that the length of railroad-routes, in miles, increased from 4,092 in 1845 to 6,886 in 1850; 18,333 in 1855; 27,129 in 1860; 43,727 in 1870, (passing over the intermediate year 1865, in view of the fact that but a small portion of the 6,886 miles of railroad-routes discontinued in rebellious States in 1861 had been then restored,) and 63,457 in 1873: that the amount paid for railroad mail-transportation increased from $562,141 in 1845 to $818,227 in 1850; $2,073,089 in 1855; $3,349,662 in 1860; $5,128,901 in 1870; and $7,257,196 in 1873: that the postal revenues increased from $4,439,841.80 in 1845 to $5,499,986.86 in 1850; $7,352,136.13 in 1855; $9,218,067.40 in 1869; $19,772,220.65 in 1870; and $22,996,741.57 in 1873: and that the expenditures increased from $4,320,731.99 in 1845; to $5,212,953.43 in 1850; $9,968,342.29 in 1855; $14,874,772.89 in 1860; $23,998,837.63 in 1870; and $29,084,945.67 in 1873. The length of railway post-office lines, it will be observed, increased, in miles, from 4,435 in 1867 to 7,201 in 1869, 11,208 in 1871, and 14,866 in 1873. Herewith, moreover, is a statement, from the office of the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post-Office Department, exhibiting the oper ations of the money-order system during each fiscal year, from November 1, 1864, to June 30, 1873. Comment upon the figures presented in these exhibits is unnecessary. The net sales of official stamps for the next fiscal year, to cover the transmission of matter formerly sent through the mails under the franks of the heads of Departments, are estimated at $2,250,000. 2d. No employés in the postal service have been discharged in consequence of the abolition of the franking privilege, the constant and rapid augmentation of the postal business of the country, above indicated, furnishing ample employment for the whole corps; nor have any addi tions been made to the clerical force, or the expenses of the Department for the care, sale, &c., of postage-stamps. A claim for compensation for the manufacture of official stamps has been presented, however, which is now in process of adjustment. The answer to the 1st query shows that it is impracticable to state precisely "how much less is charged by railroads ;" and there are no data from which to estimate the saving on the pay of "other carriers." 3d. The amount of revenue derived from each class of mailable matter during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1873, is shown in the following statement of the Auditor embraced in the appendix to my report for 1873, page 197: No. 1.—Statement exhibiting quarterly the receipts of the Post-Office Department, under their several heads, during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1873. The following letter from the Auditor gives the revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 1873. It is proper to observe that he gives the amounts approximately, an exact statement thereof being impracticable until the returns shall have undergone a more thorough examination: OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY SIR: I have the honor to report the following approximate amounts of revenue derived from the respective sources for the quarter ended September 31, 1873: The law requiring the fees on registered letters to be paid in stamps, the revenue derived from that source is included in stamps sold. The superintendent of the money-order system makes no return of the revenue until the end of the fiscal year, therefore no amount can be stated as derived from that source at this time. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. J. A. J. CRESWELL, Postmaster-General. J. J. MARTIN, Auditor. A comparison of the receipts on four items during the quarter ended 30th September, 1873, with those on the same items for the corresponding quarter of the preceding year shows an aggregate increase of $1,668,445.41, and an increase, exclusive of official stamps, of $614,912.15. These figures, which do not include the postage on congressional matter, confirm me in the opinion, heretofore expressed in a special report to Congress, under date of January 12, 1871, that the cost of all free matter, if charged with the regular rates of postage, would amount to $2,543,327.72 annually. The Department has no means of determining the "gross amount avoirdupois" of each class of mailable matter transported; nor could it be ascertained, in view of the brief time allowed for the dispatch of mails after they are deposited in mailing-offices, without serious interruption and delay. 4th. It has not been the practice of the Post-Office Department, since appropriations have been made for official stamps, to send by express documents or packages hereto fore sent by mail, nor have any orders been issued to its subordinates to such effect. I am not able to answer the question as it relates to other Departments. 