The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-03-12

M THE
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE.

o"AA Safes POSTAL GUIDE.
AND OFFICIAL .aDVERTTSER
III To shoW what is done, and what should be- dou,
IN qtice.=fU
PETER q. WARRINGTON,
CHARLES M. WILLARD, Ia'ors and Proprietoys-
TERMs.-" The United States Postal Guide and
'c'a' Adverf'ssr' containing about 80 spper-royal
octave pages, is published monthly for ONE Dol
LAR ONLY, per ann,sn payable in adrance--oy.. tipe
d0ttorS for str copies ordered at any one fine
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 to follow, has
for its aim no less u purpose, than to mpart 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-
partments 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-
tons, more 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 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 nor 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
or easy, whether in respect to the incumbent him.
self, or the department or bureau under which he
acts. We shah make all 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, 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 east--apart from, and independently of
any party or personal interest 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-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 best opportunities for
understanding the arrangements of business in all
the departments, and being acquainted with those
|
the Government ceased, he aatters himself he has
preserved the respect and regard OF most Of the
| present lncumbents of the departments, and is
becoming terms of intercourse and civity with
them all. The Junior Editor has been asssduounly
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
~. r..
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 made
| by them during the preceding month. Tables of
Post Offices, and compilations of the Laws and
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 are 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 and regulations established
since the issue of the last volume Of regulations,
of which many postmasters and others 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 modif-
cations, made in 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
impostion 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 estimate for himself
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 Pos. 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
Yrespect 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 paper
A department of our paper addressing itself not
merely to postmasters and other officers of the
Government, but all other citizens who give at
tenton to the affairs Of the nation and the progress
and development of the q, untry will embrace in a
condensed form the matters submitted to, or aris-
ing in Congress. At each session vast deal Of
valuable Information is communicated to Con-
gress, by the several departments and their subor-
| dinate bureaus, and profound and comprehensive
!
| 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 document
and report, is only twelve hundred in the Senate,
and fourteen hundred in the House Of Representa-
tives, which at once shows the impractcabllity 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 an easy index
TO those interested, whenever it is found desirable
| to obtain and examine the document at large
There is large field before us, the materials are
ample II 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 it 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
cer-if not to the citizen. 1t is intended for all,
and put at price which can constitute no obstacle