32D CONG.....2D SESS.

as the material for the exterior surface of the edifice. The arrangements for the new library room are also nearly completed, with the exception of the painting and gilding. The galleries, piers, alcoves, columns, doors, stairways, shelving, ceiling, consoles, and indeed all of the new fixtures, are of iron. The trusses of the roof are also of

iron, covered with copper; so that no, combustible material is used in any part of it. The plan of this work was designed, and the drawings and specifications in detail were prepared, by Mr. Thomas U. Walter, the architect of the extension of the Capitol, and the execution of them was intrusted to Messrs. Beebe & Co., of New York. When completed, it will present the first specimen of a room constructed entirely of iron, and I think I may add that, for convenience and beauty of arrangement, it will be without a rival. The workmanship is of the most admirable quality; and when we look at it as it now stands, and reflect that it consists of more than ten thousand separate pieces, of an aggregate weight of four hundred tons, and that it was planned in Washington and executed in New York, more than two hundred miles from the hall in which it was to be placed; and when we see that every part of it fits together with the precision of cabinet work, we are at a loss whether to ascribe most honor and praise to the genius and taste of the architect who conceived and marked out the design, or to the skill and fidelity of the contractors who performed the work.

The damage done to the outside of the western front of the Capitol by the fire of December, 1851, which was more extensive than was at first supposed, has been repaired, and the building rendered as permanent and free from blemish as before the accident occurred.

HOUSES FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT AND CABINET.

Before closing this my last annual report, I feel impelled by a sense of public duty to invite your attention to another subject, to which, under different circumstances, I would not have alluded.

I refer to the propriety of an appropriation by Congress of a sum sufficient to erect and furnish suitable houses for the accommodation of the Vice President of the United States and the members of the Cabinet. At the time our Government went into operation and the salaries of those officers were fixed by law, they were adequate for their comfortable support. But in consequence of the great increase of the supply of the precious metals and the expansion of the currency by means of banks, the relative value of money has been so much reduced that six thousand dollars now is not worth much more than three thousand was at that time. The cost of house-rent, provisions, fuel, and indeed of all the necessaries of life in Washington, has risen to such a degree as to require the most rigid economy to enable the members of the Cabinet and the Vice President to live within their incomes. As far as my observation has extended, few, if any of them, have been able to do so. This evil is increasing every year, and if measures are not adopted to arrest it, the day is not far distant when men of moderate means, but in all respects fitted to serve the public in high and responsible places, will be deterred from accepting them by the heavy pecuniary loss to which they must inevitably be subjected. I am far from wishing to see extravagant salaries paid to public officers. But I think the laborer is worthy of his hire; and I am sure the American people would not desire to see the public functionaries impoverished in their service. They are willing that they shall receive such compensation as will enable them to live in a style becoming their position, without invading their private resources. The high offices of the country should be open to the poor as well as the rich; but the practical effect of the present rate of compensation will soon be to exclude from the Executive councils all who have not ample resources independently of their official salaries.

After much reflection, I have come to the conclusion that the best means of remedying the evil will be to erect suitable houses for the Vice President and the members of the Cabinet, and provide them with the necessary furniture, fuel, and lights. There are many reasons which might be urged in favor of this measure; but it will answer my purpose barely to allude to a few of them.

Report of the Postmaster General.

Upon every change of Administration, or in cases of the death or resignation of members of the Cabinet, their successors, often from remote parts of the country, find themselves embarrassed in obtaining, even at an exorbitant price, a suitable residence for themselves and their families. They are then compelled to expend at least one year's salary in furnishing their establishment, and are consequently obliged to draw upon their private resources for the means of subsistence. Much of their time and attention is occupied by these domestic concerns, which might be more profitably devoted to the public interests. At the close of their terms they are forced to dispose of their household effects at a ruinous sacrifice, and return to their homes impoverished in fortune, and with the ungracious reflection that while they have devoted their time and talents to the public service, their country has refused them even the means of support.

It may be said in reply that there is no obligation on any one to accept these positions; and if they do so, they must abide by the consequences of their own acts. In one sense this is true. There is no legal obligation on any one to accept an official position. But there is a high moral and patriotic obligation on every citizen to contribute his service to his country when it may be required, and there is a reciprocal obligation on the country not to allow him to suffer in his private fortune by that service.

By furnishing the heads of Departments and Vice President with houses, their present salaries will be adequate for their support. They will be freed from the cares and cost of fitting up an establishment for a mere temporary use, and be enabled to devote their whole time to the duties of their offices. They will be placed in a condition of comparative independence, by being relieved from the prospect of a heavy sacrifice by the sale of their effects upon the termination of their official connection with the Government. The heads of Department, instead of being scattered over the city, will be brought nearer to each other and to the President, and be enabled to confer together without inconvenience. And at the close of their terms they will leave the seat of Government with the knowledge that if they have not added to, they have at least not been obliged to substract from their private resources.

From estimates which I have caused to be made, I am satisfied that lots could be bought, and eight substantial, plain, and tasteful houses erected, furnished, and fitted up for occupation, for the sum of $300,000. And as the near approach of the close of my own official term relieves me from all suspicion of being influenced by personal or party considerations in presenting the subject to your notice, I earnestly recommend it to your favorable regard.

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

In former reports I have earnestly invited your attention to the interests of the District of Columbia, and endeavored to explain the peculiar claims which it has to the fostering care of Congress. Without repeating the reasons heretofore urged, I beg leave again to present the subject to your favorable notice, and to specify some of the particular objects in regard to which legislation is required.

