MAIL CONFUSION IN ENGLAND

Southland Times, Issue 23651, 28 October 1938, Page 4

MAIL CONFUSION IN ENGLAND

HEAVY SURCHARGE ON GIFTS ENGLISH POSTAGES CAUSE DIFFICULTIES (Special to The Times) AUCKLAND, October 27. Unless senders of mail in England pay more attention to becoming familiar with the “all-up” Empire air mail rates than they have hitherto done, a great many people are going to be faced with the payment of heavy surcharge rates before they can take delivery of Christmas mail from other Empire countries. It is stated that a remarkable number of letters from England to New Zealand by the last air mail bore insufficient postage. Considerable confusion has apparently arisen in England as to the difference between first-class matter, or that which is automatically sent by air mail, and second-class matter, or that which is being sent by steamship service. It is also apparent that the English postal, authorities have not taken the precautions to prevent surcharge being paid by the addressees that are being observed in New Zealand. EXPENSIVE CHRISTMAS If an improvement is not very quickly effected, many New Zealanders will find that receipt of Christmas letter packets and greetings from England will make the goodwill season even more expensive than it usually is. It can readily be imagined that, if thousands of Christmas cards are wrongly posted from England, the New Zealand addressees will have to pay a substantial sum in the aggregate to take delivery of them. It has already been found, for instance, that an English friend sending an envelope containing a tie or handkerchiefs to a person in New Zealand has affixed second-class postage to an envelope which has been sent ,by air mail. The only surface distinction between the two classes of matter is that, whereas all first-class mail is sealed, second-class is not. Thus, if an envelope is sealed, the English postal authorities are necessarily presuming that the matter is first-class and despatching it by air mail, notwithstanding the fact that only second-class postage has been affixed.- The chief fault would appear to lie with the sender, who has not discovered that air mail rates have to be paid for sealed envelopes. DOMINION ARRANGEMENTS An instance of the result of this for the New Zealand addressee is provided by an envelope which was delivered yesterday, containing two ties. Postage amounting to 3d, the secondclass rate, had been affixed in England. The envelope was sent by air mail, and the recipient had to pay double deficiency surcharge rates amounting to 1/-.

A more comforting note for the English addressees of such mail as may be posted in New Zealand for the Christmas season is struck by arrangements which have been made by the Dominion postal authorities. Unless air mail rates are affixed to Christmas cards in envelopes, they will be sent as second-class mail. Similarly, for those persons who are used to sending such gifts as ties and handkerchiefs in envelopes, it is possible to obtain envelopes with slits in the end or with such long flaps that leaving them unsealed will not result in a loss of the contents. These unsealed or slitted envelopes’ will be despatched as secondclass matter.