The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-05-15
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.

UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.
And OFFICIAL ADVERTISER.
~ 10 sh0o 'ohai is done, and pha should be done,
IA atice.~sU
PETER u. WASHINGTON -.
CnARLEs M WnLARp, Editors ana rropr'efof'.
Terms. =" The United States Postal Guide and
Oeiai Advertiser, eoniaiAng about 80 supey-yo,ak
octapo pages, Is published monthly for ONE pot
LAR ONLY, per annum, payable ia aduance--cr five
dollars for sr copies ordered al any one time
PREPARATORY NOTICE.
| The enterprise In which we now embark and
| of which this paper is at once the commencement
and sample of the papers that to follow has
| for It's aim no less purpose, than to inpart IN
struction, in the general and detail, to the Officer
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
zation, decisions and action of the Executive de-
partments of their Government. There has hith
erto Leen vehicle for the regular and proper
communication of information Of this kind. The
publication of the Laws and the issue Of nstruc
tons, 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, 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 voluminous
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 policy
These publications in their various forms are
| highly useful in themselves far 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
pies, 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
If we succeed in rendering the functions of the
primary offices more uniform, methodcal, 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 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 was Audi
tor of the Post Office Department until the month
of November last; with by far the larger portion
Of both postmasers 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
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 latters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard OF most or the
present ncumbents of the departments, and IS
z becoming terms Of intercourse and cvility with
them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduously
? engaged for several years, IN studying, by per-
! sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
4 daily routine and details of the Posts Office and
other branches of the public business. 1t is with
this stock of experience and these advantages for
reaching the various sources of administrative ac-
ton, and for imparting minute and Illustrative IN
struction, and valuable periodical and statistical
information, that 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 paper, so to
/ afford time for obtaining from the Departmental
all the orders, notices and changes issued or madt
by them during the preceding month. Tables q
, Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws ana
Regulations, are issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once in two three years. 1t is a
matter of inconvenience and complaint, for which
hitherto there has been no remedy, that in
month from the time of these issues, there IRE Of
fees in the tables which no longer in operation
and Offices in operation which not in the tables
At this time there 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, paper
will furnish the additions, corrections, and modih-
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 nisdi-
recon remaiIing, doubt, confusion, error, and
imposition, will be saved by the progressive
Of full and exact knowledge, for which we have
, provided, and for which we engage, every inteli-
} gent postmaster estimate for himself
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
postmaster who feels 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 ia
respect to them. Notices OF the decisions OF the
S Supreme Court, IN cases turning upon questions
of official duty or national interest, will fhd place
in this patar
A department of our paper addressing itself not
= merely TO postmasters and other officers of the
; Government but to all other citizens who give at
tenton to the affairs of the nation and the progress
and development of the !, 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 10 Con-
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 docume c
, and report, is only twelve hundred IN the Senate,
and fourteen hundred in the House of Representa-
ives which mt once shows the mpracticabillty Of
their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con-
tain short abrdgments analysis of all these
= documents and reports, and the compend viii
therefore not only prove exceedingly useful and
instructive in ITSELF but will furnish easy index
to those interested whenever is found desirable
TO obtain and examine the document at large.
There is a large field before us, the materials are
ample 1t win be our jealous to collect and
arrange them in the proper form. We have every
confidence that the subscriptions will be ample TO
enable ms to accomplish it all. The information
we propose to give, comprehending and confined
to the action Of the Government, il solid useful
ard 1--WE mioht almost saw nee ssnrv to tho n AZ