The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-02-19
THE
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.
IND OEETCLAy NDYEPTJSER

CHARLES M. WILLARD, T"''o'' al" rrop''a0'S'
IERMs. -" The United States Postal Guide and
Wtci@ advertiser, containing about 80 spper-royal
ocfapo pages, is published monthly for ONE DOL
Ian :, ONLY, per annun payable IN aduance fre
dollars for sir copies ordered at any one time.
PREPARATORY NOTICE
The enterprise IN which we now embark, and
OF which this paper is at once the commence ent,
and sample of The papers that are to follow, has
for its aim no less purpose, than to impartin-
structon IN the general and detail, to the Officers
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
ization, decisions and action of the Executive de-
partmsnts of their Government There has hith-
erto teen no 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 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 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 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 all, if they did,
do they furnish those rules, methods, and exam
ples 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 uniform. meihodtcal and q "
act, 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 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-Oiiice Department until the month
of November lust; with by far the larger portion
Of both posmasters and contractors, he has had
direct intercourse, in person or by letter, lie en-
tered the department fourteen years since, and for
many years previously, had been, first in the War
Department, ard subsequently IN the Treasury
He has therefore had the best opportunities for
understanding the arrangements of business in al
the departments, and being acquainted with those
who carry 1t on. Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he hatters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard of most OF the
/ presert incumbents Of the departments and is on
becoming terms of intercourse and civility with
/ them all, The Junior Editor has been asssduously
engaged for several years, in studying, by per-
sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
daily routine and details of the Post 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-
tion, and for importing minute and Illustrative
struction, and valuable periodical and statistical
| information, that we challenge your confidence
and solicit your support and patronage
! We have Axed 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 made
by them during the preceding month Tables of
| Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws and
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 remedy, that in one
month from the time of these lssues there are of
fees in the tables which are no longer in operation,
and oiEcea 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 pos'.Nasiers 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 n.odif-
| cations, made each month, aud by being filed
and preserved, will afford 10 poatmasters full and
| exact information apon both subjects, up to and
/ for time being. How much Of the present msGi-
recton, remaling, doubt, confuson error, and
imposition, will be saved by the progressive state
| Of full and exact Knowledge, for which we have
! provided and Tor which we engage, every inteIIi
gent POSTMASTER can estimate for hinself
\ These advantages alone and independently Of all
others, are worth many times the price we charge
for the paper, and will, Il Ia hoped, induce every
| tho feats a nriIe his ptficp mr.
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, Traasury, State, and Interior
departments, and the same course IL intended in
respect TO them. Notices Of the decisions of the
Supreme Court in cases turning upon questions
of official duty national interest, will fnd place
in this rapst.
| A department of our paper addressing itself not
merely to nustmas,ers and other officers of the
Government, but all other citizens who give at
ten,on to the affairs OF the nation and the progress
and development Of the {, untry, viii embrace in
condensed form the matters submitted to, or arts
| ING in Congress. AT each session vast deal of
valuable information is communicated to Con
gress, by the several departments and their subor
! dipate bureaus, and profound and comprehensive
reports are made by committees of both Houses.
| Hut the great mass of the community know moth
I Inc 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 document
and report, IL only twelve hundred in the Senate.
and fourteen hundred in the House Of Representa-
lives which at once shows the impracticability Of
their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will 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
IL ,uhc 1 foupI hla
10 obtain and examine the document at large
There is a large field before us, the materials are
ample II will be our Jealous 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, compromising and confined
TO the action OF the Government, is solid, useful