In this Division of this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

The Postmaster-General shall have the general administration of this Division of this Act.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time enter into any contract with any person for or in respect of the conveyance of mails by sea, inland waters, land, or air upon such terms and conditions in all things as the Postmaster-General thinks fit.

In the case of a contract for the conveyance of mails by sea or inland waters such terms and conditions may include provisions fixing maximum rates of freight and passenger fares to be charged in respect of cargo and passengers carried by the vessel conveying the mails.

All postal packets shall be posted, forwarded, conveyed, and delivered subject to the provisions, conditions, prohibitions, and restrictions contained in this Division of this Act.

For the purposes of this Act the following provisions shall apply with respect to postal packets of every description:—

Subject to such provisions, conditions, prohibitions, and restrictions as are specified in regulations the Postmaster-General may from time to time, either generally or in the case of any particular person, authorize—

The Governor-General may from time to time, as he thinks fit,—

There may from time to time be appointed such Postmasters, Post officers, servants, messengers, and other persons as may be required for the conduct of the business of the Post Office and the purposes of this Division of this Act.

Every Postmaster and other Post officer shall before the exercise by him of the duties of his office take and subscribe a statutory declaration in the form in the First Schedule hereto.

Such declaration may be taken and subscribed before any person empowered by law to take statutory declarations, or before any Post officer or Telegraph officer whom the Governor-General authorizes to take declarations under this Act.

Every person appointed for the purposes of this Division of this Act may be required to give such security as directed for the due and faithful discharge of the duties of the office to which such person is appointed.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted, make regulations—

Postmasters may sell stamps without license.

The acceptance by the Postmaster-General of any document or article pursuant to regulations as provided in paragraph (q) of the last preceding subsection shall not impose on the Crown or on the Postmaster - General or on any Post officer any liability in respect of the loss of or damage to any such document or article while in the custody of the Postmaster-General, except in case of the wilful default or wrongdoing of any Post officer.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time cause to be made and sold postage-stamps of such denominations of value as he thinks fit.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time cause to be made and sold envelopes or wrappers of various sizes and forms bearing thereon printed, engraved, or lithographed stamps of such denominations of value as he thinks fit.

Such stamp may be so placed on the envelope or wrapper as to permit of the address thereon being written on or across the face of the stamp, and every stamp on or across which the address is written shall be deemed sufficiently defaced without any other obliterating mark.

All the provisions of this Act relating to postage-stamps shall extend and apply to such envelopes or wrappers, and to any die, plate, or stamp made or used therefor under this Act.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time furnish and issue post-cards and letter-cards for transmission by post between places either within or beyond New Zealand.

Such cards shall have a stamp of the postage rate impressed, engraved, or printed upon them, and be manufactured of paper of such quality, form, and size as the Postmaster-General thinks fit.

The postage rate for such cards respectively,—

Private cards may be furnished and issued by the Postmaster-General subject to such regulations as the Governor-General in Council from time to time makes as to the size and weight thereof, the manner of impressing or printing the stamps thereon, and any other conditions which may be necessary.

Any person may use as a private card and affix thereto an adhesive stamp of the proper value any piece of paper which conforms to the aforesaid regulations as to size, weight, and otherwise.

All such private cards shall be deemed to be post-cards.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time on receiving such security as he thinks fit cause or permit to be issued to any person recording-machines for impressing upon postal packets and other documents the sign of postage or stamp values and recording the amount of such values.

Such impressions shall be valid for the prepayment of postage and of charges on telegrams in the same manner as if adhesive stamps were used.

The amount of postage and stamp values so recorded shall be collected at such intervals as the Postmaster - General determines from the persons to whom such recording-machines are issued, and the sums so collected shall form part of the postal revenue.

The Minister of Stamp Duties is hereby authorized to pay commission on the amount so collected at the same rate as if adhesive stamps of the same value as the amount so collected had been sold, and to make refunds of the amounts represented by impressions made and recorded in error and not used.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the Stamp Duties Act, 1923, a receipt as defined in section one hundred and seventy-six of that Act shall be deemed to be duly stamped in accordance with that Act if, before the person giving such receipt delivers it out of his hands, there is impressed upon it by any such recording-machine as aforesaid an impression indicating a stamp-value of the appropriate amount, and cancelled in the manner prescribed for the cancellation of adhesive stamps by section fifty-seven of that Act.

In every action or other proceeding in which any receipt is offered or received as evidence it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that any impression appearing on such receipt and purporting to indicate a stamp-value was duly impressed thereon by a recording-machine issued and used under the authority of this Act.

Every person commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for any period not exceeding one year, who impresses or causes to be impressed upon any postal packet, telegram, receipt, or other document any impression with intent that it shall be mistaken by any person for an impression duly made by a recording-machine issued under the authority of this section.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted, make regulations prescribing the documents on which an impression indicating a stamp-value of any prescribed denomination may be made by the recording-machines mentioned in the last preceding section, and the conditions under which such impressions may be made.

The provisions of the said last preceding section shall extend and apply to all documents prescribed in any such regulation.

For the purposes of this section “document” means any writing on which a stamp denoting any duty is required to be affixed or impressed, and includes a cablegram.

On payment of a registration fee of five shillings the proprietor or printer of a newspaper as defined in section two hereof may register the same under this Act in such manner and subject to such conditions as are prescribed by regulations.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time revise the register and remove therefrom any publication which in his opinion is not a newspaper or has ceased to be a newspaper as defined.

The decision of the Postmaster-General on the admission to or removal from the register of a publication shall be final, save that the Governor - General in Council may on the application of any person reverse or modify the decision.

Any publication for the time being on the register shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be a registered newspaper.

On payment of a registration fee of five shillings any person may register a magazine under this Act in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by regulations. Such regulations may determine the class or classes of publications that shall be deemed to be magazines for the purposes of this section.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time revise the register and remove therefrom any publication which in his opinion is not a magazine or has ceased to be a magazine.

The decision of the Postmaster-General on the admission to or removal from the register of a publication shall be final, save that the Governor - General in Council may on the application of any person reverse or modify the decision.

Any publication for the time being on the register shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be a registered magazine.

