Part 21 (2/2)

Howes has discovered an interesting notice in the Canadian Directory for 1857-8 which gives further details as follows:--

Persons transmitting letters, which they desire should pa.s.s through the post as ”registered letters”, must observe that no record is taken of any letter unless specially handed in for registration at the time of the posting. Upon all such letters, with the exception of those addressed to the United States, one penny must be prepaid as a registration charge. If addressed to the United States, the ordinary postage rate on the letters to that country _must be prepaid_, and in addition a registration charge of 3d per letter.

The registry thus effected in Canada will be carried on by the United States Post Office until the letter arrives at its destination.

In like manner, letters addressed to Canada may be registered at the place of posting in the United States, and the registry made there will accompany the letter to the place of delivery in Canada.

A certificate of registration will be given by the postmaster if required.

The registration system can be applied to the letter portion of the mail only.

The registration system at that time made no provision for compensation in case of the loss of letters, the small extra fee charged simply indicating that extra care would be taken to secure proper delivery.

Evidently at that time the fee was paid in money, and the letters then marked with a handstamp of some sort, for in the Postmaster-General's Report for 1858 we read, ”It is also considered that it would be an improvement on the system if the charge for registration were made pre-payable by a stamp, instead of by money as at present.” It is probable that shortly after this the prepayment of the registry fee was indicated by the affixing of stamps of the required value. The report for 1860 refers to the system as follows:--

A rate of charge for Registration so low as, in no probable degree, to operate as a motive, with persons posting letters of value, to deny themselves the advantage of securing from the Post Office an acknowledgment of the receipt of the specific letter, has always been considered to be a cardinal point in the Canadian Registration System.

The Registration fee, or charge, has, therefore, under the influence of this consideration, been maintained at 2 cents, though it is doubtful whether such a rate of charge covers the actual cost of the process; the address of the Registered Letter having, in the course of transmission, to be entered on an average not less than six times, and forms of certificate or receipt, and Books in which to preserve permanent records at each Post Office, to be supplied.

The postal officials were evidently strong believers in the Registration system and lost no opportunity of dwelling on its merits. In his Report for 1864 the Postmaster-General tells of its manifold advantages as follows:--

When a letter is registered, that is to say, marked and recorded in the Post Office so as to individualise it from the bulk of ordinary letter correspondence, its presence in the Post Office can be identified and its course of transmission traced, and a registered letter is thus secured from the chance of abstraction by an unfaithful messenger employed to post it (as it is always open to proof whether the letter was posted for registration or not), from risk of loss by accidental mis-direction on the part of the sender, and from mistakes in the Post Office--such as mis-sending or delivery to a wrong party. Against actual dishonesty on the part of the Post Office employes, a registered letter is incomparably more secure than an unregistered one, for an unregistered money-letter and the nature of its contents are, to any person accustomed to handle letters, as manifest as though the letter had been singled out and marked by the registered stamp. Moreover, the safety of an unregistered letter is dependent on the integrity of a Post Office Clerk during the whole time that it remains in his custody, frequently for hours, or even days; whilst a registered letter will almost invariably have to be acknowledged at the moment of its pa.s.sing into an officer's hands, and cannot thereafter be suppressed without leaving him individually accountable for its disposal.

At what date the registry system was extended to letters sent to other countries than the United States is not clear but Mr. Howes has succeeded in unearthing a doc.u.ment which shows the rates prevailing in 1865-6:--

The charge for Registration, in addition to the Postage, is as follows, viz.:--

On Letters to any other place in Canada or British North America, 2 cents

On Letters for the United States, 5 cents

On Letters for the United Kingdom, 12-1/2 cents

On Letters for British Colonies or Possession sent _via_ England, 25 cents

On Letters for France and other Foreign Countries _via_ England, an equal amount to the postage rate.

Both the postage charge and registration fee must in all cases be prepaid.

It was not until 1872 that the idea of issuing special stamps for the prepayment of the registration fee was mooted but in the Postmaster-General's Report for that year we read:--

It seems expedient to adopt some distinctive postage stamp to be used only in prepayment of the Registration charge, both to make it clear that this charge has been duly paid and accounted for in every case, and to diminish the risk which is occasionally felt at points of distribution of omitting to carry on the Registration in cases where the ordinary Registration postmark is not as distinct and calculated to arrest attention as it should be.

It has always been the policy of the Canadian Post Office to admit letters to Registration at a low rate of charge for the additional security thus given, so as to leave no adequate motive, on the score of cost, for sending valuable letters through the mails unregistered, and, doubtless, the very large proportion of such letters offered for registration demonstrates a gratifying measure of success in attaining the desired object.

In spite of this recommendation it was not until three years later that special stamps for Registration purposes made their appearance. They were finally placed on sale on November 15th, 1875, and were referred to by the Postmaster-General in his Report for that year as follows:--

<script>