Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882

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POST OFFICE (PARCELS) ACT 1882

CHAPTER LXXIV.

An Act to amend the Post Office Acts with respect to the Conveyance of Parcels. [18th August 1882.]

[Preamble.]

Short title.

1. This Act may be cited as the Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882.

Remuneration to railway companies for carriage of parcels.

2. In the event of any regulations being made by the Treasury in pursuance of the Post Office Acts and providing for the conveyance of parcels by post on different conditions from ordinary postal packets, the following provisions shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have effect:

(1.) The Postmaster-General shall from time to time pay to the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act the amount herein-after mentioned as the remuneration of all railway companies in respect of the conveyance of parcels by such companies, and the amount so paid (in this Act referred to as the railway remuneration) shall be in substitution for any other remuneration in respect of the conveyance of such parcels, and every railway company shall render in respect of such parcels the services required by this Act, and shall accept the said payment in full satisfaction and discharge for the said services.

(2.) The amount of the railway remuneration shall be eleven-twentieth parts of the gross receipts of the Postmaster-General from such of the said parcels as are conveyed by railway;

Provided that if at any time in pursuance of regulations of the Treasury the weights of or rates of postage for parcels differ from those mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act, the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act may, by notice under the hand of the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee, require a revision of the amount of the railway remuneration, and the amount as determined on such revision shall be substituted for the above-mentioned eleven-twentieth parts of the gross receipts, subject nevertheless, in the event of any further change in the weights of or rates of postage for parcels, to another revision on notice requiring the same given either by the railway companies or by the Postmaster-General, and so on from time to time.

(3.) In the case of a revision the amount of railway remuneration shall be a sum to be paid to the companies collectively in manner provided by this Act, and if such amount is not determined by agreement between the Postmaster-General and the railway companies, parties to the arrangement under this Act, the amount shall be referred to arbitration in manner provided by this Act.

(4.) The provisions of this section (in this Act referred to as the arrangement under this Act) shall continue in force during a period of twenty-one years next after the said regulations come into operation, and thereafter until the expiration of twelve months’ notice to determine the same given by the Postmaster-General on the one side, or by the railway companies on the other, either before or after the expiration of the said twenty-one years.

Services to be rendered by railway companies.

3. During the continuance of the arrangement under this Act the railway companies shall render the following services:—

(1.) Every railway company shall convey by any train by which passengers, goods, or parcels are conveyed all such parcels as may be tendered for conveyance by such train, whether such parcels be under the charge of a person appointed by the Postmaster-General or not, and notwithstanding that no notice has been given to the company with respect to the conveyance of such parcels:

Provided that the conveyance of parcels by mail and express trains shall be limited so as not to affect prejudicially the convenient and punctual working of those trains.

(2.) Every railway company shall afford all reasonable facilities for the receipt and delivery of the sacks, hampers, boxes, or other receptacles containing the parcels at any of their stations without requiring them to be booked or interposing any other delay, and shall perform the service of transferring such sacks, hampers, boxes, or other receptacles to and from the vehicles of the Postmaster-General at the outwards and inwards railway stations.

(3.) Every railway company shall convey, free of charge, but in a manner convenient to them but not interfering with his custody of the parcels, any servant of the Postmaster-General appointed to take charge of the parcels during their conveyance by railway; but if such person during the conveyance receives any injury, and the company pay any sum for damages or costs in respect of such injury, or on account of death arising from such injury, the Postmaster-General shall pay to the company one half of such sum, but if the sum is paid by the company under agreement or by way of compromise of any claim, the Postmaster-General shall not be liable to pay one half unless his written consent has been previously given to the payment of such sum.

(4.) If the parcels are in charge of a person appointed by the Postmaster-General every railway company shall permit such person, if he thinks fit, by himself or his assistants, to deliver and receive the parcels at any station at which the train by which the sacks, hampers, boxes, or other receptacles containing the parcels are intended to be or are conveyed is appointed to stop and during the time limited for such stoppage, but nevertheless shall, if required by such person, assist him in transferring the sacks, hampers, boxes, or other receptacles to and from the vehicles of the Postmaster-General.

