to be, from the best data in the Interior Department, about 325,000.

The tribes of Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks settled in the
Territory set apart for them west of Arkansas are rapidly advancing in
education and in all the arts of civilization and self-government, and
we may indulge the agreeable anticipation that at no very distant day
they will be incorporated into the Union as one of the sovereign States.
It will be seen from the report of the Postmaster-General that the
Post-Office Department still continues to depend on the Treasury, as
it has been compelled to do for several years past, for an important
portion of the means of sustaining and extending its operations. Their
rapid growth and expansion are shown by a decennial statement of the
number of post-offices and the length of post-roads, commencing with the
year 1827. In that year there were 7,000 post-offices; in 1837, 11,177;
in 1847, 15,146, and in 1857 they number 26,586. In this year 1,725
post-offices have been established and 704 discontinued, leaving a
net increase of 1,021. The postmasters of 368 offices are appointed
by the President.

The length of post-roads in 1827 was 105,336 miles; in 1837, 141,242
miles; in 1847, 153,818 miles, and in the year 1857 there are 242,601
miles of post-road, including 22,530 miles of railroad on which the mails
are transported.

The expenditures of the Department for the fiscal year ending on the
30th June, 1857, as adjusted by the Auditor, amounted to $11,507,670.
To defray these expenditures there was to the credit of the Department
on the 1st July, 1856, the sum of $789,599; the gross revenue of the
year, including the annual allowances for the transportation of free
mail matter, produced $8,053,951, and the remainder was supplied by