Evening star., 1925-04-27
THE u. S. MAIL
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

uoCo liot make the lettSr OHicu
States mail for the care and protec-
tion of which our great postal system
may be held responsible.
A sealed, addressed letter bearing
the necessary postage stamps, but
still in the hands of a private citizen
is no more mail than a dictated but
unwritten letter in the notebook of
stenographer. The letter may be
property in the legal sense. 1t may
contain information or perhaps cur
rency of considerable value. 1t may
be protected by the local laws which
guarantee to everybody the use and
enjoyment of that which is his by
right of ownership.
II the letter were to be stolen the
thief might be prosecuted for larceny.
but the proceedings would be con-
Quoted by the State or local author
tiles and would in no way concern the
Federal Government, because the let
ter had not yet become mail.
If simply attaching to letter the
little adhesive engraving of George
Washington were of itself sufficient
to constitute that letter United states
mail, the present army OF 100000
quate to the task of affording pro-
lection to countless millions of stamp
ed missives scattered far and wide
throughout the land. Literally bill
lions of postage stamps are sold an
nualfy and manifestly 1t would be i'm
possible for the Government to guard
each and every scrap of paper to
which a stamp Is affixed.
1t is only when letter has actually
become mail that Uncle Sam is called
upon to exert his power and author
ito to safeguard it. 1t is only when
this takes place that, not alone the
Post Office Department and the Fed
eral courts. but, If necessary, the
Army and Navy may be employed to
guarantee it's safety and inviolability.
A postal employe is expected to lay
down his life, if necessary, in defense
of the United States mail with which
he is intrusted, and many have sac
rificed their lives in the execution OF
this high trust. Not, however, until a
letter or parcel has become mail is ii
entitled to the merest jot or little of
this magnificent regard and consid
GRAFTON.
When, then, does a letter or a pos.
tai card or a parcel become United
States mail? The question is of some
postal service. Upon occasion it may
become matter of life or death 10
determine the correct answer.
The Court Rulings.
The Federal Courts of the United
States have ruled that a letter is not
Department until II is actually in
~ -
brought about by depositing the mat
ter in post office. mail box or other
receptacle established for the recep-
ton of mail. or by handing the let
ter or package TO some officer of the
department whose duty it is to handle
mail
This explanation seems simple and
obvious. Nevertheless it has been the
source of endless difficulties on the
part of patrons of the postal service.
Confusion exists as to what is meant
by other receptacles established fol
the reception of mail" A lengthy and
involved dissertation might we'll be
written on this short phrase. 1t will
suffice, however, to say that it is
receptacle established by the direc.
ton or under the authority of the
Postmaster General.
The controlling factor in any case
is Whether a piece of intended mail
Is actually placed under the exclusive
control of the postal establishment
to the exclusion of private citizens, in
cluding the sender himself.
Big business houses have as a gen.
eral rule box or basket labeled
outgoing mail" In this receptacle
letters and parcels from the various
departments or Offices of the concern
are placed for the purpose of being
later conveyed to the post office or
mail box. Usually many employees
have access to such a receptacle and
not infrequently letters and bundles
are withdrawn for reconsideration.
Suppose the president of the company
dropped an important and valuable
letter into this outgoing mail" box
from which it was later filched by an
employee, would the latter be guilty
of stealing mail? Under the postal
laws he would not be chargeable i
with such an offense. The letter had
not yet become United States mail
at the time 1t. was taken by the thief.
Naturally the larceny of the letter
would be punisha BILE under the State
laws, but not as an offense against
the sanctity OF the mails.
Stealing An Unmailed Letter.
Jim Blank handed to his friend Tom
Tank personal letter which he asked
Tom to drop in the mail box. When
Tom saw that it was addressed to a
well known money lender he became
inquisitive. Impelled by overwhelm-
ing curiosity he opened the letter and
found that it contained a small sum
of money. Instead of resealing the
letter and putting it in the mail box
Tom liant If ond Snayvf he
When the theft was traced to him, he
admitted his guilt and went to Jail
but not to a Federal penitentiary on
charge of stealing mail. The mat
ter had not become mail at the time
it was stolen, and so the offense was
one against the general law of prop
erty right and not against the statutes
protecting the mails.
II, however, Jim had handed his
letter to a postmaster, rural carrier
or any other employe of the service
charged with the duty of handling
mail, that instant the letter would
have become United States mail fully
entitled to all of its privileges as such
When once a letter has actually
been mailed its contents are inviolate
No piece of sealed first-class matter
may be opened or pried into by any
person nor upon any pretext except
under two conditions. If the addressee
of a letter cannot be located and there
is no return address. the only posi-
BILE method of ascertaining the iden.
tity of the sender Is to open the letter.
This may be done by no person in
the postal service except an employe
of the dead letter Office. and there
only under the expert supervision and
closest scrutiny of responsible officials
held to the highest degree of account
ability.
: In certain extraordinary cases
Federal court may issue search war
raht authorizing the seizure and open.