POSTAL REGULATIONS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 104, 29 October 1925, Page 16

POSTAL REGULATIONS

MODIFICATIONS DESIRED

A new regulation following the last International Postal Convention at Stockholm) and which is now in operation, provides :—"(a) Postal packets, other than letters ad postcards, unpaid or short paid, will not be forwarded overseas, but will be sent to the Dead Letter Office; (b) letters containing dutiable articles—to certain named countries these cannot bo sent; to other countries letters containing dutiable articles must have a Customs docket affixed; otherwise the letters may be returned by the country of destination as unacceptable."

A committee of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce submitted the following report on the new regulations to a meeting of (he council yesterday:— "That the chamber urgo the New Zealand Postal authorities to communicate with tho countries wit.li whom our overseas mail is considerable (such as the, United Kingdom and Australia), and endeavour to secilre some modification or relaxation of these regulations. Ws consider the new regulations are very drastic in their effect, particularly as regards correspondence between the Mother Country and the British Dominions, and some effort to secure a relaxation between these would be well worth while. Any reciprocal arrangements niado in such cases wonld be met with the general approval of the business community and would eliminate any hardship or canse for complaint. "The Post Office communicates with the sender of these packets held back, and, if the sender is not ascertainable, then the addressee, but this will never bo as satisfactory to the patrons of the Postal service as a prompt dispatch forward," the committee added, "New Zea-land-is far away from the more denselyPopulated parts of the Old, World, and it is more important to us that time lost in transit and trouble be reduced to s minimum, especially where a letter has been sent advising the posting of a packet by the same mail." Mr. M'Crae, Chief Postmaster at Wellington, reported as follows :—"lt ■has been possible to procure a copy of the British Customs tariff, from which it is found that among the articles subject to Customs duty on importation into Great Britain the following are those most likely to concern this Department's officer .-—'Silks and artificial silks, or articles wholly or partly made of silk or artificial silk, lace, embroidery, clocks, watches, and the component parts of clocks and watches, cinesnatograph films, playing cards, cocoa, coffee, field and opera glasses, theodolites, galvanometers, and scientific instruments, wireless valves, sugar, condensed milk, confectionery, milk powder, tea, tobacco.' It will bo noticed that with the exception of silks, lace, and embroidery, articles of clothing are apparently not subject to Customs duty on importation into 'Great Britain."