The Portland daily press., 1881-11-22
THE POSTAL SERVICE.

Annual Report of Postmaster General
James.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21.-The report OF Post
master General james was made public to-
dav. The receipts and expenditures OF the
department for the year are shown by the fol-
lowing tables:
The total expenditures made on ac-
count of service for the fiscal
wear ending June 30 1881 were..S39, ,zol, 80. 40
The revenues were as follows:
Ordinary receipts. 5o,4o5.olo.oo
Receipts from money-order busi- 90
ness NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. ~oo,ooA.
Exoess of expenditures. ...... 2,4e6, ,33s.4s
Net amount charged for "bad debts"
and compromise" accounts. s.... 14,'So.oo
Making a total excess Of. .:........ 2,4S1, 1,129 80
This deficit will be somewhat augmented
when the uuadjusted liabilities OF the year
have been ascertained and paid. The expendi-
lures of the service for the fiscal year were $3,-
l49 GIG O8 or 81 per cent more than those OF
the preceding year. The item OF compensation
to postmasters was the only one in which the
expenditures exceeded the appropriation. The
receipts for the year were $3.4690ls63 or 1914
per cent more than in the preceding year and
"a 575 397 81 more than the estimate OF TWO
wears ago before the revival OF business. The
following are the estimates for 1888:
The expenditures for the fiscal year
6nQlQg June OF, 1000, oio SSeA- 30
TIe matad osaaars an revenues @ 42,5el 722o5
fIS bys;nass hessnse is estimated 1so 10000
Total estimated revenue for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1883. 42,74l,1zz.oo
Estimated excess of expenditures to
be appropriated out of the Treasury
to supply deficiency in the total
revenue. ........... ......' oNV,off'"o
NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS
The total amount of postage collected dur
ing the year on newspapers and perlodlcalS
mailed to regular subscribers from known OIL
ces of publication and from news agencies at
Q cents per pound, was 81, ,399, 40.64, an IN
crease Of Sl72, ,596 O6. OF this amount 4.65
per cent was collected at Augusta, Me.
BY careful reckoning based upon an actual
count made in every post office in the United
It has been ascertained that the total number
of mailed letters in this country in the last
fiscal year was 1,046 107 ,34S.
DEAD LETTER OFFICE.
The number which reached the dead letter
Office in the same period was 3,323,62l, or one
in every 325. There were no less than 9.479
with no direction whatever, 1857 containing
money amounting in the aggregate to $40 ,587.-
80 % 012 contained drafts, money orders, checks,
notes. &c, the aggregate face value OF which
was 81 1896, ,062 81.
gistered during the year was s 338, ,919, and the
amount of registry fees collected was $712.-
882 20, an increase over the previous year of
$117, ,107. 90 or 1919 per cent.
MONEY ORDERS.
The operations of the money order system
are multiplying yearly under the impulse OF
prosperous trade, and the demand for addition
al means of fintercommunication and exchange.
The number of domestic money orders issue d
during the year was 1868, ,232 of the aggregate
value of Sl05, ,075, 1895: the amount OF such
orders paid during the year was SlO7 ,2l9 ,071 SO
These figures show an increase OF $4, 4,722,950.52
in the amount of orders issued.
The gross number of domestic and interna-
ton money orders issued in the United States
during the last fiscal year was 1854, $780, OF the
aggregate value of $109, ,759,695.7 73. The fees
thereon amounted to 81 .073, 1920 The whole
number of domestic and international money
orders paid ip the United States during the
same period was 1921 095. amounting to $1O6.-
17S, ,092 80, to which should be added the
amount of domestic and international orders
repaid to the remitters, $722, 1861, these two
amounts of orders, paid and repaid yielding
total of $l06, 900, ,A9.71.
The aggregate gross revenue for the year,
from the transaction of domestic money-order
business, together with that of the previous
year from the transaction OF International
money-order business, was S295. .58l.39.
Deducting all expenses there remains the
sum of Sis, ,544. % in excess OF all determine
BILE legitimate expenses.
The Postmaster General favors the scheme
of postal orders for less than IS.
POSTAL SAVINGS DEPosIToRIEs.
The Postmaster General recommends the
subject of postal savings repositories to the
careful consideration of Congress.
STAR ROUTE INVESTIGATION.
Concerning the star route investigation the
report says
A minute investigation into alleged abuses
in the star route service was instituted by di-
rection of the late President, and is still being
The Post-Office department has
co-operated, and will continue to cooperate,
with the Department of Justice in this lnves-
tigation. No one who has not been directly
in the matter can fully appreciate
the magnitude of the undertaking, the mass of
record evidence examined, the difficulties of a
personal investigation in sparsey settled terri
tories, and the results attained by the patient
and intelligent labors of the inspectors of this
There can be no doubt, from the
facts already ascertained, that the existing
statutes leave the way open to great abuses,
and that there is abundant ground for asking
judicial investigation OF the transactions OF
the last few years.
RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE.
The constantly increasing cost of the rail-
way mail service the Postmaster General con- |
siders the one serious difficulty of bringing |
back the department to self-sustalning basis. |
A deficiency of $478, ,155 exists in this branch |
If the service, which must be provided for by |
Congress, and for the fiscal year ending June |
30, 1882 there must be an increased apDropria- |
ion for the same of 81 097 ,319. The report |
believes the reduction of letter postage from
,hree to two cents will be possible within three |
years.
FREE DELIVERY SERVICE.
The appropriation for the free delivery SER
vice " as 50 500 600, an increase of S85 600 over
hat of the preceding, year. The total cost of |
he service was so, ,499, ,911.54, leaving an unex-
pended balance of $88.46. The increase in the |
,ost of the service over that of the previous
,ear was $136 ,218 40, the result of the exten-
lion of the system.
LETTER CARRIERS.
The Postmaster General recommends that
Section of the act approved February 21, |
,om pensation of auxiliary letter carriers from
s40O to 5000 for their first years service in
nat grade, and to 800 for such term as they
nav thereafter serve IN the same fcapaeity
He also recommends such legislation as will |
,uthorize the appointment OF substitute let
or ga rriers at post offices where their employ
nent is necessary, to be paid nominal salary
+ SI ner apnum and the pro-rata compensa-
ion of the carriers in wnosd places they may
,e called on to serve.
In closing the Postmaster General speaks
-ood word for civil service reform.
The Anticosti Fishermen.
OuupEo. Nov, 21.-Destitute fishermen from
pticosti who we're brought to Quebec by the
have been provided with employ
nent. After these people have been supplied
rith houses, stores ETC., some of them per-
,stantlv refuse TO work though offered the |