POSTAL SERVICE. 



233 



During the period when these rates were in force 

 that is to say down to 1851 two events occurred that 

 are worthy of special mention : one was the negotia- 

 tion of a postal treaty with England the first in the 

 history of the department by which the single rate ol 

 ocean postage was fixed at 5 cents ; and the other was 

 the introduction of postage-stamps in 1847, although 

 their use was not made obligatory until several years 

 afterwards. 



Expendi- 



Years. Office*. Mile*. Revenue. tures. 



1846 14,601 152,8ti5 $3,489,199 $4,04,297 



1847 15,146 153,818 3,955,893 3,979,570 



1848 16,159 16.1,208 4,371,077 4,326,850 



1849 16,749 103,703 4,905,176 4,479,049 



1850 18,417 178.672 6,552,971 5,212,953 



1851 19,790 196,290 6,727,867 6,278,402 



In 1851, by act of March 3, the most remarkable re- 

 duction that had yet been made in the rates of postage 

 was authorized. The following were the new rates : 



Every single letter (1 ounce), sent not over 3000 miles, pre- 

 paid, 3 cents; iiot prepaid, 5 cents; any greater distance, 

 double these rates. l)rop or local letters, 1 cent each. 

 Every additional half ounce, an additional rate. 



Newspapers, weekly, free in county where published ; out- 

 fide of county, 5 to 311 cents a quarter, according to dis- 

 tance ; other than weeklies, higher rates, varying accord- 

 ing to distance. 



Magazines, baoJa, and other printed matter, 1 cent an ounce 

 for not over 500 miles; 2 cents for over 5<X) and not over 

 1500 miles; 3 cents for over 1500 and not over 2500 mile": 

 4 cents for over 2500 and not over 35OO miles ; and 5 cents 

 for over 3500 miles. 



In 1852, by act of Aug. 30, the rates on printed mat- 

 ter were radically changed, one cent an ounce being the 

 general rate on newspapers, periodicals, and unsealed 

 circulars, with certain reductions for prepayment, and 

 one cent an ounce the general rate on books when pre- 

 paid and sent not over 3000 miles. By this same act 

 stamped envelopes, since become so popular, were au- 

 thorized. 



Again, in 1855, by act of March 3, prepayment of 

 postage on letters was made compulsory the rates !><- 

 ing 3 cents a half ounce for distances not over 3000 

 miles, and 10 cents for greater distances; drop letters, 

 1 cent each. By the same act the system for register- 

 ing letters was introduced now a very important 

 branch of the postal service. 



In 1801, by act of Feb. 27, merchandise was for the 

 first time admitted to the mails the articles admitted 

 being maps, photographs, phonographic paper, letter 

 envelopes, and seeds and cuttings, postage on all of 

 which was fixed at a cent an ounce for less than I ">u< 

 miles, and 2 cents for greater distances. By the same 

 act letter postage to and from the Pacific slope was 

 fixed at 10 cents a half ounce. 



_ The growth of the service to 1863 is shown in the 

 following table : 



Expend!- 



Miles. Revenue. tures. 



214,284 $6,925,971 $7,108,459 



217,743 5,940,725 7 ,: 



219,935 6,955,588 8,577,424 



227,908 7,342,156 9,968,342 



23-1,642 7,620,822 10,4(15,286 



'1 8,053,952 11,508,058 



260,6(13 8,186,793 12,722,470 



260,052 8,668,484 15,754,093 



240,954 8,518,067 19.170,610 



140,139 8,349,296 13,606,759 



134,013* 8,299,821 11,125,364 



139,.-.98 11,163,790 11,314,207 



Not including routes in the insurrectionary States. 



In 1863, by act of March 3, mail matter was divided 

 into three distinct classes, on which the following rates 

 of postage were chargeable : 



First-class matter, or letters and other written matter, 3 cents 

 a half ounce to any distance ; drop-letters, 2 cents a half 

 ounce. 



VOL. TV. p 



Years. Offices. 