The introduction of an ample supply of pure water into the city of Washington and Georgetown is a measure of great public interest. At the last session of Congress an appropriation was made to defray the cost of the necessary surveys, &c., to determine the best mode of accomplishing this object. An officer of the Engineer Corps was detailed for this duty, and some progress has already been made in the work, but not enough to enable me to express an opinion as to the plan which should be adopted. A full report will, however, be made and submitted to Congress in time for its action during the approaching session; and I hope the necessary appropriations will be made to commence the work without delay. If additional arguments to those heretofore submitted were deemed necessary, I might refer to the recent conflagration in the Library of the Capitol as an emphatic admonition of the insecurity of the public buildings and archives in the absence of a copious supply of water.

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

I deem it my duty also to call your attention to the urgent necessity which exists for the erection of suitable bridges across the Potomac to supply the place of those which were destroyed by the floods in the early part of the present year.

The interruption of the travel and commercial intercourse with the opposite side of the river has proved a serious evil to the residents of the Listrict and public generally. And during the winter, when navigation may be obstructed by ice, the inconvenience will be greatly augmented. I there. fore recommend that an appropriation be asked for to make the necessary surveys and prepare suitable plans and estimates for the construction of one or more permanent bridges, which may be adapted not only for the accommodation of the ordinary travel and trade, but also for the safe and convenient passage of railway trains. The rapid extension of the system of railways throughout the whole country forbids the idea that the intercourse by mail between the North and the South should continue longer to be delayed and interrupted as it has hitherto been, at particular seasons of the year, by the difficulty of crossing the Potomac.

The Commissioner of Public Lands, in his report, has suggested the propriety of a grant br Congress of a portion of the public lands in aid of public schools in the District of Columbia. This proposition commands my cordial approbetion; and I would be happy to see it adopted, with an amendment extending its benefits to the charitable institutions of the District. The popu lation of the District is composed of citizens of every State in this Union. This fact creates a general interest in its prosperity and welfare; and I know of no disposition of a portion of the pubuc domain which would be more strictly in accord ance with the spirit of the trusts reposed in Congress, or more useful in itself, than an appropria tion of a reasonable portion to instruct the ignorant, reform the vicious, and relieve the distressed inhabitants of the metropolis of the nation.

In former reports I have brought to your notice many other subjects which I regarded as of pubar interest. Among these were the establishment of an Agricultural and Statistical Bureau; a revision of the laws relating to the fees of marshals, attor neys, and clerks of the circuit and district cours of the United States; an increase of the salaries of the judges of the district courts of the United States; the enlargement of the functions of the Attorney General, so as to make him the head of the department of justice; and the transfer to that department of all matters connected with the admiristration of justice; the construction of a national! highway through our own territory to the Pacific; the more precise definition of the duties of the sev eral executive departments; and that provision be made for the appointment of a Solicitor to the Department of the Interior.

On all these subjects my opinions remain unchanged, and, without repeating the reasons by which they were sustained, I beg leave again to commend them to your favorable consideration. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ALEX. H. H. STUART, Secretary. TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Report of the Postmaster General. POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, December 4, 1852.

SIR: In discharge of a duty devolving on me, !; have the honor to report that the whole number of post offices in the United States, at the close of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1852, was 20,901. The I number of postmasters appointed during that year was 6,255. Of these, 3,726 were appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by resignation; 255 to fill vacancies occasioned by death; 246 on changing the sites of offices; 309 on the removal of prior incumbents; and 1,719 on the establishment of new offices. There were 1,719 post offices established, and 614 discontinued during the year,

From the end of the fiscal year to November 1, 1852, 526 post offices have been established, and 236 discontinued, so that the whole number in operation at the latter date was 21,191. At its close there were in operation in the United States 6,711 mail routes; their aggregate length being

32D CONG....2D Sess.

214,234 miles, and employing 5,206 contractors. The annual transportation of the mails on these routes was 58,985,728 miles, at an annual cost of $3,939,971, being about 6 7-10 cents per mile. Of these 58,985,728 miles of annual transportation, 11,082,768 miles were required to be performed on railroads, at a cost of $1,275,520, being about 11 cents per mile; 6,353,409 miles in steamboats, at a cost of $505,815, being about 8 cents per mile; 20,698,930 miles in coaches, at a cost of $1,128,986, being about 5 cents per mile; and 20,850,621 miles in modes not specified, at a cost of $1,029,650, being about 4 9-10 cents per mile.

The inland service when compared with such service at the close of the preceding year, as stated in the last annual report from this Department, shows an increase of 17,994 miles in the length of mail routes; of 5,713,476 in the miles of annual transportation; and of $518,217 in the annual cost of transportation. Of such increase of transportation the railroad service amounts to 2,514,061 miles, at an increased cost of $290,501 being an increase of about 29 per cent. both in the service and in its aggregate cost; the steamboat service to 898,427 miles, at an increased cost of $50,923, being an increase of about 16 per cent. in service and 11 per cent. in cost; the coach service to 972,342 miles, at an increased cost of $81,827, being an increase of about 5 per cent. in service and 8 per cent. in the aggregate cost; and in modes of service not specified to 1,328,646 miles, at an increased cost of $94,967, being an increase of about 7 per cent. in service and 10 per cent. in cost.

Compared with the transportation and its cost at the close of the fiscal year ended 30th June, 1842, it shows that the railroad and steamboat service had increased in the ten years 13,011,915 miles, at an increased cost of $1,131,654, being about 294 per cent. increase in service and 174 per cent. on -cost; the coach service 1,931,894 miles, at a decreased cost of $571,524, being about 10 per cent. increase in service and 33 per cent. decrease in cost; the service in modes not specified 9,205,928 miles, at an increased cost of $292,045, being about 79 per cent. increase in service and 40 per cent. in cost.

It may be proper in this connection to remark, that the actual increase in coach service performed is greater, and that of service performed on horseback or in other modes not specified is less, than above stated, for the reason that since the act of 1845, much coach service is performed under contracts not specifically requiring that grade of service; but only that the mails be carried with due "celerity, certainty, and security." The service under such contracts is now reported as in modes not specified, although coach service is performed under them for a larger portion of or the entire year.

