The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-09-26
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE

i
~ 40 sho'o ohai Is DONE, and ,chat should Be done
n IN office. ~SU
PETER @ WAsHrseTos, s-A saal
NnAhLhs M WILLARD, H""o'sa ana rroPteao's'
Terms =" The United States Postal Cuide and
Official Advertiser" containing abo,,, a, s,'p,'nt
ocfapo pages, Is published monthly for osr pol-
LAR ONLY, per ai'iun, payable IN adcaae,-oy I'm.
dollars for sir copies ordered.
ns PREPARATORY NOTICE
The enterprise in which we now embark ami
OF which this paper is at once the comm nce,op.i
and sample OF the papers that to foliow. tas
for It's aim no less u purpose, than to imuart in
struction, in the general and detail, to the Officer
and Agents ofthe American public, in respect both
to their duties and their rights, and to make them
and the people at large, acquainted with the organ.
ization, decisions and action Of the Executive de-
partments of their Government There has hith
erto teen no vehicle for the regular and proper
communication of information Of this kind The
publication Of the Laws and the issue of instruc
lions 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, 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 voIumirous
and printed in quantities too small for general
circuaton; 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 10
party ends, and to matters of national policy
These publications in their various forms are
highly useful in themselves far as thew go and
some of them Indispensable; but there is much
that do not reach the hands OF ALL nor if thew did.
do they furnish those rules, methods, and exam.
plies, for the despatch OF the public business whick
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
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 eY
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 WINS Audi
tor of the Post-Ohice 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, and 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 fatters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard Of most OF the
preser incumbents of the departments, and is on
| becoming terms Of intercourse and civiIity with
them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduouslv
engaged for several years, in studying, by per-
sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details Of the Post-Offce and
other branches Of the public business 1t is with
this stock Of experience, and these advantages for
reaching the various sources of administrative acs
ton, and for impartng minute and illustrative ns
struction and valuable periodical and statist,caf
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 as 10
afford time for obtaining from the departments.
all the orders, notices and changes issued, or made
by them during the preceding month. Tables az
Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws ana
Regulations, issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once in two or three years liz ia a
matter of Inconvenience and complaint, for which
hitherto there has been no remedy, that in one
month from the time of these issues there are ofu
fees in the tables which no longer in operationf
and Offices in operation which not in the tabes1
At this 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 naner
cations made in each month, ADD by being filed
and preserved, will afford to postmasters full and
exact information upon both subjects, up to and
for time being. How much of the present misdi-
rection, remailng, 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 inteIli
gent postmaster can estimate for HIMSELF
These advantages alone and independently of all
others, are worth many times the price we charge
r. "A ~ IN hr.,
postmaster who feels just pride in his Office o r
a patriotic regard for the credit, prosperity. AMI
efficiency Of the whole Post Office system--at ono,
to subscribe The same considerations apply n
the orders and notices, decisions, and instruction
of the War Navy, Treasury, State, and Tnter;ol
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 find plsce
in this papsr. VIZ rt rr8q
department Of our paper addressing itself not
merely to postnasters and other officers of the
Government but to all other citizens who rive at
eptjon 10 the affairs Of the nation and the progress
and development, of the q untry, will embrace in
condensed form the matters submitted to, or aris-
ing in Congress. At each session a vast deal of
valuable information is communicated to Com
gress by the several departments and their subor-
dinate bureaus, and profound and comprehensive
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 document
and report, il only twelve hundred in the Senate.
and fourtceh hundred in the House OF Representa-
tivcs, which at shows the impracticabiIity of
their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con
Tain short abrdgments analysis of nil these
documents and reports, and the co mpend will
therefore not only prove exceedingly. useful and
in ITSELF but viii furnish an easy index
o those interested, whenever it il found desirable
o obtain and examine the documen at large
There is a large field before us, the materials are
lmple. IL will be our jealous care 10 collect and
orange them in the prope form. We have every
confidence that the subscriptions wil be afs,ple to
nable us to accomplish il all The infbrsnation
We propose TO give, comprehending and confined
o The action Of the Government, Is solid. useful,
nd Eve might almost say) necessary TO the Off,
er--if not to the citizen Ii is intended for all,
nd put at price which can constitute no obstacls
nth any II at the end Of the wear anu subscr;ber