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Title: The Post Office of India and its Story
Author: Clarke, Geoffrey
Language: English
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THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA
[Illustration: GROUP OF SENIOR OFFICERS OF THE POST OFFICE IN 1884
P. SHERIDAN E. C. O'BRIEN W. ALPIN W. J. HAM G. J. HYNES
RAI BAHADUR SUNDER LAL
H. M. KISCH E. R. DOUGLAS J. DILLON F. R. HOGG H. E. M. JAMES
E. HUTTON
_Director General_
]
THE POST OFFICE OF
INDIA AND ITS STORY
BY GEOFFREY CLARKE
INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE
WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXXI
_The Mayflower Press, Plymouth, England._ William Brendon & Son, Ltd.
PREFACE
When I first decided to write a short account of the Post Office of
India my intention was to close my story with the amalgamation of the
Post Office and the Telegraph Department, which took place in 1913.
Publication has been delayed for various reasons, chiefly owing to
the outbreak of the war in 1914, and since then many strange things
have happened. Consequently I have had to revise several chapters and
felt compelled to write one upon the wonderful work done by the Indian
Post Office in the Great War. I have also brought the statistical
information up to the year 1918. Much of the matter referring to the
early posts in India has already been given in Mr. Hamilton's book,
_An Outline of Postal History and Practice_. This is only natural, as
we have both drawn from the same sources--namely, the records of the
Postal Directorate in Calcutta. I have tried to tell the story of the
Post Office in such a way as to be interesting to the general reader as
well as useful to the student. The ordinary routine of post office work
is not exciting, but the effect of the work, the benefits it confers,
the dependence of the public upon its proper execution, are themes to
inspire the pen of a romantic writer. "The Romance of the Post Office"
was the title of a delightful article in _Blackwood's Magazine_ by Sir
Arthur Fanshawe, late Director-General of the Department, and to this
article I must acknowledge my obligations for several passages in the
book.
I am much indebted to Mr. R. W. Hanson and Mr. F. F. Shout, Assistant
Directors-General of the Post Office of India, for their assistance in
producing this work. Mr. Hanson is responsible for the chapter on "The
Post Office in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf," and Mr. Shout for the
chapter on "The Sea Post Office" and the paragraphs dealing with the
District Post, as well as for the Index.
The chapter upon Indian stamps is based largely upon _The Postage
and Telegraph Stamps of British India_, by Hausburg, Stewart-Wilson
and Crofton, published by Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, and I am greatly
indebted to Messrs. Stanley Gibbons for the loan of their blocks and
for permission to use them in this book.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA 1
II. THE ORIGIN OF THE POST OFFICE 10
III. EARLY POSTAL REGULATIONS 26
IV. LATER POSTAL REGULATIONS 38
V. PARCEL POST 48
VI. THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE 58
VII. MONEY ORDERS 71
VIII. SAVINGS BANK 81
IX. THE PEOPLE AND THE POST OFFICE 88
X. THE INDIAN POSTMAN 97
XI. POST OFFICE BUILDINGS 106
XII. THE POST OFFICE IN INDIAN STATES 112
XIII. THE OVERLAND ROUTE 119
XIV. THE SEA POST OFFICE 127
XV. THE POST OFFICE IN MESOPOTAMIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF 137
XVI. THE POST OFFICE DURING THE INDIAN MUTINY 151
XVII. THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE 165
XVIII. THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE DURING THE GREAT WAR 171
XIX. INDIAN POSTAGE STAMPS 178
APPENDICES
PAGE
A. PERSONNEL OF THE POST OFFICE 189
B. EXTRACTS FROM THE EARLY REGULATIONS REGARDING
THE MAIL SERVICE 191
C. METHODS OF TRAVEL IN EARLY DAYS 195
D. STATEMENT SHOWING THE WORK OF THE POST
OFFICE SAVINGS BANK FROM 1882 TO 1918 197
E. STATEMENT OF INLAND MONEY ORDERS ISSUED
IN INDIA SINCE 1880 198
F. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE CALCUTTA
GENERAL POST OFFICE 200
G. EXTRACT FROM THE NARRATIVE OF THE INTERRUPTION
IN THE MAIL ARRANGEMENTS IN THE
N.-W.P. AND PUNJAB SUBSEQUENT TO THE
MUTINY AT MEERUT AND DELHI ON THE 10TH
AND 11TH MAY, 1857, BY MR. G. PATON,
POSTMASTER-GENERAL, NORTH-WEST PROVINCES 204
H. THE WORK OF THE FIELD POST OFFICE BETWEEN
1867 AND 1912 210
J. THE POST OFFICE INSURANCE FUND 232
INDEX 241
ILLUSTRATIONS
Group of Senior Officers of the Post Office in 1884 _Frontispiece_
