The Daily Dispatch: may 21, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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Southern postal affairs.
by the Postmaster-General of the Confederate States of America.
a Proclamation.

Whereas, by the provisions of an Act, approved March 15th, 1861, and amended by the first section of an Act approved May 9th, 1861, the Postmaster-General of the Confederate States ‘"is authorized, on and after a day to be named by him for that purpose, to take the entire charge and direction of the postal service in the Confederate States."’ and all conveyance of mails within their limits, from and after such day, except by authority of the Postmaster-General thereof, is thereby prohibited:

Now, therefore, I, John H. Reagan, Postmaster-General of the Confederate States of America, do issue this my proclamation, notifying all Postmasters, Contractors, and Special and Route Agents, in the service of the Post-Office Department, and engaged in the transmission and delivery of the mails, or otherwise in any manner connected with the service within the limits of the Confederate States of America, that on and after the first day of June next, I shall assume the entire control and direction of the postal service therein. And I hereby direct all Postmasters, Route Agents and Special Agents within these States, and now acting under the authority and direction of the Postmaster-General of the United States, to continue in the discharge of their respective duties under the authority vested in me by the Congress of the Confederate States, in strict conformity with such existing laws and regulations as are not inconsistent with the Laws and Constitution of the Confederate States of America, and such further instructions as may hereafter be issued by my direction and the said Postmasters, Route Agents and Special Agents are also required to for ward to this Department, without delay, their names, with the names of the offices of which they are Postmasters, (giving the State and County,) to be directed to the ‘"Chief of the Appointment Bureau, Post Office Department, Montgomery, Alabama,"’ in order that new commissions may be issued under the authority of this Government: And all Postmasters are hereby required to render to the Post-Office Department at Washington, D. C., their final accounts and their vouchers for postal receipts and expenditures, up to the 31st day of this month, taking care to forward with said accounts all postage stamps and stamped envelopes, remaining on hand, belonging to the Post-Office Department of the United States, in order that they may receive the proper credits therefore, in the adjustment of their accounts; and they are further required to retain in their possession, to meet the orders of the Postmaster General of the United States, for the payment of mail service within the Confederate States, all revenue which shall have accrued from the postal service prior to the said first day of June next.

All Contractors, Mail Messengers, and Special Contractors for conveying the mails within the Confederate States, under existing contracts with the Government of the United States, are hereby authorized to continue to perform such service under my direction, from and after the day last above-named, subject to such modifications and changes as may be found necessary, under the powers vested in the Postmaster-General by the terms of said contracts, and the provisions of the second section of an act approved May 9, 1861, conformable thereto. And the said Contractors, Special Contractors and Mail Messengers, are required to for ward without delay the number of their route or routes, the nature of the service thereon, the schedules of arrivals and departures, the names of the officers supplied, and the amount of annual compensation for present service, together with their address, directed to the ‘"Chief of the Contract Bureau, Post-Office Department, Montgomery, Ala."’

Until a postal treaty shall be made with the Government of the United States for the exchange of mails between that Government and the Government of this Confederacy, Post-masters will not be authorized to collect United States postage on mail matter sent to or received from those States; and until supplies of postage stamps and stamped envelopes are procured for the pre payment of postage within the Confederate States, all postages must be paid in money, under the provisions of the first section of an act approved March 1, 1861.

Given under my hand, and the seal of the Post-Office Department of the Confederate States of America, at Montgomery, Alabama, the 13th day of May, in the year 1861. John H. Reagan,

Postmaster-General.