CLASSIFICATION OF MAIL-MATTER. 
 
 Office of the Assistant Attorney-General 
 
 for the Post-Office Department, 
 
 Washington , D. ( 7 ., November 17, 1877. 
 
 Sir: During the temporary absence of the Assistant Attorney-Gen¬ 
 eral for this department, in June last, I was requested by the Acting 
 First Assistant Postmaster-General to advise him as to the proper con¬ 
 struction to be placed upon that portion of section 15 of the act of July 
 12, 1876, which reads as follows, to wit: “ Regular publications designed 
 primarily for advertising purposes.” To his request, I replied under date 
 of June 7th, in a somewhat lengthy opinion, and since that time, to the 
 date of this letter, I have had referred to me between three hundred and 
 four hundred publications, submitted to the department by postmasters, 
 and in some instances competing publishers, in order that their status 
 under the aforementioned section might be judicially determined. 
 
 The construction of this section and its application have involved the 
 careful examination of all the various sections of the statutes relative to 
 the classification of mailable matter and the rates of postage there¬ 
 under. 
 
 In view of my connection with this matter you have requested me to 
 suggest to you any conclusions I may have reached upon this very im¬ 
 portant branch of the postal service, and particularly as to the necessity 
 for any change in the present laws relative to the same. 
 
 In accordance with such request I have the honor to submit the fol¬ 
 lowing views for your consideration. 
 
 Permit me to say, by way of introduction, that I am not of those who 
 believe that rates of postage, as a principle, should be adjusted to accord 
 with the actual carrying cost of the various articles of mail matter. 
 Nor am I of that class who hold to the opinion that the postal depart¬ 
 ment was designed to be a common carrier. I believe it was intended 
 to have, and that its interests are best subserved in having, a limited 
 use. Hence, like everything else having a limited use, it should be 
 carefully guarded. 
 
 I agree in the main with the views which have been heretofore ex¬ 
 pressed upon this subject by tbe late general superintendent of railway 
 mail .service, George S. Bangs, esq., to be found in his printed pamphlet 
 of 1875. Briefly speaking, I hold that within this limited use the pri¬ 
 mary object of the establishment of a postal system by government 
 was the 14 general dissemination of intelligence in the interest of the 
 public good.” 
 
 In this view of it Congress seem to have ever legislated, as recogniz¬ 
 ing that the welfare of the people, and to a certain extent the perpetuity 
 of our republican institutions, rest upon the intelligence of the citizen. 
 It has made progressive concessions to 44 the press,” notwithstanding the 
 fact that for years the expenditures of the Post-Office Department in the 
 carriage of the newspaper-mail have exceeded the receipts, because, 
 doubtless, it has recognized 44 the press” as an agency of the greatest 
 importance in the promotion of the public good. 
 
4 
 
 Hence, in all its legislation upon this subject, Congress has classed 
 “the press” as privileged matter in the mails, and has, since the act of 
 1845, been materially cheapening the rates of postage for its transmis¬ 
 sion through the same, until it reached the act of Jane 23, 1874, which 
 generously accorded to the “public prints”,of the country the benefit of 
 the pound or bulk rates of postage, and thus brought them within the 
 reach of the great body of the people. 
 
 It happened that this act was made the occasion by certain sundry 
 not overscrupulous persons, for evading the plain spirit which prompted 
 its passage. Under the vaguely loose definition of a “newspaper” and 
 “periodical” which common parlance and even lexicographers have given 
 to these words, it was found possible for persons engaged in certain 
 trade-pursuits which they wished to advertise to the public in a cheap 
 way, and who were attracted by these low rates of postage, to issue 
 weekly, semi-monthly, and less often, but with a degree of regularity 
 which enabled them to lay claim to the title of “ periodical,” publica¬ 
 tions devoted to advertising their interests, wares, or specifics, with just 
 enough of hastily-collected news or light reading matter to enable them 
 to mail them at the low rates fixed by the act of June, 1874, The re¬ 
 sult was, the mails were freighted with this kind of publication, to the 
 great detriment of the service and the legitimate publications for which 
 the law was intended. The evil became so crying that Congress, upon 
 the recommendation of the Postmaster-General, enacted the fifteenth 
 section of the act of July 12,1876, in the hope and with the intent that 
 the evils might be avoided. 
 
