The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-11-30
From the Washington Constitution.
Abuse OF the FrankIng PrlvtIeg,

| from tno WhsnlnRton Oonshtutlons
Abuse OF the FrankIng Privilege
PosT OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Nov. l6, 1859
SIR: am in receipt of yours OF the 7th
inst., In which, after expressing your sppro.
baton of recent decision OF this Depart.
ment, determining that the franking privilege
is personal and cannot be exercised by depu
| ty, you add: "There is one other practice
connected with the iranking privilege
which ought to be broken up, il possible
and that is, the borrowing Of the frank Of
members for the private use Of other per.
/ sons" 81 have reason to believe this ab6st
is practiced 10 a very considerable extent by
the Clerks In the various Departments and
other employees Of the Government about
Washington City..-Many Of them, l am
assured, regularly bring bunches Of eDvel.
opes to members ot Congress to be franked
for future use and for a member to decline
to thus loan his frank is often regarded as
discourtesy, at least, and In some csses as q
casus BELLA. to be repelled by hostilities.-
IL, ther efore, the several heas of the De.
partments would adopt some stringent regu-
lations against Clerks and other employees
using the frank of members, and cause such
regulations to be generally known to them,
am sure it would have good effect; ct
least it would relieve members from being
importuned for the use of their franks for
doubtful or improper purposes"
You have my thanks for the candor with
which you have brough! this evil to my no
,ice, and for the earnest desire manifested
tor its suppression. The act of 1875 con.
ferring the iranking privilege on members
of Congress and others, declares
GIThaf IL ahaII frank latter
or letters, other than those written by him
self, or by his order on the business Of his
Office, he shall, on conviction thereof, pay
tiue Of ten dollars and it shall be the espe
cial duty Of Psst Masters to prosecute for
said offence"
This clause has never been repealed nor
modified. The act OF which it is part
gave the traUking privilege, however. to
! members only "during their actual atten.
. dance in any session OF Congsess, and sixty
days before and after such session." The
\ act of March 3, 1915, authorized "members
Y OF Congress to receive letters, not exceeding
I two ounces in weight, during the recess OF
Congress-" Then came the act Of March |,
d 1917, which enacts that "members Of Con.
gress shall have the power to receive as
d we'll as TO send oil letters aud packages not
d weighing over two ounces, free of postage,
y up to the first Monday in Decemb:r follow
ing the expiration otitheir term OF Office"
e Those several laws being in pari materia,
must, upon weI-selted principle Of inter.
{ pretation, be construed together. They do
not in terms repeal each other, and can be
held to do so BY implication only SO far Us
/, their provisions are clearly in conflict
The act of 1895 haviHg limited the privilege
\ 10 the session OF Congress and sixty days be-
/ fore and after, it was the object of the stint
utes OF lS45 and l847 simply to extend the
e time within which such privilege might be
, enjoyed. II now, by virtue Of their provis.
e ions continurs net only while the members
are in office, but up to the first Monday in
@ December alter the expiration of their term
d But there has been no enlargement Of the
/ subject matter Of the frankiRg pfiviege-n
p addition to the material which it may prop.
erly protect. Tae act OF 1925 is still in
o force, and decI2res, as heretofore, that, oil.
n though the member may now frank through,
h out the wear, he cun only frank his own cor
/. respondence and such public documents ~
c the law enumerates. A construction, not
J. made in the presence OF the act of 1875 and
i which would relieve the words "aIl let.
Vt ters and packages OF the Limitation which
:, that act imposes upon them, would assert
J. in effect, that The franklin. privilege belongs
e not 10 the member, but to the whole commu
8 nifty, provided they can prevail on such
t member to allow their correspondence 10
e pnss through his hand. In txpounding a
law, the reason of it's enactment always fur.
d nishes sac, il not an intalIible guide
=. Certainly the reason for bestowng the
+ franking privilege would not embrace the
t correspondence of any, save the party by
}. whom such privilege is exercised.
), 1t is undeniable, therefore, that the prnc.
j. tice to which you refer is violation Of the
e letter and spirit o. the statute OF 1925. which
e is the existing law Of the Ind 4; and this
3 Department has reason to balieve that its
prevalence extends much beyond the corps
Of employees o! the Government in this city
G who are not specially. Such practice, nc
e matter where or under what circumstance il
g may obtain, involves guilty breach of O
d high cfficial trust, and direct fraud upon
+ the postal revenues. Should it come to my
/. knowledge thOt any employee in the posta
q service had become party to such an abuse
: by borrowing and using for private purposes
e the frank OF Government tfficial, should
= regard him ns meritng dismissal, as certain
8 ly as for any other gross legal or morDl de
l. Iinquency. While however, would moi
}. hesitate thus TO treat him as particeps erin,
} ans. should feel that he was ioir less cuI
9 pable than the Office whose frank he hat
r "b rrowed."
i 1t may be safely stated that no amount o
e vigionce exercisrd by the Government, and
e no regulation of this Dep rtment, however
II stringent, can arrest this widespread anC
y humiia,ing abuse so long as public officers
!, dread the displeasure OF systematic specula.
tors more than they 1--we the law, of which
n they are the appointed guardians. The pro
cess OF publication, to b. effective, must bt
e applied rather to the fountain thao to the
s stream. When member endorses hi:
J. frank on the envelope of letter, he thereby
!. declares, on his official honor, that it covers
y only his own spondence-a declaration
|. which would be necessarily false were the
frank loaned to be used by another. Wher
y public tunctionarles shall realize this, ant
ID shall spurn from them those who thus seeE
'r to involve them in dishonor, then, and no
/" until then, will they find protection from
that importantly of which you complain, iai
il more direct and complete than sny whic!
re can possibly be aff,rded by the "heads o
'e the Departments"
v Men who are easy and yielding in mat
r ters OF concience and of duty will ever b,
IN thus beset; and to shield such from this an
% noya1cc would require the regeneration o
Of our race and the reformation OF the world
I1 NJ akoN l..>IfS = L.