, 1870-03-20
TIE PosrA1 Bus1nEss OF cH1cAoo

The Postmaster General has reported to
Congress that he has received returns from
4S4 Post Offices, and that it appears that
there were sent in the mails during Janus
y, 1870, under frank, 6ee, so1 letters. the
postage on which wonld have been s117,-
Sss.7s; and s46,1e4 pounds Of printed
matter, the postage On which, at regular
rates, would have been a42,3s4.36- Tho
great bulk Of these free letters arc ssnt
from comparatively few plaeea. We eiye
those where the number exceeds 1000 dur
ing the month: Chicago, es,61e; Peoria,
2,os8; Louisville, 1900; New Orleans, a.
800; Portland, 4,l03; Baltimore, e,ss1;
Boston, 17,45o; St. Louis, G,5s1; Albany,
5,i66; Buffalo, G,5ss; Brooklyn, 2,37l;
New York city, 76,ss7; Cincinnati, Ii,
Dayton, e,o05; Toledo, 2,459; Philadel-
phia, 5,7of; Nashville, 4,442; Milwaukee,
1900; Washington, 237, 127
We have given the figures exactly as they
are stated by the Postmaster General in his
report. It will be seen that Washington
sends out about one-third, and that New
York and Chicago combined send out nearly
one-fou1th Of the whole number. It will
also he noticed that the number OF free
letters sent from this city during the month
exceeds by many thousand those sent from
New York, and that it exceeds the aggregate
sent from Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Nsv Orleans, Cincinnati, Brooklyn, and St.
Louis. During January the Senator and
member of Congress resident in Chicago
were in Washington, and this apparently
immense number OF free letters received
no contributions from them. At first we
thought that the returns included the tree
letters intended for other points and
sent here to be distributed over the
various mail routes lesving Chicago;
but upon inquiry, find this not
to be the case, and that, in point of
fact, over $4,000 free letters were mailed
and sent from the Chicago Post Office.
Who wrote these letters, and to whom were
they aadressed7 The only persons in Chi
ca8o entitled to send free letters are the
Postmaster, United States Marshal, United
States Collector of Customs, and the Col
lector aud Assessor of Internal Revenue.
These can only send official letters, and, ex-
eept the Postmaster, have official coue-
spondence only with the departments at
Washington. The Postmaster, however,
has wider field This city is the grand
centre from which postal matters are regu-
lated in the West, and On the Pacific coast,
and most OF the business is done through
the Chicago Office Upon inquiry at the
Post Office, We learn that in the month of
February there wero 10000 letters mailed
at this Office on official business, under the
frank of the Postmaster alone, and that was
greatly below the monthly average. The
other free letters are made up from CON-
munications from the various public officers
here to tho departments, and from individ-
uala addressed to authorities at Wash
ington, and to Senators and Represents
tires entitled TO receive them free.
It is but just to add that Chicago is now,
in the number Of its letters and amount of
general business, the leading Office in the
United States and that the excess in the
number OF free letters mailed here urer
that OF New York city is but proportionate
to the excess OF paid letters at this Office
over that Of New York.
| Though the Postmaster General reports
returns from only 45f Post Offices, they
embrace pretty nearly all the principal
Offices Of the country, and the additional
Offices viii not increase the amount Of free
matter very much II tho January returns
prove to be the average for the year, the
aggregate Of postages lost BY the depart
ment viii amount to about two millions Of
] !