Sir Charles Stewart Wilson, K.C.I.E. _Facing page_ 24
Group of Senior Officers in 1898 " 46
Sir William Maxwell, K.C.I.E. " 56
Combined Passenger and Mail Motor Van " 98
General Post Office, Bombay " 110
General Post Office, Madras " 116
Post Office, Agra " 124
Group of Senior Officers in 1907 " 152
Early Stamps " 178
Sheet of Four-Anna Stamps, 1854 " 178
Block of Half-Anna (Blue) Stamps of 1854 " 180
Victorian Issues of Postage Stamps " 182
Edwardian and Georgian Issues of Postage Stamps " 184
General Post Office, Calcutta " 200
Site of Black Hole, Calcutta " 200
THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA
THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA AND ITS STORY
CHAPTER I
THE POST OFFICE OF INDIA
To anyone connected with the work of the Post Office of India it is
almost inconceivable that the present institution, with its vast
organization and its elaborate system, has grown up in the course of
little more than half a century. Previous to 1854 the Post Office was a
medley of services in different provinces, each having separate rules
and different rates of postage. Regular mails were conveyed over a very
few main lines between important towns, and Collectors of districts
were responsible for the management of their own local post offices.
There were no postage stamps, and since rates were levied according to
distance, and distances were often unknown, the position of a postal
clerk in a large office was a distinctly lucrative one. In large
cantonments a military officer with plenty of other duties was usually
postmaster, and his supervision was at best sketchy, especially during
the snipe shooting season.
In 1850 a Commission of the kind with which we are now so familiar
both in India and England was appointed to consider the state of the
postal services, and the result of its deliberations was the Post
Office Act of 1854 and the conversion of the Post Office into an
Imperial Department under a single head called the Director-General.
Uniform rates of postage were introduced and postage stamps instead
of cash payments were brought into use. That marvellous set of rules
known as the Post Office Manual was prepared, which has since grown
into four healthy volumes. Every Official in the Department is supposed
to have the contents of these at his fingers' ends, but in reality
few have ever read them through, and anyone who attempted to obey all
their instructions would find himself sadly hampered in the exercise
of his duties. The appointment of a Director-General, by bringing the
separate services under a single administration, laid the foundation
for future progress. Suitable officers were recruited and were taught
their duties, better pay and improved prospects of promotion were a
great inducement to the staff to take an interest in the work, and
through communications which took no account of district or provincial
boundaries were established.
The gradual growth of the powers of the Director-General has largely
depended on the needs of the Department, and also, to an appreciable
extent, upon his own strength of will and his personal relations with
the Member of Council, who controls the Department of Government to
which the Post Office is subordinate.[1] The Director-General is
assisted by two Deputy Directors, who are, in fact, the Secretaries of
the Post Office, and under these again are four Assistant Directors
in charge of four main branches of Post Office work. All the above
officers have the title "General" attached to their designations in
order to increase their self-respect, but I have omitted it to avoid
an annoying reiteration. Of the three personal assistants, one has to
be a walking encyclopædia since he is in personal attendance on the
Director-General; the others are financial and technical experts. The
office itself is under the immediate supervision of a titled Bengalee
gentleman of considerable attainments, and his clerks are mostly
Bengalee graduates whose abilities are supposed to vary with their
salaries.
For the purposes of administration, the whole of India and Burma
is divided into eight circles, corresponding with Presidencies and
Provinces as far as possible. Each of these is under the control of
a Postmaster-General, who is sometimes a member of the Indian Civil
Service and sometimes an official of the Department. The powers of a
Postmaster-General are great, his patronage is large and the working of
the Post Office is dependent on his capacity for railway travelling at
all seasons of the year. His circle is divided into divisions in charge
of Superintendents, who should be little understudies of himself.
