fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. [35 Stat. L. 1131,] See R. S. sec. 3878, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 827; Act of March 3, 1879, ch. 180, sec. 20, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 831; Act of June 8, 1896, ch. 370, sec. 1, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 834. This section puts in positive form the various articles which are now excluded from the mails under the regulations of the post-office department. The law as formerly construed authorized the Postmaster-General, in his discretion, to permit liquids to be sent through the mail when SEC. 218. [Counterfeiting money orders.] Whoever, with intent to defraud, shall falsely make, forge, counterfeit, engrave, or print, or cause or procure to be falsely made, forged, counterfeited, engraved, or printed, or shall willingly aid or assist in falsely making, forging, counterfeiting, engraving, or printing, any order in imitation of or purporting to be a money order issued by the Post-Office Department, or by any postmaster or agent thereof; or whoever shall forge or counterfeit the signature of any postmaster, assistant postmaster, chief clerk, or clerk, upon or to any money order, or postal note, or blank therefor provided or issued by or under the direction of the Post-Office Department of the United States, or of any foreign country, and payable in the United States, or any material signature or indorsement thereon, or any material signature to any receipt or certificate of identification thereon; or shall falsely alter, or cause or procure to be falsely altered in any material respect, or knowingly aid or assist in falsely so altering any such money order or postal notes; or shall, with intent to defraud, pass, utter, or publish any such forged or altered money order or postal note, knowing any material signature or indorsement thereon to be false, forged, or counterfeited, or any material alteration therein to have been falsely made; or shall issue any money order or postal note without having previously received or paid the full amount of money payable therefor, with the purpose of fraudulently obtaining or receiving, or fraudulently enabling any other person, either directly or indirectly, to obtain or receive from the United States, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof, any sum of money whatever; or shall, with intent to defraud the United States, or any person, transmit or present to, or cause or procure to be transmitted or presented to, any officer or employee, or at any office of the Government of the United States, any money order or postal note, knowing the same to contain any forged or counterfeited signature to the same, or to any material indorsement, receipt, or certificate thereon, or material alteration therein unlawfully made, or to have been unlawfully issued without previous payment of the amount required to be paid upon such issue, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. [35 Stat. L. 1131.] See R. S. sec. 5463, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 957, and the Act of June 18, 1888, ch. 394, sec. 2, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 849. In combining these sections of kindred character, it has been necessary to transpose the language and to omit duplication. The section has also been enlarged properly to cover the subject and changed to permit of both fine and imprisonment. SEC. 219. [Counterfeiting postage stamps.] Whoever shall forge or counterfeit any postage stamp, or any stamp printed upon any stamped envelope, or postal card, or any die, plate, or engraving therefor; or shall make or print, or knowingly use or sell, or have in possession with intent to use or sell, any such forged or counterfeited postage stamp, stamped envelope, postal card, die, plate, or engraving; or shall make, or knowingly use or sell, or have in posses sion with intent to use or sell, any paper bearing the watermark of any stamped envelope, or postal card, or any fraudulent imitation thereof; or shall make or print, or authorize or procure to be made or printed, any postage stamp, stamped envelope, or postal card, of the kind authorized and provided by the Post-Office Department, without the special authority and direction of said department; or shall, after such postage stamp, stamped envelope, or postal card has been printed, with intent to defraud, deliver the same to any person not authorized by an instrument in writing, duly executed under the hand of the PostmasterGeneral and the seal of the Post-Office Department, to receive it, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. [85 Stat. L. 1132.] See R. S. sec. 5464, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 959. The language omitted by reason of a change in the form of expression is not ma terial; none of the changes in any way affect the substance of the section. SEC. 220. [Counterfeiting, etc., foreign stamps.] Whoever shall forge, or counterfeit, or knowingly utter or use any forged or counterfeited postage stamp of any foreign government, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. [35 Stat. L. 1132.] See R. S. sec. 5465, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 959. This section is amended by providing a fine as part of the punishment and by reducing the maximum penalty from ten to five years, and by providing that both fine and imprisonment may be imposed. SEC. 221. [Inclosing higher class in lower class matter.] Matter of the second, third, or fourth class containing any writing or printing in addition to the original matter, other than as authorized by law, shall not be admitted to the mails, nor delivered, except upon payment of postage for matter of the first class, deducting therefrom any amount which may have been prepaid by stamps affixed, unless by direction of the Postmaster-General such postage shall be remitted. Whoever shall knowingly conceal or inclose any matter of a higher class in that of a lower class, and deposit or cause the same to be deposited for conveyance by mail, at a less rate than would be charged for such higher class matter, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars. [35 Stat. L. 1132.] See R. S. sec. 