mmending legislation
fixing degrees of the crime of murder within Federal jurisdiction, as
has been done in many of the States; authorizing writs of error on
behalf of the Government in cases where final judgment is rendered
against the sufficiency of an indictment or against the Government upon
any other question arising before actual trial; limiting the right of
review in cases of felony punishable only by fine and imprisonment to
the circuit court of appeals, and making speedy provision for the
construction of such prisons and reformatories as may be necessary for
the confinement of United States convicts.

The report of the Postmaster-General contains a detailed statement of
the operations of the Post-Office Department during the last fiscal year
and much interesting information touching this important branch of the
public service.

The business of the mails indicates with absolute certainty the
condition of the business of the country, and depression in financial
affairs inevitably and quickly reduces the postal revenues. Therefore
a larger discrepancy than usual between the post-office receipts and
expenditures is the expected and unavoidable result of the distressing
stringency which has prevailed throughout the country during much of the
time covered by the Postmaster-General's report. At a date when better
times were anticipated it was estimated by his predecessor that the
deficiency on the 30th day of June, 1893, would be but a little over
a million and a half dollars. It amounted, however, to more than five
millions. At the same time and under the influence of like anticipations
estimates were made for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 1894,
which exhibited a surplus of revenue over expenditures of $872,245.71;
but now, in view of the actual receipts and expenditures during that
part of the current fiscal year already expired, the present
Postmaster-General estimates that at its close instead of a surplus
there will be a deficiency of nearly $8,000,000.

The post-office receipts for the last fiscal year amounted to
$75,896,933.16 and its expenditures to $81,074,104.90. This post-office
deficiency would disappear or be immensely decreased if less matter were
carried free through the mails, an item of which is upward of 300 tons
of seeds and grain from the Agricultural Department.

The total number of post-offices in the United States on the 30th day of
June, 1893, was 68,403, an increase of 1,284 ov