Chapter 2

8. _Return of Losses of and Abstractions of money and other articles from letters_ to be transmitted on the first day of each month. This return can be made out from the record of applications for missing letters, and should include all supposed cases of loss and abstraction entered in the record during the month which have not been erased, in accordance with the instructions under the head of "Cases of Loss and Abstraction." Those cases not erased should be consecutively numbered and the number entered[1] in the return. In the event of a letter being reported as lost which is subsequently found, you should state in the next month's return "No. ----reported in the return for the month of ---- found;" and erase from your record of applications for lost letters.

9. _Return of transfer of Post Offices_ to be transmitted by the tenth day of each month, and to include all transfers taking effect up to the first of the month (on which the return is sent in), inclusive.

10. _Journal of Travel and Proceedings_ not later than six days after the expiration of each month.

11. _Requisition for payment of Miscellaneous expenses_ to include travelling allowances, telegraph bills, and all outlays, except salaries and contractors' pay, not later than six days after the expiration of each month. Only one requisition should be sent in each month. Each requisition should be numbered consecutively throughout each fiscal year. No. 1 should be the first requisition made, for accounts the dates of which should embrace the month of July. On each voucher it must be stated clearly for what object the expense has been incurred. Further, each account must bear a certificate as to its correctness in the hand-writing of the Inspector, and must be accompanied by an official voucher on which must be written the number and date of the authority for the expense.

Trademen's accounts should be included in the requisition made for the last month in each quarter. All outstanding accounts should be included in the requisition for the last month in each quarter, as it is very objectionable that accounts for expenses incurred in one quarter should be included in the requisition made for any following quarter.

The vouchers for travelling expenses claimed by officers not entitled to a per diem allowance, should bear your certificate that the amount claimed is the amount of the actual expenses incurred.

The vouchers for telegraph accounts should bear your certificate that all the telegrams charged for have been sent and received on official business.

All accounts for advertising must be accompanied by copies of the advertisement for which the accounts are rendered.

In making out the requisition the accounts should be entered according to their amounts, the largest amount being entered first, and the smallest amount last.

The accounts should be numbered consecutively in the above order on the back.

The number on each account should correspond with the number of its entry in the requisition.

The accounts and vouchers themselves should be placed and forwarded in the order in which entered.

It is very important that the cheques received in payment of accounts should be promptly acknowledged by returning the form sent with them, and that when paid the vouchers should be always returned with the printed letter of advice, in the same order in which entered in the requisition, so that they can be readily checked.

12. _One copy of each Time Bill_ in use should be forwarded on the first day of each quarter. The Bills sent to be classified according to frequency of service, and arranged alphabetically.

Accompanying these Bills should be sent a memorandum of all changes made during the past month in the Bills used.

13. _Returns of Railway and Steam Boat Service_ to be sent in on the first of each month. These Returns to be personally examined by the Inspector before they are sent in.

14. _Annual Return of all cases of loss or abstraction_ to be transmitted on or before the 1st October in each year.

This return should include all cases of loss or abstraction occurring within the year ended the 30th June last past, as well as all such cases occurring at the end of the preceding year as it may not have been possible to include that year's return.

Each case should be entered in order according to the date on which the letter was posted. The Return should be divided into two parts.

The first part should include only Registered Letters, the cases of entire loss of the letter being entered separately from cases of abstraction of the contents of the letter.

The second part should include only unregistered letters, the cases of loss being also entered separately from the cases of abstraction.

This return should be very carefully prepared. It constitutes the material from which the annual statement for Parliament has to be compiled, and the explanations given under the head of "Result of Proceedings" should be such as fully to justify every step taken during and subsequent to the investigations instituted.

15. A Return of the Mail Service in operation in your Division on the 1st day of July, in each year, to be transmitted by the first of the following month.

The services in this return to be entered alphabetically and to be classified according to frequency of service, the distances between the termini of the several routes also, to be accurately stated. Suspended winter services to be given as a supplement.

V.

SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES.

1. With the exception of Postmasters in the cities, Postmasters' salaries are based on a commission on the amount of postage on matter prepaid by stamps and posted at their offices, viz.: 40 per cent. on the first $800 per annum or $200 per quarter, and 25 per cent. on the balance, with a minimum salary of $10 per annum in cases where the postage on the matter pre-paid by stamps is less than $25. These salaries are to be revised every two years, but in very special cases where there has been an exceptional increase of revenue or work, the case may be reported on for the Postmaster General's consideration.

