The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1890-04-18
TIRE FaAMK!Ma PRIVILEGE.
Three Ladies' Who 30 Not Eavo to l,u-
Postage Stamps.

Ihere are but three persons in the United
States, other than those holding pubic Of
Hee, who Gre allowed 10 receive ard send
ilali matter tscc Of postage, writes Il Wush-
ii'yton cores :ooadcnt. these three PERSONS
40 tho widows of the late Presidents
.niS, Garfield and Grant. An act of
Congress is required 10 graft tins privilege
TO any orc. and it has been SO s.r;,ntcu to
..ite v:iicws of Presidents since 1885. when
TIC first ars was pissed Comforting the dis
ainction Il on Mrs. Dolly F. Madison.
according to the United States Postal
'.a"s ard Regulations, which is o COW
..'Iiatioi OF the rules published for the in
formation ana guidance of ~pnstmasters and
other officials, ii:s. Tyler was not entitled
totae benefits CT fran!sing mail matter and
~ Is True that no law was ever p;.sscu
III her case. She was, in q sense, O victim of
one OF these rccu::aroversights of Congress
watch are of frequent occurrence. The
Post-Cnice Department, however, appre-
eating the fact that Mrs. Tylcrwas in equity
entitled to tho same privilege which had by
'aT been granted to GIrs. Polk, Mrs. Gar
iis!d n Mrs. Grant, accented her frank in
leu OF postage and collected nothing Upon
matter mailed 10 her address.
There is a rather peculiar fact connected
with the case of Mrs. Polk also. The act
granting her the privilege of free postage
WAS passed in 1859. Since thatGatc ell laws
comforting the franking privilege have been
once or twice repealed; the last time In
1873, and no act has since been passed in
favor of Mrs. Polk. There is no lazy on the
statute booksto-day, therefore, cntitlinghc
to the benefits Of free postage, but it is al
lowed her arbitrarily by the department.
ana the Postal Laws and Regulations name
her as one of the persons legally entitled to
the benefits of The franking Law.
II is not generally known that the law ex-
tending the franlsiag privilege to these
ladies also provides explicitly that mail mat
ter, including letters, newspapers and pack
ages addressed to them, is exempt from the
payment of postage. The only explanation
OF this somewhat peculiar provision of law
Is that when Congress passed the first of
these private acts it failed to notice that
free postage to the senders of mail conferred
no sort Of benefit upon the persons ad-
dressed. Mrs. Polk, for instance, is not
benefited in the slightest degree because
some person who wishes to write her a let.
ter Is not required to afix' stamp to it.
Yet when the Laws in favor of all the Presi-
dents widows who camo after Mrs. Polk
were passed, the same language was used
and stands upon tho statute books to-day.
A sort of fatality in the direction of max
Ing mistakes seemst to have followed the
coursc Of law-malSing on the subject Of the
Thanking privilege, and the most s%lupendous
blunder of oil that Congress made in tie.
ttrst general act passed has never yet BEEN
corrected. This is the future 10 provide q
penalty for q violation of the law. Although
there ave been rs many as fifty franking-
privilege acts passed ly Congress since
1873, not one OF them provides auy penalty
for their Infringement or evasion. This
very singular oversight Is a cause OF much
Inconvenience and annoyance to the postal
officials, and because Of 1t very few arrests
have been madA although the one OF frsnks
by unauthorized persons and on unfranka-
bic matteqfsof very frequent occurrence