Chapter CCXLVI. *to further amend the postal Laws.* July 27, 1868. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That when any writer of a Certain uncalled-for letters to be returned to writer without additional postage.letter, on which the postage
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Chap. CCXLVI.— An Act *to further amend the postal Laws.* July 27, 1868. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That when any writer of a Certain uncalled-for letters to be returned to writer without additional postage.letter, on which the postage is prepaid, shall endorse in writing or in print upon the outside thereof his name and address, the same, after remaining *unclalled* [uncalled] for at the post-office to which it is directed thirty days, or the time the writer may direct, shall be returned to the said writer without additional postage, whether a specific request for such return be endorsed on the letter or not.
Payment for money orders. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That all persons who receive money orders shall be required to pay therefor the following charges or fees, viz. For one dollar or any sum not exceeding twenty dollars, a fee of ten cents shall be charged and exacted by the postmaster giving said order; for all orders exceeding twenty dollars and not exceeding thirty dollars, the charge shall be fifteen cents; for all orders exceeding thirty dollars and not exceeding forty dollars, the fee shall be twenty cents; for all orders exceeding forty dollars and not exceeding fifty dollars, the fee shall Pay of postmasters for the money order business.be twenty-five cents; and furthermore that the compensation of deputy postmasters for the payment of money orders is hereby increased from one eighth to one fourth of one per centum on the gross amount of orders paid at their respective offices, and that nothing contained in any act shall be so construed as to deprive postmasters at money-order offices of the 1864, ch. 87.
Vol. xiii. p. 76.compensation for transacting the money-order business fixed by the act of May seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and modified as stated in this section: *Provided always,* That the amount of such annual com-FORTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 246. 1868.195pensation, together with the postmaster’s salary, shall not in any case exceed Limit of amount.the salary established by law for postmasters of the first class. Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That section thirty-five of the act of Weekly papers may be sent to regular subscribers in county, free of postage. 1863, ch. 71, § 35.
Vol. xii. p. 707. Carriers not required to distribute them, unless, &c.March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be so construed as to permit weekly newspapers, properly folded and addressed, when sent to regular subscribers, in the county where printed and published, to be delivered free of postage, when deposited at the office nearest to the office of publication; but nothing in this act shall be so construed as to require carriers to distribute said papers, unless postage is paid upon them at the rate of five cents per quarter, and such postage must be prepaid for a term of not less than one quarter or more than one year, either at the office of mailing or of delivery, at the option of the subscriber.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That in case of the loss of a money order, a duplicate thereof shall be issued by the superintendent of the money Duplicate money order to be issued without charge in case of loss, or where original is invalid for want of presentment for payment. Proviso.order office without charge, on the application of the remitter or payee of the original: *Provided,* That the applicant furnish a certificate from the postmaster on whom the same was drawn that it had not been and would not thereafter be paid, and a similar certificate from the postmaster by whom it was issued that it had not been and would not be repaid to the purchaser; and a second fee shall not be charged for a duplicate money order issued to replace an order that has been rendered invalid because of non-presentation for payment within one year after its date, or because of illegal endorsements.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That if any person shall falsely Penalty for forging, &c. postal money order, with intent, &c.;forge or counterfeit, or willingly aid, assist, or abet in falsely forging or counterfeiting, or shall procure, directly or indirectly, to be falsely forged or counterfeited any postal money orher, or any material signature or en dorsement to any postal money order issued by the Post-Office Depart ment, or any of its agents, for the purpose and with the intent of obtaining or receiving, directly or indirectly, or of procuring or enabling others to obtain or receive, directly or indirectly, any sum or sums of money, and thereby to defraud either the United States or any person of such sum or sums of money, or any part thereof, or shall pass, utter, or for knowingly uttering, &c. any such order with intent, &c.publish or attempt to pass, utter, or publish as true, any such forged or counterfeited postal money order with intent to defraud either the United States or any person of any sum or sums of money, knowing such postal money order, or any signature or endorsement thereon, to be so falsely forged or counterfeited, every such person shall be deemed guilty of felony, and being thereof duly convicted shall be sentenced to be imprisoned and kept at hard labor for a period of not less than two years nor more than five years, and to be fined in a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That the Postmaster-General be, Government agent on each mail steamer between San Francisco, Honolulu, Japan,and China.and he is hereby, authorized to appoint and employ on board of each of the mail steamers plying on the route between San Francisco, Japan, and China, and between San Francisco and Honolulu, (Hawaiian Islands,) a government agent in charge the United States mails, at an annual salary of two thousand dollars each per annum. Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That the Postmaster-General be, General postal agency may be established at Shanghai, and branches at other ports in China and Japan.