 The construction given to the law in my letter of the 7th of June has 
 been conceded to be the correct one. With my views you are already 
 familiar, but for the sake of the connection I here insert them : 
 
 Office of the Assistant Attorney-General 
 for the Post-Office Department, 
 Washington, D. C., June 7, 1877. 
 
 Sir : I have made careful examination of the publications which you have sub¬ 
 mitted to this office, to wit, The Iron Age and The Metal Worker, published by G. D. 
 Williams, at the city of New York, in connection with section 15 of the act of July 12, 
 1876, and I am Of opinion that they are neither of them such publications as bring 
 them within the provisions of that section. There is no ambiguity in the terms “ reg¬ 
 ular publication designed primarily for advertising purposes,” as employed in the 
 aforesaid section, but the question of whether a given publication is within the terms 
 employed, being a question of fact rather than law, is not as easily answered. Under 
 the iudomitable spirit of enterprise which has ever characterized the business interest 
 of the country, of late years men engaged in certain trade-pursuits have resorted to 
 the expedient of printing or having printed certain publications devoted mainly to the 
 advertisement of their business or trade. These publications are issued in sheets, 
 som e of them having the appearance of newspapers, others of pamphlets; they are 
 issued from regular offices of publication, and at regular and stated intervals, some of 
 them designed for free circulation, some for circulation at moderate rates, while others 
 are fn nished only to bona fide and. regular subscribers at a subscription which may be 
 regarded as fair and commensurate, but all of them having for their main object the 
 public and undisguised advertisement of those who publish them. 
 
 There can be no doubt that such publications are publications designed primarily 
 for “ advertising purposes,” and whether they be issued under any of the conditions 
 above named they are alike subject to the rates fixed by the fifteenth section of the act 
 of July 12, 1876. There are, however, publications which do not so undisguisedly ad¬ 
 vertise the business of those who publish them. They are apparently devoted to the 
 dissemination of intelligence relating to the pursuit or business of a certain class or 
 classes of the general public, such intelligence consisting of correspondence, editorial 
 articles, it may be trade reports, changes in business, and various other matter, as well 
 as what are technically known as advertisements, and yet in point of fact these publi¬ 
 cations are primarily designed and are so conducted for the advertisement of the busi¬ 
 ness interests of those who publish or own them. The main object of such publications 
 being to attract notice to the pursuit of those who publish or own them, it is entirely 
 immaterial to the inquiry to consider by what manner this object is best accomplished. 
 
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 There may be a presumption in favor of all publications of this character which have 
 a bona fide subscription list, and which are published at rates other than nominal, but 
 it is a presumption which is often overcome by careful diagnosis. The statute was 
 not intended nor does it discriminate hgaipst regnlar publications, denominated class 
 or special publications,per se. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago a publication which me(fc &\\ tastes, which was for everybody’s 
 use, was all that was demanded by the peofilp, but it cannot be denied that at this 
 day the demand is for a division of labor here as elsewhere. It is impossible for a gen¬ 
 eral periodical or newspaper to embrace within its spatee all the movements of the day, 
 and hence but meager information upon these different subjects can be supplied, the 
 elaborate and scientific details being left to the class-periodicals. 
 
 The intention of Congress in the enactment of the statutes was not directed against 
 such regular publications, whether confined to a single department or conveying in¬ 
 formation interesting and of the highest importance to certain classes of the commu¬ 
 nity, but against those which, uuder cover of furnishiug just such information, were 
 designed primarily to apprise the public, or such of the public as could be induced to 
 subscribe to their publications, of their business or trade. 
 
