Numb. 14. 101

THE
NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
Published by Authority.

WELLINGTON, SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1866.

G. GREY, Governor.
ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government House, at Wellington, the
twenty-third day of February, 1866.

Present :
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS by an Act of the General Assembly
of New Zealand, intituled "The Electric
Telegraph Act, 1865," the Governor of New Zealand
is empowered to establish lines of electric telegraph,
and to purchase any lines of electric telegraph then
existing: And whereas by the said Act it is amongst
other things enacted, that it shall be lawful for the
Governor, by Order in Council, to make Regulations
for the transmission and delivery of all despatches,
messages, and communications by means of any such
line, and in like manner to fix and determine the
fees, rates or dues to be demanded and received for
the transmission of any such despatch, message or
communication, and for the delivery thereof respec-
tively, and the modes and times of payment, and to
regulate the conduct, management, working and
maintenance of any such telegraph line, and any such
fees, rates, dues or regulations from time to time to
increase or lower, repeal, alter or vary respectively,
and direct and make such others as may be deemed
expedient, and such fees, rates and dues may be
legally recovered; and such regulations shall have
the force of law when published in the Government
Gazette of the Colony :

Now therefore, His Excellency the Governor, in
exercise of the power vested in him by the said
hereinbefore recited Act, doth hereby, with the advice
and consent of the Executive Council of the said
Colony, make the regulations set out in the Schedules
to this Order for regulating the transmission and
delivery of despatches, messages and communications
by means of any line of electric telegraph which has
been or hereafter shall be established or purchased
by the Governor of New Zealand under the powers
conferred by the said Act, and for regulating the
modes and times of the payment of the fees, rates,
and dues hereinafter fixed and determined, and for
regulating the conduct, management, working and
maintenance of such lines. And with the like advice
and consent of such Council, the Governor aforesaid
doth also hereby fix and determine that the fees,

rates and dues specified in the Schedule herewith,
written shall be the fees, rates and dues to be
demanded and received for the transmission of
despatches, messages and communications, and the
delivery thereof respectively by such lines; and doth
further declare, that this Order shall take effect from
the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-six.

FORSTER GORING,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

SCHEDULE
Of Regulations and Conditions under which Telegrams
are authorized to be transmitted on the lines of
Electric Telegraph belonging to the General Govern--
ment, New Zealand.

1. Form of Telegram.

Printed forms, upon which telegrams should be
written, are issued at the various Stations of the
department, and may be had on application; but all
telegrams, whether written upon the prescribed form,
upon any other printed form, or upon plain paper,
be considered as presented for transmission under
the several conditions contained in these regulations.

All telegrams presented for transmission must be
written in ink, in a clear and legible manner; they
shall contain a proper address, and bear a genuine
signature in the usual handwriting of the sender.

In order to prevent errors in the transmission of
telegrams, all words must be written in full, and no
abbreviation will be allowed; at the same time it is
advisable to write all numbers in words in full, and
not in figures.

2. Transmission of Telegrams.

Telegrams will be transmitted in accordance with
the rule laid down by Section 13 of "The Electric-
Telegraph Act, 1865," as follows:---

General or Provincial Government telegrams, also
all telegrams relative to the arrest of criminals or
persons accused, the discovery or prevention of crime,
or matters connected with the administration of
justice, and telegrams transmitted in cases of pressing
emergency, such as accident, sickness, or death, may
be transmitted in priority to any other telegram.

Private or Ordinary and Press telegrams shall be
transmitted in the order in which they may be
received by the officers of the department; but