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Report of an Ordinance intituled
An Ordinance to amend the Post Office Ordinance, 1900.
The main object of this Ordinance is to enable evasions
the postal censorship to be punished, though the matter is
approached from the standpoint of the Postmaster General's excl
sive privilege.
Section 6 of the Post Office Ordinance, 1900, is not in a
very satisfactory form, and owing to the fact that "corresponde
is defined in section 2 of that Ordinance as meaning any articl
"transmitted" by post, instead of "transmissible", it would see
that the Postmaster General's privilege under the section in
question, as regards letters which are being transmitted by pos
is confined to "letters from out of the Colony".
This Ordinance accordingly provides that no letter may be
sent out of the Colony except through the post. The case of
letters originating in the Colony and not intended for transmis
sion out of the Colony has not been dealt with in this Ordinance
partly because the matter seems of little importance and partly
because the question of allowing certain exceptions would have
to be considered and it was thought desirable not to introduce a
matter which might have delayed the passing of the Ordinance. will be seen that a "letter "in this Ordinance means every articl
which is capable of being transmitted by post other than a new
paper or parcel.
The power of search and seizure given by section 4 of this,
Ordinance has also been introduced mainly with a view to stres then the postal censorship.
Section 5 was inserted for the same reason, but as the effect of section 7(1) of the Principal Ordinance is to except
newspapers from the Postmaster General's exclusive privilege,
section was drawn in such a form as to give the Governor in Co
power to decide to what cases the provision is to apply.
It is
intended in the first instance to make the section apply only
In
case of China, where it is understood that the exclusive
privilege of the Post office does extend to newspapers.
case however of a serious influx of seditious newspapers from
some other country, there will be power to make the section
apply if the circumstances are sufficiently serious to justify
that action.
Section 6, besides providing a penalty for contravention
of this Ordinance, increases the penalties for contraventions
of section 6 of the Principal Ordinance to imprisonment for any
term not exceeding twelve months and a fine not exceeding $500.
In my opinion this is an Ordinance to which His Excellency
the Governor may properly assent and in the name of His Majesty
and on His behalf.
Attorney General.
4. 7. 15.