That letters commonly known as drop or local letters, delivered through the post office or its carriers, shall be charged with postage at the rate of 2 cents where the system of free delivery is established, and 1 cent where such system is not established, for each half ounce or fraction thereof. That on newspapers and other periodical publications, not exceeding 4 ounces in weight, sent from a known office of publication to regular subscribers, postage shall be charged at the following rates per quarter, namely: on publications issued less frequently than once a week, at the rate of 1 cent for each issue; issued once a week, 5 cents; and 5 cents additional for each issue more frequent than once a week. And an additional rate shall be charged for each additional 4 ounces or fraction thereof in weight. That on mailable matter of the third class, except as herein stated, postage shall be charged at the rate of 1 cent for each 2 ounces or fraction thereof. Double these rates shall be charged for books, samples of metals, ores, minerals, and merchandise. That packages of woollen, cotton, or linen clothing, not exceeding 2 pounds in weight, may be sent through the mail to any non-commissioned officer or private in the army of the United States, if prepaid, at the rate of 1 cent for each 1 ounce or fraction thereof, subject to such regulation as the Postmaster General may prescribe. That the rate of United States postage on mail-matter sent to or received from foreign countries with which different rates have not been established by postal convention or other arrangement, when forwarded by vessels regularly employed in transporting the mail, shall be 10 cents for each half ounce or fraction thereof on letters, unless reduced by order of the Postmaster General; 2 cents each on newspapers; and not exceeding 2 cents per each 2 ounces, or fraction thereof, on pamphlets, periodicals, books, and other printed matter, which postage shall be prepaid on matter sent and collected on matter received; and to avoid loss to the United States in the payment of balances, the Postmaster General may collect the unpaid postage on letters from foreign countries in coin or its equivalent. That all letters conveyed by vessels not regularly employed in carrying the mail shall, if for delivery within the United States, be rated with double postage, to cover the fee paid to the vessel. That to facilitate letter correspondence and provide for the transmission of the mails, at a reduced rate of postage, of messages, orders, notices, and other short communications, either printed or written in pencil or ink, the Postmaster General shall be, and he is hereby, authorised and directed to furnish and issue to the public, with postage stamps impressed upon them, "postal cards," manufactured of good stiff paper, of such quality, form, and size as he shall deem best adapted for general use; which cards shall be used as a means of postal intercourse, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Postmaster-General, and when so used shall be transmitted through the mails at a postage charge of 1 cent each, including the cost of their manufacture. That any person who shall forge or counterfeit, or knowingly utter or use any forged or counterfeited postage stamp of any foreign government, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than 2 nor more than 10 years, at the discretion of the court. That all mail-matter not herein-before specially made free must be prepaid by postagestamps. That when the writer of any letter on which the postage is prepaid shall indorse upon the outside thereof his name and address, such letter shall not be advertised, but after remaining uncalled for at the office to which it is directed thirty days, or the time the writer may direct, shall be returned to him without additional charge for postage, and if not then delivered shall be treated as a dead-letter. That prepaid and free letters shall be forwarded from one post office to another, at the request of the party addressed, without additional charge for postage. That no person shall carry any letter or packet on board any vessel which carries the mail otherwise than in such mail, except as provided in section two hundred and thirtynine; and for every such offence the party offending shall forfeit and pay fifty dollars. That no vessel departing from the United States for any foreign port shall receive on board or convey any letter or packet originating in the United States which has not been regularly received from the post office at the port of departure, and which does not relate to the cargo of said vessel, except as provided in section two hundred and thirty-nine ; and every collector, or other officer of the port empowered to grant clearances, shall require from the master of such vessel, as a condition of clearance, an oath or affirmation that he has not received on board, has not under his care or control, and will not receive or convey any letter or packet contrary to the provisions of this section. That no vessel arriving within any port or collection-district of the United States shall be allowed to make entry or break bulk until all letters on board are delivered at the nearest post office, and the master thereof has signed and sworn to the following declaration, before the collector or other proper customs officer: “I, A.B., master of the, arriving from, and now lying in the port of do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have, to the best of my knowledge and belief, delivered, at the post office, at —, every letter, and every bag, packet, or parcel of letters, which were on board the said vessel during her last voyage, or which were in my possession or under my power or control.” And any master who shall break bulk before he has delivered such letters shall, or conviction thereof, forfeit not exceeding one hundred dollars for every such offence, onehalf to the officer making the seizure, and the other to the use of the United States. That any special agent of the Post-office Department, when instructed by the Postmaster General to make examinations and seizures, and the collector or other customs officer of any port without special instructions, shall carefully search all vessels for letters which may be on board or which have been conveyed contrary to law. "Importations through the "Mail.