The real business of the Department, however, is performed by post
offices, and these are divided into head, sub and branch offices.
The head office is the account and controlling office of one or more
districts and is in charge of a postmaster, who in large towns ranks
as a divisional officer. The sub-office is under the control of a head
office for account purposes. It does all kinds of postal work and
is always opened where there is a sufficiency of correspondence to
justify its existence. The branch office is only intended for villages
and places where there is no need of a sub-office. It is really the
pioneer of the Department for the purpose of opening up new areas
to postal communications. In small places a branch office is put in
charge of a schoolmaster, a shopkeeper or any other local resident who
has sufficient education to keep the very simple accounts required,
and by this means the Post Office is able to give the advantages
of its great organization to villages which could never support a
departmental office. A still cheaper agency is used for the outlying
hamlets, which only receive and send a few letters a week. These are
visited periodically by the village or rural postman, who is a kind of
perambulating branch office. He delivers letters and money orders, and
also receives articles for despatch. He sells stamps and quinine, and
being a local man he has to face a certain amount of public opinion if
he doesn't act fair and square towards the villagers in his beat. In
some hill tracts he is provided with a bugle to announce his arrival,
and to the inhabitants of these he brings news of the outside world;
he writes their letters and explains to them his own conception of the
mysteries of the money order system.
But what would be the use of all these offices and all this
organization without lines of communication? The chief lines are, of
course, the railways, but they form a separate organization and will
be discussed in another chapter. For places off the railway there are
motor lines and tonga services, such as that sung by Kipling between
Kalka and Simla but now a thing of the past owing to the completion
of the hill railway. The romance of the Post Office, however, must
always lie in the mail runner, or hirkara as he is called in old books
on India. The number of tigers sated with his flesh is past count,
the Himalayan snows have overwhelmed him, flooded rivers have carried
him off and oozy swamps sucked him down. But in the face of all these
dangers, has the runner ever failed to do his duty? According to the
stories, never, and in real life perhaps not more than once or twice.
Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim.
Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff.
The service admits not a but, nor an if,
While the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail
In the name of the Emperor--the "Overland Mail."--KIPLING.
Postal runners are largely drawn from the less civilized races of
India, many of whom are animists by religion. They will face wild
beasts and wandering criminals, but will go miles to avoid an evil
spirit in a tree. With them the mail bag is a kind of fetish which must
be protected and got to its destination at all costs. Dishonesty among
them is almost unknown and they are wonderfully true to their salt,
which with them seldom exceeds twelve rupees a month. To prove that the
old stories are not all myths, a case came before the Director-General
recently in a rather peculiar manner. The Audit Office, that soulless
machine which drives executive officers out of their minds, sent in
an objection to a gratuity being given to the family of a runner who,
when carrying the mails, had been eaten by a tiger. The objection was
that gratuities were only given for death in special circumstances,
for instance, when death occurred in the performance of some specially
courageous action, and that, since carrying the mails was part of the
man's ordinary duty, his family was not entitled to any consideration.
The actual story of the runner's death, as told by the villagers and
the village watchman, is this: The runner's beat had been recently
frequented by a man-eating tiger, and several of the country people
had been carried off by him during the previous few days. On the
afternoon in question the tiger was known to be in the neighbourhood,
and when the mails arrived the villagers warned the runner not to go
then, but to wait until next morning. Since the man-eater was an early
feeder--that is to say, he killed his prey early in the afternoon,
the runner waited until five o'clock and then persuaded the village
watchman to accompany him. He hadn't gone more than two miles when out
came the tiger and seized him. The watchman escaped and took the mails
to the next stage, and the family of the man who nobly faced death in
the execution of his duty was deprived of its wage-earner. This is a
very bald account of a really heroic deed, and it is pleasing to learn
that Mr. Levett Yeats, the Accountant-General of the Post Office at the
time, who was the very soul of romance and chivalry, dealt with his
objecting subordinate in a manner worthy of the heinous nature of his
offence.
