The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-12-08

Wulcn nave Deen rendered 0y the
Oceanic Steam Navigator Company,
4 Liverpool, for the conveyance Of
the mails from New York on Mon
Gays, are placed on the route between
that port and Liverpool, there will be
at least six first class weekly lines Of
transatlantic steamships leaving New
/ York for European ports, sufficient
TO establish a regular dispatch of
mails to Europe on each week day,
\ provided the sailing days Of the re-
/ spective lines can be so adjusted as TO
/ secure that desirable object.
/ The United States postage on the
mails conveyed to and from the West
/ Indies, Mexica, Panama, South Paci-
/ &c and Honduras amounted to Sl2O,-
95l So, and the amount paid for the
I sea conveyance thereof was 81, ,45O 81.
Z The contractors for the mail steam
ship service from New York to Rio
de JaneirO, Brazil, and from San
Francisco TO Japan and China, have
/ performed, in a satisfactory manner,
the full service required by their re-
Spective contracts Of twelve round
trips per annum; but ten round trips,
only, have been made by the steam
ships Of the California, Oregon &
Mexico Steamship Company, the con-
tractors Tor the monthly steamship
service between San Francisco and
Honolulu, Hawaain Islands. Irespect-
fully renew the recommendation
made in my last report for an in
crease of mail service from monthly
to semi-mOnthly trips on the mail
steamship route from San Francisco
to Japan and C4iua. Impressed with
the great national importance of
maintaining this line of American
steamships, and the necessity of pro- |
viding increased facilities of cOmmu- |
nicatiOn with those countries in order 1
to retain and extend the commercial /
advantages already gained by its es-
tablishment, felt il my duty to adj /
dress a special communication on the 1
subject to the Chairman Of the Senate 4
Committee on POstOffices and Post 1
roads under the date of the 2lst of 1
April, 1870 Senate Mis-. Doc. No. 125,
4lst Congress, I'd session., in which
statements were presented obtained
from official sources showing the /
growth of our trade with Japan and
China since the line was established; 4
the amounts Of correspondence trans
ported, and the financial results of
the enterprise. 1 beg 70 refer to that
communication for special cOnsidera-
tiOns, which render it expedient, in
my judgment, to sustain this import
ant national enterprise, and to express
the hope that Congress will promptly
pass the bill reported by the Senate
Committee on POstOffiees and Post
roads, at the last session, authorizing
an increase of the service to semi
monthly trips, under the same terms
and conditions as the present month
ly service.
The excess Of business Of the depart ]
ment, as compared with last year, is
as follows: Letter carriers, I16; mail /
letters delivered, 17,74O, ,77S: local let {
Lers delivered, 3,417,022; newspapers ;
delivered, 5,9l2, ,125; letters collected,
!, 1906, ,O37; amount paid carriers $685.
454; postage on local matter, 81, ,569, ,72S-
During the past year the salaries of
2S, 492 POstmasters have been read 8
iusted. The establishment Of new !
officers and the increase of salaries
will not, it is thought, exceed the ap- l
of s., 100000 for the cur '
rent year. The whole number of let i
Jers received at the Dead Letter Office
during the year was A. ,152, 460, of which
220, AIS were foreign letters %, ,32l let t
ters contained money, in sums of one U
iIllar or more, amounting to S92, ,S67-
g; of this amount 81, ,l16 p was de- i
livered to the writers or persons ad- a
iressed; %, 944 letters contained mon t
sy, in sums less than one dollar, a
to S., 793 60, of which So
J5G y was delivered to the writers or b
persons addressed; IL $50 letters con- s
-ained checks, drafts, deeds, ETC., to I
the nominal value of S3,O75, ,544 90 of /
which 8, 96S, 400 % was restored: 312,-
jS4 letters were retained for postage '
not prepaid; 68, ,123 letters were misdi- /
rected; 3,0l6 had no address what {
ever. +
Three hundred and eighty-two new /
money order offices were created up to a
August l. The whole number now {
open is 2,076. The number of dOmes- Z
lie money orders issued was ,67I ,253, +
If the aggregate value Of S34, ,054, ,1S4 II, o
IN increase of 50, ,2O6, ,125 7S. The
AMOUNT of fees was S235, ,235 so, an in d
,rease of S59,044 90. The average
amount of each order was $50 81. The y
profit Of the money order business was
go, ,174 SO. The drafts drawn against o
iuch credits during the past year were n
"a ,305 81. The sum Of 81 ,320, $50 SO G.
vas transferred by the POstmasters 90
rom the postage t6 the money order Il
account to enable them to meet orders
for payment. Il
l am thoroughly satisfied that ifthe 81
ranking privilege were repealed, the b
in a short time would be
This assertion has Il
)een heretofore warmly denied. The a
deficiency for the past year has been D
edueed to s., ,Sl4, ll6 90. Accurate ac-
cunts of the cost of free matter dis
,atched through the mails were or
lered to be kept by all Postmasters,
or SIX months, beginning January n
nd ending June 80, last, and the re- Ii
urns are now being received. Enough tC
3 now known TO enable the opinion b
o be expressed that the actual returns ] u
viii show the actual cost of free mat 81
er, for the year, to be fully equal to l.
ii the deficiencies. The term during d
which the accounts were kept was q
Onfined to the first half Of the year, a.
yhen few elections were held, and q
yhen only a small portion Of the pub tC
ic documents are transmitted. Should q
he amount Of franked matter be ac- a
ually ascertained during q Presiden- u
ial canvass, and subjected 10 the Il
anne postage as like matter sent by Il
,rivate individuals, / am convinced p
hat the average cost per annum would
ie greatly enhanced. My anxiety TO Fl
make the department self-sustaining t
rises from a strong desire TO reduce d
nd make uniform the rates Of pos il
age. 81
During 1870 the amount derived g
rom letter postage was SIC, III ,928 20, s.
nd from newspapers and pamphlets ly
My S934, ,S32 So; and vet the weight a
nd bulk of the newspaper mails are ST
t least ten times greater than those O
f letter mails. This shows that while "
are charged much less il
nan the cost Of their transmission, Il
etters are charged much more, and Il
Il fairness letters should be reduced n
II postage as soon as the finances Of q
he department will permit. If the e.
etter postage could be reduced from q
TO 2 cents, 1 am sure that the in h
.reased correspondence thereby slim h
lated would III a few years cOmpen- o.
ate for any temporary loss Of Teve- b
lue, and that many mistakes and vex- C;
.tious delays would be avoided by a p
Uniform rate for all distances which
would thus be established. But / C;
despair of securing any further redue- a
ion Of letter postage as long as the q
ranking privilege shall be imposed s.
lpOn the department. 1t is not in a
ended to intimate that there should G.
,e an increase Of postage on news
,apers. On the cOntraryitis the duty
4 the government TO aid in the eduea-
ion of the people by carrying news
,apers as eheaply as possible, and o.
renee I am Of the opinion that the "
present rates are not too low, nor do 3
object to the free transportation Of q
to regular subscribers in
ne counties Of their publication as il
low authorized by law. Their con- Il
without charge does not in n
erfere with the speedy and regular il
OF the mails. There is q
,ut one change that deem advisable q
Il the treatment Of newspapers, and v
hat applies only 70 those sent to O
POINTS outside Of the county where a
published. l would require postage
IN printed matter in all cases to be
prepaid by stamps. The law allowing o
postage to be paid in money by sub d
eribers at the Office Of delivery is 4