310
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

through as few hands as possible in its transit
through the office. When an application for a
missing letter is made by the public, the person
so inquiring should be directed to make applica-
tion to the Secretary, and when the case is
referred from the Secretary to the Postmaster,
very careful inquiry should be made of the person
who is stated to have posted the missing letter,
and of the person to whom it should have been
delivered.

135. All applications received from the Secre-
     tary for missing letters must be entered in a
     book to be called the "Missing Letter Record,"
     which should also contain full notes of any
     circumstances which may appear likely to throw
     light upon the case in question, or to assist in
     any future inquiry. No inquiry on the subject
     is to be made by the Postmaster of any one in
     his office. As a rule the "Missing Letter Record"
     should be attended to by the Postmaster alone,
     and should be kept securely under lock and key.
     Postmasters are not allowed to keep a private
     record of the addresses of letters which they
     may suppose to contain property.

136. A quarterly return of missing letter cases
     must be forwarded to the Secretary, containing
     the particular circumstances of each missing letter
     inquired after during the quarter, and the results
     of such inquiries.

XVI.—ERRORS AND MIS-SENDINGS.

137. Every error and irregularity must be
     reported in the proper form as soon as possible
     after it is observed, and any omission to do so
     will be considered a neglect of duty. The fol-
     lowing are the Officers to whom the different
     classes of errors and irregularities are to be
     reported, viz. :-

To the Secretary.

Letters, &c., mis-sent from London or other places beyond
the Colony.

Omissions to surcharge letters, &c.

Irregularities in the treatment of registered letters, and
failures in regard to letter-bills.

To the Inspector.

Letters, &c., mis-sent from Marine Post Office.

Discrepancies in charges, &c., made by Marine Post Office.

Letters, &c., mis-sent from any Post Office within the
Colony.

Irregularities of every kind in regard to Mails and Mail
Services.

Bad or imperfect stamping at any office from which a Mail
is received, whether a chief or a sub-office.

To the Controller of Money Orders and Savings Banks.

Every irregularity in regard to transactions in the Money
Orders and Savings Banks Departments.

138. An "Error Book" must be kept in each
     office, in which a record is to be made of each
     error or irregularity committed in the office,
     describing its nature, the date of its occurrence,
     the name of the officer by whom it was com-
     mitted, and the notice which has been taken of it.

139. Every mis-sent letter, book or pattern
     packet, or newspaper, must be stamped on the
     back with the date stamp, and marked on front
     with the words "mis-sent to
     " (inserting
     the name of the Post Office to which it is mis-
     sent), and the error reported on the proper form.

The mis-sent letter, book or pattern packet, or
newspaper, must then be forwarded to its destina-
tion by the first opportunity, and any postage
charged on it must be claimed in the manner
described in Rule 149.

140. Any person who complains of the delay
     or mis-sending of a letter should be requested at
     once to address himself to the Secretary, enclosing
     the cover of the letter.

141. A Postmaster is strictly enjoined to report
     every error or irregularity observed at his office,
     and any Postmaster failing in this duty, in
     addition to being fined, will incur the serious
     displeasure of the Postmaster-General.

142. The following is a Schedule of fines for
     errors and mis-sendings :-

s. d.
Mis-sending a mail ... ... 10 0
Neglecting to forward a mail ... 10 0
Mis-sending a Money Order Advice 5 0
Neglecting to forward a Money Order
Advice 5 0
Neglecting to seal a mail ... 2 6
Mis-sending letters, each ... 0 6
Neglecting to forward letters, each 0 6
Neglecting to re-direct and forward
letters, each ... 0 6
Neglecting to deliver letters at the proper
time, each ... 0 6
Neglecting to date stamp letters or
packets, each ... 0 6
Neglecting to deface postage stamps on
letters, &c., each ... 0 6
Neglecting to surcharge insufficiently
paid and re-directed letters, &c., each 0 6
Neglecting to enter enclosed mails on
letter-bills, each ... 1 0
Neglecting to forward a way-bill with a
mail ... 2 6
Neglecting to enter a mail on a way-bill 2 6
Neglecting to date and sign a letter-bill 1 0

Fines for errors and mis-sendings of books and newspapers
will be one-third of those for letters.

Neglecting to report any irregularity will be double the fine
fixed for the error not reported.

XVII.—RE-DIRECTED LETTERS.

143. It is the duty of a Postmaster to re-
     direct letters when he receives from the person
     to whom they are addressed written instructions
     to do so; and unless he feels satisfied that,
     although unsigned, they are authentic, he must
     insist upon these instructions being properly
     signed. A Postmaster is not bound to re-direct
     letters for a person temporarily leaving his home,
     and not having a private box or bag, unless the
     house be left uninhabited, or unless the letters
     would be delayed in their transmission by being
     sent to the house to be re-directed.

144. Letters which Postmasters may be re-
     quested to forward to a new address must not be
     enclosed in stamped or unstamped covers, even
     when the applicants send such cover for the
     purpose. The letters must be re-directed, and
     charged as re-directed letters; but if loose stamps
     are sent, they may be used for the pre-payment
     of the re-directed rate, as far as they go. Stamped
     covers must be returned to the applicants, with
     an explanation enclosed to the effect that it is
     contrary to the regulations to enclose the re-
     directed letters, but that they will be forwarded
     to the address given.

145. Re-directed letters, book or pattern-
     packets, or newspapers, from one Post Office to
     another within the Colony, are liable to a fresh
     rate of postage, unless the re-direction be from
     one place to another within the same walk or
     delivery, and made by an officer of the department.
     Official letters are exempted from re-directed
     postage.

146. A registered letter, when re-directed to
     any place within the Colony, is not liable to