The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-10-04
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE

'-s ~ '""" "h~t - donf and sohat should be done
PErsR G. WAsurseron.
CMARLns M. W,lLAnp, Editors and P'oprisiOrs;
IEnns. ~ The United States Postal Guide and
C'ctas .'dperfiser, containing abo, 30 svpey-royal
oe'a'o Passs' published monthly for ONE DOL
LAR ONLY, per anaans, payable Ia usivance--or fine
dollars for SIC copies ordered
PREPARATORY NOTICE
! The enterprise in which we now embark and
Of which this paper ia al once the commence,,,eyI
and sample OF tfe papers that are TO follow, has
for its aim no less a purpose, than to impart in
struction, In the general and detail, TO the Officer
and Agents of tho 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 hih.
srto teen no vehicle for the regular and proper
communication OF Information or this kind The
publication of the Laws and the issue of ipstruc
tons, or less comprehensive, and at intervals
more or less extended, have proved wholly made
quate, in the absence Of the constructions or those
Laws, applied to particular cases. and of details
and Illustrations to make the regulations and i'm.
structions Ineligible. The valuable documents
annually reported to Congress- are too yoluminous.
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
of the Government, besides turning mostly upon
general principles, address themselves only 10
party ends, and to matters of national policys
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
ples for the despatch OF the public business which,
can render the discharge of public duty either sat.
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 suppIv
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 ut least-apart nom, and independently Of
any party or personal interest or question what
ever.
tits known to most Of those to whom this pa
per will be sent, that the Senior Editor was Audi
tor of the Post-Ofice 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 al 4
the departments, and being acquainted with those
who carry 1t on. Since his official connection with
tns government ceased he iatters himself he has
present incumbents of the departments and is on
becoming terms Of intercourse and civility with
them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduou,lv
, engaged for several years, in studying, by per
sonai inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details of the Post-Offce AMI
other branches Of the public business Ii is with
this stock or experience, and these advantages 70,
reaching the various sources of administrative ac
ton, and for impartins minute and illustrative I'M
struction, and valuable periodical and statistical
~, a.. ~ N
Information, that we challenge your confidence
and solicit your support and patronage ~
We have fixed upon the 18th OF each month Is
the day for the publication Of our paper, so as to
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, are issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once IN two or three years 1t is a
matter of inconvenience and complaint for which
hitherto there has been remedy, that in one
month from the time of these issues, there are of.
fees in the tables which are no longer in operationl
and Offices in operation which not in the tables)
? At this time there perhaps 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 pape,
| 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 subjects, up to and
for time being How much of the present misdi-
rection, remaiIing, doubt, confusion, error, and
mposition will be saved by the progressive state
of full and exact knowledge, for which we have
provided, and for which we engage, every intelli-
cent postmaster estimate for himself
These advantages alone and ind pc emily OF al
others, are worth many times the price we charge
for the paper, and viii, it is hoped, induce every
| postmaster who feels just pride in his Office II
patriotic regard for the credit, prosperity, AM
efficiency Of the whole Post Office system-at ono.
TO subscribe The same considerations apply to
the orders and notices, decisions, and instruction,
OF the War, Navy, Treasury, State, and Tnterio,
departments, and the same course is intended in
resnect 10 them. Notices of the decisions of the
S supreme Court, in cases turning upon questions
of official duty national interest, will find place
= in this papsr.
A department of our paper addressing itself no,
, merely to postmasters and other officers of the
Goverpment but to all other citizens who give at
tenton to the affairs Of the nation and the progress
and development of the g uniry, will embrace in
condensed form the matters submitted to- or ars-
4 ing in Congress. At each session vast deal of
valuable information is communicated TO Con
gress by the several departments and their su bor-
> dinn,e bureaus, and profound and comprehensive
J reports are made by committees Of both Houses
But the great mass of the community know moth
, oorts. except the brief notices Of them, which
from time to time appear IN the public papers,
4 The standing number printed of each documel
and report, is only twelve hundred in the Senate
, and fourteen hundred in the House OF Represents
lives. which at once shows the Impractcability of
tbeir dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con.
tam short abridgments or analysis Of all thes.
oIcnnents and reports, and the co mpend VII
therefore not only prove exceedingly. useful an r
instructive in ITSELF but will furnish easy indie a
to those interested, whenever il is found dssirabl
TO obtain and examine the documen at large.
There is a large field before US, the materials ar
ample 1t will be our Jealous care 10 collect an
arrange them in the prope form We have every
| confidence that The SUBSCRIPTIONS will be ample 10
enable us to accomplish it all The information
we propose to give, comprehending and confined
10 the action OF the Government. IL solid usefi,I
and 1--WE might almost say) necessary to the o nj
cer--,f not to the citizen. Il ia intended for ali
and put at price which can constitute no obssnc :
with any. Hatthe end Of the year, any subscriber
sha find TINT he has not rsc~ved the f,,lI vsue ~
Il ILL