Pay of such postal agents, &c.and he is hereby, authorized to establish in connection with the United States mail steamship service to Japan and China a general postal agency at Shanghai, China, with such branch agencies at other ports in China and Japan as shall, in his judgment, be necessary for the prompt and efficient management of the postal service in those countries; and to pay the postal agents so appointed and employed a reasonable compensation for their services, in addition to the necessary expenses for rent, furniture, clerk hire, and so forth, to be allowed at each agency for conduct ing the postal business, a report on which shall be embraced in the annual Report.report of the Postmaster-General. 196 Superintendent of foreign mails and additional clerks authorized.
Salary. Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* That for the more efficient management of the increased postal business connected with the foreign mail service, the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint in his department a superintendent of foreign mails at an annual salary of three thousand dollars, and also three additional clerks for that branch Salary of superintendent of money-order system.of the postal service, to wit: one of class four, and two of class three; and that the salary of the superintendent of the money-order system shall be three thousand dollars per annum.
Chief of division for deadletter office authorized. Salary. Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint in the office of the third assistant postmaster-general, a chief of division for the dead-letter office, at a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum. Penalty upon persons employed in any post-office, &c. for knowingly using, &c. to prepay postage, any stamp or stamped envelope already so used; for removing, &c. cancelling marks, with intent, &c. for removing from letters, &c. stamps, &c. with intent, &c.
Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* That, if any person employed in any department of the post-office establishment of the United States shall, wilfully and knowingly, use or caused to be used in prepayment of postage any postage stamp or stamped envelope issued or which may hereafter be issued by authority of any act of Congress or of the Postmaster-General which has already been once used for a like purpose, or shall remove or attempt to remove the cancelling or defacing marks from any such postage stamp or stamped envelope with intent to use or cause the use of the same a second time, or to sell or offer to sell the same, or shall remove from letters or other mail matter deposited in or received at a post-office the stamps attached to the same in payment of postage, with intent to use the same a second time for a like purpose, or to sell or offer to sell the same, every such offender shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of felony, and shall be imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than three years.
Penalty upon persons not employed in postoffice for committing foregoing offences. Sec. 11. *And be it further enacted,* That if any person not employed in any department of the post-office establishment of the United States shall commit any of the offences described in the preceding section of this act, every such person shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than one year, or by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each offence, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Sales of postage stamps, &c. at discount, limited in amount, and as to persons who may sell. 1864, ch. 197, § 9. Vol. xiii. p. 337. Sec. 12. *And be it further enacted,* That section nine of an act of Congress, approved July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, authorizing the sales of postage stamps and stamped envelopes at a discount, be so modified that the quantities of each sold at any one time to the same party shall not exceed one hundred dollars in value; and that such sales shall be restricted to certain designated agents who will agree to sell again without discount under rules to be fixed by the Postmaster-General.
Letters, &c. concerning lotteries, &c. not to be deposited in any post-office to be sent by mail. Sec. 13. *And be it further enacted,* That it shall not be lawful to deposit in a post-office, to be sent by mail, any letters or circulars concerning lotteries, so-called gift concerts, or other similar enterprises offering prizes of any kind on any pretext whatever. Blank agency for Post-Office Department established at Washington. Superintendent and assistants, and their salaries.