5th. In a table (of which I transmit herewith an exact copy) submitting to Congress an estimate of the amount necessary to be appropriated to prepay postage for the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1874, the postage on letters was set down at $808,067; on directories, postal codes, blank-books, money-order books, &c., at $35,704.58; and on wrapping-paper, twine, balances, hand-stamps, matter from mail equipment division, advertisements issued and locks and keys returned, registered package envelopes and seals issued to offices, official envelopes for postmasters, adhesive postage-stamps, stamped envelopes and wrappers, postal cards, money-order blanks, and blanks from the bureau of foreign mails, at $281,723.42. The Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives reduced the estimate for letter-postage to $800,000, which amount alone was appropriated and the remaining items were stricken out, on the ground, as it is understood, that they came under the head of supplies for post-offices, and being essential to the proper working of the Department, and, in fact, a part of the material and machinery employed, should be distributed free of postage. I append hereto a copy of a circular issued by the Department, under date of June 11, 1873, in consequence of the action of Congress on this subject. From the fact that the above-mentioned estimates were submitted, it is clear that the Postmaster-General did not construe the law as authorizing the free transmission of mail by or to the Post-Office Department. The decision announced in the Department's circular of June 11, 1873, that the articles stricken out of the estimates should be transported without payment of postage, resulted, as already intimated, from the action of Congress. The Department will be happy in future to pay postage on all matter which it may be required to send through the mails, if Congress shall show that such is its pleasure by making an adequate appropriation. 6th. The estimates of expenditures for the next fiscal year on account of inland mail-transportation and the items incident thereto, compared with the appropriation for the current year and the cost for the past three years for the same purposes, may be deemed to indicate "how much less appropriation will be required for the postal service now than prior to the abolition of the franking privilege." The estimates for the next year for the purposes named amount to $19,270,986. This is an increase of 4.97 per cent. on the $18,357,931 appropriated for the current year; the appropriation for the current year is an increase of 13.5 per cent. on the cost for the same items for the past year, which was $16,174,003; the cost for the past year was an increase of 9.48 per cent. upon the cost for 1872, which was $14,773,346; and this was an increase of 10.2 per cent. upon the cost for 1871. The average annual increase from 1871 to 1874 was 11.06 per cent. To have increased the estimates for the next year upon the appropriation for the current year ($18,357,931) at the rate of 11.06 per cent. would have made the amount thereof $20,388,318. The amount asked for, as stated above, is only $19,270,986, a difference of $1,117,332. And this despite the fact that simultaneously with the abolition of the franking privilege the act of 3d March, 1873, took effect to increase the compensation for the transportation of mails on railroad-routes. I have thus answered the questions embodied in the foregoing resolution with as much accuracy as is possible from the little material at my command. It must be remembered that the law repealing the franking privilege did not go into operation until the 1st of July last, and that the Department has had the advantage of that repeal for six months only. To arrive at anything like fair conclusions on the subject a trial of at least a year should be made, and time should then be given for gathering accurate results from the entire country. In a machinery so vast and complicated as the Post-Office of the United States, full accounts cannot be made up for at least four months after the end of any quarter. Of necessity the accounts of the Auditor of the Treasury are always that much behind time. Thoroughly impressed as I am with the belief that the repeal of the franking privilege was a wise measure, and will be productive of the best results in the postal service, I earnestly recommend that it be not restored until at least a fair trial can be made. In my last report I recommended a reduction of postage on books to one cent for two ounces, which is the lowest rate now allowed by law for any kind of matter. If that suggestion should be adopted I cannot see why postage should not be paid upon