LITTLE-KNOWN LAW

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11323, 29 September 1930, Page 3

LITTLE-KNOWN LAW

CARRYING LETTERS FOR HIRE.

OFFENCE AGAINST ACT

PENALLY MAY BE £2O FINE.

Thouph mmiy people ore unaware of the fact, it is an offence punishable bv. a fine no to £'2o to. send a letter hv any other means than’fie Post 'Office, providing: such 'rnrrv’ffsr is- done fnrr a -fee- of-any. nature. The person who carries such a letter is p’niilnjil.v ljnble with. the 'sender. In days p-ono by. when Gisborne w"s not so well served hv mails as it is'tods v. this tvpe of offence was* fairly frennent.' but latterly, 1 if it occurs ,afc all, it is only. in isolated oases. Portion 23 of the’Post and Telegraph Aef.i emoted infra-. - is ' the, legislat’ori in point. The principle underlying: the law is that the. Post Oflioy sl'-i >| be the only carrier of letters for hire in .the Dominion. - , • - -

Occasionally a. correspondent who misses a mail will hand his letter to, for example, a. service driver asking him'to post it.' Possibly-he'map offer the driver sixpence to. do so. and,: if the driver accepts,, then both parties render themselves liable, to a fine of np to £2O. Provided the. letter is' stamped, hoWcycr, and no fee for the carrying of the-letter is given. tlfcrt there is no offence. I If, however, the request to the driver is simply that he deliver the letter to the addressee, then there is an offence again, for'the function of the Rost- - Office is being usurped. Taken broadly, the Act is.designed to prevent’ letter transport by -any service plying regularly between two points, but, as the legislation- is now worded, the liability extend? far, beyond that-. A man travelling from Gisborne to Nn.pier, . for instance, might be asked hy some Gisborne resident. to deliver a . letter to an odTlross in the Hawke’s Bay town, the traveller being given a, small sum to compensate I vim for the trouble. Both the Gisborne resident and the traveller rendea* themselves' liable to the fine specified by the Act. A hackblocks resident, who pays a passerby' to deliver a letter, ' say, at the next homestead, is similarly' guilty of an offence and likewise, the passerby..’ln such isolated cases, pf. course, the authorities would be extremely unlikely to take action, but the liability for the offence is not affected thereby arid, should.the facts of such- a . ease be actually, brought before the. notice of the Department (as might- conceivably happen under certain circumstances) then an action would certainly follow. An amendment of the wording of the Act, to confine, it to the classes actually aimed at., would appear, a wise course..

• Proof of sucli an offence is necessarily difficult, but .the Act. -by reversing the accepted principle of innocence, .. presumed, simplifies the matter, at- least from the Post Office standpoint.- The “sending, carrying or-taking-charge of any letter to be carried otherwise than by post” is presumed to be for a lee until the contrary is shown.’ In other words, the onus of proving, absence of mobility is cast on the alleged offender. ■ Section 23 of the Act reads as follows : “(I). No letter shall be sent or carried for hire or reward otherwise than by post. “(2). Every person who so sends any letter, or carries it or takes charge of it for the purpose of its being sent or carried, is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds in respect of every such letter. “(3). The sending, carrying or taking charge of any letter to be carried otherwise than by post shall be deomed to be done for hire or reward until the contrary is shown. “(4). Nothing in this section shall be -construed so as to -render unlawful— “(a) The sending or delivery, otherwise than by post, of any trade announcements, circulars, printed extracts from newspapers, or advertisrnents that are not addressed to any person, • “(b) The delivery of any letter by the servant of the sender or by. % messenger specially employed by the sender for the purpose, and, not being a'person generally to deliver letters.; 1 ~ ' -" ] “(5). For the purposes of this sec* tion, the term “letter” includes any letter, posteardy letter-card, commercial paper ( pattern or sample packet of a class declared by the Govern-or-General in • Council to bo letters for the purpose of this section.”