The following table shows the development of the service during the forty-six years of its existence:

NOTE.-Prior to the fiscal year 1878 the gross receipts of city-delivery offices were not reported separately by the auditor.

SPECIAL DELIVERY SERVICE.

Fees of 8 cents each on special delivery mail were claimed by postmasters last year to the total amount of $1,235,202.63, indicating that 15,440,033 pieces of mail of this character were delivered, being an increase of 1,478,925 pieces over last year, or 10.61 per cent. These figures relate to all post-offices, irrespective of class.

The following table contains a comparative statement of specialdelivery mail handled at city delivery offices during the fiscal years 1909 and 1910:

The number of pieces failing of special delivery in 1910 was 5.14 per cent against 4.93 per cent in 1909.

POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE SECOND ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL,

Washington, D. C., November 28, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910:

The Second Assistant Postmaster-General is charged with the authorization and management of the transportation of the domestic and foreign mails, and during the fiscal year this bureau was comprised of six divisions, as follows: Division of Railway Adjustments, Division of Contracts, Division of Foreign Mails, Division of Railway Mail Service, Division of Inspection, and Division of Equipment.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF MAIL SERVICE.

The mail service in operation on June 30, 1910, was as follows:

Summary of all classes of domestic mail service in operation June 30, 1910.

Comparison with the report of June 30, 1909, shows:

Decrease in number of routes_.
Decrease in length of routes_.

_miles__

Increase in number of miles traveled per annum_----
Increase in annual rate of expenditure_.

Increase in rate of average cost per mile of length____
Decrease in rate of average cost per mile traveled_cent__
Increase in average number of trips per week____

$182.38

14.76 11.875

Per cent.

191, or 0.716 620. 2541, or 0.138 11, 161, 877. 34, or 2.058 $950, 337. 31, or 1.176

$2.37, or 1.316 0.13, or 0.873 0. 255, or 2.194

Contracts drawn in duplicate during the year__
Proposals received during the year under general advertisement--
Proposals received during the year under bulletin advertisements____

EXPENDITURES, APPROPRIATIONS, AND ESTIMATES.

Number.

6, 426

8, 372

8, 257

The following statement shows the expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910, as reported by the Auditor for the Post-Office Department under accounts stated to September 30, 1910, the appropriations for the current fiscal year, and the estimate of amount required for the next fiscal year, for each item of service:

(NOTE. The estimates given are those first submitted and printed in the Book of Estimates; some were revised upon later data, and the variation will be noted in the succeeding report.)

The following table shows the aggregate expenditures for all items under the supervision of this office, by fiscal years, from 1888 to 1910, inclusive, the increase in amount, and the per cent of increase for each year over the preceding year:

1888.

1889.

1890.

1891.

1892.

1893.

1894.

1895.

1896.

1897.

1898.

1899.

1900.

1901.

1902.

1903.

1904.

1905.

1906.

1907.

1908.

1909. 1910.

Year.

Expenditures.

$30,393,209.53 33, 506, 648.73 35, 246, 162.89 38,039, 584.78 40, 358, 432.04 42,904, 593. 38 44,920, 033.64 45,716, 380.33 47, 894, 486. 56 49,897, 992.32 52, 319, 790. 86 53, 945, 796. 89 56, 374, 206. 49 58,264,040.67 61, 153, 775. 92 65,321, 711.74 69,820, 732.77 72, 862, 605. 41 76, 174, 945.90 81,090, 849.02 a 81, 381, 421.80 a 83, 914, 230.78 a 84, 882, 281.59

• Under accounts stated to September 30, 1910.

Comparison with the previous year shows:

Increase in number of routes..
Increase in length of routes__.
Increase in annual travel____

__miles__

Per cent.

59, or 1.779

3, 614. 093, or 1.664

___do____ 13, 376, 914. 82, or 3. 234 $363, 792. 02, or 0.810

Decrease in annual rate of expenditure_.
Decrease in rate of cost per mile of length_
Decrease in average rate of cost per mile traveled,
cent

Increase in average number of trips per week_.

$5. 03, or 2.433

0.43, or 3.963

0. 28, or 1. 529

There was no unadjusted service on June 30, 1910. The appropriation for the last fiscal year was $46,568,000. Of this sum, the auditor reports the amount expended under accounts stated to September 30, 1910, as $44,654,515.97, leaving an unexpended balance of $1,913,484.03, out of which unsettled accounts must be paid.

The large amount of the unexpended balance is accounted for by the fact that the estimate submitted for 1910 was based upon the usual increase in the weight of mails in the first section during an average four years period. The estimate was submitted in the fall of

The depression in business in 1907 and 1908 so affected the usual increase in the mails that the estimate proved much too large. This could not be foreseen when it was submitted.

The amount estimated as necessary for the current fiscal year of 1911 was $46,620,000. The appropriation, however, is for $45,500,000. Therefore a deficiency appropriation will be necessary. The annual rate of expenditure was

June 30, 1910...

July 1, 1910_.

September 30, 1910--

$44,521, 603. 27

45, 992, 759. 17 46, 011, 309. 13

The amount estimated as necessary for railroad transportation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, is $48,983,000, being $2,363,000, or 5.06 per cent, more than the sum estimated and $3,483,000, or 7.65 per cent, more than the appropriation for the current fiscal year.

Quadrennial readjustment.-During the fiscal year the mails were weighed on the railroad routes in the fourth section, embracing the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and California, and the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii. The annual rate of expenditure for railroad transportation in this section on June 30, 1910, was $14,439,655.91. To this amount must be added the pay on nine routes heretofore included in the third section, which are now included in the fourth section, amounting to $169,811.62, making the amount to be affected by the reweighing of the fourth section $14,609,467.53. The mails on all the routes covered by this readjustment have been weighed and the weights computed, with the exception of six delayed for further information. The increase in compensation on the routes readjusted is found to be 10.53 per cent. Estimating the increase for the unadjusted service at the same rate makes the total increase $1,538,966.27.

The increase in the pay resulting from the last preceding readjustment in this section in 1906 was 31.25 per cent. The increase under the readjustment just completed is 10.53 per cent, as stated above. The reduction in the rate of increase is due to the application of the Postmaster General's order of June 7, 1907, No. 412, requiring the