private parties, must be prepaid; and all telegraphic replies to such telegrams will be sent at the expense of the parties sending them. Whenever it becomes necessary to use the telegraph wires on any business in the special interest of any private person or persons, and in which the Government has no interest, the party for whom the service is performed will be required to make a deposit with the collector covering the cost of the messages, at commercial rates, both ways. Telegrams should be in the briefest possible form consistent with clear, intelligible expression, as each word, initial letter, and figure wired is charged for in accounts of the telegraph compaines. The name of the officer addressed need not be used, his official designation being sufficient, as, for example, "The Secretary of the Treasury." The signature and official designation of the sender should also be contracted as much as possible. Chief officers of the customs, when it becomes necessary for them to use the telegraph in communicating with subordinates or other customs officers on official business, should see that only Government rates are charged for all telegrams received and sent, and they must, in all instances, forward copies of such telegrams to the Department with their requests for authority for payment. Telegrams passing between collectors of customs and their subordinates, and between the subordinates of such officers, will be paid for in advance at Government rates by the officers sending them, except when sent from or to a place where the sender or receiver is regularly stationed, in which latter case the charge may be paid by either. When it is desired that it be paid by the addressee, the sender will indorse on the message the following: "Official business. Collect. Government rates." The officer paying for the message must retain a copy of it (written in ink), which will accompany his expense account as a voucher, the receipt of the person receiving the money being appended in the following form: Received $ —, in full payment for the above dispatch, the charge being at Government rates. Official telegrams sent over the wires of the Postal Telegraph-Cable and Western Union Telegraph Companies, by and to the chief officers of the Department at Washington, should not be prepaid, as monthly bills for such service are rendered by said companies. 20 Stat.. 362, 29; T. D. 3182. Act Oct. 1, 1890. Amounts paid for telegrams in excess of Government rates will be disallowed by the accounting officers of the Department; and, in order that officials may be kept informed regarding the rates annually established by the Postmaster-General, schedules of those rates, when promulgated by this Department, should be promptly placed in the hands of officers of all branches of the service. § 8. TRAVELING EXPENSES. ART. 1826. Persons traveling upon the official business of the Department will be allowed "actual traveling expenses," as follows: Actual fares on railroads, steamboats, and other conveyances, by the shortest practicable route, the hire of special transportation where there are no regular means of conveyance, street car, omnibus, or transfer-coach fare to and from depots and hotels, and where there are no such conveyances, moderate and necessary hack hire, and reasonable fees to porters and expressmen. Sleeping-car fare for one double berth for each person, or customary stateroom accommodation on steamboats and other vessels, one seat in parlor car, and lodgings and actual board in hotels at a rate not greater than five dollars per day; reasonable expense for laundering where the travel continues for a week or more. bills and receipts will be taken in all cases where it is practicable to obtain them, and must accompany accounts as vouchers. No charge will be allowed for hotel bills when the detention is unnecessary for the performance of the duties for which travel is required. § 9. OFFICIAL ENVELOPES. Hotel ART. 1827. Collectors and other officers of the customs, in transmitting official mail matter to the Treasury Department, and in communicating with officials or other persons, will use the official envelopes provided by law. Their use, however, is limited to official business within the territory of the United States, severe penalties being imposed for their misuse. Postage stamps, in the sums required by law, shall be placed upon all correspondence relating to official business with persons residing in foreign countries. § 10. CIGAR AND OTHER STAMPS. ART. 1828. Collectors are required to render monthly accounts of transactions in cigar, cigarette, liquor, and opium stamps, debiting themselves with the number of 1 stamps received from the Secretary of the Treasury, and crediting themselves with the number used and reporting the number remaining on hand. The cigar and cigarette account will be accompanied by an abstract from the inspecting officer of the number of stamps used during the month. § 11. REQUISITIONS FOR STATIONERY. ART. 1829. In making requisitions for stationery the following regulations must be observed: 1. Officers will order periodically as follows: Monthly (the first day of each month). The collector and surveyor of customs at New York. Quarterly (the first day of January, April, July, and October, respectively).-Collectors, naval officers, surveyors, and appraisers at Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San Francisco; naval officer and appraiser at New York; collector at Chicago; and the Board of General Appraisers. Semiannually (April 1 and October 1). Buffalo, N. Y. El Paso, Tex. Annually (July 1).