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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, 17. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons shall rob any carrier of the mail of the United States, of such mail, or if any person shall rob the mail, in which letters are sent to be conveyed by post, of any letter or packet, or shall steal such mail, or shall steal and take from or out of the same, or from or out of any post-office, any letter or packet, such offender or offenders shall, on conviction thereof, suffer death.(a)

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That the deputy postmasters shall, respectively, publish at the expiration of every three months, in one of the newspapers published at, or nearest the place of his residence, for three successive weeks, a list of all the letters then remaining in their respective offices; and at the expiration of the next three months, shall send such of the said letters as then remain on hand, as dead letters, to the general post-office, where the same shall be opened and inspected; and if any valuable papers or matter of consequence, shall be found therein, it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General, to cause a descriptive list thereof to be inserted in one of the newspapers, published at the place most convenient to where the owner may be supposed to reside, if within the United States, and such letter and the contents shall be preserved, to be delivered to the person, to whom the same shall be addressed, upon payment of the postage, and the expense of publication.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That the following letters and packets, and no other, shall be received and conveyed by post, free of postage, under such restrictions, as are hereinafter provided; that is to say All letters and packets to or from the President or Vice President of the United States, and all letters and packets, not exceeding two ounces in weight, to or from any member of the Senate or House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Senate or Clerk of the House of Representatives, during their actual attendance in any session of Congress, and twenty days after such session. All letters to and from the Secretary of the Treasury, and his assistant, Comptroller, Register, and Auditor of the Treasury, the Treasurer, the Secretary of State, the Secretary at War, the Commissioners for settling the accounts between the United States and individual states, the Postmaster General and his

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(a) Robbing the mail of the United States. The defendant was indicted on the 24th section of the act of Congress, of March 3, 1825, entitled "An act to reduce into one the several acts establishing and regulating the Post-office department," for advising, procuring, and assisting one Joseph J. Straughan, a mail carrier, to rob the mail of the United States, and was found guilty. Upon this finding the judges of the Circuit Court of South Carolina were divided in opinion upon the question, whether an indictment founded on the statute for advising, &c., a mail carrier to rob the mail, ought to set forth and aver that the said carrier did commit the offence of robbing the mail. By the Supreme Court: the answer to this as an abstract proposition, must be in the affirmative, but if the question intended to be put, is, whether there must be a distinct substantive averment of the fact, it is not necessary. United States v. Mills, 7 Peters, 138.

Upon an indictment for robbing the mail, and putting the person in custody of it in jeopardy, under the 19th section of the act of April 30, 1810, a sword, &c., in the hand of the robber, by terror of which the robbery is effected, is a dangerous weapon within the act, putting the life in jeopardy, though it be not drawn, or pointed at the carrier. So a pistol in his hands, by means of which the robbery is effected, is a dangerous weapon; and it is not necessary to prove that it was charged: it is presumed to be so until the contrary is proved. United States v. Wood, 3 Wash. C. C. R. 440.

It is not necessary to a conviction under the 22d section, that the carrier of the mail should have taken the oath prescribed by the 2d section of the act of 1825, or that the whole mail be taken. The United States v. Wilson, 1 Baldwin's C. C. R. 102.

The word "rob," in the act of Congress of 1825, section 22, is used in the common law sense. Ibid.

"Jeopardy," as used in the section, means a well grounded apprehension of danger to life, in case of refusal to yield to threats, or resistance. Ibid.

A mail carrier is within the 18th section of the act regulating the post-office establishment, "subjecting to a penalty in certain cases, persons employed in any of the departments of the general post-office." United States v. Belew, 2 Brockenb. C. C. R. 280.

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assistant: Provided, That no person shall frank or enclose 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 the assistant Secretary, or by the Comptroller, Register, Auditor or Treasurer; and that each person before named shall deliver to the post-office every letter or packet enclosed to him, which may be directed to any other person, noting the place, from whence it came by post, and the usual postage shall be charged thereon.

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.

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.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That all newspapers, conveyed in the mail, shall be under a cover open at one end, carried in separate bags from the letters, and charged with the payment of one cent, for any distance not more than one hundred miles, and one cent and a half for any greater distance: And it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General and his deputy, to keep a separate account for the newspapers, and the deputy postmasters shall receive fifty per cent. on the postage of all newspapers: And if any other matter or thing be enclosed in such papers, the whole packet shall be charged, agreeably to the rates established by this act, for letters or packets. And if any of the persons employed in any department of the post-office, shall unlawfully detain, delay, embezzle or destroy any newspaper, with which he shall be entrusted, such offenders, for every such offence, shall forfeit a sum, not exceeding fifty dollars: Provided, 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, other than those conveyed in the mail.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General be, and he is hereby authorized to allow to the deputy postmasters respectively, such commission on the monies arising from the postage of letters and packets, as he shall think adequate to their respective services: Provided, That the said commission shall not exceed forty per cent. to any deputy, whose compensation thereby shall not exceed fifty dollars, nor thirty per cent. to any deputy, whose compensation thereby shall not exceed one hundred dollars, nor twenty per cent. to any other deputy, except the postmaster at the port, where the European packets do, or shall steadily arrive to whom such farther allowance, in addition to the emoluments of his office, shall be made, as the Postmaster General shall deem a reasonable compensation for his extra services in the receipt and dispatch of letters, originally received into his office, from on board such packets, and by him forwarded to other offices: And provided also, That the compensations aforesaid shall not exceed eighteen hundred dollars per annum to any one postmaster for all services by him ren

dered.

