It shall be lawful for His Excellency the Governor to establish for the receiving and transmitting of letters and newspapers one General Post Office at Auckland, and so many Post Offices in other parts of the Colony as may from time to time be necessary.

It shall also be lawful for His Excellency the Governor to appoint one Postmaster-General and so many Postmasters as may be necessary, who shall hold their offices during his pleasure.

The Postmaster-General and Postmasters may from time to time appoint so many inferior officers, removable at pleasure, for the efficient discharge of the business of their respective offices as to His Excellency the Governor may seem meet.

The Postmaster-General may with the approval of His Excellency the Governor enter into any contract in writing in his own name for the conveyance of mails within or from the Colony, and may sue and be sued thereon.

Every master or person in charge of any vessel trading between or sailing from any of the ports of the Colony, shall receive on board and if required give a written receipt for any mail which shall be tendered to him for that purpose by any officer of the Post Office, and shall keep the same so long as it shall be under his charge in some dry and secure place, and that the same be entered upon the Custom House manifest in the presence of the person delivering the mail.

Every master or person in charge of any vessel sailing from any of the ports of the Colony who shall receive on board any mail to be conveyed to parts beyond the seas, shall be entitled to demand and receive from the Postmaster of such port one penny for every letter contained in such mail.

Every mail or loose letter which shall be on board of any vessel arriving at any port within the Colony shall be delivered by the master or person in charge thereof on demand to the Postmaster of such port or any person authorized by him to receive the same, who is hereby required to give a receipt for the same, and the master shall not be allowed to enter at the Custom House until he has produced such receipt from the Postmaster for the mail.

Every master or person in charge of any vessel arriving from parts beyond the seas shall, after the expiration of twenty-four hours from the delivery of any letters not included in any mail to the Postmaster of the port or to any person authorized by him, be entitled to receive one penny for every letter.

Every master or person in charge of any vessel conveying a mail from any one port to any other port within the Colony shall, after the expiration of twenty-four hours from the delivery thereof to the Postmaster of the port of arrival or to any person authorized by him, be entitled to receive one penny for every letter chargeable with postage so received.

For every letter (other than such as are hereinafter excepted) which shall be transmitted from any Post Office for delivery within the Colony or to any place beyond the seas, there shall be paid a postage according to the following rate, that is to say—

For every letter brought to this Colony from parts beyond the seas there shall be paid on the delivery thereof a postage according to the foregoing rate.

It shall be lawful for His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, from time to time to increase or diminish the aforesaid rate.

It shall be lawful for His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, to establish posts for the conveyance of letters overland between any settlements within the Colony, and to fix any rate of postage to be charged for letters so conveyed overland and delivered within the Colony.

Every letter weighing not more than one half ounce sent or received by any non-commissioned officer or private soldier, seaman or marine, shall be conveyed by post free of postage: Provided that on every letter so sent there be written in the handwriting of and signed by the commanding officer for the time being of the regiment detachment or ship to which such officer soldier seaman or marine shall belong, the words “Soldier’s” “Seaman’s” or “Marine’s Letter,” or words to that effect as the case may be.

All newspapers shall be conveyed and delivered free of postage: Provided only that if there shall be upon any newspaper or any cover of any newspaper any writing other than the direction thereof, such newspaper shall be deemed to be a letter and charged accordingly.

It shall be lawful for His Excellency the Governor to send and receive any letters by the post free of postage.

It shall be lawful for the persons mentioned in the Schedule hereto annexed to send and receive any letters by the post free of postage: Provided that every letter so to be sent shall purport by writing on the face thereof to be on Her Majesty’s service, and shall bear on the face thereof the name of the person sending the same in his own handwriting.

Every Postmaster shall on the first Monday of every month cause a list of the then remaining unclaimed or undelivered letters to be made out in writing and affixed on some conspicuous part of his Post Office, there to remain for the space of thirty days, after which period all such letters then remaining unclaimed or undelivered shall be transmitted by the Postmaster to the General Post Office at Auckland. The Postmaster-General shall have authority to open such letters and to return them to the writers thereof after the expiration of three calendar months from the publication of said list.

Every master or person in charge of any vessel who shall refuse or delay to receive any mail or to deliver any mail or loose letter according to the provisions of this Ordinance, and every Postmaster who shall wilfully neglect or refuse to transmit or deliver any letter, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay a penalty of not less than five nor more than fifty pounds, to be recovered in a summary way.

In the construction of this Ordinance the word “Mail” shall be deemed to extend to any one of the bags boxes or packages whereof any mail shall consist.

This Ordinance shall come into operation on the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two.