-The Postmaster General complains that registered letters and packages received "through the mail from foreign countries are seized and detained by the collector of "customs at the port in the United States at which they first arrive, and requests that "measures shall be taken to prevent such alleged violations of the postal laws. "It has been agreed that collectors shall not require postmasters to deliver to them any "letter or package addressed to a person residing at another port or place where a "customs officer is stationed. A careful inspection, however, should be made by the "postmaster, and, if any such letter or package be suspected to contain dutiable articles, "the postmaster at the place of destination should be notified, in order that he may inform "the proper officer of the customs. Such letters and packages should be opened in the presence of an officer of the customs by the person to whom addressed, and any dutiable "article contained therein, not mentioned in a postal convention applicable, should be "seized and held to await the decision of this Department (United States Treasury) upon "any application which may be made for a mitigation of the forfeiture incurred." 66 That any special agent of the Post Office Department, collector, or other customs officer, or United States marshal or his deputy, may at all times seize all letters and bags, packets or parcels, containing letters, which are being carried contrary to law on board any vessel or on any post-route, and convey the same to the nearest post office, or may, by the direction of the Postmaster General or Secretary of the Treasury, detain them until two months after the final determination of all suits and proceedings which may, at any time within six months after such seizure, be brought against any person for sending or carrying such letters. That every package or parcel seized by any special agent of the Post Office Department, collector, or other customs officer, or United States marshal or his deputies, in which any letter is unlawfully concealed, shall be forfeited to the United States, and the same proceedings may be had to enforce the forfeiture as are authorised in respect to goods, wares, and merchandise forfeited for violation of the revenue laws; and all laws for the benefit and protection of customs officers making seizures for violating said revenue laws shall apply to officers making seizures for violating the postal laws. That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the conveyance or transmission of letters or packets by private hands without compensation, or by special messenger employed for the particular occasion only. That all letters inclosed in stamped envelopes (the postage-stamp in every case being of a denomination sufficient to cover the postage that would be chargeable thereon if the same were sent by mail), may be sent, conveyed, and delivered otherwise than by mail, provided such envelope shall be duly directed and properly sealed, so that the letter cannot be taken therefrom without defacing the envelope, and the date of the letter or of the transmission or receipt thereof shall be written or stamped upon the envelope. But the Postmaster General may suspend the operation of this section upon any mail-route where the public interest may require such suspension. That any person who shall knowingly and wilfully obstruct or retard the passage of the mail, or any carriage, horse, driver, or carrier, carrying the same, shall on conviction thereof, for every such offence, forfeit and pay not exceeding one hundred dollars. That any ferryman who shall delay the passage of the mail by wilful neglect or refusal to transport the same across any ferry shall, for every ten minutes such mail may be so delayed, forfeit and pay ten dollars. ACT OF JANUARY 9, 1873. CHAP. XXI.-An Act to amend the one hundred and thirty-third Section of an Act approved June eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled "An Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the Statutes relating to the Post Office "Department." That section one hundred and thirty-three of the Act entitled "An Act to revise, "consolidate, and amend the statutes relating to the Post Office Department," approved June eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, be so amended as to authorise the transmission by mail of packages of seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, and scions of any weight, for each of such packages, not exceeding four pounds, at a rate of postage of one cent for each two ounces or fractions of an ounce of such package or packages: Provided, that all mail matter of the third class must be prepaid in full in postage stamps at the office of mailing. ACT OF JUNE 23, 1874. That all mailable matter of the third class, referred to in section one hundred and thirty-three, of the Act entitled "An Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the statutes "relating to the Post Office Department," approved June 8th, 1872, may weigh not exceeding four pounds for each package thereof, and postage shall be charged thereon st the rate of one cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof; but nothing herein contained shall be held to change or amend section one hundred and thirty-four of said Act. of frames Knees and girders for ships Ironwork for carts and waggons Hinges; clamps; large bolts; braces, and other fastenings of doors and windows, not polished or turned Gratings (solid); beds; seats and furniture for gardens and other kinds, with or without ornaments or adjuncts, in cast iron, steel, or copper N.B.-Axles, springs, and tires for wheels are not included in the above category, but are classed mong detached pieces of machinery. Small ironwares ("serrurerie ") including locks and padlocks of all sorts, bolts and hinges, in sheet iron, latches, and flat bolts, and all other articles in wrought or sheet iron for fastenings of doors or windows, and furniture, polished, filed, or turned Nails, forged by machinery Ditto, ditto, by hand Wood screws, screw-bolts, and nuts Chains and chain-cables Tools, in pure iron with or without handles Tubes in wrought-iron, welded on a mandril, or Fish-hooks (for sea fishing), tinned or not 1 51 1 22 Prohibited. 1 11 1 61 201 3 8 4 10 1 10 251 4 04 |