•«ik 
 
 mSTRUCTIOlVS 
 
 SPECIE T. A-GMDISTTS 
 
 OF THK 
 
 POST OFFICE DErAIlTMENT 
 
 IFEDEKATE STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 ..ikm^ 
 
George Washington Flowers 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 
 FAMILY OF 
 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
IISTRUCTIOIS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SPECIAL ^aElSTTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 POST OFFICE DEPARTMBi^T 
 
 OF TUB 
 
 CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICx\. 
 
 RICHMOND, VA. 
 
 PRINTED BY RITCHIE & DUNXAVANT. 
 1861. 
 
INSTKUCTIONS. 
 
 Post Office Department, 
 
 1861. 
 
 To 
 
 Special Agent: 
 
 Sni : The office of Special Agent of this JDepartmeiit 
 embraces a wide range of important and responsil)le 
 duties, for the due performance of which a thorough 
 knowledge of the laws and regulations of the Depart- 
 ment is indispensable. If you are not ah'eady familiar 
 with those now in forcQ, it is recommended that you 
 become so as rapidly as possible, so that you may liot 
 only conform your own official conduct thereto, ])u.t may 
 be qualified to instruct Postmasters, and ail others in the 
 employment of the Department, as to their sevei'al duties, 
 in cases of doubt or question. 
 
 As the pecuniary resources of the Department are about 
 to be Kmited to its own proper revenues, it is now, espe- 
 cially the duty of each officer and employee of the De- 
 partment, in his own sphere of observation, to see that no 
 unnecessary expense is either made, or suffered to remain, 
 chargeable upon those revenues, without being brought to 
 the special notice of the Postmaster General. The nature 
 of your duties will offer you an extended field of observa- 
 tion, and may enable you to ^oint out cases where the 
 trausporfation of the mail over particular routes may 
 either be diminished or dispensed with altogether with- 
 out material injury to the public interests. In those sec- 
 
tions of the country remote from tlie central administra- 
 tion of the Department, where the increase of raih'oad 
 service has been the most rapid — superseding the old 
 established coach and horse routes — instances will perhaps 
 still be found where the expense of double service is in- 
 curred, and whc]-e the old contract service should either 
 be abolished or superseded by messenger service. You 
 will report full}^ and frankly every case in which economi- 
 cal reforms can, in your judgment, be advantageously 
 made in this branch of the service. 
 
 In respect.to the service of route agents, also, your atten- 
 tion will be directed to a reduction of the number of agents 
 now employed, by dispensing with so much of this service 
 as is not absolutely necessary for the safety of the mails 
 and the reasonable accommodation of the public on im- 
 portant routes, and by requiring such necessary service 
 to be performed by a sufficient number of agents only, 
 dispensing with the service of supernumeraries. Your 
 observation and suggestions on this subject shoidd be 
 freely communicated to the Department. 
 
 MAIL DEPREDATIONS. 
 
 The investigation of reported mail depredations, or 
 losses by mail, will necessarily occupy a large portion of 
 your time, and will require the constant exercise of your 
 utmost vigilance and skill ; but as in the performance of 
 this duty you may frequently have occasion to pass over 
 long lines of mail transportation, and to visit numerous 
 Post Offices, you will at th§ same time be enabled to give 
 more or less attention to the general condition of the 
 postal service on your line of travel, and to such of its 
 particulars as will hereinafter be enumerated. 
 
 . k 
 
Your commission as Special Agent of this Department 
 will pass you free over all mail routes where conveyance 
 of passengers is provided for by the contractors ; but if in 
 the performance of the jiressing duties of your agencj'^ 
 you should at any time find it necessary or clearly ex- 
 pedient to procure private conveyance, or to pay your 
 fare on a passenger route, you will cliarge the expense of 
 such conveyance in your next monthly or quarterly ac- 
 count, and accompany it with proper explanations and 
 vouchers. If in any case the contractor on any mail 
 route (whether by railroad or otherwise) refuses you a 
 free passage over the same, after the exhibition of j^our. 
 commission, 3'ou will pay the fare deiuanded, taking a 
 receipt therefor if possible, and will charge the same in 
 your account. If no such voucher can be obtained the 
 charge must be verified by your affidavit, in Vv^iich you 
 will, when the fare has been paid to a railroad company, 
 clearly describe such company by its proper style and title, 
 instead of giving merely the termini of the route passed 
 over. You are entrusted witli keys to the several mail 
 locks now in use, and are, by virtue of your commission, 
 and these instructions, authorized to open and examine 
 the mails whenever and wherever, in the pursuit of your 
 investigations, you may find it necessary to do so. You 
 are also empowered to enter and examine any Post Office 
 when, in your judgment, the success of your investiga- 
 tions, the safety of the mails, or the general interests of 
 the service demand such examination. You will carefully 
 investigate every case of alleged mail depredation referred 
 to you from this Department, acknowledging to the In- 
 spection Office the receipt of the papers in each by its 
 number, and will return the papers to. him after investi- 
 gation, with a separate report in each case. You will also 
 
