RETURN to an order of the Honourable The House of Commons,
/ dated 8 November 1906 :—for,
Ҽf Report of the British Delegates at the Sixth Congress of the
Poštal, UNIon, held at Rome in 1906, with the Postmaster Gene
5.7
warding the Report to the Treasury.
* , , , . . . - - - - i . . . . . - - - . J-
- 19 November 1906. . .
PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFIC
BY EYRE AND SPOTTISwooDE, &
PRINTERs to THE KING's Most ExcellENT MAJESTY. . . . .
And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, -
WYMAN AND SONS, LTD., FETTER LANE, E.C., and
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- ... ' ' ||
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f


























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UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION.
355,700/06. º
- GENERAL POST OFFICE, LONDON,
SIR, 20th October 1906.
IN forwarding, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of His
Majesty's Treasury, the Report of the British Delegates to the Postal Union
Congress held at Rome in April and May last, it may be well if I shortly sum
up the results of that Congress, and the advantages which will accrue from it
to the public.
(1) As regards letter postage, the question of Universal Penny Postage
did not appear at the late Congress to be within the range of practical
politics; nor, so far as this country is concerned, would it have been possible,
in the present state of the Exchequer, to have provided the necessary funds
for carrying it into effect.
The British delegates therefore abstained from voting on the question.
They were instructed, however, to propose that the rate of 2; d. for the
first unit should be reduced to 2d., with a charge of 1d. instead of 2%d. for
successive units. These proposals were not accepted by the majority of the
countries represented. The final result of the Conference, however (largely
due to the action of the British Delegates), was that while the first unit still
unfortunately remains at 2%d., the charge on all succeeding units after the
first will be reduced from 2%d. to 1%d. ; and, further, a very important point,
the unit of weight will be raised from # Oz. to an ounce.
The British Government will propose to the Colonies that when the Postal
Union Convention comes into operation, this unit of weight shall be applied
also to the Imperial Penny Postage system—that is to say, that the unit of
weight shall be raised from # Oz. to 1 ounce.
The result. yill be that, in kegard to. Foreign postage, the public will
be alsº to send a 1–02 lettes fºr 24d. that formerly-zººnºº-oº:
for 4d. that formerly cost 10d. ; and a 3-Oz. letter, which formerly cost 1s. 3d.,
for 5%d. The difficulties connected with the question of enclosure will be
thereby much diminished. In regard to postage within the British Empire,
it will be possible to send a letter of an ounce instead of only half an ounce
for 1d., while a 2-ounce letter will cost 2d. instead of 4d., and so on.
The total cost to this country of these alterations in the postage rates is
estimated at 190,000l. a year.
(2) At the instance of the British Delegates, the Congress decided, as a
means of enabling the Sender of a letter to a place abroad to prepay a reply
or to remit small sums, to adopt a system of special coupons devised by the
British Post Office.
These coupons, which will in effect serve also as Postal Orders for
25 centimes, will be issued by the International Bureau to the Post Offices of
countries adhering to the scheme ; and to avoid any danger of speculative
transactions they will be sold to the public at a rate slightly above the face
value. They will be exchangeable at the Post Offices of other countries for
stamps of the value of 25 centimes (2%d. &c.) according to the local
currency.
(3) With regard to post-cards, the use of the title “Post-card” will no
longer be obligatory for private cards; and the title on a card will not
preclude its transmission at the printed papers rate of 5 centimes, if it is
otherwise in conformity with the rules for printed papers. Communications
may in future be written on the left-hand half of the address side of all
post-cards; and it will also be permissible to attach photographs or engravings
on thin paper, provided that they are entirely adherent.
(4) The Sample Post has been extended to keys sent singly, and fresh
flowers not sent for commercial purposes. Further, in future, tubes of serum
and pathological specimens, rendered innocuous by the mode of preparation
and packing, can be sent by it.
().239. A 2
176290


4
(5) In the case of printed matter, some useful modifications were made
with regard to the manuscript additions permitted by the regulations.
(6) Responsibility for the loss of registered articles was rendered
obligatory for all countries of the Union, a step which will remove difficulties
and anomalies affecting registration. -
(7) Regulations were also framed with the view of giving effect to the
Hague Convention of 1899 respecting the laws and customs of war on land,
whereby correspondence and parcels sent to or from prisoners of war are to
be exempted from payment of postage and insurance fees. The Money
Order Service will likewise be available free of charge for remittance to and
from prisoners of war. -
(8) The net result of the change respecting votes in the affairs of the
Union is of some public interest. The United Kingdom, and the British
Colonies not separately represented, will continue to exercise one vote, while
British India, Canada, and British South Africa will each enjoy one vote as
at present; but Australia and New Zealand, instead of exercising a single
vote, will in the future exercise one vote each. Thus the British Empire
will have six votes instead of the present five, and there will be the addi-
tional advantage that the South African vote will absorb the separate votes
formerly possessed by the Transvaal and Orange Free State. -
(9) In regard to the very important question of the cost of the transit of
mails, there will be a very considerable simplification of the basis on which
the accounts are prepared, and the rates payable by one country to another
for transit services will be reduced. .
These changes are explained at length in the report. But, substantially,
in the case of land transit, the fundamental rate for letters and post-cards will
be 1 franc 50 centimes per kilogramme in lieu of 1 frang 70 centimes, and
for printed papers, samples, &c., 20 centimes in lieu of 21% centimes; and
multiples of these new rates will be payable for land transits exceeding 3,000
kilometres. The fundamental land rates will likewise apply to sea transits
under 300 miles. For certain longer sea transits the rates will be 4 francs
3. Kidſ Taºkºs - -
present rates of 5'francs and 50 centimes, while the maximum sea rates are
to be 8 francs per kilogramme and 1 franc per kilogramme instead of
10 francs and 1 franc. - - -
Your Lordships will recognise that, though the British Delegates were
unable to obtain all the results for the benefit of the public that they were
instructed to endeavour to secure, it is mainly due to their action that many
of the substantial results above detailed were adopted by the Congress. -
I desire to place on record my warm appreciation of the way in which
Mr. Babington Smith, the Senior British Delegate and Chairman of the First
Committee, and his colleagues, Mr. Walkley and Mr. Davies, maintained the
interests committed to their charge. , -
It is not too much to say that it was largely due to the skill, vigilance, and
tact exercised by the British Delegates that the Postal Congress at Rome of
of 1906 will result in very considerable boons to the public and great
advantages in postal facilities. - - -
- I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
The Secretary, Treasury. (Signed) SYDNEY BUXTON.
ld 50 &ntimes, per kilºgrºmme, as compared with the




REPORT OF THE BRITISH DELEGATES
TO THE SIXTH CONGRESS OF THE UNIVERSAL
POSTAL UNION, HELD AT ROME.
To the Right Hon. SYDNEY BUxTON, M.P.,
His Majesty's Postmaster General.
SIR, Tondon, 18th September 1906.
WE have the honour to submit to you the several Acts of the Sixth
Congress of the Postal Union, as signed at Rome on the 26th of May last,
together with the procès verbawa of the proceedings.
