The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-04-29
WASHINGTON.
BILLS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS-
Full Test of she Response 81 the
Postn,ss,er'Genersi 90 the Lever
Itouse, ga Postal Revenue,
Ret, Investigation ~ the
Treasury department

l'nhT Nftlif DEPARTMENT.
WAAuisurnA, - g., AIM ~, iHW
SIgi / have tho honor W MkupWlpdg
ho receipt of tho following resolution OF th'
House of Representatives
ToRfY SIXTH coSGHfss -sfcnNn stNsloN'
t,h0HVrs rInr lNItfp hrAitsi
IsrnE HDuAta FRfrHshtNrtTlYfs lAnN
on motion OF M II, u, Money
Ro,olyei, That tho Honorable Postmaster
General be-, and he h hereby, requested "
inform the House, nj his earliest convenience,
what effect clauses aud o III section a82 OF
Postal Laws and Regulations have upon the
postal reyenLe, and also under what section
OF the law classifying mail matter md regn-
lnting rates Of postage thereon, shid regua'
ton 23a WIS ordered by the Postmaster Gen
eral
Attest GRo, NJ. ADAMS, Clerk,
Section 289 Ia Ms follows;
See go Personal correspondence NcgH
lively defined The character Of personal
correspondence referred 10 In the preceding
aection cannot be Mcrbod 10 tho following,
viz: lat. To the signature Of the sender or
to tho designation oi his name, Of his probes
sion, of his rank, Of the place OF origin, and
of the date OF dispatch. "a, To dodicn'
ton or mark Of respect Offered " the sender,
"a. To the figures or signs merely intended
To mark the passage OF n ;oXt In order 10 call
attention TO thom. ith. Tothe prices added
upon the quotations or prices current Of OK
change or markets, or IN n book. 9th, To
all printed commercial paper filled out in
writing, such M papers of legal procedure,
deeds of all kinds, way bills, or bills Of lad.
inr, invoices, and the various documents of
,apat,1uVa hup.lhtllu 400
9th To instructions or requests 10 postnas'
ters TO notify the sender In case OF thu non
delivery Of other than iirst-clNss matter, so
that he may send postage Tor Ia return. See
section 400,
In reply thereto, have tho honor to
that Section % Of tho Act of March 3, 1879,
20 statues, p. 36l, confirms the following
paragraph. There may be placed upon
the cover or blank leaves Of any book, or of
any printed matter Of the thlrd class, u
simple manuscript dedication or inscription
that does not partake Of tho nature of a per.
sonal correspondence"
The meaning of dedication" ia obvious,
Webster defines subscription" 10 mean both
n consignment of book to person ms u
mark of respect, in n less formal manner
than "A Dedication" and "s,m0thing written
or engraved 10 communicates knowledge"
The word "inscfiption" cannot be assumed
to be used in the sense of dedication rs IL is
not applicable to "any printed matter OF the
third class" other than books, nor would II
word be used IN duplication of another; and
in the draft of the bill prepared by the De-
partment for the classification of mail mat
ter and fixing the rates of postage thereon,
a.. ntnial from, fbn A al
of March 3. 1879, was taken, the language of
the Acl was used for the express purpose Of
remedying the expressions and annoyances
of the old law, under which single word or
even letter in writing upon printed matter
subjected the whole package TO letter rates.
Ii was the intention of the department in
framing the bill, which was submitted to
Congress and subsequently enacted into the
law of March 3, 1879, to permit writing not
in the nature of personal correspondence TO
be placed upon printod matter, without sub
iecting the matter to letter rates of postage.
This was fully understood by Congress and
the public, and mainly on this account the
act of March 8 1879, was hailed by the entire
press Of the country us one of the greatest
advances ever made in our postal system.
When tho question arose Of drawing the
distinction between writing in the nature of
personal correspondence and that which was
permissible under the new law, il was thought
that no better guide could be found than the
Regulations of the Convention of Paris,
adopted f r the government Of the Universal
Postal Union by the ab est representatives of
all the postal services of the civilized world.
Under that convention il is provided by
Section II of the regulations of detail and
order" that under the clause permitting
writing not in the nature of personal CORES.
pondence to be placed upon printed matter.
The character of actual and personal cor
respondence cannot be ascribed to the fol-
lowing, viz;
1st To the signature Of the sender or to
the designation of his name, of hi. profess
SION of his rank, of the place Of origin, and
of the date Of Dispatch.
81 70 a dedication or mark Of respect
offered By the author
3D. To tho figures or signs merely
intende,, tn mark the passages OF a text, in
order to call attention to them.
4th TO thep ices added upon the quota
tions or prices current Of exchanges or mar
kets.
9TH. Lastly, to annotatlons or corrections
made upon proofs of printing or musical
compositions, and relating to the text or to
the execution of the work.
Under the same regulations commercial
papers are admitted to the mails at the rate
of one cent for two ounces, or fraction
thereof. sud are defined as follows by
section l6:
The following are considered as CONNER
cia papers, and admitted ms such, to the re-
duced postage sanctioned By Article of the
CONVEX tion, viz: All instruments or docu-
ments written or drawn wholly or partly by
hand, which have not the character of an nc
tual or personal correspondence, such as pa.
pers of legal procedure, deeds Of all kinds
drawn up by public functlonaries, way bills
or bills of lading, invoices, the various docu-
ments of insurance companies, copies or ex-
tracts of deeds under private seal written on
stamped orunstamped paper, scores or sheets
of manuscript music, manuscripts of works
forwarded separately, etc.
At the tine the regulations under the net
of March 3, 1879 were being prepared, the
attention of the Department was called to an
editorial article in tho New York Times, of
April Il. 1879, as follows:
One of the curious results of the recent al
terntions made in the code of the Postal
Union which went into force on the LIST of
this month. Is that mail matter of certain
kinds can be sent from the United States to
any part of Europe, and even to Persia, OF
from Europe to any part of the United
States Mt 10 wer rates than those charged for
carving similar COMMUNICATIONS from one