THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA
[Illustration: GROUP OF SENIOR OFFICERS OF THE POST OFFICE IN 1884
P. SHERIDAN E. C. O'BRIEN W. ALPIN W. J. HAM G. J. HYNES
RAI BAHADUR SUNDER LAL
H. M. KISCH E. R. DOUGLAS J. DILLON F. R. HOGG H. E. M. JAMES
E. HUTTON
_Director General_
]
THE POST OFFICE OF
INDIA AND ITS STORY
BY GEOFFREY CLARKE
INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE
WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXXI
_The Mayflower Press, Plymouth, England._ William Brendon & Son, Ltd.
PREFACE
When I first decided to write a short account of the Post Office of
India my intention was to close my story with the amalgamation of the
Post Office and the Telegraph Department, which took place in 1913.
Publication has been delayed for various reasons, chiefly owing to
the outbreak of the war in 1914, and since then many strange things
have happened. Consequently I have had to revise several chapters and
felt compelled to write one upon the wonderful work done by the Indian
Post Office in the Great War. I have also brought the statistical
information up to the year 1918. Much of the matter referring to the
early posts in India has already been given in Mr. Hamilton's book,
_An Outline of Postal History and Practice_. This is only natural, as
we have both drawn from the same sources--namely, the records of the
Postal Directorate in Calcutta. I have tried to tell the story of the
Post Office in such a way as to be interesting to the general reader as
well as useful to the student. The ordinary routine of post office work
is not exciting, but the effect of the work, the benefits it confers,
the dependence of the public upon its proper execution, are themes to
inspire the pen of a romantic writer. "The Romance of the Post Office"
was the title of a delightful article in _Blackwood's Magazine_ by Sir
Arthur Fanshawe, late Director-General of the Department, and to this
article I must acknowledge my obligations for several passages in the
book.
I am much indebted to Mr. R. W. Hanson and Mr. F. F. Shout, Assistant
Directors-General of the Post Office of India, for their assistance in
producing this work. Mr. Hanson is responsible for the chapter on "The
Post Office in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf," and Mr. Shout for the
chapter on "The Sea Post Office" and the paragraphs dealing with the
District Post, as well as for the Index.
The chapter upon Indian stamps is based largely upon _The Postage
and Telegraph Stamps of British India_, by Hausburg, Stewart-Wilson
and Crofton, published by Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, and I am greatly
indebted to Messrs. Stanley Gibbons for the loan of their blocks and
for permission to use them in this book.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA 1
II. THE ORIGIN OF THE POST OFFICE 10
III. EARLY POSTAL REGULATIONS 26
IV. LATER POSTAL REGULATIONS 38
V. PARCEL POST 48
VI. THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE 58
VII. MONEY ORDERS 71
VIII. SAVINGS BANK 81
IX. THE PEOPLE AND THE POST OFFICE 88
X. THE INDIAN POSTMAN 97
XI. POST OFFICE BUILDINGS 106
XII. THE POST OFFICE IN INDIAN STATES 112
XIII. THE OVERLAND ROUTE 119
XIV. THE SEA POST OFFICE 127
XV. THE POST OFFICE IN MESOPOTAMIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF 137
XVI. THE POST OFFICE DURING THE INDIAN MUTINY 151
XVII. THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE 165
XVIII. THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE DURING THE GREAT WAR 171
XIX. INDIAN POSTAGE STAMPS 178
APPENDICES
PAGE
A. PERSONNEL OF THE POST OFFICE 189
B. EXTRACTS FROM THE EARLY REGULATIONS REGARDING
THE MAIL SERVICE 191
C. METHODS OF TRAVEL IN EARLY DAYS 195
D. STATEMENT SHOWING THE WORK OF THE POST
OFFICE SAVINGS BANK FROM 1882 TO 1918 197
E. STATEMENT OF INLAND MONEY ORDERS ISSUED
IN INDIA SINCE 1880 198
F. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE CALCUTTA
GENERAL POST OFFICE 200
G. EXTRACT FROM THE NARRATIVE OF THE INTERRUPTION
IN THE MAIL ARRANGEMENTS IN THE
N.-W.P. AND PUNJAB SUBSEQUENT TO THE
MUTINY AT MEERUT AND DELHI ON THE 10TH
AND 11TH MAY, 1857, BY MR. G. PATON,
POSTMASTER-GENERAL, NORTH-WEST PROVINCES 204
H. THE WORK OF THE FIELD POST OFFICE BETWEEN
1867 AND 1912 210
J. THE POST OFFICE INSURANCE FUND 232
INDEX 241
ILLUSTRATIONS
Group of Senior Officers of the Post Office in 1884 _Frontispiece_
Sir Charles Stewart Wilson, K.C.I.E. _Facing page_ 24
Group of Senior Officers in 1898 " 46
Sir William Maxwell, K.C.I.E. " 56
Combined Passenger and Mail Motor Van " 98
General Post Office, Bombay " 110
General Post Office, Madras " 116
Post Office, Agra " 124
Group of Senior Officers in 1907 " 152
Early Stamps " 178
Sheet of Four-Anna Stamps, 1854 " 178
Block of Half-Anna (Blue) Stamps of 1854 " 180
Victorian Issues of Postage Stamps " 182
Edwardian and Georgian Issues of Postage Stamps " 184
General Post Office, Calcutta " 200
Site of Black Hole, Calcutta " 200
THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA
THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA AND ITS STORY
CHAPTER I
THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA
To anyone connected with the work of the Post Office of India it is
almost inconceivable that the present institution, with its vast
organization and its elaborate system, has grown up in the course of
little more than half a century. Previous to 1854 the Post Office was a
medley of services in different provinces, each having separate rules
and different rates of postage. Regular mails were conveyed over a very
few main lines between important towns, and Collectors of districts
were responsible for the management of their own local post offices.
There were no postage stamps, and since rates were levied according to
distance, and distances were often unknown, the position of a postal
clerk in a large office was a distinctly lucrative one. In large
cantonments a military officer with plenty of other duties was usually
postmaster, and his supervision was at best sketchy, especially during
the snipe shooting season.
In 1850 a Commission of the kind with which we are now so familiar
both in India and England was appointed to consider the state of the
postal services, and the result of its deliberations was the Post
Office Act of 1854 and the conversion of the Post Office into an
Imperial Department under a single head called the Director-General.
Uniform rates of postage were introduced and postage stamps instead
of cash payments were brought into use. That marvellous set of rules
known as the Post Office Manual was prepared, which has since grown
into four healthy volumes. Every Official in the Department is supposed
to have the contents of these at his fingers' ends, but in reality
few have ever read them through, and anyone who attempted to obey all
their instructions would find himself sadly hampered in the exercise
of his duties. The appointment of a Director-General, by bringing the
separate services under a single administration, laid the foundation
for future progress. Suitable officers were recruited and were taught
their duties, better pay and improved prospects of promotion were a
great inducement to the staff to take an interest in the work, and
through communications which took no account of district or provincial
boundaries were established.
The gradual growth of the powers of the Director-General has largely
depended on the needs of the Department, and also, to an appreciable
extent, upon his own strength of will and his personal relations with
the Member of Council, who controls the Department of Government to
which the Post Office is subordinate.[1] The Director-General is
assisted by two Deputy Directors, who are, in fact, the Secretaries of
the Post Office, and under these again are four Assistant Directors
in charge of four main branches of Post Office work. All the above
officers have the title "General" attached to their designations in
order to increase their self-respect, but I have omitted it to avoid
an annoying reiteration. Of the three personal assistants, one has to
be a walking encyclopædia since he is in personal attendance on the
Director-General; the others are financial and technical experts. The
office itself is under the immediate supervision of a titled Bengalee
gentleman of considerable attainments, and his clerks are mostly
Bengalee graduates whose abilities are supposed to vary with their
salaries.
For the purposes of administration, the whole of India and Burma
is divided into eight circles, corresponding with Presidencies and
Provinces as far as possible. Each of these is under the control of
a Postmaster-General, who is sometimes a member of the Indian Civil
Service and sometimes an official of the Department. The powers of a
Postmaster-General are great, his patronage is large and the working of
the Post Office is dependent on his capacity for railway travelling at
all seasons of the year. His circle is divided into divisions in charge
of Superintendents, who should be little understudies of himself.
The real business of the Department, however, is performed by post
offices, and these are divided into head, sub and branch offices.
The head office is the account and controlling office of one or more
districts and is in charge of a postmaster, who in large towns ranks
as a divisional officer. The sub-office is under the control of a head
office for account purposes. It does all kinds of postal work and
is always opened where there is a sufficiency of correspondence to
justify its existence. The branch office is only intended for villages
and places where there is no need of a sub-office. It is really the
pioneer of the Department for the purpose of opening up new areas
to postal communications. In small places a branch office is put in
charge of a schoolmaster, a shopkeeper or any other local resident who
has sufficient education to keep the very simple accounts required,
and by this means the Post Office is able to give the advantages
of its great organization to villages which could never support a
departmental office. A still cheaper agency is used for the outlying
hamlets, which only receive and send a few letters a week. These are
visited periodically by the village or rural postman, who is a kind of
perambulating branch office. He delivers letters and money orders, and
also receives articles for despatch. He sells stamps and quinine, and
being a local man he has to face a certain amount of public opinion if
he doesn't act fair and square towards the villagers in his beat. In
some hill tracts he is provided with a bugle to announce his arrival,
and to the inhabitants of these he brings news of the outside world;
he writes their letters and explains to them his own conception of the
mysteries of the money order system.
But what would be the use of all these offices and all this
organization without lines of communication? The chief lines are, of
course, the railways, but they form a separate organization and will
be discussed in another chapter. For places off the railway there are
motor lines and tonga services, such as that sung by Kipling between
Kalka and Simla but now a thing of the past owing to the completion
of the hill railway. The romance of the Post Office, however, must
always lie in the mail runner, or hirkara as he is called in old books
on India. The number of tigers sated with his flesh is past count,
the Himalayan snows have overwhelmed him, flooded rivers have carried
him off and oozy swamps sucked him down. But in the face of all these
dangers, has the runner ever failed to do his duty? According to the
stories, never, and in real life perhaps not more than once or twice.
Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim.
Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff.
The service admits not a but, nor an if,
While the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail
In the name of the Emperor--the "Overland Mail."--KIPLING.
Postal runners are largely drawn from the less civilized races of
India, many of whom are animists by religion. They will face wild
beasts and wandering criminals, but will go miles to avoid an evil
spirit in a tree. With them the mail bag is a kind of fetish which must
be protected and got to its destination at all costs. Dishonesty among
them is almost unknown and they are wonderfully true to their salt,
which with them seldom exceeds twelve rupees a month. To prove that the
old stories are not all myths, a case came before the Director-General
recently in a rather peculiar manner. The Audit Office, that soulless
machine which drives executive officers out of their minds, sent in
an objection to a gratuity being given to the family of a runner who,
when carrying the mails, had been eaten by a tiger. The objection was
that gratuities were only given for death in special circumstances,
for instance, when death occurred in the performance of some specially
courageous action, and that, since carrying the mails was part of the
man's ordinary duty, his family was not entitled to any consideration.
The actual story of the runner's death, as told by the villagers and
the village watchman, is this: The runner's beat had been recently
frequented by a man-eating tiger, and several of the country people
had been carried off by him during the previous few days. On the
afternoon in question the tiger was known to be in the neighbourhood,
and when the mails arrived the villagers warned the runner not to go
then, but to wait until next morning. Since the man-eater was an early
feeder--that is to say, he killed his prey early in the afternoon,
the runner waited until five o'clock and then persuaded the village
watchman to accompany him. He hadn't gone more than two miles when out
came the tiger and seized him. The watchman escaped and took the mails
to the next stage, and the family of the man who nobly faced death in
the execution of his duty was deprived of its wage-earner. This is a
very bald account of a really heroic deed, and it is pleasing to learn
that Mr. Levett Yeats, the Accountant-General of the Post Office at the
time, who was the very soul of romance and chivalry, dealt with his
objecting subordinate in a manner worthy of the heinous nature of his
offence.
The road establishment of the Indian Post Office amounted to 18,160
persons out of a total staff of 108,324 on the 31st March, 1918, so
there is some excuse for having devoted so much space to it. The postal
staff had to deal with over 1200 millions of articles during the year,
of which, according to the Annual Report of 1917-18, only .22 per cent
failed to reach their proper destination. When one considers that there
are more than twenty written languages in India in common use, and that
a large number of addresses are almost illegible and are mixed up with
invocations to the Deity and many other high-sounding phrases, one can
only say, "Bravo, the Post Office! How do you do it?" With such a
large correspondence a handsome revenue might be expected, even when
the minimum rate for letters is a halfpenny; but the Indian is a frugal
person and he does most of his correspondence on farthing postcards, on
which he can cram a great deal of information by carefully using every
available portion. Postcards were introduced in 1879 and now account
for nearly half of the articles handled. The private card, with a
figure of some favourite god or goddess, is competing strongly with the
ordinary Government postcard, and wonderful ingenuity is employed to
enable the writer to avail himself of more space than the regulations
permit. The unpaid letter is also much in evidence in India. There is
an idea that a letter on which postage has to be collected is much more
certain to reach its destination than a prepaid one. This heretical
doctrine has been strongly condemned in several pamphlets issued by
the Director-General, but with little effect. And who knows? Perhaps
there is a certain amount of truth in it, founded on bitter experience.
Unpaid postcards had to be abolished recently, when it was discovered
that they were universally read and then returned to the postmen
as refused. The writer generally concealed his identity from the
officials, with the result that it was useless to try and recover the
postage due.
Among a suspicious and ignorant people any innovation is likely to be
looked at askance, and this is especially the case in India, where the
introduction of postcards was received with suspicion, although their
low price ensured a ready sale. An extract from the _Amrita Bazar
Patrika_, one of the foremost Indian papers, shows that they were not
at first regarded as an unmixed blessing. The extract is taken from
the issue of the 18th July, 1879, and is as follows:--
"Postal cards are now a rage all over India. There are men who, to
make the contents of the cards unintelligible, make them altogether
illegible. Some express themselves in hints which are not only
unintelligible to the postal clerk and peon, but to the person
addressed also. Others have got a notion that all letters, to be
sent either through the Post or through private harkaras, must be
written on postcards, that being the hookum[2] of the Sirkar; and it
is not unusual to see a fat and ignorant, though extremely loyal and
law-abiding, zemindar[3] sending his letters to his steward written
on half a score of postcards, one or two not sufficing to contain his
great thoughts. There are others who write their thoughts on postcards
and enclose them in an envelope, and attach a half-anna stamp before
posting. These men have naturally raised a loud complaint against the
unconscionable exactions of Government, and native papers given to
writing sedition should not let slip this opportunity of indulging
their profitable pastime. But the great difficulty is to teach the
people on which side of the card the address is to be written, and
we think it will be some years before they are enlightened in this
respect. But really does it matter much if the address is written on
the wrong side? We think that the people of India living under the
enlightened rule of the British should have the privilege of writing
the address on whichever side they like."
What a merry time the poor sorters would have if the sentiments
expressed in the last sentence were given effect to! But doubtless
the _Amrita Bazar Patrika_, with its enlightened staff, its splendid
circulation and carefully printed addresses would scarcely maintain the
same opinions now.
The Post Office of India must be congratulated upon its good fortune
in never having been regarded by Government as a revenue-producing
Department, and as long as it paid its way with a small surplus the
Powers were satisfied. Any excess was devoted to improvements in the
service, and full advantage has been given to this concession in past
years by the introduction of many reforms destined to meet the growing
needs of the country. Recently, postage rates were reduced to such
an extent that for a few years the Post Office worked at a loss, a
most unsatisfactory state of affairs; however, a marked recovery is
noticeable already and it is again a self-supporting institution, the
gross revenue for the year ending the 31st March, 1918, being more than
416 lakhs[4] of rupees, which gave a net surplus of nearly 50 lakhs on
the year's working.
From being merely an agency for the conveyance and distribution of
letters and light articles, the Post Office has gradually undertaken
an enormous amount of what may be called non-postal work. It deals
with vast numbers of money orders, collects the price of goods for
tradesmen, pays pensioners, sells quinine, deals in Government loans,
and is the poor man's bank, all of which matters will be dealt with
separately. It is to be hoped that no new line of business is going to
be taken up in the near future, such as the sale of railway tickets,
which was once seriously proposed, or else the principal duty of the
Department may be forgotten in the turmoil of the side shows.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This is at present the Department of Commerce.
[2] Order.
[3] Landholder.
[4] One lakh = Rs.100,000.
CHAPTER II
THE ORIGIN OF THE POST OFFICE
The Postal System of India, like that of other countries, had its
origin in the necessity of maintaining communication throughout the
various parts of a great Empire in order that the Emperor might be
kept continuously informed of what was taking place and might be able
to keep in constant touch with the officers in charge of Provinces
at a distance from the Capital. When Ibn Batuta was travelling in
India in the middle of the fourteenth century he found an organized
system of couriers established throughout the country governed at that
time by the great Mahomed Din Tughlak. The system seems to have been
very similar to that which existed in the Roman Empire, and is thus
described:
"There are in Hindustan two kinds of couriers, horse and foot; these
they generally term 'El Wolak.' The horse-courier, which is generally
part of the Sultan's cavalry, is stationed at a distance of every four
miles. As to the foot-couriers there will be one at the distance of
every mile occupying stations which they call 'El Davah' and making on
the whole three miles; so that there is, at the distance of every three
miles, an inhabited village, and without this, three sentry boxes where
the couriers sit prepared for motion with their loins girded. In the
hands of each is a whip about two cubits long, and upon the head of
this are small bells. Whenever, therefore, one of the couriers leaves
any city he takes his despatches in one hand and the whip, which he
keeps constantly shaking, in the other. In this manner he proceeds to
the nearest foot-courier and, as he approaches, shakes his whip. Upon
this out comes another who takes the despatches and so proceeds to the
next. For this reason it is that the Sultan receives his despatches in
so short a time."
Some of the oldest runners' lines in India were established for the
purpose of conveying fruit and flowers to famous temples, and Colonel
Broughton in his most interesting book, _Letters from a Mahratta Camp_,
describes one such line between Udeypore and Pushkar in Rajputana. In
his _Historical Sketches of the South of India_, Colonel Wilks tells
us that among the earliest measures of Raja Chick Deo Raj of Mysore,
who came to the throne in 1672, was the establishment of a regular post
throughout his dominions. The Post Office in Mysore was not merely an
ordinary instrument for conveying intelligence, but an extraordinary
one for obtaining it. The postmasters were confidential agents of the
Court and the inferior servants were professed spies, who made regular
reports of the secret transactions of the districts in which they were
stationed. This system, which was more fully developed by Hyder Ali,
became a terrible instrument of despotism. The Moghul Emperors kept
up a regular system of daks, and Ferishta tells us that Sher Shah,
during his short reign of five years, 1541-1545, was the first who ever
employed a mounted post in India. He constructed a road from Sonarung
in Bengal to the banks of the Indus in Sind, a distance of two
thousand miles, and placed two horses on the road at every two miles.
The Emperor Akbar had post houses built at stages ten miles apart on
the principal roads and swift Turki horses were placed at each stage.
One of these post houses can still be seen on the road between Agra and
Sikandra.
The British do not appear to have found any established system of
communication when they began to extend their dominion in India, and
in the beginning of the eighteenth century it was a matter of no small
difficulty to send a letter more than a distance of one hundred miles.