investigate and report upon such cases of mail depredation 
 as may be made known to you by Postmasters, or by par- 
 ties interested, when such cases are within the ordinary 
 geographical range of your duties ; and when they arc 
 not, you will see that they are duly referred to the spe- 
 cial agent who, from his locality, can most conveniently 
 investigate them. In every case of successful investiga- 
 tion you w^ill communicate the result to the person who 
 originally reported the case — whether to yourself or to 
 the Department. 
 
 It is not possible for the Department to instruct you as 
 to the particular means to be used in discovering the ex- 
 act locality of an ascertained theft from the mail, or in 
 ferreting out and arresting the perpetrator. These must 
 be as various as the circumstances which surround ea,ch 
 case, and must be left to the intelligence, vigilance, in- 
 genuity, and acuteness of the agent charged with each 
 investigation. There are, however, certain qualities and 
 habits which are absolutely indispensable to a proper and 
 successful discharge of this class of his official duties. 
 Foremost among these are self-control, perseverance, cau- 
 tion, and silence on the subject of his employment and 
 operations. A special agent of this Department should, 
 when travelling, attract as little notice as possible, and 
 should conceal his official character whenever and wherever 
 such concealment can be practiced, and should, of course, 
 refrain from announcing it on hotel books and other pub- 
 lic registers. He should, as well after as before a success- 
 ful investigation, prevent as far as he can, publicity being 
 given to the means by which his success was achieved ; 
 for by this publicity the same means may become inopera- 
 tive and valueless in another case. 
 
 When an arrest is made, the prisoner should be put in 
 
charge of the regular law officers of the government as 
 early"as possible. If his examination cannot conveniently 
 be had before a jmlge or commissioner of the Confederate 
 States, he should be taken before the nearest justice of 
 the peace or other State authority competent to examine 
 and bind him over for trial. As justices of the peace 
 have in many cases declined to issue warrants, or to enter 
 upon such examination, from a doubt as to tbeir jurisdic- 
 tion, the Special Agent should be prepared to remove 
 such doubt by referring them to the provisions on this 
 subject contained in tlie 83d section of the act of 24tli 
 September, 17S9, and in the 37th section of the act of 
 March 3, 18:^5. AVhcn in the judgment of a Special 
 Agent it is absolutely necessary that he should employ 
 counsel for the protection of the interests of the Con- 
 federate States at such pi-eliminary examination, such 
 counsel should be engaged to prosecute the case for a 
 stipuhated fee, which should not exceed that usually paid 
 for like service rendered in cases arising in the same 
 vicinage under the State laws. A report of the result of 
 such examination should be promptly made to the Inspec- 
 tion Office, and should especially show whether the pro- 
 ceedings were completed in one day or were continued 
 from day to day, and how long. 
 
 A Special Agent who is without experience in the per- 
 formance of his duties, should, as soon as possible after 
 his appointment, spend sufficient time in a well-regulated 
 and considerable Post Office to acquaint himself fully 
 with the routine duties of such office, in respect to the 
 reception, separation, and distribution of mails, the box- 
 ing and delivery of letters, and the making up, billing, 
 and despatching of mails. He should also improve the 
 first opportunity afforded him of conferring and advising 
 
8 
 
 with some more experienced agent of the Department as 
 to the best means of performing the duties required of 
 him, especially those which relate to the tracing of depre- 
 dations on the mail. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION OF THE MAILS. 
 