 As a summary of these views I would advise you that publications which are regu¬ 
 larly issued by single individuals or by firms, or by combination of individuals or firms 
 engaged in trade, the main object of which is the prosecution of the business interest 
 of the owners or publishers of the same, whether the same be done openly or without 
 disguise, or whether it be done by conveying information relative to the business of a 
 certain class of the general public, as well as such publications as are confined to gen¬ 
 eral purposes of advertising, are such publications as are designated by the fifteenth 
 section of the act of 1876. The question in all cases is a question of intent. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 A. H. BISSELL, 
 
 Acting for the Assistant Attorney-General 
 for the Post-Office Department. 
 
 Hon. James N. Tyner, 
 
 First Assistant Postmaster-General. 
 
 Very little difficulty was experienced in interpreting the intent of the 
 legislation provided in section 15 of this act, but when it was attempted 
 to make application of this construction, involving as it did the ques¬ 
 tion of intent in the publication, it was found next to impossible to do it 
 within the limited field of investigation afforded the department. 
 Various tests were tried, but were all found to fall short of even aver¬ 
 age fairness. It was deemed the test of subscribership would be a fair 
 one, but in the case of Ehrich’s Fashion Quarterly, of New York City, 
 it was disclosed that it had a large legitimate subscription-list, although 
 no doubt existed that the primary intent of its publication was to en¬ 
 hance the business of its publishers, who were besides engaged in the 
 sale of notions. The fact of business management as bearing upon the 
 question of intent was, in many cases, impossible to determine, because 
 the onus probandi was upon the department. 
 
 To illustrate the difficulty the department encountered in its attempt 
 to apply the law above quoted, I have but to cite the case of a well- 
 known fash ion-journal, which was submitted by the First Assistant 
 Postmaster General. An ex-parte examination of its contents, with 
 such evidence as the postmaster of the city where the same was pub¬ 
 lished was able to furnish, satisfied me that the journal was published, 
 as its primary object, for increasing, by means of advertising, the busi¬ 
 ness of its publisher, to wit, the importation, for sale, of patterns. Sub¬ 
 sequently, and after a personal interview with the publisher, and upon 
 his assurance that such was not the case, his publication was restored 
 to the bulk rate of postage. I accidentally ascertained, some time after, 
 that the publisher had, in many of the large cities of this country and 
 Europe, pattern-emporiums, where the business of selling patterns was 
 largely engaged in, and that the very publication which, upon his rep¬ 
 resentations, had been restored to its former privileged rates, contained 
 such data in connection with any pattern desired as enabled the person 
 
6 
 
 n charge of the emporium to find its location upon the shelves. In fine , 
 the publication served as an extensive catalogue of patterns which were 
 for sale in these various emporiums. 
 
 I take at random from the numberless cases presented another, illus¬ 
 trating the difficulty in another way. The New York # * * was 
 
 submitted by the postmaster at that city as a publication about which 
 he had grave doubts as to its right to the privilege of the pound rate of 
 postage. The publishers, both in letters and in a private interview, 
 protested by all the inviolability of the publishers’ oath that their pub¬ 
 lication was a bona fide trade journal, and published in the interest of 
 its subscribers. It was difficult for the department to prove otherwise, 
 though at a subsequent time it was ascertained that this publication 
 belonged to a class having no genuine or paid up subscription-list, 
 thriving only upon its advertisements, which are inserted free, on the 
 condition that the advertisers will pay full price for a number of copies, 
 which are sent to persons whose names are furnished upon a printed 
 list. 
 
 Many other cases might be cited, but these are deemed sufficient to 
 show the necessity for further legislation upon this subject. The pur¬ 
 pose of the law is, I think, conceded, except by the class of persons af¬ 
 fected by it in the manner thus illustrated, to be wise; but I am satisfied, 
 from the observation and experience of the past six months, that the 
 object desired in its passage cannot be attained unless Congress shall 
 enlarge the scope of the inquiry. The onus probandi in all such cases 
 should be shifted from the department to the publisher, on the ground 
 that those who desire the benefits of the privileged rates , should them¬ 
 selves prove to the department their right to them. 
 
 1 believe that this can be best attained by the adoption of the plan 
 outlined in the able letter of the present superintendent of railway mail 
 service to the late Postmaster-General Jewell, under date of February, 
 1876, to wit, the registration or license of privileged second-class matter. 
 
