The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-04-23
UNITED STATES pOsTAL cIrrDr

UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.
AND OFFICIAL ADVERTISER.
10 sholo ohat IS done, and ,ohat should be done,
:, ~ Office u rlf.
PETER G WAsurNoToN, M
CnAKLEs M. WmLAnp, Editors and Propriefors.
TEkns. =" The United States Postal Guide und !.
tyc'a9 Advertiser, containing about 81 svper-yovaI
otaVo pages, IS published monthly Jtr ONE nor
LAR ONLY, per annitnl, payable IN aapance--oy five
dollars for sir copies ordered at any one time Nv
PREPARATORY NOTICE.
The enterprise IN which now embark, and 4
or which this paper is at once the CONNIE ncement
and sample of the papers that 10 follow, has
Tor It's ann no less a purpose, than 10 impari 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
ization decisions and action of the Executive de-
partmens of their Government. There has hh-
erto teen no vehicle for the regular and proper
communication of information Of this kind The
publication of the Laws and the issue Of instrue
tons, more or less comprehensive, and intervals
more or less extended, have proved wholly made
guate in the absence of the construction Of those
Laws, as appiie6to particular cases, and Of details
and illustrations to make the regulations and in IA
structons ineligible. The valuable documents
annually reported to Congress, are too voumnous
and are printed in quantities too small for general
circulation; whilst the debates in Congress ard
ings, 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 in their various forms are
highly useful in themselves as far as they 60 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
pies, for the despatch OF the public business which
can render the discharge Of public duty either safe
slr hntlN trt 49,.
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.
II 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 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 Post-Otfce 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 best 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 flatters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard of most Of the
preseGt ncumbents of the departments, and is on
| becoming terms of intercourse and civility 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-Ofice and
other branches Of the public business. II is with
this stock Of experience, and these advantages for
reaching the various sources of administrative ac-
ton, and for Imparting minute and illustrative in
structon, 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 us
the day for the publication of our paper, so 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 Offices and compilations of the Laws any
Regulations, are issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once IN tYo 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 are no longer in operation
and Offices in operation which are 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 posimasters 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 modh-
cations made each month, and by being filed
and preserved will afford to postmasters full and
exact information upon both subjects, up and
| for time being. How much Of the present misdi-
rection, remaining, 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. $3.50.
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 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 is 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 paper. k
| department of our paper addressing itself not
merely 10 postmasters and other officers of the
! Government, but to oil other citizens who give at
iention the affairs Of the nation and the progress
| and development of the e untry, will embrace in
condensed form the matters submitted to, aris-
ing in Congress. At each session a vast deal OF
valuable information is communicated to Con-
gress by the several departments and their subor-
dinate bureaus, and profound and comprehensive
reports 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-
tives, which at once shows the imprac1icabilty 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
to those interested, whenever IT is found desirable
to obtain and examine the document at large