The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-11

General H. c. Payne has submitted his annual report to the President, which is in part as follows:
 Post office Department,
 Washington, D. C., December 30, 1903. The President:
 The annual report of the postoffce de- pertinent for the fiscal year ended June 30. 1903, shows the following as a result of the financial operations of the department for that year, compared with the previous fiscal year:
 Ordinary postal revenue, 1902 s119,95S,- 22s 40; 1903, $1S1 19S4, ,5S5
 Receipts from money order business, 1902, s1 1,Ss9, ST. s6; 1903, $2, 239. .9os.24.
 Total receipts from all sources. 1902, $121,- s4s O47. .26; 1903, $l34,224, ,44s.24
 Total expenditures for the year, 1902 SPA, 7s5 GOT or; 190S $1SS, ,7S4, 487. .97 Excess of expenditures over receipts, | 1902, g, 937, ,649 .S1; 1903, $4,560044.7S. An increase in the deficit over the pre- 1 vfous year of $1, 622, .92, which is. how ever. $1,042,1s3 less than the estimated deficit for the year.
 Additions to Department Building. Congress at its last session passed an act looking toward the purchase of block 324 which is located immediately south of the present department building, TOT the purpose of erecting thereon an annex to the department building. The phenom- enal growth of the postal service ana the consequent increase in the business or the department makes it more and more lIn- reratVe that this addition to the pres ent department building should be con- structed at an early date. The department | is at present at great inconvenience, oc cupying several buildings and parts or buildings located at considerable dis tances from the main office and paying a large amount of rental therefor, which buildings are not freproof. l therefore most earnestly urge upon the congress the enactment of suitable legislation to acquire the title to the property rererred | to.
 Maximum Salaries Fixed by Law.
 The number of vacancies existing In the higher grades (from $l6o0 to s27OO) is con elusive evidence that 1t Is not the policy of the department to allow extraVaSant salaries to clerks in postoffices The rresent method of segregating the appropriation into grades involves large amount of unnecessary bookkeeping ooth in the salary and allowance division ana in the auditors office.
 Star Routes.
 At the close of last fiscal year there were 20. 613 star routes, the length or which was 249, 364 miles. the annual travel 127, ,152 miles, and the cost So'- GA 999. .95 per annum. The contracts TOT the star routes in the third contract section, embracing the states or onlo' Indiana. Illinois, Michigan. Wisconsin. Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, expired June 3o 1903, and new contracts were ! made last year for all the star service In those states for the four-year term beginning July last. These new con tracts covered S340 routes, aggregating 32. .724 miles in length. and 19,3S9Sl miles of annual travel at an annual e%pehui- ture of s1,276,277.O .O7.
 Hawaii and Porto Rico.
 In Hawaii there were ninety-one routes aggregatng 14,770 miles in length with an annual travel of 742, ,696 miles, costing | $96 243. .3S per annum. The closed mails conveyed by local steamboat routes, star routes and railroad routes within the Territory of Hawaii amounted to 6O,745 pouches and sacks. Between San Fran l cisco and Hawaii there were 2o,o36 pouches and sacks, and between Homo lulu and foreign ports there were olz' bags The local steamboat routes cover | all navigable waters within and around | the several islands comprising the Ha- waiian group. Every landing on the islands is touched by some mall steamer Every steamer plying between Hawaiian ports carries the mails.
 In Porto Rico at the close of last year there were forty-nine routes of all kinds, the total length of which was 349S miles, on which there was an annual travel or 55S,S73 miles at cost of $SO, 20S.os
 Books of Stamps. The demand for stamps in book form | flNa In ha number issued last year being 2,7S5s66 | books, SS. .5S per cent over the previous | year. The 1 cent each at which these books are sold over the value of the stamps contained therein paid the cost of manufacture, and in addition has yielded a profit of $151,1A.9S 9S to the de- partment on the total number of stamp books issued since stamps were first put up in this form in 1900.
 Continuance of Postoffices.
 There were 4462 postofhces discontinued during the year, being 4o3 more than dur | ing the preceding year. The principal cause for the large in- crease in the number of postoffices dis l continued has been the extension of the rural free delivery service, which re- suited in the discontinuance of 2163 post offices during the year, the salaries of postmasters of said offices aggregating $12l, ,332
 Number of Postoffices. | On June 30, 190S at the close of the fiscal year. there were 74169 postoffces in the United States, divided as follows: First class, PAP; second class, 1l07; third class, 3690; fourth class. 69, 130.
 Telephone Service. The extension of the rural free delivery service and the consequent increase In the use of the mails by the patrons residing along the rural routes. together with the extension of the telephone service into the farming districts of the country, has sug- gested the propriety of extending the priv l ilege of the special delivery of such let | ters, or the contents thereof, by means of the telephone, it being proposed that | special stamp be provided covering the | cost of such transmission, the use of | which stamp would authorize the post | master at the office of delivery to open | such letter and telephone it's contents to | the person to whom 1t is addressed. It 1 will be seen that if such plan Is feasible. | twenty-four hours time will be saved In | the transmission of important messages l to many people residing along the lines | of the rural free delivery routes. l would recommend that small appropriation be made by congress for the purpose of en- | abling the postmaster general to investi- | gate the subject.
 Conclusion.