2. In cases where the Postmaster is required to perform duty between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., 50 per cent. instead of 40 per cent. is allowed on the first $800 per annum, or $200 per quarter of prepaid postage revenue, provided always that the Postmaster General considers that there are sufficient grounds for such increased allowance.

3. Allowances for forward duty are made to Postmasters who are required to re-mail letters and papers for and from other offices.

The amount of remuneration should be regulated according to,--

1. The number of offices for and from which the Postmaster distributes mails.

2. The number of mails per week despatched to and received therefrom.

3. The average amount of matter _re-mailed_ each week, viz.:--number of

Ordinary Letters, Registered Letters, Postal Cards, Newspapers, Books and Parcels, &c.

It must be clearly understood that in the above must not be included the matter posted, or delivered, at the office to which the allowance forward duty is proposed to be made.

4. The time occupied in the duty and the number of persons required to accomplish it.

5. The hours at which the duty is performed.

In no case, however, should the allowance for forward duty excel 12 per cent. of the revenue of the offices--the correspondence for and from which is distributed.

4. When, in consequence of any change in the Mail arrangements the forward duty performed by a Postmaster is either increased or diminished, you should at once report to the Postmaster General what corresponding increase or diminution in the forward allowance should be made, so that the necessary adjustment may take effect from the date on which the change goes into operation.

5. All reports regarding forward allowance should be accompanied by a tracing from the Postal Map showing the Distributing Office, and the offices dependent thereon.

6. Allowances for rent, fuel and light are regulated by the Revenue collected at the office, as follows:--

Annual Revenue. Annual Allowance.

Over $ 800 and up to $1,200 $ 40 00 " 1,200 " 1,600 60 00 " 1,600 " 2,000 80 00 " 2,000 " 3,000 120 00

and so on, the allowance increasing $40 per annum for every $1,000 or fraction of $1,000 of yearly Revenue. No allowance for rent is made at offices where the Revenue is loss than $800 per annum.

7. The scale of salaries of Railway Mail Clerks is as follows:--

+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+ Class. | On | After 2 years | After 5 years | After 10 years| | Appointment. | service in | service in | service in | | | any class. | any class. | any class. | -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | Day. | Night.| Day. | Night.| Day. | Night.| Day. | Night.| -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ 1 | 720 | 880 | 800 | 1,000 | 800 | 1,100 | 960 | 1,200 | 2 | 600 | 720 | 640 | 800 | 720 | 880 | 800 | 1,000 | 3 | 480 | 600 | 520 | 640 | 560 | 700 | 640 | 800 | -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

8. In all cases where a Railway Mail Clerk is entitled to an increase of salary, a special report should be made and the Postmaster General's sanction obtained previous to the increased salary being entered on the monthly pay list.

9. Railway Mail Clerks, in addition to their salaries, are entitled to half a cent for each mile travelled whilst on actual duty. Until, however, a Railway Mail Clerk is reported to the Postmaster General as fully competent to take charge of the Mails, he is to be paid only one quarter of a cent for each mile travelled.

10. The scale of salaries of Clerks employed in city offices is as follows:--

1st Class from $1,000 to $1,600 2nd " 900 " 1,100 3rd " 600 " 800 4th " 400 " 520

In the 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes, the Clerks receive the lower salary on appointment or promotion with an increase of $40 each year, until the higher salary is attained.

In the first class there is no annual increase, the salary which is fixed by the Postmaster General in each case, having regard to the merits and services of the Clerks and the relative importance of the duty entrusted to them.

11. Letter Carriers will receive such salaries and allowances for uniforms as may be from time to time fixed by the Postmaster General.

VI.

NEW POST OFFICES.

1. In each report on an application for a new Post Office describe the locality in which it is proposed to establish the office, giving name of the township, number of lot and concession stating whether front or rear of the concession, and county in which situated. In places where land is not so divided give such particulars as may serve to indicate the exact position. State further the number of churches, schools, mills, stores, houses or other buildings in the immediate neighborhood; the character of the surrounding land, whether well settled, and the estimated number of families that the office applied for would accommodate; its distance from all neighboring offices; its estimated postal revenue; the mode and frequency of the service proposed; the estimated annual cost; whether any previous application for a Post Office in the same locality has already been reported on, and such other information as may bear on the matter.

2. With each report on an application for a new Post Office should be sent a sketch or tracing (from the map of your Division) shewing as nearly as can be ascertained the position of the proposed office and mail route, and the offices and mail routes already in operation in its neighborhood.

