A report from the Secretary of the Interior relative to information called for by a Senate resolution of January 8, 1874, regarding encroachment upon Indian Territory. JANUARY 20, 1874.-Ordered to lie on the table and be printed. To the Senate of the United States: In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, requesting information" relative to any unauthorized occupation or invasion of, or encroachment upon, the Indian Territory, so-called, by individuals, or bodies of men, in violation of treaty stipulations," I have the honor to submit herewith the reply of the Secretary of the Interior, to whom the resolution was referred. EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 19, 1874. U. S. GRANT. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., January 16, 1874. SIR: On the 9th instant, there was referred to this Department, by direction of the President, Senate resolution of the 8th instant, in the following words, viz: "Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to communicate to the Senate any information in his possession relative to any unauthorized occupation or invasion of on [or] encroachment upon the Indian Territory, so-called, by individuals, or bodies of men, in violation of treaty stipulations." The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to whom said resolution was referred, reported to this Department, on the 15th instant, that the Indian Office is in possession of no information indicating, at the present time, any violation of treaty stipulations of the character therein indicated. It is proper to remark, however, that occasions have not been infrequent when portions of said Territory have been invaded and occupied by unauthorized persons, who have been treated as trespassers, and for whose removal from said Territory the aid and co-operation of the military have been required. The resolution of the Senate is herewith returned. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, The PRESIDENT. Senate resolution of December 15, 1873, communicating information relative to the expense saved to the Government by the abolition of the franking privilege. JANUARY 20, 1874.-Ordered to lie on the table and be printed. POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., January 20, 1874. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a certified copy of a resolution adopted by the Senate on the 15th December, 1873, as follows: Whereas the abolition of the franking privilege was intended to economize the expenditures of the Government; and Whereas its abolition prevents the general distribution to the people of improved field and garden seeds, thus defeating in a measure the benefits which otherwise would accrue to the agriculture of the country from the establishment of the Agricultural Department; and also discourages the distribution of public documents, which afford important information and are an educator of the people; and Whereas, to compensate the people for these losses, there should be an important reduction of the expenditures in the postal service of the Government: Therefore, Resolved, That the Postmaster-General be requested to report for the information of the Senate 1st. What amount of expense, if any, has been saved to the Government by the abo lition of the franking privilege, and that he state specifically and fully the items in which expense has been saved and the amounts so saved in each and every particular, separating, in his report, the particulars in which expense has been saved and the amounts so saved, by the abolition of the privilege, as it relates to members of Congress, heads of Departments, and all other formerly free mail-matter. 2d. How many employés in the postal service have been discharged, and how much less is charged by railroads and other carriers of the mail, since the abolition of said privilege; and if any additional clerks and additional expense have been added to the Department in the care, sale, &c., of postage-stamps, and the amount of clear profit arising by reason of the additional sale of stamps. 3d. The amount of revenue derived from each class of mailable matter respectively and specifically, as to letter-postage and postage upon books, newspapers, and pamphlets, and as to "registered letters" and the "money-order business," and the gross amount avoirdupois of each class transported through the mails. 4th. Whether it has been the practice of the Departments, or either of them, since appropriations have been made for official stamps, to send documents or packages beretofore sent by mail by express; if orders have been issued by any Department to its subordinates to send such matter to the Department by express and not by mail, and out of what appropriation payment for such expressage has been made. 5th. Whether the Postmaster-General construes the law as authorizing the free transmission of mail by or to the Post-Office Department. 6th. How much less appropriation will be required for the postal service now than prior to the abolition of such privilege. The following answers are respectfully submitted: 1st. In my annual report for the year 1873, I say "Publications of the class heretofore printed and sent out by order of Congress have been almost entirely cut off since the 1st of July. Of the relief thus afforded, some idea may be formed from the fact that, during the three months next preceding that day, there were forwarded from this city over a single route, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in box-cars, independently of the amount conveyed in the regular mail-cars, 665,504 pounds of such publications, as appears from returns of the actual weight thereof taken by the company with the permission of the Department." This was an average of about 7,000 pounds per day. I am informed that matter of the same class has since accumulated at the Capitol to the amount of six or seven hundred thousand pounds. The act of 3d March, 1873, making appropriations for the service of the Post-Office Department for the year ending June 30, 1874, contains the following paragraph: For increase of compensation for the transportion of mails on railroad routes upon the condition and at the rates hereinafter mentioned, five hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary: Provided, That the Postinaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to re-adjust the compensation hereafter to be paid for the transportation of mails on railroad routes upon the conditions and at the rates hereinafter mentioned, to wit: That the mails shall be conveyed with due frequency and speed; that sufficient and suitable room, fixtures, and furniture, in a car or apartment properly lighted and warmed, shall be provided for route-agents to accompany and distribute the mails; and that the pay per mile per annum shall not exceed the following rates, namely: On routes carrying their whole length an average weight of mails per day of two hundred pounds, fifty dollars; five hundred pounds, seventy-five dollars; one thousand pounds, one hundred dollars; one thousand five hundred pounds, one hundred and twenty-five dollars; two thousand pounds, one hundred and fifty dollars; three