The New York Herald Newspaper, December 8, 1868, Page 4

4 — NATIONAL DEPARTMENTS. THE INTERIOR. REPORT OF 0. H. BROWNING. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Nov. 30, 1868, six—{ have the honor to inform you that the re- rts received by this Department from its bureau and other officers have, pursuant to law, been trans- itted to the public printer. : the last fiscal year 6,655,742): acres of pub- hic is have been disposed of. Less by 386,372 ‘ecres than that disposed of the previous year. ‘yhe cash receipts of the office during the same @eriod, from all sources, amounted to $1,632,745 ‘which exceeds the amount received from the same ‘wources the previous fiscal year by $284,883. Nearly one-fourth the homestead entries were made under the act of June 21, 1866, which applies nly to the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louial- "ana, Arkansas and Florida, Lands still undisposed of is 1,405,368,678 acres. Measures have becn taken for establishing the boundary lines between Nebraska and Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, yand for ronning the northern boundary of New Mexico. i I invite attention to the views presented in my former reports in regard to certain amendments of the pre-emption and homestead laws. PENSIONS. Of the two Revolutionary soldiers pensioned by #pecial acts of Congress in 1867 Jon Gray, of Ohio, has died. The other, Dantel F, Bakeman, of New ‘York, is reported as living. ‘ There are at the present time on the rolls the ames of 888 widows of Revolutionary soldiers and "1,308 widows and children of soldiers who served in fwars subsequent to the Revolution and prior to the ebellion. During the past year there were examined and al- * Jowed 0,525 new applications tor mvalid pensions of soldiers, at an aggregate annual rate of $625,271, and “s,854 applications for increased pension of inva- aggregate rate of During the same period 19,242 origt- al pensions to widows, orphans and dependent ‘relatives of soldiers were allowed, at an aggregate ‘ennual rate of $1,910,202, and 27,053 applications by jd soldiers, 280,487. at an annual ‘the same class for increased pay were also admitted, ata totol annual rate of $1,725,950. "June, 1868, there were on the rolls 74,782 invalid wnilitary pensioners, whose yearly pensions amounted 'to $6,828,025, and 92,243 widows, orphans and de- pendent relatives of soldiers whose yearly pensions ‘wmounted to $12,065,068, making the total aggregate ,of army pensioners 167,025, at a total annual rate of 418,893,094. ‘The whole amount paid during the last iscal year to invalid military pensioners was 7,484,786; to widows, Orphans and dependent rela- ives, $16,173,801; @ grand total of $23,658,598, which Rocludes the expenses of the disbursing agencies. » During the same year there were admitted 135 new \@pplications for invalid navy pensions, at an annual Tate of $12,890; fifty applications for increased pen- sions of the same class at an annual aggregate of 162,994; 219 original applications of widows, orphans nd dependent relatives of those who died im the avy, atan aggregate rate of $26,012 per annum, j@nd seventy-two pensions of the same ciass were in- xreased at a total yearly rate of $3,600. On the 30th if June, 1868, the rolls of the navy pensioners bore he names of 1,175 invalids, at an annual aggregate f $94,833, and 1,443 widows, orphans and depen- ent relatives, at an aggregate annual rate of $236,256. The amount paid during the last fiscal rear to navy invalids was $97,340, ana to widows, orphans and dependent relatives of officers and sea- men of the navy, $265,045; a total amount of $352,383, \ During the year there were added to the number vf pensioners of all classes, 28,921; there were Aropped, from various causes, 14,752, leaving on the rolls, January 30, 1868. 169.643, The total amount paid for pensions of all'classes, including the ex- ppenses of disbursewent, was $24,010,981, a sum @reater by $5,391,025 53 than that paid the previous year. ‘There were 1,077 bounty land warrants issued for ‘167,720 acres. The expenditures for special agencies are largely exceeded by the pecuniary gain to the government. ver 300 claims havethus been found trandulent, amounting to $27,000 per annum. INDIAN TREAT Treaties have been concluded with various Indian tribes, as follow: With the Kiow Comanches and Apaches, October y yenuce and Arapahoes, October 23, 1s he Tabeguaches and six other bands of Ute Indians, March 2, 1868; the Cherokees, April 27, 1863; the Mountain Crows, i508; the Northern Ohi ennes and Arapahoes, May 10, 1868; and the N: lune 1, 186s. The foregoing treaties have been Fretifled. ‘The following treauies, concluded with various tribes since July 1, 1s67, have not been rattiied:— With the Sioux nation (different bands), April 29, 1808; the Osas May 29, 180s; the Chippewas of Swan creek and Flack River, June 1, 196%; the Kan- ‘nocks and Shoshonces, July 8, 1568; the Gros Ven- tres, July 18, 1568; the River Grows, July 15, 1868; the Cherokees, July 19, 1888; the Blackfeet, Septem- per 1, 1868; the Bannocks, Shoshonees and Sheep- ptember 24, 1868, [refer you to the report of the Conmmissioner for More epeciiic jaformation in regard to Indian affairs, EDUCATION An act approved March 2, 1867, established a De- Fonte of Education, sted the management hereof to a commissioner, provided for his appoint- ment, and autho d the employment of sundry clerks, Who were made subject to his appointing and removing power. It devolved upon him the duty of presenting to Congress annual reports, the first of which Was to contain a statement in relation to the Sond grants made by Congress to promote education, An act of the last session declares that the Depart- anent of Education shail cease from and alter the ‘goth of June next, and that ¢ shail be established aud attached to th's depar mt an office, to be de- juominated the “OMce of Education,” the ehief om- cer of which shall be the Commissioner of Educa- ‘tion. Asin the pastso in the fture, when new States shall be admitted into the Union Congress will grant ahem land for educational and other purposes, and the administration of the fund derived from th ie of it should be confided tothem. interference by pine or in matters of purely local concern can be ive of bothing but uninixed evil. Ml, however, “the OMice of Education” be per- petuated’ I suggest the propriety of enacting by whom the Commissioner shall be b ciaryey The @ct Of last session in other respects should be modi- ‘fed. Under the consiitution “Congress may by iaw ‘vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they ‘think proper in the President alone, in the courts of daw or Tn the heads of departments.” It has been judicially determined that clerks are officers within the meaning of this provision, and tie power of appointing such as this bureau me the opinion of Congress, requi vould therefore be ‘vested in the Secretary of the terior. The Com missioner, as other officers of like grade, should be required to report to the department uncer whose supervision be acts, and not to Congress. An ap- propriation for the nex t fiscal year of $6,000 will be required to pay the contingent expenses of the office, salaries of the Commissioner, and two clerks of the first class to be jointed ‘by the Secretary of Iniertor, This sum will be ainple if the office be economically adminisiered. No Breuler clerical force should be authorized. PATENTS. Daring the year endiag September 90, 1863, there Were 20,1)2 applications for patents: 14,158 patents (ineluding reissues and designs) were issued; 1,002 applications allowed on Whicl patents did not issue ing to the non-payment of the final fee: 3,789 caveats filed; 180 applications the sion of patents received, of witch 1% were granted, The re ceipts Were $696,786, being $171 less Cuan the expen ditures, Congress, on the 20th of Jaly last, directed that all moneys standing to the credit of the patent fand, or in the hands of the Commissioner, anc moneys r shonid be therealter recetved at the Patent Onic paid into the y without deduction; appropri. ated $260,000 for salaries, miscellaneous and contin- gent expenses and other purposes, ancl required It to be disbursed under the direction of t the Interior, ‘Tue cash then on hand, cordingly paid, and the amount to th patent fand tranferred on the books of the Trea’ ‘he expenses from that date to the Slat of October ‘were $175,461. The expenses for this and the foliow- ing month, including the outstanding cl es! at $120,000. An appropriation of $.