2. The total number of delegates accredited to the Congress was 104,
representing 63 Administrations of the Union entitled to vote and two Non-
Union Administrations. We had had the advantage of a preliminary
consultation in London with Some of the Colonial delegates, and our first
act on reaching Rome was to meet all the representatives of the British
Empire, and the Egyptian delegate, and to discuss with them the more
important matters coming before the Congress. We found no difficulty in
arriving at a general accord except in regard to the proposal for Universal
Penny Postage of which New Zealand had given notice.
We desire to take the opportunity of expressing our appreciation of the
cordial manner in which the representatives of all parts of the Empire
co-operated for Our common ends. In some cases, when there was a certain
conflict of interests, the delegates of particular Colonies showed great readiness
in acceding to the views which tended to the general benefit--- " " - !—-
We also desire to express our obligation to the Japanese delegates, and our
sense of the advantages derived from close co-operation with them.
3. The Congress was formally opened on the 7th of April by His Opening of
Excellency Signor Alfredo Baccelli, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, in Congress and
the presence of their Majesties the King and Queen of Italy. The delegates, *
after having chosen as their President Commendatore Carlo Gamond, Director i.
General of the Italian Post Office, proceeded to apportion among three Com- º
mittees the work of revising existing Conventions and Agreements, and of
considering the various amendments proposed by different countries of the
TJnion. The British delegation formed part of each Committee.
4. The distribution of work was as follows:– Apportion-
To the First Committee, composed of 25 delegations (President, º: of
Mr. H. Babington Smith), revision of the Principal Convention. WOI’K.
To the Second Committee, composed of 22 delegations (President,
M. Jacotey, delegate of France), revision of the Agreement
relating to Insured Letters and Boxes, the Parcel Post Convention,
and the Agreement relating to Certificates of Identity.
To the Third Committee, composed of 22 delegations (President,
Herr Gieseke, delegate of Germany), revision of the Agreements
relating to Money Orders, to the Collection of Bills, Drafts, &c.,
and to Newspaper Subscriptions.
TRANSIT RATES AND STATISTICS.
5. The first question of importance which came up for discussion by the
first Committee was that of the rates payable by One country to another for
the conveyance of correspondence in transit by land or Sea, and of the basis
upon which the accounts for such services should be prepared. This is a
question which divides very keenly the different interests represented at a
0.239. B
Conditions
in view of
which
British
scheme was
framed. *
Principal
features of
British
scheme.
*
Reference to
Sub-Com-
mittee.
Preliminary
discussion in
Sub-Com-
mittee.
{}
Postal Congress. The Washington Congress of 1897 had adopted a com-
promise between divergent views in the shape of a moderate and gradual,
reduction of the former rates; but it was so impressed with the inconvenience
and difficulty of the operation of taking statistics, that it had decided to
retain the statistics of 1896 as the basis of calculation. These statistics had
now become entirely obsolete, and it was obviously desirable to bring them
up to date. It was regarded as certain, however, that this would be opposed
by the advocates of gratuitous transit, who had hailed the crystallization of
the 1896 basis of accounting as an instalment of their principle, and it
seemed probable that other sections of the Congress would decline to face
the difficuties of another “statistical period '' unless the statistical methods
could be greatly simplified and improved. Both as regards rates and basis
of accounting it was therefore difficult to predict what might be the attitude
of the majority at Rome. It was certain that the countries averse to reduction
of transit rates looked forward to the Congress with anxiety, and it was
believed that the advocates of gratuitous transit expected to see their ideal
approached, if not realised. In these circumstances it appeared desirable to
your predecessor that the United Kingdom should take the initiative, and
notice was accordingly given of a broad scheme for simplifying the statistical
methods and the subsequent accounting, and for limiting more strictly than
hitherto the power to claim special rates for land transit services of an
exceptional character. The principal features of this scheme were :—
(a) Statistics to be resumed at regular intervals.
(b) Closed Mails to be weighed with their receptacles, an all round per-
centage deduction being made to allow for the weight of the receptacles and
for correspondence exempted from transit payments.
(c) Correspondence sent d découvert to be counted instead of weighed, and
subjected to fixed rates per article instead of to charges varying according to
the weight and destination of the correspondence.
(d) Land transit services of great, length to be no longer subject to
arbitrary, charges, but to be regulated by a scale graduated according to
istance. ... "
As regards the actual rates for the transit of Closed Mails, it was thought
advisable not to incorporate in the formal proposal any greater alteration than
a fractional rounding.
Although no proposal for gratuitous transit was before the Congress,
several delegations expressed the opinion that it was desirable. We, there-
fore, thought it necessary to urge strongly the objection that gratuitous
transit is unsound in principle, because it would press unfairly on certain
countries; and undesirable in practice, because it would withdraw the main
motive for competition between rival Mail routes, and so tend to restrict the
number of services and to impair their efficiency.
6. Our scheme was well received by the First Committee, and was then
referred to a Sub-Committee for examination, together with a more con-
servative scheme proposed by Russia and a more sweeping scheme proposed
by Switzerland. The basis of the Swiss proposal was abolition of the
distinction between the transit rates for letters and those for other articles
and the adoption of a unified rate so low as to be little more than nominal.
The Sub-Committee was composed of the delegations, of Germany, the
United States, Austria, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Italy,
Mexico, Holland, Russia, and Switzerland. M. Pop, delegate of Holland, was
chosen as President.
The three schemes having been put into discussion, the Belgian delegation
declared for the British proposals, which it had previously greeted as
“equitable, practical, and so complete that it would be a pity to displace a
single stone of the edifice.”
7. The German delegation pronounced its adherence in principle to the
ideal of gratuitous transit. To that ideal the Swiss Scheme approached most
nearly ; but Germany recognised that the ideal was not yet attainable and
was prepared, in a spirit of conciliation, to support the British scheme with
certain reservations,
7
8. On the motion of the French delegation that the British proposals
should be adopted as the basis of the Sub-Committee's work, the three
Schemes were put to the vote with the following result :—
Russian scheme, rejected by 11 votes to 1.
Swiss scheme, rejected by 9 votes to 2, with 1 abstention.
British scheme, accepted as base by 10 votes to 2.
9. The detailed discussion of our scheme occupied some half-dozen
sittings of the Sub-Committee and followed the order of the various Articles
affected in the Principal Convention and Detailed Regulations.
10. Reviewing the discussion without regard to the order followed, we
are inclined to set down as their most gratifying feature the unanimous
welcome accorded to the method proposed for simplifying the process of
statistics. The failure of previous proposals for attaining this result had
led to the perpetuation of the 1896 basis of accounting.
11. The German reservations mentioned above were embodied in counter
proposals on two points. (a) That in place of the triennial statistics proposed
by us there should be one statistical period during the term of a Convention.
A period of six years was ultimately carried by a small majority. (b) That
in place of the system of independent settlement proposed by us, all accounts
for transit during the period covered by the Convention should be embodied
in One general transit account to be prepared by the International Bureau
and settled on clearing-house principles.
