The receipts from postage and other ordinary sources during the past
fiscal year were $36,489,816.58. The receipts from the money-order
business were $295,581.39, making a total of $36,785,397.97. The
expenditure for the fiscal year was $39,251,736.46. The deficit supplied
out of the general Treasury was $2,481,129.35, or 6.3 per cent of the
amount expended. The receipts were $3,469,918.63 in excess of those of
the previous year, and $4,575,397.97 in excess of the estimate made two
years ago, before the present period of business prosperity had fairly
begun.

The whole number of letters mailed in this country in the last fiscal
year exceeded 1,000,000,000.

The registry system is reported to be in excellent condition, having
been remodeled during the past four years with good results. The amount
of registration fees collected during the last fiscal year was
$712,882.20, an increase over the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, of
$345,443.40.

The entire number of letters and packages registered during the year was
8,338,919, of which only 2,061 were lost or destroyed in transit.

The operations of the money-order system are multiplying yearly under
the impulse of immigration, of the rapid development of the newer States
and Territories, and the consequent demand for additional means of
intercommunication and exchange.

During the past year 338 additional money-order offices have been
established, making a total of 5,499 in operation at the date of this