¢ will be required for tue rewauder of the Bacal ear. ‘' Jrenew my former recommendation in favor of repealing 80 much of the law as allows an appeal from the decisions of the Commissioner on applica: tions for letiers patent and in interference cases, 4 respectfully refer to the views on (ue suuject pre+ sented in my former reports. PACIFIC RAILROAD. Aw “Se date of my last annual report you had accepted four hundred and ninety sniles of the row and telegraph line of the Union Pacike Rail- road Company, and the commissioners were | @aged in the examination Of 4H ada iutal se of twenty miles, Since that date, including sald twenty miles, 339 have been accept-d. The commits sioners have submitted reports upon four addl- tonal sections, amounting to 100 miles. pears thal the year ending ‘The amount recelved from passcagers during the same time was $1,109,501, of which $: the United States,’ The amount received trom freight hind kangal ‘of which the government paid 759. . On the 20th of D Pacith structed fud 285 miles thereof had been accepted. date 85 9425-10000 additional miles have been con- NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1868.-TRIPLE SHEET. Bya soos irom the government direstors it ap- the expenses for operating the road for ptember 80, 1868, Were $3,213,565, 40,239 was from ‘This Department, on the 25th of September, repre- sented to you that the time had come for such revi+ sion. Brevet Major General Governeur K, Warren, United States Army; Jacob Blickensderfer, Jr., Ohio, and James Barnes, of chusetts, were ap- inted commissioners for that purpose, The first if an accomplistied officer of the corps of engineers, the other gentlemeu are civil engineers of large ex- perience, and are reputed to be thoroughly versed in the science and practice of their prot The commissioners’ re] has Just been received. ‘The trust confided to t Re rs to have been executed with intel e and fidelity. A desorip- tion of the location of the road is given. The eleva- tion at Omaha is 946 feet above tidewater, and at the head of Great Salt Lake 4,816 feet. The sum of the ascents going westward is 12,995 feet, and the con- sequent sum of the descents is 9,626 feet. They are of the opinion that the iocation of the road, as a whole and in its different parts, is u the most direct, central and practicable route, but that the ine 18 not in all respects well ada) to the ground, as there are points where the full ities of the country have not been developed, and others where, in its details, the location is radically wrong. ‘This has been occasioned by a desire to diminish the cost of work by the introduction of more and sharper curves than the circumstances require, although the saving in cost was but small in com- parison to the permanent tnjury of the road, The commissioners are ef opinjon that the tine, as built, should not be permanently adopted, and that econ- omy and the bést intérests of the road require alter- ations and improvements to be made, The road, when examined, wu built 890 miles from Omaha. Its constraction, 80 faras excavations andembankments were required, was remarkably easy. From Omeha to a point 535 miles west there ure no rock excavations, and the natural surface of a great portion of the intermediate country presents Rees pene grades. From the latter point to the end of the track the work is less than on Eastern roads of the same length and the most diMcuit parts are lignt in comparison, with roads jn the Alleghany mountains, ere is but one tunnel. It ison the bank of St. Mary’s creek, 230 feet in length, The rolling stock of the road consists of 117 loco- motives, 19 tirst class and 8 secondiclass passenger cars, 15 baggage, 442 box, 1,227 flat, 43 coal and 72 caboose cars, besides hand and other cars suited to special! purposes, ‘Tie locomotives are well con- structed and the number on hand probably suiticient Yor the present wants of the road. An additional number will be requ! for that part of the road where the line is open for through traMe. ‘The cars are equal to those on the best roads, and the accom- modations for the care, maintenance and repair of the rolling stock are now suiticient to meet current deinands, but must be enlarged from time to time to uieet the increasing necessities of the road, ‘The Commissioners submit the following estimate of expenditure which wiil be required to reader the first 890 miles of the road equal to a fally completed first class railroad. No allowances are made for work in progress or materials and equipments or- dered or reported to be in transitu for delivery or already delivered except so far as they are placed 1a. position in the structures themselves—$6, 409,500, ‘The following estimate is furnished by the Com- missioners of the cost of constructing and fully equipping the road from the mouth of the Weber cafion to the head of Great Salt Lake—$3,515,550, As the actual cost of this road isa matter of pub- lic interest 1 deem it proper to present, in a con- densed form, the estimates submitted, on the 1th inst., by Jesse L, Williams. He states that the cost of the road as shown on the books of the rail- road company is, of course, equivalent to the con- tract price per mile. The actual cost to the con- tractors forming an association which embraces most of the larger stockholders of the company, 1s shown only by their private books, to which the government directors have no access. The calcula- tons were, therefore, made from the most accurate available data and the estimated cost of the first 710 miles of the road was taken as the basis for ccm- puting that of the whole line. Should the road, as ia expected yy the company, form & junction with that of the California company, near the northern extreme of Great Salt Lake, a little west of Monument Point, its length would be about 1,110 miles. The cost of locating, constructing and compietely equipping it and the telegraph line 48 $35,824,521, an average per mile of $34,977. The government subsidy in bonds for that dis- tance at par amounts to $29,504,000, an average per miie of $26,580. The company's first tae bonds are estimated at 92 = cent, and would yield $27,143,680, The fund ized by the company from these two sources amounts to $66,647,680, being an average per mile of $51,034, exceeding by $16,056 the actual cost of constructing and fully equipping the road, and yielding a profit of more than $17,750,000. ‘fhe Central Pacific Railroad Company, of Cali- fornia, have constructed 390 miles of their road and telegraph line, of which 206 were constructed and accepted since my last annual report. ‘This company filed a map of the definite location of their road from Humboldt Wells, via the head ofGreat Salt Lake, to the mouth of Weber cation, On the 15th of May last I gave my ‘consent and approval” to the location, as iar as the head of Great Salt Lake, a distance of 140 miles. Subsequent surve; corrected and improved the unac- rt of the line, and, on the 14th ce] ultimo tev filed & map and profile from the head of Great Salt Lake to Echo Summit, to which location I gave my ‘‘consent and approval." The company state that their earnings for the six months en oe 30, 1868, were, from passengers, $145,048, and from freight, $264,410. Their expenses for the same period were $157,083, and their intebted- at that date, $26,862,727, of which the sum of 000 Was On account of bonds issued by the United States in aid of the construction of the road. On the 138th ultimo special Commissioners Sherman Day, United States Surveyor General of Califorma; Brevet Lieutenant Colonel K. 8. Williamson, Uniti States Army, and Lloyd Tevis were appoinied to ex- amine the ronda and telegraph lines of the Central Pacitic Railroad Company of California and tue Western Pacific Railroml Company. They were in- structed to report fa regard to the location, road- bed, cross-ties, track laying, ballasting, rolling repair shops, station buildings, culverts, ges, viaducts, turnouts and all otaer appurte- nances of the roads, and the amount of expenditure required to render them, so far as built, equal in ever, reapect to fully constructed first class rau- No report has been received. At the date of my last annual report the Union Ratlway Company Eastern