The road establishment of the Indian Post Office amounted to 18,160
persons out of a total staff of 108,324 on the 31st March, 1918, so
there is some excuse for having devoted so much space to it. The postal
staff had to deal with over 1200 millions of articles during the year,
of which, according to the Annual Report of 1917-18, only .22 per cent
failed to reach their proper destination. When one considers that there
are more than twenty written languages in India in common use, and that
a large number of addresses are almost illegible and are mixed up with
invocations to the Deity and many other high-sounding phrases, one can
only say, "Bravo, the Post Office! How do you do it?" With such a
large correspondence a handsome revenue might be expected, even when
the minimum rate for letters is a halfpenny; but the Indian is a frugal
person and he does most of his correspondence on farthing postcards, on
which he can cram a great deal of information by carefully using every
available portion. Postcards were introduced in 1879 and now account
for nearly half of the articles handled. The private card, with a
figure of some favourite god or goddess, is competing strongly with the
ordinary Government postcard, and wonderful ingenuity is employed to
enable the writer to avail himself of more space than the regulations
permit. The unpaid letter is also much in evidence in India. There is
an idea that a letter on which postage has to be collected is much more
certain to reach its destination than a prepaid one. This heretical
doctrine has been strongly condemned in several pamphlets issued by
the Director-General, but with little effect. And who knows? Perhaps
there is a certain amount of truth in it, founded on bitter experience.
Unpaid postcards had to be abolished recently, when it was discovered
that they were universally read and then returned to the postmen
as refused. The writer generally concealed his identity from the
officials, with the result that it was useless to try and recover the
postage due.
Among a suspicious and ignorant people any innovation is likely to be
looked at askance, and this is especially the case in India, where the
introduction of postcards was received with suspicion, although their
low price ensured a ready sale. An extract from the _Amrita Bazar
Patrika_, one of the foremost Indian papers, shows that they were not
at first regarded as an unmixed blessing. The extract is taken from
the issue of the 18th July, 1879, and is as follows:--
"Postal cards are now a rage all over India. There are men who, to
make the contents of the cards unintelligible, make them altogether
illegible. Some express themselves in hints which are not only
unintelligible to the postal clerk and peon, but to the person
addressed also. Others have got a notion that all letters, to be
sent either through the Post or through private harkaras, must be
written on postcards, that being the hookum[2] of the Sirkar; and it
is not unusual to see a fat and ignorant, though extremely loyal and
law-abiding, zemindar[3] sending his letters to his steward written
on half a score of postcards, one or two not sufficing to contain his
great thoughts. There are others who write their thoughts on postcards
and enclose them in an envelope, and attach a half-anna stamp before
posting. These men have naturally raised a loud complaint against the
unconscionable exactions of Government, and native papers given to
writing sedition should not let slip this opportunity of indulging
their profitable pastime. But the great difficulty is to teach the
people on which side of the card the address is to be written, and
we think it will be some years before they are enlightened in this
respect. But really does it matter much if the address is written on
the wrong side? We think that the people of India living under the
enlightened rule of the British should have the privilege of writing
the address on whichever side they like."
What a merry time the poor sorters would have if the sentiments
expressed in the last sentence were given effect to! But doubtless
the _Amrita Bazar Patrika_, with its enlightened staff, its splendid
circulation and carefully printed addresses would scarcely maintain the
same opinions now.
The Post Office of India must be congratulated upon its good fortune
in never having been regarded by Government as a revenue-producing
Department, and as long as it paid its way with a small surplus the
Powers were satisfied. Any excess was devoted to improvements in the
service, and full advantage has been given to this concession in past
years by the introduction of many reforms destined to meet the growing
needs of the country. Recently, postage rates were reduced to such
an extent that for a few years the Post Office worked at a loss, a
most unsatisfactory state of affairs; however, a marked recovery is
noticeable already and it is again a self-supporting institution, the
gross revenue for the year ending the 31st March, 1918, being more than
416 lakhs[4] of rupees, which gave a net surplus of nearly 50 lakhs on
the year's working.
From being merely an agency for the conveyance and distribution of
letters and light articles, the Post Office has gradually undertaken
an enormous amount of what may be called non-postal work. It deals
with vast numbers of money orders, collects the price of goods for
tradesmen, pays pensioners, sells quinine, deals in Government loans,
and is the poor man's bank, all of which matters will be dealt with
separately. It is to be hoped that no new line of business is going to
be taken up in the near future, such as the sale of railway tickets,
which was once seriously proposed, or else the principal duty of the
Department may be forgotten in the turmoil of the side shows.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This is at present the Department of Commerce.