The postage and other charges payable within New Zealand upon postal packets posted within New Zealand for delivery within or transmission beyond New Zealand shall be levied according to such respective scales and at such respective rates as are fixed from time to time by the Governor-General in Council.

The Governor-General in Council may from time to time, as he thinks fit, exempt from payment of postage—

Postal packets containing exclusively matter prepared in raised characters for the use of the blind shall be exempt from payment of postage if they are in compliance with such limitations of size and weight as may be prescribed in that behalf by the Postmaster-General.

No letter shall be sent or carried for hire or reward otherwise than by post.

Every person who so sends any letter, or carries it or takes charge of it for the purpose of its being so sent or carried, is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds in respect of every such letter.

The sending, carrying, or taking-charge of any letter to be carried otherwise than by post shall be deemed to be done for hire or reward until the contrary is shown.

Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to render unlawful—

For the purposes of this section the term “letter” includes any letter, post-card, letter-card, commercial paper, pattern or sample packet, and any other postal packet of a class declared by the Governor-General in Council to be letters for the purposes of this section.

Nothing in subsections one, two, or three of the last preceding section shall extend to any letter—

Any person sending any postal packet by post (other than a postal packet which is or may be insured pursuant to regulations in that behalf) shall be entitled to have the same registered and to obtain a receipt for the same upon the payment of such registration fee, in addition to the ordinary postage, as is prescribed:

Provided that such registration or receipt shall not confer on any person any right to compensation or otherwise or impose upon His Majesty any liability for the loss of any such postal packet or of the contents thereof:

Provided also that the Postmaster-General may, in his discretion and subject to regulations, pay out of the Post Office Account any sum not exceeding two pounds as compensation for the loss of any registered postal packet on production of evidence which will satisfy him of such loss.

Every postal packet addressed to any person at any premises licensed under the Licensing Act, 1908, or at any shipping office, or public or private lodginghouse, and delivered to or received by the licensee of such premises, or the person apparently in charge of such office or lodginghouse, or any one acting as the agent or servant of any such licensee or person, shall be deemed to be under the control of the Postmaster-General until delivered to the person to whom the same is addressed.

If the same is not so delivered within two months after the receipt thereof by or on behalf of such licensee or other person as aforesaid, and if instructions to the contrary are not received from the person to whom the same is addressed, the licensee or other person as aforesaid shall return the same to the nearest post-office, with the reasons therefor.

Every such postal packet shall be transmitted to the Dead Letter Office, and shall be there dealt with as undelivered.

If any such licensee or other person as aforesaid omits or fails to return any such postal packet as aforesaid he is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

This section shall extend and apply to telegrams.

If the postage of any postal packet is not paid by the sender thereof, and the person to whom the same is addressed does not for any reason receive it, or on receiving it rejects it, the sender thereof is liable to pay such postage, and also the additional postage (if any) of returning the postal packet:

Provided that nothing herein shall operate to release the person to whom any such postal packet is originally addressed from his liability to pay the postage thereof upon the delivery of such postal packet to him.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds who knowingly sends to or puts into, or causes to be sent to or put into, any post-office—

In any action or other proceeding for the recovery of any postage—

Who deemed the sender.

Evidence of postage due.

There may be charged in respect of postal packets arriving in New Zealand from parts beyond the seas and containing any goods liable to Customs duty a special fee (herein referred to as a Customs clearance fee) of such amount as may from time to time be prescribed, not exceeding sixpence in respect of any such postal packet.

The Postmaster - General may in his discretion retain possession of any postal packet subject to a clearance fee under this section until such fee has been paid.

All moneys received by the Postmaster-General as Customs clearance fees shall be deemed to be postal revenue, and shall be paid accordingly into the Post Office Account.

The Governor-General, by warrant under his hand, may direct the Postmaster-General or any Post officer to open, detain, or delay any postal packet for any purpose in such warrant mentioned; and every such direction shall be duly obeyed.

If the Postmaster-General has at any time reasonable ground to suppose any person in New Zealand or elsewhere to be engaged—

then the Postmaster-General may by notice under his hand in the Gazette order that no postal packet addressed to any such person (either by his own or any fictitious or assumed name), or to any address without a name, shall be either registered, forwarded, or delivered by the Post Office.

Such notice shall specify every such name, whether real, fictitious, or assumed, and every such address in respect of which such order is made.

Until such order is in like manner revoked no such postal packet shall be registered, forwarded, or delivered, nor shall any money-order be issued in such person’s favour or be paid to him.

The Postmaster-General and every Postmaster shall be entitled to examine any postal packet (other than a letter) sent by post as exempt from postage, or as entitled to be sent at less than the proper rate of postage, without a cover or in a cover open at the side or end, in order to discover whether it is in conformity with law.

Every question which arises as to whether any such postal packet is entitled to be sent free or at the rate of postage paid for the same shall be decided by the Postmaster-General, whose decision shall be final.

Where the Postmaster-General or any Postmaster has reason to suspect that any postal packet (other than a letter or a letter-card) addressed to any person (either by his own or any fictitious name or assumed name), or to any address without a name, posted in New Zealand or elsewhere, contains or is supposed to contain any printed or written matter of any kind, or any enclosure of any kind—

he may cause such postal packet to be detained and opened, and if it is found to contain any such matter or enclosure he shall cause the postal packet and the contents thereof to be destroyed.

If any Postmaster has any doubt as to whether the provisions of this section should be enforced in any particular case, he shall refer the matter to the Postmaster-General, whose decision shall be final.

Where the Postmaster-General or any Postmaster has reason to suspect that in respect of any postal packet the proper postage rate is fraudulently evaded or avoided by the use of defaced or previously used stamps, he may refuse to deliver the postal packet unless the person to whom it is addressed discloses the name, occupation, and address of the sender, and, after opening the postal packet and retaining the enclosures, delivers up the envelope or wrapper bearing the defaced or previously used stamps.

Where the Postmaster-General or any Postmaster has reason to suspect that any postal packet has been posted or contains any enclosure in fraud or violation of this Act or the Customs Acts he may detain such postal packet, with its enclosures, and the same shall be opened, examined, and dealt with in manner hereinafter mentioned.