division, had con- 5 miles of their road and telegraph line, Siuce that structed and accepied. ‘The amendatory act approved July this “company 3 1866, authorized to designate a new route and file & map thereof. They were required, however. to connect with the Union Pacific “at a point not more than ftv miles westerly from the meridian of Denver, in Colorado. Their right to bonds was limited to the amount they would have received bad the road been constructed on the original route to tne one hundredt meridian of longitude. No acceptable survey had been made from Fort Riley to that ineri- dian; and as tue department was not officially ad- vised of the exact distaace between those points, Brevet Major C. W. Howell, Captain of Engineers, United States Army, was, at my request, assigned, oD the sth of June last, by the Secretary of War, io make such survey, He executed the duty and sub- mitted @ report under date of Sepiember 28, isd3. He determined the. distance to be 258 9,425-10,000 miles, He also ascertained that the meridian is 9,300 feet west of the point designated by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. ‘This survey was approved by you. The distance for which the pany was entitied to bonds ts 393 and ¥,425-10,000 miles. The foliowing surmmary is made from thelr report:—They have constructed and ope- rated the road 495 miles west of the inittal point. It has been provided with round house accommoda- tions, repair shops, turn tables, water tanks, sidings, to meet the immediate wants of business, and the necessary ware- houses and depot buildings have been erected at the stations for the accommodation of passengers and freight, The equipment is as follows:—Twenty-nine locomotive engines, twenty-one passenger, and 578 other cars. The aggregate earnings from September 1, 1867, to August 31, 1568, were $1,878,688, and the expenses $1,247,516, leaving the net earnings $630,771. ‘The average length of road operated during the year Was 331'4 miles, aud the average earnings per mile $6,006, Surveying parties employed in examining the routes of the thirty-second and thirty- fifth parallels, have discovered on the latter a prac- ticable route westward from Albuquerque to the Pacific. it crosses the Colorado river south of Fort Mohave, and thence rans westward to the city of Sap Francisco, through Tehachepah Pass of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which is only 4,020 fect above thesea, The highest point is in the San Fran- cisco Mountains, 7,464 feet. The entire lineis exempt from obstruction by snow, and traverses a country rieh it ‘al Wealth and abounding in tinder and coal, rveys have also been made from Fort Mohave, on the Colorado river, to San Diego, and from Fort Wallace, Kansas, via Puntia Pass and San Louls Park, to Albaquerque. ‘The cost Of surveys in 7 and 1365 was aboul $225,000, ty-nine and one-half miles of the road and tet grapb line of the Stoux City and Pacific Katir Company were completed, equipped and accepted in ch last. About thirty-one and a half miles, ne- sary to Make & connection With the Union Pacifc Railroad, are Under contract and in process of grad- ing. The trou has been purchased aud is in trans: jie company has secured @ water front of about o! mile on exch side of the Missourt river, aud has con. tracted for a steata ferry to pass the cars over the river. pally Indebtedness of the company is represente’ to De $5,200," 01. The amount received is given as $96,699; operating OXpenses, $55,184 The npany have six firat class locomotives and niviety-nine passenger and other cars in use, ‘They expect to have the whole line of road courpleted and in operation next month. No track has been laid by the Western Pacific Rail- road Company within the'past year, They, however, Feporied On the 16th of September last that the grad- ing of the unfinished part of the road would be com- pleted and ready for the track in a few months, No portion of the Northern Pacific Railroad has been constructed. ‘The company report that surveys have hot been continued during the past season for ‘want of @ inililary esvort to protect surveying par- ties. In 1367 two miles Wore ran trom Lake Superior. One gommeouciig @ (he Woes cad of Was lake wad the -of where “it joins the Otter other at Bayfeld, Tne frst, following a westerly course, Crosses the hitssissippi abouy twelve miles above Crow Wing; theace runs south of and near to Ottor Tail lake, and, pursuing the same general course, intersects the Ked river at a point between Fort Abercrombie and the mouth of the Sioux Wood river, The second follows @ southwesterly course for fourteen miles to Pleasant bay; thence westerly to within eighteen miles of Superior; thence its course is direct to the Mississippi, crossing that river at St. Cloud; thence northwesterly up the Sauk Valley to the Sioux Wood river, a littie to the south il river, Both of these lines have such @ direction on approach- a the Red or Stoux Wood rivers that when continued westerly they will pags to the south of and near the Cheyenne river im Dacotah. The distance of the first is 232 mules and its estimated cost $7,967,000, being an average per mile of $24,357. The distance of the second ia 317 miles and its estimated cost $11,815,000, being an ay a per mile of $37,236; The alignment is fa- vorable on both routes. The maximum gradients will not exceed thirty to forty feet to the mile and are of‘limited extent. Upon the Pacific side the surveys were confined to an examination of the Cas- cade range, with a view to ascertain the relative elevation and practicability of the passes. ‘Three were found, the Cowlitz or Packwood, 2,600; the Snoqualmie, 3,030, and Cady's, 4,800 feet above the level of the sea, The Southern Pacific Railroad Company report that they have surveyed only that portion of their line lying between the towns of San José and Gilroy, iu the county of Santa Clara, a distance of thirty miles, The grading is rapidly | oye oer i The iron has been purchased and is iu transiiu. They expect to complete this thirty miles of road by the 1st of April, 1869, Their capital stock is $1,800,000, of which $72,000 has been actually paid in, and their indebtedness $480,000, ‘The following statement exhibits the amount of United States bonds issued to the railroad compa- nies:—1,79314 miles, nearly $44,337,000, The of July 13, 1868, authorized the sum of $6,500, Appropriat by the act of March 3, 1865, to be app! to the Completion of the bridge over ‘he Dakota river, on the line gf the iz, on road between Sioux City and the mouth of the Big Cheyenne. A superintendent was appointed in August last and the bridge 18 tn process of construction. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS, The following statement shows the amount ad- vanced to marshals of the several districts during the year ending June 0, 1868, for defraying the ex- penseg of the courts of the United States, including feed of marshals, jurors aud witnesses, maintenance of prisoners and contingenctes, to be $1,337,042, the amount paid during the same period to dis- trict attorneys, their assistants and substitutes, was $190,703; to United States commissioners, $78,522; to clerks of the courts of the United states, $76,584; and for miseslianeous expenditures, including rent of court rooms, $106,325. The aggregate amounts to $1,789,177, being but $159,641 in excess of the sum expended for such purposes during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1867, notwithstanding thé largely increased business transacted by the federal courts, At the latter date the balance on hand amounted to $832,363, Congress appropriated $1,300,002, ‘There was received on account of fines, penalties, and forfeiturés, $203,685, aid tronk repaymenta by Marshals and others, $10,319. ‘The total amount at the disposal of the de- partment for this branch of the service was $1,847,370, so that the balance at the commencement of the current year was but $58,192. Assuming that during its progress the fines, penaities and forfeitures would reach the same amount as during the pre- ceding year, and satisiied that the expenses of the courts could not be materially dimimished, I esti- mated that $1,500,000 would be required. Congress, however, appropriated but $1,000,000, A deficit of $489,015 will occur unless the fines, &¢., should be increased. I recommend that $500,000 be appropri- ated in the deficiency bill and that $1,600,000 be ap- propriated for the next fiscal year. itis proper to add that the large balance on the 80th of June, 1867, as compared with that at the close of the following fiscul year, was occasioned by the great disparity in the amounts realized during the respective years from fines, penalties and for- feltures. It was $439,835 more during the former than the latter year. The laws providing for the receipt, custody and distribution by this department of statutes of the United States and other official publications have, as far as practicable, been carried into effect. 