other bureaus of the department having jurisdiction of the matters involved.

Sec. 624. Mails received at exchange post offices shall be treated and their contents disposed of in accordance with the convention and regulations of the last congress of the Universal Postal Union, such other conventions as are in force, and the instructions in the current Official Postal Guide, together with special instructions issued from time to time by the Second Assistant Postmaster General, Division of International Postal Service, and by other bureaus of the department having jurisdiction of the matters involved.

2. When mails are received at exchange post offices where vessels land, the sacks shall be counted, and if found to agree with the waybills thereof the exact time of receipt shall be entered on the waybill and the same signed as a receipt of the mails, any errors being noted on the waybill before signing.

Sec. 625. Foreign transit closed mails-that is, mails made up in one foreign country addressed to another and sent to the United States to be forwarded onward to destination-shall not be opened.

2. Foreign transit closed mails received at exchange offices shall be examined, and if they are unsealed or the seals are damaged or sacks or covers are torn or damaged, the imperfections shall be corrected or the damage repaired as far as practicable. The condition of such mails shall be reported to the foreign dispatching exchange office in a bulletin of verification.

Sec. 632. 7. Post-office, sea-post, railway postal, and terminal railway postal clerks shall scrutinize letters handled by them (particularly sealed envelopes which may contain narcotics or other merchandise), also newspapers mailed by other than publishers, and packages, sealed and unsealed, of foreign origin, including matter from Canada, Cuba, Mexico, the Republic of Panama, and United States postal agencies, naval vessels, and naval stations abroad, whether or not such articles are marked Supposed liable to customs duty." Railway postal, sea-post, and terminal railway postal clerks shall forward supposed dutiable articles to the post office nearest the end of their run, or nearest their terminal railway post office at which there is a customs officer, in locked pouches, sealed sacks, or envelopes, labeled For customs inspection." Supposed dutiable articles shall not be stamped or otherwise treated by railway postal or terminal railway postal clerks. The postmaster, upon receipt

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of the supposed dutiable articles shall treat them in accordance with these regulations.

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8. Packages of letters labeled to States," cities," or to R. P. O. lines may be forwarded intact, provided the address label or wrapper to be stamped Supposed liable to customs duty." Postal employees shall treat such mail in accordance with the instructions in paragraph 7.

19. Postmasters and other postal employees shall permit customs officers to examine newspapers received in the mails from foreign countries as often as they may desire to do so, and shall assist in such examinations when necessary.

20. Postal and customs officers and employees shall keep themselves informed as to the laws and regulations covering obscene and lottery matter, copyrighted, trade-marked, and other articles prohibited importation in the mails.

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NOTE.-Instructions applicable to the foregoing and to other articles prohibited importation, or requiring special treatment, based on postal and customs laws and regulations, and also list of post offices where customs officers are located, will be found in the current Official Postal Guide.

Sec. 634. Postmasters and other postal officers shall report in the manner outlined every complaint made to them, or which comes to their knowledge, of the loss, rifling, delay, wrong delivery, or other improper treatment by postal employees or others of, or damage to, any article of mail matter:

NOTE.-Railway postal clerks will make reports to their Chief Clerk or Division Superintendent.

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(h) Where parcels, whether ordinary, special delivery, insured, or C. O. D., domestic or foreign, while in transit, whether in the Railway Mail Service, in post offices, or otherwise, are observed to be entirely, rather than but partially, devoid of their contents, the wrappers or other containers of such matter must be withdrawn from the mails and promptly forwarded to the inspector in charge (of the division in which is located the place at which the discovery that such parcels were without contents was first made), with suitable indorsements showing clearly by whom, when, and where withdrawn. * * *

NOTE-Railway postal clerks will forward such wrappers or containers to their chief clerk or division superintendent.

(n) All cases of rifling, robbery, or burning of mail or post offices or postal cars, or any extraordinary loss or destruction of mail matter, as well as any accident, occurrence, or depredation of consequence requiring the immediate attention of inspec

tors, shall be reported promptly by telegram, if possible, to the post-office inspector in charge of the proper division. Also an immediate report by letter shall be made to the same inspector in charge, giving if possible, all the facts and circumstances connected with the irregularity. Full particulars regarding registered mail lost or rifled should be reported, and if the loss includes the mail key the number should be given. The inspector in charge shall, when the circumstances warrant, report the matter to the Chief Inspector by telegraph.

NOTE.-Railway postal clerks will also make immediate telegraphic or written report, as the circumstances warrant, to their Chief Clerk and Division Superintendent.

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* postal employees shall not make, nor attempt to make, settlements in whole or in part direct with patrons of the Postal Service on account of loss, depredation, delay, wrong delivery, or other mistreatment of mail matter unless specially authorized so to do; nor shall they conceal any known facts or circumstances concerning a depredation upon or loss of mail matter.

Sec. 635. The loss or rifling of or damage to registered and other mail (reported under sec. 634) shall be investigated by the Chief Inspector, who shall ascertain the facts.

