And so on, two rates being added for every additional ounce or fraction of an ounce. The prepayment of these rates of postage shall be compulsory. II. In exception to the concluding stipulation of Article I preceding, it is agreed that every letter posted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland addressed to Liberia, or posted in Liberia addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, upon which letter an amount of postage insufficient for its prepayment has been paid, shall be forwarded to its destination provided the postage has been prepaid to the extent at least of one rate of 6d., or 12 cents. Upon such letter there shall be collected by the office which delivers it the amount of the difference between the postage prepaid and the postage which should have been prepaid, together with a fixed additional rate of 6d., or 12 cents as a fine. The whole amount collected on the delivery of insufficiently paid letters shall be. divided between the Post Offices of the two countries in the same proportion as the postage which is prepaid. III. The Post Offices of the two countries shall mutually account to each other for the portion of the postage which is due to each upon the letters despatched from one office to the other. The Post Office of Liberia shall pay to the British Post Office for all paid letters forwarded from Liberia addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland the sum of 5d. for every letter not exceeding the weight of half an ounce. The Post Office of Liberia shall further pay to the British Post Office the postage due to Great Britain for insufficiently paid letters forwarded to Liberia, according to the basis laid down in Article II preceding. Reciprocally the British Post Office shall pay to the Post Office of Liberia for all paid letters forwarded from the United Kingdom addressed to Liberia the sum of 1d. for every letter not exceeding the weight of half an ounce. The British Post Office shall further pay to the Post Office of Liberia the postage due to Liberia for insufficiently paid letters forwarded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, according to the basis laid down in Article II preceding. IV. The Post Office of Liberia shall pay to the British Post Office for paid letters originating in Liberia, and transmitted by way of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to British colonies or countries beyond sea, as well as for unpaid letters originating in British colonies or countries beyond sea, and forwarded by way of the United Kingdom addressed to Liberia, as follows: 1st. The sum of 5d. per single letter, viz., 4d. for the sea con veyance between the United Kingdom and Liberia, and 1d. for the transit over the territory of the United Kingdom: 2ndly. The sea rate paid by the British public upon letters exchanged between the United Kingdom and British colonies or foreign countries beyond sea: 3rdly. The foreign or colonial rate or rates paid by the British Post Office to the Post Offices of the foreign countries or British colonies to or from which the letters are forwarded. Table A annexed to this Convention shows the total amounts to be accounted for by the Post Office of Liberia upon letters of this class. V. The Post Office of Liberia shall pay to the British Post Office for every letter not exceeding the weight of half an ounce forwarded from a port in Liberia by the British mail packets to any other port on the west coast of Africa, or to any port at which those packets may touch on their voyage to and from the United Kingdom, the sum of 4d., and for heavier letters in proportion, according to the scale laid down in Article I preceding. For every newspaper forwarded in like manner the Post Office of Liberia shall pay to the British Post Office the sum of 1d. VI. The British Post Office may send registered letters from the United Kingdom addressed to Liberia, and the Post Office of Liberia may, on its side, send registered letters from Liberia addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. A fee, or additional charge, the amount of which the despatching office shall fix, may be levied and retained in the country from which the registered letters are despatched; but no postage, duty, or tax whatever shall be levied on the delivery of registered letters forwarded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland addressed to Liberia, or forwarded from Liberia addressed to the United Kingdom. VII. The Post Office of Liberia may also send to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland registered letters addressed to the following British colonies, viz. :-Malta, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, the British West Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, South Australia, Western Australia, Canada, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Natal, and Mauritius. Upon every registered letter so forwarded, the Post Office of Liberia shall account to the British Post Office for the sum of 6d, in addition to the postage due to the British Post Office. VIII. The addresses of registered letters sent from one country to the other shall be entered by the despatching office in the Table which is provided for the purpose in the Letter Bill, with such particulars as are pointed out by the said Table. These letters shall be tied together with a cross string, the ends of which shall be made fast to the bottom of the letter bill by means of a seal made of sealing-wax. IX. Upon every British newspaper duly registered at the General Post Office for transmission abroad, posted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, addressed to Liberia, a postage of 1d. only shall be collected in advance by the British Post Office, and no charge whatever shall be made on its delivery in Liberia. Reciprocally, upon every newspaper posted in Liberia addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a postage of 2 cents only shall be collected in advance by the Post Office of Liberia, and no charge whatever shall be made on its delivery in the United Kingdom. X. Upon every newspaper originating in any British colony or country beyond sea forwarded through the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, addressed