1 invite attention to the propriety of revising the statutes which relate to the printing and distribution of docu- ments published by the authority of Congress. SALARIES OF THE PRESIDENT, VICK PRESIDENT, ETC. One of my predecessors, on the eve of his retire- ment from ‘office, urged the propriety of an appro- priation for erecting and furnishing suitable resi- dences for the Vice President of the United States and the heads of the executive departments. After alluding to the value of money when the govern- ment went into operation, and the salaries of those ofticers were originally fixed, us compared with that which it bore in December, 1852, when his re- port was submitted, he expressed the opinion that $6,000, at the latter date, was not worth much more than $3,000 at the former. The cost of rent, pro- visions, fuel and other necessaries of life in tng city hadthen risen to such a degree that the most rigid economy was required to enable those officers to live within their incomes, and he declared that as far as his observation extended few of them had ‘been able to do 80. Con; did not accede to his recommendation; they, however, passed the act of March 3, 1853, which increased the salary of the Vice President from $5,000, prescribed by the act of September 24, 1789, to $8,000, and gave to the members of the Cabinet the same amount. The addition thus made was estimated to be suMicient for house rent. io increase has been voted since, notwithstanding the constant apprecia- tion of labor, rent aud every article of consumption, My observation and experience enable me to afirm with unhesitating confidence ihat the income of the office will not equal the outlay, if the incumbent lives in a style at all compatible with the proprieties of his position and the relations which a decent re- gard to the just claums of society compel him to maintain. “The high offices of tie country should be open tothe poor as well as to the rich; but the practical effect of the present rave of compensation will soon be to exclude from the Executive councils all who have not ample resources independently of thelr official salaries.” Several of the annual reports of this Department refer to the compensation of the judiciary. One of the most thoughtful writers of the last centary re- marks that the administration of justice seems to be the leading object of institutions of government; that legisiatures assemble; that armies are em- bodied, and both war and peace made with @ sori or reference to the proper adininistration of laws and the judicial protection of private rights, While this is emplhiaticaily true in every free country, the ju- dictal department of the United States is charged algo with other duties, and its power extends to all cases arising under the constitution and the acts of Congress. The guardianship of the fundamental law has been thus contided to it, The Su- preme Court decides, in tne last resort, ques- tions involving the constitutional authority of the federal government and its various departments, as well as the reserved powers of the several States and the consistency of their legislation with the con- stitution and laws of Congress. No foreign tribunal possesses so broad a jurisdiction or deals with issues ‘80 Vitally affecting nattonal power, dignity and sov- ereigaty. Its members should cousist of jurists who, having gained the highest honors of the bar, bring to the discharge of their exalted trust mature experience and pre-eminent talents and learning, ‘Their salary, if not equal to their former professional income, should at least secure them an Independent support, and bear @ just relation to their arduous employment. One of the most eminent judges of that court resigned on acconnt of a scanty salary and a venerable Chief Justice, whose labors dur- ing a long life conferred enduring benefits upon hw country, dled a few years since, bequeathing to his family little beyond the legacy of an illustrious name. The salary 1s far from being proportionate to the weighty responsibilities of the station. It ts even. less than 18 paid to some subordinate oficers in other branches of the public service, it 18 a sin- gular and disreputable anomaly that the chicts of bureaus of the War Department, each, received in pay aud emoluments, during the last fiscal year, a larger compensation than the Chief Justice of the United States, Recent legislation recognized the Just claims of the judges of the district courts, and of the Supreme Court ‘of this district, but Congr inadvertently, | presume, omitted to make a becor ing provision for the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. ‘The proposition to erect and furnish houses for the Vice President and Cabinet ministers may not meet with more favor now than when it was originally made, Learhestly recommend, therefore, that fifty per centum be added to their present salary and to that of tho justices of the Supreme Court. It will even then be much kess than is allowed to oMfcers of ‘a suniiar grade by any other first class govern b ‘the Cablnet ministers will not receive more than is now paid in coin to several of our foreign repre- sentatives, who discharge much jless laborious ties, in capitals not more expensive ton. Since the salaries in question present rate, Congress have, by suc increased their own by at least 200 per centum. Their action met with general approbation, dd Ido not doubt that the members of that houorable boay Will render, in some degree, to others the justice already secured to themselves. I have heretofore alluded to the compensation of the Assistant etary and the heads of bureaus, ‘The Commitestoner of Patents, whos large, receives $4,600, being iifty per that of the other officers of equal gr partment aad exceeds by more that Mt that of his official superio whose duties mvolve far twenty-eight the Assistant Tesponsibility. ‘This glaring and indi quality id he corrected. I re annual salary of the Assistant S $0,000, and that tae Commissio missioner of the General Land 0: of Indvan Aifairs and missioner of each be paid $4,500 annua. The du rely mechanical, and he is libera feed, than the same qualifications: in ‘alk of lite command; but the higher order of clerical labor, requtring for its acceptable porformance intelligence and special knowledge, as well as faithful training and long con- tinued service, is not adequately remunerated. It is my settled opinion, the result of much reflection and of experience in my present position, that the efictency of the clerical force would be essentially promoted by thoroughly reorganizing it, and secar- ing to clerks of expericnce aud tied ability an enhanced compensation. it ts hoped that a subject of 40 mach importance to .the successtul workings of the executive departments will receive the cou- sideration it so weil merits. J ain, air, very respecttully, your obedient servant, 0. IL BROWNING, Secretary of the Lavertor, The PRRsiwuNt, THE POST OFFICE. REPORT OF ALEXANDER W. RANDALL. Post Ovrick DerarrMgnt, Dec, 3, 1868. Sin—The ordinary postal revenue for the year ended the 30th day of June last was $16,292,600, and the expenditures during the same period, including service for which special appropriations were made, $22,730,592, showing an excess of expenditures of $6,457,901. The receipts from postages, as compared with the previous year, show an increase of six percentum and the expenditures an increase of eighteen per centum. ‘The ordinary expenses, not including mail trans- portation for which special appropriations were made, were $21,655,592, and the receipts, including the amount drawn under the acts making appropria- tions for carrying ‘free mail matter,” were $20,002,600, showing an excess of expenditures of $1,462,991, The receipts of the department were:—From