SEC. 24. And be it further enacted, That if any deputy postmaster or other person, authorized to receive the postage of letters and packets, shall neglect or refuse to render his accounts, and pay over to the Postmaster General, the balance by him due, at the end of every three months, it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General, to cause a suit to be commenced against the person or persons so neglecting or refusing: And if the Postmaster General shall not cause such suit to be commenced within three months, from the end of every such three months,

the balances due from every such delinquent shall be charged to, and recoverable from the Postmaster General.

SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That all pecuniary penalties and forfeitures, incurred under this act, shall be, one half for the use of the person or persons informing and prosecuting for the same, the other half to the use of the United States.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Postmaster General, to make provision, where it may be necessary, for the receipt of all letters and packets intended to be conveyed by any ship or vessel, beyond sea, or from any port of the United States to another port therein; and the letters so received shall be formed into a mail, sealed up, and directed to the postmaster of the port to which such ship or vessel shall be bound. And for every letter or packet so received, there shall be paid, at the time of its reception, a postage of one cent. And the Postmaster General may make arrangements with the postmasters in any foreign country for the reciprocal receipt and delivery of letters and packets, through the post-offices.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That the deputy postmasters, and the persons employed in the transportation of the mail, shall be exempt from militia duties, or any fine or penalty for neglect thereof.

SEC. 28. And be it further enacted, That all the surplus revenue of the general post-office, which shall have accrued, previous to the first day of June next, not heretofore appropriated, be and the same is hereby appropriated towards defraying any deficiency which may arise in the revenue of the said department for the year next ensuing.

SEC. 29. And be it further enacted, That the act passed the last session of Congress, intituled "An act to continue in force, for a limited time, an act, intituled 'An act for the temporary establishment of the post-office,'" be, and the same is hereby continued in full force, until the first day of June next, and no longer.

SEC. 30. And be it further enacted, That this act shall be in force for the term of two years, from the said first day of June next, and no longer.

APPROVED, February 20, 1792.

Appropriation of penalties un

der this act.

P. M. Gen. to make provision letters sent or for receipt of received by sea.

Postmasters

&c. exempt from militia duty. Appropriations of surplus revenue of general post-office.

Former acts

continued till

1st June.

1791, ch. 23.

Limitation of

this act.

STATUTE I.

CHAP. VIII.-An Act relative to the Election of a President and Vice President of March 1, 1792. the United States, and declaring the Officer who shall act as President in case of Vacancies in the offices both of President and Vice President.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That except in case of an election of a President and Vice President of the United States, prior to the ordinary period as herein after specified, electors shall be appointed in each state for the election of a President and Vice President of the United States, within thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, and within thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in December in every fourth year succeeding the last election, which electors shall be equal to the number of Senators and Representatives, to which the several states may by law be entitled at the time, when the President and Vice President, thus to be chosen, should come into office: Provided always, That where no apportionment of Representatives shall have been made after any enumeration, at the time of choosing electors, then the number of electors shall be according to the existing apportionment of Senators and Representatives.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the electors shall meet and give their votes on the said first Wednesday in December, at such place in each state as shall be directed, by the legislature thereof; and the electors in each state shall make and sign three certificates of all the

[Obsolete.] March 26, 1804, ch. 50.

States how to appoint electors

for election of president and vice president;

when to meet and vote;

certificates of all the votes given.

to sign three votes by them given, and shall seal up the same certifying on each that a list of the votes of such state for President and Vice President is contained therein, and shall by writing under their hands, or under the How to be dis- hands of a majority of them, appoint a person to take charge of and posed of. deliver to the President of the Senate, at the seat of government, before the first Wednesday in January then next ensuing, one of the said certificates, and the said electors shall forthwith forward by the post-office to the President of the Senate, at the seat of government, one other of the said certificates, and shall forthwith cause the other of the said certificates to be delivered to the judge of that district in which the said electors shall assemble.

1804, ch. 50, sec. 1.

Duty of executive of each state;

of Sec. of State

on non-receipt of list of votes.

Congress to be

in session on 2d Wednesday in Twelfth amend ment of the constitution, p. 22.

Feb. 1793.

Duty of persons sent with lists of votes ;

allowance to them.

Penalty on their neglect of duty.