[2] Order.
[3] Landholder.
[4] One lakh = Rs.100,000.
CHAPTER II
THE ORIGIN OF THE POST OFFICE
The Postal System of India, like that of other countries, had its
origin in the necessity of maintaining communication throughout the
various parts of a great Empire in order that the Emperor might be
kept continuously informed of what was taking place and might be able
to keep in constant touch with the officers in charge of Provinces
at a distance from the Capital. When Ibn Batuta was travelling in
India in the middle of the fourteenth century he found an organized
system of couriers established throughout the country governed at that
time by the great Mahomed Din Tughlak. The system seems to have been
very similar to that which existed in the Roman Empire, and is thus
described:
"There are in Hindustan two kinds of couriers, horse and foot; these
they generally term 'El Wolak.' The horse-courier, which is generally
part of the Sultan's cavalry, is stationed at a distance of every four
miles. As to the foot-couriers there will be one at the distance of
every mile occupying stations which they call 'El Davah' and making on
the whole three miles; so that there is, at the distance of every three
miles, an inhabited village, and without this, three sentry boxes where
the couriers sit prepared for motion with their loins girded. In the
hands of each is a whip about two cubits long, and upon the head of
this are small bells. Whenever, therefore, one of the couriers leaves
any city he takes his despatches in one hand and the whip, which he
keeps constantly shaking, in the other. In this manner he proceeds to
the nearest foot-courier and, as he approaches, shakes his whip. Upon
this out comes another who takes the despatches and so proceeds to the
next. For this reason it is that the Sultan receives his despatches in
so short a time."
Some of the oldest runners' lines in India were established for the
purpose of conveying fruit and flowers to famous temples, and Colonel
Broughton in his most interesting book, _Letters from a Mahratta Camp_,
describes one such line between Udeypore and Pushkar in Rajputana. In
his _Historical Sketches of the South of India_, Colonel Wilks tells
us that among the earliest measures of Raja Chick Deo Raj of Mysore,
who came to the throne in 1672, was the establishment of a regular post
throughout his dominions. The Post Office in Mysore was not merely an
ordinary instrument for conveying intelligence, but an extraordinary
one for obtaining it. The postmasters were confidential agents of the
Court and the inferior servants were professed spies, who made regular
reports of the secret transactions of the districts in which they were
stationed. This system, which was more fully developed by Hyder Ali,
became a terrible instrument of despotism. The Moghul Emperors kept
up a regular system of daks, and Ferishta tells us that Sher Shah,
during his short reign of five years, 1541-1545, was the first who ever
employed a mounted post in India. He constructed a road from Sonarung
in Bengal to the banks of the Indus in Sind, a distance of two
thousand miles, and placed two horses on the road at every two miles.
The Emperor Akbar had post houses built at stages ten miles apart on
the principal roads and swift Turki horses were placed at each stage.
One of these post houses can still be seen on the road between Agra and
Sikandra.
The British do not appear to have found any established system of
communication when they began to extend their dominion in India, and
in the beginning of the eighteenth century it was a matter of no small
difficulty to send a letter more than a distance of one hundred miles.
A regular postal system was first introduced by Lord Clive in 1766,
and the zemindars or landholders along the various routes were held
responsible for the supply of runners to carry the mails. For this
service a deduction was made in their rents in proportion to the number
of runners supplied. The order recorded in the Minutes of Consultations
of the 24th March is as follows:--
"FOR THE BETTER REGULATION OF DAUKS"
"Ordered that in future all letters be despatched from the Government
House; the postmaster or his assistant attending every night to sort
and see them sent off; that the letters to the different Inland
Settlements be made up in separate bags, sealed with the Company's
seal; that none may open the packets except the Chiefs at the
different places, who are to open only their own respective packets;
and
"Ordered that they be directed to observe the same rule with respect
to the letters sent down to Calcutta."
The following is an extract from the Public Proceedings 7th July,
1766;--
"As there have been of late frequent miscarriages of packets to and
from Madras without possibility of tracing the cause, not knowing
the stages where they do happen, as no advice is ever sent us by
the neighbouring Residencies, and as this on any emergency may be
attended with the worst of consequences, it is agreed to establish
the following Rules and communicate them to the Presidency of
Madras, recommending the same to be circulated to the factories and
Residencies subordinate to them, as we shall do to those dependent on
Bengal:--
"That the packets henceforward be numbered in regular succession for
the present season from this time to the end of the year, and in
future from the 1st January to the last of December.
