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In the United States the right to send mail without the use of postage is known as the "franking priviledge." It predates the Constitution as it was granted to the members of the Continental Congress. It was used by Great Britain also so may have been copied by the American colonies due to the history of its use in Great Britain. Wkipedia has an article dealing with the use of Franking and this quote comes from that article. "Because Benjamin Franklin was an early United States Postmaster General, satirist Richard Armour referred to free congressional mailings as the "Franklin privilege".
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ViviIt's known as a 'perk' of the job.
Perk derives from the word perquisite - something which is regarded as a special right or privilege enjoyed as a rsult of one's position. They have the right of "franking" mail that has to do with government business. In simpler terms it's called "franking privilege."
Representatives are authorized the privilege of sending mail as franked mail in
the conduct of official business to assist them in their duties as Members of
Congress. Requirements on the use of the frank and mass mailings are established
in statute and the regulations and rules of the House. Use of the frank is the personal
responsibility of each Representative.
The franked mail postage allowance is based on a formula in which the rate of
a single piece of first class mail is multiplied by three, and the resulting figure is
multiplied by the number of non-business addresses in a Representative's district.
The Committee on House Administration set the 2007 official mail allowance for
each Member at 45% of the calculation based on the above formula. The
allowance may be used to pay the costs of first, third, or fourth class franked mail.
It may not be used to pay for certain specified mailing costs, for example, express
mail.
Since the official mail allowance is combined with the personnel and office
expenses allowances, there is no limit on the amount of money a Member can spend
on franked mail from the combined allowances.
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What was the overland mail act?
The Overland Mail Act was when the congress stopped the deliver of mail by the stagecoach service Butterfield Overland Mail Trail.
Which act of congress gave postal official authority to ban newspapers and magazines from the mail?
The Espionage Act gave postal service official authority to ban newspapers and magazines from the mail.
After congress passed an act to reduce the rate of bulk mail what occurred?
Magazines became widely circulated among the general public. c:
How much more would it cost for President Kennedy to mail a one ounce letter to all of the state governors in the US than it cost Roosevelt to send them at the beginning of his term?
This is sort of a trick question on several different levels.1. Presidents and Congressmen have what is called the 'Free Frank' privilege. They can mail letters for no cost.2. The number of states in the Union at that point. You don't specify which Roosevelt, I'm betting it was Theodore, but included both:When Theodore Roosevelt became President there were only 45 states, Oklahoma became a state while he was in office.When FDR became President there were only 48 states.When Kennedy became president, there were 50 states.3. The postage rates were different. For one ounce of 1st class mail the rates were:Postage in September 1901 was 2 centsPostage in March of 1933 was 3 centsPostage in January 1961 was 4 centsWhile it wouldn't cost a President anything to mail letters to all the state governors, anyone else it would have cost:1901 - 45 states at 2 cents = $.901933 - 48 states at 3 cents = $1.441961 - 50 states at 4 cents = $2.00
How did companies like Sears take advantage of the newly created federal mail service?
By creating mail-order catalogs.
