The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-01-07
seaa@8. 49, w..hi.sson, Tae,day January :, 1881.

~ A@sp NJ 3 r
| THE ff fsg1
! UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.
! AND OFFICIAL .4DVER7YSER. a -a.
IL To shos whuf u done, AVID ,ohst should ts dove,
N etfcs.-eu "a DaSAnts -
cn s.a NJ 1 W1ssao Editor. and Pp.s
TrRMs.--" Tks UNissd States Postal Cuide and
Official .adpsrtiser, eotsining about 30 srperroya
octaro pages, Is published monthly Jbr ONE Dot
Lar ONLY, per a,stum, payable In adrancs--or five
dollars for STR copies ordered at any one time.
| PREPARATORY NOTICE.
| The enterprise in which we now embark, and
Of winch this paper 10 at onoe the commencement,
and sample Of the papers that are 70 follow, has
for it's aim no less purpose, than TO impart IN
struction, in the general and detail, to the Officers
and Agents Of the American public, in respect both
to their duties and their rghts and TO make them,
and the people at large, acquainted with the organ
zation, decisions and action OF the Executive de-
partments Of their Government. There has hth-
erto Teen no vehicle for the regular and proper
Recommendation Of information of this kind The
publication of the Laws and The issue Of instruc-
tons, more or less comprehensive, aud at Intervals
more or less extended, have proved wholly made
Quate in the absence Of the construction Of those
Laws, 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 voumnous,
and are printed in quantities too small for general
circulation; whilst The debates in Congress and
the commentaries of the press upon their proceed
ngs, 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 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
FOR 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, aud to provide for these necessities.
Ii we succeed in rendering the functions of the
primary Offices more uniform, methodica, and ex-
act, 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 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 win 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 posrmaaters and contractors, he has had
direct intercourse, in person or by letter. He
tered the department fourteen years SINCE and for
many years previously, had been, first in the War
I Department, al d 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 thqee
who carry il on. Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he 1aters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard Of most Of the
present incurnbents Of the departments, and is on
becoming terms Of intercourse and cvility with
I then, all. The Junior Editor has been asssiJuousy
fnr rS m tubx n,yn mar
sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
1 daily routine and details of the Post-0ice and
/ other branches Of the public business. Ii il with
this stock Of experience, and these advantages for
reaching the various sources of administrative ac-
ton, and for mpartlng minute and illustrative m
,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, to
afford time for oh ainrg from the departments,
all the orders, notices and changes issued, or made
| by them during the preceding month. Tables of
Post Offices, and compilations Of the Laws and
Regulations, are issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once in two or three years. Ii is
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 Of
fees In the tables which no longer in ope aon,
and Offices in operation which not inthe tables
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 paper
will furnish the additions, corrections and modi6-
cations, made IN each month, and by being filed
and preserved, will afford to postnas,ers full and
exact information upon both subjects, up TO and
| for time being. How much of the present misdi-
| rection, remaing, 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 intelI-
gent postmaster can estimate for himself -
7 These advantages alone and independently Of all
others, are worth many times the price charge
for the paper and will, it is hoped, induce every
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 notces, decisions, and instructions
Of the War, Navy, Treasury, State, and Interior
departments, aud 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 national Interest," will find place
! in this raper. Dbl p .nai 5sas ru
| department Of our paper addressing itself not
merely 10 pvstmasters and other officers Of the
Government but to oil other citizens who give at
the hliatrS OF TIE anu tHS progress
and development Of the q untry, will embrace in a
condensed form the matters submitted TO, aris-
| ing in Congress. At each session a vast deal OF
valuable information is communicated to Con-
gress by the several departments aud 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
J 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, is only twelve hundred in the Senate
and fourteen hundred in the House Of Representa-
tives which at once shows the impracIicabllity Of
their dissemination. The ADyERTisER will con-
tam short abridgments or analysts of all these
documents and reports, and the compend viii
, therefore not only prove exceedingly useful and
instructive in itself, but will furnish an easy index
to those interested whenever it is found desirable
TO obtain and examine the document at large.
There is large field before us, the materials are
annie 1t will be our jealous 10 collec, and
/ arrange them in the proper form. We have every