SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO POSTMASTERS.

The section references are to the new Code of Laws and Regulations which are now being issued. 1. All necessary blanks and post office supplies authorized by the law and regulations will be furnished to postmasters upon application to the First Assistant Postmaster General (Blank Agency), unless specially instructed in the regulations to make application for certain blanks to another office.

2. In addressing communications to the Department, never write on more than one subject in a letter, and always address letters to the bureau having charge of the subjectmatter, as indicated in section 26. Never address letters to the Postmaster General

which are to be acted upon by a bureau officer.

3. Postmasters at free-delivery post offices will be required to pay special attention to the requirements of section 345. When trial is made it should be done by card or other

wise, and the letter retained in the post office subject to call at the general delivery. 4. Postmasters at "special post offices" (see section 76) must promptly notify the Second Assistant Postmaster General and the Superintendent of Railway Mail Service for their division (see section 707) when they change the point of supply for their post offices, 5. Postmasters and mail carriers are exempted by section 1629 of the Revised Statutes from militia duty. They are not exempt from jury and road duty, and must obey summons thereto, leaving their post offices in charge of a competent assistant as prescribed by section 518.

6. The new law and regulations for the classification of mail-matter differ radically from former laws and regulations, and must be carefully studied by postmasters.

7. Matter which is in writing, or other matter containing a written inscription in the nature of a personal correspondence, and matter which is sealed against inspection, are alone, by their nature and the intent of the law, first-class matter.

8. Second-class matter remains as defined by the former law, except that sample copies of second-class matter may now be sent at the pound rates, and that the postage is uniform for all second-class publications at two cents per pound.

9. Third-class matter includes all printed matter not embraced in the second class. Particular attention should be given to the definition of printed matter, section 219. Books and music are third-class matter, and so are unmounted chromos; but chromos mounted on cloth or pasteboard are fourth-class matter.

10. The new law admits of written inscriptions upon third-class matter not in the nature of personal correspondence. See section 232.

11. Postmasters should consider the presumption to be in favor of the admission of all unsealed printed matter subject to inspection at third-class rates, and should not rate it up on account of written inscriptions thereon unless the inscription is clearly in the nature of a personal correspondence.

12. Fourth-class matter includes everything not included in the other three classes, which is not by law and regulations excluded from the mails. Many articles which under the old law were rated with letter postage, as matter to which no specific rate of postage was attached, belong now to the fourth class, and are subject to a postage charge

of one cent per ounce. Such are, for instance, drawings, plans, designs, original paintings in oil or water colors, etc. 13. Special attention is called to the law and regulations requiring the use of postagedue stamps (sections 271-274) upon the collection of postage on and delivery of all insufficiently prepaid or unpaid matter. They are to be used upon ship and foreign letters, soldier and sailor letters, as well as upon ordinary domestic letters, and matter of the third and fourth classes, when it inadvertently reaches its destination without full prepayment. They must never be put upon matter which is forwarded, returned to writer, or sent to the Dead Letter Office, except at free-delivery post offices.

14. Postmasters are required to keep a complaint-book, in which all letters reported to them as lost or missing are entered; and, after making examination, in their post offices, they are required to report the loss, with all particulars, without delay, to the Chief Special Agent of the Post Office Department, Washington, D. C.

15. When complaint is made of delay in the receipt of letters beyond the time required by ordinary course of mail, as shown by the postmarks, postmasters should procure the envelopes of such letters and send them, with a statement of the facts, to the division superintendent of railway mail service.

16. Before approving applications for the establishment of new post offices, postmasters should consult the Postal Guide and see that the name selected has not already been given to a post office or to a county in the same or an adjoining State.