There were in operation on the 30th day of June last six foreign mail routes, of the estimated aggregate length of 18,349 miles; the number of miles of annual transportation thereon is estimated at 652,406. The service on three of those routes is under contract with this Department; the annual transportation thereon is estimated at 200,592 miles, at a cost of $400,000, being about $1.99 per mile. The service on the other three routes is under contract with the Navy Department; the annual transportation thereon is estimated at 458,934 miles, at an annual cost of $1,496,250 (including the additional compensation voted to the Collins line at the last session of Congress,) being $3 26 per mile.

The annual cost of conveying the mails across the Isthmus of Panama is uncertain, as it depends on their weight; the cost for the last year, at twenty-two cents per pound-the price paid-was $48,039. It is estimated that for a large portion of the contents of these mails (being printed matter) the amount received in postages under the act of August 31st, 1852, does not exceed five cents a pound in payment of the whole transportation from the point of mailing to that of delivery. As that act did not go into effect until the 30th of September last, no reliable estimate can now be made of the increased cost of mail service across the Isthmus under its operation, but there can be no doubt that such increase will be large. The temporary arrangement for this service, which went into effect on the 1st of December last with the Panama Railroad Company, is still in force, and is found to be a great improvement on the previous arrangement,

Report of the Postmaster General.

though not yet entirely satisfactory. The completion of the railroad is looked forward to as the remedy for most of the existing delays and defects in the service between New York and San Francisco.

Under the general head of " transportation of the mails" is chargeable the compensation of route and local agents and mail messengers. The amount payable on this account at the close of the last fiscal year was $196,936 per annum.

The extent and annual cost of the entire mail service under the control of this Department at the close of the fiscal year ended on the 30th June last, as well as its division among the States and Territories, and the mode of its performance required by the then existing contracts, will more fully appear by the annexed table, furnished by the Second Assistant Postmaster General, and marked A.

As the railroad service is daily becoming more important and expensive, a table showing the extent and annual cost of that service in each of the States, as in operation on the 30th day of June in each year, from 1848 to 1852, inclusive, has been prepared, and is hereto annexed, marked B.

Our ocean steamer service commenced in June, 1847. Its great and rapid increase is shown by the following tabular statement of its cost for each fiscal year, as follows:

The cost of this service for 1848 was....

for 1849 was...........
for 1850 was.......
for 1851 was....
for 1852 was...

...

$100,500

474,710 721,570 1,023,250 1,896,250

The gross receipts of the Department for the year ending June 30th, 1852, were $6,925,971.28, derived from the following sources, viz: Letter postage, including foreign postage and stamps sold...

Postage on newspapers, periodicals, &c..
Fines, other than those imposed on contract-

ors....

Receipts on account of excess of emoluments of postmasters..

Damages collected from failing contractors.. Receipts on account of dead letters... Receipts from letter-carriers..

Stamps in hands of postmasters 30th June, 1851, being such as remained of the old issue, and which were charged to them on that day.

Miscellaneous receipts....

From appropriation authorized by the twelfth section of the act of 3d March, 1847, viz: from 3d March, 1847, to 30th June, 1852.... From appropriation authorized by eighth section of the act of March, 1851... From appropriation for census mails authorized by seventeenth section of the act of 23d May, 1850.......

From this sum must be deducted the amount payable to the British Post Office under the postal convention of December, 1848, as now estimated from statement of the Auditor...

.$4,226,792 90 789,246 36 27 50

38,478 24

5,213 30

8,265 12

104,355 92

8,849 61 3,297 89

SENATE & Ho. of Reps.

In the mean time the appropriations made from the Treasury in aid of the Post Office Establishment may be deemed safe and beneficent investments for the advantage of the whole people, each one of whom, if not engaged in business correspondence, has a deep interest in the diffusion of intelligence and the promotion of social inter

course.

By the 8th section of the act of 31st August, 1852, the Postmaster General is authorized to provide and furnish to all postmasters and other persons applying and paying therefor, letter-envelopes with one or more postage stamps impressed thereon, to be used in the prepayment of postage. These envelopes are now in course of preparation, and will soon be for sale at the principal post offices.

As letters inclosed in them may be legally sent by private express or other private conveyance, there will remain no color of excuse for further violations of the laws in that respect. That the experiment of cheap postage may be fairly tried, it is important that the revenues of the Department be protected against this abuse, not only by the vigilance of its own agents, to whom the law has intrusted the power to search for and seize such letters, but also by public sentiment and by the active exertions of the intelligent and influential portion of the community. It is by thus securing to this Department the receipts which the law has assigned for its support that the period can be hastened when it will again be sustained by its own proper revenues, and the common Treasury of the country relieved from further advances for its service.

The expenditures of the Department during the last fiscal year were as follows: For the transportation of the mails.....

Ship, steamboat, and way letters......
Compensation to postinasters.....
Extra compensation to do., under act of
3d March, 1851..
Wrapping paper..

Office furniture...

Advertising..

Mail-bags.

Blanks..

..........

Mail locks and keys and stamps..

New mail locks and keys.

Mail depredations and special agents.. Clerks for offices, (offices of postmasters) Publishing post office laws and regula

$4,225,311 28 24,587 94 1,296,765 50

456,594 84

41,046 12

7,890 77

63,157 12

41,946 50

53.861 83

11,984 64

18,756 97

35,197 82

548,916 71

2,900 00

82 61

9,920 03

1,065,555 55

101,988 59

The receipts from postage, American and foreign, for the last fiscal year were less by $1,388,334 43 than for the preceding fiscal year, being a decrease of about 22 per cent. If the estimated balances accruing to the British post office for each year are excluded for the purpose of showing the decrease of our own postages, that decrease will amount to $1,431,696 54, or about 22 per cent.

This diminution in our postages is attributable to the reduction in the rates of postage made by the act of March 3d, 1851, which reduction took effect at the commencement of the last fiscal year.

