9.3 Access to mails forbidden. (a) Postmasters shall not permit to have access to any mail matter in the post office any persons except duly sworn assistants, clerks, letter carriers, post-office inspectors, and those mail contractors and carriers who, under the terms of the contract, are required to perform duties necessitating their personal presence in the post office.

(b) Mails shall not be made up or handled within reach of unauthorized persons, and such persons shall be excluded from the room appropriated to the use of the post office while the mails are being opened or made up.

(c) A former postmaster shall not be permitted to have access to or handle mail unless he takes the oath of office anew.

(d) Postmasters shall require post-office inspectors to exhibit their commissions before being admitted to the post office, in order to avoid imposture, unless such officers are personally known to them.*† [Sec. 703]

9.4 Matter unsealed or in bad order. (a) Mail matter of the first class deposited in or received at any post office unsealed or in a mutilated or otherwise bad condition shall be stamped or marked with the words "Received unsealed" or "Received in bad condition," as the case may be, and shall be officially sealed and postmarked before being forwarded or delivered.

(b) When matter of the fourth class in bad order is received in a post office or by a railway postal clerk, there shall be attached thereto a tag bearing the words "Bad order" in conspicuous type and appropriate instructions. The employee first discovering the damage shall postmark this tag and attach it to the parcel to be transmitted to the office of address and shall make a report of the essential facts on Form 5257, attaching thereto the pouch or sack label, to be sent to the superintendent, Railway Mail Service, of the division in which the office discovering the damaged package is located. However, when a parcel is received at the office of address in a damaged condition without a "Bad-order" tag attached, postmasters will prepare form 5257, but will not attach a "Bad-order" tag to the parcel. [Sec. 705, as added by P.M.G. Order 8624, Mar. 25, 1936]

PART 10-TREATMENT OF MAIL MATTER AT MAILING OFFICES

Section 10.1 Time for closing mails. (a) Mails at first-class post offices shall be closed not more than 1 hour, and at all other offices not more than half an hour, before the schedule time of de

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**For statutory and source citations, see note to § 9.1.

parture of trains, unless such departure is between the hours of 9 p. m. and 5 a. m., when they may be closed at 9 p. m. At fourth-class offices day mails shall not be closed until it becomes necessary, allowing a reasonable time for delivery at the train or to the carriers on star routes.

(b) This section shall not apply to the post office at New York City, and any office may be exempted therefrom by special order.† (R.S. 3840; 39 U.S.C. 6) [Sec. 707]

†The source of §§ 10.1 to 10.10, inclusive, is Postal Laws and Regulations, Postmaster General, 1932.

10.2 Cancelation of stamps at railway stations. Postmasters may, for the convenience of the public, erect boxes at railway stations for the reception of mail matter and cancel the stamps on said matter at the station, either personally or by a sworn employee.*t [Sec. 708]

*§§ 10.2 to 10.10, inclusive, (with the exception noted in the text,) issued under the authority contained in R.S. 161, 396, secs. 304, 309, 42 Stat. 24, 25; 5 U.S.C. 22, 369.

10.3 Postage to be rated upon weight of matter at time of mailing. When matter is received for mailing, its weight shall be ascertained and postage thereon rated up. A decided down weight is necessary to subject matter to an additional rate of postage.*+ [Sec. 710]

10.4 Receipt of ship and steamboat matter. (a) All ship and steamboat letters and printed matter delivered into post offices by masters of vessels shall be rated with the postage due thereon, as provided in § 5.17, and indorsed "Postage due, cents," and dispatched to destinations.

(b) Letters brought by steamboats shall be marked "Steamboat,' at the time of receiving them.

(c) Postmasters shall keep an account of both ship and steamboat letters received, the postage chargeable thereon, and the fees paid therefor.

(d) When wholly unpaid letters are delivered into a terminal post office by a postal clerk on a steamboat route, they shall be treated in all respects as other unpaid letters. (See § 11.3.) * [Secs. 711, 712, 713]

10.5 Second-class matter. (a) With the first mailing of each issue of each such second-class publication the publisher shall file with the postmaster a copy of such issue together with a statement containing such information as the Postmaster General may prescribe for determining the postage chargeable thereon.

