Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1884 — THE POSTOFFICE. [ARTICLE]

THE POSTOFFICE.

Estimates of the Expeditures of the Postal Service for the Fiscal Year. ? The following is a synopsis of the work performed and the cost of service in the Northwestern free-delivery postoffices for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884; Local Pieces Cost of Car- postage Offices. handled, service. Tiers, coll’ted. Bay City, Midi... 1,357,932 $4,575 6 $2,873 Bloomington, 111. 2,631,178 5,062 7 2,291 Burlington, 1a... 4,187,411 5,531 7 4,631 Ceda Rapids, la. 859,417 3,095 4 2,066 < hicago, 11l 162,561,805 251,044 277 403,139 Conucil Bluffs... 1,184,604 4,309 5 1,824 Davenport. 1a.... 3,239,458 7,666 9 2,133 Des Moines, 1a... 5,003,039 10,070 12 6,543 Detroit, Mich.... 19,669,703 39,427 44 35,278 Dubuque, lowa . 2,818,131 6,360 - 7 2,lgJ E. Saginaw, Mich. 2,123,038 4,661 6 2,575 Evansville, Ind.. 4,031,019 8,136 10 2,094 Galesburg, 111.... 1,349,140 3,485 5 1,128 G’d Rapids,Mich. 8,415,132 11,591 14 12,170 Indianapolis, Ind 13,133,612 32,503 33 16,213 Jackson, Mich... 2,466,481 5,311 6 1,716 Lafayette, Ind. .. 1,765,096 4,887 6 11,536 Minneapolis Min. 8,354,406 21,700 28 18.970 Omaha, Neb 6,843,681 11,300 14 11,226 Oshkosh, Wis.... 1,068,185 4,832 6 1,286 Peoria, 11l 3,246,551 8,737 10 2,773 Madison, Wis.... 1,316,230 3,514 5 1,015 Milwaukee, wis.. 17,452,224 37,467 41 37,334 Quincy, 111 3,215,706 7,349 9 2,411 Racine, Wis 1,328,294 4,278 5 1,040 Richmond, Ind... 2,059,741 5,277 7 2,338 Lansing, Mich... 691,701 3,221 4 1,725 Rockford, 111.... 4,364,850 5,335 7 2,625 St .Paul, Minn... 10,725,970 21,498 28 15,556 South Bend, Ind. 1,783,416 4,580 6 1,134 Springfield, 111... 3,397,837 7,153. 9 2,009 Terre Haute, Ind. 3,448,823 • 6,884 9 3,011 Ottumwa, lowa., 1.044,036 2,770 4 934 Kalamazoo, Mich. 1,762,868 3,943 5 1,114 Keokuk, 10wa.... 2,058,422 4,156 6 2.508 Estimates of expenditures in the postal service for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1885, are as follows: Office of the Postmaster-General. $271,500 Office of the First-Assistant Post-master-General (tne principal items are: For pay of Postmasters, $13,030,000; pay-clerks in Postoffices, $5,300,000; free-delivery and lettercarriers, $4,535,000) 23,695,000 Office, of the Second-Assistant Post-master-General (the principal items being: railroad transportation, $15,684,295.; star routes, $5,900,000; railway postal-car service, $1,875,000; pay railway postal clerks, $4,682,300) 30,294,269 Office of the Third-Assistant Postmaster- General 1,338,400 Office'of the Superintendent of Foreign Mails 500,000 T0ta1556,099,169 The estimated amount to be provided by the department from its own revenues (including $400,000 from the money-order service) is $51,273,230. The estimated excess of expenditures to be appropriated out of the General Treasury to supply the deficiency in the postal revenue is $4,825,539. The total appropriations of the present year are $49,040,400, or $7,058,709 less than the amount estimated as being necessary for the next fiscal year. The principal items of increase are: Compensation to Postmasters, $2,000,000; clerks in postoffices, $400,000; free-delivery system, $535,000; railroad ransportation, $2,934,000 (which includes compensation to the Pacific Railroads which heretofore have been certified to by the Secretary of the Treasury); and pay of railway postal clerks, $382,300. The financial officers of the department say that certain items included in tile-estimates of the present fiscal year—such, as compensation to Postmasters and railroad transportation—the amounts of which are arbitrarily fixed by law, were reduced by Congress in the postoffice appropriation bill to the extent of several million dollars, thus making the apparent difference between the appropriations for the present year and the estimates for next year considerably larger than it would be under normal circumstances.