1852 20,901 



1853 22,320 



1854 23,548 



1855 24,410 



1856 25,565 



1857 26,586 



27,977 



1859 28,539 



I860 28,498 



1861 28,586 



1862 28,875 



1863 29,047 



Second-class matter, or newspapers and periodicals issued 

 from a known office of publication, weeklies, 5 cents a 

 quarter for each 4 ounces ; semi-weeklies, 10 cents ; tri- 

 weeklies, 15 cents; six times a week, 30 cents; seven 

 times a week, 35 cents. Weekly papers in county of pub- 

 lication and exchanges between publishers, free. 



Third-cluss matter, or miscellaneous articles and transient 

 printer) matter, 2 cents fur each 4 ounces ; double this rate 

 for books. 



These rates remained practically unchanged for nine 

 years, during which, however, a number of important 

 events occurred, which render this period probably the 

 most memorable in the history of the postal service. 

 One was the meeting of the first International 

 Postal Congress, brought about by the efforts of the 

 United States government begun in 1862, and which 

 was the first step towards the formation of the Univer- 

 sal Postal Union effected eleven years after ; another 

 was the establishment of the free-delivery system in 

 1863 ; another, the adoption of the great money-order 

 svstem in 1864 ; another, the organization of the trav- 

 elling post-office system in 1863, which has revolution- 

 ized the manner of separating the mails ; another, the 

 further introduction of merchandise into the mails as 

 authorized by act of June 22, 1864 ; another, the in- 

 troduction of envelopes bearing requests to return the 

 letter enclosed to the writer in case of non-delivery ; 

 and another, the introduction of stamped newspaper- 

 wrappers. The two latter innovations are purely of 

 American origin. The growth of the service, too, was 

 wonderful, as is shown by the following table : 



Expendi- 



Years. Offices. Miles. Revenue. tures. 



1SC4 28,878 13:1,171* $12,438,254 $12,644,786 



1865 20,550 142,340* 14,556,159 13,694,728 



l'iii 23,828 180,921 14,3^6,986 15,352,079 



18ti7 25,163 203,245 15,:.'37,027 19,235,483 



1868 26,481 216,928 16,392,601 22,730,593 



1869 27,106 223,721 18,344,511 23,698,131 



1870 28,492 231,232 19,772,221 23,998837 



1871 30,045 238,359 20,037,045 24,390,104 



1872 31,863 251,398 21,915,426 26,658,192 



Not including routes in the insurrectionary States. 



By act of June 8, 1872, another rearrangement of 

 postage rates was made as follows : 



First-class matter, 3 cents a half ounce. Drop-letters at 



free-delivery offices, 2 cents a half ounce; at other office*, 



1 cent a half ounce. 

 Second-class matter issued less than weekly, 1 cent each a 



quarter; weekly, 5 cents a quarter, less than 4 ounces; 



weekly, 5 cents a quarter; and 5 cents additional for each 



issue oftener than once a week. An additional rate for 



each additional 4 ounces. 

 Third-class matter, 1 cent for each 2 ounces. Books and 



samples of minerals, metals, and ores, double this rate. 



Two years later than this, by act of June 23, 1874, 

 postage on second-class matter wits changed to 3 cents 

 a pound for issues of less frequency than once a week, 

 and to 2 cents a pound for all others ; and the rate 

 on third-class matter was made uniform at 1 cent for 

 each 2 ounces. This latter rate was changed, how- 

 ever, by act of March 3, 1875, to a cent an ounce ; and 

 in the following year the rate on miscellaneous printed 

 matter was changed back to 1 cent for each 2 ounces. 

 No further changes of postage occurred until 1879; 

 hut two or three notable events transpired, which 

 should be mentioned, namely : the abolition of the 

 franking privilege by act of Jan. 31, 1873, and the 

 adoption of official postage-stamps for the payment of 

 postage on official matter a system that was practi- 

 cally abandoned in 1877 ; the formation of the Uni- 

 versal Postal Union in 1873, by which international 

 postage was reduced generally to 5 cents a half ounce 

 on letters ; and the introduction of postal-cards in 

 1873. The following table shows the growth of the 

 service to 1879: 



