Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1863-06-19

we are indebted to John u. w ilSon, Esq.
of the Post Office Department in Washing
ton, for an advance copy of the amended
Post Office Law, with the instructions o.
Postmaster General Blair thereon. This law
it will be remembered, goes into effect or
the lst prox.
In most respects the new law is an improve
ment on the old In the registration Of mon
ey letters, the system practced by the United
States Express Company is adopted. e,
each clerk handling a registered letter is re.
quired to sign his name to the package, so
that the letter may be traced throughout its
entire route after it is deposited in the Post
Office. The receipt given by the receiver Of
the letter is to be returned to the sender.
The fee for registration will hereafter be 90
cents. instead of five cents as heretofore.
Newspaper postage is reduced by the new
law to the following rates:
Weakly. per quarter, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 5 cents.
Semi.W Weekly, .per6qusrter.- ..
Daily, !" -.-.--....3O "
-N"SoAASSs hos eASeouLuS iouI ouiSeS Ill
weight, are rated as follows: --.
Semi Monthly, per quarter, cents
Quarterly, Is NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. I"
Under the old law, newspapers were cir
culated in the States where published at half
the rates Of other papers. This distinction
is abolished-an unfortunate change for the
local press, and we are constrained to say an
unwise enc for the public. Weekly papers,
however, are still sent free to subscribers in
the county where printed.
At Post Offices where the gross receipts
amount to s! 900 or more per annum, letters
are to be advertised once week-at all other
Offices once month. All offices advertising
weekly will return their unclaimed letters to
the Dead Letter Office weekly, and about five
weeks after their receipt; smaller offices will
return their letters monthly.
The franking privilege heretofore granted
to postmasters at Offices where the gross re-
ceipts amounted to less than 5000 per an
mum is abolished, and postmasters are not
allowed to frank any letters except those
upon official business, which must be so en-
dorsed, with the name Of the postmaster.
There are some provisions of the law which
require additional labor by postmasters and
their clerks, for no benefit whatever to any
one, so far as we can see. Among these are
sections Sd and 4th, by which the postmaster
is required to keep record of each day
transactions. showing the entire amount of
money received each cay, giving separately
the amount received for letter postages for
regular newspapers, for tox rents, &C., &c.
The postmaster at everg post office, large
or small, must keep list of all box-holders,
with the number of the box assigned to each,
and allow no one the use of box till he has
paid for it in advance. We are at loss to
see what right the Department has to regu-
late the rent of boxes in Offices not owned by
it. For instance, the building and the fix
lures used by the Muscatine Post Office are
private property. The owner or the lessee
of that property has the sole right to rent it
to whomsoever he chooses and get his pay
or not, without accounting to any other party
for delinquences. If the Department will
purchase the building and its fixtures or rent
them at a stipulated price per annum, the
Postmaster will be glad to give up his income
from the rent of boxes. Otherwise he pro-
tests against the Postmaster General having
anything to Go with such rents. ea