FORTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1883-1885. 961 



Mr. Jeffords asked him whether he was familiar with the apparatus and the 

 machinery and the design of the work. 

 Professor Baird could not say that he was. 



Recommitted to Committee on Ventilation and Acoustics. 



FREE POSTAGE. 



July 5, 1884. 



Post-Office act for 1885. 



Sec. 3. That section 29 of the act of March 3, 1879 (United States 

 Statutes at Large, page 362), be, and it is hereby, amended so as to 

 read as follows: 



"The provisions of the fifth and sixth section of the act entitled 

 'An act establishing post routes, and for other purposes' approved 

 March 3, 1877, for the transmission of official mail matter, be, and 

 they are hereby, extended to all officers of the United States Govern- 

 ment, not including members of Congress, the envelopes of such mat- 

 ter in all cases to bear appropriate indorsements containing the proper 

 designation of the office from which or officer from whom the same is 

 transmitted, with a statement of the penalty for their misuse. And 

 the provisions of said fifth and sixth sections are hereby likewise ex- 

 tended and made applicable to all official mail matter of the Smithson- 

 ian Institution: Provided^ That any department or officer authorized 

 to use the penalty envelopes may inclose them with return address to 

 any person or persons from or through whom official information is 

 desired, the same to be used only to cover such official information, and 

 indorsements relating thereto: Provided furthei\ That any letter or 

 packet to be registered by either of the Executive Departments, or 

 bureaus thereof, or by the Agricultural Department, or by the Public 

 Printer, may be registered without the payment of any registry fee; 

 and any part-paid letter or packet addressed to either of said depart- 

 ments or bureaus may be delivered free; but where there is good rea- 

 son to believe the omission to prepay the full postage thereon was 

 intentional, such letter or packet shall be returned to the sender: Pro- 

 vided further., That this act shall not extend or apply to pension agents 

 or other officers who receive a fixed allowance as compensation for 

 their services, including expenses of postages. And section 3915 of 

 the Revised Statutes of the United States, so far as the same relates 

 to stamps and stamped envelopes for official purposes, is hereby 

 repealed. " 



(Stat. XXIII, 158.) 



Note. — See also Stat. XVII, p. 307, for Act June 8, 1872, allowing to pass free in 

 the mail "all publications sent or received by the Smithsonian Institution, marked 

 on each package 'Smithsonian Exchange'." New Postal Code, sixth subdivision, 

 eec. 184. 



H. Doc. 732 61 