congressional documents, as well as upon departmental matter, by an appropriation from the Treasury. Such action would amply provide for the transmission by mail of all desirable documents to the people, and enable the Department to maintain that degree of accuracy in its administration which is essential to its complete success. In the event, however, of returning to a “general distribution to the people of improved field and garden seeds," and "public documents," I trust I may be permitted to suggest, in view of all the facts, that the Department should be empowered to arrange for their transportation as freight in other conveyances than mail-cars, so as not to embarrass the legitimate postal business of the country, or retard the attainment of that perfection of the system which should be the constant aim of those engaged in its management. It is my firm conviction that the practice in this respect which prevailed before the abolition of the franking privilege cannot be revived except at the expense of the important commercial and social interests and wants which the maintenance of the postal system of the country is chiefly intended to subserve. There is one restriction, however, which I never advised, and which, in my opinion, might be safely removed, and that is the provision which forbids the free transportation of weekly newspapers within the counties of their publication, as heretofore authorized by law. The grounds upon which this recommendation is made are, first, that such papers are so evenly distributed over the entire extent of the country and confined to lines of transit so short that they have never been known to impede the distribution and transportation of the mails; and secondly, that the amount of postage levied upon them, as at present collected, while affording but a trifling revenue to the Department, is yet heavy enough to be severely felt by their proprietors and patrons, and to obstruct the dissemination of local intelligence. Good reasons may also be given in favor of a free exchange between newspapers. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. M. H. CARPENTER, JNO. A. J. CRESWELL, President pro tem. Senate United States. Postmaster-General. Statement of number of post-offices and length of post-roads in the United States, the annual amount paid for mail-transportation, and the amounts of postal revenues and expenditures, at periods of five years from 1790 to 1840, inclusive, and in each year from 1840 to 1873, inclusive, with the length of the railroad portion of the post-roads, the length of railway post-office lines, and the cost of the railroad portion of the transportation, from the date of the commencement thereof. ($595, 353 1850. 18, 417 178, 672 6,886 1851. 19,796 192, 026 8, 255 3,939, 971 00 4,495, 968 00 4, 630, 676 00 5,345,238 00 6,035, 374 00 6, 622, 046 00 7,795, 418 00 9, 468, 757 00 8,808, 710 00 +5, 309, 454 00 15,853, 834 00 +5, 740, 576 00 15, 818, 469 00 6,246, 884 00 7, 630, 474 00 9, 336, 286 00 10, 266, 056 00 10, 406, 501 00 10, 884, 653 00 11, 529, 395 00 12, 572, 264 00 13, 635, 341 00 *Including suspended offices in rebellious States. 818, 227 985, 019 1,275, 520 1, 601, 329 1,758, 610 2,073, 089 2, 310, 389 2, 559, 847 2,828, 301 3,243,974 3, 349, 662 $2,543, 709 2,498, 115 2,538, 517 2,567, 044 2,707, 421 3, 391, 592 8, 812, 600 4, 177, 126 4,723, 680 5, 128, 901 5,724, 979 6, 502, 771 7,257, 196 4,705, 176 28 5, 499, 986 86 6,410, 604 33 6,925, 971 28 5, 940, 724 70 6, 955, 586 22 7,352, 136 13 7,620, 821 66 8,053, 951 76 8, 186, 792 86 7,968, 484 07 9, 218, 067 40 9,049, 296 40 9, 012, 549 56 11, 163, 789 59 12, 438, 253 78 14,556, 158 70 14, 386, 986 21 16, 137, 026 87 16, 292, 600 80 18, 344, 510 72 19, 772, 220 65 20.037, 045 42 21, 915, 426 37 22, 996, 741 57 4,326, 850 27 4,479, 049 13 5, 212, 953 43 6, 278, 401 68 7, 108, 459 04 7,982, 756 59 8,557,424 12 9, 968, 342 29 10, 407, 868 18 11, 507, 670 16 12, 721, 636 56 14, 964, 493 33 14, 874, 772 89 13, 606, 759 11 11, 125, 364 13 11, 314, 206 84 12, 644, 786 20 13, 694, 728 28 15, 352, 079 30 19, 235, 483 46 22, 730, 592 65 23, 698, 131 50 23, 998, 837 63 24, 390, 104 08 26, 658, 192 31 29, 084, 945 67 Exclusive of routes in rebellious States. *Six thousand eight hundred and eighty-six miles in length, and $978,910 in cost, discontinued in rebellious States. § Railroad and steamboat service combined. 4, 161, 077 85 2,577, 407 71 635, 740 3,538, 063 54 OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, agreeably to your verbal request, a statement exhibiting the number and amount of moneyorders issued, amount of orders paid, amount of expenses, amount of commissions and clerk-hire, amount of lost remittances, amount of net revenue, amount of defalcations, and amount of bad debts, during each Expenditures. |