(5.) Every railway company shall, if the Postmaster-General so require, provide in every train, not being an express or mail train, a special parcels van or other separate accommodation for sorting parcels carried by such train, and the Postmaster-General shall pay to such company in respect of the said van or accommodation such amount as may be agreed on, or, in case of difference, be determined by arbitration.

Calculation of gross receipts.

4. The gross receipts of the Postmaster-General from parcels conveyed by railway for the purpises of this Act

(a) shall be calculated without any deduction whether for the cost of stamps, or otherwise; and

(b.) shall not include such extra charges (over and above the usual rate of postage) as may be from time to time fixed by the said regulations; and

(c.) shall include the rates of postage which would be chargeable for Government parcels, if they were sent by private persons, notwithstanding that the same may be conveyed without being stamped; and

(d.) As regards foreign parcels shall be taken to be the same amount as would have been the gross receipts of the Postmaster-General in respect of such parcels if they had been inland parcels of the same weight.

Payments to Clearing Committee.

5. (1.) The Postmaster-General shall from time to time, and at least once in every three months, and, within seven weeks after the expiration of the period to which such accounts respectively relate, render to the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act, through the medium of the London Railway Clearing Committee, such accounts as may be reasonably necessary to show the sums due to railway companies in respect of railway remuneration under this Act, and shall keep all such accounts as are reasonably necessary for that purpose, and shall afford reasonable inspection thereof to the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee on behalf of the railway companies, and shall as soon as may be, and at least within one week after the delivery of the account, pay to the railway companies through the medium of the said committee the amount, appearing from the said accounts to be so due, and may pay the same out of the moneys for the time being to the credit of the Postmaster-General at the Bank of England; but such payments shall be charged in the accounts of the Post Office to the gross receipts in respect of parcels.

(2.) The receipt of the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee shall be a full discharge for all sums paid by the Postmaster-General in respect of railway remuneration, and the Postmaster-General shall not be required to take any part in or otherwise be responsible for the division amongst the railway companies of the amount so paid.

Apportionment of amount received by committee.

6. (1.) The railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act shall from time to time apportion the railway remuneration received from the Postmaster-General among all the railway companies in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Third Schedule to this Act, which provisions shall have effect as if they were enacted in the body of this Act.

(2.) For the purpose of facilitating such apportionment the Postmaster-General shall for one week in each half year keep, and within twenty-eight days thereafter deliver to the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee, records of the number of the parcels conveyed by railway and forwarded from the different post towns in the United Kingdom during the week for which such account shall be so kept.

Conditions as to conveyance of parcels by railway.

7. During the continuance of the arrangement under this Act the following provisions shall have effect with reference to the parcels conveyed for the Postmaster-General by railway companies:

(1.) He shall direct his officers from time to time to distribute, so far as practicable, the parcels between the different railways, so that the expense to any railway company of carrying the parcels may, with due regard to the public convenience, be proportionate to that company's share of the receipts divisible among the railway companies under this Act:

(2.) He shall direct his officers to secure so far as practicable the delivery of the parcels at the outwards railway station a reasonable time before the departure of the trains, and to be so far as practicable in attendance at the inwards station to meet on arrival any train by which parcels are expected to arrive:

(3.) The parcels shall be placed by the officers of the Postmaster-General for each separate railway station in sacks, hampers, boxes, or other receptacles, and in such reasonably convenient manner for delivery to and for transfer and conveyance by the railway companies as the Postmaster-General may from time to time direct.

(4.) The railway companies shall not be required to carry, under this Act, any such explosive or dangerous article as they, independently of this Act, for the time being refuse to carry as a parcel by passenger trains.

(5.) The parcels shall, with regard to security and compensation for loss or otherwise, be treated as letters sent by post, and no company shall incur or be subject to any liability in respect of the conveyance or loss of or damage to any of the parcels, but the railway companies shall take all reasonable care for the security of the parcels while under their charge.

