CHAPTER 53

MAIL AND NAVY MAIL CLERKS

Sec. 1.—Art. 2063-2064. Appointments and duties of Navy mail clerks and assistant Navy mail clerks.

Sec. 2.—Art. 2065-2066. Handling of closed mails under provisions of postal convention.

Sec. 3 —Art. 2067-2070. Miscellaneous.

Sec. 4.—Art. 2071. Naval Communication Service funds.

Section 1.—Appointments and Duties of Navy Mail Clerks and Assistant Navy Mail Clerks

2063

Authorization mail clerks. C. N. R. 11.

(1) Navy mail clerks and assistant Navy mail clerks are authorized under the provisions of an act of Congress approved May 27, 1908, which, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, reads as follows:

"Enlisted men of the United States Navy or Marine Corps may, upon selection by the Secretary of the Navy, be designated by the Post Office Department as ‘Navy mail clerks’ and ‘assistant Navy mail clerks,’ who shall be authorized to receive and open all pouches and sacks of mail addressed to naval vessels, to make proper delivery of such mail, to receive matter for transmission in the mails, to receipt for registered matter (keeping an accurate record thereof), to keep and have for sale an adequate supply of postage stamps, to make up and dispatch mails, and other postal duties as may be authorized by the Postmaster General, all in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the commanding officer of the vessel or of the squadron to which the vessel is attached. Each mail clerk and assistant mail clerk shall take the oath of office prescribed for employees of the Postal Service and shall give bond to the United States in such penal sum as the Postmaster General may deem sufficient for the faithful performance of his duties as such clerk, and shall be amenable in all respects to naval discipline, except that, as to their duties as such clerks, the commanding officers of the vessels upon which they are stationed shall require them to be governed by the Postal Laws and Regulations of the United States.

--711--

C. N. R. 11.

"Whenever necessity arises therefor any assistant mail clerk may be required by the commanding officer of the vessel upon which he is stationed or of the squadron to which said vessel is attached to perform the duties of mail clerk. They shall receive as compensation for such services from the Navy Department, in addition to that paid them of the grade to which they are assigned, such sum in the case of mail clerks not to exceed $500 per annum and in that of assistant mail clerks not to exceed $300 per annum, as may be determined and allowed by the Navy Department.

"Provided, That the provisions of the act of May twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and eight, as amended by the act of August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve, are hereby extended to authorize the designation of enlisted men of the Navy or Marine Corps as Navy mail clerks and assistant Navy mail clerks with expeditionary forces on shore." (Act Mar. 4, 1917.)

"That the provisions of the act of May twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and eight, as amended by the act of August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve, and as amended by the act of March fourth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, arc hereby extended to authorize the designation of enlisted men of the Navy or Marine Corps as Navy mail clerks and assistant Navy mail clerks for duty at stations and shore establishments under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department where the services of such mail clerks and assistant mail clerks are necessary." (Act of July 1, 1918.)

Details concerning mail clerks. C. N. R. 11, 15, 24.

(2) The compensation for and allowance of Navy mail clerks and assistant Navy mail clerks shall be as prescribed by the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Details as to the selection and instruction of Navy mail clerks shall be handled by the Bureau of Naval Personnel.

Oath. C. N. R. 11, 20.

(3) Navy mail clerks and assistant Navy mail clerks shall take and subscribe before an officer authorized to administer oaths and transmit to the department the following oath, required by section 1757 of the Revised Statutes and the act of March 5, 1874:

"I (name of appointee), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely and without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully perform all the duties required of me and abstain from everything forbidden by the laws in relation to the establishment of post offices and post roads within the United States; and that I will honestly and truly account for and pay over any money belonging to the said United States which

--712--

may come into my possession or control; and I also further swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States. So help me God." (P. L. & R. 1924. sec. 32.)

2064

Mail clerks. Bonds.
C. N. R. 11, 24.

