MAIL SHIPS ACT, 1891

MAIL SHIPS ACT, 1891

3.-MAIL SHIPS ACT, 1891.

54 & 55 Vict. c. 3 1:-

AN ACT to enable Her Majesty in Council to carry into effect Con-
ventions which may be made with Foreign Countries respecting
ships engaged in postal service. [21st July, 1891.]

L-(1) Where Her Majesty the Queen has made a convention with a
foreign State respecting the postal service between such foreign State
C
and the United Kingdom, or respecting the privileges of mail ships, that
is to say, ships engaged in any postal service of such foreign State or of

any part of Her Majesty's Dominions, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty
in Council to order that this Act shall, and this Act shall accordingly,
subject to any conditions, exceptions, and qualificatious contained in the
Order, apply, during the continuance of the Order, as regards such con-
vention and foreign State, and the postal service and ulail ships described
in the convention ; and where by virtue of any such Order this Act or
any section thereof applies as regards ally convention, foregin State,
postal service, or mafl ship, the same is in this Act referred to as a con-
vention, foreign State, postal service, or mail ship to which this Act or
section applies.

(2) The Order shall recite or embody the ternis of the convention, and
may be varied or revoked by Order in Council, but shall not continue in
force for any longer period than the convention.

(3) EverY Order in Council under this Act shall be laid before both
Houses of Parliament forthwith after it is made, or, if Parliament be not
then sittinw, after the then next niceting of Parliament, and shall also be
notified in the London Gazette and published under theauthority of Her
Majesty's stationery office. ,

2.-(1) Where this section applies to a convention with a foreign
State, the niaster of a British niail ship to which this section 'applies
when carrying mails, to or froin any port of the foreign State, and tile
master of a mail ship of the foreiall State to which this section applies
when carrying mails to or from any port of the United Kingdoni, shall
not, nor shall ,my person on board the ship, whether a passenger or be-
longing to the ship or any other person, convey in the ship for delivery

to another person in the foreign State or United Kingdow, as the

case may be, any letter, other than the letters contained in mail
bags entrusted to the master by a postal officer of the United Kingdom
or of any foreign State, or than the despatches sent by the Government
either of the United Kinudom or of any foreign State.






(2) If a person oil board such ship acts in contravention of this section,
or refuses or fails on demand to give up to a postal officer, or, if such
person is not the master, to the master, any letter so conveyed by him,
he shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceedim), %5.

(3) It sliall be the d uty of the imister of the ship to secure the obsers--
wice of this section by ail. persons oil board the ship, and to inform the,
proper authorities at the port at which the ship arrives of any breach of
this section by any of those persons, and if lie wilfully fails to perform
that duty be shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $3.


(4) Provided that a person shall not be liable under this section to a
fine for any offence for which lie has been punished by the law of tile
foreign State.

(5) Sothing in this section shall apply to any letters -which if sent
from the United Kinerdoni would be exempted from the exclusive
privilege of the Postinastcr-Gencral under the Act 7 Will. IV 1 Vict.
c. 33, intituled ' all Act for the management of the Post Office


3-(1) Where, the owner of auy ships, British or foreign, applies to
the High Court in England, and-

(a) produces a certificate of a Secretary of State that such owner is
subsidised for the execution of ally postal service within the meanng of
a convoution with a foreign State to which this Act applies, by reason of
receiving the foreign State, or froal the Governmentofthe United
Kingdom or of a British possessiou, a bome fide subsidy for the postal
service mentioned in the certificate ; and

(1)) produces sufficient evidence of the nature of the said service and
the number of and the prescribed particulars respecting the ships
engaged therein; and

(c) gives notice of the application to the Board of Trade,
the High Court, after hearing the owner, and the Board of Trade if they
wish to be. heard, sliall fix the nature and amount of the security which
the owner ought to place under file, control of the Court for the purposes
of this Act as respects the ships engaged in that postal service and fix

the maxiinuin number and tonnage of the ships to which the security is
to apply.

(2) The security shall be the bond of the owner guaranteed either-

Qq) by the personal security of a surety, accompanied by an adequate
,real security given by file surety ; or,
(b) by the paymenf or transfer into Court of cash, or of securities of
the Government of the United Kingdom.





