Ten Years Among the Mail Bags Part 54

Some of the laws are often violated by persons not connected with the post-office, and it is proper, therefore, that all cla.s.ses should be made acquainted with the penalties which attach to such offences. For this reason the following extracts from the laws are here inserted:--

_Act of_ 1825.

SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall, knowingly and wilfully, obstruct or r.e.t.a.r.d the pa.s.sage of the mail, or of any driver or carrier, or of any horse or carriage, carrying the same, he shall, upon conviction for every such offence, pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars; and if any ferryman shall, by wilful negligence, or refusal to transport the mail across any ferry, delay the same, he shall forfeit and pay, for every ten minutes that the same shall be so delayed, a sum not exceeding ten dollars.

SEC. 21. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person employed in any of the departments of the post-office establishment, shall unlawfully detain, delay, or open any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, with which he shall be intrusted, or which shall have come to his possession, and which are intended to be conveyed by post; or, if any such person shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy any letter or packet intrusted to such person as aforesaid, and which shall not contain any security for, or a.s.surance relating to money, as hereinafter described, every such offender, being thereof duly convicted, shall, for every such offence, be fined, not exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisoned, not exceeding six months, or both, according to the circ.u.mstances and aggravation of the offence. And if any person, employed as aforesaid, shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, with which he or she shall be intrusted, or which shall have come to his or her possession, and are intended to be conveyed by post, containing any bank-note or bank post bill, bill of exchange, warrant of the Treasury of the United States, note of a.s.signment of stock in the funds, letters of attorney for receiving annuities or dividends, or for selling stock in the funds, or for receiving the interest thereof, or any letter of credit, or note for, or relating to, payment of moneys, or any bond, or warrant, draft, bill, or promissory note, covenant, contract, or agreement whatsoever, for, or relating to, the payment of money, or the delivery of any article of value, or the performance of any act, matter, or thing, or any receipt, release, acquittance, or discharge of, or from, any debt, covenant, or demand, or any part thereof, or any copy of any record of any judgment or decree in any court of law, or chancery, or any execution which may have issued thereon, or any copy of any other record, or any other article of value, or any writing representing the same; or if any such person employed as aforesaid, shall steal, or take, any of the same out of any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, that shall come to his or her possession, such person shall, on conviction for any such offence, be imprisoned not less than ten years, nor exceeding twenty-one years; and if any person who shall have taken charge of the mails of the United States, shall quit or desert the same before such person delivers it into the post-office kept at the termination of the route, or some known mail carrier, or agent of the General Post-Office, authorized to receive the same, every such person, so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars for every such offence; and if any person concerned in carrying the mail of the United States, shall collect, receive, or carry any letter, or packet, or shall cause or procure the same to be done, contrary to this act, every such offender shall forfeit and pay, for every such offence, a sum not exceeding fifty dollars.

SEC. 22. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall rob any carrier of the mail of the United States, or other person intrusted therewith, of such mail, or of part thereof, such offender or offenders shall, on conviction, be imprisoned not less than five years, nor exceeding ten years; and, if convicted a second time of a like offence, he or they shall suffer death; or, if, in effecting such robbery of the mail, the first time, the offender shall wound the person having custody thereof, or put his life in jeopardy, by the use of dangerous weapons, such offender or offenders shall suffer death. And if any person shall attempt to rob the mail of the United States, by a.s.saulting the person having custody thereof, shooting at him or his horse or mule, or threatening him with dangerous weapons, and the robbery is not effected, every such offender, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment, not less than two years nor exceeding ten years. And, if any person shall steal the mail, or shall steal or take from, or out of, any mail, or from, or out of any post-office, any letter or packet; or, if any person shall take the mail, or any letter or packet therefrom, or from any post-office, whether with or without the consent of the person having custody thereof, and shall open, embezzle, or destroy any such mail, letter, or packet, the same containing any article of value, or evidence of any debt, due, demand, right, or claim, or any release, receipt, acquittance, or discharge, or any other article, paper, or thing, mentioned and described in the twenty-first section of this act; or, if any person shall, by fraud or deception, obtain from any person having custody thereof, any mail, letter, or packet, containing any article of value, or evidence thereof, or either of the writings referred to, or next above-mentioned, such offender or offenders, on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned, not less than two, nor exceeding ten years. And, if any person shall take any letter or packet, not containing any article of value, nor evidence thereof, out of a post-office, or shall open any letter, or packet, which shall have been in a post-office, or in custody of a mail carrier, before it shall have been delivered to the person to whom it is directed, with a design to obstruct the correspondence, to pry into another's business or secrets; or shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy any such mail, letter, or packet, such offender, upon conviction, shall pay, for every such offence, a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding twelve months.