postages, $16,292,600; the amounts drawn from the ‘Treasury under acts making appropriations for “carrying free matier,’? $8,800,000, and under the acts making special appropriations for “overland mail afd marine service between New York and California,” $1,125,000; “steamship service between San Francisco, Japan and China,” $125,000; be- w n the “United States and Brazil,’ $160,000; for “carrying the mail on routes established by acts passed during the first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress," $436,525, and “for preparing and publish- ing post foute maps,” $10,000, making the receipts Om all sources $21,980,125. ‘The expenditures of all kinds were, as above stated, $22,730,592, showiag an excess of expenditures over receipts of $741,466, for ich a special approp! Will be fequired. ‘The revenue account stated by the Auditor (see appendix) difers from the foregoing because of his adding to the receipts of the department, trom all sources, & balunce of $1,494,460, standing to the credit of the revenue account July 1, 1867, but which is not immediately available. ‘The estimates for the current fiscal year, as sub- mitted to Congress with tie last annual report, showed an anticipated deficiency of $3,296,000, to meet which there was then in the Treasury $2,000,000, being the unexpended balances of former appropriations standing to the Panty of the depart- meat, leaving the amount to bé provided by appro- priation from the general Treasury $1,296,000, Of this suin Congress appropriated $300,000, ‘The expenses during the fiscal year just closed exceeded the estimated amount, especially in the item of Reaneporretion, and thus absorbed the $2,000,600 relied on to assist in meeting the antici- pated deficlency for the current year. The ordinary expenditures for the current year were also estimated too low, from the fact that the department could not, at the time the estimates were made, anticipate the extraerdinary increase of service established by acts of Congress. ‘Taking those of the last fiscal asa basia it 1s auticipated thatin the current year there will be a deficiency of $3,604,500, There will also be required $97,000 for service on the route from Fort Abercrombie to Helena, Montana, au- thorized by the act of July 27, 1868, from January 1, 169, to June 30, 1869; and to meet the increased lla- bilities of the department for service on the “‘over- land ronte,’’ $161,000, making $3,862,500 which will be required to meet deficiencies in the receipts for the current fiscal year. ‘The accompanying report of the Auditor fully sets forth the details of the financial operations of the department, ‘Tne ordinary Lente for the year ending June 30, 1870 (including $645,250 for overland and sea mails to California), are estimated at... .$24,540,413 The ordinary srevenue is estimated at an increase of flve per centum on that of the year just closed, 01 $17,100,000 Add the standing appropria- tions for carrying free mail matter...... 700,000 Making the total estimated revenue. .... 17,800,000 Showing an excess of expenditures of... $0,740,415 to be provided for from the general treasury. It will also be necessary to make the usual special appropriations, as follows:— Mail steamship service between San Fran- cisco, Japan and China............0-000+ Mall steamship service between the United States and BraZil......scsecerssseeeeeeee Mail steamship service between San Fran- cisco and the Sandwich Islands.... . 75,000 During the year 383,470,500 postage stamps, of the value of $11,761,014 (includl ng 160,000 periodical stamps, valued at $14,750); 44,552,300 plain stamped envelopes, representing $1,285,215; — 25,469,750 stamped envelopes, bearing printed cards and re- quests for return to writers, representu $759,520, and 3,572,600 newspaper wrappers, Valued at $67,372, were issued, The aggregate value of these issues ‘Was $13,863,124—being an increase of 3 45-100 per centum over the issues of the previous year. The sale of postage stamps and stamped envelopes dur- ing the year, as reported by the Auditor, was $14,066,139, or’ $203,015 more than the issue; thus absorbing to that amount the stock remaining un- sold in the hands of postmasters June 30, 1867. The number of packages of postage stamps lost in the mails during the year was 33, representing $2,672, and of stamped envelopes 7, valued at $225, There were in the service of the department on the Both June, 1868, 6,591 contractors for the transporta- tion of the mails. Of mail routes in operation there were 8,226; aggregate length, 216,923 miles; aggregate annual transportation, $4,224,325 miles; aggregate Annual cost, $10,266,056; including the compensation of postal railway clerks, route agents, local nts, mail messengers, mail route messengers and bag- gage masters in charge of mails, viz: $1,114,633, ‘the aggregate annual cost was $11,380,689, service was dividea as follows, viz:—Railroad routes— Length, 36,018 miles; annual transportation, 34,836,- 178 miles; annual cost, $4,177,126, about 12 cents per mile, Steamboat routes—Length, 19,647 miles; an- nual transportation, 3,797,560 miles; annual cost, $650,631, about 17.13 cents per mile. Celerity, cer- tainty and security—Length, 161,263 miles; annual transpottation, 45,540,587 miles; annual cost, $5,438,- 299; about 12 cents per mile. The length of routes was increased over the preceding year 13,683 miles; the annual transportation, 6,241,536; and cost, $929,770; to which add increased cost for railway postal clerks, route, local and other agents, $93,762, inaking an aggregate of bee oe In reference to the overland mail route the report states that after the failure of several bidders whose contracts had been accepted to carry the mail, a con- tract was made with Weils, Fargo & Co. to carry the aails between the termint of the Union Pacitic and Central Pacific Railroads for one year, or until the two roads meet, at the rate of $1,750,000 sper an- nam, subject to deduction pro rata for every section of fifty miles of railroad completed and reported to the department ready to carry the mails, it being es- timated that the gap’ between the railroads, covered by the stage service, will be lessened at the rate of fifty miles every fifteen days ora hundred miles a month, and that it will be closed up entirely by the Ist of August, 1860, and that upon this basis the pay to Wells, Fargo & Co., under their accepted propo- 150,000 sal, will amount in all to about $670,000, Messrs. Wells, Fargo & Co, also obtained the contract to carry the mails from Cayote, Kansas, to Denver, Colorado, at $79,000 per annum, and also, on the route from Cheyenne, Dacotah, to Denver at $9,970 per annum, on the same terms as above stated, Under these arrangements the over- land mat! service on the three routes 1s now in regu- Jar operation, Tie territorial mails are now carried trom Fort Abercrombie, Dacotal, to Helena, Mon- tana, at $194,000 per num. The service, on the route from Sheridan (on the eastern division of the Union Pacitic Kaliroad) to Santa Fo has been in- creased from three to six trips per week, and the schedule time reduced to four days tn saminer. The service is well performed, though still occasionally interrupted by hostile Indians. The important route from Salt Lake City to the Dalles, Oregon, has been relet from 1st October last for six-times-a-week service, at the rate of $149,000 pe? annuin—a saving, as compared with the last contract, of $164,000 per annum, READJUSTMENT OF PAY ON RAILROAD ROUTES, The 30th of June, 1868, being the period for the piration of the term of contracts tor transporting mails in the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Ohio, the department, in at Uctpation of the close of the term, entered upon a systematic revision and readjustment of the rates of pay on railroad routes In those states. Wherever the returns required or justified & chenge from the former rate a circular was addressed to the propri- etors of the route, submitting the offer of the a partment and explaining its purpose. tm many in- wlancea the terme offered have, after considerable correspondence, been accepted, and contracts made accordingly, In others, though formal coutracts are for the service for the firat quarter of the new term not executed, the department has proceeded to settle at the rates offered. Many rout other States than those above named have been brought up for