Postmaster General, Division of Classification, on Form 3606, a statement which shall show the number of permits issued, the total number of pieces of each class of matter mailed, and the total amount of postage collected on each class. higher class in 1132. Sec. 460. Matter of the second, third, or fourth class containing Inclosing any writing or printing in addition to the original matter, other than lower class matas authorized by law, shall not be admitted to the mails, nor deliv- ter 1909, Mar. 4, ered, except upon payment of postage for matter of the first class, de- ch. 321; 35 Stat., ducting therefrom any amount which may have been prepaid by stamps affixed, unless by direction of the Postmaster General such postage shall be remitted. Whoever shall knowingly conceal or inclose any matter of a higher class in that of a lower class, and deposit or cause the same to be deposited for conveyance by mail, at a less rate than would be charged for such higher class matter, shall be fined not more than one-fine for. hundred dollars. See secs. 441, 453, and 458 for permissible additions to second, third, and fourth class matter. to Third Assistant eral in case law been violated. office of mail ing. 2. When the postmaster at the office of mailing is Report satisfied that the sender of a piece of mail matter has Postmaster Genknowingly concealed or inclosed matter of a higher class believed to have in that of a lower, in violation of this section, he shall report the case to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Classification, on Form 3595, giving all the facts and circumstances, including the name of the sender, if known, addressee, office and date of mailing, and a description of the package and of the matter inclosed or concealed therein. 3. When the postmaster at the office of address is satisfied that there has been a violation of this section, he shall deliver the package to the addressee on payment of the proper postage and report the facts to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, on Form 3595, as above set forth. If the proper postage is not paid, the package shall be retained by the postmaster to be used as evidence, and he should be able to establish its identity. -office of address. Overcharges on mail matter. Mar. 3, ch. 1480; 33 Stat., 1091. Sec. 461. Whenever it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Postmaster General that any postage is paid on any mail matter for 1905, which service is not rendered, or is collected in excess of the lawful rate, he may, in his discretion, authorize the postmaster at the office where paid to refund the proper amount out of the postal receipts in the may possession of the postmaster. funded. be re 2. All applications for refunds under the provisions of replication for this section should be addressed to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Classification, accompa refund. Payment and receipt. Credit to claimed. nied with a full statement of the facts and, when possible, the envelope or wrapper in which the matter was mailed. Postmasters shall not make refunds until instructed by the department. 3. Upon receipt of instructions to make a refund a postmaster shall pay the amount authorized out of the postal receipts in his possession and shall require the person to whom the payment is made to give a receipt therefor in duplicate on Form 3533, which will accompany the department's instructions. The "original" receipt shall be sent promptly to the Third Assistant Postmaster General; the "duplicate" shall be retained in the post-office files. be 4. Credit for the amount of the refund shall be claimed by the postmaster in the quarterly postal account. Limit of weight of mail matter. 1896, June 8, See sec. 587, as to procedure in cases where the addressee objects to the payment of postage due. XIV. WEIGHT AND SIZE OF MAIL MATTER. Sec. 462. (a) (The limit of weight of mail matter) is hereby declared to be not exceeding four pounds for each package thereof, exch. 370; 29 Stat., cept in case of single books weighing in excess of that amount; (fourthnot exceeding twenty pounds in weight 262. R. S., § 3879. -exceptions. Örder Postmaster General July 25, 1913. -matter for the blind. class mail matter * * when mailed for delivery within the first and second zones, and not exceeding eleven pounds in weight when for delivery within any of the other zones), and except for books and documents published or circulated by order of Congress, or printed or written official matter emanating from any of the departments of the Government or from the Smithsonian Institution, or which is not declared nonmailable under the provisions of section thirty-eight hundred and ninety-three of the Revised Statutes as amended by the act of July twelfth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, or matter appertaining to lotteries, gift concerts, or fraudulent schemes or devices. (See secs. 479 to 482.) (b) Books, pamphlets, and other reading matter in raised characters 1904, Apr. 27, for the use of the blind, whether prepared by hand or printed, in single ch. 1612; 33 Stat., volumes not exceeding ten pounds in weight, * shall be 313. -in excess of, not to be accepted except. transmitted in the United States mails. * * 2. Postmasters shall decline to accept for mailing packages offered to them weighing in excess of the limit provided by law, whether such packages are presented as free matter by officers of the Government, under the penalty label, or under prepaid postage, except as provided herein and in the following section. See sec. 620, as to delivery of matter in excess of weight inadvertently dispatched. which limit of is Sec. 463. Mail matter of the first class addressed for Matter to delivery in foreign countries other than Canada, Mexico, weight Is InapCuba, the Republic of Panama, the United States postal first and second agency at Shanghai, China, and the United States Naval Hospital at Yokohama, Japan (to which domestic regulations apply), and mail matter of the second class prepaid at either the regular or transient rate addressed to points in the United States and in countries to which the domestic regulations apply, shall be accepted for mailing regardless of the weight thereof. -public docu 2. Books and documents published or circulated by single books. order of Congress, without regard to their weight and ments. whether wrapped separately or not, shall be accepted for mailing at any post office. or written matter 3. Printed or written official matter weighing in ex-official printed cess of 4 pounds, emanating from any of the depart- at Washington. ments of the Government or the Smithsonian Institution, shall be accepted for mailing at the post office at Washington, D. C., but not elsewhere. having character class mail. 4. Official matter partaking of the characteristics of official matter fourth-class mail (see sec. 454), weighing not in excess of isties of fourththe limit of weight prescribed for fourth-class matter in section 462, when presented under a penalty envelope or label, shall be accepted for mailing at any post office. relating to postal 5. All official matter relating to the postal service, in-official matter cluding that pertaining to the Postal Savings System, service. may be sent in the mails from any post office without regard to weight, except as otherwise provided by special instructions. stamped enve revenue stamps, other stamped paper. 