SEC. 23. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall rip, cut, tear, burn, or otherwise injure, any valise, portmanteau, or other bag, used, or designed to be used, by any person acting under the authority of the Post Master General, or any person in whom his powers are vested, in a conveyance of any mail, letter, packet, or newspaper, or pamphlet, or shall draw or break, any staple, or loosen any part of any lock, chain, or strap, attached to, or belonging to any such valise, portmanteau, or bag, with an intent to rob, or steal any mail, letter, packet, newspaper, or pamphlet, or to render either of the same insecure, every such offender, upon conviction, shall, for every such offence, pay a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor exceeding five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not less than one year, nor exceeding three years, at the discretion of the court before whom such conviction is had.

SEC. 24. _And be it further enacted_, That every person, who, from and after the pa.s.sage of this act, shall procure, and advise, or a.s.sist, in the doing or perpetration of any of the acts or crimes by this act forbidden, shall be subject to the same penalties and punishments as the persons are subject to, who shall actually do or perpetrate any of the said acts or crimes, according to the provisions of this act.

SEC. 45. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall buy, receive, or conceal, or aid in buying, receiving, or concealing, any article mentioned in the twenty-first section of this act, knowing the same to have been stolen or embezzled from the mail of the United States, or out of any post-office, or from any person having the custody of the said mail, or the letters sent or to be sent therein; or if any person shall be accessory after the fact to any robbery of the carrier of the mail of the United States, or other person intrusted therewith, of such mail, or of part thereof, every person, so offending, shall, on conviction thereof, pay a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and be imprisoned and confined to hard labor for any time not exceeding ten years. And such person or persons, so offending, may be tried and convicted without the princ.i.p.al offender being first tried, provided such princ.i.p.al offender has fled from justice, or cannot be found to be put on his trial.

_Act of_ 1836.

SEC. 38. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall be accessory after the fact, to the offence of stealing or taking the mail of the United States, or of stealing or taking any letter or packet, or enclosure in any letter or packet sent or to be sent in the mail of the United States, from any post-office in the United States, or from the mail of the United States, by any person or persons whatever, every person so offending as accessory, shall, on conviction thereof, pay a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five years; and such accessory after the fact may be tried, convicted, and punished in the district in which his offence was committed, though the princ.i.p.al offence may have been committed in another district, and before the trial of the princ.i.p.al offender: _Provided,_ such princ.i.p.al offender has fled from justice, or cannot be arrested to be put upon his trial.

_SEC._ 28, _Act of_ 1825.

* * * And if any person shall counterfeit the hand-writing or frank of any person, or cause the same to be done, in order to avoid the payment of postage, each person, so offending, shall pay, for every such offence, five hundred dollars.

_SEC._ 5, _Act of_ 1845.

_And be it further enacted_, That if any person or persons shall forge or counterfeit, or shall utter or use knowingly, any counterfeit stamp of the Post-Office Department of the United States issued by authority of this act or by any other act of Congress, within the United States, or the post-office stamp of any foreign Government, he shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof in any court having jurisdiction of the same, shall undergo a confinement at hard labor for any length of time not less than two years, nor more than ten, at the discretion of the court.