(3) If the owner gives such security to the satisfaction of the High
Court, then so long as the security is n-laintained and is sufficient. to the
satisfaction of the Court, and the number and tonnage, of the Ships for
the time being actually engaged om carrying mails for the postal service

in respect of which the security is given does not exceed the number and
tonnage of the ships to which the security applies, the ships actually
engaged in carrying mails for the said service shall be deenied to he'
exempted mail ships, and be entitled to the exemptions and privileges
given by this Act to exempted mail ships ; and the Board of Trade Shall

give the. prescribed notices for informing the arrestino. authoritics that
the ship actually engaged in carrying the mails for the said postal service
are exempted mail ships.

(4) Notice of every application respecting any security given in pursu-
ance of this section shall be given to the Board of Trade.

(5) If at any time it appears to the Board of Tradc, that, a security
given as respects ships engao ' ed in any postal service is from any Cause
(whether pending claims variation of the conditions of the or
otherwise) insufficient, the Board of Trade shall apply to the High Court,
and that Court, if satisfied of such insufficiency, shalf require the sceurity
to be made sufficient to the satisfaction of the Court within a resaonable
time, and direct that in default the ships engaged in the postal service
in
shall cease to be exempted mail ships, and that the Board of Trade shall
(five the prescribed notices for informing the arresting authorities of
such cesser.

(C) The amount and nature of the security may be varied and the whole
security may be withdrawn, and the income of the security, may be dis-
posed of, by order of the High Court from time to time on such application
either of the shipowners, or of the Board of Trade, or of any person ap-
pearing to be interested, and in such manner, and after such notice, and
upon such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by rules of court,
or, so far as the rules do not extend, as the Court may think just.

(7) Provided that before the security is actually withdrawn, the High
Court shall be satisfied-

(a) that the prescribed notice of the order for withdrawal has been
given to the arresting authorities,; and
(b) that there is no pending claim for the purposes of which the
security may be required;
and upon the prescribed notice of the order for withdrawal being given
to an arresting authority, the ships shall, as respects that authority,
cease, after the date specified in the notice, to be exempted ships.





(s) Rules of court may be made for carrying this section into effect,
and in particular for regulating the nature, aniount, and value of the

security to be, given, and the mode of giving security, and of giving
notices to the arresting authorities, and for providing for the evidence of

the exemption of ships under this section, and for the information to be
given from tinie to tinie to the High Court respecting the ships to which
the security applies, and for the jurisdiction of the High Court under
this Act being exercised in ebanibers.

4.-(1) Where. this section applies to a convention with a foreign State,
and an exempted mail ship to which this section applies is in a port in
the United Kingdoni no person shall be arrested without warrant on
board such ship, and before any process eivil or criminal authorising the

arrest of any person who is on board such ship is executed against fliat
person the following provisions of this section shall be observed; that is
to say,-
(a) written notice of the intention to arrest a person who is, or is
suspected to be, on board the ship, staating the hour at which if necessary,

the ship will be searched, shall, if it is a ship of a foreign State and there
is at the port a consulate of that State, be. left at the consulate. addressed
to the consular officer;
(b) it sliall be duty of the master upon demand, if the said person is
on board his ship, to enable the proper officer to arrest him;
(c) if the officer is unable to arrest the said person lie may, but if it is
a foreign ship only after the expiration of such tinic after notice was left
at the consulate as is specified in the convention, search the ship for suell
person, and if he is found may arrest him.
(2) The ship may be delayed for the purposes of this section for the
tinie specified in the convention, but not for any longer tinic.
(3) If the master of a ship refuses to permit a search of the ship in
accordance with this section, any officer. of customs may detain the ship,
and such master shall be liable to a fine of $500.
(4) This section shall apply to the arrest of the master in like manner
as in the case of any oilier person.

5.- (1) An exempted mail ship to which this section applies shall not,
subject as in this Act mentioned, be liable to be arrested or detained by
any arresting authority either for the purpose of founding jurisdiction in
any Court of Admiralty, or of enforcing, the payment of any damages,
fine, debt, or other claim or sum, or enforcing any forfeiture, whether
arising from the misconduct of the master or any of the crew or other-
wise, but every Court of the United Kingdom by the process of which
the ship could have been under the circumstances arrested or detained





shall have, the same jurisdiction as if the ship had been so arrested or
detained, and any legal proceeding in relation to any such matter as afore-
said may be, commenced by such service in the United Kingdom of any
writ or process as may be prescribed by rules of court, and the High

Court, oil application, shall, in accordance with rules of court, cause the
security to be applied in discharge of any such damages, fine, debt, claim
sum, or forfeiture.

