The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-10-01
UNITED STATES POSTAL GUIDE
AND OFFICIAL ADVERTISER


AND OFFICIAL ADVERTISER.
d To sho~ ohoi Is done o,.x ,chsf should b, done
IN e0ee.=sU
PETER u WAsHrAeroN,
CHAKLEs Nj. WILLARD, Editors sHa Prcpfisfors;
TERms. =" The United States Postal Guide and
cDctof .9dperttser, containing about 80 spper-rouaL
octnuo pages, is published monthly for one pol
Lar ONLY, per ann,tn, payable IA, aapance--or fus
dollars for sir copies ordered
PREPARATORY NOTICE.
The enterprise in which now embark, and
Of which this paper is at once the commencement,
and sample Of the papers that are to follow, as
for lis ann no less purpose, than to impart in
struction, in the general and detail, to the Officer
and Agents of the American public ia respect both
to their duties and their rights and to make them,
and the people at large, acquainted with the organ.
izution, decisions and action Of the Executive de-
partments OF their Government. There has hith
erto Lecn vehicle for the regular and proper
communication Of information of thia kind. The
publication Of the Laws and thu issue Of ,lnstrur
lions, more or less comprehensive, and 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 ins
structons 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 il much
that do not reach the hands of all, nor if they did,
do they furnish those rules, methods, and exam
plies, for the despatch OF the public business whick
render the discharge of public duty either safs
| or easy, whether ip 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 eY
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
tent at least-apart from, and independently of
any party or personal interest or 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 best opportunities for
understanding the arrangements OF business in all
| the departments, and being acquainted with those
who carry il on. Since his official connection with
the Government ceased, he latters himself he has
| preserved the respect and regard Of most Of the
presei incumbents of the departments and is on
becoming terms of intercourse and civility with
them ALL The Junior Editor has been asssiduoualy
engaged for several years, in studying, by per-
sonai 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 acs
| IN rfin min nd -
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 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 or
| Post Offices, and compilations Of the Laws ana
Regulations, issued by the Post Office Depart
ment only once in two or three years. 1t is
lmatter of inconvenience and complaint, for which
hitherto there has been no remedy, that in one
month from the time of these issues, there are off
fees in the tables which are no longer IN operations
and Offices in operation which not in the tabess
At this time there are perhaps three thousand
offices Of the two descriptions In hike manner
laws have been passed and regulations established
since the issue Of the last volume of regulations
of which many postmasters 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 modif
cations, made In each month, and by being filed
and preserved, will afford to postasters full and
exact information upon both subjects, up to and
for time being How much of the present msdi-
rection, remailing, 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-
| cent 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 ia hoped induce every
postmaster who feels just pride in his Office o r
patriotic regard for the credit, prosperity, AMI
efficiency of the whole Post Office system---at ono,
to subscribe The same considerations apply to
the orders and notices, decisions, and instruction
of the War, Navy, Treasury, State, and Interio
Jensrtmrnts and the same course is intended i'm
rcs,ect 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 pap,r!
A department of our paper addressing itself not
merely TO postmasiers and other officers OF the
Government, but to all other citizens who give at
tention to the affairs Of the nation and the progress
and development of the {, untry, will embrace in
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 80 bor-
dinate bureaus, and profound and comprehensive
reports are made by committees Of both Houses
But the great mass Of the community know moth
} pg of the contents Of these documents and re-
J oorts. except the brief notices of them, which
from time to time appear in the public papers,
Tbe standing number printed Of each docume
and report, is only twelve hundred in the Senate,
4 nd fourteep hundred in the House OF Representa-
t,ves. which at once shows the impracticsbfty of
their dissemination. The ADVERTISER will con-
Dun short abridgments analysis of all these
documents and reports, and the co mpend will
| mt nd
instructive in itself, but will furnish easy index
60 those interested, whenever it is found desirable
60 obtain and examine the documcn at large
| There is large field before us, the materials are
| ample IL will be our jealous care IN collect and
| arrange them in the prope form. We have every
| confidence that the SUBSCRIPTIONS wall be ample To
| enable us to accomplish il all. The inforpAiion
we propose to give, comprehending and confined
| to the action OF the Government is solld, usefu
| and 1--WE might alrnos, say necessary to the Off
ser-If not to the citizen 1t Is intended for al
and put at price which can constitute no obstacle
=