A regular postal system was first introduced by Lord Clive in 1766,
and the zemindars or landholders along the various routes were held
responsible for the supply of runners to carry the mails. For this
service a deduction was made in their rents in proportion to the number
of runners supplied. The order recorded in the Minutes of Consultations
of the 24th March is as follows:--
"FOR THE BETTER REGULATION OF DAUKS"
"Ordered that in future all letters be despatched from the Government
House; the postmaster or his assistant attending every night to sort
and see them sent off; that the letters to the different Inland
Settlements be made up in separate bags, sealed with the Company's
seal; that none may open the packets except the Chiefs at the
different places, who are to open only their own respective packets;
and
"Ordered that they be directed to observe the same rule with respect
to the letters sent down to Calcutta."
The following is an extract from the Public Proceedings 7th July,
1766;--
"As there have been of late frequent miscarriages of packets to and
from Madras without possibility of tracing the cause, not knowing
the stages where they do happen, as no advice is ever sent us by
the neighbouring Residencies, and as this on any emergency may be
attended with the worst of consequences, it is agreed to establish
the following Rules and communicate them to the Presidency of
Madras, recommending the same to be circulated to the factories and
Residencies subordinate to them, as we shall do to those dependent on
Bengal:--
"That the packets henceforward be numbered in regular succession for
the present season from this time to the end of the year, and in
future from the 1st January to the last of December.
"That the day and hour of despatch as well as the number be noted on
the tickets affixed to the packets; that on every packet the number
and date of the next preceding despatch be noted.
"That in order to have the earliest information of the loss of a
packet at any time, the Resident or Chief of a factory shall regularly
give advice of the receipt of each packet to the Resident of the stage
from whence it came last.
"That when any packets are found to be missing the Chiefs or Residents
at the two nearest stages shall immediately make it their business
to examine the Dauks or Tappies very particularly, and punish them
severely when they do not give a satisfactory account how the packets
came to be lost, giving advice in the meantime to each Presidency.
"That the Postmaster at Calcutta and Residents at Balasore, Cuttack
and Ganjam do keep separate registers of despatches to and from Madras.
"That all packets be sealed with the Governor's as well as the
Company's seal to prevent their being opened till they arrive at the
destined place.
"And as we have reason to believe that by proper attention to the
Tappies, the communication with Madras may be more expeditious,
particularly between Vizagapatam and Bandermalanka, where making
allowances for passing the Rivers, it is remarked they are very tardy,
it is agreed to write to the gentlemen at Madras to mention this to
their subordinate factories that they may fall upon proper measures to
remedy it, and recommending small boats or saugarees to be stationed
at the different rivers."
Under the administration of Warren Hastings the Post Office in India
was placed on a better footing and steps were taken to make the posts
which were established for official purposes more generally available
for private communications. In January, 1774, the details of a regular
system were laid down, which was brought into force on the 31st March,
1774. A Postmaster-General was appointed and postage was charged for
the first time on private letters. The lowest rate of letter postage
was two annas per hundred miles, and copper tickets of the value of two
annas, to be used solely for postal purposes, were specially struck for
public convenience.
In November, 1784, revised regulations for the Post Office were laid
down which took effect in the province of Bengal from December of that
year. In 1785 Madras followed suit upon proposals made by Mr. J. P.
Burlton, a junior civilian in Government service. He suggested the
adoption of a regular postal system on the lines of Bengal, under which
all letters except those on the public service should pay postage. In
1786 Mr. Archibald Campbell was made Postmaster-General, Madras, and
arrangements were made for fortnightly services to Calcutta and Bombay.
There was some dispute between the Court of Directors and the Madras
Government regarding the appointment of a Postmaster-General. The
former refused to accept Mr. Campbell and nominated Mr. Burlton; the
latter objected to Mr. Burlton and appointed Mr. Legge Wilks, who was
shortly afterwards succeeded by Mr. Oliver Colt.
For the next fifty years the history of the Post Office is obscure. The
territory occupied by the East India Company in 1784 consisted of three
isolated portions adjoining the three presidency towns of Calcutta,
Madras and Bombay. The Company obtained the administrative control of
part of the Carnatic and the provinces known as the Northern Circars
in 1761. The fiscal administration of the provinces of Bengal, Behar
and Orissa was handed over by the Delhi Emperor in 1765, and by the
Treaty of Salbai in 1782 the Bombay Government retained the islands of
Elephanta and Salsette.
In 1798 Lord Wellesley arrived in India inspired by Imperial projects
which were destined to change the map of the country. In 1799 Tippoo,
Sultan of Mysore, was defeated and slain at Seringapatam, and the
Carnatic or south-eastern portion of India ruled by the Nawab of Arcot,
as well as the principality of Tanjore, were placed under British rule.
These territories constitute the greater part of the present Madras
Presidency. In 1801 the whole of the tract between the Ganges and
Jumna, known as the Doab, with Rohilkhand, were obtained by purchase
from the Nawab Vizir of Oudh. In 1803, after the second Mahratta
War, Orissa was forfeited to the British and Berar to the Nizam of
Hyderabad. In 1815 the Himalayan States were taken from the Nepalese,
in 1817 the Pindaris were crushed in Central India and in 1818, after
the third Mahratta War, the Bombay Presidency was formed. Assam was
annexed in 1826, and Bharatpur taken in 1827.
The extension of postal services over this vast increase of territory
can be traced only by scattered references in official documents.
There was no general postal system in the country prior to 1837. A few
main lines of couriers connecting the principal towns in the various
provinces with the seat of Government had been established for the
conveyance of Government letters and parcels, but the use of these
mail services by private persons was conceded only as a privilege. The
local posts in districts between police stations and head-quarters
were maintained by the zemindars or landholders of each district, and
their duties in this respect are laid down in Bengal Regulation XX
of 1817. The postmasters of Presidency towns exercised the functions
of a Postmaster-General in their own provinces up to 1785, and the
Collectors or district officers were responsible for post office and
mail lines within the limits of their own jurisdictions. There was no
central authority to secure the co-operation of postal officials in
different provinces or to maintain uniformity of procedure, and the
charges for the conveyance of letters, which, in the absence of postage
stamps, were levied in cash, varied according to weight and distance.
Thus the cost of conveyance of a letter from Calcutta to Bombay was one
rupee a tola (2/5 oz. approximately), and from Calcutta to Agra twelve
annas a tola. As postal officials were inclined to get as much as
possible out of the public, private posts existed everywhere and were
able to compete successfully with the Government services.
The letters of Victor Jacquemont, who travelled in India in 1830 as
Naturalist to the Royal Museum of Natural History, Paris, throw some
light on the working of the Post Office at the time. The post was
carried altogether by runners, and the travellers' bungalows on the
various routes were under the Post Office. According to Jacquemont,
three servants were attached by the postal administration to each
bungalow, to look after the comforts of travellers and to supply
them with palanquin bearers. Letters seem to have had very uncertain
careers. The usual time from France to Upper India was eight months.
Jacquemont had no great faith in the post. On several occasions he
trusts his letters to the Almighty to watch over during their travels.
Under the provisions of Act XVII of 1837 a public post was established
and Government assumed the exclusive right to convey letters for hire
in the territories of the East India Company. Uniformity was attempted
by the issue to all post offices of elaborate polymetrical tables,
which fixed the charges to be levied on the principal routes. The Act
of 1837 caused a great deal of dissatisfaction owing to the abolition
of many private and well-organized services which were not at once
replaced, or else replaced very inefficiently, by Government services.
The landholders had to pay a local cess to maintain the District Posts,
and they felt it a distinct grievance that they should have to pay
for the upkeep of these, as well as fees for their correspondence,
while all official letters were carried free of charge. An inquiry
made by Captain Taylor of the Bengal Establishment into the working
of the 1837 Act brought many of these grievances to light, and on his
recommendation certain improvements were made in the interests of the
landholders. Thus there grew up in India a dual system of posts--on the
one hand, the Imperial Post, which controlled all main routes and large
offices; on the other, the District Post, which was entirely local and
controlled the rural services in each district. The establishments were
quite separate, and where the two systems came in contact there was
often a great deal of friction.
The principle on which the District Post was based was the liability
of landholders to maintain communications for Government purposes
between the executive head of a district and his subordinates in
outlying places--a responsibility which in many instances they were
glad to discharge by a money payment to the magistrate who undertook
the organization of the requisite agency. The laws under which it was
administered were framed with the object of levying a small cess in
each district. This was used, at the discretion of the magistrate,
for the payment of dak-runners and other persons who conveyed
correspondence between police stations and district officials. This
local post undoubtedly existed from ancient times, and its maintenance
was a liability to which the landholders had been subject from a period
long before the advent of British rule.
The District Post in India, which was an important, though not very
efficient, auxiliary to the Imperial Post, thus owed its origin to the
need for maintaining the means of official communication between the
head-quarters of each district and the revenue and police stations in
the interior, where the general wants of the locality were not such as
to call for the provision of Imperial post offices. It consisted of
lines of communication connecting such stations, and was maintained
primarily for the conveyance of official correspondence in accordance
with the requirements of each district, but subsequently it was also
made available for private correspondence.
In some parts of the country the cost of the District Post lines was
met by local cesses specially levied for the purpose, and in other
places it was met from Imperial or provincial grants as a charge on the
general revenues of the country.
Originally the District Post in India was managed by district officers
or other local officials quite independently of the Imperial Post, but,
in order to increase the efficiency of the service, Local Governments
and Administrations were asked to transfer the management to the
officers of the Imperial Post Office. The North-Western Provinces (now
United Provinces) Government was the first to accept the proposal,
and the management of the District Post there was taken over by the
Postmaster-General of the circle in the year 1864. This arrangement
did not constitute an incorporation of the District Post with the
Imperial Post, but merely a transfer of the management of the former
to the officers of the latter, the financial control of the District
Post remaining as before with the Local Government. As was anticipated,
this measure led to rapid development of private correspondence, an
acceleration of the speed at which the mails were carried and a marked
improvement in the postal arrangements in the interior of districts.