Arbitration under Act.

22 & 23 Vict. c. 59.

8. Where during the continuance of the arrangement under this Act the amount of railway remuneration or other matter of difference between the Postmaster-General and the railway companies parties to the said arrangement or any matter of difference between the Postmaster-General and any single railway company or any company or person or persons owning any steam vessel in respect of any services under this Act, is in pursuance of this Act referred to arbitration, the arbitration shall be in accordance with the Railway Companies Arbitration Act, 1859, and the Acts amending the same, and where it is between the Postmaster-General and the companies parties to the arrangement under this Act shall be conducted in like manner as if the said companies were one party to the arbitration on the one side, and the Postmaster-General were a company party to the arbitration on the other side, and if each side appoints an arbitrator, one arbitrator only shall be appointed on behalf of the said companies under the hand of the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee.

Railway companies parties to arrangement and remuneration to company not party to arrangement.

22 & 23 Vict. c. 59.

9. (1.) The following railway companies shall be deemed to be railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act:—

(a.) the railway companies named in the First Schedule to this Act; and

(b.) every railway company who in pursuance of this Act elects to become a party to the arrangement under this Act; and

(c.) as regards any railway authorised after the passing of this Act, the railway company working such railway.

(2.) Any railway company in the United Kingdom not being one of the parties to the arrangement under this Act may serve a notice in writing and under seal on the Postmaster-General, and on the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee, expressing the desire of such company to become one of the parties to the arrangement under this Act, and upon the service of such notice the company shall be deemed to have elected to become one of the parties to the arrangement under this Act.

(3.) Any railway company in the United Kingdom not being one of the parties to the arrangement under this Act shall, nevertheless, when required by the Postmaster-General, render the services with respect to the conveyance of parcels which are required by this Act to be rendered by railway companies, and shall be entitled as remuneration for such services to receive from the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act the proper proportion of the railway remuneration, and if a difference arises with respect to the amount of such remuneration and is not determined by agreement between such company and the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act, acting through the medium of the London Railway Clearing Committee, the difference shall be referred to arbitration; and the award on such arbitration shall determine the difference and the amount due to such company in respect of the said services, and such amount shall be paid out of the railway remuneration by the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act:

Provided that where a railway company is not one of the parties to the arrangement under this Act, nothing in this section shall authorise the Postmaster-General to require such company to carry parcels on any railway worked by such company on which the company does not carry any parcels traffic within the meaning of the Third Schedule to this Act.

(4.) An arbitration under this section shall be conducted in accordance with the Railway Companies Arbitration Act, 1859, and any Act amending the same, in like manner as if the companies parties to the arrangement under this Act were one party to the arbitration, but the arbitrator shall, on application under the hand of the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee, be appointed by the Lord Chief Justice of England, but if no such application is made and each side appoints an arbitrator, one arbitrator only shall be appointed on behalf of the companies parties to the arrangement under this Act under the hand of the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee.

Application of law upon determination of arrangement under this Act.

10. Upon the determination of the arrangement under this Act the enactments then in force in relation to the conveyance of other postal packets by railway, and the remuneration to be paid for the services of the railway companies as regards such conveyance, and the determination of such remuneration (in the absence of agreement) by arbitration, shall apply in the case of parcels in like manner as in the case of other postal packets.

Saving of existing rights.

11. Nothing in this Act shall in any way prejudice or affect on the one hand the rights or powers of any railway company, either in the conveyance of parcels for the public on the company's own account or the charges or conditions to be made or imposed in respect of such conveyance, or on the other hand the right of the Postmaster-General under his powers with respect to the conveyance of mails by railway, and every company shall be entitled to be paid for all services in respect of the conveyance of mails other than parcels wholly irrespective of and without reference to the provisions of this Act.

Mode of acting by Postmaster-General and Clearing Committee.

12. (1.) Every agreement under this Act by the Postmaster-General shall, in accordance with the Post Office Acts, be made with the consent of the Treasury.

