The affairs of the postal service show marked and gratifying improvement
during the past year. A particular account of its transactions and
condition is given in the report of the Postmaster-General, which will
be laid before you.
The reduction of the rate of letter postage in 1883, rendering the
postal revenues inadequate to sustain the expenditures, and business
depression also contributing, resulted in an excess of cost for the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1885, of eight and one-third millions of
dollars. An additional check upon receipts by doubling the measure of
weight in rating sealed correspondence and diminishing one-half the
charge for newspaper carriage was imposed by legislation which took
effect with the beginning of the past fiscal year, while the constant
demand of our territorial development and growing population for the
extension and increase of mail facilities and machinery necessitates
steady annual advance in outlay, and the careful estimate of a year ago
upon the rates of expenditure then existing contemplated the unavoidable
augmentation of the deficiency in the last fiscal year by nearly
$2,000,000. The anticipated revenue for the last year failed of
realization by about $64,000, but proper measures of economy have so
satisfactorily limited the growth of expenditure that the total
deficiency in fact fell below that of 1885, and at this time the
increase of revenue is in a gaining ratio over the increase of cost,
demonstrating the sufficiency of the present rates of postage ultimately
to sustain the service.
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