AMI
| CHINA.