Every postal packet which is opened and examined under the provisions of this Act shall be opened at a post-office—

Every newspaper opened under the provisions of this Act may be forthwith sold, destroyed, or used for any public purpose, unless before such sale, destruction, or use thereof the same is claimed and the postage (if any) due thereon is paid by the person to whom such newspaper is addressed.

Every postal packet opened and examined under the provisions of this Act and found to contain any valuable or saleable enclosure shall together with its contents be safely kept, and a list of such postal packets together with a memorandum of such contents shall be made and preserved.

The Postmaster-General shall cause notice of such postal packet and of its contents to be sent to the person to whom the postal packet is addressed if he is known, or otherwise to the sender thereof if he is known.

On demand by the first-mentioned person if known, or, if unknown, then by the last-mentioned person if known, and on payment of all charges in respect of postage rates, Customs duties, and otherwise due and payable thereon, but subject in every case to the provisions of the next succeeding section, such postal packet and its contents shall be delivered to the person so making demand.

If neither of such persons is known, or if no demand is made within six months after the sending of such notice, such postal packet shall be destroyed, and its contents shall be forfeited and sold as hereinafter mentioned.

If on any such examination such postal packet or enclosures are found to be in fraud or violation, or to have been posted in fraud or violation, of this Act or the Customs Acts, or with intent to evade payment of the proper postage or the proper Customs duties, then, without affecting any liability to penalty or punishment to which the sender is thereby exposed, such postal packet shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the Postmaster-General directs, and such enclosures shall be forfeited and may be sold as hereinafter mentioned:

Provided that in lieu of such forfeiture and sale the Governor-General, if he thinks fit, may direct—

If such notice is sent and such charges are duly paid within the said period of two months such enclosures shall be delivered up in terms of the notice to the person paying the same, but otherwise they shall be sold.

If the enclosures of any postal packet opened and examined as aforesaid are to be sold they shall be sold or converted into money in such manner as the Postmaster-General directs, and the proceeds thereof, and such of the enclosures as consist of money, shall be paid into the Post Office Account and form part of the postal revenue.

Any such enclosure which consists of any valuable security or order for money shall for the purpose of procuring payment thereof be deemed to be the property of the Postmaster-General.

Except as by this Act expressly provided, no postal packet whatever shall be returned to the writer or sender thereof without the authority of the Governor-General:

Provided that letters of an official character sent from or to any Department of the Government, or sent by any such Department to any person, and also postal packets (other than letters) by or to whomsoever sent, may, on payment of the prescribed postage, be so returned under the sole authority in writing of the Postmaster-General.

No person shall have any right to compensation or otherwise, nor shall any liability be imposed upon His Majesty or the Postmaster-General, by reason of the detention, opening, or destruction of a postal packet or its enclosure under the powers in that behalf conferred by this Act.

The detention or destruction of a postal packet or its enclosure shall not relieve any person from his liability for any offence against this Act or any other Act.

The Governor-General in Council may from time to time determine the amount of gratuities to be paid to the proprietors of passenger coaches or other vehicles, or the masters of vessels, for the conveyance of mails, and the several Postmasters throughout New Zealand shall pay such gratuities accordingly.

Such gratuities may be either a fixed sum or at such rate as the Governor-General in Council from time to time determines.

Any Post officer acting in the course of his duties as such may require the proprietor, driver, or other person in charge of any passenger-coach or other vehicle plying for hire to receive and convey mails from any place to any other place in the vicinity of which such passenger-coach or vehicle usually plies.

Every person being required to receive and convey any mails as aforesaid commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds who—

For the purposes of this and the last preceding section the term “passenger-coach” means any vehicle carrying passengers for hire, whether in the regular course of business or on special occasions.

The master or agent of every vessel about to proceed from any one port to any other port in New Zealand or beyond New Zealand—

Every such notice shall when practicable commence and expire between the hours of nine o’clock in the forenoon and five o’clock in the afternoon:

Provided that in special cases the notice may be for such shorter period as from time to time is prescribed by the Post officer at such port.

Every such master or agent who refuses, fails, or neglects to duly give any such notice is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

The Post officer to whom any notice is given under this section shall on demand deliver to the person giving such notice a certificate in writing of the day and hour when the notice was given.

The proper officer of Customs may refuse a clearance of the vessel in respect of which no such certificate is produced to him, or when it appears to him from any such certificate that any such notice has not been duly given.

The master or agent of every vessel which is about to proceed from any port situate within three miles of any post-office—

shall give timely notice at such first-mentioned post-office of such intended departure so as to enable the Postmaster to forward mails by such first-mentioned vessel to the port or vessel to which such first-mentioned vessel is about to proceed.

Every master or agent who refuses, fails, or neglects to give such notice is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds:

Provided that the Postmaster may exempt any vessel from the operation of this section for such time or on such conditions as he thinks fit.

The master of every vessel about to sail from any port in New Zealand—

Every master who offends against any of the provisions of this section is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

All mails (other than such as are included among the exceptions enumerated in section twenty-four hereof) which at the time of the arrival of any vessel at any port in New Zealand are on board such vessel directed to any person within New Zealand shall be delivered on demand to the Postmaster or other Post officer at such place, who is hereby authorized to give a receipt for the same.

Every master or other person belonging to any such vessel who, having charge of any such mail, refuses or neglects to deliver the same on demand as aforesaid, or detains or permits the detention of the same on board such vessel, or does not use due diligence in the delivery of the same, or does not take due care for the secure and dry custody of the same so long as it is in his charge, is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Every master, passenger, or other person who knowingly or negligently detains or delays on board such vessel or keeps in his possession any such mail after the master has sent to the post-office any of the mails brought by such vessel is liable in respect of each mail so detained, delayed, or kept as aforesaid to a fine not exceeding ten pounds if the offence is committed before demand made as mentioned in the last preceding section, and to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds if the offence is committed after such demand.

The master of every vessel arriving at any port in New Zealand at which there is any post-office shall as soon as practicable thereafter subscribe a declaration, in the presence of and attested by a witness, in the form or to the effect following, that is to say:—

I, A. B., master of the [State the name of the vessel], arrived from [State the place], do solemnly declare that I have, to the best of my knowledge and belief, delivered to 0. D., the person duly authorized to receive delivery thereof, every mail that was on board the said vessel, except such postal packets as are not required by law to be sent by post:

and shall deliver such declaration to the person duly authorized to receive the mail for the Postmaster or Post officer at such port.

