590 THIR.TY—FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 20. 1851. thereof, be deemed guilty of felony, and be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five Expenses or years, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and the expenses of °*°¤¤P° Md °¤· procuring and providing all such postage stamps and letter envelopes, WEP9S' as are provided for or authorized by this act, shall be paid, after being adjusted by the auditor of the post-office department, on the certificate of the Postmaster-General, out of any money in the treasury arising from the revenues of the post-office department. Stamps to be Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every d°l°°°d W P°“‘ postmaster to cause to be defaced, in such manner as the Postmastermmm' General shall direct, all postage stamps attached to letters deposited in his office, for delivery, or to be sent by mail; and if any postmaster sending letters in the mail with postage stamps attached shall omit to deface the same, it shall be the duty of the postmaster, to whose office such letters shall be sent for delivery, to deface the stamps and report _nPenaltytfo!;ug- the delinquent postmaster to the l?ostmaster·General. And if any perlngglgsgsfaufps son shall use, or attempt to use, in prepayment of postage any postage gkggdy used, 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. Advertisement Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That lists of letters remaining un-
- >;tt;¤ °°ll°d {0* called for in any post-office, in any city, town or villiage [village] where a
newspaper shall be printed, shall hereafter be published once only in the newspaper which, being issued weekly or oftener, shall have the largest circulation within the range of delivery of said office, to be decided by the postmaster at such office, at such times, and under such regulations as the Postmaster-General shall prescribe, and at a charge of one cent for each letter advertised. And the postmaster at such office is hereby directed ,to post in a conspicuous place in his office, a copy of such list, on the day, or day after the publication thereof; and if the publisher of any such paper shall refuse to publish the list of letters as provided in this section, the postmaster may designate some other paper for such purpose. Such lists of letters shall be published once in every six weeks, and as much oftener, not exceeding once a week, as the Post- German and master-General may specially direct: Provided, That the Postmaster- Other f¤1”€iS¤ General may, in his discretion, direct the publication of German and, Ima"' other foreign letters in any newspaper printed in the German or any other foreign language, which publication shall be either in lieu of or in addition to the publication of the list of such letters in the manner first in this section provided, as the Postmaster·General shall direct. Pay of post- Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That to any postmaster whose m““°'“· commissions may be reduced below the amount allowed at his office for the year ending the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, and whose labors may be increased, the Postmaster-General shall be authorized, in his discretion, to allow such additional comp,,,,.;,,,,_ missions as he may deem just and proper: Provided, That the whole amount of commissions allowed such postmaster during any fiscal year shall not exceed by more than twenty per centum the amount of commissions at such office for the year ending the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-one. Post-cttices not Sec. 7. And be it farther enacted, That no post-office now in exist-
- ‘;dl’“ I
- l;°°‘;;£i ence shall be discontinued, nor shall the mail service on any mail route
,,,,,,],0,, dimgu. in any of the States or Territories be discontinued or diminished, in ishcdr ¤¤ ¤°· conscquenceof any diminution of the revenues that may result from
lla'; this uct; and it shall be the duty of the Postmaster-General to establish
revenue arising new post-offices, and place the mail service on any new mail routes ’i‘;’;‘8;l$ “°’· established, or that may hereafter be established, in the same manner ` as though thi act had not passed.