 Privileged matter in the mails, 1 apprehend, should be that which it 
 pays best to carry, either because of the revenue derived from its 
 carriage, or because it serves to disseminate intelligence, and hence 
 tends to promote the public good. To the former belong letters and 
 letters only; to the latter the “public prints’ 7 of the country. I believe 
 not only that this “privileged matter” should be carried through the 
 mails as cheaply as possible, but also that there should be placed as 
 few restrictions as possible upon its carriage; and I am of opinion that 
 this plan of registration will accomplish this latter better than any that 
 has ever, to my knowledge, been suggested. In order that this feature 
 may be the better comprehended, I desire to suggest in the same connec¬ 
 tion some thoughts which have occurred to me relative to the subject 
 of the classification of mail matter. Under the present law mailable 
 matter is divided into three classes: First, letters; second, regular 
 printed matter; third, miscellaneous matter. In the first class is em¬ 
 braced all correspondence wholly or partly in writing, except book man¬ 
 uscript and corrected proof-sheets passing between authors and pub¬ 
 lishers. Ma lable matter of the second class embraces all matter 
 exclusively in print, and regularly issued from a known office of publi¬ 
 cation, without addition by writing, mark, or sign. 
 
 The section of the law which describes mailable matter of the third 
 class is a sort of an omnium gatherum section, in which are enumerated 
 very many articles of printed matter and merchandise, as though Con¬ 
 gress had intended to embrace in this section everything which might 
 be declared mailable, and which was not embraced in the other two 
 
7 
 
 classes, and had sought to do so by an exhaustive enumeration. Fear¬ 
 ing, however, that it had not so done, it provides in a subsequent sec¬ 
 tion that matter to which no specific rate of postage has been attached, 
 that is to say, matter which has not been classified, shall be charged 
 with postage, not as upon articles of tlie third class, nor in accordance 
 with its character, but at the rate charged for first-class matter. I think 
 the arrangement is exceedingly illogical. Why, it may be asked, should 
 book manuscript be excepted from the first-class rate and charged only 
 the low second-class rate, while upon all other manuscript, including 
 that going to magazines and newspapers, is imposed the payment of the 
 high or first-class rate? Magazines and newspapers, when regularly 
 issued, are among the favored articles of mail-matter, and are trans¬ 
 mitted at the lowest or pound rates, while books are looked upon as 
 merchandise and subjected to the highest of all the rates. One would 
 naturally suppose that, if exception were made at all, it would be in case 
 of manuscript relating to privileged matter. I beg to suggest, therefore, 
 if the exception is to be made at all, that the words “authors 7 manu¬ 
 script 77 be substituted for “ book manuscript, 77 and that the words fol¬ 
 lowing be transposed, so that the sentence shall read “ except authors 7 
 manuscripts passing between authors and publishers, proof-sheets, and 
 corrected proof-sheets, 77 though I can perceive no reason at all for the 
 exception. 
 
 Under the provisions of section 15 of the act of July 12, 1876, two 
 rates were assigned to mail-matter of the third class, a rate for mer¬ 
 chandise and a rate for printed matter, while unsealed circulars deposited 
 in letter-carrier offices are chargeable at one cent for each circular. 
 Under the rates fixed in this section it has become a matter of great 
 importance to know the distinction between a circular and some one or 
 more of the terms used in the section of the statutes describing by 
 enumeration third-class matter. Congress not having defined the term 
 “ circular, 77 very many communications have been addressed by post¬ 
 masters to the department, inclosing specimens of matter deposited for 
 mailing in their office, and requesting a construction and an application 
 of the law in the case submitted, the whole mail in some cases being 
 stopped until a decision of the department shall have been returned, to 
 the great annoyance, not to say injustice, of the sender of the mail- 
 matter in question. I would suggest, as a remedy for these annoyances, 
 an amendment to the section describing third-class matter that shall 
 avoid any enumeration at all, and by taking out from the third class 
 all miscellaneous or irregular printed matter, and relegating the same 
 to the second class, under the head of “ordinary matter 77 of that class. 
 
