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June first, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, at a postage charge of two cents each, including the cost of their manufacture. (21 Stat. 179.)

This was a provision following an appropriation for the manufacture of postal cards in the postal service appropriation act for the fiscal year 1881, cited above.

A similar provision was made by the preceding postal service appropriation act, Act March 3, 1879, c. 180, § 1, 20 Stat. 357.

§ 7395. (Act May 12, 1910, c. 230.) Contracts for manufacture of postal cards, and bids therefor, by government department or bureau; restriction of rate.

No contract for the manufacture of postal cards shall be made by the Government with any department or bureau of the Government at any higher rate than offered for the same work by any responsible contractor, nor shall the bid of such department or bureau be below the cost of such work to the Government. (36 Stat. 365.)

This was a proviso annexed to an appropriation for manufacture of postal cards in the postal service appropriation act for the fiscal year 1911, cited above.

§ 7396. (Act March 3, 1879, c. 180, § 32.) Letter-sheet envelopes, double postal cards, double-letter envelopes.

The Postmaster-General is hereby authorized to take the necessary steps to introduce and furnish for public use a letter-sheet envelope, on which postage-stamps of the denominations now in use on ordinary envelopes shall be placed. And the PostmasterGeneral is also authorized to introduce and furnish for public use a double postal card, on which shall be placed two one-cent stamps, and said card to be so arranged for the address that it may be forwarded and returned, said cards to be sold for two cents apiece; and also to introduce and furnish for public use a double-letter envelope, on which stamps of the denominations now in use may be placed, and with the arrangement for the address similar to the double postal card; said letter-sheet and double postal card and double envelope to be issued under such regulations as the Postmaster-General may prescribe: ** And provided, That no money shall be paid for royalty or patent on any of the articles named. (20 Stat. 362.)

This section was part of the postal service appropriation act for the fiscal year 1880, cited above.

The portion of the section omitted here related to the appropriations for the fiscal years 1879 and 1880.

§ 7397. (Act July 16, 1894, c. 137, § 2.) Deliveries of postal cards, etc., by contractor.

Hereafter, in making contracts for postal cards, stamped envelopes, stamped paper, and all other supplies, the Postmaster-General is authorized to require the contractor, under such regulations as he may prescribe, to make delivery at such points in the United States as he may direct, whenever, in his opinion, any such contract can be made at a saving to the Government. (28 Stat. 106.) This was a provision of the postal service appropriation act for the fiscal year 1895, cited above.

§ 7398. (R. S. § 3917.) Improvements in stamps and envelopes. The Postmaster-General may, from time to time, adopt such improvements in postage-stamps and stamped envelopes as he may deem advisable; and when any such improvement is adopted it shall be subject to all the provisions herein respecting postage-stamps or stamped envelopes.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 171, 17 Stat. 304.

§ 7399. (R. S. § 3918.) Sale of stamps at post-offices.

Postage-stamps and stamped envelopes shall be furnished by the Postmaster-General to all postmasters, and shall be kept for sale at all post-offices; and each postmaster shall be held accountable for all such stamps and envelopes furnished to him.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 172, 17 Stat. 305.

Postage receipts were required to be accounted for as part of the postal revenues by R. S. § 4051, post, § 7600, and the failure by any person intrusted with the sale of postage stamps or stamped envelopes to account for the same was made punishable by R. S. § 4053, which was incorporated into the Criminal Code in section 225 thereof, post, § 10395, and was repealed by section 341 thereof, post, § 10515.

§ 7400. (Act July 12, 1876, c. 179, § 14.) Price of stamped envelopes, etc., sold by Post-Office Department.

No stamped envelopes or newspaper wrappers shall be sold by the Post-Office Department at less (in addition to the legal postage) than the cost, including all salaries, clerk-hire, and other expenses connected therewith. (19 Stat. 82.)

This was a provision of the postal service appropriation act for the fiscal year 1877, cited above.

§ 7401. (R. S. § 3919.) Stamps and envelopes at a discount.

Postage-stamps and stamped envelopes may be sold at a discount to certain designated agents, who will agree to sell again without discount, under rules to be prescribed by the Postmaster-General; but the quantities of each sold to any one agent at one time shall not exceed one hundred dollars in value, and the discount shall not exceed five per centum on the face value of the stamps, nor the same per centum on the current price of the envelopes when sold in less quantities.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 173, 17 Stat. 305.