(2) Provided that nothing in this section shall render invalid the arrest
of or detention of a ship before the prescribed notice has been given to the
arresting authority, but such authority, on proof that the ship is an
exeiripted mail ship, shall release the ship. Where the Commissioners
of Customs, im pursuance of any Act or as a condition of waivin any

forfeiture, require a deposit to be made by any exempted mail ship to
which this section applies, the amount of such deposit shall, on notice
from the Commissioners of Customs, and without any further proceeding
be set apart out of the security as money belonging to the said Coni-
missioners' and sliall be paid and applied as they direct, and any rules
of court relaling to such notice, payment, or application shall be made
with the consent of the Treasury.

6.- (1) Where the cony, ention with a foreign State provides that ans-
provisions of the convention similar to those, contained in this Act shall
in any cases apply to a public ship of a foreign State when employed as
a inail ship, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty the Queen to agree that

the like proyisions shall -apply to a public ship of Her Majesty in the
like cases when employed as a mail ship, and to give effect to such
agreement.

(2) An Order in Council applying this Act as regards a convention
with a foreign State may, if it seems to Her Majesty in Council to be
consistent with the convention so to do, apply this Act as regards a
public ship of that foreign State when employed as a mail ship in the
cases authorised by the convention, and this Act shall apply accordingly
as if such ship were an exempted mail ship belonging to a private owner,
and any person may be arrested on board such ship accordingly.


7.-(1) Every fine under this Act, if exceeding $50, may be recovered
by action in the High Court in England or Ireland or in the Court of
Session in Scotland, and the Court in which it is recovered may reduce
the amount of such fine ; and a fine under this Act not exceeding $50
may be recovered on summary conviction, provided that every offence,
for which a fine exceeding $150 can be imposed under this Act may be
prosecuted on summary conviction, but the fine imposed on such con-
viction shall not exceed $50.





(2) In the case of a summary conviction, any person who thinks him-
self aggrieved by such conviction may appeal to quarter sessions. In
Scotland such person may appeal in manner provided by the Summary
Prosecutions Appeals (Scotland) Act, 1875.

(3) Service of any summons or other matter in any lerfal proceeding

under this Act shall be cood service if made by leaving the summons
for the person to be served on board the ship to which he belongs with
the person being or appearing to be master of the ship.


(4) If a fine tinder this,Act imposed on the master of a ship is not
paid, and cannot be recovered out of any security given in pursuance of

this Act, the Court may, in addition to any other power for enforcing
payment of the fine, direct the amount to be levied by distress or poind-
ing and sale of the ship, her tackle, furniture, or apparel. Air officer of
customs in detaining a ship or releasing a ship after detention in pursu-
ance of this Act sahll act upon such requisition or authority and under
such regulations as the Commissioners of Custonis may niake with the
consent of the Treasury.

8.-(1) An Order in Council may for purpose of a convention with a
foreign State apply this Act, subject to any exceptions or modifications
not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, to any British possession,
and this Act when so applied shall, subject to those exceptions and
modifications, and subject as hereinafter mentioned, have effect as if it
were re-enacted with the substitution of such British possession for the
United Kingdom.

Provided that before it is applied to any British possession rianted in
the schedule to this Act the Government of such possession shall have
adhered to the convention.

(2) Where this Act applies to a British possession, it shall not be
necessary for the owner of any mail ship to give security in any Court

in that possession, and the provisions of this Act with respect to the
jurisdiction of any Court of the United Kingdom, other than any juris-
diction relating to the application of the security, shall apply as if a
Court in the British possession were substituted for a Court of the United
Kingdom.

(3) It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council to make rules for
carrying into effect, as respects British possessions, the provisions of this
AcT with respect to the security given by mail ships, and in particular
with respect to the commencement of a legal proceeding by service of a
writ or process in the possession, and to the notices to be given to arrest-





ing -authorities in the possession, and the evidence to be receivable by
such authorities of the security having been given or withdrawn, and
the application of the security in discharge of any dainages, fine, debt,
claim, sum, or forfeiture, where the same are or is recovered or payable
either in the British possession, or under proceedings pending concur-
rently in that British possession and in any other British possession or
the United Kingdom.

(4) If by any law made either before or after passing of this Act by
the Legislature of ally British possession provision is niade for carrying
into effect within such possession any convention to which this Act
applies, ller Majesty in Comicil may suspend the. operation within such
possession of this Act or of any part thereof so far as it relates to such
convention, and so long as such law continues in force there, or direct
that such law or any part thereof shall have effect in such British
possession with or without modifications and alterations as if it were part
of this Act.

