Evening star., 1902-01-24
EVIDENCE OF BUSINESS
ANNUAL REVENUE OF THE CITY POST
OFFICE.
Would He Much Greater If 1t Were MOI
for the Great Amount of Free
Mail Matter.

The annual revenue of a city post office
may be taken good evidence OF the
business done in the city in which the
office is situated. The fact that the rev.
eEue, or the gross receipts, of the post Of
flee in the city of Washington, d. c.. jump
el from S6S9, 800 to SI39 100 during the past
fiscal year. or advanced SO 100 in a single
year indicates that there is something do
ing at the capital besides politics and So
eial functions and were the free matter
mailed here counted at postage rates Wash
ington would rank about third instead of
sixteenth. in the leading cities OF The
United States as regards postal revenue.
Z; ''The census of 1900 gives Washington's
popula ton at 27S. .71S," said a postal official
to Star man today, yet We do heavier
postal business as. regards receipts than
several other cities of a greater population,
and In the volume of mail matter handled
a business which compares favorably with
cities many times our size.
How Washington Stands.
- Washington is in what is termed the
sc, 600 class of post offices; that is, the
postmasters of these offices receive that
amount of salary. There are a number of
such offices, but only few will be select
ed to form comparisons, and such as are
CARDS population. except in the instance of
Baltimore.
Thus. the Cincinnati post Office employs
about 80 clerks, exclusive of carriers, and
its gross receipts last year were $l,3l0000.
The Cleveland post Office employs about
1SJ clerks, exclusive of carriers, and the
revenue was $685. ,6S2. The Detroit post Of
flee receipts were sS36.S11, and it employs
about 160 clerks, exclusive of carriers;
while the Buffalo, n. Y, post Office turned
into the treasury s925, ,224 and employs about
90 clerks exclusive of carriers. Baltimore
is, of course, city Of 100000 more popula-
ton than Washington. Its receipts last
year were s1,239.0oO. and 1t employs about
300 clerks, exclusive Of carriers. San
Franciscos post office employs about $50
employees exclusive 'of carriers and its
receipts We're 81 615,0OO last year.
Washington. with population, accord
ing to the last census, of 21S,1lS, employs
in its city post Office 462 clerks, exclusive of
carriers, and of the latter there are 239, or
in all a force of 701 persons, within 34S
of the entire force of the Post Office Depart
ment which numbers 1,049, according to the
last census.
TT will therefore, be seen that the
Washington city post office employs a
force, exclusive of carriers, nearly twice
the number employed in the respective post
offices of Cincinnati and San francisco
more than twice the number of the employees
OF the post offices at Cleveland, Detroit and
Buffalo, respectively, and 162 more than in
the post office at Baltimore.
Free Matter Annihilates the Revenue.
1.-The question naturally arises. Why is
it that Washington, with such great force
of employees. and handling such a stu
pendous bulk of mail matter, as will be
hereafter shown, can show but such a COM
paratively small revenue? and it is answer
ed that it is the free official matter of the
government which annihilates the revenue,
and We're regular postage rates charged
thereon the yearly revenues Of the Wash
ington city post office would approximate
81. 600 OOO as nearly as can be estimated by
the Post Office Department experts, taking
the bulk of the free official mail handled as
basis upon which to calculate.
1.-THE fact that from tables carefully pre-,
pared it is shown that S5.75 per cent, or
nearly So per cent, is the average amount
OF the unpaid official mail handled would
almost appear to indicate that the remain
ing 1424 per cent of paid matter doesn't 4
count for much, and that the Washington
city post office is really the post office for
the government of the United States.
While this Is substantially true. yet. as The
Star has already shown the people of the
District of Columbia patronize the mails to
the average yearly amount Of $2.67 per
capita. or more than any other subdivision
of the United States including New York,
which proves that despite our handicap of
official free matter our paid matter is suf1-
GENTLY large to make our revenue such as
results in this showing per capita, while the
figures following will show that our reve-
nue. exceeds at least two cities of a greater
population, and runs parallel with cities Of
greater population.
How the Omcial Matter Affects Us.
Several Official tabs have from time to
time been kept on the amount OF free and
paid mail matter which has passed through
the city post Office. At one time during a
period of twenty-four days during a ses-
sion Of Congress daily average of lis. .45o
pieces OF official matter was dispatched. or
5.448 900 pieces: At another time. last year.
during q part Of the session OF Congress.
which adjourned last year on the -4th of
March. during period Of seventeen days
the records Of the. railway mail service
show that 4.0d5 900 pieces Of unpaid matter