Such person shall thereupon grant a certificate under his hand of the making and delivery of such declaration.

Until such certificate is produced to the Collector or other proper officer of Customs at such port he shall not permit such vessel to report.

Every master who fails or refuses to make such declaration or makes a false declaration is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time make arrangements with the postal authority of the United Kingdom or of any British possession or foreign country for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—

In the event of the Commonwealth of Australia or the Colony of Fiji not agreeing with the Postmaster-General to contribute to the maintenance of any line of mail-vessels plying between New Zealand and the United Kingdom or any British possession or foreign country, and subsidized by the Government of New Zealand (hereinafter called “subsidized mail-vessels”), the Postmaster-General may from time to time order that the Commonwealth or colony so refusing (hereinafter referred to as a “non-contributing country”) shall be prohibited from availing itself of such line of subsidized mail-vessels for the purpose of transmission of mails, and every such order shall be gazetted.

For the purposes of this and the seven next succeeding sections the expression “Commonwealth of Australia” or “Commonwealth” shall be deemed to include all such States as for the time being are parts of the said Commonwealth, including the Northern Territory and every other part of such Commonwealth.

All mails which at the time of the arrival at any port in New Zealand of any subsidized mail-vessel are on board such vessel, whether directed to any person in New Zealand or not, shall be delivered on demand to any Postmaster, Customs officer, or Harbour officer of such port, or to any other person duly authorized in writing under the hand of the Postmaster-General or officer in immediate charge of the post-office at such port.

This and the six following sections shall not apply to letters concerning goods on board such vessel and to be delivered with such goods, or sent by way of introduction only, or concerning the bearer’s private affairs.

Every master or other person belonging to any subsidized mail-vessel who, having charge of any mail, knowingly or negligently detains or keeps in his possession, or neglects or refuses to deliver the same or any part thereof after such demand made as aforesaid, is liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds for every mail so detained, kept, or not delivered.

The provisions of sections forty-nine and fifty hereof shall apply to all mails on board any subsidized mail-vessel arriving in New Zealand from any non-contributing country, whether they are directed to any person in New Zealand or not.

The Principal officer of Customs at every port in New Zealand may search any subsidized mail-vessel for mails on board or supposed to be on board in breach of the provisions of this Act, and may seize the same and forward them to the nearest post-office.

Where a subsidized mail-vessel arrives at any port in New Zealand from any British possession or foreign country with any mail on board addressed to any person in any non-contributing country, or intended to be carried to or to be delivered at any port or place therein, the Postmaster-General may if he thinks fit, instead of permitting the transmission of such mail to such country, send back the same by the first convenient opportunity to the Post Office of the possession or country from which the same was brought.

Where a subsidized mail-vessel arrives at any port in New Zealand from any non-contributing country with any mail on board addressed to any person in any country other than New Zealand, or intended to be carried to or to be delivered at any port or place in any such last-mentioned country, the Postmaster - General may if he thinks fit, instead of permitting the transmission of the same to such last-mentioned country, send back the same by the first convenient opportunity to the Post Office of the non-contributing country from which the same was brought.

The Governor-General in Council may from time to time make regulations for the purpose of preventing and prohibiting any person from posting any postal packet to be sent by post in any of the cases following, that is to say: if any person in New Zealand—

and may provide by such regulations for the imposition of a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds for any offence against any of such regulations.

New Zealand parcels and foreign parcels may be sent by post, subject to the provisions of this Act and also to the terms or conditions of any contract or arrangement that may be made by the Postmaster-General under the powers hereinafter contained.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time enter into any convention, agreement, or arrangement with any postal authority for the conveyance of foreign parcels, subject to the provisions of this Act.

With respect to foreign parcels the following provisions shall apply:—

Right of recovering Customs duties.

Act not to authorize differential duties.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time exercise the following powers or any of them for the purpose of giving effect to this Part of this Act:—

Until the making of any contract with any railway or tramway authority under this Part of this Act, every such authority shall be bound to render and perform for the Postmaster-General the services hereinafter set forth, and upon such terms and conditions and for such rate of remuneration as may from time to time be fixed by the Governor-General in Council: that is to say, from time to time, and as occasion requires,—

The Governor-General in Council may from time to time make regulations prescribing the respective duties to be performed by Post officers, and by the officers and servants of any railway or tramway authority, in respect of the receipt, conveyance, or delivery of New Zealand parcels and foreign parcels.

Every railway or tramway authority shall have full power to enter into any contract for the purposes of this Part of this Act, notwithstanding that such contract may be beyond the scope of or not included within the objects or purposes of any such railway or tramway authority; and any such contract shall be made and executed and may be varied or altered in like manner as any other lawful contract of such railway or tramway authority.

In respect of any railways belonging to His Majesty the Governor-General shall on behalf of His Majesty have full power from time to time to enter into any such contract.

No railway or tramway authority shall be required to carry under this Act or any contract made in pursuance thereof any explosive or dangerous article, or any other article or parcel which, independently of this Act, such authority might refuse or by its bylaws be forbidden to carry.

Subject to the terms of such contract as aforesaid (if any), and except in so far as such contract expressly provides, all and singular the provisions of sections forty-three to fifty hereof shall extend and apply to every railway or tramway authority and every officer and servant thereof, and to every vessel and the master or other person belonging thereto in respect of the conveyance and delivery of New Zealand parcels and foreign parcels.

The Governor-General may from time to time make regulations for the following purposes, or any of them:—

Subject to the provisions of this Act, money may be transmitted either within or beyond New Zealand through the medium of the Post Office or any telegraph-office by means of money-orders and postal notes.

The Governor-General in Council may from time to time—

Regulations.

All such arrangements and regulations shall be binding and conclusive upon the persons for whom or in favour of whom such money-orders and postal notes are issued, and upon all persons interested through or claiming under those persons, and upon all holders of money-orders and postal notes.

No person shall have any claim or right to compensation or otherwise, nor shall any liability be imposed on His Majesty, by reason of the payment of any money-order or postal note being delayed or refused, or by reason of any neglect, omission, or mistake in the issue or payment thereof.