9. In this Act---

The expression 'mail bag' means a mail of lettets. or a box, or
parcel, or ally other envelope ill which post letters the meaning
of the Acts relating to the Post Office, are conveyed;

The expression ' subsids- ' includes a payment for the performance of
a contract;

The expression 'master of a ship' includes any person in charge of
a ship, wbether commander, mate, or any other person

The expression ' ship of a foreign State' means a ship entitled to sail
under the flags of a foreign State

The expression ' arresting authority'* nicans any Court, authority, or
officer having power to arrest or detain a ship, or to arrest a person on
board a ship, or to order such arrest or detention, or to order the execa-
tion of any process, civil or criminal, for the arrest of a person on board
any ship;

The expression 'postal officer' means any person employed in the
business of the Post Office of the United Kingdom or a British possession
or foreign State, as the case may be, whether employed by the Post-
master General, or the chief of the Post Office of the British possession,
of the chief of the Post Qffice of the foreign State, or by any person
under him, or on behalf of any such Post Office.

10. This Act may he cited as the Mail Ships Act, 1891.





THE MAIL SHIPS (FRANCE) ORDER IN COUNCIL, 1892.

At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 6th day of
February, 1892.
PRESENT

The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.
WHEREAs by the Mail Ships Act, 1891, it is provided
AND WHEREAS 0n the 30th day of August, 1890, a convention was
made at London between Her MajestY and the President of the French
Republic respecting the postal service between France and French
possessions and the United Kingdoin and British possessions, the terms
of which convention are set forth in the schedule to this Order ;
ANI) WHEREAS the ratifications of the said convention were excchanged
on the 23rd day of March, 189 1 ;
AND WHEREAS tbe Governments of certain of the British possessions
named in the schedule to the said Act, namely, 'Newfoundland, Queens-
named
land, New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope and Natal,have adhered to the
said convention ;
AND WHEREAS it is expedient that the Mail Sbips Act, 189 1, should
apply is regards the said convention and the French Republic and the
postal service and inail ships described in the said convention
AND WHEREAS it is also expedient that the said Act should. for the
purpose of the said convention, apply to the above-mentioned British
possessions, and also to all British possessions not nained in the seliedule
to the said Act, subject to the exceptions and modifications in this
Order contained ;
Now, Therefore, Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of hte
powers in this behalf by theMail Ships Act, 1981,or otherwise in
Her Alajosty vested, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy
Council, to order, is follows:-
1. The Mail Ships Act, 1891, shall apply durin o. the continuance. of

this Order as reo-ards the convention set forth in the schedule to this
Order, and as recrards the French Republic and the postal service and
mail ships described in that convention.

2. The said Act shall apply as regards any public ship of the French
Republic when employed as a mail ship in the cases authorised by
Article V of the said convention.

3. Tile said Act shall for the purpose of the said convention apply to
the following British possessions, namely Newfoundland, Queensland,
New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope, and Natal. and also to every British
'Possession not nanied in the schedule to the said Act, subject, however,
to the provisions of section 8 of the said Act, and also to tbe exceptions
and modifications following, that is to say:-





(i) The expression 'officer of customs' shall inean an officer of the
Customs department of the possesion, or where there is no such depart-
ment, an officer or one of the officer., appointed for the purposes of the
said Act by the Governor-in-Council, of which appointment notice shall
be publised in the Gazette of the possession.
(ii) The provisions of the said Act as to the amount of fines shall,
in possessions having a dollar or rapee currency, be read as if the
aniounts were stated in dollars or rupees, as the case may be, at the rate
of 5 dollars or 10 rupees to the pound sterling. In Gibraltar the said
provisions shall be read as if the amounts were stated in pesetas, all the
rate of 25 pesetas to the pound sterling.
(iii) In lieu of sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 7 of the said Act
the following provisions shall be substituted, that is to say :-Every
oflence ina be prosecuted and every fine may be recovered by action

or other legal proceeding in ally Court of the possession competent
to impose fines, but ally fine imposed by a Court of inferior or limited
jurisdiction shall not exceed either the amount authorised by the said
Act and this Order, or the aniount of fine which the Court may impose
in the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction, whichever of the said

amount shall be tile less ; and there shall be the same right of appeal
(if any) against any such fine as in other cases of fines iniposed by the
saine Court in the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction ; and every Court,
whether of original or appellate jurisdiction, may reduce the amount of
any fine.
(iv) The regulations required to be made under sub-section (4) of
section 7 of the said Act, by the Commissioners of Customs with the
consent of the Treasury, shall in the possesion be inade by the Governor-
in Council.
(v) Section 5 of the said Act, so far as relates to the Commissioners
of Customs, shall not apply in the possession.

