Foreign
Offer
No large.
A are 0.0 a collections of letters. With respect to Packets containing Parcels, if such Packet's are brought to the Post Office in the Ship's Bag - they are liable to postage as letters; when sent as freight they ought, I presume, to be entered on the ship's Manifest : In this Country, the Custom House Officers seize Packets which, on enquiry, they consider ought to have passed through the Post Office and which are not entered in the Ship's Manifests, to be dealt with by this Department as ordinary letters.
264 As, I deemed it expedient to extend to Hong Kong the discretionary power given under my authority, to the Offices of this Department in British North America and the East Indies, by which they are allowed to retain the postage of our letters, Rebates (not containing letters or enclosures) forwarded through the Post by mistake, charge equivalent to the cost of freight added to ...
B
A
L
M
A
Page 270
Page 271