We pointed out, that to many countries it was a great advantage to set
amounts due to or from them on transit accounts against amounts due from
or to them on accounts for other services and that they would be deprived of
this advantage by the compulsory withdrawal of transit accounts for special
settlement on clearing-house principles. We had no objection to an optional
use of the International Bureau for transit settlements or to the publication
by the Bureau of particulars of the accounts settled independently. On a
division we carried our point by 8 to 4 ; but having secured freedom
of method (which is very important in our relations with the Colonies) we'
were able to meet to a considerable extent the wishes of the German delegates,
by collaborating in a text which provides for the desired publication and
which will no doubt lead to a considerable use of the International Bureau
for settlements in the manner suggested by Germany.
12. In the matter of the rates of transit for closed mails we opposed all
amendments in Sub-Committee, since we desired to see what form the scheme
would finally assume before agreeing to any reduction ; and our proposals
emerged unaltered in this respect.
13. For correspondence sent à découvert we had proposed accounting rates
of 10 centimes per letter and 5 centimes per post-card or other article irrespec-
tive of destination. The Sub-Committee accepted the proposal that destination
should be disregarded, but reduced the rates to 6 centimes and 2; centimes
respectively. We are clear that these rates are too low, but the question is
not of much financial importance. We should add that we placed before the
Sub-Committee the alternative of accounting for this correspondence at a
uniform rate by weight, and mentioned that according to our experiments
weighing has an advantage over counting when the number of articles to be
dealt with exceeds 20. The Sub-Committee, however, decided for counting
by 10 votes to 2.
14. Our proposals to limit more strictly the conditions under which a
transit service may be classed as “extraordinary,” and to regulate by means
of a distance scale the rates chargeable for land services of great length,
brought up some of the most difficult questions with which the Congress had
to deal. The text submitted had the effect of removing from the list of
“extraordinary" services the inter-Oceanic transit across the United States,
and of disqualifying for admission to that list the Trans-Siberian service, the
Andes service, and the service maintained by Costa Rica between Port Limon
and Punta Arenas. We had ascertained that the United States delegates
would offer no opposition to the reduction of rates involved in the case of
B 2 .
**~~.
British Scheme
adopted as
basis of work
by Sub-Com-
mittee.
Simplifica-
tion of
statistics.
German
COunter
proposals.
Mode of set-
tlement for
transit
aCCOuntS.
- ------4------> ------------------"
Rates for
closed mails.
Rates for
correspon-
dence sent à
découvert.
“Extra-
ordinary’”
services and
º º
services of
great length.
8
their own service provided no new service was admitted as “extraordinary,”
and this condition told effectively against the demands of Russia, Argentina
Discussion and Costa Rica, which were pressed with Some persistence. The Russian
of Trans- delegates indeed found, under one form or another, no less than eight
. separate opportunities for raising the question of their claim to exceptional
COIlCl1151OllS. e
treatment—six in the Sub-Committee, one in the First Committee, and one in
full Congress. On all these Occasions a large majority voted against the
Russian demands, but the task of opposition by speech was thrown almost
entirely upon the British delegation. We have every reason to believe that
the part we took in the discussion was not resented by the delegates of
Russia, with whom our personal relations were cordial throughout the
proceedings, and that it strengthened our influence with the Congress
generally. In the end we had the satisfaction of securing the acceptance of
ordinary transit rates on the new basis for mails by the Trans-Siberian
railway up to the Chinese frontier; but as the service will probably develope
rapidly, we supported the concession to Russia of accounting for these mails
on the basis of triennial statistics. It is not possible to say, at this moment,
what arrangements can be made with the East China railway for the
conveyance through the Non-Union territory of Manchuria, but the delegates
of Japan stated that the Union tariff would be accepted from the point at
which the line passes under Japanese control, and it is possible that the
influence of Japan may secure the acceptance of the same tariff for the
conveyance of mails between that point and the Siberian frontier. The
right of demanding triennial statistics was, of course, accorded also to
“. .". Japan.
Panama " .. 15. The transit across the Isthmus of Panama remains for the present an
transit. “extraordinary" service, but the delegates of the United States announced
that it was the intention of their Government to make arrangements as soon
as possible, for the application of Ordinary conditions. - -
/
Canada. 16. Under, the new arrangement Canada will receive a higher payment
—#m-than hitherte-feſſºrter-oceanic transit services.
Scheme con- 17. Our scheme, having been adopted in its entirety by the Sub-Committee
sidered by with the slight modifications referred to above, then came up for consideration
ººm- in the First Committee. Proposals made by Portugal and Brazil to introduce
* , º, u"Jºe an approximation to the combined transit rates suggested in the Swiss Scheme
. . . ... were rejected by substantial majorities, and other variants suggested by the
*Greek delegation met “with no support. We were authorised by our
instructions to accept a moderate percentage reduction applicable equally
to land and sea transit. But no proposal to this effect was made; and in
view of the conflicting interests of certain countries whose support we had
consistently received, it was undesirable that the initiative should come from
us. ... We felt, however, that without some reduction of transit charges there
would be no prospect of carrying any reduction in the postage rates for
letters, and in these circumstances we thought it advisable to offer conditional
support to a proposal made by Switzerland. The proposal involved reduction
in the transit rates for all classes of correspondence ; but the Swiss delegation,
responding to a suggestion that a step might be taken in the direction of its
ideal of uniform transit rates by not disturbing the present rates for printed
matter, moved an amended proposal in this form :-
*
From To
f. c. f. c.
To reduce the fundamental rate per kilo-
gramme for land transit on letters and
post-cards - wº mº sº 1.70 1.50
sº { 5.00 4.00
10.00 S.00
To reduce sea transit rates on the same
This proposal was carried by 18 to 5, with two abstentions.
scheme 18. The complete scheme as it left the First Committee was adopted in full
adopted by Congress.
Congress. *
REDUCTION OF LETTER POSTAGE.
19. The keenness with which the question of transit rates had been
debated had fortunately not impaired the energy of the Congress for the
Higher
weight unif
discussion of a subject of more immediate interest to the public—the inter- º º
º - e º § OStjä,962 ['a,1562.
national letter rate. Of the European countries represented in the first "“”
Committee, only three–France, Russia, and Turkey—were opposed to any
change; there was no other delegation of importance which failed to manifest
a desire to concede something to the public. What form this generally-
desired concession should take was a point on which the rival policies were
sharply distinguished. On the One hand was a group of countries—mainly
Teutonic and Scandinavian— whose desire to concede something was limited
by the necessity, On financial grounds, of making the concession at the least
possible cost. The conveyance of higher weights for the old rates involves little
sacrifice of revenue, and accordingly the German, Austrian, and Hungarian
delegations found ready support for their proposal to substitute 20 grammes
for 15 grammes as the weight to be carried for the present letter rate of
25 centimes, a proposal which they had supported at previous Congresses,
and which has the advantage for them of assimilating the international unit
to that which they have adopted for their domestic scale. In direct opposition
to this view was the policy of lowering the letter postage, advocated, in one
form or another, by the Japanese delegates, by ourselves, and by Sir Joseph
Ward, the Postmaster General of New Zealand. Of the three schemes
dictated by this common policy, the New Zealand proposal for universal
penny postage had no prospect of being accepted at the Congress. As a
generous ideal for the ambition of future Congresses it received many com-
pliments in Committee; but there was an almost unanimous expression of
opinon that it was premature at the present moment. In accordance with our .
instructions, we stated that we were unable to support the proposal, pointing
out that so vast a scheme needed working out in more exact detail before it
could be seriously considered, and that certain indispensable data for its con-
sideration—e.g., the average cost of transport of a letter" throughout the
Union—were not yet forthcoming. The proposal was actually supported by
only two votes, those of Egypt and the United States, in addition to the
Australasian vote. British India, Canada, and Japan abstained, with us, from
voting on the question.
