Chapter 342. making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 342.— An Act making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes.March 3, 1885. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Appropriations for service, Post-Office Department. 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 eighty-six, out of any money in the Treasury arising from the revenues of said Department, in conformity to the act of July second, eighteen1836, vol 5, p. 81. hundred and thirty six, as follows:
Office of the Postmaster General.—For mail depredations andItems. post-office inspectors, including amounts necessary for fees to United States marshals and attorneys, two hundred thousand dollars: and of this sum three thousand dollars shall be paid the chief post-office inspector; and post-office inspectors shall be allowed four dollars per day, in lieu of the charges now permitted, for personal expenses: and not exceeding five thousand dollars of this amount maybe expended for fees to United States attorneys, marshals, clerks of courts, and counsel necessarily employed by post-office inspectors of the Post-Office Department, subject to approval by the Attorney-General.
For advertising, twenty thousand dollars.Advertising.Miscellaneous. For miscellaneous items in the office of the Postmaster-General, one thousand five hundred dollars. Office of the First Assistant Postmaster-General.—For compensationPostmasters. to postmasters, twelve million three hundred thousand dollars. For compensation to clerks in post-offices, five million one hundredClerks. find fifty thousand dollars. And postmasters are authorized, with the approval of the Postmaster-General, to assign at any time any clerk or employee of their respective post-offices to duty in any branch thereof: *Provided always*, That any employee shall be paid from money-order funds for such time as he is engaged in money-order*Proviso*. work.
For payment to letter-carriers and the incidental expenses of the free-deliveryLetter-carriers. system, four million four hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars; forty five thousand dollars of which may be used, in the discretion of the Postmaster-General, for the establishment, under existing law, of the free-delivery system in cities where it is not now established.Free letter-delivery. For wrapping-paper, thirty-five thousand dollars.Wrapping-paper. For wrapping-twine, eighty-five thousand dollars.Twine. 386 For post marking, canceling, and rating stamps, and ink and pads,Canceling stamps, etc. twenty thousand dollars.
For letter-balances, test-weights, and scales, twenty thousand dollars.Balances, weights, and scales.Rent, light, fuel. For rent, light, and fuel, four hundred and ninety thousand dollars. That the Postmaster-General may in the disbursement of this appropriation, apply part thereof to the purpose of leasing premises for use tor post-offices of the first, second, and third classes at a reasonable annual rental, to be paid quarterly for a term not exceeding five years; Leasing premises for post-offices of first, second, and third classes.and whenever any building or part of a building under lease becomes unfit for use as a post-office, no rent shall be paid until the same shall be put in a satisfactory condition by the owner thereof for occupation as a post-office, or the lease may be canceled, at the option of the Postmaster-General; and a lease shall cease and terminate whenever a post-office can be moved into a Government building For safes and other office furniture, thirty thousand dollars.Safes; furniture.Stationery.Miscellaneous.
For stationery, sixty-five thousand dollars. For miscellaneous and incidental expenses of post-offices, including repairs, gas fixtures, and telegrams, eighty thousand dollars. Office of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General.—ForInland transportation of mails. inland mail transportation, namely: For transportation on railroad Railroads, failure to transport mails; penalty.routes, fourteen million and ten thousand dollars; and if any railroad company shall fail or refuse to transport the mails, when required by the Post-Office Department, upon the fastest train or trains run upon said road, said company shall have its pay reduced fifty per centum of the amount provided by law.
For railway post-office-car service, one million seven hundred andRailway post-office car service. sixty-five thousand and twenty-six dollars. For necessary and special facilities on trunk lines, two hundred andSpecial facilities on trunk lines. sixty-six thousand seven hundred and sixty-four dollars. For inland transportation by steamboat routes, six hundred and fifteenSteamboat. thousand dollars. The Postmaster General is authorized to contract for inland and foreign steamboat mail service, when it can be combined in one route, where the foreign office or offices are not more than two hundred miles distant from the domestic office, on the same terms and conditions as inland steamboat service, and pay for the same out of the appropriation for inland steamboat service.
For inland transportation by star routes, five million nine hundredStar routes. thousand dollars. For railway post-office clerks, four million six hundred and eighty-twoRailway post-office clerks. thousand three hundred dollars. For mail-messengers, nine hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.Mail-messengers. For mail locks and keys, twenty thousand dollars.Locks and keys.Mailbags. For mailbags and mail bag catchers, including full compensation (not exceeding five hundred dollars) for the whole and exclusive right of letters patent numbered two hundred and nine thousand eight hundred and twenty, granted November twelfth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, to A.