"That the day and hour of despatch as well as the number be noted on
the tickets affixed to the packets; that on every packet the number
and date of the next preceding despatch be noted.
"That in order to have the earliest information of the loss of a
packet at any time, the Resident or Chief of a factory shall regularly
give advice of the receipt of each packet to the Resident of the stage
from whence it came last.
"That when any packets are found to be missing the Chiefs or Residents
at the two nearest stages shall immediately make it their business
to examine the Dauks or Tappies very particularly, and punish them
severely when they do not give a satisfactory account how the packets
came to be lost, giving advice in the meantime to each Presidency.
"That the Postmaster at Calcutta and Residents at Balasore, Cuttack
and Ganjam do keep separate registers of despatches to and from Madras.
"That all packets be sealed with the Governor's as well as the
Company's seal to prevent their being opened till they arrive at the
destined place.
"And as we have reason to believe that by proper attention to the
Tappies, the communication with Madras may be more expeditious,
particularly between Vizagapatam and Bandermalanka, where making
allowances for passing the Rivers, it is remarked they are very tardy,
it is agreed to write to the gentlemen at Madras to mention this to
their subordinate factories that they may fall upon proper measures to
remedy it, and recommending small boats or saugarees to be stationed
at the different rivers."
Under the administration of Warren Hastings the Post Office in India
was placed on a better footing and steps were taken to make the posts
which were established for official purposes more generally available
for private communications. In January, 1774, the details of a regular
system were laid down, which was brought into force on the 31st March,
1774. A Postmaster-General was appointed and postage was charged for
the first time on private letters. The lowest rate of letter postage
was two annas per hundred miles, and copper tickets of the value of two
annas, to be used solely for postal purposes, were specially struck for
public convenience.
In November, 1784, revised regulations for the Post Office were laid
down which took effect in the province of Bengal from December of that
year. In 1785 Madras followed suit upon proposals made by Mr. J. P.
Burlton, a junior civilian in Government service. He suggested the
adoption of a regular postal system on the lines of Bengal, under which
all letters except those on the public service should pay postage. In
1786 Mr. Archibald Campbell was made Postmaster-General, Madras, and
arrangements were made for fortnightly services to Calcutta and Bombay.
There was some dispute between the Court of Directors and the Madras
Government regarding the appointment of a Postmaster-General. The
former refused to accept Mr. Campbell and nominated Mr. Burlton; the
latter objected to Mr. Burlton and appointed Mr. Legge Wilks, who was
shortly afterwards succeeded by Mr. Oliver Colt.
For the next fifty years the history of the Post Office is obscure. The
territory occupied by the East India Company in 1784 consisted of three
isolated portions adjoining the three presidency towns of Calcutta,
Madras and Bombay. The Company obtained the administrative control of
part of the Carnatic and the provinces known as the Northern Circars
in 1761. The fiscal administration of the provinces of Bengal, Behar
and Orissa was handed over by the Delhi Emperor in 1765, and by the
Treaty of Salbai in 1782 the Bombay Government retained the islands of
Elephanta and Salsette.
In 1798 Lord Wellesley arrived in India inspired by Imperial projects
which were destined to change the map of the country. In 1799 Tippoo,
Sultan of Mysore, was defeated and slain at Seringapatam, and the
Carnatic or south-eastern portion of India ruled by the Nawab of Arcot,
as well as the principality of Tanjore, were placed under British rule.
These territories constitute the greater part of the present Madras
Presidency. In 1801 the whole of the tract between the Ganges and
Jumna, known as the Doab, with Rohilkhand, were obtained by purchase
from the Nawab Vizir of Oudh. In 1803, after the second Mahratta
War, Orissa was forfeited to the British and Berar to the Nizam of
Hyderabad. In 1815 the Himalayan States were taken from the Nepalese,
in 1817 the Pindaris were crushed in Central India and in 1818, after
the third Mahratta War, the Bombay Presidency was formed. Assam was
annexed in 1826, and Bharatpur taken in 1827.
The extension of postal services over this vast increase of territory
can be traced only by scattered references in official documents.