(1) Each Navy mail clerk and assistant will give bond to the United States for the faithful performance of his duties as such clerk in a sum not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000). The bonds of Navy mail clerks and assistants designated for a domestic shore station, transacting money-order business, will not be increased unless the amount of money-order business transacted warrants an increase, while Navy mail clerks and assistants, designated for naval vessels and foreign shore stations, transacting money-order business, will give bond in a sum of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000).

(2) The inspections of the post office and audit of the Navy mail clerks’ funds shall be conducted as prescribed in the Bureau of Naval Personnel Manual, the Marine Corps Manual, and the Manual of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts.

Ships and stations having no mail clerks.
C. N. R. 11.

(3) In the case of organizations to which mail clerks are not detailed or serving as such, the commanding officer of the ship or shore station may, in his discretion, appoint some trustworthy person to perform the duty of mail orderly, to whom he shall give authority to receive the mail from the post office and to sign receipts for all registered letters except such as the sender has indorsed "Deliver only to addressee." Mail addressed to a shore station shall be distributed in accordance with such regulations as the commanding officer may make.

Distribution of mail.
C. N. R. 11, 23.

(4) Mail for the ship’s company shall be distributed in a manner prescribed by the commanding officer. Every effort shall be made to assure that neither incoming nor outgoing mail is tampered with or handled by unauthorized persons. Locked boxes shall be conveniently placed for the reception of outgoing mail.

Letter bills.
C. N. R. 11.

(5) In order that it may be known what should be received at the office of destination in a dispatch from a United States naval vessel or foreign shore station, a letter bill (Form 2969) shall be inclosed with each mail dispatched from a United States vessel or foreign shore station, whether the dispatch is made up of one or more sacks or pouches and whether the mail is prepared by a Navy mail clerk or a mail orderly. Each letter bill shall show by the entries the name of the naval vessel or foreign shore station, the date of dispatch, number of (outside) sacks or pouches, and the aggregate of the registered articles and jackets to be accounted for at the post office to which the letter bill is addressed. A letter bill serves as an invoice of the sacks, pouches, and registered articles

--713--

sent in a dispatch and must be invariably used to prevent loss or misunderstanding. Mail orderlies who are without a stock of letter bills (Form 2069) shall make requisition on the New York or San Francisco post office for the number needed on the basis of one bill for each dispatch.

Section 2.—Handling of Closed Mails Under Provisions of Postal Convention

C. N. R. 11.

2065

The handling of closed malls to and from vessels of the Navy and divisions (organizations) of the United States Marine Corps in foreign countries is governed by the provisions of article 77 of the Stockholm convention and article 69 of its detailed regulations which reads as follows:

ARTICLE 77 (STOCKHOLM CONVENTION)

1. Closed mails may be exchanged between the post offices of any one of the contracting countries and the commanding officers of naval divisions or warships of the same country stationed abroad or between the commanding officer of another division or ship of the same country through the intermediary of land or sea services maintained by other countries.

2. Correspondence of all kinds contained in such mails shall consist only of such as is addressed to or sent by the officers and crews of the ships to or from which the mails are sent; the rates and conditions of dispatch applicable to them are determined, according to its domestic regulations, by the postal administration of the country to which the ships belong.

3. Barring contrary agreement between the administrations concerned, the dispatching or receiving administration of the mails in question is indebted to the intermediary administrations for transit charges calculated in accordance with the provisions of article 70.

ARTICLE 69 (REGULATIONS OF THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION)

1. Notice must be given to the intermediary administrations of the establishment of an exchange of closed mails between an administration of the union and naval divisions or warships of the same nationality, or between one naval division or warship and another of the same nationality, in advance, as far as possible.

2. The address of such dispatches is worded as follows:

From the office of __________ for the (nationality) naval division of (name of the division) at __________

For the (nationality) ship (Name of the ship) __________ at __________ (country).

--714--

Or

[block]From the (nationality) naval division of (name of the division) at __________

C. N. R. 11.

From the (nationality) ship (name of the ship at __________

For the office of __________(country.)

