The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-01-27
THE
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.
AND OFFICIAL .9DVER TISER.
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= To shop tcha Is dons and ,chat should be done,
in office.
letter u WAsHrNGroN, Ed,o,s md p,o,,;,to,x
CHARLES M. WILLARD, ' ''P''''''''
TERms. -" The United STATES Postal Guide aud
(cla .4dueytiser, containing about 81 supsrroyaI
octave pages, is published monthly for ONE Dol
Lar ONLY, per aanun, payable IN adrsncs-or fire
dollars for SIR copies ordered al any one Time
PREPARATORY NOTICE
/ The enterprise in which we now embark, and
of which this paper is at once the committeeman, |
and a sample Of the papers that To follow, has
for its ann no less purpose, than to impar IN
struction, in the general and detail, to the Officers
and Agents Of the American public, in respect both
to their duties and their rights, and TO make them,
and the people at large, acquainted with theorgan-
zetion, decisions and action of the Executive de- |
partments Of their Government. There has hith- |
crto Leen no vehicle for the regular and proper |
communication Of information Of this kind. The
publication of the Laws and the issue of lnstruc-
Ions, more or less comprehensive, and at intervals
more or less extended, have proved wholly made
quate, in the absence Of the construction OF those
Laws, MS 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 volumnous, |
and are printed in quantities too small for general
|circulation; whilst the debates in Congress and
the commentaries Of the press upon their proceed
ings and the proceedings of the Executive branch
n of the Government, besides turning mostly upon
general principles, address themselves only TO
party ends, and to matters OF national policy.
THESE publications in their various forms are
highly useful in themselves as far MS they go, and
|, some of them Indispensable; but there is much
that do not reach the hands OF n nor if they did,
do they furnish those rules, methods, and exam
ples 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
|acts We shall make an honest effort to supply
this vacuum, and to provide for these necessities
Ii we succeed in rendering the functions of the
primary Offices more uniform, mehodlcal and ex-
act we shall make the administrative duties of the
departments 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
any 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 Audi
] tor of the Post-Ofhce 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 by letter. He en-
tered the department fourteen years since, and for
many years previously, had been, first in the War
Department, and subsequently in the Treasury.
He has therefore had the best opportunities for
understanding the arrangements Of business IN all
y the departments, and being acquainted with those
Is who carry it on. Since his official connection with
tue Government ceased, he (auers himself he has
preserved the respect and regard OF most or the
i preset ncumbents of the departments, and rs on
Is becoming terms of intercourse and civillty with
N them all. The Junior Editor has been asssduously
)e engaged for several years, IN studying, by per-
e sona inquiry and examination, the practical and
t, daily routine and details Of the Pos-Office and
other branches Of the public business II is with
this stock Of experience and these advantages for
ne reaching the various of administrative ac-
ton, and for mpartng minute and illustrative IN
nd efa sfical
N information, that challenge your confidence
and solicit your support and patronage
D. We have fixed upon the 18th of each month as
the day for the publication OF our paper, so ns to
illord time for obtaining from the departments,
/ al the orders notices and changes issued, made
% oy them during the preceding month. Tables of
o Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws and
10 Regulations are issued by the Post Office Depart
" nent only once in two or three years. IL is a
u natter of inconvenience and complaint, for which
nal hitherto there has been remedy, that IN one
month from the time of these issues, there are Of
ices in the tables which longer in ope alton,
md Offices in operation which not in the tables.
At this time there perhaps over three thousand
,tfices of the two descriptions. In like manner
4 avs have been passed and regulations established
,ince the issue of the last volume Of regulations,
= If which many postnaslers and others are wholly
T. gnoraDt We propose TO prevent, for the present,
my increase Of the evil of either kind, and from
he time another issue shall be made, our paper
will furnish the addItions corrections, and modi-
d cations, made IN each month, and by being filed
md preserved, will afford to postmasers full and
/, .xact information upon both subjects, up to and
| or time being. How much Of the present msdi-
4 ,ection, remang, doubt, confusion, error, and
1 mpostion will be saved by the progressive state
d of'f full and exact knowledge, for which we have
n provided, and for which we engage, every intel-
MI cent postmaster can estimate for himself.
0I These advantages alone and independently or all
"a others, are worth many times the price we charge
6 for the paper, and will, it is hoped, induce every
N postmaster who feels jus, pride IN his office, or
x a patriotic regard for the credit prosperity, and
M efficiency Of the whole Post Office system-at once
!. to subscribe The same considerations apply to
d the orders and notices, decisions, and instructions
Of the War, Navy, Treasury, State, and Interior
departments, and tho same course is INTENDED IN
respect to them. Notices Of the decisions Of the
Supreme Court, in cases turning upon questions
of oficnl duty national interest, will find place
in this paper.
IL Department of our paper addressing itself not
y merely to pvstmasters and other officers of the
y Government but to all other citizens who give at
ention to the affairs Of the nation and the progress
~ and development of the {, unry, will embrace IN
condensed form the matters submitted to- or arls-
mo in Congress- At each session vast deal Of
, valuable information is communicated to Con-
gress, by the several departments and their subor
;, dinate bureaus. and profound and comprehensive
" renorts are made by committees of both Houses
81 Bnt the treat mass of the community know moth
y mo of the contents Of these documents and re-
& ports, except the brief notices of them, which
y from time 10 time appear in the public papers
y The standing number printed of each Document
D and report, is only twelve hundred IN the senate
: and fourteen hundred in the House of Representa-
lives, which at once shows the impracticablity Of
n their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con-
tain short abridgments or analysis OF all these
g documents and reports, and the compend will
y therefore not only prove exceedingly useful and
. instructive in Itself, but will furnish easy index
10 those interested, whenever it ia found desirable
s to obtain and examine the document at large.
There is large field before us, the materials are
!, ample. Ii will be our 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, comprehcndIng and confined
to the action Of the Government is solid, useful,
8 and 1--WE might almost say necessary to the OIL
cor,f not 10 the citizen 1t is intended for all,
and pu, at price which can constitute no obstacle