Consequently the objections which were at first raised in many quarters
were silenced, and the other Local Governments and Administrations
soon fell into line, so that in the course of the next fourteen years
the management of the whole of the District Post throughout India was
gradually transferred to the Imperial Post Office.
As the number of Imperial post offices increased the primary object of
the District Post became less important and its funds were devoted more
and more to the extension of rural delivery and postal facilities in
backward rural tracts. As these tracts developed and the postal traffic
produced sufficient revenue to cover the expenditure the Imperial Post
took them over, and the money thus set free was used to start offices,
lines and rural messengers in country not yet opened. In this way
the District Post acted the part of pioneer to the Imperial Post and
greatly assisted its progress.
In 1903, in connection with the revision of the Provincial Settlements,
the Government of India decided to abolish the exceptional arrangement
under which, in some provinces, a portion of the revenue and
expenditure in connection with the District Post was included in the
Provincial accounts. It was ordered that from the commencement of
the new settlements all such receipts and charges which were then
Provincial would be made Imperial. In accordance with this decision
all the District Post establishments in the Presidencies of Bengal
and Madras and the Province of Assam, which were formerly paid from
Provincial funds, were brought directly on the general establishment
of the Imperial Post Office with effect from the 1st April, 1904. Two
years later the Government of India decided to take over the remaining
District Post charges in India, and the District Post was abolished
entirely with effect from the 1st April, 1906. It was at the same time
ordered that from that date every postal charge would be an Imperial
one and that no postal charges of any description whatsoever might be
incurred from Provincial or Local funds.
In 1850 three Commissioners, Messrs. Courtney, Forbes and Beadon,
were appointed by the Government of India to inquire into the methods
for making the Post Office more efficient and more conducive to the
convenience of the public than it had been hitherto.
In 1851 the Commissioners, after making exhaustive inquiries, presented
a report which dealt with every phase of Post Office work, and on this
report has been based the whole fabric of the present administration.
The most important questions discussed were:
(1) The necessity for a uniform rate of postage irrespective of
distance.
(2) The need for prepayment of postage by means of adhesive postage
stamps.
(3) The fixing of a low initial rate of postage.
(4) The abolition of franking.
(5) The formation of the Post Office as an Imperial Department under a
Director-General, with Postmasters-General in each province who would
not be subject to the authority of the Local Government.
(6) The publication of Manual Rules for the use of postal officials.
(7) The establishment of sorting offices at suitable places.
(8) The introduction of money orders.
(9) The regulation of the Bhangy or Parcel Post.
(10) The introduction of cheap and uniform postage for newspapers,
books, pamphlets, etc.
(11) The transfer of District Posts to the Imperial Post Office.
The report of the Commissioners is contained in a bulky volume of some
six hundred pages, of which the preamble is most interesting and throws
a great deal of light on the domestic history of India in the first
half of the nineteenth century. The reforms are based throughout on the
principle that the Post Office is to be maintained for the benefit of
the people of India and not for the purposes of swelling the revenues,
and it is greatly to the credit of the Government of India that in all
times of stress and strain, as well as in times of prosperity, they
have loyally observed this principle, although there have been many
temptations to act contrary to it.
With the advance of postal administration in India in the last sixty
years we can hardly realize the difficulties that had to be faced in
1851. One of the chief ones was the poverty of the great bulk of the
population, many of whom could ill afford to spend even the smallest
Indian coin, namely, one pie, a twelfth part of a penny, on anything
that was not necessary for their own sustenance.
In dealing with this matter the following remarks of the Commissioners
are very interesting:--
"In considering what plan of postage is best suited to the
circumstances of India, and most likely to conduce to the convenience
of the public, the social and commercial advancement of the country,
and the ultimate financial advantage of the department, the difference
between the circumstances of the European and native portion of the
community must be distinctly borne in mind. It must be remembered
that the former are very few in number, but, generally speaking, well
educated and in affluent circumstances; that they are accustomed and
inclined to social correspondence, for which, from being collected
at particular stations throughout the country, they have great
facilities; and are comparatively little hindered from indulging in
it by the expense which it entails on them, being for the most part
regardless of the pecuniary advantage which they might derive from a
more careful attention to the weight of their letters. The natives,
on the other hand, are incalculably more numerous than their European
fellow-subjects. Upon the moderate assumption that there are two
thousand natives for every European, and that not more than 1 per cent
of the former can read and write, still there must be twenty natives
for every European who can correspond by the post without assistance,
provided that the means of paying postage are within their reach,
and that the receipt and delivery of their letters are facilitated.
But they are poor, and, though well inclined to correspond, greatly
prevented from doing so by the present high rates of postage to
distant stations, and still more by the distance which separates the
mass of them from the nearest post office, and by the consequent
trouble, expense, uncertainty and perhaps loss, which the receipt and
despatch of their letters involve. The occupations in which large
numbers of natives are engaged connected with the internal trade of
the country are such as naturally to render their correspondence on
matters of business far more extensive than that of Europeans, the
greater part of the latter being engaged in the service of Government
and not under the necessity of writing letters except on their own
personal concerns or those of their friends. With the improvement
of the means of communication, extension of trade and the gradual
spread of knowledge throughout the country, the instructed and writing
portion of the native community will continue to bear an increasing
ratio both to the rest of their fellow-countrymen men and to the
European residents in India, but to the bulk even of these the amount
they can afford to expend on the postage of their letters must ever
be a matter of strict economical calculation. It may be regarded as
certain that the utmost care will always be observed by the native
community in keeping the weight of their letters within the minimum
chargeable weight; and unless some considerable reduction is made in
the existing rates of postage to distant places they will continue to
resort to ingenious contrivances for the purpose of saving expenditure
under that head, or avoiding it altogether."
The practice of "clubbing" or of enclosing a number of small letters in
one cover addressed to a person who undertook to deliver them by hand
was very common in India before 1850 and is not unknown at the present
time. When the difference in cost between a single and double letter
was considerable, this practice entailed a great loss of revenue to the
Post Office, and in order to stop it the Commissioners proposed to make
the unit of weight a quarter of a tola and to charge extra postage for
each quarter tola of weight. The unit finally adopted was half a tola,
as it was thought that Post Office clerks would have difficulty in
detecting such small divisions of weight as a quarter of a tola. At the
same time heavy penalties were imposed on clubbing, and the practice
has gradually fallen into disuse.
[Illustration: SIR CHARLES STEWART WILSON, K.C.I.E.
DIRECTOR GENERAL 1906-1913]
Uniformity of postage irrespective of distance had many opponents at
the time. It was recommended by the Commissioners on the ground of
fairness, simplicity and the facilities it gave for the introduction
of other improvements into the department. To use their own words:
"Combined with a low rate of charge, it forms the conspicuous and
chief benefit which the monopoly of the carriage of letters enables
Government to confer upon the whole body of its subjects, by almost
annihilating distance and placing it within the power of every
individual to communicate freely with all parts of the Empire. It
makes the Post Office what under any other system it never can be--the
unrestricted means of diffusing knowledge, extending commerce and
promoting in every way the social and intellectual improvement of the
people. It is no longer an experiment, having been introduced with
eminent success into the United Kingdom as well as into the United
States of America, France, Spain and Russia."
There was a strong body of opinion in favour of the compulsory
prepayment of postage in all cases on the ground that in India it was
most difficult to collect the postage due on bearing letters; in fact,
the letters were usually sent open, read by the addressees and then
refused, so that both the sender and recipient got all they wanted out
of the Post Office for nothing. However, wiser counsels prevailed. It
was recognized that compulsory prepayment might mean great hardship in
many cases, and the English system of charging double postage on unpaid
articles was adopted.
These few extracts are sufficient to show the fine spirit that pervaded
the work of the Commissioners. They were true Imperialists and never
took the petty view, but adhered to the maxim of the greatest benefit
to the greatest number. Their names are forgotten, but the result of
their labours has remained in the fine organization now known as the
Post Office of India.
CHAPTER III
EARLY POSTAL REGULATIONS
Act XVII of 1837, the earliest enactment establishing a proper
postal system in India, repealed Bombay Regulation XI of 1830 which
declared all private dawks within the Bombay Presidency to be illegal.
It conferred the exclusive right of carrying post for hire on the
Governor-General in Council and fixed the penalty for evasion of this
order at Rs.50 for each letter. The Bhangy Post was opened to the
public with the condition that letters exceeding 12 tolas must be sent
by bhangy wherever such a line existed. The Governor-General in Council
was authorized to frame a scale of distances, according to which the
rates for inland postage should be calculated and also to fix the
rates for steamer and ship postage. Strict regulations were laid down
compelling commanders of vessels to deliver all letters on board to the
post office at each port of call, also to receive all letters handed
over to them by the post office at any port. The commander of the
vessel received one anna for each letter delivered or received.
We find the origin of the Dead Letter Office in Sections 25 to 27 of
the Act. Unclaimed letters after lying for three months at any post
office were to be sent to the General Post Office of the Presidency,
and at intervals, not exceeding three months, lists of such unclaimed
letters and packets were to be published in the Official Gazette, When
letters and packets lay unclaimed for a period of eighteen months at
the General Post Office, the Postmaster-General was authorized to open
them and pay any valuable property found therein into the Government
Treasury for the benefit of the party having a right to it. After a
further period of twelve months unclaimed letters were to be destroyed.
The Governor-General in Council had the power to grant to any person
the privilege of sending and receiving all letters and packets by
letter post free of postage, and of sending and receiving letters and
packets by bhangy on the public service free of postage. This privilege
was granted to the following persons:--
His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.
The President and Secretaries of the Board of Control.
The Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Directors of the East India Company.
The Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Assistant Secretary at the East
India House.
The Governor-General.
The Governors of Bengal, Madras and Bombay.
The Governor of Ceylon.
The Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Provinces.
The Chief Justices of Bengal, Madras and Bombay.