review, upon application made by the propri tors of the ratlroads interested, aud in every c where the returns showed a readjustment proper has been ordered, have been changed upon seventy-one rontes In ail, us appears in the annexed “table showing the read- Justment of the rates of pay per mile on certain ratiroad routes.” The total ameutt of the annual pay upon these routes, under the readjustment, it 1S $926, ud the tote! amount of the al spay $ ‘22—an excess of the pres- eat over the former amount of $160,820 In con- nection with this subject it may be proper to state that at diferent times within the montis of Janu- ury, February and March jast, while Con, in were submitted to the de) in behaif of @ “committee on mail service’ ap- pointed at a national railroad convention previously beid, several schedules of proposed changes to the rates of pay for the transportation of matis on rail- road routes, and finally the draught of an act on the ct, to be submitted, if approved by the Poste master General, to the Post Office committees of the Honse and Senate. The proposed act provided that in «i contracts hereafter to be made with ratiroad companies for the transportation of the mail the rates of compensation should be, at the option of the Postmaster General, in proportion eitucr to the weight of matter to be transported oF to the number of cubie feet of eat space which the department inight require for the accommodation of its malls and agents, The schedule of rates prescribed tn the wt allowed upon every mile of dctual trausporta- |e tion seven cents for car apace per day not exceedin| twenty-five Cubic feet, or weight per day not exces ing 250 pounds; tweive cents for car spi per « exceeding twenty-five and not exceeding ifty capi feet, or weight er ay excecdiug 250 and not e: ceeding 500 pounds; and so on, ascending by @ simi- jar sliding seale, until, for 2,600 eubic the largest amount of “car space” found upon any route Fone i a. ae rate reached 115 coals for prer Pils of ans) ion. Proposed act provide er on be yy sum of oe dollar eae be allows r evi mile run @ train special quired to be run for the ransportation of the al, and two cents per mile for transporting in the pas- senger Cars any agent travelling on the business of the department, route ts to be free, but at their ‘twa risk. Atong the other papers was a “comparative statement,” purportin, gy a hE ns 4 tion of committee's rates upon the who cost uf the railroad mail service in 0) ton, by which ft was made to a) that ® dimmution of Decouint ail car space beyond the suount foguired to transport the mails as fi lowing £0 reight, allowing a cubic foot for every ten pounds’ weight; and thie thircy-eight per cent, it was yy the committee, would ly be more than sufficient to cover the cost of extra car service ree for the use of route agents and postal clerks, It was found, however, upon es- limating the car space used upon the iirst seven routes in table E, im the last annual report (pages 12-85), allowing 81x and one-half feet for the height of the car ceiling, a3 suggested by the committee, that the Ry ipendirg i wou oe) be inaumeipa to amat transpol ion shown upon tide rou é alone, at the committee's rates. ‘To as- certain, therefore, the real effect which the adoption of the proposed rates would have upon the anaual cost of mail transportion on railroad ri slate ment was made up in the department, predicated upon the “car service’ and actual transportation already in use, a3 shown in table E, in the last an- nual report, by which it was found tuat the increase of expense would be enormous. Thus, for illustra- tion, on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad mail apartments of elght diiferent sizes were reported, which were estimated to ave 1,750 cubic feet. For this amount of “car space’ the schedule prescribed in the proposed act allowed eighty-one cents per mile, The number of trips on the route was reported at twenty-eight per week. Each trip inc.uding the run forthand back, the num- ber of trips must be doubled to find the amount of transportation per week on each mile of the road’s lengt! mane cs gr miles, and this again multi- plied by ifty-tvo to find the amount per annum, m; King’ .01 iniles, wiitch, at eighty-one cents per le, Would give $2,353 g8 the pay per annum for every mule of the road’s length. The present rate is » The disparity on some other youtes wi b ull pe e rates running att sts ff h and more, and from $200 to $4,000 and more, On the whole amount of railroad mail service in opera- tion on the 30th of June, 1867, the effect would ve to increase the annual expense from $3,312,600 to $21,710,028—an excess of $17,897,423, ‘The depart- ment forbearing, upon such @ showmg, to take any part in presenting the proposed act to the Post Ofiice committees of the two houses of Congress, has pro- ceeded with the work of readjusting the rates of pay on railroad routes upon a scale within the limits of existing laws and much more compatible with the resources at its command, During the past year an engraved post route map, in four sheets, has been completed by the topo- grapher, and copies issuc@ for the use of the depart- ment, representing the post offices and mail service im the State of New York and tts connections with adjacent States and withthe dominion of Canada. This map, alo with that previously publisued, representing the Northeastern States, has been found of great use in the several branches of this depart- ment in its ent work, to postinasters and otuers, and especially to the clérks of the travelling (rail- road) post ot om in sorting and distributing letters. Asimilar map of the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland was expectec to have been issued before this, but the large amount of work required in compilation has delayed the issue. The plates are expected fromthe engraver within three months, ‘The map of the State of Maine and adjacencies is also well advanced in the engraver’s hands and will eee eT apgut the same time. Draw! aré bél pFepal for thé map of Ohio and f a, and those of other States, in groups, will be taken up as fast as the peculiar nature an the magnitude of this work will allow. The amount of fines imposed on contractors and deductions made from their pay during the year was $116,609, and the amount remitted $70,795, leaving the net amount of fines and deductions $45,514. The amount expended for new mail bags was $53,016. RAILWAY POSTAL SERVICE. There are now in operation in the United States 26 ital lines, subdivided into 34 routes, ex- tending in the te Over 7,019 miles of railway and steamboat lines, upon 1,671 miles of which twice daily service is being performed, making a total equal to 8,090 miles of railway postal service daily each way and an increase of 3,276 miles over the ser- vice in operation in 1867. ere are employed in this service 279 men, as head clerks, clerks and as- sistant clerks, at salaries ranging from $900 to $1,400 per annum, making an aggregate cost of $329,700 per annum, an increase of 119 men, at a cost of $141, over the previous year. To perform this work in the old way would require the services of 283 em- loyés, At a Cost Of $341,835, showing a saving of 2,235 as the work is now being done. It is proper to state that the service is performed, not as formerly, by route agents on the slow way or accom- modation trains, but upon the fastest express trains, and that by means of Ward's mail bag catcher the clerks are exchanging pouches at all offices on the line once and in many cases twice daily each way. On the Hudson ver and New York Cen- tral Railroads, for insti the postal car leaves New York at eight A. M., performing service at all sta- tions to Syracuse, where they arrive at half-past six P. M.; and from.Syracuse to Buffalo, where they ar- rive at twelve, midnignt, at all expreas stops. The night line leaves New York at eleven P. M., perform- ing service for all offices at express stops to Albany; leaving Albany at quarter-past seven A. M., perform- ing the service at all post offices to Buitalo, where they arrive at half-past eight P. M., so that every office on the line from New York via Albany to Butfa- lo that chooses to exchange mails twice is served twice datly with mail each way. Under the old route agent system this same service was performed as follows:—Route agents left New York in the morn- ing and ended