The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-01-08
H g1f7 ,d THE
UNITED STATES POSTAL q UIDE.
.Nta ann nFEyCIAI 9nVERrySCR

To show sohai is done, and ,ohat should be done,
IN q6ics.=4U se
cr.S - w1 Wsro Editors and Perpetrators
TERMS. --ss The United States Postal Guide aud
Official adpeytssv,'' containing about 80 spperroyai
octapo pages, is published monthly for ONE DOL
LAR ONLY, per Gsn4m, payable IN adpance---or fire
dollars for sir copies ordered at any one time.
PREPARATORY NOTICE.
The enterprise in which we now embark, and
of which this paper is at once the commencement,
and a sample Of the papers that to follow, has
for its ann no less purpose, than to impart in
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 the organ
ization, decisions and action of the Executive de-
partments of their Government. There has hith-
erto Eeen no vehicle for the regular and proper
Of information of this kind. The
publication Of the Laws and the issue of instruc-
tons, more 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 tue regulations and i'll
sfructons ineligible. The valuable documents
annually reported Congress, are too yoluminous,
and 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 TO
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
ples for the despatch Of the public business which
can render the discharge of public duty eithersafe
or easy, whether in respect TO the incumbent HIM
ualf purfp mi hlyrna dar vvhic 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, 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 east--apart from, and Independently of
any party or personal interest or question what
ever. t45 at aifot
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-Ofice Department until the month
of November last with by far the larger portion
of both postlnasters 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 i'm the Treasury.
He has therefore had the best opportunities for
understanding the arrangements of business in all
the departments, anu DelnR acquainted win UlOSe
who carry 1t on Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he natters himself he has
| preserved the respect and regard OF most of the
present incumbents of the departments, and is on
becoming terms Of intercourse aud civility with
/ them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduously
7 engaged for several years, in studying, by per-
sonat inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details Of the Post-Ofiice and
/ other branches of the public business. Ii is with
this stock OF experience and these advantages ioi
reaching the various sources of administrative &C
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, 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 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. 1t is 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 of
fees in the tables which no longer in ope. alton,
and Offices in operation which are not IN the tables.
At this time there perhaps over three thousand
Offices of the two descriptions. I'm 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 subjects, up to and
for time being. How much Of the presen, misdi-
rection, 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 intelli-
gent postmaster estimate for himself l
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 just 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 find place
in this Tsper a4
A department of our paper addressing itself not
merely to posimasters 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 {, untry, will embrace in a
condensed form the matters submitted to. - nris-
ing in Congress At each session a vast dep, %
valuable Information is communicates their suLor.
gress by the several ds sRSsund and comprehensive
usa.. "re ...ade by committees Of both Houses
pp, me. great mass Of the community Know MOTH
ing of the &C ntenis of these documents and re-
norris. 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,
md fourteen hundred in the House of Representa-
t;ves. which at once shows the mpmctcabilty OF
their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con-
tain short abridgments 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
10 those interested whenever il is found desirable
to obtain and examine the document at large.
Their. is a large field before us, the materials are
annie. II viii 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, comprehendng and confined
10 the action Of the Government, is solid, useful,
and 1--WE might almost say) necessary to- the Off
cer--,f not to the citizen. II is intended for all,
and put at price which can constitute no obstacle
with any, fiat the end of the year, any subscriber
sh,l find that he has not received the full value OF
- :, Ilccf,,a1 epiovp,rnt and in the