THE POSTAL POWER OF CONGRESS THE POSTAL POWER OF CONGRESS A STUDY IN CONSTITUTIONAL EXPANSION BY LINDSAY ROGERS A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Board of University Studies of The Johns Hopkins University in Conformity with the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1915 BALTIMORE 1916 COPYRIGHT 1916 BY THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS PRESS OF THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY LANCASTER, PA. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE vii CHAPTER I. Introductory: The Antecedents of the Power 9 CHAPTER II. The Power of Congress to Establish Postoffices 26 Expansion of Facilities 26 Collectivist Activities 33 Postal Crimes 36 Fraud Orders 56 CHAPTER III. The Power of Congress to Establish Postroads 61 Legislative Action 61 Judicial Determinations 80 CHAPTER IV. Limitations on the Postal Power 97 Freedom of the Press 98 Unreasonable Searches and Seizures 123 CHAPTER V. The Power of the States to Interfere with the Mails 127 CHAPTER VI. The Extension of Federal Control Over Postroads 150 Federal Ownership of Railroads 150 Postal Telegraphs and Telephones 156 CHAPTER VII. The Extension of Federal Control Through Exclusion From the Mails 158 PREFACE The purpose of this essay is to trace the legislative and judicial history of the grant to Congress of the power “to establish postoffices and postroads,” and to discuss the constitutionality of the proposals that, under this clause, federal control may be extended to subjects over which Congress has no direct authority. The essay is thus one in constitutional expansion, and does not consider the history or efficiency of the postoffice as an administrative arm of the government. A treatment of this subject, which has as yet received scant notice, I may some day attempt.