 The efficiency and usefulness of a Special Agent in the 
 performance of his duties in any branch of tlie service of 
 the Department, must greatly depend on the extent of 
 his general knowledge of the mail service of the country, 
 and his minute and particular knowledge of that in the 
 district or region of country to w^iich his duties are prin- 
 cipally confined. He should know accurately the con- 
 nection of routes, and the grade of service required on 
 each. To this end, if you have not them already in your 
 possession, you should apply to the Contract Bure<)u for 
 and obtain pamphlet copies of the last advertisement of 
 mail lettings in the sections where you are principally 
 employed, and should keep them with you for constant 
 reference, noting upon them from time to tinic such 
 changes as may come to your knovvdedge. 
 
 RAILROAD SERVICE. 
 
 In passing to and over railroad routes you will carefidly 
 dbserve what arrangements are made for the safety of 
 the mails while being conveyed between the several Post 
 Offices and the railroad stations or mail cars ; and also 
 while' passing from one route to another, and how they 
 are disposed of in the cars. On roads where there are 
 route agents, see if suitable accommodations are provided 
 for the safe and convenient assorting and bagging of the 
 mails. 
 
When there are no such agents on the route, notice close- 
 ly wfw is charged with the custody of the mails ; whether 
 they are placed under lock, beyond the reach of any but 
 duly authorized persons, and generally, whether proper 
 provision is made for their safety in all respects. Espe- 
 cially see that all persons employed by the railroad com- 
 panies in the transfer or custody of the mails are qualified 
 by oath as carriers. It is known that several, and it is 
 believed that many entire mails have been stolen while 
 the coutents of one mail car were being transferred to 
 another. This has been done during the confusion of such 
 transfer even where two roads were connected by a con- 
 tinuous track, and the danger of theft is greatly increased 
 where there is a considerable portage between the two 
 trains. Such transfer should, therefore, ahcays be made 
 with the utmost care and watchfulness, and, when occur- 
 ring in the night, should not be attempted until abundant 
 right shall have been furnished and in'operhj distributed or 
 stationed. Special Agents are earnestly desired to give 
 heed to this matter, and to sec that ample and certain pro- 
 vision is made for such light beforehand. You will, if 
 possible, effect arrangements for keeping all the letter 
 mails under the view^ of a Route Agent or Local Agent 
 during such transfer. Such arrangements are supposed 
 now to exist in respect to all mails arriving in charge of 
 a Route Agent, or where a Local Agent is stationed, but 
 provision must be made for the safety of the mails under 
 all ordinary circumstances, and you will make it your 
 special duty to see whether Route Agents, who consider 
 themselves '* off duty" at the ends of their respective 
 routes, may not properly be required to superintend the 
 transfer of all mails which arrive by railroad at their 
 locality during their vacation. 
 2 
 
 \ 
 
10 
 
 You will probably find that many of these agents liold 
 themselves responsible for the safe transfer of such mails 
 only as arrive in their charge, and consider themselves 
 exempt from all public duty during the whole interval of 
 time (whether long or short) when they are not actually 
 passing over their routes. In such cases, after satisfying 
 yourself that it will impose on them no hardship, you arc 
 authorized to require their performance of this slight ad- 
 ditional service, and will promptly report any refusal on 
 their part. It is believed that in many cases the safety 
 of the mails may thus be materially promoted, without 
 exacting any thing unreasonable from these agents. 
 Where no such arrangement is practicable, it should be 
 carefully seen that the messengers of the railroad com- 
 pany are every way reliable and competent. 
 
 STEAMBOAT SERVICE. • 
 
 Ik 
 
 See that the mails on steamboats are locked up in a 
 suitable apartment, under the exclusive control of the 
 Route Agent, when one is on board, and otherwise under 
 the control of some person designated for the purpose by 
 the contractors, and duly qualified by oath. Such person 
 should be made clearly to understand that he is in no 
 case to allow the mails to pass from his charge into that 
 of any unauthorized person. Make prompt and special 
 report of every case in which you observe mails exposed 
 on the deck of a steamer during her passage. 
 
 COACH AND nOKSE SERVICE. 
 
 On coaches and hacks see that the mail is secured from 
 wet or other injury in a boot under the driver's seat, or, 
 if its weight and bulk require it, in the body of the car- 
 riage, to the exclusion of "passengers if necessary. 
 