 To simplify the classification, therefore, and divide mailable matter 
 naturally, 1 have the honor to suggest that Congress be asked to amend 
 the statutes relative to the classification of mail-matter, so that to the 
 first class shall belong written matter, excepting therefrom the matter I 
 have hereinbefore indicated; to the second class printed matter , under 
 the divisions indicated in the next and following sections of this letter; 
 and to the third class, under such restrictions and limitations as may be 
 prescribed, merchandise. 
 
 As the most important feature of this classification is the registration 
 or license of certain second-class matter, you will permit me to discuss 
 it somewhat at length. Bearing in mind the kinds of matter that are 
 regarded as privileged, and that such matter should be carried as 
 cheaply as possible and with the fewest restrictions possible, printed 
 or second-class matter would be divided then into “ regular, or privi¬ 
 leged, 77 and “miscellaneous, or ordinary. 77 Within the former class 
 
8 
 
 would be embraced all periodicals and newspapers devoted to public or 
 political matters, religion, morality, social economy, science, literature, 
 the arts, or the industries, and would be entitled to the privilege of regis¬ 
 tration at the pound or low rate of postage. The u miscellaneous, or ordi¬ 
 nary,” would include all printed matter now embraced within the third 
 class, including transient magazines and newspapers, and regular publi¬ 
 cations designed primarily for advertising purposes, or forfree circulation, 
 or for circulation through the mails at nominal rates. As has been already 
 stated, the pound rates of postage have heretofore acted as the incentive 
 in prompting the publication by businessmen of business circulars having 
 the form of newspapers, for which they claimed the right of transporta¬ 
 tion at the cheap rates. Great confusion has arisen, gross injustice 
 been done, and inconsistent action been taken by postmasters who were 
 called upon to draw the line, and found it difficult to do so, between 
 what were legitimate publications and those which were simply adver¬ 
 tising schemes. Of course these opinions have widely differed; publi¬ 
 cations of a certain class having been admitted to the bulk rates in one 
 city, and excluded from them in another. To the end that uniformity 
 may be had, and postmasters relieved of the exercise of these quasi¬ 
 judicial functions, I beg to suggest that the statutes themselves should 
 draw the line, in clear and unmistakable terms. Publications relating 
 to the various industries of the country are rarely now of a general 
 character. The increasing zeal for information upon special subjects, as 
 well as the opportunity which has been offered to enterprising business¬ 
 men under the attractively low rates of postage to own their own news¬ 
 paper, in which to advertise themselves and their business, have caused 
 to spring up within the last few years a large and constantly increasing 
 number of a trade or special publications. These publications may be 
 divided into five classes, described as follows: 
 
 First. Those publications originated and published for the dissemina¬ 
 tion of information upon some special subject, or devoted to the interests 
 of some special industry, having a legitimate list of subscribers and be¬ 
 ing conducted so as to attract more. Notable instances of this class are 
 The Iron Age, The American Grocer, The Shoe and Leather Reporter, 
 and The Publishers’Weekly, of New York; The Trade-List of Cincin¬ 
 nati ; and The Northwestern Lumberman and The Hardware and Imple¬ 
 ment Trade Review, of Chicago. There can be no question but what 
 publications of this character should be regarded as equally entitled to 
 all the benefits of the “privileged” class, as the leading metropolitan 
 dailies of the country. 
 
 Second. Those publications owned and controlled by one, or in many 
 cases several, business concerns, and conducted solely for the advance¬ 
 ment of the business or trade of those who own them. Their subscrip¬ 
 tion-price is nominal and they are of no public benefit. To this class 
 may be assigned Baldwin’s Monthly, the Leader, published by Rogers, 
 Feet & Co., and Vogel Brothers 1 Monthly, all of New York City; the 
 Commercial Reporter, of Brooklyn ; the Trade‘'Price List, of Nashville, 
 Tenn., and the Mirror of Fashion, of Kansas City. 
 
 Third. Those publications which, having no genuine nor paid-up sub¬ 
 scribers, insert advertisements free on the condition that the advertiser 
 will pay full price for from two hundred to one thousand papers, which 
 are sent to persons whose names are given to the advertiser upon a 
 printed list. Among publications of this character may be mentioned 
 the New York Jobbers’ Price-Current, and the Commercial Gazette, of 
 New York. 
 