VII.

MAIL ARRANGEMENTS.

1. The principal object of all mail arrangements is to ensure the transit of the letters and papers to destination with the utmost possible despatch.

2. The main routes throughout the Provinces should connect with each other as closely as it is possible.

3. The branch routes should be so arranged as to form as close a connection as possible with the main lines.

4. Through bags should be exchanged by all offices between which pass a large number of letters and papers, including Travelling Post Offices on different routes.

5. When, as a general rule, an office has a large number of registered letters for another office with which it does not exchange a direct mail, the registered letters may be enclosed in a sealed registered packet, addressed to the office for which the letters are intended. The address of the packet, however, should, in all cases, be entered in the Letter Bill with which it is despatched.

When a packet is sent as above, it should be accompanied by a Letter Bill containing at foot an acknowledgment for registered letters. This acknowledgment should be filled up by the receiving office and returned to the despatching office by the first post.

6. Where large numbers of registered letters pass between two offices, it is desirable that bags secured with the lead seal should be used.

7. An Inspector should always be on the watch to ascertain what improvements can be made in the postal arrangements in his Division. It should be his aim to anticipate the wants of the general public, and to combine, as far as practicable, efficiency of service with economy of expenditure.

VIII.

MAIL SERVICE.

1. It is very essential that a strict supervision should be maintained over the performance of the mail service; that all delays and irregularities should be promptly checked, and, when necessary, fines imposed and enforced.

2. On all the important routes there should be suitable Time Bills, in which should be entered the hours of arrival and departure at each office, the names of the couriers, and the No. of the mails received and delivered.

3. These Time Bills should be carefully checked and fyled away, the check clerk affixing his initials to each bill.

4. You should be ready at all times to receive suggestions for improvements in the Mail Service, and, if desirable, submit them for the consideration of the Postmaster General.

5. Leather bags should, as a general rule, be used on stage routes.

On the outlying routes, where the mails are exposed to the weather, waterproof canvass bags should be used.

IX.

ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW ROUTES OR ALTERATIONS IN ROUTES ALREADY IN OPERATION.

1. In making reports on proposed new mail routes, or alterations of existing routes--state clearly--

Advantages to be obtained;

Additional cost per annum to be incurred;

Present revenue of the offices to be served;

Increased revenue which it is estimated would result from proposed additional mail facilities;

Give tables also of the present and proposed routes, showing offices served and intermediate distances. State, also, dates on which contracts which it is proposed to discontinue would terminate provided previous notice were not given by the Postmaster General.

2. With each report send a sketch or tracing from the Post Office Map of your Division, showing all the offices affected by the proposed arrangements, denoting the lines of existing routes which it is recommended should be discontinued in blue, and the new routes which it is recommended should be established in red.

3. All changes in Mail Services should--except in very special cases--take effect on the first day of each mouth.

X.

CONTRACTS FOR MAIL SERVICES.

1. For every Mail Service there should be a written contract or memorandum of agreement, which should be made out and executed in triplicate, one copy being for the Department at Ottawa, one for the contractor, and one for yourself.

2. All contracts for Mail Services should be made so as to terminate at the end of a quarter, or if that is not possible, at the end of a month.

3. The contracts terminating at the end of each quarter should be entered in the record of expiration of contracts, a page or two pages in this book as may be required, being appropriated for each quarter.

4. _Six months_ previous to the expiration of the contracts, the usual printed circular should be issued to the Postmaster at each of the termini of the several routes, asking whether any improvements can be made in the service.

5. Should any change be desirable a report should be made thereon to the Postmaster General, at least one month previous to the preparation of the notices inviting tenders for a new contract.

6. Four months before the expiration of each Quarter separate reports should be made to the Postmaster General.

1. Of all contracts expiring at the end of the next ensuing Quarter in which no change of mail service is proposed.

2. Of all contracts expiring at the end of the next ensuing Quarter in which an alteration is recommended.

These reports should be accompanied by the usual notices of advertisement inviting tenders.

7. All advertisements for tenders and all contracts for Mail Services should be carefully prepared, it being borne in mind that nothing more than what is expressed therein can be legally enforced.

The advertisements should be dated a fortnight later than the date of their transmission to the Department.

8. There should be at least six weeks between the date of the advertisements and the date up to which tenders for the service are receivable, and at least eight weeks between the day fixed on for the reception of tenders and the date on which they are to take effect.

9. Duplicates of the notices inviting tenders for Mail Services, should be fyled in the Guard Book provided for that purpose.