11 
 
 The leaving or dropping of the mail, or an}^ portion of it, 
 in order to conve}^ passengers, is punishable by exemplary- 
 fines. You will investigate every case of this kind that 
 may in any way come to youi* know^ledge, and will report 
 it fully to tlie Inspection Office. Where buggy or horse- 
 back service is performed, see that the mails are protected 
 by suitable waterproof coverings, and, in respect to all 
 these modes of service, observe well the condition of horses 
 and carriages and the qualifications and deportment of 
 drivers and carriers, reporting deficiencies in either. 
 
 DUTIES AT rOST OFFICES. 
 
 At Post Offices terminating rontes, examine the pre- 
 scribed schedules and modes of conveyance ; compare 
 them with the actual arrivais, departures, and grades of 
 service, and note any irregularities discovered. Observe 
 whether any errors have been inadvertently embraced in 
 schedules, or whether any other defective arrangements 
 exist in the transportation service, causing delays or fail- 
 ures of connection, and suggest promptly and intelligently 
 the proper changes and remedies. Visit frequently, and 
 without previous notice, the distributing offices, and ex- 
 amine carefully their accounts of mails sent and received 
 to and from otlier distributing offices, especially to ascer- 
 tain whether letters are so mailed as to be subject to two 
 or more distributions, in violatioii of the regulatio7is and of 
 sjpecidl instructions h\j circular. * 
 
 At each principal Post Office, observe whether the 
 Postmaster gives his personal attention to its business ; 
 and if not, whetlier such watchful supervision is exercised 
 over it by anyhody as to secure subordination, method, 
 and personal accountability among the force employed in 
 
12 
 
 it, without which there can be no security to the corres- 
 poDclence passing through it. 
 
 Admonisli Postmasters, wlien necessary, against suffer- 
 ing any persons not employed in their offices to have 
 access to the mails when in process of 023ening, separating, 
 distributing, or otherwise ; and against allowing aw?/ jper- 
 scn not duly qualified and authorized, to have access to 
 the tables and cases where letters are deposited. 
 
 These prohibitions include Route Agents, Mail Carriers, 
 Letter Carriers, and all other persons who may have been 
 sworn for the performance of othc?- service to the Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Observe at all offices whether incapable or otherwise 
 unreliable and unsafe persons are employed in them, and 
 report the result of your observation to the Appointment 
 Office when in your opinion it is proper to do so. 
 
 Prevent as far as possible by admonition and advice the 
 exposure of the mails at small roadside offices by the 
 opening and separating them in public rooms and in the 
 presence of the neighbors, and report every flagrant abuse 
 of this sort which you cannot cure. Ascertain by obser- 
 vation and inquiry at distributing offices, and by such 
 other means as may occur to you, whether packages of 
 postage stamps are sent from any Post Offices, or by any 
 Route Agents, in the unlocked bags or newspaper sacks, 
 and report every case in which you find that either such 
 packages or letter nackages are so sent. Notice at Post 
 Offices the mode practiced of canceling postage stamps, 
 and report every case in which the instructions of the 
 Department in that regard are violated. 
 
 EOUTE AGENTS. 
 
 Route Agents should be men of strict integrity, business 
 capacity, and correct habits. If any are observed by you 
 
13 
 
 who fail to meet these reqiiireinents, report them with 
 the particuhirs of their several cases to the Appointment 
 Bureau. 
 
 When you find the place of a regular Route Agent 
 filled by a sub^jtitule, ascertain whether the substitution 
 has been made conformably with the reguhations of the 
 Department ; and if not, do not hesitate or fail to report 
 the case without dehiy. It is not allowable for a Route 
 Agent to leavi^ liis duties in charge of a substitute, except 
 under the most urgent cipcumstances, without leave being 
 first granted by tlie Postmaster General, on a written ai)- 
 plication to the Appointment Bureau, and such leave v> ill 
 be in writing for a specified tin.ie, the limitatioruof which 
 must be Strictly observed. 
 
 AMion a sudden and urgent necessity arises for the 
 temporary absence of a Route Agent from his duties — 
 allowing no sufficient time for a reference of his applica- 
 tion to the Department — a Postmaster at the end of his 
 route may grant leave for such absence ; but onl}^ on a 
 written application, which he will refer to the Department 
 for approval by the first mail thereafter, and the leave 
 thus oi-anted must be limited to the shortest time in which 
 such application can reach, and be returned from the De- 
 partment by mail. 
 