There was no general postal system in the country prior to 1837. A few
main lines of couriers connecting the principal towns in the various
provinces with the seat of Government had been established for the
conveyance of Government letters and parcels, but the use of these
mail services by private persons was conceded only as a privilege. The
local posts in districts between police stations and head-quarters
were maintained by the zemindars or landholders of each district, and
their duties in this respect are laid down in Bengal Regulation XX
of 1817. The postmasters of Presidency towns exercised the functions
of a Postmaster-General in their own provinces up to 1785, and the
Collectors or district officers were responsible for post office and
mail lines within the limits of their own jurisdictions. There was no
central authority to secure the co-operation of postal officials in
different provinces or to maintain uniformity of procedure, and the
charges for the conveyance of letters, which, in the absence of postage
stamps, were levied in cash, varied according to weight and distance.
Thus the cost of conveyance of a letter from Calcutta to Bombay was one
rupee a tola (2/5 oz. approximately), and from Calcutta to Agra twelve
annas a tola. As postal officials were inclined to get as much as
possible out of the public, private posts existed everywhere and were
able to compete successfully with the Government services.
The letters of Victor Jacquemont, who travelled in India in 1830 as
Naturalist to the Royal Museum of Natural History, Paris, throw some
light on the working of the Post Office at the time. The post was
carried altogether by runners, and the travellers' bungalows on the
various routes were under the Post Office. According to Jacquemont,
three servants were attached by the postal administration to each
bungalow, to look after the comforts of travellers and to supply
them with palanquin bearers. Letters seem to have had very uncertain
careers. The usual time from France to Upper India was eight months.
Jacquemont had no great faith in the post. On several occasions he
trusts his letters to the Almighty to watch over during their travels.
Under the provisions of Act XVII of 1837 a public post was established
and Government assumed the exclusive right to convey letters for hire
in the territories of the East India Company. Uniformity was attempted
by the issue to all post offices of elaborate polymetrical tables,
which fixed the charges to be levied on the principal routes. The Act
of 1837 caused a great deal of dissatisfaction owing to the abolition
of many private and well-organized services which were not at once
replaced, or else replaced very inefficiently, by Government services.
The landholders had to pay a local cess to maintain the District Posts,
and they felt it a distinct grievance that they should have to pay
for the upkeep of these, as well as fees for their correspondence,
while all official letters were carried free of charge. An inquiry
made by Captain Taylor of the Bengal Establishment into the working
of the 1837 Act brought many of these grievances to light, and on his
recommendation certain improvements were made in the interests of the
landholders. Thus there grew up in India a dual system of posts--on the
one hand, the Imperial Post, which controlled all main routes and large
offices; on the other, the District Post, which was entirely local and
controlled the rural services in each district. The establishments were
quite separate, and where the two systems came in contact there was
often a great deal of friction.
The principle on which the District Post was based was the liability
of landholders to maintain communications for Government purposes
between the executive head of a district and his subordinates in
outlying places--a responsibility which in many instances they were
glad to discharge by a money payment to the magistrate who undertook
the organization of the requisite agency. The laws under which it was
administered were framed with the object of levying a small cess in
each district. This was used, at the discretion of the magistrate,
for the payment of dak-runners and other persons who conveyed
correspondence between police stations and district officials. This
local post undoubtedly existed from ancient times, and its maintenance
was a liability to which the landholders had been subject from a period
long before the advent of British rule.
The District Post in India, which was an important, though not very
efficient, auxiliary to the Imperial Post, thus owed its origin to the
need for maintaining the means of official communication between the
head-quarters of each district and the revenue and police stations in
the interior, where the general wants of the locality were not such as
to call for the provision of Imperial post offices. It consisted of
lines of communication connecting such stations, and was maintained
primarily for the conveyance of official correspondence in accordance
with the requirements of each district, but subsequently it was also
made available for private correspondence.
In some parts of the country the cost of the District Post lines was
met by local cesses specially levied for the purpose, and in other
places it was met from Imperial or provincial grants as a charge on the
general revenues of the country.
