The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-06-13
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.
and OFFTCJaI sprrDp,crn

~ :" '"o" 0naf Is done, and iohat should be done
cnAnLrs NJ. W mIAnp Editors and proprietors.
TERMS. =" The United States Postal f,u;ds ony
tltc'al .adue,tiser," containing about 40 s,nsr"'r
oetaoo pages, Is published monthly for dr. no.
80. NJ, yer an"""i' payable IN adpance-or five
dollars tor str copies ordered at any one finn,
PREPARATORY NOTICE
| The enterprise IN which we now embark. AMI
Of which this paper is at once the commencement
and sample of the papers that are to follow, las
for It's ann no less purpose, than to imrirti n-
struction, IN the general and detail, to the Officer
and Agents of the American public in res,ect both
to their duties and their rights, and to make them,
ana the people at large, acquainted with the organ
ization, decisions and action of the Executive de-
pnrtments OF their Government. There has hh
erto Leen no vehicle for the regular and proper
! communication Of information OF this kind The
publication of the Laws and the issue Of instrur
tlons more or less comprehensive, and at intervals
more or less extended, have proved wholly made
quate, in the absence Of the construction or 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 voluminorls
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
party ends, and to matters of national policy.
These publications in their various forms are
highly useful IN themselves as 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 exaro
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, methodica, 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
II 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 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 II on Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he hatters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard Of most OF the
present incumbents of the departments, and is on
becoming terms of intercourse and cviity with
them all The Junior Editor has been asssiduousy
engaged for several years, in studying, by per-
sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details of the Post-Oifce and
other branches OF the public business. 1t is with
this stock Of experience, and these advantages Cor
reaching the various sources of administrative ac-
tion, and for imparting minute and illustrative in
md and al
| 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 our paper, so as to
afford time for obtaining from the departments.
all the ORDERS notices and changes issued or madG
| by them during the preceding month. Tables
| Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws ana
| Regulations, 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 are no longer in operation
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 posmasters and others are wholly
ignorant. We propose 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-
caiions, made IN each month, and by being filed
and preserved, will afford to posmasiers full and
| exact information upon both subjects, up to and
for time being. How nuch of the present misdi-
rection, remailing, 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.
These advantages alone and Independently Of all
Others are worth many times the price we charge
for the paper, and will, 1t 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
| 10 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 national interest, will find place
IN this papsr.
DEPARTMENT of our paper addressing itself not
merely 10 postmasters and other officers of the
Government, but TO all other citizens who give at
enton to the affairs Of the nation and the progress
and development of the untry, will embrace in
condensed form the matters submitted to, or ars-
ing in Congress. At each session vast deal OF
valuable information is communicated TO Con-
eress 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 hoh'
ing of the contents 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,
and fourteen hundred IN the House of Representa-
t,ves which at once shows the impractlcabiIty OF
their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con-
tam 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 easy index
"a those interested whenever it is found desirable
,o obtain and examine the document at large
There is a large field before us, the materials are
ample. It will be 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, comprehending and confined
TO the action Of the Government is solid, useful,
and 1--WE might almost say necessary to the Off
cer-f not to the citizen. 1t is intended for all,
al nut Mt a prcp which can "a attutc M olc,,clo