:
The Japanese proposal was for a 20 centime letter postage per 15 grammes.
Our own, prepared by your instructions, was identical with this as regards.
the first step of the scale, but for the higher steps advocated the further con-
cession of a reduced rate of 10 centimes per 15 grammes. Before either of
these proposals, however, could be brought forward, the Committee had
accepted the Austrian project for a scale of higher weights. We had pointed
out the inconvenience of the 20 gramme scale to countries, like the United
States and our own, which do not use the decimal system of weight, and had
declared that the nearest British equivalent, 3 or # oz., would be practically
impossible of adoption. Nevertheless, the 20 gramme scale was carried in
Committee by 13 votes to 12. - . .
20. It then became a question whether the schemes for raising the weight
and those for lowering the rate were to be mutually exclusive or to be con-
sidered in combination. We decided to proceed with our original proposal,
leaving the scale of weight for ultimate decision by the Congress. In support
of a reduction of the primary letter rate from 25 centimes to 20 centimes,
we urged that the 25 centime postage had been fixed, in very different
conditions, so long ago as 1875, that the Several reductions in transit rates
since that date had been of no immediate benefit to the public, and that a
20 centime rate would still suffice to leave a profit to post offices. At the
same time we reminded the Committee of the effort we had made to obtain
a 2d. postage rate at the Congress of Washington ; and we added that, if the
present Congress rejected the 20 centime rate the British Post Office would seek
to establish it with any country willing to form a “restricted union '' for the
purpose under Article 21 of the Convention. Further, in proposing a reduced
rate for weights above the first, we pointed out that the cost of collecting and
B 3
Jº .
&
• a
Original
British
proposal.
Partly
accepted by
Committee,
Adopted,
in modifiel
form, by
Congress,
*
. . .
º
r- ~. - *—s s 2)
* -------—5.36613&
One ounce
as equiva-
lent for
20 grammes.
1()
delivering a letter is virtually the same, whether the letter is heavy or light,
that the proposed reduction would relieve letters slightly Overweight from
the disproportionate burden of a 50 centime fine, and that the cheaper postage
on heavy letters would be of advantage not only to the commercial public but
to private individuals desiring to enclose photographs and other small articles
with the correspondence.
21. The Japanese proposal having been rejected (by 13 votes to 10), the
corresponding element in our own project had to be abandoned. In spite,
however, of vigorous opposition, we succeeded in carrying in Committee (by
12 votes to 11) our proposal for a 10 centime postage for weights above the
first—the scale of weight being reserved for decision by the Congress. By a
preliminary vote the Committee had already agreed to recommend a reduction
of the rate only in the event of the maintenance by the Congress of the
existing weight scale. Should the provisional acceptance of the 20 gramme
Scale be confirmed by the Congress, then the Committee was against any
lowering of the rate.
22. It will thus be seen that the Committee had provisionally pronounced
on the question of principle whether the rival plans for raising the weight
and lowering the rate were to be mutually exclusive or to be combined. The
adoption of either plan was held to exclude the other. This decision was,
however, soon to be reversed in full Congress. Before that body we again urged
the objection we had already put forward in Committee to the 20 gramme
unit. It was not, we said again, that the unit was too high, but that it would
in the nearest British equivalent be so inconvenient as to put its adoption in
the United Kingdom out of the question; we added that if the Congress
maintained it, we should be compelled to ask for the recognition of one ounce
(28' 3465 grammes) as the conventional equivalent for 20 grammes. The
Congress, nevertheless, did maintain it by a majority of one (30 votes against
29), whereupon we presented afresh our scheme for a reduced letter postage
On weights above the first in a modified form. One change, now obligatory,
was the substitution of 20 grammes for 15 grammes as the weight unit; a
3#e3:#63; the stubstitution of 15 centimes for 10 centimes as the
proposed postage rate for the higher rates, we subsequently introduced,
mainly through regard for the needs of Italy, which has a domestic rate of
15 centimes. In this final form, i.e., for a letter postage of 15 centimes per
each 20 grammes above the first 20–our proposal was adopted by the
Congress (30 votes against 26). / ſº
****
JLivº Clºiſvº
23. This decision, Sanctioning as it did a double concession—a higher
weight unit as well as a reduced postage rate on units above the first—was
unacceptable to two groups of countries—unacceptable of course to the group,
typified by France, which had from the first desired the letter postage to be
left absolutely untouched, hardly more agreeable to the Central European
group, which had from the first advocated a higher weight unit, partly with
the object of averting any alteration of the postage rate. Indeed some
members of the second group hardly concealed their regret at the success of
their own proposal, accompanied as that now proved to be by one change
which they had intended to obviate, and by another which had been
unforeseen. For at the earliest opportunity (in the discussion of Article V. of
the Detailed Regulations) we had pressed in the First Committee our demand
for the recognition of 1 ounce as the conventional equivalent for the new
weight unit of 20 grammes, and had successfully (17 votes against 5) carried this
important point. It was consequently not surprising to find strenuous efforts
made to undo what had been done. France, through one of her Colonial
representatives, took the unprecedented step of inviting the Congress to go
back upon its own decision. With this invitation, backed as it was by no
better argument than that the decision had only been arrived at by a small
majority, the Congress declined to comply. It did agree, however, to allow
a period of grace to countries unprepared for the new régime. Under a new
Article of the Final Protocol such countries may maintain the weight unit
and postage rate of the Convention of Washington for letters originating in
their service until they are ready to apply those of the present Convention.
The countries which specially advocated the insertion of this Article were
Austria, France, Peru, and Venezuela.



||
24. The same (the 6th) sitting of the Congress witnessed the final attack Finally
upon our ounce equivalent for 20 grammes. This was led by the delegate of ºl.
Bungary, who questioned the alleged inconvenience of the # ounce equivalent "“”
and protested against the advantage to British and American commerce in
a unit of over 28 grammes as against the Continental 20 grammes. But by a
considerable majority (36 votes against 10) the Congress maintained the
decision of the First Committee.
25. On the whole we submit these results give good ground for satis- Advan-
faction. You will share our regret that we could not induce the Congress tageous
to lower the initial letter postage; but the reduction which we did persuade *
it to effect in the subsequent rates of the scale is substantial and should be
welcome, while the further concession of an ounce unit as against the
20 gramme unit of the Continent, though rendered necessary by the incon-
venience of any nearer equivalent, constitutes incidentally, an undoubted
advantage in favour of the public in the United Kingdom.
OTHER QUESTIONS OF POSTAGE, &c., DIRECTLY AFFECTING THE PUBLIC.
26. The question of the postage to be paid on printed matter was raised Postage on
by the delegates of Portugal and New Zealand. The Portuguese Post Office ..
was anxious that newspapers and periodicals appearing at least once a .
month should pass at the rate of 2% centimes per 50 grammes or fraction
thereof; but notwithstanding an eloquent appeal for the adoption of this
measure in the interests of general education as well as of the press, th
proposal was rejected by a considerable majority. -
27. A similar fate awaited the New Zealand proposal that for newspapers
the rate should be 5 centimes per 100 grammes. This proposal was
supported both by Portugal and by Canada.
28. The Swiss Post Office, which had taken an active part in the
rejection of the New Zealand proposal, desired that the mińimitin-postage—
for a packet of commercial papers should be reduced from 25 centimes to
10 centimes. This suggestion likewise failed to commend itself, in view of
the objections raised by one of the German delegates, who pointed out what
we ourselves felt, namely, that there would be risk of fraud, in the way of
attempts to pass letters as commercial papers, and that the labour of the
Post Office in examining such packets would be increased.
29. But little support was accorded to a recommendation on the part of
Bulgaria which had for its object the exclusion of post-cards from trans-
mission unless partially prepaid. - -
30. As anticipated, in the matter of post-cards the Congress showed a Post-cards.
disposition to proceed on liberal lines, and by way of simplifying the dis-
cussion it was thought desirable in the first instance for the delegates of the
countries which had put forward proposals on this subject to meet and
discuss the matter among themselves. Afterwards a text for the revision of
the Detailed Regulations was laid before the First Committee.
31. It was then decided that although the heading “Post-card ” in French
or some other language is to be maintained for official issues it shall no
longer be obligatory for post-cards of private manufacture; and a further
concession, advocated by us, was made in the matter of written communi-
cations, which are to be allowed on the left hand half of the address side of
all post-cards, whether illustrated or not. The sender of an international s
post-card will moreover in future have the right of affixing a label giving his ~.
own name and address and not only as heretofore a label with the name and
address of the person for whom the card is intended ; and it will also be
permissible to attach engravings or photographs on thin paper, provided that
they are entirely adherent, a modification which we did not ourselves favour
as it is contrary to the existing British Inland Regulations. The maximum
dimensions for post-cards were maintained at 14 centimetres (5; inches) by
9 centimetres (34; inches); but the Congress considered it desirable also to
fix a minimum of 10 centimetres (3}# inches) by 7 centimetres (2% inches),
B 4
Printed
matter.
Samples.
* = ******** -
Postage
stamps.
Reristered
article3.
12
This minimum exceeds, by nearly # of an inch in one direction and by
# an inch in the other, that fixed for our own inland post-cards.
32. In connection with printed matter it was decided to authorise the
addition in manuscript to Christmas and New Year cards of expressions of
good wishes, compliments, &c., limited to five words, a privilege which had
previously in theory, if not always in practice, been confined in the inter-
national service to printed visiting cards. A determined effort was made in
certain quarters to extend this concession to illustrated cards in general, but
after prolonged discussion the proposal was rejected, it being felt by many,
including ourselves, that it might lead to abuses, and that illustrated cards
passing for 5 centimes or one halfpenny might be used by the public to
convey in a foreign language messages of a personal nature not admissible at
the reduced rate.
33. There was, however, a general desire to facilitate the transmission of
picture cards, which in recent years have had an important bearing on
postal revenue, and under the new Convention the title “Post-card ” will
not debar them from transit as printed papers provided that in other respects
they conform to the printed matter regulations.
34. Some useful modifications were made in regard to the manuscript
alterations permissible in other classes of printed matter, such as notices
relating to the despatch of ships, merchandise, &c., but they do not call for
special comment. -
35. The German Post Office would have liked to suppress the provision
which forbids the transmission of postage and other stanps, whether obliterated
or not, at the reduced rate; but although the proposal met with a certain
amount of support it was rejected on account of the temptations to theft to
which it would give rise.
36. On this occasion the Swiss Post Office was successful in carrying by
considerable majorities, proposals which it had put forward at Washington
-HI #897; for extending the benefit of the sample post to keys sent singly and
consignments of fresh cut flowers; but the Congress rejected a further
proposal to include engravers' blocks in the same category. The sample
post was already open to articles of natural history, scientific and other
§pecimens sent for no commercial purpose, and it was therefore no great step
to render it available for tubes of serum and pathological specimens rendered
innocuous by their mode of preparation and packing, a concession which will
be appreciated by societies and individuals engaged in medical research.
37. The Bulgarian Post Office wished to allow sample packets to have a
saleable value not exceeding 3 francs, but in view of the opposition displayed
the proposal was withdrawn.
38. Hereafter it will be obligatory for all countries of the Postal Union
to adopt the colours already prescribed for postage stamps representing the
typical rates of 25, 10; and 5 centimes. The question was raised of fixing
a special colour for stamps of the denomination of 15 centimes, as they will
be used in connection with the new scale of letter postage, but it was thought
best to let the point remain in abeyance. Sanction has been given to the
practice of perforating postage stamps with initials, &c., subject to the
regulations of the country of issue, and the public will no longer be
forbidden to affix the stamps to the back of post-cards or packets of
printed matter, although it is recommended that they should in every case
'be placed in the upper right corner of the address side. The removal of
this restriction is to be regretted on account of the extra labour of ascer-
taining whether postage stamps have or have not been affixed in particular
cases. But the work of dealing with correspondence arriving from abroad
will be facilitated by a new regulation that on all postage stamps the value
is to be shown in Arabic figures.
39. There was a Swiss proposal that the registration fee should be
reduced in the case of printed matter to 10 centimes but very little support
was accorded to it, as might be expected in view of the fact that the labour
13
involved in handling such packets is certainly no less and often much greater
than in the case of registered letters.
40. A proposal made by the French Post Office, not for the first time,
to fix the indemnity for loss at 25 francs in the case of letters and post-cards,
and 10 francs in the case of other articles was withdrawn in favour of a
suggestion of the Swiss Post Office that indemnities should be payable up to a
maximum of 50 francs. A provision of this kind would in practice have been
likely to give rise to continual difficulties; and we were glad, therefore, that
in the end it was decided to maintain the indemnity at 50 francs in all cases.
There was also an almost unanimous feeling among the members of the first
Committee that sufficient time has now elapsed to enable all Administrations
to obtain any legislative authority which might be requisite for the assumption
of responsibility in connection with the loss of registered articles; and not-
withstanding protests from the representatives of the United States and
Argentina, the Committee pronounced itself in favour of withdrawing all
option of postponement. This decision, which was again opposed on behalf
of the same two countries in full Congress, was upheld there by a large
majority.
41. Supporters of the slatus quo in regard to registered letters were more
fortunate in obtaining the rejection by the Congress of a recommendation of
the First Committee to withdraw the privilege enjoyed by countries out of
Europe of raising their registration fee to 50 centimes.
42. A proposal of the Luxemburg Post Office to reduce the express letter
fee to 25 centimes met with but slight support, and the fee remains at
30 centimes. -
43. We were not called upon to protest against a proposal of the Russian
Post Office to return only such undelivered articles as bear the address of the
senders on the outside, as the proposal was withdrawn without discussion.
44. The proposals which the Belgian Post Office brought forward with
the view of confirming and defining the postal privileges to be enjoyed by
prisoners of war and the “bureaux de renseignements’ established on their
behalf by the Hague Convention of 1899 were generally viewed with
sympathy, but there was a feeling that the concessions ought not to be
pushed too far. In the end it was decided to exempt correspondence and
parcels sent to or from prisoners of war from payment of postage and
insurance fees, and incidentally from all transit charge, and to give the use
of the Money Order service free of charge. Prisoners will not, however,
have any special privileges for obtaining or sending goods under the cash on
delivery system. -
REPLY PAID SCHEMES.
45. The question of providing for the prepayment of replies aroused
much interest at this Congress. In addition to the schemes set forth in the
volume of proposals, a number of other more or less ingenious projects were
brought forward when the Congress met, and all these were put into
discussion in the First Committee. -
46. As your own decision to present a scheme for the issue of a Reply
Coupon, exchangeable in any country for a 25 centimes stamp, was largely
based on the idea that an experiment of this sort should if possible be tried,
though it was difficult to estimate how far advantage would be taken of it,
it will interest you to learn particulars furnished by the delegate of Holland
regarding an experiment made in that country. The Dutch Administration,
which had for some time kept on sale the postage stamps of the Dutch
Colonies, began in the month of September 1905 to supply its principal post
offices with stamps (for 25 centimes or the equivalent) of seven European
countries and of the United States, and during the first seven months of the
experiment sold to the public no fewer than 11,733 of these foreign stamps
at a small premium above prime cost. -
This evidence of a public demand had great weight with the Committee,
and it was resolved, with practical unanimity, that something should now be
done to provide the means of prepaying the reply to a letter sent abroad,
Express fee.
Undelivered
correspon-
dence.
Prisoners of
War and the
Bureaux de
Renseigne-
ments.
Interest
aroused.
0.239. C
Iºvidence as
to public
demand.
Rival
schemes
discussed,
British
scheme
. adopted.
Votes of
Orange Free
State and
Transvaal
Republic
Iapse.
Vote claimed
for New Zea-
land refused
by Commit-
tee ;
14
47. The rival' schemes were very keenly urged by their authors, and
there was a long discussion. We found, as we expected to find, a strong
bias in favour of the ingenious combination of letter card with reply envelope
proposed by France. In accordance with our instructions we opposed this,
partly on the ground of its inelasticity (no provision being possible for
replies involving a heavy or bulky enclosure), but mainly on the ground,
common to all non-accounting schemes, of its liability to abuse by reason of
the variation in the equivalents of different countries for the Union postage
rate of 25 centimes. In the opinion of Germany, on the other hand, the
absence of provision for accounting constituted one of the merits of the
French scheme. The German delegates argued that the suppresion of all
accounting on correspondence was a fundamental principle of the Union, and
they tried to raise an objection of principle to the extremely simple system
of adjustments through the International Bureau which will protect the
interests of every country under the British scheme.
48. Under these conflicting views the Committee became somewhat
confused, and in a preliminary vote on all the schemes divided broadly into
the two classes of accounting or non-accounting, rejected accounting
schemes by a majority of two and non-accounting schemes by a majority of
eight. -
At this point the discussion was adjourned, the delegate of Holland
undertaking to formulate at the next meeting a proposal for general action
on the lines followed experimentally by the Dutch Administration. It did
not appear likely to us that a solution could be reached on these lines, and
as we felt that only fuller acquaintance with the advantages of the British
Reply Coupon was needed in order to gain it adherents, we availed ourselves
of the interval to discuss our scheme with the delegates of certain countries.
At the next meeting of the Committee the Dutch proposal was rejected
by 16 votes to 3, and it was decided to reconsider the proposals of the
United States, France, and the United Kingdom. -
49. Ultimately the American proposal was rejected by 20 votes to 4, the
French proposal by 14 votes to 7, and the British proposal was adopted by
12 votes to 10.
An attempt was afterwards made by the French delegation to induce the
full Congress to ignore the recommendation of the Committee. On this
occasion the German delegation explained its preference for the French
scheme, but stated that Germany, while prepared to apply the British
scheme if that should be adopted by Congress, would abstain from voting.
On a division the Congress decided in favour of the British scheme by a
substantial majority of 46 votes to 2, with 12 abstentions.
CHANGES IN POSTAL MACHINERY.
50. One of the most delicate subjects with which we had to deal was
that of British Colonial votes. It involved two distinct questions. In the
first place there was a question as to the exercise in the Congress itself of
the votes acquired under the Convention of Washington by the Orange Free
State and Transvaal Republic, and now, as we contended, naturally devolving
upon the two British Colonies which in the interval had taken the place of
those States. The change in political status of the two territories had never
been formally notified to the Union, but the Colonies had contributed the
former payments of the States to Union expenses as though no change had
taken place, and their representatives had been invited to Rome. So soon,
however, as the general question of delegates' powers came before the
Congress, the right of the two Colonies in question to vote was challenged.
The point argued was, Were the two votes of the former States alive or
dead? By a large majority (32 to 12) the Congress decided that the votes
had lapsed.
51. The second and far more important point was to secure increased
voting power for Greater Britain under the new Convention in consideration
of the changed conditions in South Africa through the absorption of fresh
territory, as well as in Australasia through the formation of the Australian
15
Commonwealth and the decision of New Zealand not to join it. Our original
claim in the “Cahier des Propositions,” circulated some time before the
meeting of the Congress, had been for three new votes, to be assigned
respectively to New Zealand, the Cape Colony with Natal, and the Orange
River Colony with the Transvaal. : f
52. Experience of the reluctance of former Congresses to grant any
extension of British voting power had led to the conjecture that it would
be impossible to obtain three or even two new votes, and difficult to secure
a bare one. Conjecture was turned into assured conviction by the attitude
of the majority of delegates in regard to the preliminary claim described
in the preceding paragraph, and, thinking it expedient not to frame our
demand in a shape which would certainly be refused, we brought before
the First Committee a claim for one new vote only, to be assigned to New
Zealand. The claim was opposed mainly on the ground that a vote granted
to a Colony is really acquired by the mother-country, and that, from this
point of view, the United Kingdom was already adequately represented. It
is a familiar point of view at Postal Congresses, and is, no doubt, appropriate
to most continental countries, which unlike our own, do not possess
autonomous Colonies. Thus, at Rome the group of German, of Spanish,
and of Portuguese Colonies were in each case represented by the delegate
of the mother-country; and each delegate in his double capacity invariably
voted in a single sense. It was easy to demonstrate to the Committee that
between this system and the British there was nothing in common, but our
demonstration was without effect. The Committee decided to allow no
alteration of the status quo in the matter of votes, save only in the case
of the United States. - -
53. What the First Committee had refused, however, we succeeded in
obtaining from the Congress itself. Before that body we put forward our
claim in a slightly modified form. We proposed the creation of a new vote
for South Africa, so that the vote allotted by Article 27 of the Convention of
but accorded
by Congress
for South
Africa.
Washington to the rest of the British Colonies and assigned in the Final
Protocol to the South African Colonies might be set free to be assigned to
New Zealand. By 22 votes to 20 the Congress adopted this proposal. Our
claim once granted, others were promptly raised, and ultimately France,
Germany, Holland, Italy, and Portugal each left the Congress with a new
colonial vote. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54. The Swiss Delegation proposed the consolidation in a single Conven-
tion of all the Acts of the Union and submitted a draft Convention framed
accordingly. Analogous proposals had been made both at Vienna and at
Washington without practical result. On the present occasion the question
was more minutely, if not more profitably, considered, being referred to a
small Sub-Committee (under the Presidency of the First Austrian Delegate,
the Chevalier de Stibral), which, after eliciting many conflicting views,
recommended that the task of consolidation should be entrusted to a special
conference to be held at Berne between two Congresses. This recommen-
dation (on which we abstained from voting) was, however, abortive; for the
Swiss delegation in view of the opposition which its proposal had encountered
withdrew it unconditionally and asked that the project of a special conference,
which it thought could have no useful result, might not be proceeded with.
The matter was thus once more shelved. - " - . . -
55. Proposals had been formulated, as at Washington, for abolishing the
option of levying a surtax on correspondence sent long distances by sea ; but
were again withdrawn in deference to the wishes of the Latin-American
countries. - - . . . !.
56. The question of relaxing the rule under which insufficiently paid
correspondence is chargeable with double the deficit was carefully considered.
The Swiss delegation revived a proposal made at Vienna. that the mere deficit
should be charged; the Greek delegation proposed that there should be no
charge when the deficit does not exceed a single rate. In accordance with
your instructions we moved for the restriction of the charge under the present
rule within a limit of 10 centimes in addition to the amount of the deficient
- C 2
Consoli-
dation of
Conventions
shelved.
Long-sea
Surtaxes.
Insufficiently
paid cor-
respondence.
\
&
Official cor-
respondence
on telegraph
business.
“Chain **
letters.
Applications
for missing
articles.
Preparation
of mails and
mail bags.
Peculiar
concession
to Persia.
16
postage. None of these suggestions was, however, adopted, and the rule
remains unaltered ; but the penalties will of course be lighter in the future,
by reason of the concession of a more liberal scale of weight for letters,
as well as of a lower scale of letter-postage for all weights above the first.
Another simplification of advantage to the Post Office, and likely to prevent
misunderstandings on the part of the public, is to be introduced into the
treatment of unpaid or insufficiently paid correspondence. The amount
marked on it in French currency by the despatching office will be double the
deficiency, or in other words the charge to be collected on delivery, and not
the single deficiency only.
57. A proposal of the Portuguese delegation that official correspondence
On telegraph business, like that on postal business, should be exempt from
payment of postage met with general opposition and was withdrawn.
58. The Australian delegation successfully appealed to the Committee
for aid in dealing with the plague of so called “chain'' letters from which
the Post Office of the Commonwealth, it seems, peculiarly suffers. When
insufficiently prepaid and consequently refused by the addressee such letters
accumulate in enormous quantities, and a new provision has been inserted in
the Convention authorizing Post Offices, under proper safeguard, to get rid
of these at once, instead of returning them to the country of origin. -
59. A proposal made both at Vienna and at Washington that a fee should
be charged for inquiries in regard to missing ordinary letters, as well as
in the case of registered letters, was once more brought forward, this time
by the delegate of Portugal, and was again successfully resisted. A slight
change was made in the procedure to be adopted in inquiring for missing
registered letters. We had supported a Swiss proposal that the inquiries
should be pursued continuously from office to office instead of being
communicated in the first instance directly from the office of origin to that
of destination, as is done under the Convention of Washington, but the
Committee decided to retain the present practice for European countries
and to adopt the Swiss proposal only for relations with countries beyond
sea. Incidentally it may be mentioned that the work of officers dealing
with registered correspondence will be lightened by the abolition of the
rule providing for the registration of advices of delivery on their return
to the office of origin, and by a new regulation to the effect that under
no circumstances are registered articles to be sent mixed with Ordinary
correspondence. -
60. With regard to the preparation of mails and the documents which
accompany them, it may be stated briefly that various slight changes, some
of which were either initiated or advocated by ourselves, were approved of;.
and a uniform procedure was laid down for the return of empty bags. We
had hoped that some general understanding might be come to for providing
and sharing the cost of mail bags used in the exchange between any two
countries, but the movement made in that direction, which we did our best to
further, did not meet with sufficient support.
61. To the general rule that prepayment of postage covers delivery an
exception, limited in extent but not without importance as being a derogation
from a cardinal principle of the Union, was allowed in the case of the Persian
Post Office. The Persian delegation represented the peculiar burden laid
upon that Office by the fact that it received from abroad great quantities of
printed matter the delivery of which, in many cases by camel or horse post,
was exceptionally expensive, while no printed matter, or next to none, was
exported from Persia. It was asked that the Persian Post Office might either
be granted 25 per cent. of the postage collected in other countries on printed
matter sent to Persia or be allowed to make a charge on its delivery up to a
mazimum of 50 per cent. of the cost of such delivery. We felt bound to
oppose claims violating fundamental Union principles, but ultimately with-
drew our opposition when the Congress consented to allow a charge in Persia
of 5 centimes on the delivery of every article of printed matter received from
abroad. As somewhat similar conditions prevail in China, it was decided
that the same concession should be made to the Chinese Post Office in the
event of its adhering to the present Convention.
17
LIMITED AGREEMENTS.
62. A Hungarian proposal to permit the insertion of coin in insured
letters met with considerable opposition, and was finally withdrawn.
63. A Belgian proposal to widen the steps of the insurance scale from
300 francs to 500 francs was rejected by 14 votes to 5.
64. A Swiss proposal for the abolition of all accounts in connection with
insured letters was defeated by 11 votes to 9. A French proposal to simplify
the accounting by the adoption of a statistical basis was abandoned by its
authors, but was subsequently brought forward by Belgium, with the support
of the British delegation, and adopted by 17 votes to 3. We were able to
secure, in accordance with our instructions, the continuance of a credit to the
country of destination. +
65. Three European Administrations submitted that the time had come to
abolish the latitude at present permitted in the method of fixing insurance
fees. The success of this proposal would have abolished our right to levy a
uniform scale of insurance fees irrespective of destination, and we pointed
out that the system adopted by the United Kingdom is more consonant with
general postal principles than the system it was proposed to make obligatory.
In deference to our views, the proposal was withdrawn.
66. A Bulgarian proposal that the addressee of an insured article should
be fined in the event of a fraudulent declaration of value by the sender was
withdrawn after the possibilities of the abuse of such an arrangement had
been pointed out.
67. A Swiss proposal to refund the insurance fee in the event of the loss
of an insured article was rejected as contrary to all principles of insurance.
68. In accordance with our instructions we announced that the question
of admitting insured boxes in the British service was under-consideration.
