Chapter 123.
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CHAP. 123.— An act to modify the postal money-order system, and for other purposes. Mar. 3, 1883. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * Issue of money-orders without corresponding advices, authorized, known as “postal note.”Fee of 3 cents charged for issue, etc.Postal note payable to bearer. That for the transmission of small sums under five dollars through the mails the Postmaster-General may authorize postmasters at money-order offices to issue money-orders, without corresponding advices, on an engraved form to be prescribed and furnished by him; and a money-order issued on such new form shall be designated and known as a “postal note,” and a fee of three cents shall be charged for the issue thereof.
Every postmaster who shall issue a postal note, under the authority of the Postmaster General, shall make the same payable to bearer, when duly receipted, at any money-order office which the remitter thereof may select, and a postal note FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 123. 1883. 527 shall in like manner be payable to bearer when presented at the office of issue; and after a postal note has once been paid, to whomsoever it has been paid, the United States shall not be liable for any further claim for the amount thereof; but a postal note shall become invalid and notPostal note to become invalid, when.Application for issue of duplicate, etc. payable upon the expiration of three calendar months from the last day of the month during which the same was issued; and the holder, to obtain the amount of an invalid postal note, must forward it to the superintendent of the money-order system at Washington, District of Columbia, together with an application, in such manner and form as the Postmaster-General may prescribe, for a duplicate thereof, payable to such holder; and an additional fee of three cents shall be charged and exacted for the issue of the duplicate.
Sec. 2. That the provisions of section thirty-eight hundred and thirty-four,Provisions of—[R. S. 3834, 750](/us/rs/s3834/750).[R. S. 4027, 777](/us/rs/s4027/777).[R. S. 4030, 777](/us/rs/s4030/777).[R. S. 4039, 778](/us/rs/s4039/778).[R. S. 4041, 778](/us/rs/s4041/778).[R. S. 4042, 778](/us/rs/s4042/778).[R. S. 4043, 779](/us/rs/s4043/779).[R. S. 4044, 779](/us/rs/s4044/779).[R. S. 4045, 779](/us/rs/s4045/779).[R. S. 4046, 779](/us/rs/s4046/779).[R. S. 4048, 780](/us/rs/s4048/780) made applicable to postal notes. title forty-six, chapter one, and the provisions of sections four thousand and twenty seven, four thousand and thirty, four thousand and thirty-nine, four thousand and forty-one, four thousand and forty-two, four thousand and forty-three, four thousand and forty-four, four thousand and forty-five, four thousand and forty-six, and four thousand and forty-eight, title forty-six, chapter thirteen, of the Revised Statutes, edition of eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, shall be deemed and taken to be applicable to postal notes as well as to money-orders; and that in addition to the authority granted by section four thousand and forty-eight of said Revised Statutes to the Postmaster-General to pay out of the proceeds of the money-order business the cost of stationery and such incidental expenses as are necessary for the transaction of that business, he is hereby authorized to pay out of the proceeds of said business the compensation of an agent and the necessary assistantsAgent, assistants; compensation. to distribute postal notes to postmasters, and also the necessary incidental expenses of the agency; and such agent shall, Before entering upon his duties, give bond for the faithful performance thereof in suchBond. sum and form and with such security as the Postmaster-General may approve.
And all blanks, blank-books, and printed or engraved matterBlanks, blankbooks, etc., obtained from lowest responsible bidder, etc. supplied to postmasters by the Postmaster-General or used in his department for the transaction of the money-order business shall be obtained from the lowest responsible bidders for furnishing printed and engraved matter, respectively, under separate advertisements calling for proposals to furnish the same for a period of four years, upon such conditions as the Postmaster-General may prescribe: *Provided,* That*Proviso*. the Public Printer and the Chief of the Bureau of Engraving and PrintingPublic Printer and Bureau of Engraving and Printing may submit estimates, etc. of the Treasury Department shall submit, respectively, estimates of the cost of furnishing such printed and engraved matter as may be required for use in the money-order business, and they shall furnish such printed and engraved matter whenever upon their estimates of cost the expenditure therefor will be less than upon proposals made as above provided for.
Sec. 3. That a money-order shall not be issued for more than oneMoney order; amount of issue. hundred dollars, and that the fees for money-orders shall be as follows, to wit: For orders not exceeding ten dollars, eight cents. For orders exceeding ten dollars and not exceeding fifteen dollars, ten cents.Rates of fees. For orders exceeding fifteen dollars and not exceeding thirty dollars, fifteen cents. For orders exceeding thirty dollars and not exceeding forty-dollars, twenty cents.
