933
THE FRIEND OF CHINA,
AND
ZECCE.
337
16
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
EXTRA
HONGKONG, SATURDAY, APRIL 8TH 1843.
at Hongkong and Macao, on the subject of postage chargeable on letters arriving in Bombay from China.
2. I had before endeavoured to explain these rules to the Post-Master at Macao, but as I have been informed by Captain Richards of H.M. Ship Cornwallis, that the greatest uncertainty prevails in China, in regard to the regulations under which letters, and particularly letters for Europe, are received at this office, I have been induced to trouble you, in the hope that all the necessary information on the subject may, through your means, be communicated to the public, and that the Post Office authorities in China may be directed to facilitate the dispatch of letters, by adopting the course which I have pointed out, in regard to the pre-payment of the whole of the Ship postage at the Office of despatch.
I have the honor to be, &c.
W. ESCOMBE, Actg. Post-Master General.
1st. Boxes will always be kept open at the Post Offices for the receipt of letters to be transmitted, and a SEPARATE account of the foreign postage must be rendered every quarter.
2nd. On those letters that may be put into the Bombay Box, outward Ship Postage will invariably be charged at the rate of 2 Annas on a letter of three Tolas weight, and an Anna on every additional Tola.
3rd. The same rule will be applied to all letters that may be put in the Boxes for Madras and Calcutta.
4th. When the letters are addressed to Persons in India, it will be optional with the Posters of them to pay or not, the inward Ship Postage, which is the same as the outward—and in case they do not pay it, it will be recovered from the Receivers.
5th. When letters are intended to go beyond India, the inward and outward Ship Postage must be invariably paid.
No. 1721 of 1842.
To
The Post Masters at
Hong-Kong, and Macao.
Your most obdt. Servant,
W. ESCOMBE, Acting Post-Master General.
[Signed]
Bombay Genl. Post Office,
14th October 1842.
[True Copy]
W. ESCOMBE, Acting Post-Master General.
NOTIFICATION.
COMMANDERS OF Ships, trading with the Port of Bombay, are hereby informed, that all Letters for England, arriving from Sea-ward, are subject in Bombay to Ship Postage, and all Letters for Foreign Europe, to Steamer Postage, in addition.
8th. On letters intended for the United Kingdom, no Postage except the outward and inward Ship Postage can be received under any circumstances.
Sir,
As great misunderstanding appears still to prevail in regard to the postage leviable in Bombay on letters received from China, I have the honor to forward a Notification issued under date the 14th March 1842, which contains all the rules necessary for your guidance.
2. It may be attended with much inconvenience to oblige parties in China to have recourse to an Agent in Bombay to pay the postage due here, and I therefore beg that you will cause it to be understood that the entire postage, both the outward and inward, may be paid in your office, by which all further charge will be done away with.
7th. When letters are intended for Foreign Europe or any intermediate Place, additional Postage will be levied on them agreeable to the Table laid down in the Bombay Government Notification of the 14th March 1842, and such letters will accordingly bear four Items of charge, namely:
Outward Ship Postage
Inward Ship Postage
Indian Inland Postage
if put in the Madras or Calcutta Boxes
"Foreign Postage
6th. Letters from members of the China Expedition are received free of Ship postage.
7th. No postage is leviable in India on letters for the United Kingdom. It is collected solely in England, and no pre-payment can, under any circumstances whatever, be made in India on such letters.
8th. Letters for other places than the United Kingdom are chargeable with a postage according to the rates laid down in the accompanying table, and this postage must be prepaid.
To prevent disappointment, therefore, to parties not acquainted with these rules, Commanders of Ships are recommended only to receive Post Office Packets or Letters for places not in India,—on which they are themselves prepared to pay the postage, according to the rates laid down in the accompanying Table.
Bombay, Genl. Post Office,
6th September 1842.
W. ESCOMBE,
Actg. Post Master General.
NOTICE is hereby given, that Letters arriving from Sea-ward for transmission to any place beyond the Territories of the East India Company, whether by Ship, or by the Government-Steamers, will be detained in Bombay until the Ship or Steamer Postage, or both, to which such Letters may be liable, shall be paid according to the rates laid down in the subjoined Table.
3. It has lately been the practice to send money to pay the postage as well here as in England. This is a very inconvenient proceeding, and I have to request that it may be discontinued. In place of it, you will be so good as to forward with each Mail a Bill showing the number of letters and the amount of inward postage due thereon to the Bombay Office. A quarterly return of the entire amount collected should be made up to the end of April, July, October, and January, and the money should then be remitted by an order on the Treasury in Bombay, or in any other mode which may be more convenient.
4. I have to request that when the entire postage is prepaid, the letters may be marked thus:
"Outward Ship-postage paid As.
Inward Do. As.
When only the outward postage is paid, that they may be marked "Outward Ship-postage only." In this last case, provision must be made for the payment in Bombay of the inward postage, or the letters will be detained.
5. These remarks are intended to apply to letters not for delivery in India; when letters are for India, the Inward Ship postage can of course be recovered from the addressees.
9th. Although it is stated in the 6th Paragraph of the Bombay Post-Master General's letter to the Post Master at Hongkong &c., that letters from Members of the China Expedition are to be excused Ship Postage, yet looking to the changes that have taken place since that letter was written, and to the return of a large part of the Expedition to England and India, it is considered more than probable that the privilege therein referred to has been declared to be, or is, considered null and void, and therefore persons forwarding letters are recommended not to rely on that rule being still in force.
10th. The Regulations herein promulgated will be communicated to the different Governments of India by the first departure, and as they provide for the transmission of letters &c. under every possible circumstance, they will no doubt be rigidly enforced, so that Individuals neglecting to conform to them will have only themselves to blame, should their letters be either detained in India or returned.
11th. The only exceptions to Postage being levied will be in favor of Official despatches, under the signatures of Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, the Naval Commander in Chief, and the General Officer Commanding Her Majesty's Land Forces, or the Senior Officers of the Civil, Naval, and Military Services in China.
By Order,
Hongkong, Govt. House,
6th April, 1843.
No. 1722 of 1842.
To
RICHARD WOOSNAM,
General Department,
The Secretary of Legation, Hong-Kong.
Sir—I have the honor to forward Copy of a letter I have to-day addressed to the Post-Masters.
and this postage must be prepaid. When it may be inconvenient to parties to employ Agents in Bombay, the foreign postage can be levied in your Office in the same manner as Ship postage; such foreign letters should then be marked:
"Outward Ship postage paid As.
Inward Do. As.
Foreign postage As.
Total Rs.
Table of Ship Postage to be levied on Letters received or sent by sea.
Weight Outward Inward Not exceeding 6 Tolas weight 2 Annas 2 Annas Not exceeding 3 Tolas weight 2 Annas 2 Annas Additional Tola 1 Anna 1 AnnaNewspapers, Pamphlets, and other printed papers packed in short covers, open at each end.
Parcels not exceeding 300 Tolas weight.
Not exceeding 100 Tolas weight
2 Annas
Not exceeding 300 Tolas
3 Annas
An anna being added for every additional 100 Tolas up to 300 Tolas, beyond which no Parcel will be received.
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