4. This Order may be cited as the, Mail Ships (France) Order in
Council, 1892.

SCHEDULE REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING
ORDER IN COUNCIL.

COSVENTION, BETWEMN HEM MAJESTY AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE
FRENCH REPUBLIC RESPECTING POSTAL COMMUNICATIONS
Signed at London, 30th August, 1890.
[Ratifications exchamged at London, 23rd A-Larelt, 1891.1
HER Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, and the President of the French Republic, alike animated





lth the desire to fix the special treatment to be accorded to British
pacl;ets in the ports of France and of the French Colonies and Posses-
sions, and to French packets in the ports of the United Kingdom and
of the Britisdi Colonies and Possessions, and availing themselves of the
right reserved to the Contracting Parties by the Convention of the
Universal Postal Union, have resolved to conclude a Convention to
that end

1. Between the Postal Administration of France and the Postal Ad-
ministration of Great Britain there shall be a regular exchange of cor-
respondence of all kinds, which shall be effected by means of two
steam-packet sersvices which shall continue to be maintained or Sub-
sidized, the one by the French Government and the other by the
British Government on the line between Calais and Dover.

The French Postal Administration and the British Postal Administra-
tion shall regnlate, by coninion consent and in accordance with the
mutual interests of both countries, the days and hours of departure and
arrival of the snbsidized packets.

2. Independently of the correspondence which shall be exchanged
between the Postai Administrations of the two countries by the means
indicated in the preceding Article. those. Administrations may recipro-
Cally forward frorn one to the other correspondence of all kinds by the
several means hereinafter mentioned, naniely :-(1) by such packets
as the French Government and the British Government may respec-
tively think it right to maintain. to freight, or to subsidize, for the
conveyance of correspondence (2) by merchant-ships plying between
French ports and British ports.

3. The commanders of British and French merchant-ships sailing
from tile ports of France or Algeria for the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, oil the one part, and the commanders of British
and French inerchant-ships sailincy front the ports of the United King-

dom of Great Britain and Ireland for France or Algeria, on the other

part, shall be bound to take charge of the mails which the post offices

at the ports of departure may have to deliver to them.

4. The charges for the sea conveyance of correspondence exchanged
between the French Postal Administration and the British Postal
Administration by means of non-contract merchan-ship shall be paid
to the, commanders or owners of those. vessels by the Postal Administra-
tion of the country of origin, namely

(1) At the rate of 5 francs per kilog. of letters and postcards
(2) At the rate of 50 centimes per kilog. of other articles.





5. When the packets employed by the French Postal Administration
and by the British Postal Administration are national vessels owned by
the State., or vessels belonging to companies subsidized for the execution

of postal service, such packets cannot be diverted from their destination
nor be liable to seizure, embargo, or Arret de Prince '.
Passengers on such packets, who may not desire to go onshore during
the vessel's stay in a port of either State, cannot be on any account
taken from on board.
Nevertheless, the local authorities may cannot the expulsion from on
board of persons wanted in pursuance of a regular warrant for any
crimes or offences who may have taken refucre or embarked in mail
boats, and, in case of necessity, searches may be carried out on board
such vessels by the competent authorities. The individuals in question
shall then be banded over to them.
It is, however, agreed that the authorities cannot proceed on board
unless they have previously given notice, at least one hour before, the
search, to the consulate or vice-consulatc, in order that the consul or
vice-consul, or his delegate, may be present at the searches in question.
The letter giving notice, shall be addresesed to the consul or vice-consul
and shall state the exact hour, and if the agents neglect either to appear
in person or to be represented, the proceedings shall go on in their
absence.
The execution of such measures shall not delay the departure of the
vessel for more. than an hour after the time of departure fixed in the
time-tables of the company, which must be duly communicated by the
respective companies to the authorities of each port of call.
The present Article shall not apply to packets entrusted with a mail
service and belonging to companies subsidized by either State, until a
bond has been entered into, once for all, by the said companies to
satisfy, after due hearing and definite decision, the legal consequences
of any liability incurred either by the captains of their packets or by
the compailies themselves.
The aforesaid bond must be guaranteed by a security within the
jurisdiction of the tribunals of the country in which the bond may have
been entered into.