Or

[block]From the (nationality) naval division of (name of the division) at__________

From the (nationality) ship (name of the ship) at

For the (nationality) naval division of (name of the division) at__________

For the (nationality) ship (name of the ship) at __________(country).

3. The dispatches addressed to or coming from naval divisions or warships are forwarded, in the absence of the indication of a special route in the address, by the most rapid routes and under the same conditions as the dispatches exchanged between post offices.

The captain of a mail steamer which carries dispatches addressed to a naval division or a warship holds them at the disposal of the commandant of the division or vessel of destination in case that the latter should demand that he deliver them en route.

4. If the vessels are not found at the place of destination when the dispatches addressed to them arrive there, such dispatches are retained at the post office while awaiting their withdrawal by the addressee or their reforwarding to another point. The reforwarding may be demanded either by the administration of origin or by the commandant of the naval division or vessel of destination, or, finally by a consul of the same nationality.

5. Those of the dispatches in question which bear the note,

"Aux so ins du consul de__________" (In care of the consul at__________), are consigned to the consulate of the country of origin. They may later on, at the request of the consul, be returned to the Postal Service or be forwarded to the place of origin or to another destination.

6. Dispatches addressed to a warship are considered as being in transit up to their delivery to the commandant of that warship, even when they may originally have been addressed to the care of another post office or to a consul charged with serving as intermediary forwarding agent; they are not, therefore, considered as having arrived at their address if they have not been delivered to the warship of destination.

--715--

2066

Ship's mail address.
C. N. R. 11.

The commanding officer shall keep the postmaster through whom the mail is forwarded fully informed as to the address to which it should be sent, subject to such action as may be taken in the matter by the commander in chief or senior officer present, (Art. 699 (1).) This shall include the itinerary of the vessel or organization as far as it is practicable to ascertain at the time.

Section 3.—Miscellaneous

2067

Closed bags.
C. N. R. 11.

Vessels of the Navy at foreign ports shall transmit their mails (closed bags) to the United States through the post offices of the ports of call whenever practicable. Such practice not only effects a positive economy but also generally insures a more effective handling of the mails. Mail bags from naval vessels may be placed directly on board steamers sailing for the United States only when such procedure is unavoidable in order to advance the delivery of the mails. In adopting this procedure commanding officers shall bear in mind that it subjects the Post Office Department to increased cost in transporting mails, and the practice shall therefore not be resorted to unnecessarily.

2068

Use of penalty stamp.
C. N. R. 11.

In the transmission within the United States of official mail matter free of postage, the following rules shall be observed.

(а) Officers of the Navy and Marine Corps may send official mail matter between themselves, or to any of the executive departments, by using the penalty envelopes.

(b) Official mail matter may be transmitted under cover of the penalty envelopes by officers of the Government to private individuals.

(c) Any department or office entitled to use them may inclose the penalty envelope with return address to any person from or through whom official information is desired, the same to be used only to cover such official information.

(d) The name of the department and proper designation of the office or officer shall appear in the upper left-hand corner of the address face of the envelope, and thereunder the words "Official business"; in the upper right-hand corner shall appear the penalty clause, reading "Penalty for private use to avoid payment of postage, $300." These indorsements may be printed, stamped, or written.

--716--

(e) Ship and Station newspapers will not be mailed in penalty envelopes to other than Government agencies.

C. N. R. 24, 26.

(f) Penalty envelopes may he used in connection with the necessary correspondence of ship’s service departments, post exchanges, and commissioned, warrant, and chief petty officers' messes ashore, except in soliciting customers, in the delivery of goods, or in returning merchandise to the manufacturers and wholesalers.

2069

Foreign postage.
C. N. R. 11.

(1) Official mail matter addressed to foreign countries must be prepaid with postage stamps at the ordinary rates.

--7161--

C. N. R. 11.

(2) Official correspondence which is admissible to the domestic mails under penalty envelope or label may also be dispatched in the same manner to certain countries as specified in the Postal Laws and Regulations.

