Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton,), Wednesday 30
December 1891, page 5
Postal Changes. Postage on
Newspapers. New Parcels Post Regulations
A
supplement to the Government Gazette, issued on Saturday, contained the new
regulations relating to the postal and money order branches of the Post and
Telegraph Department under the Post and Telegraph Act of 1891. All former
regulations on the same subjects are cancelled with the issue of the new ones.
In the new regulations it is provided that late letters which may be posted
fifteen minutes after the time appointed for closing the mail at the post
office, or posted on board steamers and trains intended for delivery within
Queensland, must bear a late fee of 1d., in addition to the ordinary postage, and
those for places beyond Queensland must bear one single rate in addition to the
ordinary postage. Late letters posted at the post office without the late fee
will be detained till the next mail, and in the case of these posted on
steamers and trains the late fee will be collected on delivery of the letter.
No notice has been taken hitherto of special requests for a letter to be
returned to a certain address in the event of its non-delivery within fourteen
days, as it was against the ordinary postal regulations. It is now provided,
however, that requests of that kind will be complied with, and the letter
charged with the ordinary postage for re-direction. A somewhat important
alteration has been made in regard to unclaimed letters. The practice hitherto
has been to keep letters at the office of delivery for a month, and then send
them to the head office, where they were advertised and kept for another
period, being finally returned to the sender. In this way months elapsed before
the sender of a letter got to know that his communication had not been
delivered, and it was frequently the cause of loss and inconvenience. It is now
provided that letters originally posted in Queensland will be retained at the
office of delivery for one month, and advertised there in the ordinary way. If
not claimed then they will be returned to the head office and sent at once to the
sender. Letters posted to any part of Australia other than Queensland will be
kept at the office of delivery for three months, and from foreign countries for
six months, when the same course will be pursued as in the case of colonial
letters.
The
classification of packets, patterns, and samples is new, and is as follows: (1)
books, (2) printed papers, (3) commercial papers, (4) patterns and samples. The
limit of weight has been increased to 4 lb. instead of 3 lb., and the regulations
have been framed so as to make them answer for inland as well as foreign postage.
Packets containing merchandise were precluded previously from being sent by
post, but it is now provided that merchandise of almost any description not
exceeding 16 oz. in weight may be sent as samples and patterns to any part of
Queensland or Australia, at book rates, namely, ld. for 2 oz. In regard to
newspapers, there is a good deal that is new. First of all the definition of a
newspaper has been altered, it being provided that the letterpress must be
printed in Queensland from type set up in Queensland or from stereotype plates
made therefrom. Newspapers must be registered at the head office, the
registration fee being 5s. A copy of each issue of every registered paper must
be sent to the Postmaster-General, but need not be stamped. Should the
Postmaster-General consider that a newspaper has ceased to fulfil the
prescribed conditions of a newspaper as prescribed by the Post and Telegraph
Act, the registration thereof is to be cancelled, and every paper sent
subsequent to such cancellation is to be charged as a book packet. Any proposed
change in the form of a newspaper must be submitted for the consideration of
the Postmaster-General. The postage on newspapers published or printed in Queensland
to places throughout Australia will be 0.5d. not exceeding 10ozs., and for
every additional 10 oz., or part thereof, 0.5d extra; to the United Kingdom,
ld., with the additional ld. for additional weight, while to foreign countries
the postage will be ld. not exceeding 4 ozs. and 0.5d. for every additional 2
ozs. Foreign or intercolonial papers posted in Queensland to places inland, or
intercolonial, or to the United Kingdom, must bear a postage of 1d. not exceeding
10 ozs., and 1d. additional for every additional 10 ozs. or fraction thereof,
while to foreign countries tbc postage will be ld. not exceeding 4 oz., and 0.5d.