10. When the notices have received the approval of the Postmaster General, one copy at least should be sent to each office on the route to be advertised, to be posted up in a conspicuous place in the office for the public information, and as many copies as may be considered necessary to the office at each terminus.

11. The usual forms of tender should also be supplied to Postmasters at those places where these forms of tender will probably be enquired for by parties proposing for the service.

12. Unless there is any good and sufficient objection, contracts for Mail Services must be made with parties whose tenders, being the lowest, have been accepted.

13. It should, however, be ascertained that the party proposing to undertake the service is able satisfactorily to perform it, and that the sureties he names are good and sufficient for the penalty of the required bond.

14. In the event of there being any serious objection to entering into a contract with the parties whose tenders have been accepted, full particulars of the objection should at once be reported to the Postmaster General, and application made for the next lowest tender.

15. Full particulars should also be promptly furnished to the Postmaster General of the action taken on tenders forwarded to you for acceptance on certain conditions, or in cases where none of the tenders received have been accepted in consequence of the high prices demanded.

16. In dealing with accepted tenders for mail services, and in making out the contract therefor, the greatest possible promptness should be observed.

17. Contracts for Mail Services should be very carefully prepared, and no contract should be forwarded for the signature of the Postmaster General unless correct in all its terms and provisions.

18. The contract should specify all the offices served _en route_.

19. All contracts sent for the Postmaster General's signature must be accompanied by the printed form or letter, in which should be entered separately and alphabetically:--

1. Contracts entered into without change of service;

2. Contracts for new services.

Against each contract should be entered the number and date of the letter under authority of which the contract was made.

Against the entry of each new contract it should be clearly stated whether the service is entirely a new one. If not, the names of the contract or contracts which it supersedes should be given.

20. Every contract made upon an accepted tender should (when sent to the Department) be accompanied by the tender on which it is based.

XI.

BONDS.

1. Bonds must be taken from the following Officers:--

Postmasters. Assistant Postmasters in City Offices. Money Order Savings Bank and Registration Clerks in City Offices. Railway Mail Clerks. Letter Carriers.

2. The amount of the penalty of the bond required from Postmasters must be governed by the revenue collected, and the amount of business transacted. Care must be taken to use the Money Order form of bond for all Postmasters transacting Money Order and Savings Bank business. A Postmaster's bond should in all cases be completed before he is placed in charge of the office.

3. The amount of the penalty of the bond required

From Assistant Postmaster in City Office, is from $1,000 to $1,600 From Money Order and Registration Clerks in City Office, from 600 " 1,000 according to amount of responsibility. From Railway Mail Clerks 800 " Letter Carriers 400

4. Bonds can be accepted either from the Canada Guarantee Company, or from two private parties whose sufficiency for the penalty must be certified by a magistrate. Bonds from the Guarantee Company are preferred.

5. Great care must be taken in the filling up and execution of the bonds. The names in the body of the bond must be spelt in the same way as they are in the signature. In the description of the residence of the parties, the name of the judicial, and not the name of the electoral, county must be inserted.

6. All erasures and corrections should be avoided, but, if made, should be initialed by the parties whose signatures as witnesses are attached to the bond.

7. The bond should be sealed.

8. The signature of the principal and the sureties should in every case be witnessed by two persons. The witnesses should always sign their names. Marks as substitutes for signatures of witnesses cannot be accepted.

9. If, as sometimes, it happens through the removal of an office, the township mentioned in the new bond as the residence of the Postmaster differs from the township in which the office is situated, as shown in the Postal Guide, a special report of the fact should be made to the Postmaster General.

XII.

RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE.

1. This is a very important branch of the Postal Service, and will require your constant supervision.

2. A Distribution Book should be supplied the Mail Clerks on each road, which book should be corrected, at least, once in each month, or oftener, should circumstances render it necessary.

3. Each Mail Clerk in your Division should be examined frequently with the object of ascertaining if he has a proper knowledge of the distribution and of the changes which have taken place in the distribution on the railway on which he is employed.

4. On every railway route there should be a Time Bill which should pass from one end of the line to the other, and in which should be entered the particulars of all bags received and delivered by the Mail Clerks.

5. You are not authorized to issue passes for travelling in a Postal Car except to a Railway Mail Clerk actually going on duty.

6. No person, excepting Railway Mail Clerks on duty, the conductor of the train (in the ordinary course of his duty), and the Post Office Inspectors should be allowed access to the Postal Cars whilst _en route_ with the mails.