2070

(1) Domestic money-order business only will be transacted, and provision will be made for both the issue and payment of money orders.

(2) To provide for the prompt payment of money orders drawn on the branch offices located on vessels of war when sufficient surplus money-order funds are not available for this purpose, the supply officer on board the vessel will cause the orders to he cashed and held until the Navy mail clerk or assistant is in receipt of sufficient money-order funds to reimburse him.

C. N. R. 20, 21.

(3) Commanding officers shall prescribe the hours during which money orders may be written. Upon the conclusion of these hours each day the mail clerk shall report to the supply officer (or the assistant for disbursing when that officer is detailed for this duty by the supply officer) whether or not money orders were written, and submit his stub record of money orders issued, and his daily statement, together with funds to an amount equal to the difference between the value of money orders issued and those cashed that day. After checking the record of money orders issued and verifying the amount of those cashed, the supply officer will cause a check, "Remittance __________ exchange for cash," to be drawn to the order of the postmaster, New York, if the cash turned in amounts to $50 or more, and the check shall be promptly mailed by the mail clerk. When the net balance of money-order funds is less than $50.00, the mail clerk will be permitted to retain custody of this balance. In the temporary absence of the supply officer or the assistant for disbursing, if there be one, the pay clerk shall perform the checking and verifying specified above.

Section 4.—Naval Communication Service Funds

2071

Naval communication service funds.
C. N. R. 11.

(1) The required prepayment of all messages to their destination shall be made to the duly authorized mail clerk of the ship or, in his absence, to some person designated by the commanding officer. All accounting of the office of the Director of Naval Communications will be with the mail clerk or person designated, who shall follow the instructions relating to accounting issued by that office.

(2) The bond of each Navy mail clerk, assistant mail clerk, or other person authorized to handle Naval Communication Service

--717--

C. N. R. 11.

funds shall be $250. This bond shall be in addition to the bonds required to cover postal funds.

(3) Remittance of Naval Communication Service funds shall be made monthly by Treasury check or money order payable to order of Naval Communication Service. Cash, stamps, or private check shall not be used in transmitting funds.

C. N. R. 19.

(4) It is left to the discretion of the commanding officers of ships as to how large a sum of Naval Communication Service funds should be allowed to accumulate. This sum, however, should not exceed $100. All funds above the amount designated by the commanding officer shall be deposited with the supply officer of the ship or the assistant for disbursing for safe-keeping, to be available for withdrawal as occasion may demand.

(5) Naval Communication Service funds shall be kept separate and independent of other funds. The records of these funds shall be inspected at least once a month by a board, of which the communication officer and the supply officer shall be members, the inspection to include a verification of the cash balance and a complete audit of all accounts, including a verification of rates used.

(6) Any report of such inspection showing an irregularity shall be forwarded to the Director of Naval Communications at once, via official channels, with indorsements to show what action, if any, has been taken. Other reports of inspection shall be retained in the ship’s files for a period of at least two years, subject to call from the Director of Naval Communications for the original copy.

(7) Before detachment, discharge, or transfer, or immediately after death or desertion of the mail clerk or other person designated to receive Naval Communication Service funds, a special inspection and audit, similar to that described above, shall be made and a report of such audit and inspection forwarded to the Director of Naval Communications.

(8) Upon occurrence of the events named. In paragraph (7) above at a shore traffic station, or upon request of the Director of Naval Communications, the commandant of the naval district, commanding officer of the naval station, or other officer having jurisdiction shall require an inspection and audit similar to that described above by such a board as it may be practicable to appoint, and shall forward the report thereof to the Director of Naval Communications.

(9) Upon detail of any person at a shore traffic station to handle Naval Communication Service funds the commandant of the naval district, commanding officer of the naval station, or other officer having jurisdiction shall recommend to the Secretary of the Navy, via the Director of Naval Communications, the amount at which such person’s bond should be fixed. The Secretary will fix the amount of the bond.

--718--