 Route Agents are forbidden to admit into the mail cars 
 in their charge airij persons who are not agents of this De- 
 partment. You are desired to see that this rule is strictly 
 enforced, and will report, without exception, every in- 
 stance that may come to your knowledge of its violation. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Observe the condition of mail bags, and enforce as far 
 as possible that regulation of the Department which re- 
 quires Postmasters at the ends of routes to withdraw from 
 
14 
 
 the service all that are too mucli worn, or from any other 
 cause are unsafe. Endeavor to enforce also the regula- 
 tion which requires the return of canvas sacks sent out 
 from the principal cities W' ith newspapers and other printed 
 matter. Notice whether and how mail keys are securely 
 kept in Post Oiiices, and correct any careless habits which 
 you may observe in that regard. 
 
 Ascertain as far as possible and report violations of law 
 by private expresses or by other persons in sending or 
 carrying mailable matter over established routes out of 
 the mail, and suggest any improvements in the service 
 calculated to remedy or abate this evil. 
 
 In respect to all tlie foregoing instructions you are de- 
 sired in every case where a flagrant abuse or imperfection 
 in the service is discovered to make immediate report 
 tliereof to the Department, and in urgent and important 
 cases to use the telegraph if you deem it necessary, but 
 when the cause of complaint is slight, and can be cor- 
 rected by your advice or admonition, no special report of 
 the case need be made. You will, how^ever, keep from 
 day to day a brief but accurate jomiial in which you vv^ill 
 enter yo\iY observation or other knowdedge of any neglect 
 of duty, or violation of the regulations of the Depart- 
 ment, in any branch of the service — by Postmasters, Mail 
 Contractors, Route Agents, or any other persons — so that 
 a transcript of this journal will exliibit all the reports 
 required by these several articles of instruction, and all 
 notices of irregularities or imperfections in the service, 
 with suggestions for their improvement, as they may have 
 fallen under your observation or otherwise become known 
 to you from day to day. These journals must also show 
 the locality and manner of employment of each agent on 
 the several days of each month, and nmst indicate the 
 
15 
 
 dej^redation cases in the investigation of which he is en- 
 gaged, and the progress of his investigation. Each agent 
 will forward to the Department with his monthly account, 
 or as soon after the beginning of each month as practica- 
 ble, a transcript of so much of this journal as may not 
 have been previously connnunicated to it in special re- 
 ports. These transcripts should be addressed to the In- 
 spection Office, to be filed subject to the inspection of 
 the proper officers of the Department. When, however, 
 an occasion arises for a special report to the Department, 
 it sliould, if relating to confidential matters or the general 
 interests of the Department, be addressed directly to the 
 Postmaster General, and otherwise to the head of that 
 bureau of the Department to which its subject-matter 
 may especially relate ; and when matters relating to 
 several branches of the service are to be treated of at the 
 same time, separate reports should be made, each to its 
 proper bureau. For a description of the powers and du- 
 ties of each bureau, see printed "Lav/s and Regulations" 
 of the Department. 
 
 When a Special Agent is assigned for duty to a par- 
 ticular district or section of country, he will not, except 
 in a case of absolute necessity, or in the pursuit of some 
 special investigation in the line of his duty, withdraw 
 himself from his district to visit the seat of government, 
 or otherwise, without instructions or leave from this De- 
 partment. When he has no special and urgent duties to 
 perform under the iiarticular instructions of the Depart- 
 ment, as can rarely happen, he should still avoid remain- 
 ing unnecessarily long at his place of residence, but 
 should keep moving over the several routes in his district, 
 especially those which, from their importance, or other- 
 wise, require the most strict surveillance. His salary and 
 
16 
 
 expense account may be forwarded for settlement at the 
 end of each month or quarter, as he may elect, addressed 
 to the Inspection Office. 
 
 In conclusion, the Postmaster General invites your 
 earnest and active co-operation in the endeavors to v^hich 
 he will devote himself, to give security to the mails, to 
 prevent unnecessary delays and detentions in their trans- 
 portation, to elevate the character of the Post Office 
 Department for faithfulness, efficiency, and punctuality 
 in the several branches of its service, and thus to secure a 
 more perfect accomplishment of the extended and benefi- 
 cent objects for which it was established. To these high 
 purposes he asks and expects the devotion of your whole 
 time and best efforts. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant. 
 
 Postmaster GcncraL