Treasury, the Treasurer, the Secretary of State, the Secretary at War, Commissioner of the Revenue, the Postmaster General, his assistant and deputies: And the deputy postmasters shall receive, besides their other allowances, two cents for each free letter or packet (their own excepted) which shad be delivered to the person addressed out of their respective offices. Provided, That no person shall frank or inclose any letter or packet, other than his own; but any public letter or packet from the department of the treasury, may be franked by the Secretary of the Treasury, or by the Commissioner of the Revenue, Comptroller, Register, Auditor or Treasurer: And that each person before named shall deliver into the post-office, every letter or packet inclosed to him, which may be directed to any other person, noting the place fr:om whence it came by post, and the usual postage shall be charged thereon: And provided also, That no letter to or from a deputy postmaster shall be free of postage, if it exceeds half an ounce in weight.
Penalty on counterfeiting the franking of letters.Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall counterfeit the hand-writing of any other person, in order to evade the payment of postage, such person or persons so offending, and being thereof duly convicted, shall forfeit and pay, for every such offence, the sum of one hundred dollars.
Privilege of newspaper printers.Sec. 21. And be it further enacted, That every printer of newspapers may send one paper to each and every other printer of newspapers within the United States, free of postage, under such regulations as the Postmaster General shall provide.
Newspapers how to be put up for the mail.Sec. 22. And be it further enacted, That all newspapers conveyed in the mail, shall be under cover, open at one end, carried in separate bags from the letters, and charged with the payment of one cent each, for any distance not more than one hundred miles, and one cent and a half for any greater distance: Provided, That the postage of a single newspaper, from anyone place to another in the same state, shall not exceed one cent. And that where the mode of conveyance, and the size of the mails will admit of it, magazines and pamphlets may be transported in the mail, at one cent per sheet, for conveyance, any distance not exceeding fifty miles, one and a half cent for any distance over fifty miles and not exceeding one hundred, and two cents per sheet for any greater distance. Postmaster General and deputies to keep separate accounts of them.Fine on enclosing letters, &c. in newspapers.And it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General and his deputies to keep a separate account for the newspapers, magazines and pamphlets; and the deputy-postmasters shall receive fifty per cent. on the postage thereof, exclusively of their other allowances: And if any letter, memorandum in writing, or other thing be inclosed in, or placed among such newspapers, or if any note or memorandum, other than the name of the person to whom it is addressed, be written upon any such newspaper, the letter, memorandum, or other thing so inclosed or placed, and the newspaper on which such memorandum shall be written, shall be detained by the deputy-postmaster, until a sum shall be paid him equal to the postage of the whole packet in which they shall be found, calculating such postage at the rates established by this act for letters and packets. And that any printer, or other person, who shall conceal a letter, or any memorandum in writing, in a newspaper, or among any package of newspapers, shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine for each offence not exceeding five dollars. And if any of the persons employed in any department of the post-office On embezzling newspapers.shall unlawfully detain, delay, embezzle or destroy any newspaper, magazine or pamphlet, with which he shall be entrusted, such offenders, for every such offence, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty dollars: Provided,Postmaster General may permit contractors to carry newspapers, That the Postmaster General, in any contract he may enter into, for the conveyance of the mail, may authorize the person with whom such contract is made, to carry newspapers, magazines and pamphlets, other than those carried in the mail.
