No. 186.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish.
Tokei, Japan, January 6, 1877. (Received February 8.)
Sir: I have the honor to inclose, for the information of the Department, duplicate copies of the fifth report of His Imperial Japanese Majesty’s postmaster-general, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1876. By [Page 338] this report it appears that the ordinary revenues of the postal department for the last fiscal year (exclusive of fines, &c.) were $595,201.83, and the expenditures for the same year $713,244.19. This shows an increase over the postal revenues for the year ending June 30, 1875, as reported in my No. 325, of $146,674.41, with an increase of expenditure of $118,655.36. The report also shows that there were letters, papers, &c., transmitted through the mails of Japan, in the last fiscal year, 30,162,615. The number of post-offices in the empire is 3,691. The number of letters, papers, &c, dispatched by foreign mails during the year was 182,874, and the number received 162,651. The deposits in the post-office savings-banks for the year amounted to $33,825.75, and certificates issued numbered 17,794.
It is worthy of notice that this report (page 21) shows that this government has established a mail steamship company, and has turned over to the company thirty-one steamships, and granted the company a subsidy of $250,000 per annum, and a loan of $810,000. It is also to be noted that the government “in order to train and educate officers in the mercantile-marine service,” grants $15,000 per annum to the same company for the maintenance of a marine school.
I also remark by the report (page 22) that during the year 1875, the Japanese-built vessels totally wrecked were 315, and that of foreign-built ships under the Japanese flag there were only 8, and that the persons drowned on the same were 114, wounded 4, and missing 35.
I have, &c.,