 Fourth. Those publications which do desire advertising only. Such 
 
9 
 
 do not want subscribers, so as not to be compelled to issue their publica¬ 
 tions regularly. If the probable receipts are not likely to exceed the 
 expenses, the publication will be deferred for a week or so. The space 
 in their columns allotted to reading-matter is filled with long editorial 
 puffs of houses or individuals, who buy a certain number of copies for 
 distribution, and pay a sum previously agreed upon. The New York 
 Trade Journal and the New York Trade Reporter are publications of 
 this class. 
 
 Fifth. Pamphlets containing market quotations and the business- 
 cards of various business houses opposite the page containing the quo¬ 
 tations. They have a subscription price which cannot be regarded as 
 nominal, and are sent to bonctjide subscribers, who are usually retailers 
 living in the smaller cities and towns of the country. As belonging to 
 this class, I may mention the Saint Louis Weekly Dry Goods and Gro¬ 
 cery Reporter and Sheldon’s Weekly Dry Goods Price List of New 
 York City. Publications having the characteristics or falling within 
 the description of these latter four classes do not come within the re¬ 
 quirements of “ privileged matter” in the mails. They are not useful 
 as vehicles of accurate thought, nor are they intended for the instruc¬ 
 tion or entertainment of the people. They are purely personal enter¬ 
 prises, and should pay their way as nearly as possible through the 
 mails. 
 
 In this connection, I desire to call your attention to the elastic inter¬ 
 pretation which has been given to the term “ periodical publication” 
 during the past year, which has resulted in the perpetration of very 
 great injustice toward a conscientious and enterprising class of pub¬ 
 lishers. Certain publications, issued at stated intervals from a known 
 office of publication, each number containing a novel or a reprint of a 
 novel, in some cases complete in itself, in others incomplete, but having 
 a determinate entirety, to be consummated when a certain number of 
 copies have been published, have been admitted to the mails at the “ bulk 
 rate,” it having been held that because they contained literary matter 
 and possessed the element of periodicity, they must be regarded as 
 “ periodical publications.” I cannot understand the logic of a decision 
 which would admit the Sunnyside Library, the first three numbers of 
 which were but reprints in popular form of “Paradise Lost,” “ Lalla 
 Rookh,” and u Don Juan,” and at the same time would exclude from the 
 bulk-rates the Tribune series of novels and the Harpers’ Half-hour series, 
 which have very properly been charged with the third class rates, in 
 which charge the publishers thereof have cheerfully acquiesced, al¬ 
 though the discrimination against them was very manifest. From in¬ 
 quiries set on foot at one of the large offices of the country, it is believed 
 that not one of the kindred publications to the one first mentioned 
 has a list of subscribers, but is supplied to news-agents and book¬ 
 sellers for sale over their counters. “ Don Juan” between covers would 
 be called a book, and, when sent in the mails, charged as merchandise; 
 published in newspaper form and sent to news agents for sale, it is not 
 treated as merchandise, but as a “ periodical publication.” 
 
 I could multiply these cases, but I apprehend that I have sufficiently 
 demonstrated the need of some more intelligent, uniform, and permanent 
 system of procedure. I am fully satisfied, from an examination extend¬ 
 ing over a period of nearly six months, that the embarrassments ai d 
 confusion which have arisen at the local offices throughout the country, 
 incident to the exercise to some extent of quasi-judicial functions by the 
 postmaster in the separation of mail-matter, imposed by the 15th section 
 of the act of July 12, 1876, and the constantly increasing vexatious 
 
