Chapter 259.
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CHAP. 259.— AN ACT making appropriations for the service of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and for other purposes.June 17, 1878. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of five United States of America in Congress assembled*,Appropriations.Postal service. That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated for the service of the Post-Office Department for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, out of any money in the Treasury arising from the revenues of said department, in conformity to the act of July second, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, as follows:
Office of the Postmaster-General.—For mail depredations andMail depredations. special agents,one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and not exceeding seven thousand five hundred dollars of this amount may be expended for tees to United States attorneys, marshals, clerks of courts, and counsel necessarily employed by special agents of the Post-Office *Pay of special agents.*R. S. 4017, p. 780.Department, subject to approval by the Attorney-General: *Provided*, That hereafter the per diem pay of all special agents appointed under section forty hundred and seventeen, Revised Statutes, shall only be allowed for their actual and necessary expenses not exceeding five dollars per diem when they are actually engaged in traveling on the business of the department *Salaries of ten agents and nine assistant superintendents of railway service.*except such, not exceeding ten in number, as are appointed by the Postmaster-General to duty at such important points as he may designate, and nine assistant superintendents of railway mail service, who may be detailed to act as superintendents of division of railway mail service who shall each receive a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, *Proviso.*per annum and no more: *And provided further*, That twenty thousand dollars of this appropriation, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, may be used in paying rewards for apprehension of mail robbers. 141 FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 259. 1878. For preparation and publication of post-route maps, thirty-five thousandPost-route maps.*Sale of maps.* dollars; and the Postmaster-General may authorize the publication and sale of said maps to individuals at the cost thereof, the proceeds of said sales to be applied as a further appropriation for said purpose. For advertising, sixty thousand dollars: *Provided*, That the Postmaster-GeneralAdvertising. shall cause advertisements of all general mail-lettings of each State and Territory to be conspicuously posted up in each post-office*Advertisements to be posted up.* in the State and Territory embraced in said advertisements for at least sixty days before the time of such general letting; and no other advertisement of such lettings shall be required; but this provision shall not apply to any other than general mail lettings.
For miscellaneous items in the office of the Postmaster-General, oneMiscellaneous items. thousand five hundred dollars. Office of the First Assistant Postmaster General.—For Postmasters.compensation to postmasters, seven million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That the compensation of postmasters of the fourth class shall be the*Compensation of postmasters of fourth class.* whole of the box-rents collected at their offices and commissions on unpaid letter-postage collected, on amounts received from wastepaper, dead newspapers, printed matter, and twine, sold, and on postage-stamps, stamped envelopes, postal cards, and newspaper and periodical stamps canceled as postages on matter actually mailed at their offices, at the following rate, namely:
On the first one hundred dollars or less per quarter, sixty per centum; on all over one hundred dollars and not over three hundred dollars per quarter, fifty per centum; and on all over three hundred dollars per quarter, forty per centum; the. same to be ascertained and allowed by the Auditor in the settlement of the accounts of such postmasters, upon their sworn quarterly returns: *Provided*,*When exceeding *§1,000, *salary to be adjusted.* That when the compensation of any postmaster of this class shall reach one thousand dollars per annum, exclusive of commissions on money-order business, and when the returns to the Auditor for four quarters shall show him to be entitled to a compensation in excess of that amount under section seven of the act of July twelfth, eighteen hundred and1876, ch. 179,19 Stat., 81. seventy six, the Auditor shall report such fact to the Postmaster-General, who shall assign him to his proper class, and fix his salary as provided by said section: *Provided further*, That in no case shall there be*Limit to compensation.* allowed to any postmaster of this class a compensation greater than two hundred and fifty dollars in any one quarter, exclusive of money-order commissions.
That in any case where the Postmaster-General shall be satisfied that*When commissions may be withheld.* a postmaster has made a false return of business, it shall be within his discretion to withhold commissions on such returns, and to allow any compensation that under the circumstances he may deem reasonable: *Provided*, That the form of affidavit to be made by postmasters upon*Affidavit.* their returns shall be such as may be prescribed by the Postmaster-General; and any postmaster who shall make a false return to the Auditor,*Penalty for falsa.* for the purpose of fraudulently increasing his compensation under the provisions of this or any other act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year, or punished b.y both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; and no postmaster of any class, or other person connected with the postal service, intrusted with the sale or custody of postage-stamps, stamped envelopes, or postal cards, shall use or dispose of them in the payment of debts or in the purchase of merchandise or other*Unlawful use of stamps, etc.* salable articles, or pledge or hypothecate the same, or sell or dispose of them except for cash, or sell or dispose of postage-stamps or postal cards for any larger or less sum than the values indicated on their faces, or sell or dispose of stamped envelopes for a larger or less sum than is charged therefor by the Post-Office Department for like quantities, or sell or dispose of postage-stamps, stamped envelopes, or postal 142 cards otherwise than as provided by law and the regulations of the Post-Office*Penalty.* Department; and any postmaster, or other person connected with the postal service, who shall violate any of these provisions shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year.