After any money-order or postal note has been once paid to any one whomsoever His Majesty shall not be liable for any further claim in respect thereof.

No interest or stamp duty shall be payable in respect of a money-order or postal note.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time appoint post-offices to be offices of the Post Office Savings-bank for the purposes of this Act, and may authorize and direct Post officers to receive deposits and to repay such deposits together with the interest accrued thereon:

Provided that, except in the case of savings-banks and societies which are exempt from the limit of interest-bearing deposits, no deposit of less than one shilling or a multiple of one shilling shall be received.

Before opening an account in the Post Office Savings-bank in his own name or on behalf of another person the depositor, on or before making the first deposit, shall make and deliver to the officer receiving the deposit a statutory declaration (in or to the effect of such one of the forms in the Second Schedule hereto as is applicable) that he or the person on whose behalf the account is opened by him, as the case may be, is not directly or indirectly entitled to any benefit from any deposit in the Post Office Savings-bank.

Every such declaration shall be exempt from stamp duty, and may be made before and taken by any person empowered by law to take statutory declarations or any officer authorized to receive deposits.

Every person who by means of any false statement in any such declaration receives or is credited with any sum by way of interest in excess of that authorized by law is liable (in addition to any penalty to which he may be liable in respect of making a false declaration) to a fine of not less than ten pounds and not more than one hundred pounds, and any interest so received in excess may be recovered from him as a debt due to the Crown, and any such interest credited to but not received by him shall be forfeited.

For the purposes of this section the expression “the depositor” means, in the case of a savings-bank or society, the trustee or other responsible officer of the savings-bank or society duly authorized to open the account.

For the purposes of this section a person shall not be deemed to be entitled to any benefit from any deposit—

The Post officer receiving a deposit shall at the time when he receives it enter the amount thereof in the depositor’s book and attest the entry by his initials and the dated stamp of his office.

He shall also report the amount of such deposit to the Chief Postmaster under whose control he is, and the Chief Postmaster shall report the same to the Postmaster-General, who shall acknowledge the same to the depositor.

The acknowledgment of the Postmaster - General signified in the prescribed manner by the officer whom he appoints for that purpose shall be forthwith transmitted by post to the depositor by that officer, and such acknowledgment shall be conclusive evidence of the fact and amount of the deposit:

Provided that in the case of a deposit of less than twenty pounds the entry in the depositor’s book shall be conclusive evidence of title in the same manner as an acknowledgment by the Postmaster-General of a deposit is evidence of title under this subsection, and it shall not be necessary to transmit any such acknowledgment in the case of such a deposit.

A depositor desiring to withdraw any money from his account may be required to give at least seven days’ previous notice in the prescribed form to the Chief Postmaster of the postal district in which the account is kept, and in such notice shall specify the amount to be withdrawn and the Post Office Savings-bank office at which he desires the payment to be made.

Upon receipt of such notice the Chief Postmaster shall forward to the depositor a warrant in the prescribed form authorizing the payment to be made in terms thereof.

Forthwith upon the expiration of such notice (or earlier if the Postmaster-General thinks fit) the depositor, on presentation of his deposit-book and the aforesaid warrant at the Post Office Savings-bank office where the amount to be withdrawn is payable, shall be entitled to receive payment thereof.

Subject to regulations, the payment may be arranged by telegram.

Any depositor whose account has been opened in any Post Office Savings-bank office in any postal district for at least three months may in the prescribed manner transfer his account from that office to any Post Office Savings-bank office in another postal district.

The officers engaged in the receipt or payment of deposits shall not disclose the name of any depositor, nor the amount deposited or withdrawn, except to the Postmaster-General or to such of his officers as are appointed to assist in carrying this Division of this Act into operation:

Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to exempt any officer from disclosing in evidence any matters in obedience to the process of any Court of justice, or on an examination before any person having authority to take evidence in any proceeding under any law for the time being in force relating to bankruptcy or to old-age pensions, or from disclosing any matter in compliance with any Act.

All deposits shall be paid into the Post Office Account, and all sums withdrawn by depositors or by parties legally authorized to claim on account of depositors shall be paid to them out of the said account.

If at any time the funds paid into the Post Office Account under this Part of this Act and the interest arising therefrom are insufficient to meet the lawful claims of all depositors, it shall be the duty of the Minister of Finance to issue the amount of such deficiency out of the Consolidated Fund without further appropriation than this Act and to report such deficiency to Parliament.

If any dispute arises between the Postmaster-General or any person acting on his behalf and any depositor or any person claiming in right of such depositor, the matter in dispute shall be referred to arbitration, and for that purpose this section shall be deemed to be a submission within the meaning of the Arbitration Act, 1908, and the reference shall be deemed to be to two arbitrators.

The Minister of Finance shall from time to time, by notice published in the Gazette, fix the rates of interest to be payable in respect of moneys deposited in the Post Office Savings-bank, and may fix different rates in respect of different amounts deposited by the same or by different depositors.

The forms in the Second Schedule hereto may from time to time be altered by the Governor-General in Council to such extent as may be required by reason of any alteration that may be effected by the Minister of Finance pursuant to this section in the rates of interest for the time being payable in respect of deposits in the Post Office Savings-bank.

Interest shall in the case of each deposit be computed from the first day of the month next following the day on which a complete pound, either in one sum or in several sums of less amount, has been deposited, and, as to moneys withdrawn, shall cease on the first day of the month in which they are withdrawn:

Provided that when any such deposit is duly made on the first day of any month interest for that month shall be computed and allowed in respect of such deposit.

Interest shall be calculated to the thirty-first day of March in every year, and shall then be added to and become part of the principal money.

Interest shall in no case be payable on any sum less than a pound or a multiple of a pound.

The moneys paid into the Post Office Account under this Part of this Act and the interest accruing thereon, or such part thereof as the Governor-General in Council directs, shall be from time to time invested in the manner prescribed in the Public Revenues Act, 1926, for the investment of moneys lying to the credit of the Post Office Account.

In addition to the powers conferred by this Part of this Act the Postmaster - General may from time to time receive into the Post Office Savings-bank fixed deposits of amounts, not being less in any case than fifty pounds, at such rate of interest (not exceeding five per centum per annum) as the Minister of Finance may from time to time by notice in the Gazette determine.

