collected, $4,328,514.75 to be remitted to senders, and $44,473.48 to be retained as money-order fees. The post office at New York transacted 10 per cent of the insurance business of the country, 1,802,083 insured parcels having been mailed therefrom, the greatest number insured at any one office.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE REGISTRY, INSURANCE, AND C. O. D. SERVICES.

The following statement shows briefly the operations of the special features of the registry, insurance, and C. O. D. services during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915:

INSURED AND C. O. D. PARCELS ACCEPTED BY RURAL CARRIERS.

PARCELS INSURED AND SENT C. O. D. ON BOARD UNITED STATES NAVAL VESSELS.

Insured at 5-cent fee---

5, 830

Insured at 10-cent fee___

528

C. O. D__.

Total insured and C. O. D. accepted by navy mail clerks-----

REGISTRATIONS BY SEA-POST CLERKS.

6, 362

Number of pieces registered (paid)-

INDEMNITY FOR LOST REGISTERED, INSURED, AND C. O. D. MAIL.

171

The following statement shows the number of domestic and international registry indemnity claims, and the number of domestic insurance and C. O. D. claims that were approved during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, the aggregate amount of indemnity paid, and the average amount of indemnity per piece of mail:

INSURANCE OF DOMESTIC FOURTH-CLASS (PARCEL-POST) MAIL.

The progress of the insurance feature of the Parcel Post Service during the past fiscal year was very satisfactory. Notwithstanding the depression in business that prevailed most of the year, resulting from the disturbed conditions in Europe, the patronage of the insurance service increased 34.78 per cent over the preceding fiscal year. This increase in the face of adverse conditions is gratifying and indicates clearly the public's appreciation of the benefits of this service and the celerity with which claims for indemnity are adjusted.

The average time for the adjustment of claims for indemnity on account of the loss of insured parcels, which was about one month last year, is now about two weeks from the date of their receipt in this bureau. This promptness in payment is largely due to a campaign of education conducted among postal employees, as a result of which most claims are now presented in technically acceptable form. This result has also been contributed to by the abridgment and simplification of the blank used for making applications for indemnity. On June 30, 1915, the insurance feature of the Parcel Post Service had been in operation two and one-half years, having been inaugurated on January 1, 1913. During the first six months of its existence a uniform fee of 10 cents was charged for insuring parcels, regardless of their value, indemnity being paid for the actual amount of loss sustained not exceeding $50, but on July 1, 1913, an insurance fee of 5 cents was introduced to cover an indemnity not exceeding $25, the 10-cent fee remaining for patrons desiring the higher indemnity in case of loss. This innovation immediately proved popular, as is evidenced by the fact that while during the last half of the fiscal year 1913, 2,595,185 parcels were insured for the 10-cent fee, in the fiscal years 1914 and 1915, 12,366,084 and 17,209,241 parcels, respectively, were insured at the 5-cent fee.

CHANGES IN INSURANCE FEES AND INDEMNITIES.

The reduction in the insurance fee, which caused a continuous increase in the popularity of the insurance feature, prompted the department, in view of the business transacted during the past fiscal year, to provide, effective September 1, 1915, a still smaller insurance fee of 3 cents, carrying with it an indemnity not exceeding $5 in case of loss, and, as an additional facility to patrons, to inaugurate at the same time a new fee of 25 cents covering an indemnity for the value of lost parcels not in excess of $100. It is believed that the adoption of this new scale of rates will result in a still greater increase in the patronage of the service.

COLLECT-ON-DELIVERY SERVICE.

The collect-on-delivery (C. O. D.) feature of the Parcel Post Service was widely patronized during the past fiscal year, the number of parcels sent in this manner showing an increase of 57.66 per cent over those sent during the fiscal year 1914. This phenomenal increase in the patronage of the C. O. D. service exemplifies the popular demand for a postal feature of this character. The protection afforded the senders of C. O. D. matter, which is automatically insured against loss for its value not in excess of $50, has been a prominent factor in the development of the service. Special credit is due postmasters and postal employees for their hearty cooperation with the department in its efforts to bring the advantages of this service to the attention of the public.

Active measures were taken during the past year looking to the discontinuance of the practice by certain firms of sending articles C. O. D. to persons who did not order them; and it is believed that, save in isolated instances, this practice has been stamped out.

SENDER'S RECEIPT FOR ORDINARY PARCELS.

