POST-OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



627 



Grants in aid of the postal revenue, during 

 the past year, were as follows : for transporta- 

 tion between Atchison and Folsom, $900,000 ; 

 for steamship service to China, $125,000 ; to 

 Brazil, $150,000 ; for free mail matter, $3,800,- 

 000; for post-route maps, $10,000; for new 

 mail routes, $486,525 ; and for the mail to Cali- 

 fornia, $225,000; in all, $5,696,525. 



Organization of the Department. The De- 

 partment is under the direction of a Postmas- 

 ter-General, aided by three Assistant Postmas- 

 ters-General. It is carried on by 26,481 post- 

 masters, each having the charge of a local 

 office; 6,891 contractors for carrying the 

 mails on 8,226 routes; 1,468 money-order 

 offices ; 722 route agents and railway clerks ; 

 and 1,198 letter-carriers. 



The First Assistant Postmaster-General pre- 

 sides over the. appointment office. To his 

 charge belongs all business relating to the es- 

 tablishment or discontinuance of post-offices, 

 changes of name or location, appointment or re- 

 moval of postmasters, route and local agents, 

 and instructions to postmasters. All postmas- 

 ters, whose salary is under one thousand dol- 

 lars, are appointed in this bureau. The Oce- 

 anic mail steamship lines, and all foreign postal 



arrangements, come under his supervision. 

 About six thousand postmasters are annually 

 appointed by this bureau, 1,150 new offices es- 

 tablished, and 750 offices discontinued. 



The Second Assistant Postmaster-General has 

 the charge of the transportation of the mails, 

 placing the same under contract, determining 

 the frequency of trips, the mode of conveyance, 

 and times of departure and arrival on all routes ; 

 the course of the mail, points of mail distribu- 

 tion, and all regulations for the government 

 of the domestic mail service of the United 

 States. He prepares the quadrennial adver- 

 tisement of mail lettings, receives the bids, ac- 

 cepts the sureties, and has the supervision of 

 the adjustment and execution of contracts. 

 To his division is assigned the duty of receiving 

 and examining the registers of the arrivals and 

 departures of the mails, the service of route 

 agents, and reports of mail failures. All busi- 

 ness respecting lost money, mail depredations, 

 and other violations of law, the preparation 

 of post-route maps, diagrams, and other topo- 

 graphical work, belong to this bureau. 



The Third Assistant Postmaster-General has 

 charge of the finance business of the depart- 

 ment. He has the supervision of the quarterly 

 returns of postmasters, the weekly and monthly 

 returns of depositories ; and receives all appli- 

 cations for postage-stamps, stamped envelopes, 

 and dead letters. 



Post-Roads. Post-roads established by law 

 are, 1st, those roads of the country declared 

 such by Congress ; 2d, all waters on which 

 steamboats regularly pass ; 3d, the navigable 

 canals on which mails are carried ; 4th. all rail 

 and plank roads ; 5th, those roads on which the 

 Postmaster-General causes the mails to be car- 

 ried from the nearest offices on post-roads to 

 court-houses not otherwise provided with the 

 mail ; 6th, all roads to special offices ; and 7th, 

 roads established as post-routes under the 10th 

 section of the act of March 3, 1851, in cities 

 and towns, where the postmasters are ap- 

 pointed by the President. Post-roads must 

 be established by Congress, and the Postmas- 

 ter-General can neither establish nor lengthen 

 them. He can only place mail service on such 

 roads as have been established by law, and for 

 the expense of which an appropriation has been 

 made. During the past three years, the aggre- 

 gate length of mail routes has increased over 

 seventy-four thousand miles, and the annual 

 transportation over twenty-six millions of 

 miles. The carriage of mail matter over a 

 mail route by any other than the contractor is 

 illegal, unless the same has been prepaid by a 

 stamped envelope ; and a fine of from $50 to 

 $150 for each offence is imposed upon the per- 

 son establishing an express for the transmission 

 of mail matter out of the mails, and on the 

 owner of every stage, coach, car, steamboat, 

 or other vehicle, making regular trips, and 

 carrying any person acting as such express. 



The Finances. The Post-office Department 

 has nothing to do with the funds received for 