Provision in

case of death &c. of president and vice-president;

duty of Sec. of State on such event.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the executive authority of each state shall cause three lists of the names of the electors of such state to be made and certified and to be delivered to the electors on or before the said first Wednesday in December, and the said electors shall annex one of the said lists to each of the lists of their votes.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That if a list of votes, from any state, shall not have been received at the seat of government on the said first Wednesday in January, that then the Secretary of State shall send a special messenger to the district judge in whose custody such list shall have been lodged, who shall forthwith transmit the same to the seat of government.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That Congress shall be in session on the second Wednesday in February, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, and on the second Wednesday in February succeeding every meeting of the electors, and the said certificates, or so many of them as shall have been received, shall then be opened, the votes counted, and the persons who shall fill the offices of President and Vice President ascertained and declared, agreeably to the constitution.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That in case there shall be no President of the Senate at the seat of government on the arrival of the persons entrusted with the lists of the votes of the electors, then such persons shall deliver the lists of votes in their custody into the office of the Secretary of State, to be safely kept and delivered over as soon as may be, to the President of the Senate.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the persons appointed by the electors to deliver the lists of votes to the President of the Senate, shall be allowed on the delivery of the said lists twenty-five cents for every mile of the estimated distance by the most usual road, from the place of meeting of the electors, to the seat of government of the United States.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That if any person appointed to deliver the votes of the electors to the President of the Senate, shall after accepting of his appointment neglect to perform the services required of him by this act, he shall forfeit the sum of one thousand dollars.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That in case of removal, death, resignation or inability both of the President and Vice President of the United States, the President of the Senate pro tempore, and in case there shall be no President of the Senate, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the time being shall act as President of the United States until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That whenever the offices of President and Vice President shall both become vacant, the Secretary of State shall forthwith cause a notification thereof to be made to the executive of every state, and shall also cause the same to be published in at least one of the newspapers printed in each state, specifying that electors of the President of the United States shall be appointed or chosen in the several states within thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in December then next ensuing: Provided, There shall be the space of two months between the date of such notification and the

said first Wednesday in December, but if there shall not be the space of two months between the date of such notification and the first Wednesday in December; and if the term for which the President and Vice President last in office were elected shall not expire on the third day of March next ensuing, then the Secretary of State shall specify in the notification that the electors shall be appointed or chosen within thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in December in the year next ensuing, within which time the electors shall accordingly be appointed or chosen, and the electors shall meet and give their votes on the said first Wednesday in December, and the proceedings and duties of the said electors and others shall be pursuant to the directions prescribed in this

act.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the only evidence of a refusal to accept or of a resignation of the office of President or Vice President, shall be an instrument in writing declaring the same, and subscribed by the person refusing to accept or resigning, as the case may be, and delivered into the office of the Secretary of State.

which

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the term of four years for which a President and Vice President shall be elected shall in all cases commence on the fourth day of March next succeeding the day on the votes of the electors shall have been given. APPROVED, March 1, 1792.

Evidence of

refusal, &c. of office of president, &c.

When the term of four years shall commence.

STATUTE I.

CHAP. IX.-An Act for making farther and more effectual Provision for the March 5, 1792. Protection of the Frontiers of the United States.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the battalion of artillery now in service be completed according to the establishment, and that the two regiments of infantry now in service, be completed to the number of nine hundred and sixty non-commis sioned officers, privates and musicians each. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be raised for a term not exceeding three years, three additional regiments, each of which, exclusively of the commissioned officers, shall consist of nine hundred and sixty non-commissioned officers, privates and musicians; and that one of the said regiments be organized in the following manner, that is to say, two battalions of infantry, each of which, exclusively of the commissioned officers, shall consist of three hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers, privates and musicians; and one squadron of light dragoons which, exclusively of the commissioned officers, shall consist of three hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers, privates and musicians; and that it shall be a condition in the enlistment of the said dragoons, to serve as dismounted dragoons, whenever they shall be ordered thereto: That the organization of the said squadron of light dragoons shall be, as follows, to wit: one major, one adjutant, one quartermaster, one surgeon's mate, and four troops, each of which shall consist of one captain, one lieutenant, one cornet, four sergeants, four corporals, one farrier, one saddler, one trumpeter, and sixty-nine dragoons; and the President may arm the said troops, as he shall think proper:

[Repealed.] Battalion of

artillery and
of infantry to be
two regiments
completed:

raised:

three additional regiments Repealed 1795, ch. 44, sec. 18.

how organized,

SEC. 3. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That it shall be and by whom. lawful for the President of the United States to organize the said five regiments of infantry, and the said corps of horse and artillery, as he shall judge expedient, diminishing the number of corps, or taking from one corps and adding to another, as shall appear to him proper, so that the whole number of officers and men shall not exceed the limits above prescribed: Provided, That the said three regiments shall be discharged as soon as the United States shall be at peace with the Indian tribes. VOL. I.-31

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