Untitled article | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · December 17, 1867

The Post Office.

Mr. Randall exhibits some interesting figures in his report of the operations during the past fiscal year in the Post-office Department, and no inconsiderable knowledge of the history of the intercourse of men with each other, and a knowledge of human nature in the aggregate can be derived from his statistics. His income amounted to twenty millions, and he has saved more than seven hundred thousand dollars. Next year, however, he estimates that it will cost him twenty-two millions, and his receipts will amount to only eighteen millions, requiring additional appropriations of two millions and a half. Over three hundred and seventy-one millions of postage stamps were sold, of the value of eleven and a half millions of dollars. This is an increase of 65 per cent. over last year. The sale of stamped envelopes has increased 61 per cent., which is attributed to the plan of printing upon the envelopes business cards and requests to return the letters if uncalled for. The use of this latter class of envelopes has largely reduced the number of dead letters. Fifty millions of them were used, of which the Department supplied one-third.

The total amount of mail matter carried is not given. There are 7,743 mail routes, some of which on an average carried as much as ten tons daily, others, three pounds. These routes were 203,245 miles in length, in the aggregate. Of this, 34,015 miles were railroad, costing $11.75 a mile; an aggregate annual cost of $3,312,000; 15,094 miles were steamboat, costing annually $472,206, or about $14.07 a mile. The other routes were 153,136 miles long, costing, at the rate of $11.65, five millions of dollars. The aggregate annual transportation was 78,982,789 miles. On eighteen railroad routes there are postal routes extending in the aggregate over 4,485 miles. This cost thirty-five thousand dollars more than the old route-agent service, but twelve, twenty-four, and forty-eight hours are saved, justifying the increased expenditure. The aggravated delays of the overland mail are acknowledged, but the failures are excused on the ground of the Indian troubles, which rendered it impossible to carry through the mails except by a military escort which could not be provided every day.

The establishment of a mail service to China and of a branch service to Yokohama and Shanghai is described, and the details are of much commercial importance. Two vessels, the Great Republic and the China, are already placed upon the line, and two others are soon to be added. A great increase of communication between the two continents is expected, and recommendations with reference to it are urged by the Postmaster General. A monthly mail service has been established between San Francisco and the Sandwich Islands, and the government of Venezuela has proposed another between the two countries, the expense to be equally divided between them.

Eighteen hundred and eighty-five post-offices have been established during the past year, and 25,163 are now in operation. About ten thousand (9,744) postmasters have been appointed, the majority evidently as the result of Mr. Johnson’s effort to gain popular support in favor of his policy. Four thousand resigned rather than submit, thirty-five hundred were removed, two hundred and fifteen died, and eighteen hundred and eighty-five were appointed to the new offices. A sweeping, expensive, and probably unprofitable change, for the purpose of gratifying Executive obstinacy, was thus foolishly made.

Nine hundred and thirty-four carriers distributed letters free of charge in forty-seven cities, at an expense of seven hundred thousand dollars. The postage on local matter in New York amounted to $171,401, the expenses to $151,829, showing a profit of over twenty thousand dollars.

The mental peculiarities of the human race are governed by laws almost as invariable as those which regulate the tides.

Every year it is found that nearly the same number of persons forget to put stamps on their letters, misdirect or neglect altogether to direct them, or write illegibly. During the past year 4,306,508 letters (domestic and foreign) were consigned to the dead letter office; a decrease of 882,097 from last year, due to the use of stamped and “request” envelopes, and to the fact that people are gradually learning the necessity of preparing their letters. But 443,780 people forgot to affix a stamp, or directed their letters to places having no mail service—a decrease of nearly one hundred thousand since the last report. In large cities and thickly populated districts, improved modes of delivery have served to reduce the aggregate of dead letters. But three-fourths of them have become so from causes beyond the control of the Post-office Department, which cannot compel people to be careful in their address, to write legibly, or prevent the persons to whom the letters are addressed from changing their residence or dying without the knowledge of their correspondents. Of the whole number of such letters more than a million and a half have been restored to their writers. The rest amounting to nearly three millions were destroyed—some probably by accident. A million and a half were worthless, containing circulars, and gift or lottery advertisements. The writers of two hundred and fifty thousand could not be found, and one million letters were burned because their writers either failed entirely to sign their names, or signed them in an illegible manner! Twenty-one thousand letters contained sums of one dollar or more to the amount of $138,865, while 18,577 of the writers were lucky enough to have them returned, and were “in pocket” by the amount of $127,135. Nearly fourteen thousand people each sent less than a dollar in their letters, to the amount of nearly four thousand dollars. Ten thousand four hundred were enabled “to see their money back” to the amount of thirty-five hundred dollars. Fifty thousand people used the mails to send photographs and jewelry which their friends never received; and thirty-five thousand of them were gratified or disgusted at getting back these tokens of affection. The pictures and jewelry of the remaining fifteen thousand brought about nine hundred dollars at public sale. Over five millions of dollars worth of checks, bills of exchange, deeds and other papers were vainly sent in twenty-one thousand letters, and twenty thousand were restored to their owners. The number of letters sent in envelopes with a request to return was 1,077,875, and eighty-four per cent. of the writers received them; fully sustaining the policy of the free return of such letters. In the year 1867, 462,279,710 letters were mailed, being an average of one million three hundred thousand a day, or one letter to every twenty-three inhabitants; or an average of over fifteen letters annually to each person in the United States.

Gross frauds are being perpetrated by the use of the lithographed fac-simile of the franks of members of Congress, which are freely used to circulate obscene books and pictures, lottery circulars, business cards, etc. Unless this is checked, one million of dollars will be required to transport free matter. Mr. Randall urges that the law be changed, and that the written signature of the person entitled to the franking privilege be required.

The postmaster General anticipates an excess of expenditures over receipts, for some years to come, owing to the opening up of new territory and the sparseness of population demanding postal advantages. But he believes ultimately and at a comparatively early period that the Department will be a source of revenue.