Removals of employees for cause are now rarely made, statistics show less than one per cent in both the post office and city carrier service. It is recommended that where because of unusual conditions, rural carriers cannot be obtained at the maximum rate of pay, advertisements be issued calling for proposals for the performance of such service. Motor vehicle routes are now in operation on a total length of over 41,000 miles, averaging 54 miles per route, at an average cost of $1,786.49 per route. There are now 43,463 rural routes in operation, covering 1,112,556 miles. Cost of rural service decreased 0.011 per patron during the year 1917; cost per mile decreased 0.114 cent per mile. The cost per mile of travel by star-route contractors is $0.1024. Cost per mile of travel by rural carrier is $0.1510. This difference in cost is receiving departmental consideration. Shipment of parcel post packages increased 14 per cent in 1917, the increase representing more than 25,000,000 pieces. Cooperation of postmasters in bringing the insurance feature particularly that of partial damage prominently to public notice, has resulted in an increase of over 8,000,000 insured parcels over the showing of 1916. Growing carelessness in addressing letter mail resulted in 13,000,000 letters being found undeliverable during 1917, an increase of 21 per cent. The report shows an audited surplus for the year of $9,836,211 the largest in the history of the department. The increase over the preceding year was 5.66 per cent, while the increase in cost was 4.45 per cent. The audited revenues for the year amounted to $329,726,116. Remarkable growth in postal savings is shown. In 1917 there were 674,728 depositors with a total of $131,954,696 to their credit. The average balance for each depositor was $195.57. This was an increase over the previous year of 71,791 in the number of depositors, $45,934,811 in the amount and $52.90 in the per capita balance. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE