THE POST OFFICE) ACT.

Colonist, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11762, 19 October 1906, Page 2

THE POST OFFICE) ACT.

The amendment to the Post Office Act introduced by the Premier contains extensive and drastic provisions for checking 1 gambling and quacks through the medium of tho Post Office. One clause of the amending bill states that if the Postmaster - General has reasonable ground to suppose that any person in New Zealand or elsewhere be engaged (a) in receiving edy money or valuable thing ad the consideration for any assurance of agreement expressed or implied to pay or give any money or valuable thing on any event or contingency to any horse race or other race, fight, game, sport or exercise, or as the consideration for securing, paying, or giving by some other person of any money or valuable thing on any such event or contingency as aforesaid; or (b) ac promoting or carrying out any scheme connected with any such assurance or agreement or any lottery, scheme of chance, or unlawful game; or (c) in receiving money under pretence of foretelling future events; or (d) in any fraudulent, obscene, immoral or unlawful business or undertaking; (c) in advertising in direct or indirect terms the treatment of diseases of the sexual organs, then he may order that no postal packet addressed to any such person, either; by his own or any fictitious or assumed name, or to any address without nania, shall either be registered, forwarded or delivered by the Post Office. Until such order is in like manner revoked, no such postal packet will be registered, forwarded, or delivered, nor shall any money order be issued in such person's favor or be paid to him. It is also provided that where the Postmaster-General or any Postmaster has reason to suspect that any postal packet (other than a letter) by his own or any fictitious name or assumed name, or to any address wihout a name, posted in New Zealand or elsewhere contains, or is supposed to contain, any printed or written matter of any bind, or any enclosure of any kind (a) which is of a libellous, blasphemous, indecent, or immoral nature, or likely to have an indecent or immoral etfoct; or (b) in advertisement of any lottery or scheme of chance, he may cause such postal packet to be detained and opened, and if it ia found to cntain any such matters or enclosure he shall cause the postal packet and contents thereof to bo destroyed. Sub-section 6, which brings newspapers under the scope of the Act, appears to be specially aimed at the Tattereali's sweeps.