§ 7402. (R. S. § 3920.) Selling stamps at more than face.

Postage-stamps shall not be sold for any larger sum than the value indicated on their face, nor stamped envelopes for more than is charged therefor by the Post-Office Department for like quantities.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 174, 17 Stat. 305.

A further provision of this section, making punishable violations thereof, was superseded by a similar provision of Criminal Code, § 208, post, § 10378. Subsequent provisions restricting the sale of stamps, stamped envelopes, and postal cards by postmasters and other persons connected with the postal service were made by Act June 17, 1878, c. 259, § 1, 20 Stat. 141. These provisions were incorporated into the Criminal Code in section 208 thereof, post, 10395, and were repealed by section 341 thereof, post, § 10515.

§ 7403. (R. S. § 3921.) Stamps to be defaced.

Postage-stamps affixed to all mail-matter or the stamped envelopes in which the same is inclosed, shall, when deposited for mailing or delivery, be defaced by the postmaster at the mailing-office, in such manner as the Postmaster-General may direct; and if any mailmatter shall be forwarded without the stamps or envelopes being so defaced, the postmaster at the office of delivery shall deface them, and report the delinquent postmaster to the Postmaster-General.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 175, 17 Stat. 305.

The Postmaster-General was authorized to adopt a uniform ink or appliance for canceling stamps, by Act June 20, 1878, c. 359, § 1, post, § 7404.

§ 7404. (Act June 20, 1878, c. 359, § 1.) for canceling postage-stamps.

Uniform ink or appliance

That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized to adopt a uniform canceling ink or other appliance for canceling stamps which experiments and tests have proved or may prove to be the most practicable and the best calculated to protect the revenues of the department from the frauds practiced upon it, to be used in all the post-offices where stamps are canceled, and he is hereby authorized to distribute said canceling ink or other appliance in the same manner as other supplies are now distributed to the different postoffices in the United States. (20 Stat. 240.)

This was a provision following an appropriation to supply deficiencies in the postal revenues for the fiscal year 1878, in the sundry civil appropriation act for the fiscal year 1879, cited above.

Provisions relating to rental and purchase of canceling machines were made by Act March 4, 1911, c. 241, § 1, ante, § 7262.

(R. S. §§ 3922-3925. Repealed.)

R. S. § 3922, made it punishable for any employé of the postal service to remove a postage stamp affixed to mail-matter in payment of postage.

R. S. § 3923, made it punishable for any person to use or attempt to use in payment of postage any used stamp, stamped envelope, or stamp cut from a stamped envelope.

R. S. § 3924, made it punishable for any employé of the postal service to use any stamp, etc., which had once been used, or to remove or attempt to remove the canceling marks therefrom, or to remove or attempt to remove the stamps from any mail with intent to use them a second time.

R. S. 3925, made it punishable for any person not employed in the postal service to commit any of the offenses described in R. S. § 3924.

All these sections were incorporated into the Criminal Code in section 205 thereof, post, § 10375, and were repealed by section 341 thereof, post, § 10515.

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§ 7405. (R. S. § 3926, as amended, Act Feb. 27, 1897, c. 340, § 1.) System of registration authorized; indemnity for loss of firstclass registered matter.

For the greater security of valuable mail matter the PostmasterGeneral may establish a uniform system of registration, and as a part of such system he may provide rules under which the sender or owners of first-class registered matter shall be indemnified for losses thereof in the mails, the indemnity to be paid out of the postal revenues, but in no case to exceed ten dollars for any one registered piece, or the actual value thereof when that is less than ten dollars, and for which no other compensation or reimbursement to the loser has been made: Provided, That the Post-Office Department or its revenues shall not be liable for the loss of any other mail matter on account of its having been registered.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, §§ 126, 129, 17 Stat. 300. Act Feb. 27, 1897, c. 340, § 1, 29 Stat. 559.

This section was amended by Act Feb. 27, 1897, c. 340, cited above, by striking out, after the words "a uniform system of registration," the words "But the Post-Office Department or its revenue shall not be liable for the loss of any mail-matter on account of its having been registered," and inserting in place thereof the provision beginning with the words, "and as a part of such system," etc., to the end of the section, as set forth here.