6. The packets of Ihe two Administrations shall be at liberty to
take on board, or land at the ports of the two countries at which they
touch, whether regularly or accidentally, specie and gold and silver
bullion, as well as passengers, of whatever nation they may be, with
their wearing apparel or baggage, on condition that the captains of
those packets shall submit to the sanitary, police, and customs regu-





lations of the-' ports concerning the arrival and departure of traveller
and merchandise.

7. The packets of the two Administrations may enter and leave the
ports of the two States it any hour of the day or night. They may

Aso, if they think proper, without anchoring, embark or disembark the


mails and passengers, in the roads or at the entrance of the harbours, so
long as they observe, the regulations referred to in the preceding, Article.

8. Whenever a packet carrying Mails shall be compelled to put into
any port of either of the two States other than that at which such
packet ought to touch, the administration oil whose territory tile said
maild shall be landed shall use the most certain and expeditions means
of forwarding thein to their destination.

9. In ease of war between the two nations, the packets of the two
Administrations shall continue their navigation, without impediment or
molestation, until a notification is made oil the part of either of the two
Governments of the discontinuance of postal communications ; in which
case they shall be permitted to return freely, and under special protec-
tion, to their respective ports.

10. The captains of the packets engaged in the conveyance of the
respective mails of tlic, two Administrations are Forbidden to take, charge
of any letter not included in those mails, with the exception, however,
of despatches of their Governments. They must' take care that Do
letters are conveyed illegally by the crew, or passengers and they
must aive information in the proper quarter of any infringement which
may be committed in this respect.

11. There shall be reserved in the vans, carrIages, or trucks conveying
between Modane and Calais the mails froin the East Indies for Great
Britain, or from Great Britain for the East Indies, a place free of charge

for a British courier, who shall keep the mails under his special care,
and who shall have the right to he present at the disinfection of the
correspondence contained in those mails whenever it shall take place,
and at in other operations to which the said correspondence may be
subjected.
The same advantages shall be granted in the territory of Great
Britain to the couriers of the French Postal Administration, should that
Administration think proper to send a French courier in charge of mails
containing correspondence from or for France passing through Great
Britain and paid for at special transit rates.

12. The British Postal Administration and the Postal Administration
of France shall nominate, by mutual consent, the offices through which
the exchange of correspondence shall respectively take place. They





shall also determine the direction of the correspondence ce reciprocally
transmitted, and shall settle the arrangement relating to the pre-
paration and liquidation of the accounts arisino, out of the reciprocal
transmission of correspondence, as well as every other matter of detail
or arrangement necessary to insure the execution of the stipulation.,
contained in the present Convention.
It is understood that the measures A9ve alluded to may be modified
by the two Adminisfrations whenever those Administratiotis recognize,
by inutual consent, the necessity for modification.

13. The Postal Administrations of the two countries are authorised to
determine, by mutual cousent, the conditions of the conveyance, by
French services, of the imails to or from British Colonies not comprised
in the Postal Union, as well as the conditions of the conveyance, by
British services, of the mails, of French origin destined for those

Colonies, or passing in transit through their territories.
The same Administrations may also fix, by mutual consent, the
rates of postage applicable to correspondence exchanged between
France and Frellell Colonies on one side, and British Colonies not coin-
prIsed in the Postal Union on the other side.

14. The present Convention shallbc carried into effect as soon as
possible, and it shall coatinne ia force until one of the two contracting
parties shall have annotinced to the other, one year in advance, its
intention to terminate it.

15. The stipulations of the present Convention shall be applicable to
all the Colonies and Possessions of Her Britannic Majestv, exceldino.
to those hereinafter named, that is to say, except to

India. Victoria.
The Dominion of Canada. Queensland.
Newfoundland. Tasmania.
The Cape. South Australia.
Natal. Western. Australia.
New South wales New Zealand.
Provided always that the stipulations of the present Convention
shall be made applicable to any of the above-named CAonies or Posses-
sions on whose behalf notice to that effect shall have been uiven by Her
Britannic Majesty's Representative at Paris to the Government of the
French Republic within one year from the date of the signature of the
present Convention.
The Govermnent of Her britannic Majesty engages to invite the
Governors of those Colonies to recommend the adoption of the present
Convention to the proper authorities.





The stipulations of the present Convention shall be applicable to all
the Colonies and Pos,
sessions of France.
16. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratification Shall
be exchanged as soon as possible.
Done at London, the 30th day of August, 1890.
c

RULES OF COURT UNDER THE MAIL SHIPS ACT,

[27th 1892.]