This diminution of revenue is somewhat greater than was anticipated in this Department at the time it went into effect, and much greater than was expected by the sanguine advocates of cheap postage, many of whom sought the establishment of still lower rates.

Although the act referred to has not in its operation during the last year fulfilled the predictions of its friends by increasing the correspondence of the country in proportion to its reduction of postage, I should nevertheless question the expediency of a return to higher rates. All experience warrants the expectation that, as the community becomes accustomed to cheap postage, written correspondence will increase. From this cause, and from the rapid growth of the country in population and business, the receipts of the Department must ultimately exceed its expenses, and enable it to refund to the Treasury the sums advanced.

tions.....

Repayment of money found in dead letters. Postage stamps..

The new contracts for the middle section, made under the letting in February last, embracing the States of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, increased the annual transportation in those States, from the first day of July last, 310,959 miles, at an increased annual cost of $148,705 over the transportation and cost under the contracts which expired on the 30th day of June, 1852, being an increase of about 3 per cent. in service and 21 per cent. in annual cost.

The expenditures for the present fiscal year are estimated as follows:

148,705 00

93,584 98

The annual cost of transportation, (foreign and inland,) as authorized and under contract at the close of the last fiscal year. . . . . . ..$4,584,946 00 Additional cost in the middle section, under new contracts which went into effect July 1st, 1852.. Increased cost of transportation, under order of the Postmaster General, for the improvement and extension of mail service, and the increased expedition of the mails.. Probable cost of putting into operation for the residue of the fiscal year such new routes established during the last session of Congress as should be put in operation before 1st July next........... Expenses, under the heads of compensation to postmasters, wrapping paper, office furniture, advertising, mail-bags, blanks, mail locks and keys, stamps, mail depredations and special agents, clerks for offices of postmasters, and miscellaneous items, being the expenses of last year and twelve and a half per cent. added; such expenses necessarily increasing with the extension of mail service, and the increase in the number of post

650,000 00

To meet these expenditures of the Department for the present fiscal year, it has, under existing laws, resources which it is estimated will produce the following sums, to wit:

1st. The available balance at the credit of the revenues of the Department on the 1st day of July last, stated by the Auditor to be................. $566,632 57

2d. Receipts from postage, (foreign and inland,) deducting estimated balances due to foreign Governments.

5,651,158 26

3d. Annual appropriation made by the 12th section of the act of 3d March, 1847, in compensation for mail service performed for the various departments of the Government... 200,000 00 4th. Annual appropriations made by the 8th ~ section of the act of 3d March, 1851, in further payment and compensation for mail service performed for the two Houses of Congrs and other departments and offices of Governinent in the transportation of free matter".. 5th. Contingent appropriation made by the 9th section of the act of the 3d of March, 1851.

500,000 00

500,000 00 $7,417,790 83

The above aggregate deducted from the estimated amount of expenses for the current year, leaves a deficit of $1,327,986 37 to be provided for by direct appropriation from the Treasury.

A further and larger appropriation will probably be necessary to meet the deficiency in the revenue of the fiscal year commencing on the first of July next. An estimate of this deficiency, and of that of the current fiscal year, as here set forth, will be submitted to Congress.

The negotiations for increased expedition on the great mail line between New York and New Orleans, which were in progress at the date of the last annual report from this Department, were brought to a favorable conclusion in time to commence the improved service on the first of March last. By this arrangement the time required for the regular transportation of the mail from New York to New Orleans was reduced twenty-four hours, and from New Orleans to New York thirtyeight hours. Additional trains were so arranged on different parts of the route as to render failures of connection less frequent, and shorten the delay from twenty-four to twelve hours, in cases where the connection was unavoidably broken. Certainty and celerity on this line cannot be relied on while the service on an important link in the chain of routes composing it is performed in steamers, on the stormy and unsheltered coast between Wilmington and Charleston.

The completion of the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad during the next year will, it is believed, enable the Department to avoid this uncertain portion of the present line.

The service between New York and Washington, though much improved by the arrangements referred to, is still defective and unsatisfactory. The endeavors of this Department to improve this service have been rendered abortive by a want of unity among the railroad companies interested in the fine, and a spirit of accommodation on the part of the companies running between Philadelphia and New York.

There being no competing lines or modes of conveyance by which this Department can secure connections and otherwise facilitate the transportation of the mails between Washington and New York, it is compelled to accept such independent service as each company on the line will consent to render, and is thus made powerless to enforce the demands of the public. I would respectfully suggest that if Congress, in the exercise of its power over the establishment of post roads, can remedy this evil, the subject is worthy of the early attention of that body.

A new compilation of laws relating to this Department, and of amended regulations adopted for enforcing them, for the guidance of its officers and the conduct of its business, was in course of preparation at the date of the last annual report from this Department. It has since been perfected, and published by my predecessor, and distributed to the several postmasters, and copies sent to the members of both Houses of Congress.

Report of the Postmaster General.

It appears from the report of the Auditor for this Department, hereto annexed, that the whole amount of postages, inland, sea, and foreign, on letters and other mailable matter received and sent by the several lines of United States steamers, during the last fiscal year, was as follows, viz:

By Collins line, New York and Liverpool.....$228,867 61
By New York and Bremen line, touching at
Southampton, England...
77,219 87

By New York and Havre line, touching at
Cowes.....
By Charleston and Havana line.

80,801 08 11,958 99

Annual cost railroad service.....

Congress having, by the 2d section of an act approved 21st August, 1852, authorized the Post

master General, upon certain conditions, to enter into contract for the transportation of the mail by steamers plying between Boston and Halifax, a postal arrangement is now in process of completion with the Province of Nova Scotia, by which the postage on this route will be the same as is now paid by the way of New Brunswick.

Total..

Miles of steamboat service.. Miles of railroad service...

$262,019 $278, 650 8313,90 584,192 635,740 818.3 $46,211 $914,390 $1,132.12

Annual cost of steamboat service... Annual cost of railroad service.. Total.......