(b) The Postmaster General may require publishers to separate or make up to zones in such a manner as he may direct all mail matter of the second class when offered for mailing.

(c) (1) The copy of the publication filed with the postmaster as required by paragraph (a) shall be marked by the publisher to show the portion devoted to advertisements and that to matter other than advertisements, and the percentage of each shall be indorsed on the first page of such copy by the publisher. The term "advertisements" as used herein and in § 5.39 (a) (2), embraces display, classified, and

*For statutory citation, see note to § 10.2.

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all other forms of advertisements as well as all editorial or other reading matter for the publication of which money or other valuable consideration is paid, accepted, or promised. Where the publisher has not been, and is not to be, compensated for the publication of editorial or other reading matter, such matter will take the rate of postage for other than advertising. In all cases where the publisher has been or is to be compensated in any form whatever the advertising rate of postage will be charged. Articles, items, and notices in the form of reading matter inserted in accordance with a custom or understanding, explicit or tacit, that a "reader" is to be given the advertiser or his products in the publication in which the display advertisement appears are advertising within the meaning of the law. Display advertising is obvious in its character and must pay the advertising mailing rate. When a newspaper or periodical advertises its own services or issues, or any other business of the publisher, in the form of either display advertisements, or editorial or reading matter, this is advertising within the meaning of the law and shall be charged the advertising mailing rate therefor. (See § 5.38 (b).)

(2) When a news agent presents for mailing second-class matter subject to the zone rates of postage, he shall submit to the postmaster a statement showing the per cent of the space in such matter devoted to advertisements and the percent devoted to other than advertisements. Publishers should furnish this information to news agents purchasing copies of their publications in order that such agents may be able to prepare the statements required.

(d) Second-class matter shall be brought for mailing to the post office, or such other place as is designated to receive it, and there weighed in bulk.

(e) It shall be inclosed in United States mail sacks, or other suitable receptacles, and separated to routes, States, and cities, in such manner as may be prescribed by the department. The sacks or bundles shall be marked to show the route, State, or city and State, and also the zone when the copies are required to be separated by

zones.

(f) Publishers shall make separate sacks or bundles of (1) sample copies to places within county of publication subject to postage at the rate of 1 cent a pound; (2) sample copies to places outside county of publication; (3) subscribers' copies entitled to free county circulation; (4) subscribers' copies to places within county of publication subject to postage at the rate of 1 cent a pound; (5) subscribers' copies to places outside county of publication. Such mail matter, when so presented, shall be weighed separately. (See § 5.45.)

(g) (1) In the case of sample copies of a publication carrying advertisements subject to the zone rates of postage as prescribed in § 5.39, the publisher shall arrange and present separately by zones the sacks or bundles of such sample copies addressed to places outside the county of publication. The publisher shall also arrange and present by zones copies addressed to subscribers outside the county of publication, except when such zone separation would interfere with their routing as required by paragraph (e) of this section, or the publisher prefers not to separate the copies, in which case they may be pre

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sented under the provisions of the following subparagraph (2) without being separated by zones.

(2) When it is not practicable because of the large quantity or other reasons to separate the subscribers' copies by zones without disarranging or interfering with their routing as required by paragraph (e), or when the publisher prefers not to do so, separation by zones shall not be required of the subscribers' copies subject to zone rates addressed to places outside the county of publication, but in such case the publisher shall present to the postmaster semiannually on April 1 and October 1, or more frequently when regarded necessary or the publisher so desires, a statement on Form 3539-a showing the total number of copies, the advertising portions of which are subject to the zone rates which, according to a careful analysis by the publisher of his subscription records at the time of the submission of the statement, are to be mailed to subscribers outside the county of publication, and the per centum of this number to be addressed to each zone. The percentages given in the publisher's statement on Form 3539-a (which shall be retained in the files of the post office) shall until a new statement is due or required be applied by the postmaster to the total weight of the subscribers' copies of each mailing subject to zone rates in order to ascertain the weight of and compute the postage on the portion devoted to advertisements going to the respective zones and the portion devoted to other than advertisements going to all zones. The postmaster shall make periodic tests of the publisher's subscription list or records to determine the accuracy of the percentages given by the publisher on Form 3539-a. In case a postmaster desires information with respect to the manner of making such test, or if it should appear impracticable in any case to use the foregoing method in its entirety, he should address the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Classification, for special instructions.