thousand five hundred pounds, one hundred and seventy-five dollars; five thousand pounds, two hundred dollars, and twenty-five dollars additional for every additional two thousand pounds, the average weight to be ascertained, in every case, by the actual weighing of the mails for such a number of successive working-days, not less than thirty, at such times, after June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventythree, and not less frequently than once in every four years, and the result to be stated and verified in such form and manner as the Postmaster-General may direct: Provided also, That in case any railroad company now furnishing railway post-office cars shall refuse to provide such cars, such company shall not be entitled to any increase or compensation under any provision of this act: Provided further, That additional pay may be allowed for every line comprising a daily trip each way of railway post-office cars, at a rate not exceeding twenty-five dollars per mile per annum for cars forty feet in length; and thirty dollars per mile per annum for forty-five feet cars; and forty dollars per mile per annum for fifty feet cars; and fifty dollars per mile per annum for fiftyfive to sixty feet cars: And provided also, That the length of cars required for such post-office railway car service shall be determined by the Post-Office Department, and all such cars shall be properly fitted up, furnished, warmed, and lighted for the accommodation of clerks to accompany and distribute the mails: And provided further, That so much of section two hundred and sixty-five of the act approved June eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled "An act to revise, consolidate, and amend the statutes relating to the Post-Office Department," as provides that "the Postmaster-General may allow any railroad company with whom he may contract for the carrying of the United States mail, and who furnish railway post-office cars for the transportation of the mail, such additional compensation beyond that now allowed by law as he may think fit, not exceeding, however, fifty per centum of the said rates," be, and the same is hereby, repealed. This act, it will be seen, fixes the rate on routes carrying their whole length an average weight of mails per day of 200 pounds at $50 per mile per annum, and allows $25 additional for the next 300 pounds, $25 additional for each of the next three additions of 500 pounds, $25 additional for each of the next two additions of 1,500 pounds, and $25 additional for every additional 2,000 pounds. Under a call made by the Department, in obedience to the requirements of the act, the proprietors of railroad routes throughout the country are submitting returns of the weights of mails taken in the month of October, in the absence of all congressional publications, and the rates of compensation are being re-adjusted on the basis of these weights. Had not the transmission of such publications been discontinued in consequence of the abolition of the franking privilege, the rates awarded in the re-adjustment now being made would be higher in exact proportion to the increase in the weight of the mails which the transmission of this heavy matter would have caused, whatever that increase might be. What is in fact the precise amount of expense hereby saved, it is impossible to determine, for want of adequate data from which to estimate the extent of the difference in weight. The general interests of the postal service are promoted, however, by relieving the great mail lines of the pressure caused by the carriage of the immense amount of free matter formerly sent over them. So rapid is the increase of postal business that the through lines are taxed to their utmost capacity to convey the letter correspondence and paper-matter dispatched from the commercial and publishing centers of the country. From a careful computation of the quantities of mail-matter disposed of in the New York City post-office, there appears a daily average of 624,275 letters handled, and 1,416 bags of letter and paper mails received and dispatched, the whole weighing 131,286 pounds, or 58.6 tons. This is exclusive of all mails transferred from one railway post-office line to another at New York without passing through the city post-office. Fully 75 per cent. of the aggregate amount passes over lines running to and from the West, Northwest, and Southwest. By one of the great railway post-office lines leading to the Northwest, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, receiving New York mails from the New York Central Railroad at Buffalo, and from the Erie Railway at Buffalo and Dunkirk, there were delivered at Chicago, during the month of November last, 536,113 pounds of mail, an average of nearly 18,000 pounds per day, after discharging large quantities of matter at Cleveland for the State of Ohio, and at Toledo for Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, the Indian Territory, and portions of Indiana and Illinois. It is estimated that on this line the average daily distribution of letters by railway post-office clerks is 50,000 on each westward and 25,000 on each eastward trip, making in all for the two trips, each way, 150,000 letters per day. The great bulk of the matter going west, however, consists of paper-mails, which require to be distributed while in transit, as well as the letters. They are so distributed, and are transferred, with the letter-mails, directly to the depots of connecting roads. These mails have outgrown the facilities for handling them; so that at times, despite the utmost effort, they cannot be all distributed on the trains, and consequent delay occurs. The above figures, indicating the amount of business in the New York City post office, and on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway post-office line, it will be proper to note, are averages. There are many days when they are largely exceeded, and promptness and accuracy of delivery cannot be secured unless the facilities for the service shall be equal to the demands of these exceptional days. These facts are stated to illustrate the difficulty of providing for the due and expeditious transmission of the mails on the great through-lines, apart from the conveyance, free of postage, of vast quantities of public documents. Similar difficulties occur on other through-lines, and especially at Harrisburgh, where the mails from Washington, Philadelphia, and New York meet for transportation westward on the Pennsylvania Railroad and its connections. To illustrate also the rapid augmentation of the postal business of the country, I present herewith, in tabular form, a statement of the number of postoffices and the length of post-roads in the United States, the annual amount paid for mail-transportation, and the amounts of postal revenues and expenditures, at periods of five years from 1790 to 1840, inclusive, and in each year from 1840 to 1873, inclusive, with the length of the railroad portion of the post-roads, the length of railway post-office lines, and the cost of the railroad portion of the transportation, from the date of the commencement thereof. From this statement it will be seen |