(2.) Any notice or document required for the purposes of this Act to be served on the Postmaster-General may be served by the delivery thereof to the Postmaster-General or to any of the secretaries or assistant secretaries to the Post Office, or by sending the same by post addressed to the Postmaster-General at the General Post Office.

(3.) For any purpose connected with railway remuneration in pursuance of the arrangement under this Act, any notice or document to be given or served to, on, or by the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act shall be given or served to, on, or by the secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee, and the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act may collectively sue and be sued in the name of the said secretary; and during the continuance of the arrangement under this Act, the Postmaster-General in dealing (for the purposes of railway remuneration) with the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act may deal only with such companies collectively through the medium of the London Railway Clearing Committee, and shall not be required to deal, as regards railway remuneration, with any of such companies individually.

(4.) All accounts to be rendered or notices given to or served on the railway companies with reference to railway remuneration shall be rendered, given, or served by sending the same through the post to, or leaving the same at, the office of the London Railway Clearing Committee, addressed to the secretary to such committee.

Application of Act to steam vessels.

17 & 18 Vict. c. 104.

13. Where any railway company own or work any steam vessel, the provisions contained in this Act with respect to the conveyance of parcels by railway shall, so far as they are applicable, extend to the conveyance of parcels by such steam vessels, and the expressions in this Act shall be construed accordingly; and expressions referring to railway stations shall refer to places where steam vessels depart, call, or arrive:

Provided that where any such steam vessel carries on communication between a port in the United Kingdom and any place out of the United Kingdom, the remuneration for services rendered by such steam vessel in respect of the conveyance of parcels shall not be included in the railway remuneration, but shall be such as may be determined by agreement between the Postmaster-General and the company owning or working the steam vessel, or in case of difference be determined by arbitration, and the amount so determined shall be paid direct to the company, and the parcels conveyed by such steam vessel shall not, in respect of that conveyance, be deemed to be parcels conveyed by railway.

Where any steam vessel carries on regular communication between a port in the United Kingdom and any other port or place within the United Kingdom, or is a home-trade ship as defined by the[¹] Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, and such steam vessel is neither owned nor worked by any railway company, the company or person or persons by whom such steam vessel is owned or worked shall, from and after the passing of this Act, be bound to convey parcels; and the remuneration due for the services rendered by such steam vessel, in respect of the conveyance of parcels, shall be determined by agreement between the Postmaster-General and the company or person or persons owning or working such steam vessel, or in case of difference such remuneration shall be determined by arbitration, and the amount so determined shall be paid direct to such company or person or persons, and the parcels conveyed by such steam vessel shall not in respect of that conveyance be deemed to be parcels conveyed by railway.

Application of Customs Acts to foreign parcels.

14. (1.) Subject to any exceptions and modifications made by regulations under this section, the provisions of the Acts for the time being in force relating to the Customs (in this Act referred to as Customs enactments) shall apply to goods contained in foreign, parcels, in like manner, so far as is consistent with the tenour thereof, as they apply to any other goods; and persons may be punished for offences against the said enactments, and goods may be examined, seized, and forfeited, and the officers examining and seizing them shall be protected, and legal proceedings in relation to the matters aforesaid may be taken, accordingly under the said enactments.

(2.) The Treasury, on the recommendation of the Commissioners of Customs and the Postmaster-General, may from time to time make, and, when made, revoke and vary, regulations for the purpose of modifying or excepting the application of any of the Customs enactments to foreign parcels, and for the purpose of securing, in the case of such parcels, the observance of the Customs enactments, and for enabling the officers of the Post Office to perform, for the purpose of those enactments and otherwise, all or any of the duties of the importer and exporter, and for carrying into effect any treaty, convention, or arrangement with any foreign State or the government of any British possession with reference to foreign parcels, and for punishing any contravention of the Customs enactments or of the regulations under this section.

(3.) The Postmaster-General shall have the same right of recovering any sums paid, in pursuance of the Customs enactments or otherwise under the said regulations, in respect of any foreign parcel, as he would have if the sum so paid were a rate of postage.