6. Packages of postage stamps, stamped envelopes, postage stamps, newspaper wrappers, postal cards, internal-revenue lopes, internalstamps, and copyright matter in its simplest mailable and form addressed to the Register of Copyrights, Washing--copyright matton, D. C., shall be accepted at any post office, regardless of the weight thereof. (See secs. 499 and 505.) ter. matter. Sec. 464. If a parcel of fourth-class matter is greater Fourth-cl a ss in size than 72 inches in length and girth combined, it-limit of size. shall not be accepted for mailing, no matter how small the excess may be. (See par. 1, sec. 454.) 2. In measuring a parcel the greatest distance in a-how measured. straight line between its ends, but not around the parcel lengthwise, shall be taken as the length, while the distance around it at its thickest part shall be taken as the Wrapping and girth. For example, a parcel 10 inches wide, 5 inches XV.-WRAPPING, PREPARATION, ADDRESSING, AND EX- Sec. 465. No newspapers shall be received to be conveyed by folding of publi- mail unless they are sufficiently dried and inclosed in proper wrap cations, etc. R. S., § 3883. -wrappers for. -manner of. cordance with pers. 2. Newspapers and periodicals shall be wrapped in such manner that the wrappers can be removed and replaced without destroying them or injuring their incloWhen envelopes are used as, wrappers, they should bear, in addition to the name of the publication, a notice of its entry as second-class matter. sures. 3. All publications should be properly folded for assorting and delivery, and addressed in a legible hand, or plain type not smaller than long primer. Postmasters shall request publishers and news agents to fold their publications to a size not larger than 9 by 12 inches. -when not in ac- 4. Publications which are illegibly addressed, and those regulations. which are not wrapped and folded in accordance with the above regulations, shall be held until all other matter is distributed. Examination at mailing office. Sec. 466. Matter of the second class may be examined at the office 1879, Mar. 3, of mailing, and if found to contain matter which is subject to a higher ch. 180, § 12; 20 Stat., 359. rate of postage, such matter shall be charged with postage at the rate -for matter sub- to which the inclosed matter is subject: Provided, That nothing herein ject to higher rate of postage. contained shall be so construed as to prohibit the insertion in periodicals of advertisements attached permanently to the same. matter not en Detention of Sec. 467. When the postmaster at the office of mailing titied to second- finds that a publisher or news agent has deposited mat class rate, and proper rate. collection or ter for mailing at the second-class rates of postage which, in his judgment, is chargeable with a higher rate by reason of illegal inclosures or additions, he shall detain the same, notify the sender, and demand of him proper postage, to be prepaid by stamps affixed to each separately addressed piece. Deposit to be received and facts when. 2. When the decision of the postmaster is questioned, reported, he shall, on receipt of a deposit of postage at the higher rate, dispatch the package as second-class matter, and submit to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Classification, a sample of the objectionable mat ter, with a full statement of the facts in the case. Should the publication be held entitled to the second-class rates, the excess of the deposit over the same shall be refunded; if the decision of the postmaster is sustained, the full Conversion of amount of the deposit shall be sent, in ordinary stamps, with report of the facts, to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, in the manner prescribed in section 422. deposit. of rules governing -examination of Sec. 468. Postmasters shall scrutinize mailings of pub-Violation lications entered at their offices as second-class matter ad mission. to ascertain whether the publishers are complying with publications for. the law and these regulations. acter of publica 2. Every postmaster, having reason to believe that a Change in charpublication passing in the mails as matter of the second tion. class is not entitled to the second-class mailing privileges, shall report the matter promptly, with any evidence or facts in his possession tending to support such belief, to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Classification. See sec. 428, as to penalty for submitting false evidence as to secondclass publications; sec. 425, as to annulment of entry. Packages must admit of Sec. 469. The Postmaster General may prescribe, by regulation, the manner of wrapping and securing for the mails all packages of examination. 1879, Mar. 3, matter not charged with first-class postage, so that the contents of such ch. 180, § 24; 20 packages may be easily examined; and no package the contents of Stat., 361. R. S., § 3881. which can not be easily examined shall pass in the mails, or be deliv--otherwise ered at a less rate than for matter of the first class. postage to be at first-class rate. third class mat matter. 2. Matter of the second and third classes should be, Second and inclosed in an unsealed envelope or wrapped in such ter. manner that the contents of the package can be easily examined. Unfolded cards and double advertising cards with detachable parts for reply may be mailed without cover. In all cases the matter should be prepared in such form as to facilitate its handling in the mails. 3. Parcels of fourth-class mail shall be prepared in such Fourth-class manner that the contents can be easily examined. (See examination of sec. 474.) Such matter inclosed in boxes to which the-when inclosed lids are nailed or screwed may be accepted for mailing at the fourth-class rates of postage if, with reasonable effort, the lids can be removed by the use of a chisel, screw driver, or other suitable instrument, for the purpose of permitting examination of the contents. When a postmaster to whom is presented for mailing a bag which is sewed up is satisfied from an examination of it in sewed bags. contents. in boxes. -when inclosed |