Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 24.djvu/256

 FORTYNINTH CONGRESS. Sess. l. Ch. 901. 1886. 221 the carrier-delivery limit of any free-delivery office, and within one mile of any other post-office which the Postmaster-General shall at any time designate as a special-delivery post-office. The postmaster shall be responsible for such immediate delivery of every such article, and shall cause delivery to be made of all such articles received at his office bearing such stamp and entitled to delivery thereat, and may m£;'£l‘;Yr:‘°';§l,f(f employ any persons, including clerks and assistants, at third and fourth ,,,,,1 f,,?,,,;; ,,],,8,, class offices, as messengers, on such terms as he shall tix as compen- omcc. sation for such delivery; and to defray the expense thereof, such post- Auow to · master shall be entitled, upon the adjustment of his quarterly account, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,m,::°° to eighty per centum of the face value of all such special-delivery stamps received at his ofnce and recorded, according to said act and regulations of the Post-Office Department during the quarter; and such allowance shall be in full of all the expenses of such delivery: Provided, Prwiw- That the Postmaster-General may, in his discretion, direct any free- Fr<>¤—d¤1iv<>ry of delivery office to be exceptedfrom the foregoing provision, and require H°°:6d‘“‘¥Y "" "" the delivery to be made entirely by special messengers, according to the °°p ` provisions of the act to which this is amendatory: And provided fwrtlwr, That he may contract for the immediate delivery of all articles from C<>¤*¤=wf¤ m =¤ Y any post-office at any price less than eight cents per piece, when he shall l’° ""*d"· deem it expedient. Sec. 2. That the Postmaster-General shall prescribe suitable regula- Regulation s to tions, not inconsistent with law, for the performance of the immediate- ll? tP*‘”f";"°80"Y delivery service, the keeping of the records and rendering of accounts ,,§;"°”° ‘°°` thereof, and all matters connected therewith, and may prescribe the hours within which such immediate delivery shall be made at any postoffice. Sec. 3. That any postmaster, or any assistant postmaster, clerk, or Penalty for false employee of a postmaster, who shall make any false return or record ¤'¤*¤¤'¤» °*·°- of the receipt or delivery of any article of mailable matter as being stamped with a special-delivery stamp, or shall make any false return of the number of articles specially delivered from his office, for the purpose of increasing his compensation under the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for a term of not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court; and whenever, upon evidence deemed satisfactory to him, the Postmaster-General shall determine that any such false re- Compensation turn has been made, he may, by order, fix absolutely the compensation ;*¤*g1b°,*!°d ****3;. of the postmaster for such special delivery during any quarter or quar· f:1“{,e;:m‘i°°° ters which he shalldeem adected by such false return, and the Auditor shall adjust the postmaster’s account accordingly. ~ Sec. 4. That an rson employed to make immediate delivery of _ P¤¤‘¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤ki¤s letters or other mailgiatter underythe provisions of this act, or the act gzgtfngggg of which the same is amendatory, shall be deemed an employee of the i,, ,,0,,,,; ,,,.,,;,,,,_ postal service whether he may have been sworn or not, or temporarily or permanently employed, and as such employee shall be liable to any ` penalties or punishments provided by law for the improper detention, delay, secretion, rfiling, embezzlement, purloining, or destruction of any · letter or other article of mailmatter, or the contents thereof, intrusted . to him for delivery or placed in his custody. Approved, August 4, 1886.