(4.) A contravention of the regulations in force under this section shall be deemed to be a contravention of the Customs enactments, and shall involve accordingly the like punishment of persons guilty thereof, and the like forfeiture of goods.

Application of Act to Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

15. This Act shall apply to the Channel Islands and Isle of Man as if they were part of the United Kingdom, subject to the following provisions:—

(1.) Save as provided by regulations made under this section, it shall not be lawful, by means of any inland parcel, to export or remove from the Channel Islands or Isle of Man, or import or bring into the United Kingdom, or to export or remove from the United Kingdom or import or bring into the Channel Islands or Isle of Man, any goods on the exportation, importation, removal, or bringing in of which there is for the time being any prohibition or restriction, or any Customs duty payable.

(2.) Regulations under this section may be made for permitting and regulating the exportation, importation, removal, or bringing in of any such goods as above mentioned, to the extent provided by the regulations.

(3.) Subject to any exceptions or modifications made by the regulations under this section, the provisions of this Act with respect to the application of the Customs enactments to foreign parcels shall apply in like manner as if the inland parcels sent between the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man were foreign parcels, and for the purpose of such application any goods for the time being prohibited by this section from being imported, exported, brought in, or removed shall be deemed to be so prohibited by the said Customs enactments.

(4.) The Treasury may from time to time, on the recommendation of the Commissioners of Customs and the Postmaster-General, make, and, when made, revoke and vary, regulations for carrying into effect this section.

(5.) All laws of those islands punishing offences committed in relation to post letters or post letter bags shall apply as if parcels were post letters, and sacks, hampers, boxes, and other receptacles containing parcels were post letter bags.

Application of Post Office Acts.

7 Will. 4. and 1 Vict. c. 36.

16. This Act shall be deemed to be a Post Office Act within the meaning of the Post Office (Offences) Act, 1837, and, subject to the provisions of this Act, the Post Office Acts shall apply to parcels within the meaning of this Act in like manner as they apply to other postal packets.

Definitions.

13 & 14 Vict. c. xxxiii.

17. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

The expression “British possession” does not include the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, but includes all other territories and places forming part of Her Majesty's dominions:

The expression “parcel” means all such postal packets as by the regulations of the Treasury made in pursuance of the Post Office Acts are defined to be parcels:

The expression “inland parcels” means parcels posted within the United Kingdom and addressed to some place in the United Kingdom:

The expression “foreign parcels” means parcels either posted in the United Kingdom and sent to a place out of the United Kingdom, or posted in a place out of the United Kingdom and sent to a place in the United Kingdom, or in transit through the United Kingdom to a place out of the United Kingdom:

The expression “railway company” means any person or body of persons corporate or unincorporate working a railway:

The expression “London Railway Clearing Committee” means the Clearing Committee mentioned in the Railway Clearing Act, 1850.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

Sect. 9 .

Railway Companies Parties to Arrangement.

SECOND SCHEDULE.

Sect. 2 .

Weights and Rates of Parcels.

THIRD SCHEDULE.

Sect. 6 .

Apportionment among the Railway Companies.

1. All sums paid by the Postmaster-General under this Act to the railway companies parties to the arrangements under this Act shall be apportioned amongst the railway companies entitled to share therein by the London Railway Clearing Committee half-yearly up to the thirtieth day of June and the thirty-first day of December in each year, or to such other half-yearly days as the parcels accounts between the companies may for the time being be made up by the London Railway Clearing Committee.

2. The share of each railway company shall bear the same ratio to the whole sum divisible as that company's gross receipts from local and through parcels traffic for each half-yearly period bear to the gross receipts from local and through parcels traffic of all the companies for the same period: Provided that where upon an arbitration with any company not a party to the arrangement under this Act any sum is awarded to be paid to such company, such sum shall be so paid of the share ascertained as aforesaid.

Each company shall render to the London Railway Clearing Committee the necessary returns of their parcels traffic certified by their accountant, such returns to be subject to audit and inspection of books by the London Railway Clearing Committee.

