POST OFFICE. PROCLAMATION No. 18 OF 1900.* A PROCLAMATION to establish and regulate an Inland Post Office. [7th January, 1901. BE IT ENACTED by the High Commissioner of Northern Nigeria as follows :— 1. This Proclamation may be cited as "The Post Office Short title. Proclamation, 1900." 2. In this Proclamation (unless the context otherwise requires) Interprethe following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to tation. them : "Post Master" means the Postmaster in charge of the Head Office of the Protectorate. "Postal matter" means any article required to be sent by post, or placed for the purpose of being conveyed by post in a receptacle for the collection of articles to be sent by post or delivered to an officer or servant of the Postal Department for transmission by post. "Postage" means the duty charged for the transmission of postal matter. "Mail "includes every conveyance by which postal matter is carried, and also a person or animal used in conveying or delivering postal matter. "Postal matter bag" includes any bag or box or parcel or other envelope or covering in which postal matter is conveyed, whether it does or does not contain postal matter. "Packet boat" means a Post Office packet employed by or under the Post Office or Admiralty of the United Kingdom, as well as any vessel employed in conveying postal matter by the Postal Department of the Pro tectorate. "Officer of the Postal Department" shall include the Postmaster, the Assistant Postmaster and every agent, officer, clerk, sorter, messenger, letter carrier, post boy, rider, or any other person employed in any business of the Post Office, whether employed by the High Commissioner or any person on behalf of the Post Office. As amended by Proclamation No. 23 of 1904. incorporated. Proclamation No. 18 of 1904 is Postal officers, appointment missioner. "Persons employed by or under the Postal Department "Post Office" shall mean any house, building, room or place "Valuable security" includes any order or other security "Post Office letter box" includes any pillar box, wall box, or other box or receptacle provided by the permission or under the authority of the Postmaster for the purpose of receiving postal matter for transmission by or under the authority of the Postmaster. I. ESTABLISHMENT AND REGULATION OF THE POSTAL DEPARTMENT. 3. The High Commissioner may from time to time appoint a Postmaster, Assistant Postmaster, and such number of officers, by High Com- clerks and servants for carrying into effect the provisions of this Proclamation as may be necessary, and all such officers, clerks and servants shall be removable from office, and from one district to another or from one place to any other place within the same district at the discretion of the High Commissioner. Postal 4. The Postmaster, Assistant Postmaster, and the other officers, Department. clerks, and servants of the Post Office shall form the Postal Department of the Protectorate. Postal officers to make a declaration. 5. Every officer of the Postal Department shall, on appointment, appear before a Resident, or Assistant Resident, or such other person as the High Commissioner may appoint, and make a declaration in the form of the Schedule hereto or in such other form as the High Commissioner may from time to time determine. Department 6. Every officer of the Postal Department, unless the same in Officers of any particular case shall be dispensed with by the High Com- the Postal missioner, shall within fourteen days after his appointment give to give unto Her Majesty for the due and faithful performance of the security. duties of his office, and for the payment of all money which shall come into his hands in that capacity, a security bond, in such form and in such sum as may be fixed by the High Commissioner. be Power for High Commissioner or Postmaster 7. The High Commissioner, or the Postmaster, with the sanction of the High Commissioner, may enter into such contracts as may for the conveyance of Postal Matter or otherwise for the carry ing into effect of the provisions of this Proclamation and to enter into may from time to time vary or revoke such contracts. necessary contracts. Union may be adopted. 8. The High Commissioner may, by order,* adopt the terms, Regulations stipulations, conditions, or regulations agreed upon by the of the Postal Universal Postal Union for, or respecting, or in relation to, the transmission of Postal Matter, and declare that the same or any part or modification thereof shall be in force within the Protectorate, and every such order when published in the Gazette shall have the same force and effect as if the provisions therein contained were inserted in this Proclamation. Offices. 9. The High Commissioner may from time to time establish EstablishPost Offices in any place within the limits to which this Proclama- ment of Post tion extends where he considers the public convenience requires them. money Office. 10. The High Commissioner may from time to time determine Money Order at what Post Offices Post Office Orders for the payment of may be issued and paid, subject to such conditions as to amount and the duties payable thereon and otherwise as he may from time to time determine. 