The Bishops of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
The Members of the Supreme Council.
The Members of Council of Madras and Bombay.
The Puisne Judges of the Supreme Courts of Bengal, Madras and Bombay.
The Recorder of Prince of Wales' Island, Singapore and Malacca.
The Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Naval Forces.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Army at Madras and Bombay.
Postage was charged for letters according to the following schedules:--
_Distance_ _Postage for a letter not_
_in miles._ _exceeding 1 tola._
20 1 anna.
50 2 annas.
100 3 "
150 4 "
200 5 "
250 6 "
300 7 "
400 8 "
500 9 "
600 10 "
700 11 "
800 12 "
900 13 "
1000 14 "
1200 15 "
1400 1 rupee.
Single postage to be added for each additional tola or part thereof.
Special rates for distance were also fixed for:
(1) Law papers, Accounts and Vouchers attested as such, with the full
signature of the sender.
(2) Newspapers, Pamphlets and other printed or engrossed papers,
packed in short covers open at each end, imported matter being charged
at a cheaper rate than matter printed in India.
Parcels were limited to 600 tolas (15 lbs.) in weight, and the rate
was 6 annas for 50 tolas (20 oz.) for 50 miles, then 3 annas for every
additional 50 tolas or part thereof for every 50 miles up to 300 miles,
after which 3 annas was charged for each 50 tolas for every additional
100 miles up to 1000 miles. For 1200 miles the rate was Rs.2 as.13 for
every 50 tolas, and for 1400 miles and upwards Rs.3.
By Act XX of 1838 the weight of letters and packets which could be
carried by a road on which there was no bhangy post was raised from
12 to 30 tolas, and the postmaster was allowed to use his discretion
in forwarding packets exceeding 30 tolas. It was also enacted that
"all fines incurred under Post Office Acts shall be demanded by notice
from Postmasters-General or from any Postmaster, and if not paid shall
be levied together with costs on goods and chattels. If no goods are
forthcoming the offender may be committed to prison for twenty-two
calendar months unless the fines, etc., are sooner paid." Postmasters
were authorized to detain any letter in respect of which any party was
liable to a fine.
Act XVII of 1839 empowered the Governor-General in Council to alter
postage duties as fixed by Sections 6 and 14 of the Act, but not to
increase them.
The fact that postage rates were fixed with respect to distances in
1837 is not a matter for surprise when the state of Indian roads at the
time is considered. In 1833, Shore, in his _Notes on Indian Affairs_,
describes the main road between Calcutta and Benares as no better than
a cart-track, and says that the only road worthy of the name in India
is that between Calcutta and Barrackpore. Nor was it until 1854, with
the abolition of the old Military Boards and the establishment of the
Public Works Department, that the art of road-making began to improve.
It will thus be understood that in 1837 the maintenance of postal
lines was a real difficulty. All mail matter had to be conveyed by
runners, and a slight extra weight entailed a considerable extra cost.
With the introduction of railways in 1852 and good metalled roads,
upon which light wheeled carriages could be used for the conveyance of
mails and passengers over long distances, a complete change in postal
administration was effected, and it was no longer necessary to vary the
rates for letters according to distance.
With all the advance made in postal legislation and the regulation
of rates there was not yet any Controlling Head. The Post Office
was managed by Postmasters-General who were also postmasters in the
Presidency Towns, while Collectors of Districts had charge of post
offices upcountry. Receipts were still granted for every article
received for despatch, and in the Bombay Presidency the addresses of
all articles were entered in lists known as puttees; these were given
to the postmen who brought back the addressees' signatures on them. The
addresses upon all articles passing in transit through the Post Office
were also recorded; bags were not used, only packets of paper or cloth.
The English Mail at this time was received once a month and, since
not more than 200 lbs. weight of mails could be conveyed along the
Bombay-Calcutta line in one day, a week was often required for its
disposal. Originally the opium merchants had their own lines, and
on these being stopped they used to send private expresses by the
Government dawk, which was a great source of revenue to the Post
Office.
Act XVII of 1854 marks the commencement of the organization of
the Indian Post Office upon its present footing. According to its
provisions the whole department was placed under the control of a
Director-General; the office of Postmaster-General was separated from
that of Presidency Postmaster; Postmasters-General were appointed for
the direct administration and supervision of the postal services in the
larger provinces and Deputy Postmasters-General, at first designated
Chief Inspectors, were appointed to the less important provinces and
the principal Political Agencies. Postage stamps were first introduced
in 1854 and rates were fixed for the conveyance of letters irrespective
of distance.[5]
In this Act the postal monopoly of the East India Company was again
laid down, and the three exceptions to that monopoly were legalized,
namely (1) letters sent by a private friend to be delivered on his way
or journey to a person, without any hire or reward for such service;
(2) letters solely concerning the affairs of the sender or receiver
thereof sent by a messenger on purpose; (3) letters solely concerning
goods or other property sent by land or sea, to be delivered with such
goods or property without any hire or reward for carrying the same.
It was important to include these exceptions in the Act, as under the
Post Office Act of 1837 there was nothing to prevent a man who sent a
letter to his friend by messenger incurring a penalty of Rs.50, a fine
to which both the messenger and recipient were equally liable.
The great advance made in 1854 was the introduction of postage stamps
and the fixing of postage rates for letters irrespective of distance.
The rates were as follows:--
On every letter not exceeding ¼ tola in weight, 6 pies.
On every letter exceeding ¼ tola and not exceeding ½ tola in weight, 1
anna.
On every letter exceeding ½ tola and not exceeding 1 tola, 2 annas.
On every letter exceeding 1 tola and not exceeding 1½ tolas in weight,
3 annas.
On every letter exceeding 1½ tolas and not exceeding 2 tolas in
weight, 4 annas.
And for every tola in weight above 2 tolas, 2 additional annas.
With respect to newspapers and engraved papers a distinction, similar
to that laid down in the Act of 1837, was made between imported and
locally produced matter. The former was charged with 2 annas for every
6 tolas or part thereof; the latter was charged at the following
rates:--
Two annas for a weight not exceeding 3½ tolas.
Four annas for a weight not exceeding 6 tolas, and 2 annas for every
additional 3 tolas above 6 tolas.
This difference in postage encouraged the circulation of newspapers and
printed matter imported from England, but the high internal rates must
have greatly hampered the postal circulation of journals printed in
India.
Reduced rates, but still varying with distance, were laid down for
Bhangy Post according to the following scale:--
| IF NOT EXCEEDING IN WEIGHT.
+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
FOR DISTANCES. |20 |100 |200 |300 |400 |500 |600
|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.
------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
Miles. |Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.
Not exceeding 100 |0 2 |0 4 |0 8 | 0 12 | 1 0 | 1 4 | 1 8
Not exceeding 300 |0 6 |0 12 |1 8 | 2 4 | 3 0 | 3 12 | 4 8
Not exceeding 600 |0 12 |1 8 |3 0 | 4 8 | 6 0 | 7 8 | 9 0
Not exceeding 900 |1 2 |2 4 |4 8 | 6 12 | 9 0 |11 4 |13 8
Not exceeding 1200|1 8 |3 0 |6 0 | 9 0 |12 0 |15 0 |18 0
Exceeding 1200 |1 14 |3 12 |7 8 |11 4 |15 0 |18 12 |22 8
Books, pamphlets, packets of newspapers and of printed and engraved
papers were charged at the following rates by bhangy post:--
Not exceeding 20 tolas 1 anna
Exceeding 20 tolas and not exceeding
40 tolas 2 annas
For every 20 tolas above 40 tolas 1 anna
provided that the total weight must
not exceed 120 tolas.
The postage on bhangy parcels was calculated by the most elaborate
Polymetrical Tables which were supplied to all post offices in English
and Vernacular. Many a grievous complaint was laid by members of the
public against the strange methods employed by the Post Office in
calculating the distance between two places. The sender of a parcel
naturally considered that he should pay for the shortest distance
between the place of despatch and the place of receipt, but not so the
Post Office. It decided that the "postal route," however circuitous,
was the one by which postage should be calculated.
Letters were ordinarily limited to 12 tolas in weight, but by Act XX of
1838 the weight had been raised to 30 tolas upon lines where no bhangy
post existed; this limit was now raised to 40 tolas (1 lb.) and, where
both a bhangy and letter post were conveyed in the same carriage, a
special prohibition was made that letters or packets of newspapers
of less than 12 tolas weight must not be sent by bhangy post under
penalty of a fine of Rs.50 for each offence. This clause was evidently
introduced on account of the charge made by the railway companies for
the carriage of bhangy parcels.
The 600 tola limit for parcels was continued except in special cases
which were laid down by the Governor-General in Council, but in no
circumstances was the weight of any parcel to exceed 2000 tolas (50
lbs.). Ship postage was levied on parcels, when conveyed by the East
India Company's post by sea, at the rate of 8 annas for each 100
tolas. When any parcel had to be conveyed by bhangy as well as by sea,
this postage was levied in addition to bhangy postage. Letters and
newspapers for Ceylon or any place where no postal communication was
established by the East India Company were dealt with as unclaimed,
unless the full postage was prepaid by means of postage stamps.
With the introduction of postage stamps we now find the first
regulations for encouraging the prepayment of postal articles. In
Section 20 it is laid down that, where the East India Company have a
postal communication, double postage shall be charged on unstamped
letters at the time of delivery, and in the case of insufficiently
stamped letters double the deficiency. This rule did not apply to
newspapers or other printed matter, but in order to compel the public
to use the new postage stamps, post offices were forbidden to accept
money in prepayment of any postal articles except parcels. Redirected
letters were charged with postage at prepaid rates, and a penalty
of Rs.200 was imposed for sending "any explosive or other dangerous
material or substance by post."
Rules were drawn up for the use and sale of postage stamps, vendors
were appointed, and heavy penalties were exacted from vendors who
failed to comply with the regulations. Registration of any article was
allowed upon payment of a fee of 4 annas which entitled the sender to
a receipt, but, strange to say, the registration fee had to be paid in
cash, stamps not being recognized in payment.
