adopted, promises were made at the same time to diminish the force, and a scheme was submitted for the reorganization of the department.[820] [820] _Parl. Deb._, 3d ser., ccxxviii, coll. 172 f.; _Rep. Com._, 1876, xiii, 357, pp. i-xiii, 147, 240. The number of telegrams for the year ending 31st March, 1887, the year following the sixpenny reduction, was 50,243,639; for the year 1891-92 it had increased to 69,685,480. In 1896-97 the number was 79,423,556 and in 1899-1900 the total was 90,415,123. During the next three years there was a reduction, followed in 1902-03 by an increase to 92,471,000. Since 1902-03 the number has again fallen off, the figures for 1906-07 being only 89,493,000.[821] It is rather difficult to make definite statements about the telegraph finances on account of the lack of uniformity in presenting the accounts since 1870. Under gross revenue is now included the value of services done for other departments, but this was not always the rule. The expenditure of other departments for the telegraph service may or may not be included under ordinary telegraphic expenditure. Net revenue may also be increased or a deficit changed to a surplus by deducting the expenditure for sites, buildings, and extensions from ordinary expenditure. Finally, the interest on capital is not charged on the Telegraph Vote, and so is not included under expenditure. In 1871, 1880, and 1881 there seem to have been surpluses over all expenditure, including interest on capital. Excluding interest from expenditure, the net revenue decreased from £303,457 in 1871 to £59,732 in 1875, when the pensions to officials of the telegraph companies were first charged to the Telegraph Vote. With an increased net revenue of £245,116 in 1876, following the report of the committee of investigation, the department did very well from a financial point of view, until 1884, when the net revenue fell to £51,255, and in 1887 there was a deficit of £84,078, due to the fact that expenses were increasing at a greater rate than receipts. The sixpenny reduction seems to have made but little change in the financial situation, the gross revenue increasing from £1,755,118 in 1884-85 to £1,855,686 in 1886-87, the expenditure for the same years being £1,731,040 and £1,939,734. The net revenue began to recover in 1888-89, and averaged about £150,000 a year during the four years ending March 31, 1892. During the fiscal years 1894 and 1895 there were deficits, then a slight recovery from 1896 to 1900 and a succession of deficits from 1901 to 1905. The interest on stock, £214,500 in 1870, increased steadily to £326,417 in 1880, at which figure it remained until 1889, when a reduction in the rate of interest from 3 per cent to 2-3/4 per cent lowered the amount payable to £299,216. In 1903, there was a further reduction to £278,483.[822] [821] _Rep. P. G._, 1891, app., p. 40; 1901, app., p. 57; 1907, app., p. 61.