69. One of the most important changes made in the Parcel Convention
relates to the rates for transport by Sea. An Italian proposal for reduction
was rejected in the Second Committee by 17 votes to 3, with 1 abstention,
but, revived in a somewhat modified form, was carried in full Congress by
the narrow majority of 21 to 19, with 21 abstentions.
The change is as follows:–
PRESENT. FUTURE.
Transports not exceeding * Transports not exceeding º
- fr. c. - fr. c.
500 sea miles - sº 4-g .25 500 sea miles - - - . 25
1,000 , º - . 50 2,500 , * tº -: . 50
3,000 , * - sº sº 1.00 5,000 , º dº - 1.00
6,000 ., sº º 2.00 8,000 , ºg - - 1.50
Exceeding 6,000 sea miles º 3.00 Exceeding 8,000 sea miles - 2.00
This proposal was carried mainly by the votes of countries providing no
sea services; the minority consisted exclusively of European countries with
their colonies and dependencies. The application of the reductions will,
in many cases, be deferred under a clause added, at the instance of the
French delegation, to the final Protocol, which permits countries bound by
contracts with packet companies to maintain the present rates until they
are in a position to apply the new tariff.
70. A German proposal to limit to 1 franc the maximum sea rate
applicable to a parcel not exceeding 1 kilogramme was also carried, the
object being to assimilate the charge for light parcels to that in force for
insured boxes of the same weight.
C 3
Insured
letters and
boxes.
Parcel Post
Convention.
Money
Orders.
China and
Ethiopia.
18
71. This recognition of two classes of parcels was used by the Indian
delegation as an argument in favour of its proposal for the authorization in
the text of the Convention of a scale of charges graduated according to
weight. The proposal was rejected, but the Article in the final Protocol
under which India has been permitted to levy such a scale was amended so
as to give the same liberty to any country which may adhere to the Parcel
Jonvention in the interval before the next Congress.
72. The reduction in the rates applicable to sea transport will be partly
neutralised, so far as the public is concerned, by the number of cases in
which Administrations have received permission to levy or to increase
Surcharges.
73. A proposal designed to lessen the delay incurred in the transmission
of parcels accross the territory of intermediate countries gave rise to an
interesting discussion. The Belgian delegate stated that this delay is much
greater in the case of postal parcels than in the case of parcels forwarded at
express rates through railway companies, and explained that the advantage
obtained by the latter is due to the employment of direct parcel bills pre-
pared in the country of origin for the country of destination. He accordingly
advocated the general adoption of the same plan by Postal Administrations in
European exchanges. The proposal after being rejected in Committee was
accepted in principle by the Congress, but was ultimately thrown out on
account of uncertainty as to its practical application. A general feeling was,
however, expressed that further experiment on the lines suggested is very
desirable.
74. A considerable reduction in the Union charges on Money Orders was
carried on the proposal of Germany. The new scale of commission to be
charged to the public will be uniformly at the rate of 25 centimes per 50
francs. This is from 24 per cent. to 60 per cent. lower than the commission
charged at the various points of the scale in force in this country. The
poundage to be credited by the issuing country to the paying country will be
+ per cent. of the amount paid. The allowance under this head in the
Conventions and Agreements between the United Kingdom and Foreign and
Colonial Administrations is ; per cent. As we pay a much larger total of
Foreign and Colonial Orders than we issue, the application of the Union rate
of poundage would be to our disadvantage, but requests for the adoption of
that rate will no doubt be received from a number of Foreign and Colonial
Administrations. - - - *
75. In connection with Telegraph Money Orders our proposal to omit two
superfluous words from the formula prescribed for the message was adopted.
CASH-ON-DELIVERY SERVICE.
76. We should perhaps record here two changes of importance which
have been made in the regulations relating to trade charges.
(a) The option of limiting the maximum collection undertaken to 500
francs (instead of 1,000 francs) has been withdrawn as regards
articles sent by the letter post, but retained in the case of those
sent by parcel post.
(b) The amounts collected on cash-on-delivery parcels are in future to be
remitted to the senders of the parcels by means of special Money
Orders, the plan approximating to that already prescribed in the
case of cash-on-delivery letters.
As the total fees on cash-on-delivery letters will be reduced by the
amount of the reduction in the rates for Money Order commission, while
the fees on cash-on-delivery parcels remain as before, the discrepancy which
already exists between the two scales of charges will be accentuated.
PROSPECTIVE ACCESSIONS TO THE UNION.
77. The Chinese Empire, which had communicated to the Congress of
Washington its intention of joining the Union at some future date, has not
f
Arr *
* . 14 *
19
yet been able to carry out that intention. But it was represented at Rome, as
was also the Empire of Ethiopia, and each State declared its hope of adhering
to the Union by the meeting of the next Congress, if not sooner. The
Protocol accordingly remains open for signature on their behalf.
MISCELLANEOUS.
78. The Congress was magnificently entertained by their Majesties the
King and Queen of Italy, as well as by Signor Baccelli, Minister of Posts,
and by the City of Rome. By the Italian Government the delegates were
not only granted special facilities for railway travelling, and for inspecting
museums and public monuments, but were invited at the close of their
Italian
hospitality.
stay to visit Florence and Venice, where they were received with abundant
hospitality by the local municipalities. *
79. The Postmaster General of the Australian Commonwealth had ex-
pressed a hope that the future capital of Australia might be selected as the
place of the next Congress ; but it was evident that the majority of the
delegates would prefer, for obvious reasons of convenience, a European city
at which, it had been made known, the next Congress would be welcome,
viz., Madrid. The embarrassment of a direct choice between two competing
invitations was avoided by a vote on the general question whether the next
meeting should be held within or without Europe. The decision was in
favour of Europe, and accordingly Madrid was designated.
80. Some dissatisfaction with the constitution of the Committees of
the Congress was expressed on the part of several of the delegations not
included in any one of them. It should be explained that delegations not
represented on a committee have right of speech, though of course no vote,
and this right had been freely exercised at Rome. There was a general feeling
however that every country ought to form part of at least one Committee,
and accordingly it was decided to instruct the International Bureau to
consider the question before the meeting of the next Congress, in concert
with the Administration of the country receiving that Congress, and to devise
such a rearrangement of the Committees as would leave no delegation excluded
from all of them.
81. In conclusion we desire to place on record our warm appreciation of
the assistance rendered to us by Mr. A. G. Ferard, who acted as Secretary to
the British Delegation, and Mr. E. J. Harrington, who accompanied us as
attaché. Mr. Ferard's long experience in the Foreign Branch of the
Secretary's Office and his knowledge of languages rendered his services
specially valuable; while Mr. Harrington showed a remarkable mastery of
the varied facts and statistics required in the course of the discussions of the
Congress.
We have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient faithful Servants,
H. BABINGTON SMITH,
A. B. WALKLEY.
H. DAVIES.
Madrid
chosen for
next Con-
gress.
Constitution
of Congress
Committees.
UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION.
.COPY of Report of the British Delegates at
the Sixth Congress of the UNIVERSAL PostAL
UNION, held at Rome in 1906, with the Post-
master General's Letter forwarding the Report
to the Treasury.
(Mr Sydney Buarton.)
Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed,
19 November 1906.
[Price 23d.]
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