The clauses of Act XVII of 1837 regarding the obligations of commanders
of vessels were renewed, and also the clauses dealing with unclaimed
and refused articles. The privilege of free postage was entirely
abolished, but the letters and packets sent on the public service by
certain officials were still carried under frank. The postage due on
such articles was charged to the several public departments concerned.
This measure led to wanton extravagance in the matter of official
postage, no care was taken to economize either in the number or the
size of "public service" articles and various abuses of franking
occurred. The list of officers authorized to frank became so large that
the Post Office could not exercise any proper check, and the difficulty
of accounting in connection with the postage due was enormous. The
first restriction was placed on franking in 1866 when the use of
service stamps was made compulsory on all letters passing outside the
Presidency towns or limits of the district in which they were posted,
and in 1873 all franking privileges were abolished.
In Section 48 of the Act the duty of the Post Office to abide by the
Customs regulations is insisted upon. Officers in charge of post
offices were bound to detain articles suspected of containing anything
contraband, and they could refuse to forward any parcel or packet
addressed to a foreign post, unless it was accompanied by a Customs'
House Pass. A long list of penalties, most of which exist at the
present day, was drawn up for offences and misdemeanours committed by
postal officials. Informers were encouraged by being allowed to receive
half of every fine imposed, but no proceedings could be taken against
any one under this Act without an order in writing from Government, the
Director-General or a Postmaster-General.
In 1854 Mr. Riddell was appointed the first Director-General of the
Post Office, and he compiled the first Manual of Rules to be observed
by the whole Department. At this time there were 201 head-quarter
offices and 451 minor offices in India, but every office kept its own
accounts separately and submitted them direct to the Audit Office which
was part of the Accountant General's Office. It was not until 1861 that
postal accounts were removed from the Civil auditors and handed over
to an officer known as the "Compiler of Post Office Accounts" and not
until 1866-7 that the distinction between Head and Branch offices was
made for account purposes.
The Manual of 1854 made no proper arrangement for sorting offices,
it only provided for mails being received _en masse_ and for their
distribution afterwards to peons and into the "thana" and forwarding
boxes. Every post office upon a line had to make up a separate mail
packet for every office in advance, and it received one from every
office in rear, a most cumbersome proceeding, which was put a stop to
in 1860, when long detentions were made at certain large stations upon
the main routes for the purpose of sorting the mails. Paid letters
were impressed with a red date-stamp to distinguish them from unpaid,
which bore a black date-stamp. Letters for foreign countries were sent
with steamer postage invoices (chalans) to the different Presidency
towns. Prepayment of articles sent to England via Marseilles, for which
Brindisi was substituted in 1870, was not possible, nor could letters
for countries like the United States be prepaid.
It seems hardly credible that in 1854 one of the longest chapters of
the Manual was devoted to an elaborate system of fining, under which
different offices claimed fines from one another for bad work brought
to light by them. The official who detected the finable offence was
allowed to keep the amount of the fine subject to a deduction of 10
per cent, which was remitted to the Postmaster-General's office to
cover the cost of printing Fine Statements, Bills, etc. A regular
schedule of offences with the fine allotted for each was drawn up; for
instance, the missending of a mail bag was assessed at Rs.3, while
the missending of a parcel or packet cost 8 annas. Naturally there
was great energy expended in detecting offences for which fines were
imposed, and the result was an enormous amount of correspondence and
bitter recrimination between offices. This vicious practice continued
for many years and was not finally put a stop to until 1880.
FOOTNOTE:
[5] The first issue of postage stamps in India was actually made in
1852 by Sir Bartle Frere, Commissioner of Scinde. They were local
stamps for use in Scinde only, and bore the inscription "Scinde
District Dak."
CHAPTER IV
LATER POSTAL REGULATIONS
By Act XIV of 1866 postage rates were still further reduced as
follows:--
For letters not exceeding ¼ tola 6 pies.
Exceeding ¼ tola and not exceeding
½ tola 1 anna.
For every additional ½ tola 1 "
For newspapers not exceeding 10 tolas 1 "
For every additional 10 tolas 1 "
It will be noticed that the distinction in rates between imported and
local newspapers was withdrawn.
Books, pamphlets, packets, etc.--
Not exceeding 10 tolas in weight 1 anna.
For every additional 10 tolas 1 "
Parcels were still charged according to the distance they had to be
conveyed, but the rates were reduced. The following table gives the
scale of charges:--
| NOT EXCEEDING TOLAS.
|
DISTANCE IN +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
MILES. |20 |50 |100 |200 |300 |400 |500 |600
|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.
------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.
Not exceeding 300|0 4 |0 8 |0 12 |1 8 | 2 4 | 3 0 | 3 12 | 4 8
Not exceeding 600|0 8 |1 0 |1 8 |3 0 | 4 8 | 6 0 | 7 8 | 9 0
Not exceeding 900|0 12 |1 8 |2 4 |4 8 | 6 12 | 9 0 |11 4 |13 8
Not exceeding 1200|1 0 |2 0 |3 0 |6 0 | 9 0 |12 0 |15 0 |18 0
Exceeding 1200|1 4 |2 8 |3 12 |7 8 |11 4 |15 0 |18 12 |22 8
It was now ordered that registration upon letters, the fee for which
was still fixed at 4 annas, should be prepaid in postage stamps. The
penal clauses relating to counterfeiting stamps had been included in
the Indian Penal Code, Act XLV of 1860, and were therefore omitted from
this Act. The other penal clauses were practically the same as those
that existed in the Act of 1854, and the principle is again laid down
of the non-responsibility of Government for any loss or damage which
may occur in respect of anything entrusted to the Post Office for
conveyance.
From 1866 the work of the Post Office began to develop enormously, and
its functions had to be gradually extended to meet the growing needs of
the public. In 1869 the charge on redirected letters was abolished and
the letter postage rates were further reduced as follows:--
For letters not exceeding ½ tola 6 pies.
Exceeding ½ tola but not exceeding 1
tola 1 anna.
For every additional tola or fraction
thereof 1 "
The antiquated system of making parcel post rates vary with distance
could no longer be maintained, and in 1871 a system of rates which
varied with weight, irrespective of distance, was introduced. A parcel
post service was established between India and England in 1873, but the
collection and distribution of parcels were at first effected through
the agency of the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, and it
was not until 1885 that the Post Offices of both countries undertook
the management of the parcel post. In 1873 special postage rates were
introduced for official articles, namely:
Not exceeding ½ tola ½ anna.
Not exceeding 10 tolas 1 "
Not exceeding 20 tolas 5 annas.
Not exceeding 30 tolas 10 "
Every additional 10 tolas 5 "
At the same time it was laid down that official covers from Government
offices should be prepaid by means of service postage stamps.
Under the provision of the Act of Parliament (III-IV Vict. Cap. 69)
soldiers and seamen were allowed the privilege of sending letters not
exceeding half an ounce in weight at the rate of 1d. for each letter.
This rate was introduced into India in 1854, and 8 pies was reckoned
the equivalent of 1d. In 1874 the postage on such letters was fixed at
9 pies for half an ounce owing to the increase in the rate of exchange.
In 1899 the Imperial Penny Postage scheme was introduced, by which the
initial rate of postage to the United Kingdom and to certain British
colonies and possessions was fixed at 1 anna for a letter not exceeding
half an ounce in weight, so that the privilege enjoyed by soldiers and
seamen was no longer of any advantage, and when in 1907 the initial
rate under the Imperial Penny Postage Scheme was raised from half an
ounce to 1 ounce there was no further object in retaining this special
concession.
In 1877 the Value-Payable or Cash on Delivery system was introduced,
and in 1878 the Post Office undertook the insurance of letters and
parcels. At first there was no limit to the amount for which an article
could be insured, until a claim for the contents of a parcel insured
for Rs.60,000 showed the enormous liabilities which the Department
might incur under this system. Accordingly, in 1890 the limit was fixed
at Rs.1000, but was raised in 1898 to Rs.2000, and the procedure was
greatly simplified. The insurance fee was originally fixed at one-half
per cent, which was subsequently reduced to a quarter, and in 1905 to
one-eighth per cent.
Previous to 1880 the money order work of the country was carried on by
the Government Treasuries, and the procedure was rather cumbersome; in
that year it was handed over to the Post Office, with the result that
in a few months the number of money orders issued and paid quadrupled.
The extent to which money order business has increased may be gauged
from the fact that the value of inland money orders in 1880-81 was
45 millions, and in 1917-18 it had increased to over 617 millions of
rupees.
In 1870 Government Savings Banks were first established in India in
connection with District Treasuries, and in 1882 permission was given
to open savings bank accounts at post offices, but the management
and control of the funds still remained with the Treasuries. In 1885
all savings banks at Treasuries were closed and the business was
transferred entirely to the Post Office. The general development of
this branch will be treated of in the chapter on Savings Banks, but,
as an example of the growth of business, the figures of 1882-83 and of
1913-14 are remarkable. In 1882-83 there were 39,121 depositors with
a balance of Rs.27,96,730; in 1913-14 there were 1,638,725 depositors
with a balance of Rs.23,16,75,467.
In 1883 combined post and telegraph offices were introduced, and it
is no exaggeration to say that these are solely responsible for
the extension of telegraph facilities to the smaller markets and
rural tracts of India. In 1884 the sale of British postal orders was
authorized, and the same year marks the introduction of Postal Life
Insurance, a measure at first confined to servants of the Department
but afterwards extended to all Government servants. In 1890, at the
request of the military authorities, the Post Office undertook the
payment of military pensioners in the Punjab.
In this way the Department has grown. From being a mere agency for the
carriage of correspondence and parcels in 1866, the Post Office has
now become the poor man's bank; it does an enormous value-payable and
money order business; it is an important insurance agency and pension
paymaster, and to such an extent have postage rates been reduced in
India that it would be hard to find a man who could not afford to
communicate by post with his friends.
