New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-12-04
, cunard line. sailing ON other days Of

| When the German steamships Of the
/ North German Lloyd and Hamburg line
resume their regular trips, and the new
| steamers Of increased size and great speed,
which have been rendered by the Oceanic
Steam Navigation Company Of Liverpool
York ON Mondays, are placed ON the route
between that port and Liverpool, there will
| be at least six frst-class weekly lines of
l 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
respective lines can be so adjustedias to Sc
cure that desirable object.
The. United States postage on the mails
| conveyed to and from the West Indies,
| Mexico, Panama, South Pacific, Balize and
Honduras, amounted to $l2O,95l SO, and the
amount paid for the safe conveyance thereof
was So, $50 81.
| The contractors for the mail steamship
service from New York to Rio de JaneirO
| and Brazil, and from San Francisco to Japan
| and China, have performed, in satisfactory
manner, the full service required by their
respective contracts, Of twelve round trips
| per year.
But ten round trips only have been made
| by the steamships Of the California, Oregon
and Mexico Steamship Company, contract
ors for the monthly steamship service be-
| tween San Francisco and Honolulu, Hawaiian
Islands.
I respectfully renew the recommendation
made in my last report for an increase of
mail service from monthly to semi-mOnthly
trips on the mail steamship route from San
Francisco to Japan and China. Impressed
with the great national Importance of main
tanning this line of American steamships,
and the necessity Of providing increased
facilities of communication with those
countries, in order to maintain and extend
the commercial advantages already gained
by it's establishment, felt it my duty to
address special communication on the sub
iect to the chairman Of the Senate Commit
tee on POstOffices and Post Roads, under
date of twenty-first of April, 1870 Senate
miscellaneous document No. l25, Forty-irst
Congress-, second SESSION., in which state
ments were presented, obtained from official
sources, showing the growth Of our trade
with Japan and China since this line was
established, the amounts of correspondence
transported, and the financial results of the
enterprise.
beg to refer to that communication for
special consideration, which renders it ex-
pedient, in my judgment, to sustain this
important natural enterprise, and express
the hope that Congress will promptly pass
the bill reported by the Senate Committee
on pOstoffices and pOst-rOads at the last
session, authorizing an increase Of the SER
vice to semi-monthly trips under the same
terms and conditions as the present monthly
service.
The excess of business of the department
compared with last year, is as follows: Let
ter carriers, 116; with mail letters delivered,
17,74O,77S; local letters delivered, 3,4l7 ,O22;;
newspapers delivered, 5.9l2, l25; letters col
lected, 1906 37: amount paid carriers, S4,-
GIG, 454: postage on local matter, 81 sos, 728.
During the past year the salaries Of 49,
492 pestmasters have been readjusted. The
establishment of new offices and the in
crease of salaries will not, it is thought, ex-
coed the appropriation (s5,oOO,ooo) for the
current year.
Whole number of letters received at the
dead letter office during the year, ,l52, 160,
| Of which 900, AIS were foreign letters; 3D. 2l
letters contained money in sums of one dol
| lar or more, amounting to So, 1867 81; OF
this amount ST. ,116 q was delivered to the
writers or persons addressed; 22,944 letters
contained money in sums less than one dol
| lar, amounting to 5000 60, Of which
| $5056 y was delivered to writer's or per-
| sons addressed.
1850 letters containing checks. drafts,
| Deeds ETC., nominal value, $3,O45,544 80, OF
which s., 963, 400 o. was restored.
| 3l2, 64 letters were retained for postage
not prepaid; Sc, l23 letters were misdirected;
30l6 had no address whatever.
| Three hundred and eighty-twO new money
order offices were created August l. Whole
number now open is 2076 the number OF
domestic money orders issued was ,671 ,253;
of aggregate value $34,O34, lS4 Il, an In
crease Of So, COG, l25 70; amount of fees
1882, $50, an increase of $59,O 44 80; average
amount of each order $40 81; profit Of the
money order business $9l7 ,463
The drafts drawn against such credits
| during the last year were 50, 1908
The sum of 81 ,l20, 26O was transferred by
postmasters from the postage to the money
order account to enable them to meet orders
presented for payment.
As to the franking system, l am thorough
" satisfied that if the franking privilege
were repealed the department in a short
time would become self-sustaining. This
assertion has heretofore been warmly denied
The deficiency for the past year has beer
reduced to $2,Sl4,l16 %.
The accurate accounts of pOstoffice matter
dispatched through the mails were ordered
to be kept by all postmasters for six months
beginning January l and ending june 81
last, and returns are now being received.
Enough is now known to enable an Opin
ion to be expressed that the actual return!
will show the actual cost of free matter fOl
the year to be fully equal to all deficiencies.
The time during which accounts were
kept was confined to the first half Of thu
year when new elections were held, an(
when only a small portion Of the public
documents are transmitted. Should thu
amount of franked matter be actually ascer
tanned during the Presidential canvass ant
subjected to the same postage as like matte
sent by private individuals, l am convinced
that the average cost per annum would b,
| greatly enhanced.
My anxiety to make the department self
sustaining arises from strong desire to re
duce and make uniform rates Of postage.
During 1870 the amount derived from
letter postage was 1871 ,92S 20, and from
newspapers and pamphlets only 1894 1872 SO
mails are at least ten times greater thai
those of letter mails. This shows that Will
: newspapers are charged much less than cos
of their transmission. letters are charged
much more, and that in fairness letter
should be reduced in postage as soon as tn
finances oflthe department will permit.
If letter postage could be reduced from
three to two cents, am sure that increased
: correspondence thereby stimulated wOul'
losses of revenue, and that many mistake
and vexatious delays would be avoided b
a uniform rate for all distances which wOul
thus be established.
: But despair OF securing any further re
ductiOn of letter postage as long as frank
ing privilege shall be imposed upon this d.
partment.
1t is not intended to intimate that Their
should be an increase of postage on new;
, the government to aid in the enlightenment
and education of the people by carryin
newspapers as cheaply as possible, an
; hence am Of the opinion that the presen
/, rates are not too low, nor do l object to fire
transportation of newspapers to regula