10 
 
 and complicated questions arisingfrom the inartistic and unnatural class¬ 
 ification, can best be remedied, and uniformity and permanency given 
 to the rulings of the department, by the registration of “ privileged 
 printed matter.” In this view I am supported by the postmasters of 
 the leading cities of the United States, as well as by those officers of the 
 department who have given the subject any consideration. To this I 
 desire to call your attention particularly. In the division of mailable 
 matter into classes, printed matter of every kind and description should 
 be placed in the second class in the manner and under the divisions I 
 have hereinbefore specified, the rate of privileged matter to be, as now, 
 two and three cents per pound, and for the u ordinary ” not to exceed 
 four times that for the privileged second-class matter. Publishers desir¬ 
 ing to have their publications transmitted through the mails at the 
 cheap or privileged rate, should submit their publications to the de¬ 
 partment under such regulations as to time and method as the Post¬ 
 master-General may prescribe, who shall cause the same to be examined, 
 and if found to be within the conditions clearly defiued in the law of 
 privileged matter, shall cause a certificate of registration to be issued, 
 which shall be filed in the department, and a duplicate thereof forwarded 
 to the postmaster at the office where such publication is published, who 
 shall place the same on file in his office. Such certificate of registration 
 shall admit the publication to the privileged rate of postage and to 
 transmission through the mails at that rate, until revoked by the Post¬ 
 master-General, which shall only be upon evidence submitted to him 
 that the publication has so changed its character as to fall without the 
 conditions named in the act, or that the publisher has been guilty of an 
 intentional evasion of the law. In case a news-dealer should seek to 
 transmit within the bulk package of registered matter, matter subject to 
 a higher rate of postage, he, and not the publication, should be denied 
 the privilege of registration. When registered matter has once passed 
 beyond the office at which it is mailed it should be absolutely protected 
 from detention, unless it should be known to be circulating matter pro¬ 
 hibited by law, such as obscene or lascivious articles or advertisements, 
 and notices relating to lotteries and fraudulent schemes or devices. If 
 registered matter is suspected by the postmaster at the office of distri¬ 
 bution or delivery, the department and mailing-office being notified of 
 the suspicion and the cause for it, and if deemed of sufficient weight, 
 inquiry and investigation shall be set on foot at the office of mailing. 
 In addition to the revocation of the certificate of registration, there 
 should be imposed a penalty upon the person submitting false evidence 
 as to the character of his publication. 
 
 The advantages of the system of registration will, I think, be found 
 to be incomparable. With a cheap registration-fee the certificate would 
 afford protection from interference by some over-zealous postmaster or 
 envious rival to all the legitimate publications of the country. Much 
 of the difficulty which has arisen during the past year has been, in the 
 first place, from a want of proper understanding of the tests whioh 
 should be applied in determining the character of a publication ren¬ 
 dered necessary by the passage of the act of July 12, 1876, and, in the 
 second place, by the limited scope of inquiry afforded the department. 
 This plan relieves postmasters of the discretionary and judicial power 
 possessed under the present law, and enlarges the field of inquiry on 
 the part of the department. It makes a system which is in itself a 
 guarantee of permanency in the rulings of the department ; it relieves 
 the department of the burden of carrying through the mails at grossly 
 unremunerative rates the tons of printed matter originated and con- 
 
11 
 
 ducted solely for individual purposes; and, while imposing no addi¬ 
 tional burden upon regular publications, it would, I am confident, yield 
 a handsome revenue to the government. From an examination of the 
 various newspaper directories, I think I can safely assume that between 
 seven thousand and eight thousand publications would be fairly entitled 
 to these privileged rates. The number would change, from time to 
 time, but I am confident it would not vary far from seven thousand five 
 hundred annually. At an annual registration-fee of one dollar, which 
 no bona fide publisher will deem in any way burdensome, a handsome 
 revenue from this source alone will be yielded to the department annu¬ 
 ally. 
 
 This plan of registration would also, in my judgment, serve as a most 
 effectual check upon the habit, so almost universally indulged, under our 
 present system, of transmitting in the bulk or second-class packages 
 matter wholly irrelevant to them, and belonging to a different classifica¬ 
 tion. I cannot state with certainty the amount of revenue of which the 
 department is annually deprived by this commingling of second and 
 third class matter, but from inquiries made among members of the 
 postal service, who have daily experience in the handling of the mails, 
 I have no hesitation in saying it amounts to between one million and 
 two million of dollars. 
 
