Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1833-04-22
April u 1888
C,pcvlhRT TO posTMAsTERs,

Ge,a,,rc pfAc abusss oftac fraDhtHr pfirscse and
sendiue , ais IN tte mad
Pcsr OrFcf DErAnrMrSr, }
Aprl II, 1893
ing ,nformel, by official r'poris, " that thu
ehasn OF The franking privilege IS increasing 10 an
.,tsnt which threatens seriously ~ impo the rev
enue of the Department thai =" II IS not confined
TO correspondence from which no pcenniafy adgan-
,are res hts bat Is extended to the commercial and
l. 1sness iranaactions Of The county instances
tay,a been dcte,,od Of ,s icing prac,lscd for the
4. 9.f, Of Banka and vendors Of lottery tickets ;;
that ovtry day, letters lcR TO be macd, bear
inc ,hc Cial'ls Of persons who nrc, and for some
tim, have been many hundred miles distant and
letters nre received from the large cities bearing tie
franks ofernilnmcn well known 10 be remote iton
those olares the addresses being III hand wrltlng
different from the franks; with other circumstances
sitcnaiar obviously showing that those whose
franks were upon them, eon'd have no p1ucipa-
ton in. u know ledsc of tho letters aud that
I " bimk envelopes, with franks upon them, hav
4 boon ,urrepttously aud otherwise obtained with "A
i view OF covering correspondence, IN violation of
Law ~ deem ii my duty to call on all Postnaslers
strictly to obey that requirement, Of the &C, Of Con
eress which makes il hcir especial duty 10 pros
ecuten for such offences.
II is because the letter is actually or by construc-
ton Of law, fr0a The person authorized to send II
+. free that it IS exempted from posagc.-Thc frank
i, merely the certificate Of the fact that II Is so
\ When, therefore, the circumstances connected
will the letter are such rs TO show that II IS Rei
from such person and that the frank on II is, in
effect false certificate, Pos,mastcrs VII, in such
cases, charge the letter Nth postage and they are
particularly required TO do So wherever thu address
on the letters is in handwriting different from the
frank. unless tina. circumstance IS satisfactorily cx
plan.d.
Penal les attach, wheneycra person franks letter
from at "a r.'l IS writtor b. his own order, ant
on the burmese OF his own Office, except that III,
Secretaries Vi state, frersury, War and Navy
Dcpsrt nets aud the Postmaster General may
frank oiters 4n1 packets, official business, pre-
pared in any public Office, in tho absence of thu
principal thereof In prosecuting for these penal
dies Posmastors viii obtain the AID of the Distric
Attorney of the United Statcs and for that purpose
report to him the circumstances, and the names o
the witnesses in each case and they will cause III,
proceedings to be instituted in the District Court o
the United States not only against those who abus'
their frank, t also dgdtnsl ltose icho procure II Il
be DONE.
III I, has been reported by several Pos,mastcrs, tia
numerous volumes Of books have lately been dis
covered in the mails, the wrappers in which the,
were enveloped and franked, when mailed, having
worn off and that this mode Of sending then
through the country has been practscd 10 Oh cx
ten, tina, hns subjected the conveyance Of the mai
to vexatious burthens and delay -, therefore, re-
qure all Postmas,ors 10 be careful 10 ascertain
when bulky packages are left 70 be mailed, if thcJ
contain books or any other article not authorized
by law to be transmitted, and on discovering
that to be the case 10 withhold them, IN all Insauc
es, from the mail. w. Il. BARRY,
ES Post Masey General