17. Complaints frequently arise on account of the inaccuracy of the letter-balances in use at post offices. Postmasters are therefore instructed to have their letter-balances tested and adjusted at least twice a year. For this purpose post offices of the first and second class, and all special agents of the Department, will be furnished with a set of standard weights. Postmasters at other post offices wishing to test their letter balances will make application to the nearest special agent or postmaster furnished with standard weights. The standards will be sent by mail, registered, to postmasters so applying, and must be returned in the same manner to the postmaster or special agent from whom they were received, as soon as the balances have been tested.

18. All questions submitted by the public or arising in practice in regard to the construction of postal laws and regulations should be decided by postmasters, in the first instance, subject to appeal to the Postmaster General.

19. Postmasters are notified that hereafter every number of the United States Official Postal Guide will contain a list of the orders which have been issued during the preceding quarter against the persons or firms engaged in conducting schemes for the purpose of obtaining money through the mails under false pretenses; and whenever any of such persons or firms make application at any post office for the payment of money-orders, or for registered letters addressed to them, the postmaster at such post office should immediately report the case to the Postmaster General.

20. Any printed circulars issued from the Post Office Department must be treated as official written letters; postmasters should acknowledge their receipt, enter their substance opposite the proper section in the book of Postal Laws and Regulations, edition of 1879, and file the circulars in a book to be kept for that purpose.

21. The Department will furnish postmasters with blank forms for "Publishers' Temporary Permit," and "Formal Notice of Entry," under sections 196 and 199 of the Regulations of 1879. Applications for same should be made to the First Assistant Postmaster General, Superintendent Blank Agency.

USE OF OFFICAL PENALTY ENVELOPES.

JUNE 10, 1879.

SIR,In reply to your letter of June 6th, respecting the use of official penalty envelopes, I have the honor to say that under the advice of the Assistant Attorney General this Department holds: First, that section 29 of the Act of March 3, 1879, extending the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of the Act of March 3, 1877, does not in any way limit the requirement of section 6 of the latter act, that the penalty envelopes should be provided by the Executive Departments of the United States for itself and its subordinate officers, on which the indorsement designating the Department in which they are to be used, and the penalty for their unlawful use, should be stated thereon. Hence it holds that official matter can only be transmitted through the mails free in such envelopes as may be provided under section 6 of the Act of March 3, 1877.

Second, that there is no requirement in either of the acts above quoted which necessitates the printing of such designation and penalty, and hence the Department holds that the indorsement and statement of the penalty may be in writing. For the protection of the service, and to prevent its being prostituted to the purposes of fraud, it is deemed advisable that some distinctive mark should be placed upon these envelopes to indicate that they have been issued from one of the Executive Departments, under the provisions of section 6 of the Act of March 3, 1877. The Department also holds that it is within the spirit of the statute that official labels, printed so as to indicate the Department, or Bureau, or officer under it, as well as the penalty, which labels are to be affixed to official mail-matter transmitted under the provisions of section 29 of the Act of March 3, 1879, may be furnished in lieu of, or in addition to, the official penalty envelopes, if it is deemed advisable by either one of the Departments.

HON. GEO. W. McCRARY, Secretary of War.

War Department.

Very respectfully,

THOS. J. BRADY. Acting Postmaster General.

FOREIGN MAILS.

The exchange of correspondence between the United States and foreign countries is regulated by postal treaties establishing the rates of postage and the conditions of exchange, or by and in pursuance of legislation by Congress.

The Universal Postal Union Convention," concluded at Paris, June 1, 1878, which went into operation April 1, 1879, governs the exchange of correspondence between the eountries and colonies parties thereto, except Canada, respecting which exception see the article "Canada," page 36. For a list of the countries and colonies of the Postal Union see the first page of the Foreign Postage Table, page 48.

The rates of postage established by the Post Office Department of the United States for correspondence exchanged between it and the countries and colonies of the Universal Postal Union, except Canada, are as follows:

For prepaid letters, 5 cents per fifteen grams (ounce).

For unpaid letters received, 10 cents per fifteen grams (ounce).

For insufficiently paid letters or other articles received, a charge equal to double the amount of the deficiency.