For compensation to clerks in post-offices, three million four hundredClerks. and sixty-five thousand dollars. For payment to letter-carriers, one million eight hundred and seventy-fiveLetter-carriers. thousand dollars. For wrapping-paper, twenty thousand dollars. For wrapping-twine, forty-five thousand dollars.Wrapping-paper.Twine.Marking-stamps.Letter-balances.Rent, etc.Furniture.Stationery.Miscellaneous.Inland mail transportation.Star routes. For marking and rating stamps, twelve thousand dollars.
For letter-balances and scales, three thousand five hundred dollars. For rent, light, and fuel, three hundred and eighty thousand dollars. For office furniture, twenty thousand dollars. For stationery, fifty thousand dollars. For miscellaneous and incidental items, eighty thousand dollars. Office of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General.—For inland mail transportation, namely: For transportation on star routes, five million three hundred and ninety thousand six hundred and seventy-three dollars.
For transportation by steamboat routes, seven hundred thousand dollars.Steamboats. For transportation by railroad, nine million one hundred thousandRailroads. dollars: one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars of which sum may be used by the Postmaster-General to obtain proper facilities from the great trunk lines of railroads ibr the railway post-office service during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine: *One agent for railway service.**Salary of.**Provided*, That hereafter the Postmaster General may appoint one agent only to superintend the postal railway service, who shall be paid, out of the appropriation for the transportation of the mail on railways, a salary at the rate of three thousand five hundred dollars a year, and no *Reduction of railway compensation.*allowances for traveling or incidental expenses: *And provided further*, That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to readjust the compensation to be paid from and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, for transportation of mails on railroad routes by reducing the compensation to all railroad companies for the transportation of mails five per centum per annum from the rates for the transportation of mails, on the basis of the average weight fixed 1876, ch. 179,19 Stat., 79.and allowed by the first section of an act entitled “An act making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, and for other purposes”, approved July twelfth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six.
For compensation to railway post-office clerks, one million three hundredRailway post office clerks. and twenty-five thousand dollars. For route-agents, one million and thirty thousand dollars.Route-agents.Mail-route messengers.Local agents.Mail-messengers. Locks and keys. Mailbags, etc. For mail-route messengers, one hundred and seventy-one thousand dollars. For local agents, one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars. For mail-messengers, six hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.
For mail-locks and keys, fifteen thousand dollars. For Mailbags and mailbag catchers, one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars. Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster-General.—For manufacturePostage-stamps. of adhesive postage-stamps, of official stamps, and of newspaper and periodical stamps, eighty thousand dollars. For pay of agent and assistants to distribute stamps, and expenses of the agency, eight thousand one hundred dollars. For manufacture of stamped envelopes and newspaper-wrappers, fourStamped envelopes. hundred and seventy thousand dollars. 143 FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 259, 260. 1878. For pay of agent and assistants to distribute stamped envelopes and newspaper-wrappers, and expenses of agency, sixteen thousand dollars. For manufacture of postal cards, one hundred and seventy thousandPostal cards. dollars. For pay of agent and assistants to distribute postal cards, and expenses of agency, six thousand one hundred dollars. For registered-package envelopes, locks, and seals, forty thousand dollars.Registered-pack-age envelopes. For office-envelopes and for dead-letter envelopes, twenty-five thousandOffice envelopes. dollars.
For ship, steamboat, and way letters, six thousand dollars.Ship letters. For engraving, printing, and binding drafts and warrants, one thousandDrafts and warrants. five hundred dollars. Office of Superintendent of Foreign Mails.—For transportationForeign mail transportation. of foreign mails, two hundred and forty thousand dollars. For balances due foreign countries, forty thousand dollars, includingBalances due foreign countries. the United States’ portion of the expense of the International Office organized under the provisions of article fifteen of the General Postal Union treaty concluded at Berne, October ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four.
Sec. 2. That if the revenue of the Post Office Department shall beAppropriation in addition to revenue. insufficient to meet the appropriations made by this act, then the sum of four million two hundred and twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-four dollars and seventy-two cents, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to supply deficiencies in revenue of the Post Office Department for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine: *Provided*, That the disbursements*Disbursement for maps.* of the moneys appropriated for the preparation and publication of post-route maps be made by a regular bonded disbursing-officer of the Post-Office Department, according to the laws, rules, and customs as recognized by the accounting-officers of the Treasury Department: *And provided also*, *payrolls, topographers’ office.*That the payrolls of the draughtsmen, clerks, messengers, and other employees of the topographer’s office, shall be regularly made out by the chief of the topographer’s office, examined and checked by the appointment-clerk of the-Post-Office Department, and the payments thereof made by a bonded disbursing-officer of the Post-Office Department: *And also provided further*, That all expenditures made by the chief of the topographer’s office for the preparation and publication of post-route maps shall *Vouchers for expenditures for maps, etc*be accounted for by vouchers, accompanied by affidavit, and the moneys therefor shall be disbursed by a disbursing-officer of the Post-Office Department; and all of the above disbursements shall be paid out of the appropriation for the preparation and publication of post-route maps.
Sec. 3. That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of Repeals.this act are hereby repealed. Approved, June 17, 1878.