[114] 4 Opinions of the Attorneys General, 349 (1844). If a passenger takes the letters without the knowledge of the carrier, the latter is not liable and no penalty is incurred by the person sending the letters; but if the practice is known by public advertisement the carrier will be liable and also the person employing agents to carry his mail. U. S. v. Hall, 26 Fed. Cas. 75 (1844).
[115] U. S. v. U. S. Express Co., 5 Biss. 91 (1869).
[116] U. S. v. Bromley, 12 How. 88 (1851). See also 4 Ops. 159 (1843).
[117] 4 Ops. 162. “By the now settled doctrine of this court” revenue statutes are “not to be construed like penal laws generally, strictly in favor of the defendant; but they are to be fairly and reasonably construed, so as to carry out the intention of the legislature.” U. S. v. Stowell, 133 U. S. 1 (1890).
[118] 9 Ops. 161 (1858); but see U. S. v. Kochersperger, above.
[119] 9 Stat. L. 591.
[120] U. S. v. Kochersperger, above. While resting its decision on a literal interpretation of the statute, the court intimated that the public streets of a municipality were different from highways, and expressed doubt as to whether they could “be established by Congress as postroads for any other purpose than the carriage of the mail.” See below, p. 151.
[121] Act of March 2, 1861; 12 Stat. L. 205.
[122] Act of June 8, 1872; 17 Stat. L. 309.
[123] Blackham v. Gresham, 16 Fed. Rep. 609 (1883). In 1872, citizens of Davenport, Iowa, were permitted to employ a private dispatch company to deliver within the city limits mail upon which no U. S. postage had been paid; this was allowed because the streets of the city had not been made postroutes. 14 Ops. 152.