in Aibany in the afternoon; other route agents left Albany in the morning and arrived in Syracuse in the evening, and stiil other route agents, leaving Syracuse in the morhing, arrived in Buffalo in the afternoon—requiring from two to three days to send a letter from one point to another and receive an answer. Now letters can be sent and an- swers returned between almost any two offices on the tine within twenty-four hours. This is simply an illustration, the same improved facilities for the rapid transmission of mails obtaining on most other sines of railway postal service. ‘The aggregate amount of postage (inland, sea and foreign) upon the letter correspoudence exchanged with foreign countries was $2,153,690. Of this amount $1,706,467 accrued on the letter mails ex- changed with European countries, $300,516 on letters exchanged with the Dominion of Canada and $137,706 on the letters exchanged with the West Indies, Mexico, Brazil, Central and South Americ: the Sandygch Islands, Japan and China, The total Je ter postages on mails exchanged with countrics of Europe during the first six months, from July 1 to December 31, 1867, inclusive, under the provisions of the postal conventions then tn force, amounted to $1,057,612, and on mails exchanged with the same countries during the residue of tue fiscal year, irom January 1 to June 30, 1868, at the reduced rates es- tablished by existing conventions, amounted to $6487854, being a reduction to the advantage of cor- respondents during said six months of $408,758, on an increased correspondence 626,548 letters er annum. The postage eollections in the United States on the correspondence exchanged with Great Rritain and countriey on the Continent of Europe amounted to $1,090,244, and the postages coliected in Europe amounted to $616,223—excess of collec- tions in the United States, $474,020, The estimated amouat of United States posi upon the letter mails exchanged with Great Britain and the Conti- nent of Europe was $795,700; with Canada and the British North American iene $176,179, and with the West Indies, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and China and Central and South America, $12,008, waking in $1,097,979—a decrease of $95,425 compared with te of previous year. Adding the amount of vi States postage upon printed matter ¢x- changed in United States and European matis, cal- culated at $90,000, and $10,029 the reported amount of United States B moti on printed matter ex- changed with the West Indies, Mexico, South Amer- ica, China, &c., the total United States postages on foreign maiis (exclusive of printed matter inter- changed with the British Norin American provinces, of which no separate account is kept), was $1,108, 508. The nuniber of letters exchanged with foreign countries (exclusive of the British North America provinces) was 11,125, of which 6,900,307 were sent (row and 5,228, sived in the United States, Jncrease over number of previous year, 880, or this number 10,065,659 were exchanged wi > Topean countries, an increase of 626,48 compar with the previous year. Lstimating the number exchanged with the British provinces at 2,476,000, the totai number of letters exchanged in the waits with foreign conntrics was 18,600,000, tie Ast of January, 1868, the date on which new postal tions With Great Britain, North Germany, Belg came into oper the arraugements made by this departmen for th transatiantic mati stearsuip eervice lave t restricted to the outward mails, in accordance with the new #ysiem adopted in satd convention that each office ehall in the maiis Which ut ¢ jt its own arrangements for spatches, and shal, at its own ora of the steamships em- ployed for the conveyance of the same; and in like Tnainner the sea transportation of malls received from Europe since the Ist of January, 165, has been provided and paid for by the respective foreign post departments despalching the same to this country. From July 1 to Decenbe: 1867, inclusive, the steamers employed by this departinent in transport- ing mails in both directions conveyed mails the total postages on which amounted to $491,504, and those employed in saine service by foreign post depart- ments conveyed n during same period, the total we on which amounted to $566.07 During he jast half of the fiscal year, from January 1 to June 30, 1868, inclusive, the total postages on matis sent to Europe under the new arraugemente amounted to $540,835, and the total postages on mails received from Burope during the same period mounted to $404,019—these reduced aimouuts re- su from the reduced rates of interna. Uonal postage charged on and after the Ist of January, 1968, under the provisions of the new postal conventions, which came into operation on that date, The cost of the United States transatiantic Mail steamship service from July 1 to December 31, 1867, tinder arrangements then in force, ajlow! the #e@ postage a8 Compensation, was $242,017, an amounting ' to | from Jannary 1 to June 39, 10 under the new ar- rangoments, $1J9,760—a reduction Of over one-hait Trom the cost of Lhe Kame service onriig the pre- vious#ix months, Total cost of transatlantic ker- Vice for the year, $421,777, being $129,569 jess the preceding year. ‘The amount paid for the trang. rtation of mails to and irom the West Indies, &¢,, sloamers Fr ving Various rates of compel Within the limit of te postages, was $70,287, and ‘the cost of sea and istiimus conveyance of mails to and from Central and South America, via Panama, Was $27,334, making @ total expenditure for ocean transportation of $519,09, exc.usive Of payments seeks ae ae aun of SA7, 016 mee auring See ines to brawl, pan anc Ghina ana to the Sandwich Islands, respectively, re- ceiving subsidy grants fixed by special acts of Con- POSTAL CONVENTIONS WITH COUNTRIES OF SUROPS. New entions with Creat Britain, the North German Union, Belgium and the Neilerlands, the ‘Provisions of which were respectively, briefly stated in my Teport, rried inte effect on the lat of Ji m Teas; and those con- cluded with Switzeriand ‘Italy went into opera- tion on the lat of April, 1868. On the 13th of Decem- ber, 1867, before the new convention with the United igen OS eae ee nae 0 2 nate the saine ‘On the Slat of Potca te teem cordance with the power reserved in th 2! thereof; which ni was nouncement that Mr. Eye lope despatched to Washington in the spring of 1348 with full powers to negot @ new convention better calculated to afford satisfaction to the People of two countries, The provisions of anew venion to supersede the present one on tho ist of January, 1869, Were accordingly srenged with Mr, Tro lope at Was! in Ji last;. and, after aajusting by direct correspondence between the.twe post departments certain modifications on which Mr. Trollope did not consider himseif authorized to treat, the modified convention was formaily oxe- cuted on the 24th of November last. Its general visions are substantially those of the present conven- tion. At the invitation of the French government Mr. Kasson was sent to ut Tuiled to effect a revision of the postal convention with that country, ‘There has been a modification of the Boe conven- tion with Canada, one made establishing an ex- “change of mall with British East Indies, ‘The mail steamshig service to Japan is referred to as bei regular and energetic. In reference to the coaling the steamers on tis route the report says:—it was hoped that the discovery by American citizens of a small group of islands midway between California and China, and conveniently situated with respect to Rue ger xaure, BpULe have Rare hed to eas ing the efficlency of the service by relic, steamships from the necessity of carrying tia beat weight of coal required for consumption on their long voy: of 6,000 miles, and the efforts of the con; tractora to effect this desirable improvement were regarded with great interest. But unfortunately the surveys made by officers of the navy, as weil as those of the steamship company, demonstrated tint the project was impracticable of execution at pres- ent, owing to shoalness of water at the entrance to the harbor. Ifit should prove feasible, however, 5 1am informed is the opinion of competent naval oilicers whose attention has been given to the sub- Ject, to obtain the necessary increased depth of water on the bar, by a reasonabie expenditure, the propriety and expediency of undertaking the work would bea