Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery Part 23

Insufficiently paid letters mailed in the United States and addressed to Canada, or _vice versa_, mailed in Canada and addressed to the United States, on which a single rate of postage or more has been prepaid, shall be forwarded charged with the amount of the deficient postage, to be collected on delivery and retained by the Post Department of the country of destination. The amount of such deficient postage shall be indicated in figures, by the despatching exchange office, on the upper left-hand corner of the address.

Article II.

When newspapers, periodicals and other printed matter, published or originating in the United States, are brought into Canada and posted there for destinations in the United States, apparently to evade the postage rates or regulations applicable to such matter in the United States, the Canada Post Office may require prepayment of the same to be made at a rate equivalent to double the Canada domestic rates.

Article IV.

The present articles shall be considered additional to those agreed upon between the two offices on the 27th January and 1st February, 1875, and shall come into operation on the 1st of May, 1881.

The Report of June 30, 1882 states that newspapers and periodicals published in Canada (under certain conditions as to form and manner of posting) are transmitted free by Post within the Dominion when posted from the office of publication to regular subscribers, from 1st June, 1882. This must have been due to a Department Order, as the Statutes of Canada reveal no such enactment at this time. The same Report announces the issue of reply post cards, but those will be dealt with later.

Statistics make up most of the Reports until that of 1886, when an item of interest in connection with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway is found: "The first through train left Montreal on Monday the 28th June, 1885, and arrived at Port Moody, the Pacific terminus of the road on the 4th July. Mails for British Columbia commenced to pa.s.s over the Canadian Pacific Railway by this first train." This marked the independence of Canada from the United States in the matter of transcontinental transportation of mails. The distance from Montreal to Port Moody is given as 2892 miles.

In connection with this event the following note may be of interest:[114]--

Up to the time the Canadian Pacific Railway was built, nearly all letters from the Northwest bore United States stamps. The Northwest mounted police took their mail to Bismarck, Dak., and others were sent to Fargo, from whence they were sent around to Detroit and thence into Canada. The pony express was used in the Canadian Northwest, but no system, no stamps and probably no stipulated charges were made to get a letter to the frontier of the United States.

[114] =Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News=, II: 32: 2.

The Report of 1887 says that:--

Provision has been made for the transmission by mail between all places in Canada, from 1st February, 1888, of small articles of ordinary goods and manufactures in packages, open to inspection, on payment of a postage charge of 1 cent per oz. Also a new convention with the United States Post Office providing that from the 1st March, 1888, the same cla.s.s of matter will be admitted to pa.s.s between Canada and the United States, subject to Customs inspection.

The Report of 1888 announces the extension of free delivery by letter carriers to Victoria, B. C. Since the list of free delivery offices given on page 133, there are to be added as well:--

London, Ontario 24th April, 1876.

Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1st April, 1882.

Kingston, Ontario, 1st July, 1882.

The Report of 1889 states that "the Post Office Act of 1889 increased the limit of weight of a single rate letter from 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce.

The rate on drop letters at the same time was fixed at 2 cents per ounce." The Act[115] referred to was an amendment to the Post Office Act, (a.s.sented to on the 2nd May, 1889), and the notice of the changes issued to the public was as follows:--

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.

CHANGES IN POSTAGE RATES UNDER AUTHORITY OF POST OFFICE ACT 1889.

The rate of postage upon Letters posted in Canada, addressed to places within the Dominion or in the United States, will be 3 cents per ounce instead of 3 cents per half ounce as heretofore.

Upon Drop Letters posted at an Office from which letters are delivered by Letter Carrier, the postage rate will be 2 cents per ounce, instead of 1 cent per half ounce. The rate of postage upon Drop Letters, except in the Cities where free delivery by Letter Carrier has been established, will be 1 cent per ounce.

The fee for the Registration of a letter or other article of mail matter, will be five cents upon all cla.s.ses of correspondence pa.s.sing within the Dominion. For the present and until further instructed, the registration fee may be prepaid by using the 2 cent Registration Stamps and Postage Stamps to make up the amount.

Letters insufficiently prepaid will be charged double the deficiency as heretofore, provided at least a partial prepayment has been made.

Letters posted wholly unpaid will be sent to the Dead Letter Office for return to the writer.

POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, JOHN G. HAGGART.

OTTAWA, 8th MAY, 1889 _Postmaster General_

[115] 52^o Vict. Chap. 20.

The Act also made another change, not noted in the circular, by which section 24 of _The Post Office Act_, 1875, which provided a rate of 1 cent per 4 ounces on printed matter, seeds, etc., and samples of merchandise, was amended so as to limit the weight of printed matter to 2 ounces for the 1 cent rate.

The 1889 Report also chronicles the "removal of the British American Bank Note Co. from Montreal to Ottawa," a fact which we have already commented upon at length in its results upon the stamps issued after the transfer.[116]

[116] See page 128.

In 1890 we find that "the complaints which were so prevalent some time since, of the want of adhesiveness in the postage stamps have almost entirely ceased. It is hoped, therefore, that the efforts of the manufacturer to remove the cause of complaint have been successful." And again in 1891: "Complaints of defective mucilage would be far less frequent if the public would kindly bear in mind that it is the _envelope_ of a letter, or the _cover_ of a packet, and _not the postage stamp_, which should be moistened when stamps are affixed in prepayment of postage. When a stamp is pa.s.sed over the tongue the mucilage is frequently almost wholly removed." They should have had these instructions engraved on the margins of the plates, as did the British authorities with the old one penny black!

The Report for 1892 announces the preparation of letter cards, which will be treated of later, and also says: "Postage stamps of the value of 20 cents and 50 cents are about to be issued. These will be useful in prepayment of parcel post." And this brings us to our next chapter.

CHAPTER X

THE SUPPLEMENTARY VALUES OF 1893

Before proceeding with the subject matter of this chapter in detail, it may be well to reproduce here a synopsis of the Canadian Postal Rates and Regulations as set forth in the _Dominion Philatelist_ in December, 1893, and taken from the then current _Canada Postal Guide_. This will give a comprehensive review of the results of the various Acts and Amendments and Department Orders that we have quoted--and of some of the last that we have been unable to obtain.

_1st. Cla.s.s Matter._--Includes Letters, Post Cards, Legal and Commercial Papers wholly or partially written, with the exception of those specially exempted, and all matter of the nature of a letter or written correspondence.

The letter rate for Canada, Newfoundland and the United States is 3 cents per oz., and for all other destinations 5 cents per 1/2 oz.

Insufficiently paid letters posted in and addressed to Canada are charged with double the amount of the postage due thereon.

When posted wholly unpaid they will be sent to the Dead Letter Office.

Insufficiently paid letters for or from the United States, are charged with the deficient postage on delivery. Letters for the United States must be prepaid at least one full rate, 3 cents.

Wholly unpaid letters for and from the United Kingdom and other countries, are charged double postage on delivery, and insufficiently prepaid letters double the deficiency.

Letters addressed to mere initials, or to fict.i.tious names, will not be delivered, unless a street address, the number of a box, or some other definite direction is added.

Letters bearing mutilated stamps, or stamps so soiled and defaced as to make it impossible for the sorting clerks to decide whether they have been used before or not, will be sent to the Dead Letter Office.

_Post Cards._ Nothing whatever may be attached to a post card, nor may it be cut or altered in any way. A previously used post card, bearing a 1 cent stamp, will not be accepted as a post card.

_2nd Cla.s.s Matter.--For Canada, Newfoundland and the United States._--Newspapers and Periodicals posted from the office of publication, for regular subscribers in other places in Canada, Newfoundland and the United States, pa.s.s free of postage.