(3) When a reasonable number of copies of previous issues are included in a mailing of a current issue, they may be accepted and charged with postage on the basis of the percentages of advertisements and matters other than advertisements contained in the current issue, the issue forming the bulk of the mailing presented being regarded as the current issue. When such copies are presented under the provisions of the preceding subparagraph without being separated by zones, they shall be weighed with the copies of the current issue and charged with postage at the zone rates applicable to the latter.

(h) In weighing second-class matter, fractions shall be treated as full pounds in all cases; for instance, 4% pounds shall be called 5 pounds.

(i) Individually addressed copies of a publication intended for subscribers at the same post office shall, if there be more than five, be securely wrapped or tied in one package; or, if there are more than 30 pieces and weighing 15 pounds or more, be placed in a separate sack addressed to such office. Sacks containing less than that amount of mail (except bulky matter) shall not be made up, except where a direct sack is necessary materially to advance the mail, but the mail

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shall be securely tied in bundles, properly labeled, and be included in sacks with other mail. (Sec. 5, 18 Stat. 232, sec. 1, 23 Stat. 387, secs. 1101, 1102, 1103, 40 Stat. 327, 328, sec. 202, 43 Stat. 1066, sec. 4, 45 Stat. 940; 39 U.S.C. 283) [Sec. 714]

10.6 Third- and fourth-class matter: place for mailing. (a) Parcels of fourth-class matter shall be mailed at a post office or branch or station thereof, or delivered to a rural or other carrier duly authorized to receive such matter. Parcels of third-class matter may be deposited in mail boxes.

(b) Parcels collected on star routes shall be deposited in the next post office at which the carrier arrives and postage charged at the rate from that office.

(c) Second-, third-, and fourth-class matter shall not be accepted at a railway post office nor by a railway postal clerk, nor be deposited in a depot letter box from which collections are made by such clerks.*† [Sec. 715]

10.7 Defaced stamps. (a) United States postage stamps, to be acceptable for postage, shall be without defacement, provided that for the purpose of identification only, and not for advertising, it shall be permissible to puncture or perforate letters, numerals, or other marks or devices in United States postage and special-delivery stamps. The punctures or perforations shall not exceed one-thirty-second of an inch in diameter, and the whole space occupied by the identifying device shall not exceed one-half inch square. The puncturing or perforating shall be done in such manner as to leave the stamp easily recognizable as genuine and not previously used. Stamps on which ink or other coloring substance has been used in connection with such puncturing or perforating shall not be accepted for postage.

(b) When postage or special-delivery stamps are so affixed to mailable matter that one overlies another, concealing part of its surface, the stamp thus covered shall not be taken into account in prepayment.

(c) When matter bearing previously used stamps is deposited for mailing, except as provided in § 12.5 as to forwarding mail, it shall be treated as "held for postage." (See § 11.3.) Upon receipt of stamps to pay postage they shall be affixed and canceled and the mail forwarded to addressee. A report of each instance where previously used stamps have apparently been wilfully reused for payment of postage shall be submitted to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Classification, accompanied, when practicable, with the envelope or wrapper bearing the stamps in question.

(d) Mutilated or defaced postage stamps, fractional parts of stamps, postage-due stamps, stamps cut from embossed stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, or postal cards, or stamps other than postage stamps, shall not be accepted or counted in prepayment of postage, and matter bearing such stamps shall be treated as "held for postage," except when bearing special-delivery stamps, as to which see § 15.3. (e) Matter bearing imitations of postage stamps or adhesive stamps in form and design resembling postage stamps, shall not be accepted for mailing, and if deposited in the mail shall be returned to the

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*For statutory citation, see note to § 10.2.