2. Table of Mail Service for the Year ending June 30, 1853.* * The entire service and pay are set down to the State under which the route is numbered, though extending into other States, instead of being divided among the States in which each portion of it lies. † The Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia Railroad is under a Maryland number. 1 This embraces the steamboat service from St. Louis to New Orleans. § This embraces the steamboat service from Louisville to Cincinnati and from Louisville to New Orleans. This includes the route from New Orleans to Mobile. T This is for service from Panama to Aspinwall, performed by the Panama Railroad Company, at a stipulated price per trip, according to the weight of the mail, and which varies from year to year. The cost of this service for the year ending June 30, 1853, was $85,314. 3. Number of Post-Offices, Extent of Post-Routes, and Revenue and Expenditures of the Post-Office Department; with the Amount paid to Postmasters and for Transportation of the Mail, since 1790. *The returns for 1816, 1847, 1818, 1849, 1850, and 1851 are for the six years under the law of March 3, 1815. Those for 1852 and 1853 are for the two years under the new law 4. FOREIGN MAIL SERVICE. The conveyance of mail matter between this and foreign countries, and between the Atlantic and Pacific portions of the United States, is a large and important branch of the mail service. The following table exhibits this service. Foreign Mail Service of the United States in Operation October 1, 1853.* to Havre, 5. New York to Liverpool, 3,100 26 a year E. K. Collins, 858,000 Cont. with Sec.of N. J.&S.Brown. Acts Mar. 3, 1847, and July 21, 1852. 6. New York, by Cowes, 3,270 la month Ocean Steam 150,000 Contract with P. M. G., Act of March 3, 1847. 22 cents per pound. Act March, 3, 1851. Contract with P. M. G., Act of Aug. 30, 1852.† The gross amount received from the mail service to Bremen, via Southampton, from June 1, 1847, to Oct. 4, 1848, was $20,082.51; for the year ending Oct. 4, 1849, it was $61,114.20; from Oct. 5, 1849, to Sept. 30, 1850, it was $56,865.60; during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1851, it was $94,598.03; during the year ending June 30, 1852, it was $77,219.87; and during the year ending June 30, 1853, it was $100,297.79. The net revenue by this line for the last fiscal year was $69,951.45. The postages on the Charleston and Havana line, from Oct. 18, 1848, to Sept. 30, 1850, were $22,406.37; for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1852, $11,958.99 ; and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1853, $7,945.63. The postages by the New York Chagres, and California line for the same year were $263,137.58; and by the New Orleans and Vera Cruz line, from April 14, 1853, to June 30, $630.84. The gross amount received for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1852, for postages on mailable matter from the Collins line, New York and Liverpool, was $228,867.61; for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1853, it was $303,733.70. The net revenue by this line for the last year was $192,313.87. The service is substantially the same at the present time, October, 1854. †The service in No. 8 is as yet semi-monthly, and one third of the pay is deducted: and Tampico is omitted, and for this one fifth of the pay is deducted. The gross amount received during the year ending June 30, 1852, from the New York and Havre line was 80,804,08; for year ending June 30, 1853, it was $100,070.44. The net revenue by this line for the same year was $71,147.74. The letter postage by the Cunard line for the year ending June 30, 1853, was $578,033.39; newspaper postage, $20,683.26. Revenue and Expenditure of the Post-Office under the old Law (prior to 1845), under the law of 1845, and under that of 1851. By reference to the detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures of the Post-Office below, it will be seen that the item "letter postage" includes stamps sold, and also how the total annual receipts, &c. are made up. Under the Act of 1845 the gross revenue from letter postage fell off in 1846, the first year of the reduction, $988,738.92, or 27 per cent; in the second year, 1847, it increased $363,959.49, or 133 per cent. over 1846. In the year ending June 30, 1852, the first after the reduction by the Act of 1851, the gross revenue from letter postage was reduced $1,185,993.73, or 22 per cent.; in 1853 the increase from the same source over the gross revenue from letter postage in the previous year was $251,747.68, or 6 per cent. The cost of the transportation of the mails has increased rapidly each year. In 1849 it was $2,577,407.71; in 1850, $2,965,786 36; in 1851, $3,538,063.64; in 1852, $4,225,311.28; in 1853, $4,906,308.05; and the estimate for transportation for the year 1854 was $5,506,601. The amount of postage stamps sold in 1853 was $1,629,262.12. The proportion of the different denominations of stamps issued for 1853 was, 1 cent, 4,736,311; 3 cent, 51,461,040; 12 cent, 146,655. Of the stamped envelopes, there were issued to postmasters for sale during the quarter ending September 30, 1853; 3 cent, note size, 464,350; ditto, letter size, 8,118,250; 6 cent, letter size, 150,000; ditto official size, 181,050. The following is the detail of the receipts and expenditures of the Department for the contract year, ending June 30, 1853: Receipts. Letter postage, including foreign postage and stamps sold, Newspapers and periodicals, Fines, except on contractors, 82.50 Excess of emoluments of post masters, 38,386.01 Wrapping-paper, 41,453.94 The amount of correspondence between the United States and Great Britain for the year ending June 30, 1853, was as follows: Gross amount letter postage by United States packets, Add for United States inland 5-24ths of $ 578,033.39, amount by British packets, Newspaper postages, by Collins line, British closed mails in transit through United States, By Cunard line, By Collins line, Total, $ 300,780.10 $120,423.60 6,118.90 37,811.39 4,670.80 $469,804.79 The number of letters conveyed by the Cunard, Collins, Bremen, and Havre lines of steamers, from July 1, 1852, to June 30, 1853, was as follows: |