Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-14
FAKE POSTAL LAWS
Those Which Some News.
papers Publish.
THE OFFICIAL RULING
WHAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
FOR THE POST OFFICE SAYS.
Relation Of the Subscribers, Which
Ought to Be Widely Disseminat-
ed, Clearly Set Forth.

|
ed, Clearly Set Forth.
| There are certain rulings of the Post
| Office Department about newspapers and
| their subscribers which ought to be widely
| disseminated, and 1 know of no better med
ium than The Evening Star" remarked a
| department official this morning to a Star
| reporter.
This information is buried out of general
sight Of the public in the official records of
the department. 1t consists of letter
| from an assistant attorney general for the
Post Office Department, being reply to a
communication addressed to the department.
The relations between newspapers and their
subscribers are so close, that innumerable
| controversies have arisen as to their re-
| spective rights, and will continue more or
! less for all time; but the official declaration
| as to these rights, coming from a law Of
icer of the department, will largely tend to
straighten out many kinks and kicks in
| newspaper offices, post offices and homes
all over the United States.
| The rulings are upon the so-called news
| paper laws, which have gone the rounds
| Of the press for years, both in a general
and specific way, but which have no exist
| ence in part as laws; never were and are
| not now. Yet some collection agencies, and
| some INSCRIPTIONS persons had the face
| to print these alleged laws on their letter
| heads
| Il will give you the fake newspaper
| laws, in full, and the rulings in part, but
| sufficient to cover the question intelligently
| and as they to appear in the depart
| they may be taken as the very latest and
| authoritative comment upon the important
| question Of the newspaper and its sub
| scribers.'
| THE following are the alleged laws about
| newspapers which SO many people believe
| really are laws:
The Fake claws"
Subscribers who do not give express no
| tice to the contrary are considered as wish
| ing to renew their subscriptions.
'If subscribers order the discontinuance
| Of their periodicals, the publisher may con-
| tinue to send them until all the arrearages
have been paid.
IF subscribers neglect refuse to take
| their periodicals from the post office to
| which they are directed they response
| BILE until they have settled their bills and
ordered them discontinued.
| ''N subscribers move to other places with
| out informing the publishers, and the pa
| pers are sent to the former address, they
| are held responsible.
THE courts have decided that refusing to
| take periodicals from the office or remov-
| ing and leaving them uncalled for is prima
|
| IF subscribers pay in advance they are
| bound to give notice at the end Of the time II
| they do not wish to continue taking it; other
| wise the publisher is authorized to send it.
| and the subscriber will be held responsible
until express notice, with payment Of all
| arrearages, is sent to the publisher.
| The latest postal laws are such that
| newspaper publishers can arrest any one
| for fraud who takes a paper and refuses to
| pay for it. Under this law the man who
allows his subscription to run along for
! some time unpaid and then orders 1t dis
! continued, or orders the postmaster to mark
| notifying the publisher leaves himself liza
BILE to arrest and fine, the same as for
theft"
The Official Rulings.
| I'm commenting on these fake laws the
| assistant attorney general, in his letter in
part. said
! There are no such laws as these en-
| acted by Congress or established by the
| Postmaster General. And it has been held
that when a publisher duns party for the
| price Of his paper, which is not due ac-
! companied by threat to enforce such laws
| If his demand is not met, he is guilty Of an
| attempt to obtain money under false pre-
| lenses. If he knows these so-called laws
| have no existence as laws. The only federal
| statute this subject is Section 1885, Re-
vised Statutes which reads as follows:
| " 'Postmasters shall notify the publisher
| of any newspaper, or other periodical when
| any subscriber shall refuse to take the same
| from the office, or neglect to call for it for
| the period of one month.
| "The existing regula tons prescribed by
| the Postmaster General to carry into .ef-
| feet this law are as follows: Notice will be
| be given when a newspaper or periodical is
| uncalled for, or refused, or when the sub
| scriber changes his address without notify
Ing the publisher or ordering his mail for
warded. If the first notification be disre-
| garded second may be sent, calling at
| tention also to the fact Of previous notice.
| The notice Is to be given to publishers in
Canada Cuba and Mexico well as this
| country.
| "'Postma sters should make a record, for
their own protection, when publisher is
| notified OF the non-delivery Of his paper
| to subscriber. This record should show
| the name of the publication. city or town
| in which 1t is published, name of the sub
scriber and the date when the notice was
| sent.
latter a publisher has been notified, as
required in a previous section, that copies
| Of his publication are either refused or re-
main uncalled for. such matter will be held
| for thirty days, after which the same, and
| all copies subsequently arriving, should be
| placed with the waste paper.
% These regulations have been In force at
| least since 1887 and probably much longer.
{" 1T is not necessary for me to point out
! the difference between the above-quoted
| statute Of the United States and the regu-
| lations of the Postmaster General and the
so-called newspaper laws, for the differ
| ence is apparent by a simple inspection
and comparison. doubt not, as you say,
| that the publishers of newspapers lose a
| great deal Of money that is legally and
| equitably due them from subscribers, but
I cannot believe that they will threaten to
! enforce against delinquent subscribers
what purport to be laws of the most strin-
| gent kind when they are informed that
! there are no such laws. The relation be-
| tween the publisher of newspaper and a
| subscriber is that of a contract, and the
same rules of law apply in that case as
apply in other business transactions be-
| tween man and man.
81 have thus gone into details so that
| there may be no misunderstanding Of my
position. and I hope the agitation will go
on until publishers and patrons of the
newspapers and periodicals of the country
know and understand their relative rights,
| obligations and liabilities +"
Folly Of Gaelic Revival.
From the Detroit Free Press.
There seems to be great deal Of affecta-
| ton in this study Of the Gaelic speech on