The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, The Morning News and The Echo. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24,1881.

Auckland Star, Volume XII, Issue 3526, 24 November 1881, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, The Morning News and The Echo.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24,1881.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistauc For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

Very great mystification, and no little public inconvenience, have been occasioned by the want of definiteness and the absence of any proper publicity to the changes recently made under the Stamp Act, 1575, Amendment Act, 1881. The Government announced last sessiou their intention to adopt the reform lately introduced by Pro. fessor Fawcett in the English Postal Department, by which one denomination of stamp could be used for any other of equal value. The reform was hailed with general public satisfaction, and Parliament, without opposition, passed the tenth clause of the Stamp Act Amendment Act, which was intended to carry it into effect. This clause runs as follows : " Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Act contained, one form of stamp of various nominations, according to the money value of each, may be created which may be used either as postage labels or for any other purpose for which stamps are used, or permitted to be used, whether under the Stamp Act, 1875, or the Stamp Fee Act, 18S0, or otherwise, howsoever, except under the Beer Duty Act, 1880." The clause, it will be observed, contemplated the creationol a stamp which might be used for either postal or stamp duty purposes. The next stage in this matter was the issue of a proclamation, published in the feneral Government " Gazette," of Novemor 3, wherein, after setting forth, the powers conferred by the Stamp Act Amendment Act, his Excellency goes on to proclaim that: "It shall and may be lawful to use any kind of stamps issued by the Government of the said colony' (except those issued under the B_er Duty Act, 1880) in payment of any matters or things which, under the Stamp Fee Act, 1880, or the said regulations, or any other regulations made under the Stamp Fee Act, 1875, or the Stamp Fee Act, 1880, are required to be paid or denoted by stamps, anything to the contrary in any such regulations notwithstanding; and, further, that penny postage stamps may, from and after the making of this Order, be used for stamping receipts under the Stamp Act, 1875." Now, to understand the full effect of this proclamation, it is requisite to give close attention to its wording. The Government have not carried out thereunder the apparent intention of the Act of last session to create a stamp which would serve either for stamp duty or postal purposes, but they have authorised the use of any denomination of postage stamp for duty purposes. The reverse of the rule is not permitted. That is to say, it is legal now to put a penny postage stamp on a receipt, but it is not lawfnl to put a penny receipt stamp on a letter. Practically, this order amounts to the adoption of the existing postage stamp for use either on letters or deeds, to the exclusion of the revenue stamps, because people have only in future to keep postage stamps, dispensing altogether with the receipt stamp. The Government have probably been actuated in adopting that course by the existence of the postage dies in the colony, and large stocks of stamps of various denominations on hand. It is important that business men should make.a careful note of these explanations, because letters and newspapers have been finding their way into the post-office bearing receipt stamps, and in every case the stamp is treated as not there at all. - The letter is either detained for deficient postage, or forwarded to its destination with the usual fine attached, Receipt stamps are not available for postal purposes. But the most remarkable circumstance in connection with the whole matter is this— that though there can be no doubt whatever that postage stamps may now be used for receipts and other duty purposes (beer duty excepted) the Postal Department and Stamp Office have received no special advices on the subject notwithstanding that three weeks have elapsed since the gazetting of the proclamation bringing the change into operation. In the absence of any such instruction the official mind has been in doubt what they onght to do, and thinking it best to err on the safe side they have consistently told everyone that there has been no change at all. The public are thus deprived of what was intended to be-and unquestionably is a great public convenience. We observe from the Southern press that in other parts of the colony tbe business community is taking advantage of the alteration and there is no reason why we in Auckland should not do so likewise.