Such deposits shall be lodged on the condition that they shall not be withdrawn within such period as may be agreed on between the Postmaster-General and the depositor, being not less than twelve months.

It shall be lawful for the Postmaster - General if he, thinks fit to permit the withdrawal of the whole or any portion of any sum forming part of a war fund within the meaning of the War Funds Act, 1915, and deposited in the Post Office Savings - bank by way of fixed deposit pursuant to the last preceding section at any time before the expiration of the period for which the amount was so deposited:

Provided that in such case the rate of interest to be allowed in respect of the amount so withdrawn for the period during which the said amount was held on deposit shall not exceed the minimum rate payable in respect of ordinary deposits at the time when the withdrawal is made.

Interest payable in respect of a fixed deposit or portion of a fixed deposit in the Post Office Savings-bank shall be computed as from the date on which such deposit is made up to and including the date on which the repayment of the deposit or portion thereof is made.

Where the whole amount standing to the credit of a depositor in the Post Office Savings-bank at the time of his death does not exceed two hundred pounds, and probate of the will of such depositor or letters of administration of his estate is or are not produced within such time as the Postmaster-General thinks reasonable, the Postmaster - General may in his discretion without requiring probate or letters of administration pay the amount or any part thereof to any of the persons following, that is to say:—

In making any payment as aforesaid the Postmaster-General shall have regard to the rules of law regulating the distribution of the estates of persons dying intestate, but he may nevertheless if he considers that injustice or undue hardship would result from the observance of those rules make such payment otherwise than in accordance therewith.

All payments made pursuant to this section shall be valid as against all persons, and no liability shall attach to the Postmaster-General or the Government of New Zealand in respect of any such payment.

Before making any payment under this section the Postmaster-General may require the production of proof to his satisfaction of the death of the depositor.

The Postmaster - General may from time to time pursuant to regulations in that behalf enter into reciprocal arrangements with any Government Savings-bank authority either in Great Britain or in any British possession or foreign country for the transfer of sums standing to the credit of depositors in such Government Savings-bank to the Post Office Savings-bank in New Zealand, or from the Post Office Savings-bank in New Zealand to such Government Savings-bank.

The Governor-General in Council may from time to time make regulations for—

An annual account of all deposits received and paid by the Post Office Savings-bank, and of interest paid thereon, and of the expenses incurred in carrying this Part of this Act into operation, during each year ending on the thirty-first day of March, together with a statement of the total amount due at the close of the year to all depositors in the Post Office Savings-bank, shall not later than the thirtieth day of June in every year be laid by the Postmaster-General before Parliament if sitting, or if not, then within fourteen days from the commencement of the next ensuing session.

All expenses incurred as aforesaid, including all sums payable to depositors, shall without further appropriation by Parliament be paid out of the moneys received under the authority of this Part of this Act and available for that purpose.

There shall be kept at the bank at which for the time being the Public Account is kept a special account to be called the Post Office Account, being the same account as that heretofore constituted under the Post and Telegraph Act, 1908, with the same name and in existence at the commencement of this Act.

The Post Office Account shall be operated on only by cheque signed by the Secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department or some other officer duly authorized in that behalf by the Postmaster- General.

Before any moneys are issued out of the Post Office Account the Postmaster-General shall cause to be prepared and sent to the Audit Office an order (herein referred to as a “bank order”) signed by the Secretary or other person duly authorized in that behalf by the Postmaster-General, directing the bank to honour cheques that may be drawn upon the account for the several amounts specified in the order.

On being satisfied that the proposed payments are in order and that there is a sufficient balance in the Post Office Account to meet the charges named in the bank order, the Controller and Auditor-General shall forthwith countersign the bank order.

The bank order when so countersigned by the Controller and Auditor-General shall be sufficient authority to the bank to pay the cheques drawn as aforesaid upon the Post Office Account to the several amounts specified in the order.

The capital liability of the Post and Telegraph Department as on the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-eight, shall be the amount determined by the Governor-General under the provisions of section four of the Post and Telegraph Amendment Act, 1927.

Any determination by the Governor - General under the said section four, including any determination as to what part of such capital liability represents moneys paid out of the Public Works Fund or revenue of the Department that has been applied for purposes of capital expenditure, may be at any time in like manner amended.

The following moneys shall from time to time as received be paid into the Post Office Account:—

All fines lawfully imposed on any officer of the Department in respect of any breach or neglect of duty shall be disposed of in the manner prescribed by regulations, and shall not form part of the Post Office Account unless such regulations so provide.

There shall from time to time, without further appropriation than this Act, be paid out of the Post Office Account into the Ordinary Revenue Account of the Consolidated Fund the moneys following, namely:—

The rate of interest to be paid pursuant to paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of the last preceding subsection shall be fixed by the Governor-General acting on the joint recommendation of the Minister of Finance and the Postmaster-General, and different rates may be so fixed in respect of different amounts of capital moneys. The rates fixed by the Governor-General as aforesaid may be at any time in like manner varied.

In addition to the moneys which may be paid out of the Post Office Account pursuant to the last preceding section there shall be paid out of that account the moneys following, namely:—

All moneys appropriated from the Public Works Fund for the purposes of telegraph-extension works shall as and when required be paid into the Post Office Account, and may be paid out of that account, without further appropriation than this Act, for the several purposes for which they were so appropriated from the Public Works Fund.

Save as hereinbefore expressly provided, all moneys to which this section relates may be paid without further appropriation than this Act.

The provisions of sections forty-seven and forty-eight of the Public Revenues Act, 1926, shall, with the necessary modifications, apply so as to authorize the issue of moneys without appropriation from the Post Office Account for the space of three months next after the commencement of any financial year.

The Postmaster-General shall forthwith after the close of each financial year cause to be prepared—

The aforesaid balance-sheets and accounts, duly audited by the Audit Office, together with such report thereon as the Postmaster-General thinks fit to make, shall be laid before Parliament as soon as practicable after the close of the financial year to which they relate.

Nothing in the last preceding subsection shall preclude the publication by the Postmaster-Genera] at any time before their submission to Parliament and in any manner that he thinks expedient of any balance - sheet, or statement of accounts, or any particulars extracted therefrom.

