The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-12-01
MAIL SERVICE.
Annual Report of Postmastor-Gen-
eral BisselL
Suggestions and Recommendations Made
Expensive Experiments In the Service
Should he AvOided-Interestfhg
Features of the Report

WASHINGTON. Nov. 27.-Postmaster-
General w. :. Bissell has submitted to
the president his annual report for the
year ended June 80. He briefly. out
lines the policyiof 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 80 ms to
place the post office department upon a self
sustaining basis. ~-r's.
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 it to
towns already entitled to IL under the law,
quicken railroad transportion.
Fourth-Revise and reclassify organization
Of the railway mail service and reclassify
clerks in post ofices.
Fifth-Provide for district supervision Of all
postal affairs by appointment Of expert officials
from classified service rs recommended In my
last annual report
Mr.. 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 economies Of manage
ment and retrenchmens in expenditures. Not
so, however, with the post ONCE establishment
Of the government 1t cannot and should not
stop to consider little economies. Its duties
and obligations to the public become at once
Intensified and enlarged The revenue for the
year was t7S 0eO.47 expenditures, ss4 3s4 .44,
leaving deficit of s9s43.935. The estimates
for the current year ending June 30, 1895, are:
Revenue. eStAN,7s6; expenditures. sp0, ,3ss 5S5:
deficiency, H,97i.737. Estimates submitted to
secretary Of the treasurury for the next fiscal
year are: Revenue, sss.907. .407: expenditures.
oi 0oo. .ss3 deficiency. a, $40. This annual de-
hctency. could 10 ,pHercope by the incresse,pf
postal rates, but he does not believe this advis-
able. Economy has been practiced, but neverthe-
less great care has been taken that 1t should
mot s6ect the sfnciency Of the service. The
economics have cousi&ted mainly in re-letting
contracts for mali and transportation, and in
the cost and amount Of supplies: also in the
abroeation Of seven os the eleven steamship
subsidy contracts, which will mean n total saw
ing in the ten years Of the contracts life Of sl4,-
lsi SIS. -i,, gar
Mr.. Bisseli. recommends the expert
mental free delivery projects should be
discontinued.
One Of the most important and inter-
esting features of Mr. 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 a
thorough investigation during the year
upon which he says:
The effect OF all this upon my mind Is a con-
viction the statutes and precedents upon which
the business now rests are defective; that they
embody the only great abuse ut present exist
ing In the postal service: and that as the busi-
ness Is growing all the time some remedy should
be applied. H gives fikurodsfor the past 0ycars
showing that in 1858 the weight Of second-class
matter cprried was ls3,0 90 pounds and in
1898 II was 2S0,0000Q During the year 1894
there wns carried Isl DO00 900 pounds OF all mail
matter OF which 2so.0)o.0oe pounds was second
class matter the total cost being SO 2o7.sTs an
average Of cents per pound. Returns from
postmasters show that the amount upon which
postage, ut the rate Of cent per pound was
paid was - 100000 pounds, the remaining sS.-
0o0.000 pounds being carried free In the coun-
ty OF duplication. The cost Of carrying the
secoud-class matter was e.0.se0.0oo. while at
the rate Of cent Q pound the collections were
e.5l7.0o0. and 100000 special local rates in
carrier cities, leaving net loss to the govern
ment OF ei6,o7s.0o0
The postmaster-general does not
favor the postal telegraph, a system
advocated by his predecessor. The
conditions in this country. he says, are
such Is would enormously increase the
large deficit. He takes as example the
system in Great Britain, which is a
comparatively small territory, and
shows that thepostal telegraph entails
total annual loss Of about Sc ,000, 900.
Mr.. 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. -. 100000
| Number Of stamps manufactured. s,SO0o00
Number Of envelopes manufactured. 100000