question worthy the attention of our government, as well for the attainment of this objec& as for other public advantages of a national and commercial character that will readily suggest them- selves. An increase and extension of the scrvice on the Japan and China line is recommended to the con- sideration of Congress, The malis have been satis- factorily carried to Brazil and the Haavaidan {slands, With regard to the proposed contract with the Commercia! Navigation Company of New Yo! authorized by act of Congress, Mr. Kandall declint to execute one in the manner and on the conditions stated, but expressed his willingness to make a con- didonal contract for the carrying of matls to Europe by American steamships, at least four outward trips each week. 1n view of the great importance of the subject he earnestly recommended the pro, con- tract to the careful consideration aud action of Congress. Continuing, the report says:—I fully concur in the recommendation of my predecessor, Baca General Dennison, in his annual report of Novem- ber 2, 1864, that provision should be made, by treaty stipulations between nations or otherwise, for the exceptional treatment of regular mail packets in time of war, by authorizing such packets, under proper safeguards against the transportation of a sons or articles contraband of war, to continue @ would be Davigation without impediment or interruption. During the year there were 2,161 post offices es- tablish 1 1n operation i, 849 discontinued and 26, on June 30, 1863. ‘The compensation for special agents, route ita, mail route messengers, postal railway cier! local agents and baggage Masters in service dui the year ending June 30, 1868, amounted to $961, The free delivery Ler) has been in operation during the year in fo eight of the principal cities, It has continued to grow A pice favor, an to a great extent, supplant general and box deliveries. In Phil: elphis, Jhicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Louisville sand other cities the number of t office boxes has been reduced, and the is confidently ent ed dshvery will ultimately supersede all others. Its necessity in large cities is illustrated by the single example of New York, with its 6,000 boxes, repre- senting 30,000 names, any one of which each sorting clerk must be able to recail and associate with the Proper box on the instant, a work impossible to be jone without liability to error. This difficulty neces- sarily increases with the growth of the city, and finds no remedy a3 the reason stated) in the multt- teation of cle! The only remedy for this evil nown to me is the delivery by carrier. The aggre- results for the year are shown in the following ures:—The number of letter carriers employed was 1,198; mail letters delivered, 64,349,486; local letters delivered, 14,081,906; newspapers delivered, 16,910,715; Koi oereens eae Ca ld carriers, in- cluding incidental expenses, 4; e3 OD local matter, $475,982. Shiisica The reviewing and readjusting of postmasters’ salaries once every two years haying thrown upon the department a large amount of extra labor, the employment of one additional fourth class clerk is recommended. A blank agency has been estavlished at Washington, and that at New York and the one at Buffalo have been discontinued. The salaries of 232 — clerks aggregated $274,000, and those of 1,193 jetcer carriers, including tucidental expenses, $996,034, Increased compensation for both is re- commended. The whole number of lettera of all classes received at the dead letter office during the year ending the 30th June last, by actual count, was 4,162,144, showing @ decrease of 144,364 letiers from the number estimated to have been received during the previous year. Of these letters 3,995,006 were domestic letters; 167,078 were foreign, aud were re- turned unopened to the countries where they origin. ated. The whole number returned was 2,258,199, of which about eighty-four per cent were delivered to owners and sixteen per cent returned to depart- ment. 18,840 letters contained $95,169 in sums of one dollar and upwards, of which 16,061 letiers, con- taining $86,638, were delivered to owners, and 2,124, containing $7,862, were fled or held for disposition; 14,082 contained $3,436, in sums less than ono dollar, of which 12,613, containing as, were delivered to owners; 17,750 contail checks, drafts, deeds and other papers of value, representing the value of $3,609,271; of these 16,809 were restored to the owners and 821 were returned and fled; 13,904 contained hooks, jewelry and other articles of pro- Derty, of the estimated value of $8,500; of these 11,489 were forwarded for delivery and 9,911 were delivered to owners; 125,221 contained photographs, postage stamps and articles of small value, of which 114,666 were delivered to owners, and 2,068,842 let ters returned had no enclosures. The aggregate of postal letter service during the year is estimated ab 720,000,000, and the proportion of domestic dead let ters to the number of domestic letters mailed is about one to 126. The amount of money taken trom all dead letters undelivered since last report and de osited inthe United States Treasury was $21,967. he amount realized from sales of waste paper and deposited was $1,280. The money order offices in operation number 1,468, During the year 831,938 orders were issued, representing $16,197, number paid $86,040, represeating $15,976,501, and $142,035 pgid to purchasers, The excess of issues over Lm beng was $79,321. ‘The total receipts from wun were $124,503 and the expenditures 4,158, ‘The law requires the salaries of postmasters to be adjusted once in two years. The aggregate salarics of postinasters as revised July 1, 1844, Was $3,333,381. justed July 4, 1806, the sum was $4,033,723. ted July 1, 1868, the sum was $4,545,583, | increase in a little over two years, from June, 1863, to and including July, 1868, was $1,162,506. This increase of salaries, under the rules prescribed by law, is encouraging, It 18 based solely upou the continnal increase of the business of the depart meat and of the people. The increase of the expenses of the postal service, based as 1 upon pubile ne- cessity and public demand, instead of being cau of discouragement & subject of congratulation. ‘The restoration of so large a part of the postal ser- vice suspended during the war, and the new service created by Congress since the close of the war— uai to one-third of the amount of service in opera+ Won at thas time—have produced a less deficiency than existed in time of peace and prosperity previous to i860. The proportion of deticiency to revenno is far Jess now than then, notwith#tanding the service is very mu greater than ever before. In 1859 the suin of the deficiency was only one militon lesa than the entire revent n 1860 the sum of the de Nciency was about $3,500,000 less than the entire nu For the year 1865 the deficiency is ten stl. less than the entire revenue. The majority of the Southern States lave never paid their own ex- penses for postal service, They will not do go for & ong time tocome. With the exception of fowa and Missouri none of the States or Territories weat of the Mississippi river have ever paid a revenue eqtal to their postal expenses. The cost of the transportetion of the mails tn all new States and Territories and tn all sparsely populated portions of the country never has been patd by those States or Territories out of their own reverues, It is only a4 popuiation and business increase and the country 18 developed (hat postal rervice can be self-sustaining. The idea that the Post Office Department can be setf-snstarning, tn the present condition of the country, is absurd. 1b cannotbe, and ought not to be, for fifty years to come. The revenues will largely increase, and 80 Will expenditures, Ten yeats hence [ estimate the expenses of the Post Omee Departinent at $40,000,000 and the revenues at $80,000,000, This increase must #0 On as long ag the country prospers and tmineral, ‘ericultoral and commercial business fucreases, The mines are not yet all developed. The lands are not all cultwated. ” ‘The rivers are not all navigated. The railroads are not all surveyed. The cities are not al built, ‘Che sea has not given us all we have & "s to exact. Our country i8 not Mnished. Untl itis finished he is not # wise nor & sagacioua in assuiaes that the powsal sorvioo will pay for i who a ae