3887, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 837, and the Act of Jan. 20, 1888, ch. 2, sec. 2, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 836. The two sections here revised largely cover the same ground, and the later section may be said to supersede the former one. Matter not necessary to perfect the criminal portions of the section has been omitted, and the language modified so as to require payment of postage at first-class rates when any unauthorized writing or printing is written upon or indorsed within matter of the lower classes. SEC. 222. [Postmaster illegally approving bond, etc.] Whoever, being a postmaster, shall affix his signature to the approval of any bond of a bidder, or to the certificate of sufficiency of sureties in any contract, before the said bond or contract is signed by the bidder or contractor and his sureties, or shall knowingly, or without the exercise of due diligence, approve any bond of a bidder with insufficient sureties, or shall knowingly make any false or frandulent certificate, shall be forthwith dismissed from office and be thereafter disqualified from holding the office of postmaster; and shall also be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. [35 Stat. L. 1133.] See R. S. sec. 3947, and the Act of June 23, 1874, ch. 456, sec. 12 (sec. 247), 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 882. SEC. 223. [False evidence as to second-class matter.] Whoever shall know; ingly submit or cause to be submitted to any postmaster or to the Post-Office Department or any officer of the postal service, any false evidence relative to any publication for the purpose of securing the admission thereof at the secondclass rate, for transportation in the mails, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars. [35 Stat. L. 1133.] See the Act of June 18, 1888, ch. 394, sec. 1, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 829; March 2, 1905, ch. 1304, sec. 1, 10 Fed. Stat. Annot. 334. SEC. 224. [Inducing or prosecuting false claims.] Whoever shall make, allege, or present, or cause to be made, alleged, or presented, or assist, aid, or abet in making, alleging, or presenting, any claim or application for indemnity for the loss of any registered letter, parcel, package, or other article or matter, or the contents thereof, knowing such claim or application to be false, fictitious, or fraudulent; or whoever for the purpose of obtaining or aiding to obtain the payment or approval of any such claim or application, shall make or use, or cause to be made or used, any false statement, certificate, affidavit, or deposition; or whoever shall knowingly and willfully misrepresent, or misstate, or, for the purpose aforesaid shall knowingly and willfully conceal any material fact or circumstance in respect of any such claim or application for indemnity, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. [35 Stat. L. 1133.] This section is new, and is designed to punish the making of false claims for the loss of any registered matter. and SEC. 225. [Misappropriation of postal funds or property.] Whoever, being a postmaster or other person employed in or connected with any branch of the postal service, shall loan, use, pledge, hypothecate, or convert to his own use, or shall deposit in any bank, or exchange for other funds or property, except as authorized by law, any money or property coming into his hands or under his control in any manner whatever, in the execution or under color of his office, employment, or service, whether the same shall be the money or property of the United States or not; or shall fail or refuse to remit to or deposit in the Treasury of the United States or in a designated depository, or to account for or turn over to the proper officer or agent, any such money or property, when required so to do by law or the regulations of the Post-Office Department, or upon demand or order of the Postmaster-General, either directly or through a duly authorized officer or agent, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement; every such person, as well as every other person advising or knowingly participating therein, shall be fined in a sum equal to the amount or value of the money or property embezzled, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. Any failure to produce or to pay over any such money or property, when required so to do as above provided, shall be taken to be prima facie evidence of such embezzlement; and upon the trial of any indictment against any person for such embezzlement, it shall be prima facie evidence of a balance against him to produce a transcript from the account books of the Auditor for the PostOffice Department. But nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit any postmaster depositing, under the direction of the Postmaster-General, in a national bank designated by the Secretary of the Treasury for that purpose, to his own credit as postmaster, any funds in his charge, nor prevent his negotiating drafts or other evidences of debt through such bank, or through United States disbursing officers, or otherwise, when instructed or required so to do by the Postmaster-General, for the purpose of remitting surplus funds from one post-office to another. [35 Stat. L. 1133.] See R. S. sec. 4046, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 949; R. S. sec. 4053, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 953. R. S. sec. 4046 punished any person in the postal service for misappropriating any money or property coming into his hands by reason of his office or employment. R. S. sec. 4053 punished the failure to deposit moneys taken from dead letters or received from any other source and which were part of the postal revenues. Those two sections have been combined and so amended as to reach all such cases which may arise in connection with the operations of the postal service. SEC. 226. [Employees not to be interested in contracts.] Whoever, being a person employed in the postal service, shall become interested in any contract for carrying the mail, or act as agent, with or without compensation, for any contractor or person offering to become a contractor in any business before the Department, shall be immediately dismissed