For postal cards, 2 cents each.

For newspapers, if not over four ounces in weight, 2 cents each; if over four ounces in weight, 2 cents for each additional four ounces or fraction thereof.

For printed matter of all kinds, commercial papers, and samples of merchandise, 1 cent for each article or packet bearing a particular address, and for every weight of two ounces or fraction thereof; with a minimum charge of 5 cents per packet of commercial papers, and a minimum charge of 2 cents per packet of samples of merchandise: that is to say, for commercial papers not exceeding ten ounces in weight, the postage is 5 cents, and if above ten ounces in weight, 1 cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof: for samples not exceeding four ounces in weight, 2 cents; if above four ounces in weight, 1 cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof. Provided, that articles or packets of printed matter, commercial papers, or samples do not contain any letter or note having the character of an actual and personal correspondence, and that they be made up in such manner as to admit of being easily examined.

For the registration fee on all correspondence, 10 cents.

No fee will be charged for return receipts for registered articles in cases where such receipts are requested.

The prepayment of the Union postage on ordinary letters is optional, but the postage on all other articles, except postal cards, which are necessarily prepaid, and registered articles, must be at least partially prepaid.

Payment of postage on every description of correspondence can be effected only by means of postage stamps valid in the country of origin for the correspondence of private individuals. Official correspondence relative to the postal service, exchanged directly between the respective Postal Administrations of the Union, is alone exempted from this requirement and admitted free of postage.

No supplementary postage is chargeable for the reforwarding of postal packets of any kind within the interior of the Union.

All classes of correspondence are required to be impressed with a stamp indicating the place of origin and date of posting.

POSTAL CARDS.

Postal cards must be forwarded without cover. One of the sides must be reserved for the address alone, and the communication written on the other side. It is forbidden to join or to attach to postal cards any article whatever.

PRINTED MATTER OF ALL KINDS.

The following are considered as printed matter, viz: Newspapers and periodical works, books stitched or bound, pamphlets, sheets of music, visiting cards, address cards, proofs of printing with or without the manuscripts relating thereto, engravings, photographs, drawings, plans, geographical maps, catalogues, prospectuses, announcements and notices of various kinds, whether printed, engraved, lithographed, or autographed, and in general all impressions or copies obtained upon paper, parchment, or card-board, by means of printing, lithographing, or any other mechanical process easy to recognize, except the copying press.

The following are excluded from the reduced postage, viz: Stamps or forms of prepayment, whether obliterated or not, as well as all printed articles constituting the representative sign of a monetary value.

The character of actual and personal correspondence cannot be ascribed to the following, viz :

1st. To the signature of the sender or to the designation of his name, of his profession, of his rank, of the place of origin, and of the date of dispatch.

2d. To a dedication or mark of respect offered by the author.

3d. To the figures or signs merely intended to mark the passages of a text, in order to call attention to them.

4th. To the prices added upon the quotations or prices current of exchange or markets. 5th, and lastly. To annotations or corrections made upon proofs of printing or musical compositions, and relating to the text or to the execution of the work.

Printed matter must be either placed under band, upon a roller, between boards, in a case open at one side or at both ends, or in an unclosed envelope; or simply folded in such a manner as not to conceal the nature of the packet; or, lastly, tied by a string easy to unfasten.

Address cards and all printed matter presenting the form and consistency of an unfolded card may be forwarded without band, envelope, fastening, or fold.

The maximum weight of printed matter is fixed at 2 kilograms (4 lbs. 6 oz.).

COMMERCIAL PAPERS.

The following are considered as commercial papers, viz: All instruments or documents written or drawn wholly or partly by hand, which have not the character of an actual and personal correspondence, such as papers of legal procedure, deeds of all kinds drawn up by public functionaries, way-bills or bills of lading, invoices, the various documents of insurance companies, copies or extracts of deeds under private seal written on stamped