INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF PENALTY ENVELOPES OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION EMPLOYEES. [Approved by the Secretary of Agriculture May 3, 1916.] The following instructions, relative to the use of the penalty envelopes of the United States Department of Agriculture, should be strictly observed by all persons engaged in extension work under appointment from the United States Department of Agriculture whether they receive all or any part of their salary from the department. The use of penalty envelopes is restricted to "matters relating exclusively to the business of the Government," and they must, therefore, be used cautiously and in strict compliance with the law and the postal regulations, their unlawful use being an offense punishable by a maximum fine of $300. The cooperative agents or employees of the United States Department of Agriculture, any part of whose salary is paid by that department, have the right to use the penalty envelope only on "matters relating exclusively to the business of the Government of the United States" for which appointment from the United States Department of Agriculture is made. The fact that the agent who receives a part of his salary from the department is also engaged in extension work under the general cooperative agreement with the State agricultural college does not give him the right to use the department penalty envelope for all extension business. His use of such envelope must be confined to those extension enterprises which are covered by the terms of his commission from the department and the projects in which the department funds are used. In using the official penalty envelope, post card, or tag the following instructions should be observed: 1. In official correspondence with the United States Department of Agriculture.-All correspondence addressed to the United States Department of Agriculture pertaining to the work for which the employee receives his Federal appointment may be conducted in penalty envelopes. All such letters should be inclosed in envelopes addressed to the office through which the Federal appointment was made. Such letters must relate entirely to the official public business covered by the appointment which may include the sending in of reports, requests for information, requests for bulletins and supplies and other material needed in the work, and responses to inquiries made by officials of the department. 2. Correspondence with supervising agents, leaders or directors within the State, and with other field employees holding appointments from the United States Department of Agriculture and engaged in similar work.-All such correspondence must relate entirely to the official business for which the employee was appointed by the United States Department of Agriculture in order to entitle it to transmission in penalty envelopes. 3. Correspondence with farmers and other persons.—Penalty envelopes may be used to transmit through the mails letters of instruction to farmers engaged in carrying on demonstrations, notices of meetings to be held in furtherance of the work for which the agent received his Federal appointment, and of special demonstrations. All such correspondence should relate either to the giving of information to farmers or their families relative to demonstrations conducted under the supervision of the agent, and advice to farmers in answer to their inquiries, or of instruction to farmers and their families regarding some feature of agriculture or home economics taken up by the agent in furtherance of the work for which he was employed by the department. They may be used to call the attention of the farmers to such farmers' meetings as are held in furtherance of the work for which the agent was employed, but shall not be used to send out notices of meetings of organizations of farmers and business men or indiscriminate announcements of farmers' meetings. In no case should penalty envelopes be used for the purpose of relieving organizations from paying postage on matter issued by the organization and which is therefore properly chargeable with postage. 4. Penalty envelopes must not be used in transacting such private business as sending for catalogues, price lists, seeds, implements, fertilizers, etc., for farmers or groups of farmers, nor in seeking markets for products. of individual farmers or groups of farmers, nor in mailing catalogues, announcements, or price lists of State, county, or other fairs. 5. An addressed return penalty envelope or post card may be sent out to farmers and other persons from whom information is desired, provided such information is to be used strictly in furtherance of the work for which the agent received his Federal appointment. Such use of the penalty envelopes should be made with great caution for fear of the abuse of the privilege by uninstructed individuals. County agents should not send out circular letters of inquiry in penalty envelopes unless they are instructed to do so by their State leader, who should send to the department copies of all such letters which he has approved. Penalty envelopes and tags should never be furnished to farmers or others to be used in sending any commodity through the mails. 6. In all correspondence mailed in penalty envelopes agents should use either department letterheads or letterheads approved by the department which clearly indicate the participation of the United States Department of Agriculture in the cooperative work undertaken by the agent. The form recommended by the States Relations Service is as follows, and may be adapted to meet the needs of each State and county: Cooperative Extension Work Agriculture and Home Economics, State Agricultural College, U. S. Department of Agriculture (other State or county organization) cooperating. Extension Service, County Agent Work. [Springfield, Mass.] In this letterhead slight changes if approved by the department may be made in the printed matter, but no change can be made in the general form of heading, and no one of the cooperating parties should be given more prominence than others, and the order indicated must be observed. Do not use private letterheads or letterheads containing any advertising matter. Letterheads of the agricultural college which do not show the cooperation of the United States Department of Agriculture in the work and which have not been approved by the department should not be used. 7. No private matter whatever should be included in any letter sent in penalty envelopes; the entire letter should relate exclusively to the business of the United States for which the employee received his Federal appointment. Agents should not use official letterheads or envelopes for personal correspondence even though postage is affixed. Letters or circulars sent in penalty envelopes must not be signed by any person except the authorized agent of the United States Department of Agriculture, who must affix his official title and headquarters. 8. Printed matter.