Needless to say, the Post Office Act of 1866 was quite unsuited to
modern needs, and Act VI of 1898 was framed to deal with the new
requirements of postal work. The 1866 Act was amended by Act III of
1882, which authorized any officer of the Post Office empowered in this
behalf by the Governor-General in Council to search for newspapers
regarding which a notification had been published under the Sea Customs
Act. By Act III of 1895 powers were provided in accordance with the
general policy of the Postal Union for dealing with fictitious or
previously used postage stamps of other countries found on articles
received from abroad, and by Act XVI of 1896 the Post Office was
authorized to collect Customs duty paid in advance in the same manner
as postage under the Act.
Act VI of 1898 is to a great extent an Enabling Act which reserves
to Government the power of dealing by rule with numerous questions
of postal practice and procedure affecting the public. For the first
time legal recognition was given to registered newspapers, and the
Governor-General in Council was empowered to make rules for their
registration in the offices of Postmasters-General. The acceptance of
the official marks of the Post Office on postal articles as prima facie
evidence that they have been refused, that the addressee cannot be
found, or that any sum is due on them, was a principle taken from the
English Law.
Section 20 of the Act was quite new and prohibits the sending by
post of indecent or obscene articles, and the tendency of the age is
shown by the first mention in this clause of the word "sedition" in
connection with postal articles. "Articles having thereon or on the
cover thereof any words, marks or designs of an indecent, obscene,
seditious, defamatory or grossly offensive character" were prohibited
from being sent by post. The wording of this section is interesting
owing to the difficulty of interpreting the meaning of the word
"thereon"; it would almost seem that the framers of the Act wished to
wrap this clause in ambiguity. In Section 22 the important principle
of the English Law is laid down that the Post Office is not bound to
send parcels and packets along with the letter mail, but may detain
them as long as is necessary. By Section 25 special power is given to
search for goods notified under the Sea Customs Act, and in Section
26, the Public Emergency section, "The Governor-General in Council,
or a Local Government, or any officer specially authorized in this
behalf by the Governor-General in Council, may, by an order in writing,
direct that any postal article or class or description of postal
articles in course of transmission by post shall be intercepted or
detained." Had the framers of this Act any idea of the extent to which
this power would have to be used they might have expressed themselves
in greater detail.[6] Sections 30 to 36 and 43 to 48 of the Act deal
with the power of the Governor-General in Council to make rules for
the insurance of postal articles and the transmission of value-payable
articles and money orders by post.
To judge from the large number of additional penalty clauses introduced
into this Act, postal crime seems to have grown side by side with
postal development. Every possible misdemeanour and fraud is visited
with appropriate punishment; not even the mail runner who fails in his
duty to appear at the time he is required can escape, while the postman
who makes a false entry in his book to show that he has been visiting
a certain village, when all the time he has been loitering in a
neighbouring bazaar, renders himself liable to six months' imprisonment
or a fine of one hundred rupees. Sections 62 and 63 are taken from the
English Post Office Protection Act, 1884, and impose penalties for
injuring the contents of any letter-box or for disfiguring any post
office or letter-box. To prevent hasty and ill-considered prosecutions,
it was laid down in Section 72 that no Court should take cognizance
of any offence under the Act, except with the previous sanction or
on the complaint of the Director-General of the Post Office or of a
Postmaster-General.
In 1898 postage rates on letters were reduced to the following scale:--
Not exceeding ½ tola ½ anna.
" " 1½ tolas 1 "
" " 3 " 2 annas.
For every additional 1½ tolas or fraction
thereof 1 anna.
The postage on newspapers was fixed at:
Not exceeding 4 tolas ¼ anna.
" " 20 " ½ "
For every additional 20 tolas or part
thereof ½ "
In 1905 a still further reduction in letter postage was made, namely:
Not exceeding ¾ tola ½ anna.
" " 1½ tolas 1 "
" " 3 " 2 annas.
For every additional 1½ tolas or fraction
thereof 1 anna.
In 1907, after a long discussion, it was decided to make the Indian
anna rate approximate to the English penny rate. The British Post
Office had decided to carry 4 ounces for one penny, and as an ounce
is roughly 2½ tolas the weight that could be sent for an anna was
increased from 1½ to 10 tolas. The ¾ tolas for ½ anna was very
properly considered absurd, and the weight was raised to 1 tola. The
rates as revised in 1907 were:
Not exceeding 1 tola ½ anna.
" " 10 tolas 1 "
For every additional 10 tolas or fraction
thereof 1 anna.
This was a sweeping measure which mainly benefited that portion of the
community which could best afford to pay high rates of postage, and
the argument for making the anna rate correspond to the penny rate in
England left out of account the very important fact that in England the
minimum rate for letters was a penny, whereas in India it is half that
amount. It is difficult to estimate what the loss to the Post Office
must have been, but when one considers that a letter of 10 tolas,
which under the previous rates would have had to bear 7 annas postage,
could be sent for 1 anna it will be understood that the loss was
considerable. The measure was also one that affected the Post Office
in two ways, since less revenue was received in postage stamps and the
increased number of bulky letters necessitated a larger carrying staff.
Despite the admitted cheapness of postage in India, some short-sighted
agitators cry out for a ¼ anna letter rate; but the Post Office can
well afford to disregard their murmurings and may congratulate itself
on having made its services accessible to even the very poorest member
of the community.
By Act III of 1912 the Indian Post Office Act of 1898 was further
amended, and special rules were made to protect postmasters who had to
search or detain articles passing through the post. The public who use
the value-payable system have been protected from fraudulent traders
by a section which provides for the retention and repayment to the
addressee, in cases of fraud, of money recovered on the delivery of
any value-payable postal article; at the same time the Post Office is
authorized to levy a fee before making any inquiry into complaints of
this kind.
[Illustration: GROUP OF SENIOR OFFICERS IN 1898
C. STEWART-WILSON G. S. CURTIS W. MAXWELL C. J. BADSHAH
J. CORNWALL H. M. KISCH SIR ARTHUR FANSHAWE A. T. FORBES
_Director General_
]
Since the Great War broke out in 1914 it has been found necessary to
increase inland postage rates for both letters and parcels. In 1918 the
letter rates were fixed as follows:--
For letters: Not exceeding 1 tola ½ anna.
Exceeding 1 tola, but not exceeding 2½
tolas 1 "
For every additional 2½ tolas or part
thereof 1 "
For parcels: Not exceeding 20 tolas 2 annas.
Exceeding 20 tolas, but not exceeding
40 tolas 4 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part
thereof 4 "
Many complaints were received that the parcel rates were excessive
and injuring the fruit trade and other local industries, so that with
effect from the 1st June, 1919, the rates were reduced to 3 annas for
every 40 tolas up to 440 tolas, the minimum of 2 annas for 20 tolas
remaining the same.
FOOTNOTE:
[6] The first instance of an article being prohibited from passing
through the post is that of the _Bengal Gazette_ (editor, J. A. Hicky),
quoted by Dr. Busteed in his _Echoes of Old Calcutta_:
"_Order._ Fort William, November 14th, 1780. Public notice is hereby
given that as a weekly newspaper called the _Bengal Gazette_ or
_Calcutta General Advertiser_, printed by J. A. Hicky, has lately been
found to contain several unbroken paragraphs tending to vilify private
characters and to disturb the peace of the Settlement, it is no longer
permitted to be circulated through the channel of the General Post
Office."
CHAPTER V
PARCEL POST
The parcel post in India has its origin in the old "Bhangy Post," a
name derived from the bamboo stick or bhangy which an Indian carrier
balances on his shoulder with the weights slung at each end. The Bhangy
Post was first used solely for the conveyance of official records
and articles sent on Government service, and the limit of weight was
600 tolas (15 lbs.). In 1854 a regular Bhangy Post was established
and opened to the public. The rates varied with weight and distance
according to the scale laid down in the Post Office Act of 1854.
Where communication by rail existed, the practice was to hand over
bhangy parcels to the railway at the latter's risk and to demand their
conveyance to destination free of charge. This procedure led to a
series of those acrimonious disputes which are so characteristic of the
early relations between the Post Office and the railway companies. The
contention of the Post Office was that the bhangy mail formed part of
the regular mail which the railway was bound by law to carry free of
charge. The East India Railway, which took up the cudgels on the other
side, denied this contention and insisted upon charging for parcels
as goods sent by passenger train. Finally, after much wrangling, the
matter was settled by Government in 1855, when it was decided that
service bhangy parcels should be carried free and that the rate for
non-service parcels should be fixed at 1/3 anna per maund (80 lbs.) per
mile, which was the existing rate for passengers' luggage. At the same
time the Post Office was directed to withdraw from the carrier traffic
wherever the railway could supply its place, and post offices were
forbidden to accept non-service bhangy parcels for places situated on
railway lines.
These rules were not very effective, since it was impossible to
distinguish service from non-service parcels or to ascertain the weight
of the latter when they were both despatched together and lump sum
payments were accepted. The amounts paid show that the traffic cannot
have been very great; for instance, in 1871 the Great India Peninsula
Railway agreed to accept a monthly payment of Rs.568, the Madras
Railway Rs.173 and the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Rs.150,
which was afterwards raised to Rs.400 in 1881. The whole question was
soon merged in that of general haulage rates for postal vehicles, which
is discussed in the chapter upon the Railway Mail Service.
The statement at the end of this chapter shows the variation in
parcel rates from 1866 to 1919. The first great step forward in the
administration of the parcel post was in 1871, when rates according
to distance were abolished and a fixed rate of 3 annas for 10 tolas
was introduced. The limits of weight were retained at 600 tolas for
foot lines and 2000 tolas for railway lines, which were fixed in
1869. In 1895 rates were reduced and registration for all parcels
exceeding 440 tolas in weight was made compulsory. In 1907, after a
strong representation made by the Railway Conference that the parcel
post was interfering with the railway parcel traffic, the limit of
weight was lowered to 800 tolas (20 lbs.). As a matter of fact, after
a careful inquiry it was found that very few parcels above this weight
were carried by the Post Office and that these were carried at a loss.