_SEC._ 11, _Act of_ 1847.

* * * And any person who shall falsely and fraudulently make, utter, or forge any postage stamp with the intent to defraud the Post-Office Department, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and on conviction shall be subject to the same punishment as is provided in the twenty-first section of the act approved the third day of March, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, ent.i.tled "An act to reduce into one the several acts establishing and regulating the Post-Office Department."

_Act of_ 1851.

SEC. 3. * * * And any person who shall forge or counterfeit any postage stamp provided or furnished under the provisions of this or any former act, whether the same are impressed or printed on or attached to envelopes or not, or any die, plate, or engraving therefore, or shall make or print, or knowingly use or sell, or have in his possession with intent to use or sell, any such false, forged, or counterfeited die, plate, engraving, or postage stamp, or who shall make or print, or authorize or procure to be made or printed, any postage stamps of the kind provided and furnished by the Post Master General as aforesaid, without the especial authority and direction of the Post-Office Department, or who, after such postage stamps have been printed, shall, with intent to defraud the revenues of the Post-Office Department, deliver any postage stamps to any person or persons other than such as shall be authorized to receive the same, by an instrument of writing duly executed under the hand of the Post Master General, and the seal of the Post-Office Department, shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of felony, and be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SEC. 4. * * * And if any person shall use or attempt to use in pre-payment of postage, any postage stamp which shall have been before used for like purposes, such person shall be subject to a penalty of fifty dollars for every such offence, to be recovered in the name of the United States, in any court of competent jurisdiction.

_SEC._ 30, _Act of_ 1825.

* * * If any person employed in any department of the post-office, shall improperly detain, delay, embezzle, or destroy, any newspaper, or shall permit any other person to do the like, or shall open, or permit any other to open, any mail, or packet, of newspapers, not directed to the office where he is employed, such offender shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty dollars, for every such offence. And if any person shall open any mail or packet of newspapers, or shall embezzle or destroy the same, not being directed to such person, or not being authorized to receive or open the same, such offender shall, on conviction thereof, pay a sum not exceeding twenty dollars for every such offence. And if any person shall take, or steal, any packet, bag, or mail of newspapers, from, or out of any post-office, or from any person having custody thereof, such person shall, on conviction, be imprisoned, not exceeding three months, for every such offence, to be kept at hard labor during the period of such imprisonment. If any person shall enclose or conceal a letter, or other thing, or any memorandum in writing, in a newspaper, pamphlet, or magazine, or in any package of newspapers, pamphlets, or magazines, or make any writing or memorandum thereon, which he shall have delivered into any post-office, or to any person for that purpose, in order that the same may be carried by post, free of letter postage, he shall forfeit the sum of five dollars for every such offence.

_Act of_ 1845.

SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to establish any private express or expresses for the conveyance, nor in any manner to cause to be conveyed, or provide for the conveyance or transportation, by regular trips, or at stated periods or intervals, from one city, town, or other place, to any other city, town, or place, in the United States, between and from and to which cities, towns, or other places, the United States mail is regularly transported, under the authority of the Post-Office Department, of any letters, packets, or packages of letters, or other matter properly transmittable in the United States mail, except newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals; and each and every person offending against this provision, or aiding and a.s.sisting therein, or acting as such private express, shall, for each time any letter or letters, packet or packages, or other matter properly transmittable by mail, except newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, shall or may be, by him, her, or them, or through his, her, or their means or instrumentality, in whole or in part, conveyed or transported contrary to the true intent, spirit, and meaning of this section, forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars.

SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall not be lawful for any stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, packetboat, or other vehicle or vessel, nor any of the owners, managers, servants, or crews of either, which regularly perform trips at stated periods on a post route, or between two or more cities, towns, or other places, from one to the other of which the United States mail is regularly conveyed under the authority of the Post-Office Department, to transport or convey, otherwise than in the mail, any letter or letters, packet or packages of letters, or other mailable matter whatsoever, except such as may have relation to some part of the cargo of such steamboat, packetboat, or other vessel, or to some article at the same time conveyed by the same stage coach, railroad car, or other vehicle, and excepting also, newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals; and for every such offence, the owner or owners of the stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, packetboat, or other vehicle or vessel, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars; and the driver, captain, conductor, or person having charge of any such stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, packetboat, or other vehicle or vessel, at the time of the commission of any such offence, and who shall not at that time be the owner thereof, in whole or in part, shall, in like manner, forfeit and pay, in every such case of offence, the sum of fifty dollars.

SEC. 11. _And be it further enacted_, That the owner or owners of every stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, or other vehicle or vessel, which shall, with the knowledge of any owner or owners, in whole or in part, or with the knowledge or connivance of the driver, conductor, captain, or other person having charge of any such stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, or other vessel or vehicle, convey or transport any person or persons acting or employed as a private express for the conveyance of letters, packets, or packages of letters, or other mailable matter, and actually in possession of such mailable matter, for the purpose of transportation, contrary to the spirit, true intent, and meaning of the preceding sections of this law, shall be subject to the like fines and penalties as are hereinbefore provided and directed in the case of persons acting as such private expresses, and of persons employing the same; but nothing in this act contained shall be construed to prohibit the conveyance or transmission of letters, packets, or packages, or other matter, to any part of the United States, by private hands, no compensation being tendered or received therefore in any way, or by a special messenger employed only for the single particular occasion.

SEC. 12. _And be it further enacted_, That all persons whatsoever who shall, after the pa.s.sage of this act, transmit by any private express, or other means by this act declared to be unlawful, any letter or letters, package or packages, or other mailable matter, excepting newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, or who shall place or cause to be deposited at any appointed place, for the purpose of being transported by such unlawful means, any matter or thing properly transmittable by mail, excepting newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, or who shall deliver any such matter, excepting newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, for transmission to any agent or agents of such unlawful expresses, shall, for each and every offence, forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars.

[The 8th section of the Act of August 31, 1852, provides that letters enclosed in "Government Envelopes," so called, having the stamp _printed_ thereon, may be conveyed _out of the mail.

Provided_, That the said envelope shall be duly sealed, or otherwise firmly and securely closed, so that such letter cannot be taken therefrom without tearing or destroying such envelope; and the same duly directed and addressed, and the date of such letter, or the receipt or transmission thereof, to be written or stamped, or otherwise appear on such envelope.]

* * * "And if any person shall use, or attempt to use, for the conveyance of any letter, or other mailable matter or thing, over any post-road of the United States, either by mail or otherwise, any such stamped letter envelope which has been before used for a like purpose, such person shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, to be recovered, in the name of the United States, in any court having competent jurisdiction."--_Sec._ 8, _Act of_ 1853.

[Newspapers for subscribers may go in or out of the mail; but pamphlets, magazines, &c., if intended to supply regular subscribers, must go in the mail.--_Act of_ 1847.]

_Act of_ 1847.

SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That 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 Post Master 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. 13. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall not be lawful to deposit in any post-office, to be conveyed in the mail, two or more letters directed to different persons enclosed in the same envelope or packet; and every person so offending shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars, to be recovered by action _qui tam_, one half for the use of the informer, and the other half for the use of the Post-Office Department: _Provided_, That this prohibition shall not apply to any letter or packet directed to any foreign country.

_Act of_ 1852.

SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall steal, purloin, embezzle, or obtain by any false pretence, or shall aid or a.s.sist in stealing, purloining, embezzling, or obtaining by any false pretence, or shall knowingly and unlawfully make, forge, or counterfeit, or cause to be unlawfully made, forged, or counterfeited, or knowingly aid or a.s.sist in falsely and unlawfully making, forging, or counterfeiting any key suited to any lock which has been or shall be adopted for use by the Post-Office Department of the United States, and which shall be in use on any of the mails or mail bags of the said Post-Office Department, or shall have in his possession any such mail key or any such mail lock, with the intent unlawfully or improperly to use, sell, or otherwise dispose of the same, or cause the same to be unlawfully or improperly used, sold or otherwise disposed of, or who being employed in the manufacture of the locks or keys for the use of the said Post-Office Department, whether as contractor or otherwise, shall deliver or cause to be delivered any finished or unfinished key or lock used or designed by the said Post-Office Department, or the interior part of any such mail lock, to any person not duly authorized under the hand of the Post Master General of the United States and the seal of the said Post-Office Department to receive the same, (unless such person so receiving the same shall be the contractor for furnishing such locks and keys, or engaged in the manufacture thereof in the manner authorized by the contract, or the agent for such manufacturer,) such person so offending shall be deemed guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding ten years.

SEC. 4. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall steal, purloin or embezzle any mail bags in use by or belonging to the Post-Office Department of the United States, or any other property in use by or belonging to the said Post-Office Department, or shall, for any lucre, gain, or convenience, appropriate any such property to his own, or any other than its proper use, or for any lucre or gain shall convey away any such property to the hindrance or detriment of the public service of the United States, the person so offending, his counsellors, aiders, and abettors, (knowing of and privy to any offence aforesaid,) shall, on conviction thereof, if the value of such property shall exceed twenty-five dollars, be deemed guilty of felony, and shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding three years; or if the value of such property shall be less than twenty-five dollars, shall be imprisoned not more than one year, or be fined not less than ten dollars, nor more than two hundred dollars, for every such offence.

_Act of_ 1855.

SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall not be lawful for any post master or other person to sell any postage stamp or stamped envelope for any larger sum than that indicated upon the face of such postage stamp or for a larger sum than that charged therefore by the Post-Office Department; and any person who shall violate this provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten nor more than five hundred dollars. This act to take effect and be in force from and after the commencement of the next fiscal quarter after its pa.s.sage. _Provided_, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to alter the laws in relation to the franking privilege.

SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That for the greater security of valuable letters posted for transmission in the mails of the United States, the Post Master General be and hereby is authorized to establish a uniform plan for the registration of such letters on application of parties posting the same, and to require the pre-payment of the postage, as well as a registration fee of five cents on every such letter or packet to be accounted for by post masters receiving the same in such manner as the Post Master General shall direct: _Provided however_, That such registration shall not be compulsory; and it shall not render the Post-Office Department or its revenue liable for the loss of such letters or packets or the contents thereof.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

IMPROVED LETTER CASE.

The delivery of letters can be greatly facilitated by means of a very simple improvement in the letter case for the "general delivery," which has already been adopted to some extent, with the most satisfactory results.

In the early history of post-offices, the old-fashioned letter case divided off in alphabetical order, or by vowels, answered a tolerable purpose, and so it would now in very small offices,--but as population increased, and fifty or more letters had to be overhauled before the applicant could receive an answer, some relief both for post masters and the public became absolutely indispensable, and various trifling changes and improvements were adopted--but none of them were found to be "up to the times," till the introduction of the labor and time saving invention called the "Square of the Alphabet." It is believed to have been originally planned and adopted in the post-office at Providence, R. I. Since then, the dimensions of the case and the arrangement of the boxes have been varied to suit the amount of business in the comparatively small number of offices that have introduced it. But the size and plan exhibited in the prefixed diagram, is believed to be the most convenient and simple, and well suited to places varying in population, from five thousand to fifty thousand.

The practical advantage is, that by the division of the letters when placed in the pigeon holes, at least four applications can be correctly answered, where one can be under the old plan of crowding a large number of letters together. And where this improved case occupies a position opposite the "general delivery"

window, many individuals soon learn the location of the box where their letters should be, and in case it is empty, inquiry becomes unnecessary.