3. If at any time after the expiration of three years from the passing of this Act, or if at any time in pursuance of regulations of the Treasury the weights or rates of postage for parcels differ from those mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act, any one or more of the companies consider that the apportionment of the receipts from parcels traffic above provided by this Act (herein-after called “the prescribed apportionment”) is inequitable, such company or companies (without prejudice to any right conferred by this Act on a company not represented by the committee) may forward to the London Railway Clearing Committee a statement in writing of the grounds of objection to the prescribed apportionment, and thereupon the following provisions shall have effect:

(a.) The secretary to the London Railway Clearing Committee shall convene a special meeting of the general managers of the railway companies parties to the arrangement under this Act (herein-after called “the conference”) for the purpose of taking such statement into consideration, and shall give not less than fourteen days’ notice of such special meeting.

(b.) The conference shall at such special meeting take the said statement into consideration and determine by a majority of its members present at such meeting whether a primâ facie case has been shown for altering the prescribed apportionment.

(c.) If the conference determine that a primâ facie case has not been shown for altering the prescribed apportionment no further proceedings shall be taken, and the prescribed apportionment shall continue in force until further complaint be made under this article.

(d.) If the conference determine that a primâ facie case has been shown for altering the prescribed apportionment, it shall proceed either at such meeting or any adjournment or adjournments thereof, or at any other meeting specially convened for the purpose as herein-before provided, to consider a fair and equitable revision of the prescribed apportionment.

(e.) The conference may by a majority of its members present at any such meeting and representing companies whose aggregate share capital is for the time being not less than three-fourths of the aggregate share capital represented at such meeting determine upon a revision of the prescribed apportionment.

(f.) If the conference, for the space of three months after they have decided that a primâ facie case for revision has been shown, fail to determine by the requisite majority upon a revision of the prescribed apportionment, then the question of revising the prescribed apportionment shall be referred to an arbitrator appointed under this schedule, who shall have power to determine whether any, and if any, what revision of the prescribed apportionment is required to remedy any inequality or injustice which may in his opinion be established upon due inquiry before him.

(g.) The conference or the arbitrator shall, in considering a revision of the prescribed apportionment, have power to deal with any complaint of inequality or injustice which may be submitted to them or him by any of the companies, and may adopt in revising the prescribed apportionment such basis of division or such data as to them or him shall seem just.

(h.) Any decision of the conference or of the arbitrator shall be final and conclusive upon the companies, and shall, unless any further alteration is made in the weights and rates of postage of the parcels in pursuance of regulations of the Treasury, continue in force for the period of three years and thereafter until any further complaint shall be made under this enactment.

(i.) The selection by the Postmaster-General of any route or routes for the transmission of parcels in preference to any competing route or routes shall in no case be a reason for revising the prescribed apportionment.

4. Parcels traffic for the purposes of the apportionment shall (unless and till otherwise determined by the conference, who shall have power to add to or take from the following list of excepted articles) include all such traffic as according to the practice for the time being of the London Railway Clearing Committee is included in that expression, except—

Mails, other than parcels; fish, meat, and poultry for markets; milk; carriages; cattle, horses, dogs, and other animals; corpses; and specie.

5. The conference shall have power from time to time to make and, if necessary, to revoke and alter all such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the purpose of giving full effect to this Act with respect to—

(a.) The forms to be used by the companies in dealing with parcels traffic as above defined;

(b.) The returns to be made by the companies for the purposes of this Act;

(c.) The verification of any such returns; and

(d.) Any matters of detail necessary or proper for carrying this schedule into effect;

and all such rules and regulations shall be binding on the companies.

6. The arbitrator to determine any question between the companies under the provisions of this schedule shall be appointed when such question arises by the Lord Chief Justice of England, on the application of the London Railway Clearing Committee, and the Railway Companies Arbitration Act, 1859, shall apply to any such arbitration.

[¹ This Act is rep. 57 & 58 Vict. c. 60. s. 745, which substitutes a reference to that Act.]