respondence; commercial and legal documents; corrected proofs; newspapers; gazettes; periodical works; stitched or bound books; pamphlets; sheets of music; catalogues; prospectuses; advertisements; announcements; and other notices of various kinds, whether printed, engraved or lithographed; patterns or samples of merchandise, including grains and seeds not having a mercantile value in themselves; courses of exchange; prices current; printed papers of every kind; lithographs; prints; drawings; maps; plans; music; engravings; photographs, and all other like productions of mechanical processes.

Arrangements for dispatch of mails.

448. The post department of each nation shall, at its own expense, cause its mails to be dispatched to the post department of each other nation; and, if by sea, by well-appointed ships,' performing regular service between the ports of the nations.

Postal convention between the United States and

See, also, postal convention between the United States and Venezuela, July, 1865, June, 1866, Art. IV., 16 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.,)312. 1 The postal convention between Great Britain and France, Sept. 24, 1856. Art. II., (Accounts and Papers, 1857, vol. XVIII., (11;) 7 De Clercq, 152,) provides that the service shall be by packets which either government may think it right to maintain, to freight, or to subsidize, for the conveyance of correspondence, and by merchant ships plying between the ports of the two nations.

The postal convention between Great Britain and Belgium, Oct. 19, 1844, Art. XII., (Accounts and Papers, 1845, vol. LII.,) provides that if there be no government vessels specially appointed for the direct conveyance of correspondence, the exchange of mails shall take place by means of private steam packets plying between the ports of exchange.

The postal convention between Great Britain and Portugal, April 6, 1859, Art. II., (Accounts and Papers, 1859, vol. XXXII., (18,)) provides that the mails exchanged by private ships shall comprise only such correspondence as the senders "shall expressly desire to be forwarded by these means, and in this case the intention of the said senders must be expressed in writing on the address."

The postal conventions between Great Britain and France, Sept. 24, 1856, Art. IV, (Accounts and Papers, 1857, vol. XVIII., (11 ;) 7 De Clercq, 152,) and Belgium, Oct. 19, 1844, Art. VII., (Accounts and Papers, 1845, vol. LII.,)

provide, in effect, that ships employed in regular service are entitled to the same privileges and exemptions, whether at sea, or within the terri tory of any other nation, as armed public ships; except that private ships are subject to the same dues of tonnage and navigation, and port dues, and the same regulations of commerce, as if they were not so employed.

Free entry and departure of mail ships.

449. Subject to the sanitary, police, and customs regulations of the port, mail ships may enter and leave the ports which they serve, at any hour of the day or night, and may leave and take mails in the roads or at the entrance of the harbors, without anchoring, or otherwise.

Postal convention between Great Britain and

France, Sept. 24. 1856, Arts. VI. VII. Accounts and Papers, 1857,

vol. XVIII., (11)7 De Clercq, 152.

Forwarding mails in case of deviation.

450. If a mail ship is compelled to enter a port other than one which it serves, its mail shall, on the request of the master, or consul of the ship's nation, be freely and expeditiously forwarded by the post department of the nation, by the usual routes, to its destination.

Postal convention between Great Britain and

Private mails forbidden.

451. Sending or carrying mail matter for hire from one nation to another, except for the post department of a nation, is a public offense, unless payment of postage is first made; and the government of any nation may require mail matter carried either gratuitously or for hire to be surrendered to its post department.

In order to secure the postage on the whole correspondence from one country to another, when that is desirable, governments have to prevent the transmission of the correspondence through any other channel than their respective offices.

The postal convention between Great Britain and France, Sept. 24, 1856, Art. XXXV., (Accounts and Papers, 1857, vol. XVIII., (11 ;) 7 De Clercq, 152,) and Belgium, Oct. 19, 1844, Art. XL., (Accounts and Papers, 1845, vol.

LII.,) provide that couriers sent by commercial firms or by other persons to convey, occasionally, a single letter, or one or more newspapers, may pass unmolested through the respective territories of both powers, provided the said couriers exhibit on the French territory the letter or newspapers which they convey, to the first post-office on their route, which office shall tax the said letter or newspapers with the rate prescribed by the laws and regulations of the country.