In response to numerous requests by patrons of the Postal Service during the past fiscal year, a receipt is now provided senders, when desired by them, for fourth-class parcels which are not insured nor sent C. O. D., a charge of 1 cent being made for each receipt. This receipt serves only to evidence the mailing of such articles; no indemnity is paid should they be lost. Such receipts are also furnished to patrons residing on rural routes, when desired, being obtained by the carrier from the post office to which he is attached at the time the parcels are turned in by him, and delivered to the senders on the carrier's next trip.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SERVICE.

Many improvements have been made in the registry, insurance, and C. O. D. services, such as the combination and simplification of forms used in these services so that each of them can be adapted to as many purposes as practicable, thus eliminating a number of separate forms previously furnished; forwarding of registered mail under the original particulars, the same as dispatched and received; combination and extension of special office systems of delivery of registered mail; arrangement for dispatch and delivery of valuable shipments by registered mail between financial institutions; material reduction and simplification of statistics required of postmasters; payment of indemnity reciprocally with the postal administration of the Canal Zone for lost insured and C. O. D. mail; adoption of a uniform system of keeping records of C. O. D. mail at post offices, eliminating much time and labor heretofore expended thereon; the direct acceptance of insured and C. O. D. parcels by rural carriers, instead of having them receive such parcels as agents of the senders, for insurance or acceptance as C. O. D. matter at the post office to which such carriers are attached; and numerous other improvements in the conduct of all these services that have resulted in increased economy and efficiency.

PERSONNEL OF THE BUREAU.

The 424 officers and employees provided by law for this bureau (including the stamped-envelope agency at Dayton, Ohio), at salaries aggregating $541,650, are assigned as follows: To the immediate office of the Third Assistant Postmaster General, 9; division of finance, 17; division of postal savings, 173; division of money orders, 54; division of classification, 46; division of stamps, 80; division of registered mails, 29; stamped-envelope agency at Dayton, Ohio, 16. Compared with the previous fiscal year there was a decrease of 13 in the number of officers and employees and $16,960 in aggregate

salaries.

STATISTICAL DATA.

Appended to this report will be found tables of statistical data relating to the subjects of postal administration discussed in this report.

TABLE 5-Statement showing balances to credit of postal-savings depositors on June 30, 1914, deposits and withdrawals during the fiscal year, and balances to the credit of depositors and on deposit in banks on June 30, 1915, by States.

1 Balances are as shown by banks' books. The actual balances to credit of board of trustees was $60,042, 033.56. The difference is made up as follows: Add funds in transit to banks, $6.91; due from late qualified banks, $0.46; deduct outstanding checks, $44,292. 75.

24, 107, 152
48,909

451, 853 241,986 1, 215, 759 114, 551 12, 105, 564 43,877

390,403

379, 249.81

365, 585 1,974, 744 83, 605 19, 594, 877 44,810

356, 536.90

1,884, 554.98

80, 458. 47

TABLE 5.-Statement showing balances to credit of postal-savings depositors on June 30, 1914, etc.-Continued.

POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE FOURTH ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL,

Washington, D. C., October 15, 1915.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915. This bureau is charged with the establishment and maintenance of rural and star route services, the distribution of supplies and equipment, and the designing of all equipment used in the Postal Service.

As a result of the faithful and untiring service rendered by the employees assigned to duty in this bureau, and through the practical application of improved methods adopted during the year 1914, mail facilities have been extended to more than 2,000,000 additional rural patrons, and equipment and supplies for the Postal Service in greatly increased quantities distributed, at a reduction in the expense of approximately $1,300,000.

This bureau participated in your effort to reduce the deficit that it was certain would appear through the decreased postal revenues that followed immediately upon the declaration of war in Europe, and returned to the Treasury an unexpended balance of its appropriations amounting to about $3,352,864.

In the course of an endeavor to improve the efficiency in operation of the rural service and to extend reasonable postal facilities to every person legitimately entitled thereto, certain facts present themselves that warrant particular mention. For instance, it is apparent that there should be an administrative leeway which would permit the use of any businesslike method that would produce the maximum return at a minimum of expense. The collection and delivery of mail on rural routes is undoubtedly greatly facilitated by improved highways and the use of the modern motor vehicle thereon. It has been impossible to secure the maximum advantage from the introduction of the parcel post to rural patrons because of the limited zone of collection