POSTAGE CONVENTION Between the GENERAL POST OFFICE of the UNITED KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND, and the GENERAL POST OFFICE of the DUCHY of BRUNSWICK. The General Post Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the General Post Office of the Duchy of Brunswick, being desirous to regulate by means of a Convention, the communications by Post between the two countries upon a more liberal and advantageous basis for the inhabitants of both countries, The undersigned, William Leader Maberly, Lieutenant-Colonel in Her Majesty's Service and Secretary of the General Post Office, furnished with full powers from the Right Honorable William, Earl of Lonsdale, Postmaster General of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and The Sieur Henry Augustus Frederick Friesland, Chief Inspector of the Posts of Hanover, Companion of the Fourth Class of the Order of the Guelphs, and Knight of the Third Class of the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, furnished with full powers of His Excellency William Schulz, Minister of State of the Duchy of Brunswick, After having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles :— I.-INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE. ARTICLE 1. Letters originating in any place in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and addressed to any place in the Duchy of Brunswick, and reciprocally Letters originating in any place in Brunswick and addressed to any place in the said United Kingdom, conveyed by the British Packet Boats to and from the Elbe and through the Kingdom of Hanover, shall be charged in the two countries with an uniform Postage of ninepence sterling, or six good groschen per single Letter, of which sixpence sterling or four good groschen shall represent the Postage due to the British Office, and two good groschen or threepence sterling the combined Postage due to the Post Offices of Hanover and Brunswick. With respect to the Letters, above the weight of a single Letter, which is fixed at half an ounce in the United Kingdom, and at a loth in Brunswick, the two Offices shall employ the scale of progression now in operation in the United Kingdom, as follows: 1st. For every Letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight, one single rate. 2ndly. Above half an ounce, but not exceeding an ounce, two rates. 3rdly. Above an ounce, but not exceeding two ounces, four rates. 4thly. Above two ounces, but not exceeding three ounces, six rates. 5thly. Above three ounces, but not exceeding four ounces, eight rates, and so on, two rates being added for every ounce or fraction of an ounce. It is understood, however, that one Brunswick loth shall be considered to be equal to half an ounce British weight. ARTICLE 2. The Postage of Letters originating in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and addressed to the Duchy of Brunswick, and reciprocally that of the Letters originating in Brunswick and addressed to the United Kingdom, may be wholly paid by the receivers, or may be prepaid, at the option of the senders in either country. Prepayment for a part of the distance shall not be permitted. ARTICLE 3. Registered Letters shall be excepted from the terms of the preceding Article. The Postage of these Letters shall be always paid in advance, as well with regard to the ordinary Postage to the place of destination, as to the additional Postage to which Letters of this class are liable, according to the regulations of the country from which they are sent. ARTICLE 4. The two Offices shall mutually account to each other by means of the Post Office of Hanover for the portion which is due to each of the Postage of the correspondence forwarded to them, both for that of the Letters not prepaid, and for that of the Letters which are prepaid. As to the Registered Letters, it is agreed that each Office shall retain the extra Postage which shall have been charged in its Territory, in conformity with the stipulation in Article 3. ARTICLE 5. When Letters are not conveyed direct between the United Kingdom and the Duchy of Brunswick by the British Packet Boats to and from the Elbe and through the Kingdom of Hanover, but are forwarded by the routes of Holland, Belgium, France, or any other foreign country, they must be treated as Letters sent in transit between those countries and the United Kingdom. II. TRANSIT LETTERS. The rate of Transit Postage to be taken by the Post Office of the United Kingdom on Letters posted in or addressed to Brunswick passing through the United Kingdom to or from its colonies and possessions and foreign countries, shall be that which is now or shall hereafter be taken upon Letters between the United Kingdom and such colonies and foreign countries respectively, in addition to the rate of sixpence sterling per half ounce the Postage, which is to be charged between the United Kingdom and Brunswick. The Colonial or Foreign rate, however, is to be calculated from or to the Port of arrival or departure of the Packet. When such transit Letters are not conveyed direct between the United Kingdom and Brunswick by the British Packet Boats to and from the Elbe, and by the route of Hanover, but are forwarded by the routes of Holland, Belgium, France, or any other Foreign Country, they must be treated as Letters sent in transit between those Countries and the United Kingdom. ARTICLE 7. No transit rate of Postage shall be charged by Brunswick upon Letters to or from the United Kingdom, or on Letters passing through the United Kingdom to and from its Colonies and Possessions, and to or from those Foreign Countries with which the British Government shall make arrangements for a mutual reduction of Postage when such letters shall pass through Brunswick to or from Hanover either in closed or open Mails. ARTICLE 8. The Post Office of Brunswick engages to allow the transmission through its territory of the closed Mails containing the Correspondence between the British Office and the Colonies or the Possessions of the United Kingdom in the East Indies, and also the Ionian Islands, and the British Offices established in the Levant, should the British Office deem it expedient to forward or receive those Mails through the territory of Brunswick. The British Office engages to pay the Brunswick Office, in lieu of transit Postage, the sum of Five Pounds sterling for every Mail passing through Brunswick in the said direction. The Brunswick Post Office in return engages to convey the Mails, and the officer in charge of them, at its own expense, by means of the ordinary Trains on Railways or in the Mail Carriages or Diligences employed by the Brunswick Office; it being, however, understood, that if the British Office should deem it expedient to make use of special Trains or Carriages, the expense of conveyance shall be defrayed by the British Office. III. NEWSPAPERS. ARTICLE 9. The rate to be taken by the British Post Office on Newspapers published in the United Kingdom, and duly stamped, when conveyed between the United Kingdom and Brunswick direct by Packet Boat or private ship through Hanover, shall be one penny sterling for each Newspaper, and no higher rate of Postage than twothirds of a good groschen, whether on account of the Brunswick or the Hanoverian Post Office, shall be levied by the Post Office of Brunswick in that country on each Newspaper. Conversely, no higher charges than the above stated shall be made by the Post Office of Brunswick or by the Post Office of the United Kingdom on Newspapers duly published in Brunswick, and printed in the German language, either when despatched from that Duchy or when delivered in the United Kingdom. ARTICLE 10. It is always understood that Newspapers, when forwarded from the United Kingdom to Brunswick, or from Brunswick to the United Kingdom, shall be subject to the following conditions: 1st. That they are sent in bands or covers open at the sides, so that they may be easily examined. 2nd. That the preceding stipulation does not in any way invalidate the right of either of the said Offices to refuse to convey or distribute such of those Newspapers with respect to which the laws and ordinances concerning their publication and circulation have not been duly complied with. IV. VARIOUS REGULATIONS. ARTICLE 11. The present Convention is concluded for an indefinite period, to commence from the 1st October, 1845. It cannot be annulled by either of the two Offices except after notice given to the other Office at least six months previously. ARTICLE 12. The present Convention shall be duly ratified, and the ratifications exchanged at London within six weeks, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof, the respective parties have signed the present Convention. Done in Duplicate, at the General Post Office, London, the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five. (Signed) W. L. MABERLY. FRIESLAND. |