[These Rules deal with the procedure of the Probate,
Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court in
England in proceedings under the Act. Rule 24 affects

the Colonies.]

Publicationof Noticesby Board of Trade
21. Where any notice respectincr ally exempted mail ship or any
security is by these Itales required to betile Bzmrel of Trade
shall forthwitb publih the sanic in the - London Gazette, and also, if
the case so requires, in the Edinburgh or Dublin Gazette. and where thee
exemption or security affects any British possession the Board of Trade
shall also forthwith send a copy of such notice to a Secretary of State
for publication in that possession, and everv notice so published shal) be
decined to be notice, to all arresting authorities in each part of the
United Kingdom, and in such British possession respectively.

RULES UNDER THE MAIL SHIPS ACT.

Order in Council, 11th May, 1895.

At the Court at Windsor, the 11th day of May, 1895.

PRESENT :
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.
W11FREAS section 8 (3) of the Mail Ships Act, 189 1, provides that
it shall be lawful for Fler Majesty in Council to make rules for carrying
into effect, as respects British possessions, the provisions of that Act
With respect to the security given by mail ships, and in particular with
respect ot the commencement of a legal proceeding by service of writ or
process in the possession, and to the. notice to be given to arresting
authorities in the possession, and the evidence to be receivable by such
authorities of the security having been given or withdrawn, and the





application of the. security in discharge of any daniages, fine, debt,
claim, sum, or forfeiture, wherer the sanie are of is recovered or pay-
able cither in the British possession, or under proceedings pending
concurrently in that British possession and in any other British posses-
sion or the United kingdom.

Now, Therefore, Heris pleased, by and with the advice of
Rcr Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered as follows

Notices of exemption
1. Any rules of the Righ Court of Justice in England, inade under
tbe provisions or the Mail Ships Act, 1891, (hereinafter referred to
as the Act'), shall be transmitted by a Secretary of State to the
Government of every possession to which the Act is apOlied for the pur-
pose of a convention, and shaR be published b suh Government in the
Gazette of the possession, and also in such local official Gazettes published
in the possession as the Government of the possession may prescribe.

2. A copy of every notice and list published by the Board of Trade
litidet. the Act, or under any rules of court made mider the Act, shall he
transmitted by a Secretary of State to the Government of every- poSses-
siou to which the Act is applied for the purpose of a particular con-
velition.

3. A copy of every such notice and list, signed by a secretary to the
Government of the possession, or other prescribed officer, shall be pub-
lished in the official Gazette of the possession, and a copy of Such Gazette
notification sliall be kept publicly exhibited in the court-room of every
Colonial Court of Admiralty in the possession, and a copy of the said
Gazettecontaining any such notification shall be receivable in evidence
by every arresting authourity the possession.


4. If notwithstanding its exemption, all exenipted mail ship is arrested
it, the possession, the Government of the possession, on being informed
by the owlier of stich. arrest -and of the arresting authority, and on beinc,
satisfied that the ship is in exempted mail ship, shall forthwith send a
special uotice to the authourtiy authority, informing hica that the ship

is all exempted mail ship, and as such entitled to release.

Aetions against exempted ships.
5. An action may be commenced agaivist the owner--, of an exempted
mail ship in the like cases, in the sanle manner and subject to the same
rules as all Admivaly action in rem, and. in any Colonial Court of
Admiralty in the rossession in which such all action inight have been
brought it the ship were not an exempted nlail ship.






Orders hy Courts in Brifish, possessions for applicationof the security
6 Any order of a Court in a British possession directing any securiy
to be applied shall recite the name of the Court and of the action or
proceeding, the Cause of action, and the judgment debt, and shall coin-
prise a certificate by the Judge of the Court that the ship in respect of
which the judgment is given is all exempted mail ship, and might but
for such exemption have been arrested and sold inexecution thereof,
and that the judgment debt is still unsatisfied, and is payable out of the
security lodged in respect of the ship in the High Court of Justice in
england.


7. The order may require payment to be inade either in London to a
natned agent of the execution creditor, or in the possession to some
named officer of the Court front which the order issues.

8. Every, such order shall be sealed with the seal of the Court, and
shall be drawn up in duplicate, addressed to the Admiralty Registrar,
Royal Courts of Justice, London, and shall be transmitted under coVer
to the prescribed officer of the Government of the possession.