2. In case the facts ascertained by the Chief Inspector establish a loss, rifling, or damage of mail for which indemnity is claimed and no recovery can be made without materially delaying the payment of such indemnity, the Chief Inspector shall transmit the case to the Third Assistant Postmaster General (Division of Registered Mails) for certification or rejection of the claim when it relates to domestic mail, and to the Second Assistant Postmaster General (Division of International Postal Service) when it relates to foreign mail.

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3. In case the facts ascertained by the Chief Inspector establish a responsibility for such loss upon the postal employee * by reason of the fault or negligence of such employee, * the Chief Inspector shall demand of such postal emthe amount of the loss, which, if so recovered,

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ployee

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shall be paid to the senders or owners of the mail and to the United States as their interests shall appear. He shall report the facts to the office having such employee, person, company, or corporation in charge for administrative purposes.

4. When an inspector makes a collection from a postal employee as contemplated by the above paragraph, he shall give such employee a receipt on a form furnished by the department, showing the amount, the case number, a description of the mail,

and the grounds on which the collection is based. Such receipt shall bear a printed notice advising that if the employee questions the propriety of the collection, he is at liberty to take the matter up with his superiors and that any statement he or his superiors desire to submit may be forwarded to the office having him in charge and will be considered in reviewing the case at the department, and that unless the propriety of the collection is sustained by the Chief Inspector, the money will be returned to the employee from whom collected. Such protest must be filed within 30 days from the date of the collection, and the officer with whom it is filed shall immediately notify the Chief Inspector of such action.

5. If such recovery be not so made, then the following procedure shall be had:

(a) If the loss is chargeable to a mail contractor or railway postal clerk, the Chief Inspector shall report the facts to the officer having charge of the service or employee, who shall impose such fine or take such disciplinary measures as he shall determine proper, and report the amount of such fine or character of disciplinary action taken or proposed to be taken, to the Chief Inspector, in order that the latter may determine whether it may be desirable that further proceedings be had.

(b) If the Chief Inspector shall determine that further proceedings shall be had, he shall submit all the facts to the Solicitor for the Post Office Department, with a request for advice whether suit shall be brought by the United States for the recovery of the amount involved. Upon receipt of the reply of the Solicitor the Chief Inspector shall, if he deem proper, prepare the request of the Postmaster General upon the Solicitor of the Treasury that suit be brought against the person or concern held responsible and against his or its surety or sureties, if there be any. In case of recovery, the amount so recovered shall be paid over to the United States and to the losers of the mail as their respective interests shall appear.

Sec. 831. 5. Special-delivery stamps of the value of 10, 15, and 20 cents are provided for use in the payment of special-delivery fees, but, as provided by law (sec. 830), ordinary stamps may be used. If ordinary stamps are used, the words Special delivery" should be plainly written directly under or near, but never on, the stamps.

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Sec. 833. Postmasters and all persons employed in the Postal Service shall facilitate in every way the prompt dispatch, transmission, and immediate delivery of all special-delivery matter.

Where delivery is possible, failure to deliver will not be considered excusable.

Sec. 835. The omission by the sender to place the lawful postage upon a letter bearing such special-delivery stamp and otherwise entitled to immediate delivery under the provisions of this section shall not hinder or delay the transmission and delivery thereof as provided herein, but such lawful postage shall be collected upon its delivery, in the manner now provided by law for the collection of deficient postage resulting from the overweight of letters.

2. The foregoing provision permitting the dispatch of mail matter bearing a special-delivery stamp without prepayment of postage applies to letters only.

Sec. 836. Special-delivery letters should be made up in separate packages when there are five or more for the same place or route; if less than five they should be placed at the top of the package. When the package is for a route or "dis.," the slip should be placed across the package so as to expose the stamps, the lower third of the slip being turned in to inclose the specialdelivery matter.

2. Matter of the second and third classes, bearing specialdelivery stamps, shall be dispatched with first-class matter unless otherwise ordered by the department.

Sec. 862. Wherever found in the ordinary mail, an article marked to indicate that the sender desired it registered and bearing 15 cents or more in ordinary stamps in addition to the required postage, shall be removed from the ordinary mail and registered. Like treatment shall be accorded an article, wherever found in the ordinary mail, marked to indicate that it was intended for registration, even though it does not bear the name and address of the sender, or postage and registry fee are partially or wholly unpaid.

2. A postal employee who removes from the ordinary mail an article intended for registration shall indorse the article to show its condition, if other than good, and, if registered at a post office, the amount of any deficiency in postage or fee collectible upon delivery. If the article is in bad condition, it must be repaired or reinclosed. (See sec. 973.)

3. If the article is removed from the ordinary mail by a railway postal clerk, he shall give it the next number in his registry-jacket series, inclose it in a jacket bearing the same number, and list the article on the jacket bill to show the number given it, the railway post office and train number, date of registration, the post office and State and date of original mailing, and the names and addresses of sender, if shown, and addressee.