extra for every additional 2 oz. Bulk parcels of newspapers from any recognised
publisher or newsvendor, whose name must be registered at the local post
office, will have the postage collected by docket, that is to say, a stamp may
be affixed to one parcel covering the charge for several parcels instead of
stamping each parcel separately. If anything is placed inside a newspaper which
is not within the meaning of the regulations the newspaper will be charged
postage as a book packet. Two or more newspapers to the same address may be
tied together, but the outside wrapper or paper must bear the full postage for
each paper. The fee for registering a letter, packet, or newspaper to all
places is 3d., which must be prepaid by means of adhesive stamps affixed to the
cover. The sender of any registered article may obtain an acknowledgment of its
due delivery to the addressee by affixing to the article a postage stamp of the
value 2.5d., in addition to the other charges. Correspondence redirected from
one country to another in the Postal Union will be charged postage according to
the original fee for the distance the letter has to travel. An important
regulation regarding letters and packers supposed to contain articles liable to
customs duty is to the effect that packets supposed to contain articles liable
to customs duty will be dealt with in the same way as parcels. They will be at
once opened, examined, and valued by a customs officer in the presence of the
postmaster or other postal officer without reference to the addresses. In regard
to postcards an innovation is provided in the shape of reply cards. The cards
are really double cards, each part bearing a penny stamp one half being
intended for the use of the sender, and the other for the addressee in transmitting
a reply. These reply cards may be purchased for 2d. each, and are available for
transmission all over Australasia.
It is further
provided that private firms may have their own postcards printed under certain
restrictions. Arrangements may be made for the collection of ordinary letters
only from private boxes at business premises. The only new regulation in regard
to pillar receivers and receiving boxes is in regard to damaging or destroying the
receivers and boxes, and to placing in or against such receptacle any fire,
match, light, or explosive, or filth. For the first set of offences the penalty
may he £50, and for the second £20. A large number of miscellaneous regulations,
and suggestions which arc departmentally old, are now published for the first
time. It is provided that when a letter is forwarded under cover to any
postmaster with a request that he will repost it in his office, the letter on
being reposted must be endorsed showing whore the letter originally came from.
Persons sending letters are urged to make the address as legible and complete as
possible, as much difficulty is experienced in delivering letters improperly
addressed. In regard to telegrams, letters, packets, newspapers, and parcels
addressed to a person at a boarding-house or hotel, if they are not delivered
within two months after receipt they must be returned to the nearest post
office under a penalty of £10.
Regulations in regard to the inland parcel
post are given. The limit of weight is to be 11 lb., and the limit of size 3 feet
0 inches in length, or 6 feet in girth and length combined. Postage, which is
to be prepaid in stamps, will be 1 lb. or under 6d., and each additional 1 lb.
3d. Parcels at present will be received only at and forwarded to post offices
to which mails are conveyed by rail or steamer or both. Parcels may be
re-directed on payment of an additional fee of 6d. Although every care will be
taken, the Postmaster-General will not accept any responsibility for damage,
delay, or loss of any parcel under any circumstances.
Regulations
regarding foreign parcels post have also been made, but the rates have not yet
been fixed, as the other countries within the postal union have to be
consulted. Special care has been taken in regard to sweeps and such like
things. It is provided that where the Postmaster-General has reasonable ground
to suppose a person to be engaged cither in Queensland or elsewhere in
receiving money or any valuable thing (a) as a consideration for an assurance or
agreement expressed or implied, to pay or give, as a consideration for securing
the paying or giving by some other person, of any money or valuable thing on an
event or contingency on or relating to any horse race, or other race, or any fight,
game, sport, or exercise; or (b) for promoting or carrying out a scheme
connected with any such assurance agreement, or security or lottery, a scheme or
chance not sanctioned by law; or an unlawful game, or (c) under pretence of
foretelling future events ; or (d) in connection with a fraudulent business or
undertaking the letter shall not be delivered, but shall be returned to the
sender. Gratuities for conveying mails by ship have been raised, and there are
also a number of clauses dealing with unclaimed letters.