For orders exceeding forty dollars and not exceeding fifty dollars, twenty-five cents. For orders exceeding fifty dollars and not exceeding sixty dollars, thirty cents. For orders exceeding sixty dollars and not exceeding seventy-dollars, thirty-five cents. 528 For orders exceeding seventy dollars and not exceeding eighty dollars, forty cents. For orders exceeding eighty dollars and not exceeding one hundred dollars, forty-five cents. Sec. 4. Compensation of clerks to postmasters, at certain money -order offices.
That postmasters at money-order post-offices whose annual salary is not less than three thousand dollars may be-allowed by the Postmaster-General to employ such number of clerks in the transaction of their money-order business, and at such rates of compensation, respectively, as be may deem expedient; arid at all other money-order Compensation for clerical labor in money-order business, etc.post-offices the compensation for the clerical labor employed in the money-order business, including the issue and payment of postal notes, shall be three and one-half cents for each domestic or international money-order issued, paid, or repaid, and one cent for each postal note issued, and three-quarters of one cent for each postal note paid thereat, and in case any office is designated to receive on deposit surplus money-order funds from other post-offices, three and one-half cents for each certificate issued in acknowledgment of the receipt of such funds ; but the total allowance made by the Postmaster-General for money-order clerks at any first-class office shall be based, as nearly as possible, upon the number of transactions, at the same rate for each transaction as is above fixed for the compensation of clerical labor at other post-offices, Compensation paid out of fees, etc.*Proviso*.Allowances to certain postmasters for pay of clerical labor.and the compensation of the postmasters and the clerks provided for in this section shall be paid out of the. fees received for the issue of money-orders and postal notes: *Provided,* That in addition to an allowance for clerical service at the rates above mentioned, the Postmaster-General may allow to the postmaster at New York, New York, to the postmaster at San Francisco, California, to the postmaster at Portland, Oregon, and to the postmaster at each international exchange office, such amount in each case, out of the proceeds of the money-order business, as he may deem expedient to enable these postmasters to obtain the clerical labor necessary for the performance of such special duties as are imposed upon them by the operations of the money-order system, and *Proviso*.Credit allowed only upon voucher, etc.are not required of other postmasters: *And provided further,**Proviso*.
That credit shall not be allowed .to a postmaster at a first-class office on account of any expenditure in payment of clerical service in the money-order business of his office except upon a voucher duly receipted by the person by whom such service shall have been performed: *And provided further,* That the salaries of postmasters, as fixed by law, shall be deemed and taken to be full compensation for the responsibility and risk incurred and for the personal services rendered by them as custodians of the money-order and other funds of the Post-Office department.
Sec. 5. Statement of amount of unpaid money-orders outstanding, etc., seven years or more from date of issue. That the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post-Office department shall, as soon as practicable after the close of the present fiscal year, transmit to the Postmaster-General a statement of the aggregate amount of all money-orders which at the beginning of said year shall have remained unpaid for a period of seven years or more after the date of their issue; and as soon as practicable after the close of each fiscal Statement, annually, of amount of money-orders and postal notes remaining unpaid for less than eight and not less than seven years.Deposited to credit of Treasurer U.
S., etc.Payment of duplicate, issued, etc.year thereafter he shall transmit in like manner a statement of the aggregate amount of all money-orders and postal notes which at the commencement of such year shall have remained unpaid for less than eight and not less than seven years after the date of their issue; and the Postmaster-General shall cause the aggregate amount of such unpaid orders and postal notes as reported annually by the Auditor to be deposited in the Treasury, to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, for the service of the Post-Office Department.
But nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to prevent, the payment, out of current money-order funds, by duplicate issued under the authority of the Postmaster-General, of any lost or invalid money order or of any invalid postal note more than seven years old, upon the presentation of satisfactory proof to the Postmaster-General of the ownership of such money-order or upon the production of such invalid postal note in FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 123, 124. 1883. 529 accordance with the provisions of section one of this act; and the total amount of such lost or invalid money-orders and invalid postal notes more than seven years old paid during each year by duplicate shall be deducted from the aggregate amount of unpaid money-orders and postal notes to be deposited at the close thereof in the Treasury as hereinbefore provided.
Sec. 6. That all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act shall be void in so far as they may apply to cases which may arise under this act: *Provided,* That the provisions of this act shall be*Proviso*. put into operation by the Postmaster-General within six months after the date of its approval by the President. Approved, March 3, 1883.