Chapter XXXIII. to amend the Act entitled “An Act to reduce the Rates of Postage, to limit the Use and correct the Abuse of the franking Privilege, and for the Prevention of Frauds on the Revenues of the Post-Office Department,” passed third of March, eighteen hundred and forty five
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Chap. XXXIII.— An Act to amend the Act entitled “An Act to reduce the Rates of Postage, to limit the Use and correct the Abuse of the franking Privilege, and for the Prevention of Frauds on the Revenues of the Post-Office Department,” passed third of March, eighteen hundred and forty five.March 1, 1847.1315, ch. 13. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That in lieu of148TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS. Sess. 148. commissionsRates of commission.1825, ch. 64. allowed deputypostmasters by the fourteenth section of the act of the third of March, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, the Postmaster-General may allow, on the proceeds of their respective offices, a commission not exceeding the following rates on the amount received in any one year, or a due proportion thereof for less than a year:
On a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, forty per cent; on a sum over the first hundred and not exceeding four hundred dollars, thirty-three and one third per cent.; on a sum over and above the first four hundred dollars and not exceeding twenty-four hundred dollars, thirty per cent.; on a sum over twenty-four hundred dollars, twelve and one half per cent.; on all sums arising from the postage s on newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets, fifty per cent.; on the amount of postages on letters or packets received for distribution, seven per cent.;Allowances, commissions, &c., subject to provisions of forty-first section of act of 1645, ch. 43. *Provided,* that all allowances, commissions, or other emoluments shall be subject to the provisions of the forty-first section of the act which this is intended to amend; and that the annual compensation therein limited shall be computed for the fiscal year commencing on the first of July and ending the thirtieth of June each year, and that for any period less than a year the restrictions contained in said section shall be held to apply in a due proportion for such fractional period:Compensation to deputy-postmasters. *And provided further,* That the compensation to any deputypostmaster under the foregoing provisions, to be computed upon the receipt at his office of a larger sum, shall in no case fall short of the amount to which he would be entitled under a smaller sum received at his office.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* ThatMoneys recovered from robbers ofthe mail shall lie paid to the order of Postmaster-General, for use of owner. all moneys taken from the mails of the United States by robbery, theft, or otherwise, which have come, or may hereafter come into the possession or custody of any of the agents of the Post-Office Department, or any other officers of the United States, or any other person or persons whatever, shall be paid to the order of the Postmaster-General, to be kept by him as other moneys of the Post-Office Department, to and for the use and benefit of the rightful owner, to be paid whenever satisfactory proof thereof shall be made, and upon the failure of any person in the employment of the United States to#pay over such moneys when demanded, the person so refusing shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by law against defaulting officers.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* ThatFranking privilege. all members of Congress, delegates from Territories, the Vice-President of the United States, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, shall have the power to send and receive public documents free of postage during their term of office, and that the said members and delegates shall have the power to send and receive public documents free of postage up to the first Monday of December following the expiration of their term of office.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* ThatSame subject. the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives shall have the power to receive, as well as to send, all letters and packages, not weighing over two ounces, free of postage, during their term of office. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That members of Congress shall have the power to receive, as well as to send, all letters and packages, not weighing over two ounces, free of postage up to the first Monday in December following the expiration of their term of office.
Approved, March 1, 1847.