to Liberia, and upon every newspaper originating in Liberia addressed to any British colony or country beyond sea, the Post Office of Liberia shall pay to the British Post Office the sum of 1d.; and, in addition, any foreign transit postage with which the newspaper may be chargeable when conveyed by way of any foreign country. XI. Subject to the following conditions, book packets may be sent from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to Liberia, and vice versâ : 1st. The postage must be prepaid, but the despatching office may, if it think proper, permit a book packet, prepaid to the extent at least of one rate, to be forwarded to its destination; in such case the packet shall be charged with the deficiency, together with one additional rate of postage as a fine. 2ndly. Every packet must be sent either without a cover or in a cover open at the ends or sides, so as to admit of the inclosures being removed for examination. 3rdly. A book packet may contain any number of separate books or other publications, prints, or maps, and any quantity of paper, parchment, or vellum; and the books or other publications, prints, maps, &c., may be either printed, written, or plain, or any mixture of the three. Further, all legitimate binding, mounting, or covering of a book, publication, &c., or of a portion thereof, shall be allowed, whether such binding, &c., be loose or attached; as also rollers in the case of prints or maps, markers (whether of paper or otherwise) in the case of books; and in short, whatever is necessary for the safe transmission of literary or artistic matter, or usually appertains thereto; but no patterns or books of patterns (unless consisting merely of paper) shall be allowed. 4thly. No book packet may contain any written letter, closed or [1861-62. LII.] 30 open, or any enclosure, sealed or otherwise closed against inspection, nor must there be any letter, nor any communication of the nature of a letter, written in any such packet, or in or upon its cover. 5thly. No book packet must exceed two feet British in length, width, or depth. XII. The postage to be collected by the despatching office upon the book packets referred to in the preceding Article shall be as follows: 1st. Upon book packets forwarded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to Liberia : For a packet not exceeding four ounces, British, in weight, 3d. For a packet weighing above four ounces, and not exceeding eight ounces, 6d. For a packet weighing above eight ounces, and not exceeding one pound, 18. For a packet weighing above one pound, and not exceeding one pound and a half, 18. 6d. And so on, 6d. being added for each additional half pound or fraction of half a pound. 2ndly. Upon book packets forwarded from Liberia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: For a packet not exceeding four ounces in weight, 6 cents. For a packet weighing above four ounces, and not exceeding eight ounces, 12 cents. For a packet weighing above eight ounces and not exceeding one pound, 24 cents. For a packet weighing above one pound, and not exceeding one pound and a half, 36 cents. And so on, 12 cents being added for each additional half pound or fraction of half a pound. XIII. The British Post Office shall pay to the Post Office of Liberia one-third of the amount of postage collected in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland upon prepaid book packets forwarded to Liberia, and upon insufficiently paid book packets received from Liberia; and the Post Office of Liberia shall pay to to the British Post Office two-thirds of the amount of postage collected in Liberia upon prepaid book packets forwarded to the United Kingdom, and upon insufficiently paid book packets received from the United Kingdom. XIV. The British Post Office promises to use its good offices with the Post Office of The United States, in order to procure for the correspondence originating in The United States, and addressed to Liberia, and vice versa, when forwarded through the United Kingdom, the advantage of prepayment to destination on either side. XV. Each of the mails exchanged between the Post Offices of the two countries shall be accompanied by a letter bill, in which the despatching office shall state the nature of the articles which the mail contains, and the amount of postage due to each office. The office to which the mail shall be forwarded shall acknowledge its receipt to the despatching office by return of post. The letter bills and acknowledgments of receipt shall be in accordance with the forms B, C, and D, annexed to the present Convention. XVI. Dead letters, newspapers, and book packets which cannot be delivered, from whatever cause, shall be mutually returned monthly, for the same amount of postage which was originally charged by the sending office. Letters misdirected or mis-sent shall be reciprocally returned without delay; and letters addressed to persons who have changed their residence and returned to the country whence the letters were sent, shall in like manner be sent back, charged with the rate that would have been paid if the letters had been delivered at the first address. XVII. The British Post Office shall prepare, at the end of every quarter, accounts exhibiting the results of the exchange of correspondence between the respective offices. Such accounts shall be founded upon the acknowledgments of receipt of the respective offices during the quarter. After these accounts have been compared and settled by the two offices, the balance shall be paid in British money by that office which shall be found to be indebted to the other. XVIII. The British Post Office and the Post Office of Liberia shall have power to modify from time to time, by mutual consent, the whole of the arrangements agreed upon by the present Convention. XIX. The present Convention shall come into operation on the 1st day of April, 1858, and shall continue in force until one of the two Contracting Parties shall have announced to the other, one year in advance, its intention to terminate it. XX. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible. Done in duplicate in London the 20th day of January, 1858. (L.S.) ROWLAND HILL. |
