Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-03-29

POSTAL AFFAIRs-IMPoRTANT CHANGES
i Horticulturists and pomolcgists will be glad
! to lear2 that by the new postal arrangements
passed at the late session of Congress seeds or
cuttings are ciassed as mailable matter In
packages, and are to be charged with postage
at the rate of one cent an ounce when sent
under l 500 miles, and two cents an ounce
when sent over that distance. The package
! must not exceed eight ounces.
The postage on letters conveyed in the mails
from any point east Of the Rocky Mountains
to any State or Territory on the Pacific coast,
and from al State or Territory on the Pacific
coast to any point east Of the mountains, has
been fixed by the recent law at ten cents
Heretofore letters conveyed by the lsthmus
routes have been subject to the ten-cent rate,
while those carried overland between MisSou-
ri and California were only subject to the
three cent rates,
The act empowers the Postmaster General
to procure and furnish letter-Sheets with post
age stamps impressed thereon, combining in
one both sheet and an envelope
Another section requires that letters which
have been advertised shall be returned to the
Post-ofice Department, if unclaimed, two
months after the date of the advertisement
except IN cases where letters are directed to
seaports for persons on board designated yes-
sells expected to arrive and, also, where let
ters are especially marked to be retained for
longer period. This provision shortens the
time during which dead letters are detained
at the Office of delivery about one month
The unclaimed money obtained from dead
letters Is to be applied hereafter to promote
the efficiency of the dead-letter Office, by pro-
viding for a more careful examination and
the return of a large number to the writers.
We observe, also, change in the rates of
postage on what are technically called ship
letters-that is, letters that come by occasion
al packets or vessels, and not by the regular
mail lines. Heretofore, through lapse in
the law, the postage on a single letter OF this
kind, delivered within the port where the
vessel arrived was six cents, while On a SIN
liar letter by the same vessel. to be forwarded
thousands Of miles further through the mails,
the postage was but FIVE cents. The rate is
now TO be FIVE cents when delivered at the
port of arrival, and the ordinary postage,
with two cents added. when the letter is to
be forwarded.
To newspaper publishers and their custom
ers in the interior, the most important see
ton is that which makes it lawful for per-
sons known as regular dealers in newspapers
and periodicals to receive by mail such quaint
titles of either as they may require, and to
pay the postage thereon as they may be re-
ceIvcd, at the same rates as regular subscri-
bers to such publications. This is to give
the benefit of the reduced quarterly rates to
newspaper dealers who, on account of the
irregularity in the number Of papers and pc
ri odicals they order find it impossible to pay
postage quarterly in advance.
Two other sections enlarge the scope Of
mailable matter, to be paid for according to
the weight Of the package, % including
maps, engrayings, Autographs Or photograph
ic prints on rollers, or paper covers; books,
bound or unbound, phonographic paper, and
envelopes all of which are to be rated at
one cent an ounce for any place within the
United States not over / 500 miles, and two
cents an ounce for any distance over 1900
miles prepaid by postage-stamPs. The pack
ages must not xceed four pounds. Cards,
blank or printed in packages weighing at
least eight ounces. are made mallable matter,
at the same rates, prepared in the same way.
baltimore Sun.