arose from a specific case which had been submitted for his opinion, wherein the Master of the British steamer Cheviot received a mail from this Office directed to H.M. Consul Bangkok (Siam) and, as it is alleged, did not deliver this mail on his first visit to that Port, but two months afterwards, did deliver it. Considerable inconvenience had resulted in the meantime from the miscarriage of Documents relating to Marine Insurance which were contained in the letters.
3. The case was submitted to this Department more with a view to ascertain the state of the law than to take vindictive measures against the Master of the Cheviot, who, up to this time, has had no opportunity of exculpating himself. It is very important that the law with regard to the reception, carriage, and delivery of mails should be clearly defined, as it is impossible to say what inconveniences, perhaps of a public nature, might arise from the careless, or wilful, malicious detention of a Mail.
5. It must be borne in mind that since most of the Post Office Acts were passed (at any rate such as are accessible to this Department) a great change has come over Private Ships.