By the third section of the act approved Augus 31, 1852, making appropriations for the service of this Department, it is provided that the salaries of all route-agents be increased to one thousand dol lars per annum.

The effect of this provision is to give the same compensation to each one of these agents, without reference to the amount of service rendered by them respectively, and it takes from the Postmaster General the power of adjusting their pay a cording to the labor and responsibility of the service performed by them. It operates unequally, and, with the present amount of railroad service, has increased the cost of transporting the mails more than $50,000. I respectfully recommend the repeal of this provision, and that the Postmaster General be authorized to graduate these salaries according to the service performed.

The contractor on the route from Salt Lake City to Sacramento, in California, never having per formed efficient service on that route, this Depart

In pursuance of the requirements of an act approved August 30, 1852, advertisements have been published for proposals for mail service by ocean steamers between New Orleans and Vera Cruz via Tampico, embracing also (for the purpose of obtaining information) an extension of the servicement has entered into an arrangement with another to Acapulco, and thence to San Francisco. These proposals are to be opened, and a decision made on such portions of them as are authorized by said act, (that is, for service from New Orleans to Vera Cruz,) on the 3d of January next. The Depart

ment will of course await the directions of Congress after the information is obtained as to the remainder of the route.

By the 11th section of an act approved August 31, 1852, provision is made for daily mail service, by suitable and safe steamers, between Louisville and Cairo, St. Louis and Cairo, Cairo and Memphis, and Memphis and New Orleans.

It is deemed important not only to the cities enumerated, and to the intermediate places on the rivers to be covered by this service, but due also to the great and increasing West that these lines should be so established as fully to secure the object contemplated, to wit, a certain, regular, safe, and reliable daily service on these several routes.

contractor, who binds himself not only to perform the service as originally required, but also to establish and maintain a fortified post or station at Carson's Valley, which will, it is expected, increase the security of the mails, and afford protection to the numerous emigrant trains on their journey to California.

Since the last annual report from this Department the Collins line of steamers has continued its service between New York and Liverpool, according to an arrangement then existing, by which weekly trips in American steamers were secured between these two countries. The ships of this line have preserved their early reputation for unrivaled speed and sea-worthiness. Their depar tures have been punctual, and they have performed their voyages with great regularity. The company has kept a spare ship in port ready to replace any one which might be temporarily disabled or withdrawn for repairs, and has in other respects manifested a disposition to perform the service in a creditable manner.

By the act of August 31, 1852, this Department was authorized to make an arrangement with the Ocean Steam Navigation Company for one additional trip on the Havre line, and one additional trip on the Bremen line, until the expiration of their existing contract, and also in its discretion to negotiate for the change of the Havre line from Havre to Antwerp. Owing, as is stated by the

The relative position of the western section of our Union, its present importance, and prospective greatness, alike demand that its people should be provided with the best postal facilities that the Department can supply. To accomplish this, it has sought information from various sources as to the requirements of the service, and will soon advertise for such as will, it is believed, fully carry into effect the intention of the act, and meet the just demands of that interesting section of our country. With the last annual report from this Depart-proprietors of those lines, to the inadequacy of the ment were published interesting tabular statements of the extent and increase of its business at the several periods of five years from 1790 to 1835, inclusive, and for each year from 1840 to 1851, inclusive. The extent and cost of steamboat and railroad service were not separately given in those statements, nor have they been so contained in any published report from the Department prior to 1848. Since that time, however, in the annual exhibit from the Contract Office of the mail service in operation at the close of each fiscal year, the two kinds of service have been separated. As the annual increase of both kinds in extent and cost strikingly illustrates the steady and rapid growth of our country, I submit the following

remuneration received for their present service, they are unwilling to extend it, either by increas ing the number of their trips, or adding to the length of their voyages. They complain that while the Collins line receives $33,000 a trip, the Havre line receives only $12,500, and the Bremen line only $16,666, for service, in the latter case, more arduous in its nature, and over a longer route. They ask that such remuneration may be given them as will justify their increasing the number of their ships, and thus enable them not only to meet the requirements of the service by changing the terminus of their route from Havre to Antwerp, but also perform such additional trips as may be desired.

32D CONG.....2D SESS.

As an inducement for this increase of pay, they show that in addition to their having performed their mail service as efficiently as could be expected with the limited means allowed them, the exports from Germany to this country have increased since they commenced running from $3,000,000 to $10,000,000; that the number of emigrants is increasing, and the gross sum which they at present bring to this country amounts to $15,000,000 annually. It was for this object-for the purpose of extending our intercourse and increasing our mercantile relations with Germany-that this line was established. The results have equaled the expectations of its friends, and it now remains for Congress to decide whether the necessary aid shall be extended, or whether we shall abandon to the English the profits of our increasing trade with the advantages that flow from it.

Semi-monthly ocean service, as last reported from this Department, was continued between New York and California and Oregon until July last, when, under authority of a provision contained in the naval appropriation act of March 3d, 1851, the running of the mail steamers on the New York, Havana, New Orleans, and Chagres lines was rearranged, so as to afford a more direct dispatch of the mails to and from the Pacific. This service is now divided into three distinct lines, viz: from New York and New Orleans to Aspinwall, both direct; and from New York by Havana to New Orleans. This change is made with the assent of the Secretary of the Navy, on the application of the contractors, and with the understanding that the Government is not responsible for any additional expense involved in it. The former arrangement may be restored at the desire of either party on one month's notice.

The convention between this Department and the Post Office Department of Prussia, which at the date of the last annual report from the Postmaster General remained unexecuted, has since been concluded, and went into operation in October last. This convention provides for a closed mail to be dispatched in each direction between the United States and Prussia regularly twice a week, via London and Ostend. New York and Boston are the offices of exchange on the part of the United States, and Aix-la-Chapelle is the corresponding office of exchange on the part of Prussia.

