Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 62 Part 1.djvu/808

 778 PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 645-JUNE 25, 1948 [62 STAT. the following declaration before the collector or other proper customs officer: Dearation I. A. B., master ,- of the , arriving from , and now lying in the port of, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have to the best of my knowledge and belief delivered to the post office at every letter and every bag, packet, or parcel of letters on board the said vessel during her last voyage, or in my possession or under my power or control. Whoever, being the master or other person having charge or con- trol of such vessel, breaks bulk before he has delivered such letters, shall be fined not more than $100. § 1700. DESERTION OF MAILS Whoever, having taken charge of any mail, voluntarily quits or deserts the same before he has delivered it into the post office at the termination of the route, or to some known mail carrier, messenger, agent, or other employee in the Postal Service authorized to receive the same, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. § 1701. OBsTRUCTIoN OF MAILS GENERALLY Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail, shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. § 1702. OBSTRUCTION OF CORRESPONDENCE Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. § 1703. DELAY OR DESTRUCTION OF MAIL OR NEWSPAPERS (a) Whoever, being a postmaster or Postal Service employee, un- lawfully detains, delays, or opens any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail intrusted to him or which shall come into his possession and which was intended to be conveyed by mail, or carried or delivered by any carrier or other employee of the Postal Service, or forwarded through or delivered from any post office or station thereof established by authority of the Postmaster General; or secrets, or destroys any such letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (b) Whoever, being a postmaster or Postal Service employee, im- properly detains, delays, or destroys any newspaper, or permits any other person to detain, delay, or destroy the same, or opens, or permits any other person to open, any mail or package of newspapers not directed to the office where he is employed; or Whoever, without authority, opens, or destroys any mail or package of newspaper not directed to him, shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. § 1704. KEYS OR LOCKS STOLEN OR REPRODUCED Whoever steals, purloins, embezzles, or obtains by false pretense any key suited to any lock adopted by the Post Office Department and in use on any of the mails or bags thereof, or any key to any lock box, lock drawer, or other authorized receptacle for the deposit or delivery of mail matter; or

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