158 



(THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



more, to be located in the Southern BU 

 capacity of the 1/eavenv .itmtiary is so 



limited thai the expense of its maintenance, cal- 

 culated at a per ctij I|MUI tin- numb, r of 

 pn~ : ;i accommodate, does not make as 

 economical an exhibit as it would if it v 

 an.l bet tor adapted to prison purposes: but 1 am 

 su'hlr convinced that economy, humanity, 

 an.l A proper sense of responsibility ami duty 

 towani those whom we puni-h for vi,.lati. 



:atc< that the 1 ' \ernmeni 



should hnN re control ami management of 



the pciiiicntiaru* * rioted violators are 



It appears that since tin- transfer of the 

 Learenworth military prison t.. its new us*- tin- 

 work y done by pri-oncrs OOOflned th.p. 



ami for which machinery has been 



iiMiued. This work con-j-ted 



of the manufacture of articles for army use now 

 done elsewhere. On nil groin; \ceedinglv 



desirable that the nm\i-:- <.>M lined in Un- 

 ary be allowed to resume work of th 



It is most gratifying to note tin- sati-factory rc- 



foUowed tin- inauguration of the 



new syst.-m provided for by the act of May >. 1 VM;. 



which certain Federal officials are compen- 



sated by salan of fees. The new plan 



was put in operation the IM day <>f .Inly. l s '.;. :i nd 



already 1 1: .n.uny it enforces, its piwen- 



f abuses, and it- tendency t" a better en: 

 ment of the laws, are strikingly apparent. Detailed 

 I the useftilnes- ..f thi- long-delayed but 

 now happily accomplished reform will he found 

 clearly set forth in the Attorncy-<iciicr:d's report. 



Our Post ofljee Department i's in pood condition, 

 and the exhibit made of its operations during the 

 ended .lunt- 30, 1896, if allowance is 

 for imperfections in the laws applicable to it, 

 v satisfactory. The total receipts during the 

 ^.40. The total expenditure! 

 were $90,626,296.84, exclusive of $1. 

 which wa< earned by the Pacific Railntad for Iran 

 ion and credited on their debt to the Gov- 

 ern ment. There was an increase of receipts over 

 the previous year of $5,516,060.21. or 7'1 per cent.. 

 and an increase of expenditures of $3,836,124.02, or 



er cent. 



The deficit was $!.< ess than that of the 



preceding year. The chief expenditures of the 



postal service are regulated by law and are not in 



ntrol of tli- ! ral. All that 



he can accomplish by the mo-t watchful adminis- 



(ration and economy is to enforce prompt and 



ugh collection 'and accounting for public 



. h minor savings in small e\pendi- 



and in letting those contra'-:-. f<-r p.-t-..flice 



supplies and star service, which are not regulated 



by statute, 



"An effective co-opcrai inn b.-tween the and 

 office and the Post Office Department and the mak- 

 ing and enforcement I by the department 

 re M uirin- immediate notification t',, their sure! 

 all delinquencies on the part of postmasters and 

 c.iinjH-llin- Ktcfa pM-tma-ters to make more frequent 

 deposits of postal funds, have resulted in a prompter 

 auditing of their ac, ., U nts and much less default to 



:iment than heretofore. 



The year -hows larg* both 



star-route service and railway mail - ;h in- 



creased postal facilities. Much higher accuracy in 

 handling mails has also U-. n r--;i< h.-d. as appears by 

 the decrease of errors in the railway mail s. 

 and the reduction of mail matter returned 



i -letter ofli 

 The deficit for the last year, although much less 



than that of th ding years, em- 



/es the necessity fur legislation to correct the 



if noond-olass rate>. to >\i,i..-h the 



deficiency is mainly attributable. 



Tin- MOI'I at the rate "f 1 cent a pound 



hoii>c or- 

 particuhir 



li- ii-e " or iiisiit ir s ( and the 



like ought certainly t lie di-( mitiiin' d. A i 

 at the re\-nues ircn\cd for the work done la- 1 

 will show more plainly than any other 

 the gross abuse of the postal so \ i. . and the 

 ing waste of its < arninn. 



li-.c mai: iils for the de- 



partments, offices, etc., of the <io\, rmm -nt. n: 

 reSB, in pounds, amounted to !M. IHJ.ISJI. 

 If this is offset against building f-r po-t , 

 ami stati<.n-. the rental of which would : 



colllj.. -lU'll free p< 



this .-xhil.it nf the weiu'ht of mail matter (other than 



. tra?ismiitrd throii.u'li the mail for tl,. 

 ending .luii' 



1. I'oiiufitic and f..r.-i^M l. it. i- 

 ix.stal ear.l- 



, . 



pound. 



1 I'.in-.-U. . i,- . ]<, oeBtS a pound 



W...I... 



19,860487 



US.977JM 



dern 



nay 



The remainder of our postal revenue, annum 

 to something more than | I, was " 



from box n loney-order bu>i 



and other similar items. 



The entire expenditures of the department, 

 eluding pay for tran-piirtatioii credited ! 

 Pacific railroad-. \\.- :!:..! 1. which 



considen-ii a< the co-t of receiving 

 delivering the alx.ve mail matter. It thus ap 

 that though the second-class matter 

 more than two thirds of the total that v 



the revenue derived from it was less than 

 thirtieth of the total expen-e. 



The av. : ue from each pound of first- 



Class niatt.-r was 08 i 



From each IMHIIKI nf s-ec.iiric]ass. .. 8| i 



" f th- s ml-. *C was county-free matt 



Fmui eaeli pound of third-class 



Kr mi eaeli pound <>f f.>urlli-elas.s . l5'0 



The growth in weight of -econd-c!a-s n:a'i. r h; 

 been from MI p ( ,un<l- in 1- 



(KX) in 1895, and to almo>t :} J.(KK).()00 in 1*;ii5. and 

 it is quite evident this increasing drawback 

 outstripping any possible growth of postal 



lllle-. 



<>ur ma:' viild of course be such 



meet the wants and even the convenience- c,f our 

 people, at a direct charge upon them-o li-_- 

 pernaps to exclude the idea of our Post oili- 

 pjirtment being a money-maK n : but in 



the face of a constantly recurring deficiency in its 



v ,-f the fact that we -upplv 

 the be-t |i - to me it 



is quite time to correct the abu-es that swell enor- 

 mously our annual deficit. If we concede the pub- 

 lic policy of carrying weekly i.- free in the 

 county /if publication, and even lhcjolicy of . 

 ing at less than one tenth of their cosl other hunn 

 fide newspapers and periodical-, there can i 

 excuse for subjecting the -ervjce tf. the further im- 



- and increasing loss involved in carm 

 the nominal rate of 1 cent a pound the serial libra- 

 rie-. sometimes including trashy and even harmful 

 literature, and other matter which, under th< 



