EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 64. 1825.

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dangerous weapons, and the robbery is not effected, every such offender,on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment, not less thantwo years, nor exceeding ten years. And, if any person shall steal themail, or shall steal or take from, or out of, any mail, or from, or out of, anypost-office, any letter or packet: or, if any person shall take the mail, orany letter or packet therefrom, or from any post-office, whether with orwithout the consent of the person having custody thereof, and shall open,embezzle or destroy any such mail, letter,or packet, the same containingany article of value, or evidence of any debt, due, demand, right, orclaim, or any release, receipt, acquittance or discharge, or any otherarticle, paper, or thing, mentioned and described, in the twenty-first sec-tion of this act; or, if any person shall by fraud or deception, obtainfrom any person having custody thereof, any mail, letter, or packet, con-taining any article of value, or evidence thereof, or either of the writingsreferred to, or next above mentioned, such offender or offenders, on con-viction thereof, shall be imprisoned not less than two, nor exceeding ten,years.(a) And if any person shall take any letter, or packet, not con-taining any article of value, or evidence thereof, out of a post-office, or shallopen any letter, or packet which shall have been in a post-office, or in cus-tody of a mail-carrier, before it shall have been delivered to the person towhom it is directed, with a design to obstruct the correspondence, to pryinto another’s business or secrets; or shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy,any such mail, letter, or packet, such offender, upon conviction, shall pay forevery such offence, a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and beimprisoned not exceeding twelve months.

Sec. 23. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall rip, cut,tear, burn, or otherwise injure, any valise, portmanteau, or other bag,used, or designed to be used, by any person acting under the authorityof the Postmaster General, or any person in whom his powers are vested,in a conveyance of any mail, letter, packet, or newspaper, or pamphlet,or shall draw or break any staple, or loosen any part of any lock, chain,or strap, attached to, or belonging to any such valise, portmanteau or bag,with an intent to rob, or steal any mail, letter, packet, newspaper or pam-phlet, or to render either of the same insecure, every such offender, uponconviction, shall, for every such offence, pay a sum, not less than onehundred dollars, nor exceeding five hundred dollars, or be imprisonednot less than one year, nor exceeding three years, at the discretion of thecourt before whom such conviction is had.

Sec. 24. And be it further enacted, That every person who, from andafter the passage of this act, shall procure, and advise, or assist, in thedoing or perpetration of any of the acts or crimes by this act forbidden,shall be subject to the same penalties and punishments as the personsare subject to, who shall actually do or perpetrate any of the said acts orcrimes, according to the provision of this act.

Sec. 25. And be it further enacted, That every person who shall beimprisoned by a judgment of court, under and by virtue of the twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, or twenty-fourth sections of this act,shall be kept at hard labour during the period of such imprisonment.

Sec. 26. And be it further enacted, That the postmasters shall, re-spectively, publish, at the expiration of every three months, or oftener,when the Postmaster General shall so direct, in one of the newspaperspublished at or nearest the place of his residence, for three successiveweeks, a list of all the letters remaining in their respective offices, or,instead thereof, shall make out a number of such lists, and cause them

Punishmentordained whereany personshall injure, inany way, theportmanteau,&c., in whichthe mail is car-ried.

Persons, whoshall in any waybe accessary, orengage in anyof the crimesforbidden bythis act, &c.

Persons im-prisoned by ajudgment ofcourt under thisact, &c.

Postmasters topublish for threesuccessiveweeks, in oneof the newspa-pers nearest tothe place of

(a.) The defendant was indicted for receiving treasury notes, stolen from the mail of the United States .A treasury note was offered in evidence. The Supreme Court , on a division of opinion from the circuitcourt of Virginia, held, that the treasury notes issued by authority of the act of Congress of October12, 1838, are promissory notes, within the meaning of the act of Congress of March 3, 1825, regulatingthe Post-office Department. The United States v. Hardyman, 13 Peters, 176.

The stealing or taking a letter, within the 22d section ofthe act of 1825, meane a clandestine taking.The United States v. Pearce, 2 M’Lean’s C. C. R. 14.

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