The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-12-02
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE
AND OFFICIAL ADVERTISER

UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE
AND OFFICIAL ADVERTISER.
III 10 'hoto ohat IS done, aud ,phat should be done
-, IN office =ssIf.
CHARLrs M. Wmssrp Editors and Proprietors
al Enms' =" The United States Postal Guide and
U'c'as hdrertiser, containing about 80 spDey-roua[
oefdpo pages, Is published monthiu ar oNr no,-
Ian ONLY, per amman, payable IN adpaace-or fine
doHdrS Jor Sir copies ordered.
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 are To follow as
for its aim no less purpose, than to impart in
struciIon, in the general and detail, to the Officer
aud Agents of the American public, in res ,ect 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 no vehicle for the regular and proper
communication of information of this kind The
publication of the Laws and the issue of lnstruc
tons, or less comprehensive and al 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 voluminouss
and are printed IN quantities too small for general
circulation; whilst the debates in Congress and
the commentaries of the press upon their proceed
of the Government, besides turning mostly upon
general principles, address themselves only 10
party ends, and to matters of national polIeyt
Theae publications In their various forms are
| highly useful in themselves far as they go and
come of them indiapensabe 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 whch
can render the discharge of public duty either safe
or easy, whether in respect to the incumbent hims
, he rtn or ,rp ,,,Io Il
actg. 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, mehodicaI, 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 east--apart from, and independently
any party personal interest or question what
ever.
1t ia known to most Of those to whom this pa
per will be sent, that the Senior Editor was udi.
tor of the PostOtfice Department until the month
of November last; with by far the larger portion
of both postmasters and contractors, he has had
direct intercourse, III person or by letter. He
tered the department fourteen years since, and for
many years previously had been, first in the Wfr
Department, ard subsequently in the Treasury.
He has therefore had the beat opportunities for
understanding the sements Of business in all
the departments and being acquainted with those
who carry it on. Since his official connection with
the Government ceased he fatters 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 civllity with
, them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduously
! engaged for several years, III studying, by per-
r sonai inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details of the Post Office and
other branches of the public business. IL is with
this stock OF experience, and these advantages for
| reaching the various sources of administrative ac
| nd FIR i'm mi and uafr 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 as to
afford time for obtaining from the departments
all the ORDERS notices and changes issued or mad,
by them during the preceding month. Tables O.
Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws ana
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 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 10 prevent, for the present,
any increase of the evil of either kind, and from
will furnish the additions, corrections, and modfs
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 msdi
| rection remaiing, 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 lntelll-
gent postmaster can estimate for himself.
| 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 just pride in his office
a patriotic regard for the credit, prosperity, and
efficiency Of the whole Post Office system-at once
to subscribe. The same considerations apply u
the orders and notices. decisions, and instruction.
of the War, Navy, Treasury, State, and InterIol
departments, and the same course is intended IN
respect to them. Notices Of the decisions Of the
Supreme Court, in turning upon question:
of official duty national interest, will find place
| in this paptr.