By this convention a uniform postage rate of thirty cents-prepayment of which is optional in either country-is established for all letters not exceeding half an ounce in weight between the two countries. Six cents is the rate established for each newspaper, to be prepaid. This convention also provides for the transmission of mails, not only through Germany, but also through the United States to countries beyond, and has induced this Department to discontinue the closed mail to Bremen. It is estimated that the countries (including the German Austrian Postal Union) which are thus brought into postal communication with the United States, embrace a population of seventy millions.

As a necessary consequence of our convention with Prussia, the larger part of the continental correspondence which formerly went by the way of Bremen is now sent via London, Ostend, and Aix-la-Chapelle, the latter being the more expeditious route. The mails for Bremen, however, and such as may be addressed via Bremen to other German States, and countries beyond, will continue to be dispatched monthly by the New York and Bremen line.

A projet of a postal convention between the United States and Belgium has been prepared and submitted by this Department for approval to the Belgian Government, and it is confidently expected that in the course of a few months at furthest an arrangement which shall be mutually advantageous will be duly sanctioned and put in operation.

Our postal convention with Great Britain has not yet been so modified as to admit of the exchange of a closed mail with France via England; the British Government, with reference to such mail, still insisting on a transit postage of twentyfour cents an ounce.

France has manifested a disposition for improved mail facilities with this country, and has made proposals for a postal treaty with the United

Report of the Postmaster General.

States, to operate independently of our treaty with Great Britain. How far the negotiations on this subject have progressed I am not at present prepared to state. It is hoped, however, that they may be conducted to a favorable issue at an early day. Connected with this project, France proposes, in conjunction with the United States, to establish a union line of mail steamships direct between New York and Havre.

Under our postal treaty with Great Britain additional articles have been agreed upon, and are ready for signature, providing for a regular mail arrangement between the United States and the West Indies generally, and points on the coast of Mexico and northern coast of South America, at which the British mail packets touch. To the British West Indies the United States single rate of letter postage, which must be prepaid on letters sent from and collected on letters received in the United States, will be ten cents, where the distance from the mailing office is under 2,500 miles, and twenty cents where the distance exceeds 2,500 miles. To the West Indies, (not British,) Mexico and South America, by this channel, the British postage of twenty-four cents the single rate, also required to be prepaid, must be added to the ten or twenty cents United States rate, according to distance as above. This arrangement it is expected will go into effect without delay.

In accordance with the wishes of the Hawaiian Government, arrangements have been made by which letters for the Sandwich Islands are dispatched_in_sealed packets by each mail steamer from New York, and conveyed through to Hcnolulu without being opened. On all letters and newspapers for these Islands, however, as well as to China, by this route, it is required that the United States postage to San Francisco be prepaid.

The act of March 3, 1851, "to reduce and modify the rates of postage in the United States and for other purposes," authorized the Postmaster General to allow increased commissions to postmasters whose labors had been increased and their commissions reduced by the operation of that act. The maximum allowance thus authorized was twenty per cent. added to the amount of commissions received for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1851.

In the exercise of the authority thus granted, the late Postmaster General issued an order on the 29th of October, 1851, allowing increased commissions to all postmasters entitled thereto, varying from ten to twenty per cent., according to the gross receipts of their offices. This order applied to the settlement of the accounts for the fiscal year 1852, and reserved the rate of allowance to be made thereafter "for future consideration, after accounts for the first three quarters of that year should have been adjusted by the Auditor." When the result of this adjustment was reported to him, the late Postmaster General issued the following order, which is now in force:

POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, August 7, 1852. The Postmaster General being satisfied that the labors of postmasters, have been so increased with the increasing business of the country, and by the operations of the act "to reduce and modify the rates of postage in the United States, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1851, that the highest additional allowance of commissions authorized by the sixth section of that act will not afford them more than a reasonable compensation for such increased labors, it is

Ordered, That (with the restrictions and limitations hereinafter meutioned) the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department, in settling the accounts of postmasters for the fiscal year ending 30th of June, 1853, and for each succeeding year until otherwise ordered, shall, upon satisfactory proof being furnished him by affidavit, or otherwise, that the labors of any postmaster have been increased, and his commissions reduced, as provided for by said act, allow and credit such postmaster the same amount of commissions allowed at his office for the fiscal year ended the 30th of June, 1851, with twenty per cent. thereon added thereto. Provided, however, That the commissions to be allowed at any post office (other than a distributing office) shall not exceed the postages collected at such office during the period for which such allowance is made: And provided further, That there shall not be allowed at any office where the compensation of the postmaster is by law limited to a fixed annual salary, or compensation, any greater sum than shall be required to pay such salary or compensation, and the actual and necessary expenses of his office.

N. K. HALL, Postmaster General.

It will be perceived that this order makes it necessary, in the settlement of each postmaster's quarterly account, to compare the current business of his office with that of the corresponding quarter of the year 1851, and that his commission account for each quarter must remain unsettled until the

SENATE & Ho. or REPS.

end of the year, that the aggregate commissions accruing may be compared with the commissions allowed for that year. The effect of this in delaying and embarrassing the settlement of accounts in the Auditor's office, and increasing the labor of such settlement, is fully shown in the following letter from the Auditor, who recommends a repeal of the provision requiring this mode of settlement, and a return to the old system of uniform rates of commission on the amount of postages collected. I concur in his recommendation, both as to the repeal of the existing law, and the rates of commission to be allowed:

AUDITOR'S OFFICE, P. O. D., November 19, 1852. SIR: It is found in practice that the acts of Congress respecting the allowance of additional commissions to postmasters are extremely inconvenient and burdensome to this office. The sixth section of the act entitled "An act to reduce and modify the rates of postage," &c., approved March 3, 1851, provides, "That to any postmaster whose commissions may be reduced below the amount allowed at his office for the year ending the 30th of June, 1851, and whose labors may be increased, the Postmaster General shall be authorized in his discretion to allow such additional commissions as he may deem just and proper; provided that the whole amount of commissions allowed, such post. master during any fiscal year shall not exceed by more than twenty per centum the amount of commissions at such office for the year ending the 30th day of June, 1851."

