The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-11-29
MAIL MATTERS.
Postmaster-General Bissell Sub-
 mits His Annual Report.
SOME OF HIS RECOMMENDATIONS.
The Postmaster-General Thinks Free De- livery In the Rural Districts Is Not Needed-The Vastness of
 the Service.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26.-Postmaster- General w, s. Bissell has submitted to the president his annual report for the year ended June 30. He briefly out lines the policy of the department as follows:
 In general would recommend that the first and most important thing to be done is to re- wise the law as to second class matter so nS to place the post ofice department upon a self sustaining basis
 SecOnd-Avoid expensive experiments like the postal telegraph, rural free delivery, etc.
 Third-Develop the postal service on exist ing lines of administration, viz: Extend free delivery in cities that now enjoy it, accord 1t to towns already entitled to 1t under the law, quicken railroad transportion.
 Fourth-Revise and reclasSify organization of the railway mail service and reclassify clerks in post offices.
 Fifth-Provide for district supervision of all postal affairs by appointment of expert officials from classified service, as recommended in my last annual report
 Mir. Bissell first discusses the effect of the continued depression upon the postal revenues and says:
 When adverse business conditions prevail an ordinary business establishment may over come them in part by economics of manage ment and retrenchment in expenditures Not so, however with the post office establishment of the government It cannot and should not stop to consider little economies, It's duties and obligations to the public become at once Intensified and enlarged The revenue for the year was S7S0SJ,i79: expenditures, S8i,3J ,4i4; leaving deficit of se2iS,93S. The estimates for the current year ending June 90, 1895, ere: Revenue, SSi,427TIS; expenditures, 800, ,39y ,5S5; deficiency, S5,97i ,!37. Estimates submitted tc secretary of the treasurury for the next fiscal year are: Revenue, Ss6,9O7,4O7; expenditures, S9l 059 2s3: deficiency, s4 l5i S76 This annual de- fciency, could be overcome by the increase of postal rates but he does not believe this advis- able. Economy has been practiced but neverthe- less great care has been taken that it should not affect the efficiency of the service. The economies have consisted mainly in re-letting co~Uacts for mail and transportation, and in the cost and amount of supplies; also in the abrOgation of seven of the eleven steamship subsidy contracts which will mean total say ing in the ten years of the contracts lifeof Sl4, 4Si ,Ss5,
 Mir. BiSsell recommends the &xperi. mental free delivery projects should be discontinued.
 One of the most important and inter- esting features of Mir. Bissell's report is its discussion of class matter. In his last report he referred to the great disproportion of growth of second class mail matter. He has made thorough investigation during the year upon which he says:
 The effect of all this upon my mind is a con- viction the statutes and prcccdents upon which the business now rests are defective; that they embody the only great abuse at present exist ing in the postal service: and that as the busi- ness is growing all the time some remedy should be applied. He gives figures for the past years showing that in 1883 the weight of second-class matter carried was l4S,0Oo 0b0 pounds, and in 1893 1t was 56,0O0,OOo, During the year 1894 there was carried i51 900 pounds Of all mail matter, of which 299, ,0oO, 900 pounds was second- class matter, the total cost being s36 9O7,5T2, average Of cents per pound. Returns from postmasters show that the amount upon which postage, at the rate of 1 cent per pound was paid was 25i000,0O0 pounds, the remaining 45,- O)O,OO) pounds being carried free in the coun- ty of application. The cost of carrying the second-class matter was S,0,3200OO, while at the rate of cent a pound the collections were g 900, and sS00,0O0 special local rates in carrier cities, leaving a net loss to the govern ment of sl6,g73,0J0
 The postmaster-general does not favor the postal telegraph, a system advocated by his predecessor. The conditions in this country, he says, are such as would enormously increase the large deficit. He takes as example the system in Great Britain, which is comparatively small territory, and shows that the postal telegraph entails a total annual loss of about &, ,000, 900. He points out that in country where the territory is so large the cost of postal telegraph would far exceed any possible receipts or benefits.
 Mir. Bissell gives the following daily average business of the department, which shows the vastness of the postal service:
 Number Of miles of post route run. ... 1,101,000 Number Of stamps manufactured S,3O00OO Number of envelopes manufactured. l,s00000 Number of postal cards manufac-
 tured. 1,5OO.OOO Number of pieces mailed .............. I5,70O,OO1 Number of letters mailed. ............ 7,4OO,O0O Number Of pieces of mail matter dis
 trlbuted and redistributed by rail-
 way postal clerks ks................... 27,5oo,OOO Number of pieces handled in dead let
 ter office e.......................... 24OOO Daily transactions in money order
 business l,iOO,OOV Daily expenses. S......................... 23i,iG
 Mir. Bissell refers to the bill now pending in congress to relieve the postmaster-general of the responsibil- ity of the post office appointments. Commenting upon this bill, the post master-general says:
 Whether such plan is or is not the best that can be devised, 1t is at least the formulation Of plan which is entitled to the most earnest. careful and immediate consideration and may become foundation upon which to build. What is earnestly desired and what daily ap- pears more of a necessity, is legislation of some kind which will insure an improvement upon present methods.
 
 Wealthy Heir Missing.
 GUTHRIE, Ok, Nov. 26.-C. o. Handles, of Boston, is in the territory looking for his brother, Henry Handles, whc has been missing five years. The miss