The Minister of Finance may, without further appropriation than this section and on such terms and conditions as he thinks fit, advance out of the Ordinary Revenue Account of the Consolidated Fund to the Post Office Account, to be available for the purposes of that account, such amounts as he may from time to time determine.

All moneys paid into the Post Office Account pursuant to this section, with interest thereon as fixed by the Minister of Finance, shall be payable or repayable without further appropriation than this section to the Ordinary Revenue Account of the Consolidated Fund.

Any moneys in the Post Office Account which in the opinion of the Postmaster-General are not required for the purposes of that account may be invested in manner prescribed by section ninety-seven of the Public Revenues Act, 1926.

The Postmaster - General may establish a depreciation reserve, to which may be charged any depreciation in the value of the assets of the account or loss involved in the destruction of or injury to any such assets, and any expenditure involved in the replacement of assets.

The Postmaster-General may also from time to time establish such other reserves as he deems necessary or expedient.

The sum appearing in the balance - sheet of the Post and Telegraph Department for the year ending the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-eight, as a reserve fund in connection with the Post Office Savings-bank shall continue to be held by the Department as such reserve fund; but the amount of such reserve fund shall not be increased except with the approval of the Minister of Finance. The interest from time to time payable in respect of the moneys in such reserve fund shall as the Minister of Finance may determine be paid to the credit of the reserve fund or be disposed of in the same way as profits derived from the Post Office Savings-bank.

For the purposes of this section the Postmaster-General and the Minister of Finance shall, with respect to the amount shown as a depreciation reserve in the balance-sheet of the Post and Telegraph Department for the year ending on the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-eight, mutually determine what part of the moneys representing such reserve shall be deemed to consist of the excess of the receipts into the Consolidated Fund from the Post Office Account since the first day of April, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, over the payments made from that account for the purposes of the Department during the said period. In lieu of themselves determining the amount of such excess the said Ministers may, if they think fit, submit the matter for determination by the Controller and Auditor-General, and in such case the decision of the Controller and Auditor-General shall be final.

From the amount determined in accordance with the last preceding subsection there shall be deducted an amount equal to the amount of interest paid or payable for the aforesaid period in respect of moneys applied out of the Public Works Fund for the purposes of the Post and Telegraph Department. The rate of interest herein referred to shall be fixed by the Governor-General on the joint recommendation of the Minister of Finance and the Postmaster-General.

The amount ascertained as the result of the deduction made pursuant to the last preceding subsection is hereinafter in this section referred to as the residue.

The residue shall, unless and until it is dealt with in accordance with the next succeeding subsection, be deemed to be a liability of the Consolidated Fund to the Post Office Account, and interest shall be payable in respect thereof as if it were an investment of surplus funds of the Post Office Account made in accordance with section ninety-seven of the Public Revenues Act, 1926.

The Minister of Finance and the Postmaster-General may at any time mutually agree that the residue ascertained as provided in the last preceding subsection, together with any interest accrued in respect thereof, or any portion of such residue or interest, shall be applied in reduction of the capital liability of the Post Office Account in so far as such capital liability consists of borrowed moneys.

The Postmaster-General is authorized to transfer from the Post Office Account to the credit of the Public Account a sum not exceeding two hundred thousand pounds:

Provided that in computing the said sum of two hundred thousand pounds there shall be taken into account all sums heretofore transferred under the authority of section two of the Post Office Savings-bank Funds Investment Act, 1907, or section one hundred and seventeen of the Post and Telegraph Act, 1908.

The Minister of Finance is empowered to issue to the Postmaster-General debentures for the said sum so transferred to the Public Account, and to pay interest thereon at such rate as the said Minister from time to time determines, being not less than the maximum rate of interest for the time being payable to depositors in the Post Office Savings-bank as determined in accordance with subsection one of section eighty-two hereof.

All such debentures shall be issued in accordance with the New Zealand Loans Act, 1908, and shall be subject to the provisions of that Act accordingly.

All moneys transferred to the Public Account under the authority of this section shall form part of the Public Works Fund and shall from time to time be applied in the erection of new post-office buildings in Auckland and Wellington, or in the acquisition of suitable sites for the same, and to reimburse to the Public Works Fund so much of the expenditure made therefrom for the acquisition of sites and erection of buildings for post-office purposes as the Minister of Finance may determine.

The Postmaster-General may from time to time issue certificates, to be called “Post Office Investment Certificates,” in such form as may from time to time be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

Such certificates shall be issued for a nominal value of such amount or of such amounts as the Minister of Finance may in his discretion determine, and may be issued by the Postmaster-General on payment into the Post Office Account of such less amount than the nominal value as may be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

Every such certificate shall be issued for such term as the Minister may determine, and shall authorize the payment to the bearer at maturity of the nominal value of such certificate. Such payment shall be made out of the Post Office Account without further appropriation than this section.

If at any time the moneys in the Post Office Account are insufficient to meet the charges thereon in respect of certificates issued under this section, it shall be the duty of the Minister of Finance to issue the amount of such deficiency out of the Consolidated Fund without further appropriation than this section, and to report such deficiency to Parliament.

All moneys paid into the Post Office Account for the purchase of certificates under this section shall from time to time be invested by the Postmaster-General in debentures or other securities issued by the Minister of Finance in respect of the moneys authorized to be borrowed under any authorizing Act.

The costs, charges, and expenses connected with the issue of Post Office Investment Certificates under this section shall be deemed to form portion of the costs, charges, and expenses connected with the raising of any loan in which the receipts from the sale of the said certificates have been invested pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section, and the provisions of section eight of the New Zealand Loans Act, 1908, shall apply accordingly.

Any certificates under this section may be redeemed at any time before maturity on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed in that behalf by the Governor-General in Council.

Any regulations under the last preceding subsection may be applied so as to authorize the redemption before maturity of any Warloan Certificates issued by the Postmaster-General pursuant to any lawful authority.

All certificates issued under section seventeen of the Finance Act, 1920, and now in force, shall be deemed to have been issued under this section, and the provisions of this section shall apply thereto accordingly.

