630 



POST-OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



coach and other vehicles, 161,263 miles for 

 about twelve cents per mile, so that steam- 

 boats carry the mails over nine per cent, of the 

 routes, railroads over* seventeen per cent., and 

 horse vehicles seventy-four per cent. As the 

 average amount of mail carried by car is much 

 heavier than the average amount carried by 

 horse vehicles, while the price is about the 

 same, it follows that every new railroad not only 

 benefits the letter-sending public by speed, but 

 by economy. By the law approved January 25, 

 1839, the Postmaster-General is not permitted 

 to " allow more than three hundred dollars per 

 mile per annum to any railroad company " for 

 carrying the mails ; but this limitation is modi- 

 fied by the act approved March 3, 1845, where 

 the Postmaster- General is authorized, when it 

 is necessary to convey more than two daily 

 mails over a railroad route, to pay such addi- 

 tional compensation as he may think just and 

 reasonable. Under this law the New Jersey 

 Eailroad, the Philadelphia and Trenton Eoad, 

 and other roads conveying the great mails be- 

 tween New York and Washington, with a 

 daily average of from ten to eleven tons each, 

 are allowed $375 per mile per annum. On 

 other railroads the pay is smaller, being pro- 

 portionate to the work done. About thirty 

 roads receive from twenty to forty-five dollars 

 per mile per annum. During the past year the 

 Department paid $11,454,130 for the transpor- 

 tation of the mails. After the contract is 

 signed, no additional allowance can be made 

 by the Postmaster-General beyond the amount 

 stipulated in the contract, unless additional 

 service is required; and then the additional 

 compensation shall not be allowed to exceed the 

 proportion of the additional service. 



Postmasters at the termini of each route are 

 required to keep registers of all mails received 

 and sent from their offices, giving the exact 

 time of each arrival and departure, and the 

 cause of each delinquency. When the con- 

 tractor fails to carry his mail, and has no valid 

 excuse, he is subject to a forfeiture of not less 

 than the pay of each trip not run, and not 

 more than threefold that amount ; and when 

 the mail is carried, but fails to arrive in time 

 to make connection, the contractor is subject 

 to a forfeiture of one-fourth of his pay. And 

 when he has left his mail or any part thereof 

 for the accommodation of his passengers, or 

 when he fails to deliver the mail immediately 

 upon arrival, he forfeits not exceeding three 

 months' pay. The amount of fines and deduc- 

 tions from these sources, in the fiscal year of 

 1867, was $145,908. The mail must not be 

 carried by any person under the age of sixteen; 

 and if the carrier, while in charge of the mail, 

 become intoxicated, the postmaster must cer- 

 tainly dismiss him. 



In the case of railroads, where the depot is 

 within eighty rods of the post-office, the rail- 

 road company must deliver it at the office ; but 

 when the distance is over eighty rods, the mail 

 is delivered at the depot and taken to the of- 



fice by the Mail Messenger service at the ex- 

 pense of the Department. 



The Letter-carrier System, etc. The free 

 delivery of letters by carriers commenced in 

 July, 1863, and has met with great acceptance. 

 Eleven hundred and ninety-eight carriers dis- 

 tribute the mails in forty-eight principal cities. 

 Boxes have to some extent been driven out, 

 the carrier sysjtem being more speedy and 

 more safe. These carriers deliver over ninety- 

 five millions of letters and papers each year, 

 and collect about sixty-three millions. The 

 expense of the system is about a million of dol- 

 lars per annum, the expense for the last fiscal 

 year being $996,370.78. 



Money and other valuables sent by mail are 

 at the risk of the owner ; but, in case of loss, 

 the Department will endeavor to discover the 

 cause, and, in case of theft, to punish the of- 

 fender. All necessary Expenses, incurred in 

 prosecuting a case of mail depredation, are re- 

 imbursed by the Department, and rewards are 

 offered, not exceeding fifty dollars, for the 

 apprehension of the criminal. The Attorneys 

 of the United States will conduct the prosecu- 

 tion when made before the Federal courts. 



There are about fifty special agents in the 

 Department, who are engaged in the Oceanic 

 transportation of the mails, in charge of offices 

 where the postmaster is delinquent, in exam- 

 ining mail depredations and losses, or seeing 

 that the postal system is properly executed. 

 To be a successful special agent requires self- 

 control, perseverance, caution, and good busi- 

 ness habits. Publicity is never given to the 

 means whereby success is attained. 



Dead Letters. Dead and unclaimed letters 

 are divided into five classes : 1st, letters not 

 called for; 2d, those which cannot be for- 

 warded because of illegible or omitted address, 

 or because they contain obscene matter ; 3d, 

 those on which one full rate of postage has not 

 been paid, or when the stamps have been pre- 

 viously used or cut from stamped envelopes; 

 4th, packages exceeding four pounds in weight ; 

 and 5th, refused letters. At offices where the 

 salary of the postmaster amounts to five hun- 

 dred dollars or over, these letters may be ad- 

 vertised once a week for one cent per letter. 

 Investigation into the causes of the non-de- 

 livery of letters proves that three-fourths of 

 them fail to reach the parties addressed 

 through the faults of the writers. 



During the last fiscal year, 4,162,144 dead 

 letters were received by the Department at 

 Washington, being a diminution of 144,364 

 from the number received the previous year, 

 and over a million less than those of the year 

 before. This growing diminution is partly 

 owing to the extension of the letter-carrier 

 system, and partly to the use of envelopes, 

 bearing a request to be returned if not called 

 for. Of these four millions of dead letters, 

 nearly one million nine hundred thousand 

 were returned to the writers, the greater part 

 of those not returned being unsigned, circulars, 



