The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-02-03
THE X
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.
md OFFICIAL ADVERTISER.

UNITED STATES POSTAL q UIDE. :
! AND OFFICIAL .aDVERTTSER.
III 10 shoir ,rh0f 10 doMs and ,rhaf should be DONE
In QtHcs.~s-r
cmAaIrs M w1wsI "ssso Ediis. and Propistors
TrRMs.--s. The United States Postal Guide and
tWeia! .adreriser,' containing about 81 srYsr-,oyai
oefaro pages, Is published monthly for ONE DOL
dollars FOR sig copies ordered at any tins.
PREFARATORY NOTICE.
The enterprise in which We now embark, and
OF which this paper il Ut once the commencement,
aud sanlple Of the papers that TO follow, has
for its aim no less a purpose. than to inpart in
struction, in Tie general and detail. to the Officers
aud Agents ofthe American public, in respect both
10 their duties and their rights, and to make them,
and the people ut large, acquainted with the organ
xation, decisions and action Of the Executive de-
lpartments Of their Government There has hith-
erto leen no vehicle for the regular and proper
communication If information Of this kind. The
publication Of the Laws aud the issue Of lnstruc-
tons, more or less comprehensive, and at intervals
more or less extended have proved wholly made
quite. in the absence Of the construction Uf those
Laws, as applied TO parscular cHacs, and ofdeiAs
aud illustrations to make the regulations and in
structions Ineligible. The valuable documents
annually reported to Congress too voluniinous,
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
r of the Government besides turning mostly upon
general principles, address themselves only 10
party ends, and TO matters Of national policy.
: These publications in their various forms are
highly useful III themselves as far as they go and
some Of them Indispensable; but there is much
that do not reach the hands Of all, nor # they 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, methOdcal, ind ex-
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 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
J tor of the Posi-Ofice Department until the month
Of November last; with by far the larger portion
E Of both poslmasters 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, ard subsequently, in the Treasury.
He has therefore had the best opportunities for
E understanding the arrangements of business in all
the departments, and being acquainted with those
$ who carry il ou Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he latters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard of most of the
present incumbents of the departments, and il on
- becoming terms Of intercourse and civty viii
IL them all. The Junior Editor has been asssiduousy
e engaged for several years, in studying, by per.
= sonal inquiry and examination, the practical and
/, daily routne and details Of the Post-Ohice and
other branches Of the public business. 1t is with
e this stock OF experience, and these advantages ol
If reaching the various sources of administrative ac
,ion, and for impartng minute and illustrative IN
= slruction, and valuable periodical and statistical
n information, that we challenge your confidence
and solicit your support aud patronage.
}. We have fixed upon the 18th of each month
the day for the publication of our paper, to
afford time for obtaining from the departments,
all the orders, notices and changes issued, or made
D by them during the preceding month. Tables of
D Post Offices, and compilations Of the Laws and
4 Regulations, are issued by the Post Office Depart
b ment only once in two or three years. II is a
a matter of inconvenience and complaint, for which
D hitherto there has been no remedy, thai IN one
mouth from the time Of these issues, there are Of
D ices in the tables which longer in ope alton,
4 and Offices in operation which not in the tables.
b At this time there perhaps over three thousand
Offices of the two descriptions In like manner
u laws have been passed and regulations established
u since the of the last volume OF regulations,
If which many postmasers and others are wholly
gnornnt. We propose to prevent, for the present,
| my increase Of the evil Of either kind, aud from
she time another issue shall be made, our paper
will furnish the additions, corrections, and modih-
| cations, made IN each month, and by being fled
and preserved will afford to postmastcrs full and
exact information upon both subjects, up to and
Il Tor time being. How much Of the presen, misdi-
, rection, rema,Iing, doubt confusion, error, and
!, imposition, will be saved by the progressive state
! If full and exac, knowledge, for which we have
n provided, and for which engage, every inte-
cent postmaster estimate for himself.
Al These advantages alone and independently OF all
others, worth mnny times the price we charge
for the paper, and will, it is hoped, induce every
n postmaster who feels just pride IN his Office,
patriotic regard for the credit, prosperity, and
II efficiency of the whole Post Office system-at
! 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 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 aper.
i A department of our paper addressing itself not
/, merely to postmasters and other officers of the
!, Government but to all other citizens who give nt-
ten,ion TO the affairs Of the nation and the progress
and development Of the untry, will embrace in n
condensed form the matters submitted to, or aris-
ing in Congress. At each session u 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
ing Of the coD ients 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, is only twelve hundred IN the Senate.
and fourteen hundred in the House Of Representa-
tives, which at shows the impracticablliiy OF
their dissemination. The ADvERTIsER will con-
tain short nbridgments or analysis of all these
documents and reports, and the compend will
1 therefore not only prove exceedingly useful and
instructive in itself, but will furnish an easy index
to those interested, whenever il is found desirable
/ to obtain and examine the document at large.
4 There is large field before us, the materials
ample 1t will 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 il all. The information
we propose TO give, comprehending and confined
To the action Of the Government, ~ solid, useful,
and Eve might almost say necessary to the OH
cer-,r not 10 the citizen, II is intended for nIl