Other blank agencies abolished. Sec. 14. *And be it further enacted,* That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to establish a blank agency for the Post-Office Department, to be located in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, and to appoint one superintendent at an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars, one assistant superintendent at an annual salary of sixteen hundred dollars, and three other assistants at an annual salary of one thousand dollars each, and two laborers at an annual salary of seven hundred and twenty dollars each; and all other blank agencies are hereby abolished.
Postal orders on foreign countries for exchange of small sums of money. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized to conclude arrangements with the post departments of foreign countries, with which international postal conventions have been or shall be concluded, for the exchange of small sums of 197money by means of postal orders, the maximum amount of which shall not exceed that fixed by law for domestic money orders, at such rates of exchange and under such rules and regulations as he may deem expedient; and that the expense incurred in establishing and conducting such system The failure to institute a suit for two years against defaulting postmaster, not to discharge his sureties. 1826, ch. 64, § 3.
Vol. iv. p. 108. Proviso. 1862, ch. 139. Vol. xii. p. 530.of exchange may be paid out of the proceeds of the money-order business. Sec. 16. *And be it further enacted,* That the proviso in section three of the act approved March three, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, entitled “An act to reduce into one the several acts establishing and regulating the Post-Office Department,” be, and the same is hereby, repealed: *Provided,* That nothing herein contained shall repeal any of the provisions of the act approved July eleven, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled “An act in relation to the Post-Office Department.
” Sec. 17. *And be it further enacted,* That if on the final settlement of Sureties to be discharged if suit is not brought within, &c.the account of any postmaster it shall appear that such postmaster is in debted to the United States, and suit shall not be instituted within three years after the close of such account, then, and in that case, the sureties on the bond of such postmaster shall not be liable to the United States. Sec. 18. *And be it further enacted,* That copies of the quarterly Certified copies of returns and papers to be evidence in criminal cases in United States courts. 1836, ch. 270, § 15.
Vol. v. p. 83.returns of postmasters, and of any papers pertaining to the accounts in the office of the auditor of the treasury for the Post-Office Department, certified by him under his seal of office, shall be admitted as evidence in the courts of the United States in criminal prosecutions, in the same manner as the same are now admitted in civil cases, as provided in section fifteen of an act entitled “An act to change the organization of the Post-Office Department, and to provide more effectually for the settlement of the accounts thereof,” approved July second, eighteen hundred and thirty-six.
Sec. 19. *And be it further enacted,* That in all suits for the recovery In suits to recover balances due from postmasters, what to be sufficient evidence of a demand upon the postmaster.of balances due from postmasters, a copy, duly certified under the seal of the auditor of the treasury for the Post-Office Department, of the statement of any postmaster, special agent, or other person employed by the Postmaster-General or the said auditor for that purpose, that he has mailed a letter to such delinquent postmaster at the post-office where the indebtedness accrued, or at his last and usual place of abode, and that a sufficient time has elapsed in the ordinary course of mail to have reached its destination, and has not received payment of such balance within the time designated in his instructions, shall be received as sufficient evidence in the courts of the United States or other courts that a demand has been made on such delinquent postmaster: *Provided, nevertheless,* That when the account of a late postmaster has been once adjusted and settled, and Further demand not necessary, when, &c.a demand made for the balance appearing to be due, and afterwards allowances shall be made or credits entered on the account, it shall not be necessary to make a further demand for the new balance found to be due.
Sec. 20. *And be it further enacted,* That the Postmaster-General is Uniform dress may be prescribed for lettercarriers. Penalty for those not lettercarriers, &c. wearing the uniform.hereby authorized to prescribe a uniform dress to be worn by the letter-car riers at the several free delivery offices, and that any person not connected with this branch of the service who shall wear the uniform that may be prescribed in accordance herewith, shall be deemed guilty of a mis demeanor and being convicted thereof, shall, for every such offence, be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both, in the discretion of the court before which such con viction shall be had.
Approved, July 27, 1868.