from office, and shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. [35 Stat. L. 1134.] See R. S. sec. 412, 6 Fed. Stat. Annot, 12. The penalty for a violation of R. S. sec. 412 was an action for debt for a sum equal to the amount of money which would be realized upon any such contract. This has been changed to fine or imprisonment, or both. SEC. 227. [Fraudulent use of official envelopes.] Whoever shall make use of any official envelope, label, or indorsement authorized by law, to avoid the payment of postage or registry fee on his private letter, packet, package, or other matter in the mail, shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars. [35 Stat. L. 1134.] See the Acts of March 3, 1877, ch. 103, sec. 5, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 859; March 3, 1879, ch. 180, sec. 29, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 861, 862; July 5, 1884, ch. 234, sec. 3, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 861; July 2, 1886, ch. 611, sec. 1, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 863. The several provisions revised in this section provided for a fine of three hundred dollars for their violation; this has been changed so that the maximum fine shall not exceed that sum, and the section has been further enlarged so as to punish the unlawful use of any official label or indorsement. SEC. 228. [Fraudulent increase of weight of mail.] Whoever shall place or cause to be placed any matter in the mails during the regular weighing period, for the purpose of increasing the weight of the mail, with intent to cause an increase in the compensation of the railroad mail carrier over whose route such mail may pass, shall be fined not more than twenty thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. [35 Stat. L. 1134.] See the Act of June 13, 1898, ch. 446, sec. 1, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 921. The Act revised in this section imposed both fine and imprison ment for a violation of its provisions; this has been changed to fine or imprisonment, or both. SEC. 229. [Offenses against foreign mail in transit.] Every foreign mail shall, while being transported across the territory of the United States under authority of law, be taken and deemed to be a mail of the United States so far as to make any violation thereof, or depredation thereon, or offense in respect thereto, or any part thereof, an offense of the same grade, and punishable in the same manner and to the same extent as though the mail was a mail of the United States; and in any indictment or information for any such offense, the mail, or any part thereof, may be alleged to be, and on the trial of any such indictment or information it shall be deemed and held to be, a mail or part of a mail of the United States. [35 Stat. L. 1134.] See R. S. sec. 4013, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 932. The only change in this section consists in the addition of the words " or information." SEC. 230. [Omission to take oath.] Every person employed in the postal service shall be subject to all penalties and forfeitures for the violation of the laws relating to such service, whether he has taken the oath of office or not. [35 Stat. L. 1134.] See R. S. sec. 3832, 5 Fed. Stat. Annot. 794. SEC. 231. [Definitions.] The words "postal service," wherever used in this chapter, shall be held and deemed to include the "Post-Office Department." [35 Stat. L. 1134.] This section is new. Under the practice of the post-office department the department proper and the postal service are considered two separate branches. This section is intended to avoid the use of the words " postoffice department" a great many times. CHAPTER NINE. Sec. OFFENSES AGAINST FOREIGN AND INTERSTATE COMMERCE. 232. Dynamite, etc., not to be carried on ves- 234. Liquid nitroglycerine, etc., not to be car- 236. Death or bodily injury caused by such transportation. 237. Importation and transportation of lottery tickets, etc., forbidden. 238. Interstate shipment of intoxicating li quors; delivery of to be made only to bona fide consignee. Sec. 239. Common carrier, etc., not to collect purchase price of interstate shipment of intoxicating liquors. 240. Packages containing intoxicating liquors shipped in interstate commerce to be marked as such. 241. Importation of certain wild animals and birds forbidden. 242. Transportation of prohibited animals. 243. Marking of packages. 244. Penalty for violation of three preceding sections. 245. Importation and transportation of obscene, etc., books, etc. SEC. 232. [Dynamite, etc., not to be carried on vessels or vehicles carrying passengers for hire.] It shall be unlawful to transport, carry, or convey, any dynamite, gunpowder, or other explosive, between a place in a foreign country and a place within or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or between a place in any State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and a place in any other State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, on any vessel or vehicle of any description operated by a common carrier, which vessel or vehicle is carrying passengers for hire: Provided, That it shall be lawful to transport on any such vessel or vehicle small arms ammunition in any quantity, and such fuses, torpedoes, rockets, or other signal devices, as may be essential to promote safety in operation, and properly packed and marked samples of explosives for laboratory examination, not exceeding a net weight of one-half pound each, and not exceeding twenty samples at one time in a single vessel or vehicle; but such samples shall not be carried in that part of a vessel or vehicle which is intended for the transportation of passengers for hire: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the transportation of military or naval forces with their accompanying munitions of war on passenger equipment vessels or vehicles. [35 Stat. L. 1134.] See R. S. sec. 5353, 1 Fed. Stat. Annot. 720. This and secs. 233. 234, 235, following, are from the Act of May 30, 1908, ch. 234, 35 Stat. L. 554, 555, which Act is repealed as shown by the schedule in sec. 341, infra. These sections were not in the bill reported to Congress by the committee on revision. |