And the ninth section of the act entitled “An act to estab lish certain post roads, and for other purposes,” approved August 31st, 1852, provides, that the Auditor of the Treas. ury for the Post Office Department may, under such reg. ulations and restrictions as the Postmaster General may prescribe, allow to every postmaster whose office was not established until after the 1st day of July, 1850, or whose commissions, in consequence of the increase of labor and business of his office, shall have equaled or exceeded the commissions allowed at such office for the year ending on the 30th day of June, 1851, such compensation in addition to his legal commissions as will, in the judgment of such Auditor, make the compensation of such postmaster equal, as near as may be, to the compensation of other postmasters in the same section of the country whose labors are the same as his, and who are entitled to additional allowance under the sixth section of the act entitled 'An act to reduce and modify the rates of postage in the United States, and for other purposes,' approved March 3, 1851, and under orders of the Postmaster General, made in pursuance of the provisions of the said sixth section of the act aforesaid."

To entitle a postmaster to additional commissions under these laws, it must satisfactorily appear, first, that by their enactment and operation the labors of his office have been increased, and that his commissions have been reduced below the amount allowed for the fiscal year that ended on the 30th of June, 1851; or, secondly, that his "office was not established until after the 1st day of July, 1850." &c. If these facts are sufficiently shown, additional commission at different rates is, according to the present practice, allowed as follows:

1. Where the commissions of the postmaster for the year ending June 30, 1851, did not exceed $50, the same amount of commissions which was allowed for that year, with twenty per cent, added thereto, is allowed him.

2. Where they exceeded $50, but did not exceed $100.[the same amount with fifteen per cent, added thereto is allowed. 3. Where they exceeded $100, but not $500, the same amount with twelve and a half per cent. added thereto, is allowed.

4. Where they exceeded $500, the same amount, with ten per cent. added thereto, is allowed; but the commissions allowed to any postmaster (other than at a distributing office) are not permitted to exceed the postages collected at his office during the period for which the allowance is made. 5. Where the office was not established until after the 1st day of July, 1850, &c., such compensation, in addition to his legal commissions, is allowed the postmaster as will make his compensation equal, as near as may be, to the compensation of other postmasters in the same section of the country, &c.

These various contingencies and conditions cannot be determined until the accounts for an entire fiscal year are adjusted. Commissions are therefore computed by postmasters, in their quarterly accounts, mainly according to the old rates of allowance. And the adjustment of additional commissions has become, as it were, a separate business, superadded to the adjustment of quarterly accounts, and is devolved exclusively upon this office. First, it audits and adjusts the quarterly accounts of some twenty thousand postmasters, and then, as the additional commissions are dependent for their allowance upon no uniform rule, operating equally and applicable alike to all postmasters, but upon the facts of each particular case; it has, at the end of a fiscal year, to reëxamine those twenty thousand accounts to see which of them are entitled, and in what proportions, to said additional compensation. Postinasters, ineanwhile, not knowing what additional allowances may be made them, are unable to determine how much they owe the Department at the end of each quarter and at the close of the. year. Their accounts and the post office accounts necessarily disagree; and by consequence some pay too much, others not enough, and others, again, excuse themselves from any payment.

Furthermore, these disagreements produce confusion and · perplexity in settlements, retard collections, and require, in explanation and removal of the difficulties they create, a correspondence beyond the ability of this officer to conduct with requisite pronipiness; and although the most strenuous exertions are made, with an insufficient force, to meet and respond to the additional demands thus made upon the, office, postmasters complain, and with apparent reason, that their letters are not duly answered.

32D Cong....2n Sess.

Another evil is, that the additional labor thus thrown upon the office has interrupted and retarded its current and general business to a degree that calls for immediate relief, and I have no hesitation in saying that it is impracticable to continue to adjust commissions in the manner at present required to comply with the law. The only effectual remedy for these evils is the adoption of the old system of uniform rates of percentage upon the proceeds of offices, depending on no condition or discretion; and I would respectfully suggest the following as a scale of rates that should be adopted and tried, viz:

Say, for an office collecting postage to the amount

of.....

Allow on $100, 50 per cent. commission...$50.00

2,000, 33% 600, 121⁄2 do

The present rates are as follows:

$3,000 00

300, 40 do

do

7,073,548

.20,000,000

On 609, 12%

do

.do

75.00

815 00

Number of letters conveyed by Cunard line of European steamers.....

96 66

Do. Do.

do.

do.

do......by Collins line.... do......by Bremen line... do......by Havre line...

Difference..............

I also think that a postmaster should be entitled to a small compensation, say to the amount of 2 mills (or about 2} cents per quarter for a weekly paper) for delivering from his office to a subscriber each newspaper not now chargeable with postage.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient J. W. FARRELLY, Auditor. servant, Hon. S. D. HUBBARD, Postmaster General.

The attention of Congress should, I think, be called to the fact, that although the 6th and 7th sections of the act of 3d March, 1851, before referred to, provide that neither the compensation of postmasters nor the ordinary extension of mail service should be diminished in consequence of any diminution of the revenues resulting from that act, no provision was made for the protection of the rights and interests of a large class of persons employed as contractors on special routes, and as mail messengers, whose compensation depends upon the amount received from postages at the offices supplied by them.

There are not less than twenty-five hundred persons employed in carrying the mail for the net proceeds of the offices supplied-limited, however, in every case to a certain sum equal to that paid for similar service on public routes in the same section.

printed matter chargeable with postage........87,710.490 Number of exchange newspapers...