V. Lunger, for a clamp for mailbag cranes, two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. For miscellaneous items, one thousand dollars.Items.Third Assistant Postmaster-General.Stamps. Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster-General.—For manufacture of adhesive postage stamps and of newspaper and periodical stamps, one hundred and seventy four thousand dollars. That upon all matter of the first class, as defined by chapter one hundred and eighty of the laws of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred 1879, vol. 20, ch. 180, p. 357.and seventy-nine, entitled “An act making appropriations for the service of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty, and for other purposes,” and by that 1883, vol. 22, ch. 92, p. 455.act declared subject to postage at the rate of three cents for each half-ounce or fraction thereof and reduced by the act of March third. 387 eighteen hundred and eighty-three, .to two cents for each half ounce orTwo cents for half-ounce letters changed to two cents for ounce.Drop-letters without free delivery, one cent per ounce. fraction thereof, postage shall be charged, on and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, at the rate of two cents for each ounce or fraction thereof; and drop letters shall be mailed at the rate of two cents per ounce or fraction thereof, including delivery at letter-carrier offices, and one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof where free delivery by carrier is not established.
That all publications of the second class, except as provided in section twenty-five of said act, when sent by the publisher thereof and from the office of publication, including sample copies, or when sent from a news agency to actual subscribers thereto, or to other news agents, shall, on and after July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, be entitled to transmission through the mails at one cent a pound or a fraction thereof, such postage to be prepaid as now provided by law.
And any article or item in any newspaper or other publication may be marked for observation, except by written or printed words, without increase of postage. For pay of agent and assistants to distribute stamps, and expensesDistributing agents. of the agency, eight thousand one hundred dollars. For manufacture of stamped envelopes and newspaper-wrappers andStamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, and letter sheets.Distributing agents. letter-sheets, seven hundred and forty-five thousand dollars.
For pay of agent and assistants to distribute stamped envelopes, newspaper-wrappers, and letter-sheets, and expenses of agency, sixteen thousand dollars. For manufacture of postal cards, two hundred and thirty-nine thousand Postal cards.dollars. For pay of agent and assistants to distribute postal cards, and expensesDistributing agents. of agency, seven thousand three hundred dollars. For registered-package envelopes, locks and seals, and for office envelopes,Registered-pack-age envelopes, etc. and for dead-letter envelopes, one hundred and forty thousand dollars.
For ship, steamboat, and way letters, two thousand dollars.Ship, steamboat, and way letters.Engraving, etc. For engraving, printing, and binding drafts and warrants, two thousand dollars. For miscellaneous items, one thousand dollars.Miscellaneous.Foreign mails. Office of Superintendent of Foreign Mails.—For transportation of foreign mails, including railway transit across the Isthmus of Panama, eight hundred thousand dollars. And the Postmaster-GeneralPostmaster-general to contract for transportation of. is hereby authorized to enter into contracts for the transportation of any part of said foreign mails, after legal advertisement with the lowest responsible bidder, at a rate not exceeding fifty cents a nautical mile on the trip each way actually travelled between the terminal points: *Provided*,*Proviso*.To be on American steamships.
That the mails so contracted shall be carried on American steamships, and that the aggregate of such contracts shall not exceed one-half of the sum hereby appropriated. For balances due foreign countries, seventy-five thousand dollars, includingBalance due foreign countries. the United States’ portion of the expenses of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union Convention. Sec. 2. That if the revenues of the Post Office Department shall beAppropriation to supply deficiencies in the revenue of Post-Office Department. insufficient to meet the appropriations made by this act, a sum equal to such deficiency of the revenues of said Department is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to supply the said deficiencies in the revenue of the Post Office Department for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six.
Sec. 3. That a special stamp of the face valuation of ten cents maySpecial stamp may be issued. be provided and issued, whenever deemed advisable or expedient, in such form and bearing such device as may meet the approval of the Postmaster-General, which, when attached to a letter, in addition to the lawful postage thereon, the delivery of which is to be at a free delivery 388 office, or at any city, town, or village containing a population of four thousand or over, according to the Federal census, shall be regarded as entitling such letter to immediate delivery within the carrier limit of any free delivery office which may be designated by the Postmaster-General as a special delivery office, or within one mile of the post office at any other office coming within the provisions of this section which may in like manner be designated as a special delivery office.
Sec. 4. That such specially stamped letters shall be delivered fromSpecially stamped letters to be delivered. seven o’clock ante meridian up to twelve o’clock midnight at offices designated by the Postmaster-General under section three of this act. Sec. 5. That to provide for the immediate delivery of letters bearingPersons may be employed to deliver letters bearing special stamp. the special stamp, the postmaster at any’ office which may come within the provisions of this act may, with the approval of the Postmaster-General, employ such person or persons as may actually be required for such service, who, upon the delivery of such letter, will procure a receipt from the party addressed, or some one authorized to receive it, in a book to be furnished for the purpose, which shall, when not in use, be kept in the post office, and at all times subject to examination by an inspect or of the Department.
Sec. 6. That to provide for the payment of such persons as may be employed for this service, the postmaster at any office designated by section three of this act shall keep a record of the number of letters received at such office bearing such special stamp, which number shall correspond with the number entered in the receipt books heretofore specified; and at the end of each month he may pay to such person or persons employed a sum not exceeding eighty per centum of the face value of all such stamps received and recorded during that month: *Proviso*.*Provided*, That in no case shall the compensation so paid to any one person exceed thirty dollars per month: *And provided further*, That nothing in this act shall in any way interfere with the prompt delivery of letters as now provided by law or regulation of the Post Office Department.
Approved, March 3d, 1885.