11. The Postal Department of the Protectorate shall have the Exclusive exclusive privilege of conveying from one place to another, the Post privilege of between which postal communication shall be established under Office. this Proclamation, all letters except in the following cases, and shall also have the exclusive privilege of performing all the incidental services of receiving, collecting, conveying, sending, despatching and delivering all letters from any one place to another between which such postal communication shall be established except in the following cases, that is to say: (1.) Letters sent by a private friend in his way, journey or Exemptions. travel so as such letters be delivered to the party to whom they shall be directed; (2.) Letters sent by a messenger on purpose concerning the private affairs or business of the sender or receiver thereof; *For Order, see infra. Special prohibition Power to deal with matter improperly posted. (3.) Commissions or returns thereof and affidavits and writs, process or proceedings, or returns thereof, issuing out of a Court of Justice; (4.) Letters to be sent out of the Protectorate by a vessel (not being a packet boat); (5.) Letters of merchants, owners of vessels of merchandise or the cargo or loading therein, sent by such vessels of merchandise, or by any person employed by such owners for the carriage of such letters according to their respective directions and delivered to the respective persons to whom they shall be directed, without paying or receiving hire or reward, advantage or profit for the same in anywise; (6.) Letters concerning goods or merchandise sent by common known carriers, to be delivered with the goods which such letters concern without hire or reward, or other profit or advantage for receiving or delivering such letters; But nothing herein contained shall authorise any person to make a collection of such excepted letters for the purpose of sending them in the manner hereby authorised. 12. The following persons are expressly forbidden to carry a letter or to receive or collect or deliver a letter although they shall not receive hire or reward for the same: (1.) Common known carriers, their agents or servants, except a (2.) Officers of the Postal Department of the Protectorate. or boats being passage or packet boats, sailing and passing (4.) Passengers or other persons on board any such ships, vessels, steamboats or passage or packet boats. (5.) The owners of, or crew or others on board a vessel, steamboat or other canoe or barge passing or repassing on a river within the limits to which this Proclamation extends. 13. It shall be lawful for the Postmaster, or any officer of the Postal Department in charge of a Post Office, to detain any postal matter which shall be posted contrary to the provisions of this Proclamation, or to any regulations made thereunder and to open such postal matter and either to return the same to the sender thereof or to forward the same to the place of its destination charged in either case with such rates of postage as the High Commissioner shall from time to time direct. II. STAMPS, DUTIES, REVENUE, AND EXPENDITURE. 14. The High Commissioner may, from time to time, determine Rates of the rates of postage to be charged for the transmission of the postage how different description of postal matter by the Postal Department. determined. etc., to be 15. The High Commissioner may cause to be provided stamps, Stamped stamped envelopes, stamped wrappers, letter-sheet envelopes and envelopes, envelopes for registered postal matter and postal cards of all kinds, issued by and the Postal Department shall have the exclusive privilege of Postal issuing the same. Department. 16. The High Commissioner may appoint such persons as he Vendors of shall see fit to retail the stamps denoting the postage or postal stamps. matter, and stamped envelopes, stamped wrappers, letter-sheet envelopes, and envelopes for registered postal matter and postal cards of all kinds, under regulations to be made by him. 17. The moneys arising from the several duties imposed by this AppropriaProclamation shall form part of the general revenue of the Protec- tion of duties. torate. Provided always that any moneys to arise in respect of duties payable to Her Majesty for the use of the Imperial Government shall be paid and applied in such manner as Her Majesty may be pleased to direct. 18. The High Commissioner may defray, out of the general revenue of the Protectorate all proper expenses necessarily incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Proclamation. 19. No postage shall be payable for the transmission by the Postal Department of any postal matter sent or received by the High Commissioner, or of any postal matter sent or received by any public department in connection with the business of such department. Provided that any postal matter sent by a public department shall be liable to postage unless franked by the signature of the head of such department, or by a Resident in charge of a Province, or by some officer authorised to frank by the High Commissioner, such authorisation having first been published in the Gazette. postage to be paid by stamps 20. All postage imposed under this Proclamation shall be paid Inland by means of stamps, which shall be affixed before posting to all postal matter liable to such postage to the amount of the rates of postage payable thereon, and if any such postal matter shall be affixed before underpaid with stamps, or shall not have any stamps thereon, the posting. same shall be liable to double the unpaid or underpaid postage as the case may be, and such double postage shall be paid by the person to whom such postal matter may be addressed on the delivery of the same to him or to any other person on his behalf, unless he |