Every person who—

is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds; and in case of conviction under paragraph (a) hereof is also liable to pay to the Postmaster-General compensation for any injury done (including injury done to the contents of such pillar or box), to be assessed by the adjudicating Court.

Every person who—

is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour, or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or both; and no such postal packet shall be forwarded by post:

Provided that nothing in this section shall apply with respect to the carriage of strychnine by post in accordance with regulations in that behalf made under the authority of section sixty-seven hereof.

Every person who—

is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding seven years with or without hard labour.

Every person who—

is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months with or without hard labour.

Every postage-stamp, die, plate, instrument, or materials found in the possession of any person in contravention of this section shall be seized and forfeited.

For the purposes of this section “fictitious postage-stamp” means any facsimile or imitation or representation, whether on paper or otherwise, of any postage-stamp or other stamp for denoting any rate of postage of New Zealand or of any other part of His Majesty’s dominions, or of any foreign country.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds or to imprisonment for three months who—

In any proceeding in respect of any offence under this section the onus shall lie on the defendant to prove the absence of fraud or of the intent to defraud.

Notwithstanding any rule of construction to the contrary, the provisions of paragraph (e) of subsection one of this section shall apply, and be deemed at all times heretofore to have applied, with respect to matters affecting Division II of this Act in the same manner as it applies with respect to matters affecting Division I hereof.

For the purposes of this section the expression “postal packet” includes a telegram, whether transmitted by post or by telegraph, or otherwise howsoever.

In any proceedings against any person in respect of any offence under this Act every postage-stamp or other stamp purporting to denote a rate of postage of any part of His Majesty’s dominions or of any foreign country shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be a postage-stamp used for postal purposes in such part of the said dominions or of such foreign country respectively.

Every person who,—

is liable on indictment to the same punishment as if such money-order or postal note were a cheque:

Provided that any person, being a banker, who, in collecting in such capacity for any principal, has received payment or been allowed a credit by the Postmaster-General in account in respect of any money-order or postal note, or of any document purporting to be a money-order or postal note, shall not incur liability to any one except such principal by reason of having received such payment or allowance, or of having held or presented such order or note or document for payment:

Provided also that this section shall not relieve any principal for whom such order, note, or document has been so held or presented from any liability in respect of his possession of the same or of the proceeds thereof.

For the purposes of this Act all enactments providing for the punishment of offences relating to stamp duties shall apply in like manner as if the commission on money-orders and poundage on postal notes were a stamp duty.

A money-order or a postal note shall be deemed to be—

Every person who,—

is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour, or to a fine of fifty pounds, or to both.

Nothing in this section shall extend to the opening, or detaining, or delaying of a postal packet under any special provision of this Act.

For the purposes of this section the expression “postal packet” includes a telegram, whether transmitted by post or by telegraph, or otherwise howsoever.

The prosecution for any offence alleged to have been committed against the last preceding section may be by way of summary proceedings, and every person who commits any such offence shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of fifty pounds or to imprisonment for three months.

No person shall in respect of any such offence be proceeded against by way of indictment under the last preceding section and also under this section.

Every Post officer who—

is liable on indictment to imprisonment with hard labour for any term not exceeding six years; and if such postal packet contains therein any chattel or money whatsoever, or any valuable security, he is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding fourteen years with hard labour.

For the purposes of this section the expression “postal packet” includes a telegram, whether transmitted by post or by telegraph, or otherwise howsoever.

Every Post officer who—

is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour, or to a fine of fifty pounds, or to both.

No offence punishable under this section shall be punishable under any other of the provisions of this Act.

Every person who steals from or out of a postal packet any chattel or money or valuable security is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding fourteen years with hard labour.

Every person who—

is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding fourteen years with hard labour.

Every person who unlawfully opens any mail-bag is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding five years with hard labour.

Every person who—

is liable to the like imprisonment or fine, and by the same procedure.

Every Post officer who grants or issues any money-order or postal note with a fraudulent intent is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six years with hard labour.

Every Post officer who reissues a money-order or postal note previously paid shall be deemed to have issued the note with a fraudulent intent.

Every person who—

is liable on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour, or to a fine of fifty pounds, or to both.

For the purposes of this section the expression “postal packet” includes a telegram, whether transmitted by post or by telegraph, or otherwise howsoever.

Every person who by means of any false pretence or misstatement induces any Post officer to deliver to him any postal packet sent by post and not addressed to or intended for such person, and every Post officer who knowingly delivers any postal packet to any person not lawfully entitled to receive the same, is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Every Postmaster or Post officer who wilfully neglects or fails to deliver or who wilfully retards the delivery of any mail or postal packet is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Every person commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds who wilfully obstructs or interferes with any Post officer in the performance of his duties as such.

Every person is liable on indictment to imprisonment for one year or to a fine of one hundred pounds, or to both such imprisonment and fine, who personates or falsely represents himself to be an officer of the Post and Telegraph Department.

Every person commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds who fraudulently marks any postal packet so as to lead any person to believe that such postal packet was posted at a time other than the time when it was in fact posted, or who counsels, procures, aids, abets, or incites any other person so to mark any such packet.

Every person who opens any postal packet not intended for him, or procures or suffers any other person wrongfully to open any postal packet, whether or not the opening of such postal packet constitutes an offence under section one hundred and fourteen hereof, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds if without good and sufficient cause, the proof whereof shall lie upon him, he divulges to any person any information obtained by him from the contents of such postal packet.

Every person employed in the carrying, conveying, or delivering of any mail or postal packet who negligently loses any such mail or postal packet whilst in his charge, whether the same is or is not afterwards recovered, is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Every driver of any carriage or vehicle whatsoever used for the conveyance of a mail, and every person in charge of a mail (whether such mail is conveyed by a carriage or vehicle, or on horseback, or on foot),—

is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds who,—

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds who, without due authority, affixes or attempts to affix any placard, advertisement, notice, list, document, board, or thing on, or to paint or disfigure, any post-office, or any post-office letter-box or pillar box, or any telephone or telegraph office or post, or any other real or personal property whatsoever belonging to or used by or on behalf of His Majesty or the Postmaster-General for the purposes of this Act.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds who, without due authority,—

Every Post officer who—