The said letters or newspapers shall be marked with the date and charge of the office at which the postage shall have been paid, and a certificate thereof shall be delivered to the courier, and annexed to his passport.

And the same conventions between Great Britain and France, Art. XII., and Belgium, Art. XI., further provide that the captains of packets engaged in the conveyance of mails are forbidden to take charge of any letter not included in their mail-bags, except, however, dispatches of their governments, and must take care that no letters are conveyed illegally by their crews or passengers, and must give information, in the proper quarter, of any breach of the laws which may be committed in that respect.

Weight for single rate of postage.

452. The standard weight for the single rate of international postage shall be:

1. For correspondence of the first class, fifteen grammes; and,

2. For correspondence of the second class, one hundred grammes.

The rule of progression shall be an additional single rate for each additional single weight, or fraction thereof. The weight stated by the dispatching department shall always be accepted, saving the case of manifest mistake.

Subdivision 2 is new, in proposing an uniform unit of weight.

The other parts of the Article are from the postal convention between the United States and

Belgium,

Aug. 21, 1867, Art. IV., 16 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.,) 145.

This unit of weight for letters is also authorized by the postal convention between the United States and

Great Britain, Nov. 7, 24, 1868, Art. III., 16 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.,) 75. See, however, the convention with France, March 2, 1857, Art. VI., (16

Id., (Tr.,) 94,) wherein the unit of weight is fixed at seven and a half

grammes.

Rate of ocean postage.

453. The postage payable for each unit of weight, or fraction thereof, shall not exceed :

1. For correspondence of the first class, two one hundredth parts of a dollar; and,

2. For correspondence of the second class, one hundredth part of a dollar.

This Article seekstoestablish an uniform charge for all nations uniting in the Code, it being considered that the facilities of communication and the amount of correspondence call for the adoption, between nations, of the principle of uniformity now universally adopted in domestic postage. The rate suggested is upon the principle of Ocean Penny Postage.

Prepayment required.

454. International postage must be prepaid.

The rule generally prescribed by the treaties is, that the prepayment of postage on ordinary letters is optional, subject to the fine for insufficient payment; but on registered letters, and on all other correspondence mentioned in class second of Article 447, it is compulsory.

Insufficient prepayment.

455. Unregistered correspondence, which by mistake is unpaid or insufficiently prepaid, shall be forwarded to its destination, charged with double the deficiency, which charge shall be retained for the benefit of the department collecting the same.

Several of the treaties require unpaid matter to be forwarded, but the above seems to be a better rule. The same treaties impose a fine,

which, with the deficient postage, goes to the collecting department.

Registered correspondence.

456. Any correspondence may be registered.'

Registered correspondence may be sent by the same routes, whether direct or intermediary, as ordinary correspondence.

Postal convention between the United States and

'See postal convention between the United States and Great Britain, Nov. 7, 24, 1868, Arts. VIII., IX., 16 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.) 77.

Postal convention between Great Britain and

France, Sept. 24, 1856, Art. XVII., Accounts and Papers, 1857, vol.

XVIII., (11,) 7 De Clercq, 152. Accounts and Papers, 1845, vol. LII.

66

XVI.,

IX.,

XIII.,

"

XI., Id., 1859, vol. XXXII., (18.)

It is provided in Art. VII. of the Regulations attached to the postal convention between the United States and Belgium, Aug. 21, 1867, (16 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.,) 149,) and by the postal convention between the United States and

that needful measures for the careful transmission of registered correspondence, and for pursuing it when lost, are to be taken; but neither assumes towards the other any pecuniary responsibility in case of loss.

Registration fee.

457. In addition to the postage of registered correspondence, there may also be charged a registration fee,' the amount of which shall be fixed by the dispatching post department.

Postal convention between Great Britain and

Postal convention between the United States and

Great Britain, Nov. 7, 24, 1868, Art. VIII., 16 U. S. Stat. at L.,(Tr.,) 77.

1 Postal convention between the United States and