-Officers of the Nogales, Ariz. customs not speci fied in the preceding paragraphs of this section. Should additional stationery be required before the prescribed time for making requisition, one for the succeeding period may be forwarded, the object being to limit the number of requisitions. Supplemental or special requisitions should be made only when imperatively necessary. Ink and mucilage must not be ordered on the October requisitions, as such articles can not be shipped with safety during the winter months. A full year's supply of these articles must be ordered in the April and July requisitions, which must also include a complete inventory of all articles of stationery on hand. The interlineation or changing of the terms or phraseology of requisitions is not allowed, and the directions. printed thereon must be strictly observed. When samples are inclosed in requisitions they should Dept.Cir. 19 of 1900. be fastened thereto, to prevent their being lost in the opening and distribution of the mail. Blank books, blank forms, Department circulars, synopses of decisions, or office furniture must not be included in requisitions for stationery. Charges on stationery forwarded by express, must not be paid by the officers receiving the same, as such charges are paid by the Department upon accounts rendered by the express companies; but on all shipments by freight the charges are to be paid by the officer receiving the goods, who will forward the receipts, as vouchers, with his account of contingent expenses (except in the case of customs officers, who will first forward the freight bills, with a request for authority to pay the same). As an arrangement exists with the War Department to transport all freight to points west of Chicago, this section is, in case of freight so shipped, inoperative, bills for the same being rendered by the Quartermaster-General to, and paid by this Depart ment. In order to expedite deliveries and to save labor and expense, official envelopes, in many instances, are shipped direct from the factories to customs officers. Under this system, care must be taken that envelopes of an inferior quality are not accepted. To this end, upon the receipt by an officer of a consignment of envelopes, a sample of each kind and size contained therein must be mailed immediately to the Department (division of stationery, printing, and blanks) with the receipted stationery invoice, for inspection as to quality and tensile strength; and no part of the envelopes contained in a consignment shall be used (except in case of absolute necessity) until the samples have been approved. No freight charges are to be paid by the consignees on envelopes shipped direct from the factories, as they will be forwarded on Government bills of lading. This, however, does not apply to drayage charges, which will be paid in the usual manner. REQUISITIONS FOR BOOKS AND BLANKS. ART. 18294. All requisitions for books and blanks should be made upon Form 996 and be addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury. No exceptions will be made to this rule. Nothing should be asked for in such requisitions except the forms enumerated in the catalogue of customs blank forms No. 995. The catalogue number, quantity desired, and title only need be given; sizes should be omitted. The numbers should be arranged progressively and be given in figures. When a less number than 100 of a blank is desired, it should be ordered by the 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, or 75. Catalogue No. 111 is intended for the use of custodians of public buildings who are not customs officers. Custodians who are also collectors or surveyors of customs should include all needed forms in catalogue No. 995 in their semiannual customs requisitions upon No. 996. When a form can not be indicated by the catalogue, a copy (if a blank) or a leaf (if a book) should be forwarded. Letters of transmittal should not be forwarded with requisitions for blank forms, as the latter when properly prepared explain themselves. Officers will order as follows: Weekly.-Collectors at naval office ports. Monthly.-Naval officers, surveyors, and appraisers at naval office ports. Quarterly.-Collector at Chicago, Ill. Semiannually.-All chief officers of the customs not named above. Weekly, monthly, and quarterly requisitions should include a three months' supply of the particular forms desired. Semiannual requisitions should be made April 1 and October 1, and should state that they are for the six months ending September 30 or March 31. Should forms be needed during a preceding March or September, the regular half-yearly requisition may then be made, the object being to limit requisitions to two per year. Only the forms actually needed, and the probable quantity of each form required during the period covered by the requisition, should be requested. Supplementary requisitions should be avoided as far as possible, but when made should contain an explanatory note. When books or blanks not on the catalogue are desired, a full statement as to the necessity that exists therefor should be submitted in every case with the requisition. Specimen leaves of said books should be marked with the number of leaves (not pages) desired, if to be paged, indexed, or tagged with ordinary or special schedule, and if the latter, the schedule should be given in full. The |