2,758.096 963,692 354,470 345,287 ..$794,440 58 ..$468,615 98 Do. do in Great Britain 325,21 60 Number of dead letters returned to Great Britain 124,548 Of which 21,589 were paid and 102,959 unpaid. Amount due the United States thereon... Number of dead letters received from Great Britain Of which 9,860 were paid and 28,645 unpaid. Amount due Great Britain thereon... Number of dead letters returned to Bremen. Number of dead letters received from do.

Amount of postages collected from Collins and

Cunard lines......
Of which was collected in the United
States....

HO. OF REPS.

This Department has received, through the tel dium of the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, late Muise, to England, the proceeding of an association forme in London for the purpose of promoting a cher and uniform system of international postage. T object aimed at by this association is very des able, and well worthy of the attention of this G ernment; but in the imperfect state of our forg postal arrangements I deem it inexpedient to ex at present on any new experiment.

In conclusion, I desire to express my olim tions to my predecessor, the Hon. N. K. H, the aid he has afforded me in compiling this și port. The statistics he had in preparation, and i method he had established in the Department, se materially assisted me in the discharge of duties.

I would respectfully recommend that a s tical and historical sketch of this Departman which he submitted to the Post Office Commite of Congress, be continued, as a valuable wor reference.

The industry and attention to their labores duties exhibited by the Assistant Postmaster Ge eral, the Chief Clerk, and the other Clerks of the Department, demand my thanks, which are ge fully rendered.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, S. D. HUBBARD, Postmaster General.

On a few of these special routes the amount col-required for the accommodation of the city post lected is more than sufficient to pay the contractor, and considerable balances remain to be applied to the ordinary expenses of the Department, but on a large portion of them the amount received even under the old rates of postage was insufficient to pay the compensation allowable for his service. Upon this class of contractors the reduction of postages operated with great hardship, and every additional allowance to the Postmaster has still further diminished the fund which alone can be applied to the payment of the contractor.

On the 25th of March last, the Senate adopted a resolution, by which the Postmaster General was requested to embody in his next annual report answers to numerous questions embraced in the resolution, relating to the business of this Department, and its receipts and expenditures, under various enumerated heads, for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1852.

When it is considered that much time must be consumed before the additional structure can be completed, and that in the mean time the existing evil will continue to increase, I cannot doubt that Congress will take immediate action in the matter when the attention of that body shall be directed to it.

OF OHIO,

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
December 14, 1852,

On the Tariff question; delivered in the Committe of the Whole, on the motion to refer the Pres dent's Annual Message to the several comm

tees.

Mr. STANTON, of Ohio, said:

Mr. CHAIRMAN: So long as this discussion wis confined to the revenue aspect of the tariff, I wa not disposed to participate in it. But since it has ↳ been so extended as to include its effects upon ter industrial interests of the country, I feel dispose.. as a representative of a grain-growing, agricultur district, to give my views upon it. I feel the mere inclined to do this, for the reason that some ge tlemen on this side of the House have advanced doctrines against which I wish to enter my profes

The gentleman from New York, [Mr. BRoess on the first presentation of this subject, incorp rated in his published remarks a project of a t

the tariff of 1846. One of these was the admission of wool, costing not more than ten cents per pouls, at the place of production, duty free.

quent saving in fuel.

Much of the information sought by these questions could not be furnished in the form desired from the accounts ordinarily rendered by postmas-ducing it would be soon reimbursed by the conseters, nor from the books of the Auditor's office, in which the accounts of this Department are kept. Neither could it be furnished with perfect accuracy for the whole year in any other mode than by prescribing to postmasters, before the commencement of the year, a new form of accounts to be kept for this object, in addition to those now required from them; and, as nearly three months of the year had elapsed before the passage of the resolution, it was obviously impossible to overcome this difficulty.

Desirous, however, to comply as far as possible with the request of the Senate, the late Postmaster General referred the resolution to the Auditor for this Department, immediately on its receipt, and desired him to adopt such means as remained in his power for collecting the information called for.

By corresponding with postmasters at the principal offices, and from the accounts returned to his office for settlement, the Auditor has made (in cases where perfect accuracy could not be attained) estimates which are deemed reliable, and has thus

The grand jury of Philadelphia have presented the rooms occupied as a post office in that city, and ascribe the numerous charges which are made against it to the deficiencies of the building, rather than to any want of diligence and attention to their duties on the part of its officers. This Department does not feel itself justified, even if it possessed the power, to erect a new office, but, while it recommends, respectfully, leaves it to Congress to supply the remedy.

At the last session of Congress a resolution was introduced, but not acted on, authorizing the Postmaster General to allow at his discretion a sum not exceeding $20,000 to the contractors for carrying the mail between this city and Richmond, and thus enable them to keep in operation the ice-boats necessary to secure certainty and prevent delay in the transportation of the mails on that route. I respectfully ask that the attention of Congress be called to this resolution, and that its passage be recommended.

The gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. Drs. CAN,] in his remarks the other day, proposed abolish the duty on coarse wool and flax. I not know that flax is extensively produced in m country. But I do not see why it is not as we adapted to the soil and climate of this country as any other; and I suppose it will be produced whe! ever the demand will justify.

As to coarse wool, I know it is said that the description of wool sought to be exempted from duty is not produced in this country, and that we wool-growers of this country will not be affecte by abolishing the duty. It is impossible to deter mine with any certainty what quality of wool may be produced at ten cents per pound in the tenperate climate, and upon the wild lands of South America, where it costs nothing but the labor of shearing. I can see no reason why fine sheep may not be introduced there, that would produce a fair quality of wool at a low price, for many years, before the climate would deteriorate it to the lowest grade of wool that is in use.

But my information is, that the coarse wool that is now imported is so mixed with dirt when imported that it loses from twenty-five to fifty per cent. in weight in the process of cleansing before it is fit for use. So that while it may in fact not be worth more than ten cents per pound at the place of production, in the condition in which it is