In the same year the rates for small parcels were greatly reduced,
with the result that the total number carried in 1907-8 increased by
over 600,000. The railways did not gain much by the concession, as
the retail dealers adopted the simple device of packing their goods
in smaller bulk, which the low rates enabled them to do without any
appreciable loss.
The development of parcel traffic since 1854 is shown by the following
figures:--
_Number of Parcels._
1854-55 463,000
1870-71 694,000
1880-81 1,080,868
1890-91 1,901,547
1900-01 2,679,119
1910-11 11,205,844
1913-14 12,667,172
1917-18 14,150,948
The increase in the last few years is little short of marvellous and is
due to the reduction in rates and the growth of the value-payable or
cash on delivery system so largely adopted by all retail traders, which
has diverted the whole of the light parcel traffic from the railways to
the Post Office.
In 1873 an overland Parcel Post was established between Great Britain
and India through the agency of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company. The British Post Office had no concern with this
arrangement, and in 1885 a direct exchange, which was quite separate
from the P. & O. Company's contract, was introduced between the two
administrations for parcels up to a limit of seven pounds in weight. In
1897, at the Universal Postal Congress held at Washington, India joined
the International Parcel Post Union, and since 1899, when the Acts of
the Congress came into force, parcels can be exchanged with almost any
country in the world.
As already mentioned, nothing has affected the parcel post traffic of
the country to such an extent as the value-payable or cash on delivery
system, which was introduced in 1878 and is now used generally by
all retail firms in India. By this system the Post Office not only
undertakes to deliver a parcel, but also, for a small commission, to
collect the cost of it from the addressee. In India, where there are
few large firms outside the Presidency towns, the value-payable system
has proved an inestimable convenience to the upcountry purchaser, who
pays the Post Office for his purchases on receipt and is put to no
further trouble. Like everything designed for the good of mankind, the
Value-Payable Post is not altogether an unmixed blessing, and it is
a source of continual worry to the officials of the Department. The
weak point in the system is that people have to buy articles without
seeing them, and if they are disappointed in their purchases they are
inclined to think that the Post Office is at fault and to demand their
money back. It is customary in India for certain ladies to dispose
of their garments through the medium of the advertisement columns of
the _Pioneer_, one of the leading newspapers. The dresses are always
by Paquin and quite new; the hats are the latest from Paris. This is
the seller's point of view. How different that of the purchaser! As
Postmaster-General I have received many a bitter complaint of the rag
which has been received under the name of a new Paquin gown and for
which I apparently was held personally responsible. "I never imagined
that the Post Office could lend its assistance to such disgraceful
swindling," once wrote an indignant lady who had suffered in this way
and who was told that the Department could not possibly adjudicate on
the quality of the goods received by her, that the Department was only
in the position of carriers and that she must settle her dispute with
the sender.
The value-payable system suffers chiefly from the firm belief in
Providence which is so deeply engrained in the Eastern mind. Although
strictly forbidden by the rules of the Post Office, the small trader
sends out numbers of articles by value-payable post to persons who
have not given any orders for them, trusting that some of them will
be accepted by a confiding public, and, strange to say, he manages to
do a certain amount of business in this way. On the other hand, many
people are quite ready to order things from shops which they hope to
be able to pay for upon arrival, but, unfortunately for the firms that
supply them, these hopes are often not fulfilled. The Indian schoolboy,
who is very like all other schoolboys in the world in this respect, is
specially tempted by the flashy catalogues issued by the cheap Calcutta
firms, and when, in the enthusiasm of the moment, he orders a five
rupee watch, it doesn't follow that he has the money or is even likely
to have it; but his self-esteem is satisfied by the mere issue of the
order and, as for his ability to pay when the time comes, it lies on
the knees of the gods. The result of this trait in Eastern character
is that about 20 per cent of the value-payable articles posted are
returned to the senders.
Some years ago a firm of box-makers who wanted to push their business
discovered that the value-payable post, assisted by the national
character, provided them with a royal road to success, and they set
to work on the following lines. They issued a large number of tickets
by post, which were delivered on payment of 1 rupee and 2 annas. Any
person who was innocent enough to accept one of these found that the
ticket was composed of six coupons, and that if he could induce six
of his friends to send the coupons to the firm and each to receive
in return a similar ticket _and pay for it_, then he as the original
recipient would be presented with a steel trunk. The success of this
scheme was extraordinary, and every post office in India was flooded
with these coupon tickets. About 70 per cent were refused, but the firm
lost nothing by this, as it saved them in the matter of trunks, since,
if any one of the coupon holders failed to keep faith with his friend
the bargain was off. The whole business was a gigantic swindle, and
it so offended the Director-General's sense of morality that he had
a regulation passed to put a stop to any articles being sent by post
which contained "coupons, tickets, certificates or introductions for
the sale of goods on what is known as the snowball system."
A complete history of the Indian Parcel Post would require the pen
of a military historian. It is a history of warfare with continuous
engagements, sometimes regular pitched battles with the railways and
sometimes small but sharp skirmishes with irate ladies. The latest
foes are the municipal councils of certain large towns in which
the revenue is raised by an octroi tax upon all imported articles.
Hitherto articles received by post have been exempt from any tax of
this kind, and all attempts made by municipalities to be allowed
to scrutinize the parcel post have been strenuously opposed. The
thin end of the wedge has, however, been introduced at Delhi, where
lists of insured parcels are supplied to the municipality, which
makes its own arrangements for ascertaining the contents from the
addressees. The practice is wrong in principle, because it is a
breach of the confidence which the public place in the Post Office on
the understanding that no information of any kind regarding postal
articles is imparted except to the persons immediately concerned, and
any measure which tends to shake the confidence of the public in the
secrecy of the Department is to be strongly deprecated. A great deal
of fuss was made in Simla some years ago about this very matter on the
ground that the local traders suffered from people purchasing goods
outside the municipality and getting them in by post. When an inquiry
was held, it was found that the large majority of parcels received
by post were addressed to the firms in the town, a discovery which
put a sudden stop to the agitation. It is very doubtful if the Parcel
Post at the present rates pays the Post Office, and where places are
situated some distance off the line of rail and have to be reached by
foot lines it is quite certain that every parcel is carried at a loss.
Unfortunately these are the very places where people make the greatest
use of the Parcel Post; the tea planters of Assam, for example, getting
their whisky, jam and other stores in this way from Calcutta.
A further agitation is now afoot to have the weight of parcels brought
down to eleven pounds, which is the maximum weight for a foreign parcel
and is also the limit of weight in England. This, on the whole, is as
much as the Post Office can be fairly expected to carry, but whether
the proposal will be adopted remains to be seen.
PARCEL POST RATES
(1) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1866 to 31st
March, 1878:
| IF NOT EXCEEDING IN WEIGHT
-------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
FOR DISTANCES |20 |50 |100 |200 |300 |400 |500 |600
|tolas.|tolas.|tolas |tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.
-------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
Miles|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.
Not exceeding 300 |0 4 |0 8 |0 12 |1 8 | 2 4 | 3 0 | 3 12 | 4 8
Not exceeding 600 |0 8 |1 0 |1 8 |3 0 | 4 8 | 6 0 | 7 8 | 9 0
Not exceeding 900 |0 12 |1 8 |2 4 |4 8 | 6 12 | 9 0 |11 3 |14 8
Not exceeding 1200 |1 0 |2 0 |3 0 |6 0 | 9 0 |12 0 |15 0 |18 0
Exceeding 1200 |1 4 |2 8 |3 12 |7 8 |11 4 |15 0 |18 12 |22 8
(2) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st April, 1878,
to 14th August, 1880:
Not exceeding 40 tolas in weight 8 annas.
Exceeding 40 tolas and not exceeding
80 tolas 12 "
For every additional 40 tolas 4 "
(3) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 15th August, 1880,
to 31st July, 1895:
Not exceeding 20 tolas in weight 4 annas.
Exceeding 20 tolas and not exceeding
40 tolas 8 "
For every additional 40 tolas 4 "
(4) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st August, 1895,
to 30th June, 1901:
Any parcel not exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
Any parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but not
exceeding 40 tolas in weight 4 annas.
For each additional 40 tolas or fraction
of 40 tolas up to 2000 tolas 4 "
Registration fee (optional for uninsured parcels not exceeding 440
tolas in weight)--
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 4 "
(5) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st July, 1901, to
30th September, 1907:
(_a_) Parcels not exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but
not exceeding 40 tolas in weight 4 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 2 "
(_b_) Parcels exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel exceeding 440 tolas, but
not exceeding 480 tolas in weight Rs.3
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 4 annas.
(6) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st October, 1907,
to 31st October, 1918:
(_a_) Parcels not exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel not exceeding 40 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 2 "
[Illustration: SIR WILLIAM MAXWELL, K.C.I.E.
DIRECTOR GENERAL POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS 1913--1918]
(_b_) Parcels exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel exceeding 440 tolas, but
not exceeding 480 tolas Rs.3
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 4 annas.
(7) From 1st October, 1908, the maximum limit of weight for an inland
parcel was reduced from 2000 tolas to 800 tolas in the case of a
private (non-official) parcel, and raised from 600 tolas to 800 tolas
in the case of an official parcel.
(8) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st November,
1918, to 15th May, 1919:
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but not
exceeding 40 tolas 4 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight up to 800 tolas 4 "
(9) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 16th May, 1919, up
to date:
(_a_) Parcels not exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but not
exceeding 40 tolas 3 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 3 "
(_b_) Parcels exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel exceeding 440 tolas, but
not exceeding 480 tolas Rs.3
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 4 annas.