The southern press., 1851-04-09
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE

ps 40 shou Uhai IS done, and ,otat should be done
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cnaslrs M esnnsaos' Wln.ao Editors and Pvoprieioss
TERMS. =" The United States Postal Guide and
Qciai .7dcerfisey, eonaiaing about 81 srpsr-royaI
oefapo pages, ts published monthly Er ONE pol-
LAR ONLY, per annur, payable in adrancs--or. dps
dollars for sir copies ordered at any one fims
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, has
for It's aim no less purpose, than to impair, in
struclion in the general and detail, the Officer,
and Agents of the American public, ia respect both
to their duties and their rights, and 70 make hem,
and the people at large, acquainted with the organ
ization, decisions and action Of the Executive de-
partmenls of their Government There has hi,h-
erto teen no vehicle for the regular and proper
communication Of information Of this kind. The
publication Of The Laws and the issue of iustruc
tons, more or less comprehensve aud az intervals
more or less extended, have proved wholly made
q,late in the absence of the construction Of those
Laws, applied TO particular cases, and of deiaiIs
and illustrations 70 make the regulations and in
struetions ineligible. The valuable documents
annually reported to Congress- are too voluminous
and are printed in quantities too small for general
circuation; whilst the debates in Congress ard
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 NIL nor il thew 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, methodical, 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 ut least--apart from, and independently OF
any party or personal interest 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-Ofice 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 beet 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 0attcrs himself he has
|
present incun,bents of the departments, and is
lbecoming terms of intercourse and ciyility with
them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduouYiy
engaged for several years, in studying, by per-
sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details of the Post-Ofice and
other branches of the public business. It's with
this stock Of experience, and these advantages for
reaching the vnrious 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 our paper, so to
afford time for obtaining from the departments,
all the orders, notices and changes issued, made
| by them during the preceding month. Tables o..
/ Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws and
Regulations, are issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once in two or three years Ii is u
| matter of inconvenience and complaint, for which
hitherto there has been remedy, that in
month from the time of these issues, there 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 aud regulations established
since the issue Of the last volume of regulations
! Of which many postmasters and others nre 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 modih-
] cations, made ia 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 mIsdi-
rection, remailing, doubt, confusion, error, and
| imposition will be saved by the progressive state
Of full and exnct knowledge, for which we have
provided and for which We engage, every inteili-
| 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, il In 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 sysem--at once
! TO subscribe The same considerations apply to
the orders and notices. decisions, and Instructions
Of the War, Navy, Treasury, State, and Interior
| departrnents, and the course rs intended IN
respect to them. Notices of the decisions Of the
4 Supreme Court, in cases turning upon questions
of official duty national Interest," will find place
! in this paDr.
| a departnent Of our paper addressing itself not
4 merely TO postmasters and other officers Of the
| Government but to all other citizens who give at
ention to the affairs Of the nation and the progress
and development, of the {, unry, Will embrace IN a
| condensed form the matters submitted TO, ars-
| ing in Congress. Ateach session vast deal OF
| valuable information is communicated to 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
| 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-
| uves which at once shows the Impractcabil,ty OF
their dissemination. The ApvrRrIsER will con-
tain short abridgments or analysis of all these
documents and reports, and the conpend will
therefore not only prove exceedingly useful and
instructive in ITSELF but will furnish an easy index
TO those interested, whenever it is found desirable
10 obtain and examine the document at large
There is a large field before us, the materials are
ample. IL will be our jealous care 10 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
TO the action Of the Government, is solid, useful !,
and I've might almost say necessary to the Off
rer-if not to the citizen. 1t is intended for ALL
and pu, at price which can constitute obstacle
with any. lfat the end of the year, any subscriber