esent rate of
salaries, of not more than $60,000 a year, which would certainly be
small in comparison with the objects to be attained.

The report of the Postmaster-General bears testimony to the general
revival of business throughout the country. The receipts of the
Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1879,
were $30,041,982.86, being $764,465.91 more than the revenues of the
preceding year. The amount realized from the sale of postage stamps,
stamped envelopes, and postal cards was $764,465.91 more than in the
preceding year, and $2,387,559.23 more than in 1877. The expenditures
of the Department were $33,449,899.45, of which the sum of $376,461.63
was paid on liabilities incurred in preceding years.

The expenditures during the year were $801,209.77 less than in the
preceding year. This reduction is to be attributed mainly to the
operation of the law passed June 17, 1878, changing the compensation
of postmasters from a commission on the value of stamps sold to a
commission on stamps canceled.

The amount drawn from the Treasury on appropriations, in addition to
the revenues of the Department, was $3,031,454.96, being $2,276,197.86
less than in the preceding year.

The expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, are
estimated at $39,920,900 and the receipts from all sources at
$32,210,000, leaving a deficiency to be appropriated for out of the
Treasury of $7,710,900.

The relations of the Department with railroad companies have been
harmonized, notwithstanding the general reduction by Congress of their
compensation by the appropriation for special facilities, and the
railway post-office lines have been greatly extended, especially in
the Southern States. The interests of the Railway Mail Service and
of the public would be greatly promoted and the expenditures could be
more readily controlled by the classification of the employees of the
Railway Mail Service as recommended by the Postmaster-General, the
appropriation for salaries, with respect to which the maximum limit is
already fixed by law, to be made in gross.

The Postmaster-General recommends an amendment of the law regulating
the increase of compensation for increased service and increased speed
on star routes, so as to enable him to advertise for proposals for
such increased service and speed. He also suggests the advantages to
accrue to the commerce of the country from the enactment of a general
law authorizing contract