Mail-matter was divided into four classes, and the first class is made to embrace letters, postal cards, and matters wholly or partly in writing, by Act March 3, 1879, c. 180, §§ 7, 8, ante, §§ 7302, 7303.

Provisions authorizing the Postmaster-General to increase the amount of indemnity for losses of first-class registered matter were made by Act March 3, 1903, c. 1009, § 1, post, § 7406.

A provision for indemnity for loss of third or fourth class registered matter was made by Act March 4, 1911, c. 241, § 1, post, § 7407.

Moneys recovered or collected on account of loss of first-class domestic registered matter, which are not restored to the owners, are to be covered into the Treasury, by a provision of Act May 27, 1908, c. 206, post, § 7601.

A superintendent, division of registered mails, was provided for by appropriation in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1914, Act March 4, 1913, c. 142, § 1, 37 Stat. 780.

§ 7406. (Act March 3, 1903, c. 1009, § 1.) Indemnity for loss of first-class registered matter; maximum amount.

Hereafter the Postmaster-General may increase the amount of indemnity provided for in Act of February twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, an Act amendatory of section thirty-nine hundred and twenty-six of the Revised Statutes, to not exceeding one hundred dollars. (32 Stat. 1174.)

This was a proviso annexed to an appropriation for the payment of indemnity for the loss of first-class registered matter in the postal service appropriation act for the fiscal year 1904, cited above.

A provision authorizing the Postmaster-General to increase the indemnity not to exceed $100 was made by Act April 21, 1902, c. 563, § 1, 32 Stat. 117, in language similar to the provision set forth here, with the exception of the word "hereafter."

Act Feb. 27, 1897, mentioned in this provision, is incorporated into R. S. §

3926, as set forth ante, § 7405, and limited the indemnity for the loss of first-class registered matter to $10.

§ 7407. (Act March 4, 1911, c. 241, § 1.) Indemnity for loss of third-class and fourth-class registered matter.

The Postmaster General is hereby authorized to indemnify the senders or owners of third and fourth class domestic registered matter lost in the mails, the indemnity, which shall be paid out of the postal revenues, not to exceed twenty-five dollars for a single piece of registered matter or the actual value thereof if less than twentyfive dollars: Provided, That no indemnity shall be paid if the loser has been otherwise reimbursed. (36 Stat. 1337.)

This was a provision of the postal service appropriation act for the fiscal year 1912, cited above.

Further provisions of this act, temporary in their nature, related to payment of indemnity for loss of registered articles in international mails in accordance with convention stipulations.

The Postmaster-General was authorized to make provision by regulation for the indemnification of shippers for shipment by the parcel post, injured or lost, by insurance or otherwise, by Act Aug. 24, 1912, c. 389, § 8 (6) ante, § 7324.

§ 7408. (R. S. § 3927.) Registered matter and fees.

Mail-matter shall be registered only on the application of the party posting the same, and the fee therefor shall not exceed twenty cents in addition to the regular postage, to be, in all cases, prepaid; and all such fees shall be accounted for in such manner as the Postmaster-General shall direct. But letters upon the official business of the Post-Office Department which require registering shall be registered free of charge, and pass through the mails free of charge.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 127, 17 Stat. 300.

The registry fee is now ten cents in addition to the regular postage. Letters or packets to be registered by either of the Executive Departments, or Bureaus thereof, or by the Public Printer, may be registered without the payment of any registry fee, by Act March 3, 1879, c. 180, § 29, as amended by Act July 5, 1884, c. 234, § 3, ante, § 7371.

Letters containing fractional or other currency mailed to the United States Treasurer for redemption, and letters containing the new currency, returned therefor, were authorized to be registered without the payment of the registry fee, by R. S. § 3932, post, § 7409.

§ 7409. (R. S. § 3932.) Registry of letters containing currency. Under such regulations as the Postmaster-General may prescribe, all postmasters are authorized to register in the manner prescribed by law, but without payment of any registration fee, all letters containing fractional or other currency of the United States, which shall be by them sent by mail to the Treasurer of the United States for redemption; and the postmaster at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, shall register, in like manner, without charge, all letters containing new currency returned for currency redeemed, which shall be received by him from the Treasurer, in sealed packages, marked with the word "register" over the official signature of the said Treasurer.

Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 190, 17 Stat. 307.

Provisions for the redemption of fractional and other currency are set forth in Title XXXVIII, "The Currency."

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