 During the period of my connection with this subject of classification 
 my attention has been called to repeated instances of this character: 
 Publishers and news agents have inclosed in their second-class pack¬ 
 ages merchandise and other matter of the third class, for which the 
 department should receive higher rates. In this way, bundles of pat¬ 
 terns, photographs, fashion-plates, handbills, prospectuses, and circulars 
 have been carried through the mails at the bulk rates of postage. In 
 one case I recall, many hundred circulars, each of which should have 
 paid the government one cent, were thus transported at a nominal cost 
 to the sender, while to the department the actual carrying cost was not 
 only several times greater than the revenue which it did actually re¬ 
 ceive, but just so much less than it ought to have received. 
 
 This plan of registration contemplates a more thorough inspection of 
 the matter passing through the mails, so that not only irregular pub¬ 
 lications shall be excluded from the advantages of this privileged rate, 
 but that extraneous and irrelevant matter shall be rigidly excluded 
 from privileged second-class matter. 
 
 The changes which I have suggested in the classification of mail- 
 matter, and others which will appear in the projet of the new law which 
 I append hereto, but which the limits of this letter warn me that I 
 should not discuss, will also relieve the department of many of the per¬ 
 plexing questions which have been submitted to it during the past year, 
 growing out of the unnatural anangement of mail-matter, the opposing 
 rulings which have been made by the different local officers caused by 
 the enumeration of printed matter of the third class with different rates, 
 and the want of harmony in the decisions of the department even upon 
 mooted questions. The correspondence relative to these matters is now 
 imposed upon a score of clerks connected with the office of the First 
 Assistant Postmaster-General, who have in addition the duties relating 
 to appointments and the routine business of that office to perform. 
 Whenever a matter relating to classification or rates has been submitted 
 to the department it has been referred to the clerk in charge of the ap¬ 
 pointment desk of the State from which the matter emanates. Very 
 many times it has happened that the same or kindred questions have 
 come to the department from different sections of the country. With- 
 
12 
 
 out any concert of action, the answers have been written in accordance 
 with the construction placed upon the statutes by the clerk to whom 
 the matter was referred. Hence it has happened that inconsistent 
 rulings have been made by the department itself, and much vexation 
 and confusion created at the different local offices. That uniformity 
 may be had in the future, I have the honor to suggest that the corre¬ 
 spondence relating to all matters of this character should be separated 
 from that relating to appointments and the routine business of the office 
 of the First Assistant Postmaster-General, and referred to a special 
 division, charged with the correspondence relating to this matter only. 
 And inasmuch as these questions involve almost altogether the con¬ 
 struction of statutes, it would seem very proper that this division 
 should be connected with the office of the Assistant Attorney-General 
 for this department. It might be necessary in so doing to increase the 
 numerical force of the department by one or two persons, but it would 
 not involve additional expense, because a part of the force could be 
 relieved of the correspondence relating to other subjects and charged 
 with that relating to this, and whatever new appointments might be 
 made could be paid from the fees derived from the registration. 
 
 In concluding this letter, it may be well to say that the draught of a 
 bill embodying the plan of registration was prepared, and copies there¬ 
 of sent to a large number of publishers and postmasters throughout the 
 country, with the request that they would freely criticise the same, and 
 make such suggestions relative thereto as might appear proper to them, 
 in order that when the bill should be presented to Congress it might not 
 only embody the views of the department upon this highly important 
 subject, but also any valuable and pertinent suggestions made by those 
 outside of the department who were so largely interested in having it 
 as perfect as possible. It affords me pleasure to say that while some of 
 the details have been disapproved of and adversely criticised, the plan 
 as an entirety has been very fully indorsed. 
 
 I submit with this letter such comments, both in print and otherwise, 
 as have been forwarded to the department, as requested in your circu¬ 
 lar-letter which accompanied the bill as originally draughted ; also speci¬ 
 men copies of special or trade publications hereinbefore described, and 
 certain other letters and papers which will very forcibly illustrate the 
 need of new legislation upon the subject of classification and rates. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 A. H. BISSELL. 
 
 Hon. D. M. Key, 
 
 Postmaster General. 
 
 O