POSTAL PER VICE. 



Year*. Office*. Mile*. 



1073 ............ 33.244 846,210 



........... 34,:.".t4 269,097 



......... _ SA..147 277,873 



......... M..183 281.7U8 



146 292,820 



....... 39.-.W8 801 .968 



187D ........... 40,8o5 316,711 



RTmne. 

 $2J,96,74J 

 28,477,072 

 5,79l,SfiO 

 17,805,908 

 27,468,323 

 29..' 

 30,041,983 



Expend! 

 turn. 



32,126,415 



33,1.: 



3.1,4 

 34.: 

 33,449,898 



In 1879, under the -net of March 3, a 



of mail matter w;is m;idc, the foUowing being the rates 

 of postage established : 



Fint-claa* (*e*led or written mstterl, 3 cents a hnlf ounce ; 

 postal canls, 1 cent each ; drop-letters at free-delivery 

 offices, 2 cent* a half ounce; at olh-r offices, 1 e 



i class matter, new-p:i|ier* and periodicals 

 regularly fn>m n known office of publication, or by news- 

 scents, 2 cents a MWML 



Third-class matter (books and miscellaneous printed arti- 

 cle*), 1 cent for each 2 ounce*. 



Fourth class matter i merchandise), 1 cent an ounce. 



Since the passage of this act the following impor- 

 tant ehanges liave uccn made iu the postal laws : 



By act of March 3, 18S3, the rate of postage on first-class 

 matter was reduced from :t to 2 cents a half ounce, the tariff 

 of raonev-order fee* was considerably lowered, aud the issue 

 of iMjctal notes was authorized. 



By act of June 9, 1884, postage on transient newspapers 

 was'fixed at 1 cent for each 4 ounce*. 



By act of March 3. 18N5, the unit of weight of first-class 

 matter was increased the rale of postage being fixed at 2 

 cents an ounce instead of a half ounce ; the special-delivery 

 system, hereinafter described WHS authorized ; and the rate 

 of postage on newspapers aud i>eriodicals was reduced to 1 

 cent a pound. 



By act of June 29, 1886, the fee for money-orders of less 

 than $5 was reduced. 



In August, 1880, the issue of stamped letter-sheet envel- 

 ope* was begun, under authority of the act of March 3, 1H7". 



By act of Jan. 3, 1SM7, the free-delivery system was ex- 

 tended to places of 10,000 population, or $10,000 of annual 

 postal revenue. 



By act of March 3, 18?7, authority was given for the isue 

 of postal-notes by other than money-order office*. 



By act of July L'4, IS*\ the rate of postage on seeds 

 plants, bulbs, roots, scions, anil cutting* was reduced from 

 1 cent uu ounce to 1 cent fur 2 ounces. 



These changes and the following table bring the ser- 

 vice down to the close of the fiscal year ending June 



30, 1888: 



Expendi 



Years. Office*. Miles. Revenue. tures. 



1880 42,989 343,888 $33,315,479 $36,542,804 



1881 44,512 344,006 36.78T.,398 39,251,736 



1882 4(!,231 34:1,618 41,883.005 40,482,021 



1883 47 803 353,166 4.Vi<>N.O!>3 43,2s2,'.M4 



1884 50,017 ' 47,224,561 



1880 51.2.V2 30,->,2.11 42,560,844 50,046,235 



1886- 63,614 368,600 43,948,423 61,004,7 



1887 55,157 373,142 48,837.609 63,000,194 



1888 57,376 403,970 62,695,176 65,795,357 



The existing ia.tr* of postage arc as follows, which 

 taking even-thing into consideration, are probably tin 

 lowest in the world : 



On letters or written or denied matter, 2 cents an ounce. 



On postal canls, 1 cent each. 



On uewspa|iers aud periodical* mailed by publishers am 



news-agents, 1 cent a pound. 

 On books, circulars, miscellaneous printed matter, am 



seeds, bulb*, plant*, cuttings, root* and scions, 1 cent fo 



each 2 ounce*. 



On all other matter, 1 cent an ounce. 

 All matter on official biisinew of the government enclosei 



in distinciive envelopes or under ! 

