The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-05-12
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.

UNITED STATES POSTAL Glide
IND Official ADVERTISER.
81 . TO sho,o iohai is DONE and ohat sho,J hs do,s
PnrfR G. WAsnrseroN,
CHARLES M. WnLARp, Ga'fors and Proprietors.
~ iRms - The United States Postal C,,ide and
ODle'at .ddrertiser," containing about % ,,so,oI
octave pages, is published monthly nr oSr Dor
Lar ONLY, per a'sruDa, payable in adua,,ee-o, fire
d0aais Jor sac copies ordered at ann one fine
PREPARATORY NOTICE
The enterprise In which we now embark and
OF which this paper rs at once the commencement
and sample of the papers that are to follow. has
for it's ann no less a 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
zatlon, decisions and action of the Executive de-
partnenls 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 instruc
lions, 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 volumjnota
and are printed in quantities too small for general
| circuation; whilst the debates in Congress and
the commentaries of the press upon their proceed
lngs, 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 III 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
| or N N N he han
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, methodical and ex-
act, we shall make the administrative dutieso 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 Posl-Oilice Department until the month
of November last; with by far thee 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
|
who carry it on. Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he flatters himself he has
! preserved the respect and regard of most OF the
preseGt incumbents of the departments, and is on
becoming terms of intercourse and cvIty with
them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduously
engaged for several years, in studying, by per-
sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details of the Post-Of6ce and
other branches of the public business. 1t is with
this stock OF experience, and these advantages for
reaching the various sources of administrative
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 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
| Post Ohces, and compilations of the Laws ana
Regulations, are issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once in two or three years 1t is
matter of inconvenience and complaint, for which
hitherto there has been remedy, that in one
month from the time of these issues, there of
fees in the tables which are no longer in operation
and Offices in operation which not in the 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 modf-
cations, made IN each month, and by being fled
aud 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, remalIing, 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 can estimate for himself.
These advantages alone and independently Of all
Others are worth many times the price we charge
| for the paper, and viii 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 s 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 papr.
| 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
ten,ion 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 n vast deal OF
valuable information is communicated to Con-
gress, by the several departments and their subor-
dnate 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
and report, is only twelve hundred in the Senate,
and fourteen hundred in the House OF Representa-
| tves which at shows the impracucabhty OF
! their dissemination. The ADVERTISER VIII 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 easy index
to those Interested, whenever i is found desirable
TO obtain and examine the document at large.
There is a large field before us, the materials are
ample IL 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 1t 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