9. The said duplicate orders when received by the prescribed offleer
shall be countersigned by him, and shall. be forthwith transmitted to a
Secretary of State, who shall cause one of such orders to be delivered to the
Admiralty Registrar, and the Admiralty Registrar shall, subject to ariv
directonof the High Court, make andorde upon thePaymaser-General
for payment of the required sum out of the security in accordance with
these rules.

10. Unless the Riah Court shall otherwise order, and subject to
existing rights of priority of liens, orders for the application of all.
security shall be paid in the order in which they are received by tile
Admiralty Registrar, but when two or more orders are received at the
same time, they shall be paid in the order of their respective dates.

11. When the order requires payment to a named auent of the ex-

ccution creditor in London, the money shall be payable at the rates of
exchange current on the day on which the orjer is received by the
Secretary of State.

12. If the order requires payment. to be made to a named officer of
the Court from which the order issues, such in amount shall be paid out
by the Paymaster-General to a person nominated by the Seeretary of
State, as will at the rates of exchange current on the day on which the
order is received by the Secretary of State be necessary to purchase a
draft for the ainount of the order payable at sight in the possession, and

such draft shall be in favour of the said named officer of the said
Court.

'13. Where any action or proceeding wrainst the owners of an ex-
empted mnil ship is pending in a Court in a British possession, invols-ing
a claim against the security lodged in the High Court in England, the
Court in the British possession shall transmit to the AdmirAty Registrar

notice of the pendoncy of such action or proceedings stating the nature

and aniount of the claim and the proceedings Laken in thereto

and in case of the subsequent discontinuance or other conclusion of' such
action or proceeding, whereby the security ceases to be affected, the
Court shall transmit notice of such discontinuance, or conclusion. Every
such notice shall be sealed, drawn up, addressed and transmitted to the
Admiralty Registrar in like manner as an order for the application of
the security.

Miscellaneous provisions
14. In every British possession to which these rules apply, the
Governor in Council inay, by order, prescribe any inatter directed- by
these rules to be prescribed, or necessary For carrying them into efifeet.

16. In the application of these rules to any British possession in
which there is a Vice-Admiralty Court, and no Clolonial Court or
Admiralty, these rules shall be read as if ' Vice-Admiraltv Court' were
substituted for Colonial Court of Admiralty.

17. In these rules jugment debt means any damages, fine, debt
claim, sum, or forfeiture found by ally Court to be payable by the
of a ship, and '.execution cretlitor' means the persoll entitled to a
judgment debt.
Other expressions have the same metining as in the Act.


18. This Order may be cited as the Mail Ships (Rules) Order in
Council, 1894.
Application of Act by Order in Council. Conveyance of letters by crew or passengers of mail ship forbidden. Act of 1891. [s. 2 contd.] Regulation as to giving of security for ships engaged in postal service. Act of 1891. [s. 3 contd.] Act of 1891. [s.3 contd.]Arrest and execution of process on board exempted mail ship. Exemption from seizure of exempted mail ship. Act of 19891 [s.5 contd.] Application of Act to public ships. Legal proceedings. Act of 1891. [s. 7 contd.] [38 & 39 Vict. C. 62.] Application of Act to British possessions. Act of 1891. [s. 8 contd.] Definitions. Short title. Application of Act to French mail ships. Application of Act to French Public ships. Act to apply to certain self-governing Colonies, and to the Crown Colonies. Orders-in-Council (France) Short title. Order in Council (France). Order in Council (France). Order in council (France). Order in Council (France). Order in Council (France). Mode of publication of notices by board of Trade. Mail Ships Rules. Mail Ships Rules. Mail Ships Rules.

Application of Act by Order in Council. Conveyance of letters by crew or passengers of mail ship forbidden. Act of 1891. [s. 2 contd.] Regulation as to giving of security for ships engaged in postal service. Act of 1891. [s. 3 contd.] Act of 1891. [s.3 contd.]Arrest and execution of process on board exempted mail ship. Exemption from seizure of exempted mail ship. Act of 19891 [s.5 contd.] Application of Act to public ships. Legal proceedings. Act of 1891. [s. 7 contd.] [38 & 39 Vict. C. 62.] Application of Act to British possessions. Act of 1891. [s. 8 contd.] Definitions. Short title. Application of Act to French mail ships. Application of Act to French Public ships. Act to apply to certain self-governing Colonies, and to the Crown Colonies. Orders-in-Council (France) Short title. Order in Council (France). Order in Council (France). Order in council (France). Order in Council (France). Order in Council (France). Mode of publication of notices by board of Trade. Mail Ships Rules. Mail Ships Rules. Mail Ships Rules.

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