 Newspapers mid periodicals sent by publishers to aclunl 



ub.cribrrs residing in the county of publican 



All matter sent out by ngriciiltn Itural 



experiment Stmttolii on the subject of agriculture, free. 

 Letter* to couuuie* of the Postal Union, 5 cent* a half 



1'rom the foregoing sketch it will be seen that the 

 wstal service of the United Slates, from it* humble 

 inniiii,' in 1789, has grown to gigantic proportions, 

 n the course of but one century it lias in it.s progress 

 iiit."trip|K'd tlio service of many nations whose history 

 [oe* back beyond the middle apes ; and today in the 

 general extent of its business it stands conspicuously 

 iliead of all other count rir.s. lx-t us judge it.s position 

 >y a comparison with the postal business of (I: 

 Britain, (icriniiny, ami I'Yanrc. the three next great 

 lations of the Universal Postal I'nion. 



The statistics which follow are the latest that arc obtain- 

 able those for the United Stales and (irc.it liriMin lx>mg 

 .iken from the Reports of the 1'o-tmaMer.i Gen'-rnl fir the 

 \voeoiiniries, and tlioi' t'c.r Cieriiinny iiml France from the 

 taliulalinn of 1886 published by the International 1'uslal 

 liureau at Berne. 



In ascertaining the postal revenue of Grent Britain, 

 France, aud Germany, the income from the telegraph I 

 is omitted, and iu the ease of the latter country the income 

 from the service of couriers and the transportation of trav- 

 vellers none of these branches of business being com- 

 prebended in the postal service of the United State*. 

 The income of Germany and France is estimated upon the 

 basis of f> )>er cent, increase over the actual amount of the 

 preceding year. 



In sross postal revenue the showing is as follows : 



ni-cd States (year ending June 30, 1888) $52,695.176 



Germany (year ending March 31, 1888) 4">, 194,357 



Great Britain year ending March 31, 1888)...- 4-',*,2,34 

 France (year ending Dec. 31, 1887) 28,779,301 



In the number of post-offices the United States has more 

 than the other three countries combined: 



United States (June 30, 1888) 57,376 



Germany (Dec. 31, 1886) 18,08 



Great Britain (March 31, 1888) 17,587 



France (Dec. 31, 1886) 7,296 



In the length of mail routes the United States Is ahead of 

 the other countries, as is here shown : 



United States length of mail routes in miles 1888 403.376 

 Gernianv " 1886 85,885 



Great Britain- " " 1888* 44. ~2", 



France " " " " 1886 65,:i34 



In the milcnpre of mail service annually performed the 

 United States is immeasurably in advance of all other coun- 

 tries: 



United States miles of all service performed 

 in 1888 287,651,055 



Germany miles of all service performed in 



1886.... 132,011,695 



Great Britain miles of all service performed 

 in 1888* 62,669,584 



France miles of all service performed in 1886 90,980,803 



These figures comprehend nn advance of about 10 per 

 cent. over a computation Inrnislied by the Secretary of the 

 General Post-Ornce in London for the year 1886. 



In the nnmbcr of pieces of mail matter transmitted - 

 which is the best criterion of the magnitude of the po*i:il 

 service the United State* is greatly iu the lead, as the fol- 

 lowing table will show : 



Countries. 



United Ptntes, 1888 Germany, 1886 



Letters mailed or delivered 1,769,800,000 720,407,240 



1'oMal Cards" " 2 1 .">, 282,540 

 N.., papers " " 1,0(53,100,000 



Mis. printed matter, pieces 210,1' 



Parcels of merchandise "",000 11",: 



Total 3,578,000,000 1,816,006,390 



Countries. Great Britain, 1888 France, 1886 



Letters mailed or delivered 1,512,200,000 591,451,811 



Cards" ]ss.s,iooo .:t,379 

 Newspapers " " >,000 

 Mis. printed matter, piece* xi.000 

 Parcels of merchandise J.OOO 



Total 2,279,532,000 1,403,249,280 



The average number of pieces nf mail mutter to every in- 



habitant ot tin'- itmtri'v ui-on thr lta>i of the l:i.| census, 



is almut as follow-: l'i. , 71; Germany, 41; 

 , Great Britain, 01 ; France, 37. 



