welve months.

The report shows that notwithstanding the large expenditures for new
construction and the additional labor they involve the total ordinary or
current expenditures of the Department for the three years ending June
30, 1888, are less by more than 20 per cent than such expenditures for
the three years ending June 30, 1884.

The various steps which have been taken to improve the business methods
of the Department are reviewed by the Secretary. The purchasing of
supplies has been consolidated and placed under a responsible bureau
head. This has resulted in the curtailment of open purchases, which in
the years 1884 and 1885 amounted to over 50 per cent of all the
purchases of the Department, to less than 11 per cent; so that at the
present time about 90 per cent of the total departmental purchases are
made by contract and after competition. As the expenditures on this
account exceed an average of $2,000,000 annually, it is evident that an
important improvement in the system has been inaugurated and substantial
economies introduced.

The report of the Postmaster-General shows a marked increase of business
in every branch of the postal service.

The number of post-offices on July 1, 1888, was 57,376, an increase of
6,124 in three years and of 2,219 for the last fiscal year. The
latter-mentioned increase is classified as follows:

New England States
Middle States 181
Southern States and Indian Territory (41) 1,406
The States and Territories of the Pacific Coast 190
The ten States and Territories of the West and Northwest 435
District of Columbia 2
-----
Total 2,219

Free-delivery offices have increased from 189 in the fiscal year ended
June 30, 1887, to 358 in the year ended June 30, 1888.

In the Railway Mail Service there has been an increase in one year of
168 routes, and in the number of miles traveled per annum an increase of
15,795,917.48. The estimated increase of railroad service for the year
was 6,000 miles, but the amount of new railroad service actually put on
was 12,764.50 miles.

The volume of business in the Money-Order Division, including
transactions in postal notes, reached the sum of upward of $143,000,000
for the year.

During the past year