The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-11-28
THE
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE

IL To shoto What Is done, and iohat should be done
IN q0ice.esT
CHARLES NJ 1 Wmsaro Editors and Perpetrators
TERMS. -" The United States Postal Guide ana
Official .adrertiser," containing about 30 sper-roua
0ctdro pages, is published monthly for ONE DOL
LAR ONLY, per AMMAN, payable in adrance-or .fpe
dollars for sr copies ordered al any one time.
PREPARATORY NOTICE.
The enterprise in which we now embark, and
or winch this paper is at once the eommenc ement,
and sample of the papers that are to follow, has
Tor It's ann no less purpose, than to impart in
structlon, IN the general and detail to the Officers
and Agents ofthe American public, in respect both
to their duties and their rights and to make them,
ana the people at large, acquainted with the organ
lzation, decisions and action of the Executive de-
partments OF their Government. There has hith-
erto Leen no vehicle for the regular and proper
communication Of information Of this kind. The
publication of the Laws and the issue of instruc-
tons, more or less comprehensive, and at intervals
more or less extended, have proved wholly made
quate, IN the absence or the constructions 81 those
Laws, as applied to particular cases and of details
and illustrations to make the regulations and in
| structions ineligible. The valuable documents
annually reported TO Congress are too voluminous
and are printed in quantities too small for general
| crcuation; whilst the debates in Congress and
the commentaries Of the press upon their proceed
ings, and the proceedings of the Executive branch
OF the Government, besides turning mostly upon
general principles, address themselves only to
narty ends, and to matters of national policy
These publications in their various forms are
highly useful in themselves as far as they go, and
some of them Indispensable; but there is much
that do not reach the hands Of all, nor if they did
do they furnish those rules, methods, and exam
Piles, for the despatch Of the public business which
can render the discharge Of public duty either safe
or easy, whether in respect to the incumbent him
self, or the department or bureau under which he
| pcfs n 81 p,nla ans. 10,
this vacuum, and to provide for these necessities
If we succeed in rendering the functions of the
primary Offices more uniform methodical, and ex-
act, we shall make the administrative duties of the
departments more easy and effective, and thereby
promote the real and substantial interests of the
country. And this we expect to do, to some eX-
tent at least-apart from, and independently of
| amy party or personal interest or question what
| ever.
1t is known to most Of those to whom this pa
per will be sent, that the Senior Editor was Audi
| tor of the Post Office Department until the month
| of November last; with by far the larger portion
| OF both postmasters and contractors, he has had
direct intercourse, in person or by letter He en-
tered the department fourteen years since, and for
many years previously, had been, first in the War
Department, ard subsequently in the Treasury.
He has therefore had the best opportunities for
understanding the arrangements OF business in all
| the departments, and being acquainted with those
who carry it on. Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he Aatters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard of most OF the
present incumbents of the departments and is on
| becoming terms Of intercourse and civility with
| them all. The Junior Editor has been asssdu0usly
engaged for several years, in studying, by per
sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details of the Post Office and
other branches Of the public business. 1t is with
this stock Of experience, and these advantages for
reaching the various sources of administrative ac-
ton, and for imparting minute and illustrative in
struction, and valuable periodical and statistical
information, that we challenge your confidence
and solicit your support and patronage.
We have fixed upon the 18th Of each month as
the day for the publication of our paper, so tc
afford time for obtaining from the departments
by them during the preceding month. Tables OF
Post Offices, and compilations Of the Laws and
Regulations, issued by the Post Office Depart,
ment only once in two or three years. 1t is IA
matter Of inconvenience and complaint, for which
hitherto there has been no remedy, that in one
month from the time Of those issues, there are Of
fees in the tables which longer in ope alton
and Offices III operation which not in the tables
AT ths time there are perhaps over three thousand
| Offices of the two descriptions, In like manner
laws have been passed and regulations established
since the issue of the last volume Of regulations
| Of which many pOstmasters and others are wholly
ignorant. We propose to prevent, for the present
any increase Of the evil Of either kind and from
| the time another issue shall be made, our paper
will furnish the additions, corrections, and modif-
cations, made in each month, and by being filed
and preserved, will afford to postmasters full and
exact information upon both sub iects, up to and
for time being. How much Of the present misdi-
recon, remang, doubt, confusion, error and
imposition, will be saved by the progressive state
| Of full and exact knowledge, for which we have
provided and for which we engage, every inte-
gent postmaster can estimate for himself
These advantages alone and independently of all
others, are worth many times the price we charge
for the paper, and will, it is hoped, induce every
postmaster who feels a ust pride in his Office, or
| a patriotic regard for the credit, prosperity, and
efficiency of the whole Post Office system-at once
to subscribe The same considerations apply to
the orders and notices, decisions, and instructions
Of the War, Navy, Treasury, State, and Interior
departments, and the same course is intended in
respect to them. Notices of the decisions Of the
Supreme Court, in cases turning upon questions
Of official duty or national interest, will fnd place
in this paper.
A department Of our paper addressing itself not
merely to pUstmusters and other officers Of the
Government, but to all other citizens who give at
tention to the affairs OF the nation and the progress
and development Of the country, will embrace in n
condensed form the matters submitted to, or arts
ing in Congress. At each session a vast deal Of
valuable information is communicated to Con-
gress, by the several departments and their subor-
ulHale anu
reports are made by committees Of both Houses.
But the great mass of the community know moth
ing of the contents Of these documents and re-
ports, except the brief notices Of them, which
from time TO time appear in the public papers
The standing number printed Of each documen
and report, is only twelve hundred in the Senate,
and fourteen hundred in the House Of Representa-
tives, which at shows the impracticability Of
their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con-
tain short abridgmens or analysis of all these
documents and reports, and the compend will
therefore not only prove exceedingly useful and
instructive in itself but will furnish an easy index
to those interested whenever it ia found desirable
to obtain and examine the document at large.
There is n large field before us, the materials are
ample 1t will be jealous care to collect and
arrange them in the proper form. We have every
confidence that the subscriptions will be ample to
enable us to accomplish it all. The information
we propose to give, compromising and confined
to the action Of the Government, is solid, usefu,
and 1--WE might almost say necessary to the Off
cer-lf not to the citizen. 1t is intended for all
and put at price which can constitute no obstacle
with any. Fiat the end Of the year, any subscriber
shall find that he has not received the full value Of
his money, in intellectual enjoyment and in the
Iipht md aid afforded him, = lis