-Penalty envelopes of the United States Department of Agriculture may be used by agents in distributing bulletins and circulars published by the United States Department of Agriculture which they are authorized to distribute. Bulletins and circulars published by any agricultural college or experiment station may be sent in United States Department of Agriculture penalty envelopes only in cases where such publications contain valuable information on agriculture or home economics which the agent of the department desires to furnish to particular persons who have made inquiry of him for such information or to persons with whom the agent is conducting some demonstration or other special work. Such bulletins or circulars so sent should be accompanied by a letter signed by the agent, with his official title. Penalty envelopes must not be used for general distribution of bulletins and circulars of the colleges or stations or other organizations. Where miscellaneous requests for bulletins of colleges or stations or other public institutions are received by agents in their official capacity, such requests may be forwarded in a penalty envelope to the proper authority for attention. Newspapers, clippings, magazines, and other printed matter which contain articles about the work of the agents may be transmitted to the supervising agents of the department in penalty envelopes, but should be accompanied by a letter of transmittal clearly showing that the printed matter is sent in for the purpose of advising the officer to whom it is directed. No literature should be distributed in penalty envelopes commending products of particular firms or individuals. 9. No matter containing commercial, religious, or political announcements or advertisements should ever be sent in penalty envelopes, except in cases where a request is made by an official of the department that the agent send in such pamphlets or printed matter for official purposes. 10. No letters or printed matter soliciting funds for the support of any association or other organization should be sent in penalty envelopes. 11. All official circulars, bulletins, or reports issued by the agent which are to be mailed in penalty envelopes must have had the subject matter and form approved by the State director of extension. On the front page must be clearly shown the cooperation of the United States Department of Agriculture as set forth in the approved form for letterheads, also the name and official title of the agent. No publication of a county organization as such should be distributed in penalty envelopes. Correspondence with autograph signature may be mailed sealed from any post office, but all other matter should be presented unsealed and only at the post office designated for that purpose. For all other business and in all cases of doubt, do not use penalty envelopes, but pay the postage. Resolve all questions of doubt against the right to use such envelopes or submit for decision particular cases to the head of the office through which the Federal appointment was made. FUNDS AVAILABLE TO THE STATES UNDER THE SMITH-LEVER ACT. The following table shows the maximum amounts of money which the several States are eligible to receive from the Federal Government under the Smith-Lever Act as calculated on the proportion which the rural population of each State bears to the total rural population of the United States according to the census of 1910. . Maximum amounts of Federal funds which each State is eligible to receive under the SmithLever Act for cooperative agricultural extension work.1 1 Each State must duplicate all Federal money above $10,000 per year. 18, 151.66 77,638.54 10,400. 24 38, 767.11 21,305.96 48,868.52 75, 944.39 14,467.35 14, 168.57 45, 331.93 21,957.84 32, 131.50 39,635.81 12, 290. 20 1,580,000.00 19, 127.21 5,205.99 21, 297. 12 13,546.41 3,705.30 30,744.79 181.93 13,075.96 5, 139.07 17,667.51 29, 974.72 2,030.61 1.894.80 16,059.97 5,435.38 10,059.77 13,470.82 500,000.00 2 After 1920 the allotments are to be based on the returns for rural population of the Fourteenth Census. 10,000 32, 952.65 29,645.80 11,527.06 13, 911.34 24,041.91 16, 257.54 52,978.32 52,079.86 19, 195.15 2,458.34 8,929.91 694.12 1,777.88 6,382.69 2,844.34 19,535.60 10,000 16, 247.19 21, 453. 18 10,000 35, 556.54 56, 853.66 10,000 26, 255.69 39, 802.10 10,000 14,446.36 10,000 46,893.75 10,000 10, 218.31 10,000 25, 691. 15 10,000 16, 166. 89 10,000 31, 201.01 10,000 45, 969.67 INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXTENSION ACCOUNTING. [Approved by the Director of the States Relations Service Mar. 27, 1916.] Accounts and vouchers for all funds used in extension work under the SmithLever Act should be regularly kept at the college in each State receiving the benefits of this act, even if the original accounts and vouchers are kept in the office of the State treasurer or other official. If the college keeps only duplicate vouchers, these should bear evidence of their payment by reference to the warrant or otherwise. Expenditures from both Federal and other funds which are included in the account for any Federal fiscal year should be confined to those actually made in the maintenance of the extension service during that year. Separate accounts for expenditures of the Smith-Lever Federal fund and funds from within the State used to offset that fund should be kept in accordance with the provisions of the financial schedules prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, and should be supported by vouchers approved by the director of extension work. From whatever source derived, funds which are used to offset Federal Smith-Lever funds will be subject to the same limitations as regards the character of the expenditures as the Federal Smith-Lever funds. LOCAL ACCOUNTS. Vouchers for expenditures from funds contributed to the State Smith-Lever funds by counties, local organizations, or individuals should be approved by the director of extension work, as well as by the county officer or other representative of the contributing parties, and be paid by the county or other local treasurer, who should file a certificate of payment with the director of extension work. Either the original vouchers or duplicates should be on file at the college. VOUCHERS. The classification in accordance with the headings prescribed by the department should be indicated on all vouchers or accompanying jackets. Every voucher should further indicate the fund from which the expenditure is made and the project or projects to which the expenditure relates. SALARIES OR LABOR. There should be a pay roll or an individual voucher which should indicate the period for which the salary charge is made, the annual rate of salary, general description of duties (grade or title), and should contain the personal signature of each individual paid and the indorsement of the director of extension work. Separate pay rolls and individual vouchers for labor and for salaries should be kept. TRAVEL EXPENSES. Vouchers for travel should give the purpose and dates for each trip and show an itemized account of all railroad and boat fares, livery, bus, and street car expenses, payments for subsistence, and miscellaneous items. The voucher should give reference to the authorization to travel and contain the personal signature of the individual paid and the indorsement of the director. There should be vouchers showing the purchase of mileage books and subvouchers showing how and when the mileage was used. Expenses for supplies and other material should not be included in travel accounts. OTHER EXPENSES. (Supplies and miscellaneous.) There should be an itemized account of all supplies and miscellaneous articles purchased, and the vouchers should indicate when the goods were received and the |