Originally the District Post in India was managed by district officers
or other local officials quite independently of the Imperial Post, but,
in order to increase the efficiency of the service, Local Governments
and Administrations were asked to transfer the management to the
officers of the Imperial Post Office. The North-Western Provinces (now
United Provinces) Government was the first to accept the proposal,
and the management of the District Post there was taken over by the
Postmaster-General of the circle in the year 1864. This arrangement
did not constitute an incorporation of the District Post with the
Imperial Post, but merely a transfer of the management of the former
to the officers of the latter, the financial control of the District
Post remaining as before with the Local Government. As was anticipated,
this measure led to rapid development of private correspondence, an
acceleration of the speed at which the mails were carried and a marked
improvement in the postal arrangements in the interior of districts.
Consequently the objections which were at first raised in many quarters
were silenced, and the other Local Governments and Administrations
soon fell into line, so that in the course of the next fourteen years
the management of the whole of the District Post throughout India was
gradually transferred to the Imperial Post Office.
As the number of Imperial post offices increased the primary object of
the District Post became less important and its funds were devoted more
and more to the extension of rural delivery and postal facilities in
backward rural tracts. As these tracts developed and the postal traffic
produced sufficient revenue to cover the expenditure the Imperial Post
took them over, and the money thus set free was used to start offices,
lines and rural messengers in country not yet opened. In this way
the District Post acted the part of pioneer to the Imperial Post and
greatly assisted its progress.
In 1903, in connection with the revision of the Provincial Settlements,
the Government of India decided to abolish the exceptional arrangement
under which, in some provinces, a portion of the revenue and
expenditure in connection with the District Post was included in the
Provincial accounts. It was ordered that from the commencement of
the new settlements all such receipts and charges which were then
Provincial would be made Imperial. In accordance with this decision
all the District Post establishments in the Presidencies of Bengal
and Madras and the Province of Assam, which were formerly paid from
Provincial funds, were brought directly on the general establishment
of the Imperial Post Office with effect from the 1st April, 1904. Two
years later the Government of India decided to take over the remaining
District Post charges in India, and the District Post was abolished
entirely with effect from the 1st April, 1906. It was at the same time
ordered that from that date every postal charge would be an Imperial
one and that no postal charges of any description whatsoever might be
incurred from Provincial or Local funds.
In 1850 three Commissioners, Messrs. Courtney, Forbes and Beadon,
were appointed by the Government of India to inquire into the methods
for making the Post Office more efficient and more conducive to the
convenience of the public than it had been hitherto.
In 1851 the Commissioners, after making exhaustive inquiries, presented
a report which dealt with every phase of Post Office work, and on this
report has been based the whole fabric of the present administration.
The most important questions discussed were:
(1) The necessity for a uniform rate of postage irrespective of
distance.
(2) The need for prepayment of postage by means of adhesive postage
stamps.
(3) The fixing of a low initial rate of postage.
(4) The abolition of franking.
(5) The formation of the Post Office as an Imperial Department under a
Director-General, with Postmasters-General in each province who would
not be subject to the authority of the Local Government.
(6) The publication of Manual Rules for the use of postal officials.
(7) The establishment of sorting offices at suitable places.
(8) The introduction of money orders.
(9) The regulation of the Bhangy or Parcel Post.
(10) The introduction of cheap and uniform postage for newspapers,
books, pamphlets, etc.
(11) The transfer of District Posts to the Imperial Post Office.
The report of the Commissioners is contained in a bulky volume of some
six hundred pages, of which the preamble is most interesting and throws
a great deal of light on the domestic history of India in the first
half of the nineteenth century. The reforms are based throughout on the
principle that the Post Office is to be maintained for the benefit of
the people of India and not for the purposes of swelling the revenues,
and it is greatly to the credit of the Government of India that in all
times of stress and strain, as well as in times of prosperity, they
have loyally observed this principle, although there have been many
temptations to act contrary to it.
With the advance of postal administration in India in the last sixty
years we can hardly realize the difficulties that had to be faced in
1851. One of the chief ones was the poverty of the great bulk of the
population, many of whom could ill afford to spend even the smallest
Indian coin, namely, one pie, a twelfth part of a penny, on anything
that was not necessary for their own sustenance.
In dealing with this matter the following remarks of the Commissioners
are very interesting:--
"In considering what plan of postage is best suited to the
circumstances of India, and most likely to conduce to the convenience
of the public, the social and commercial advancement of the country,
and the ultimate financial advantage of the department, the difference
between the circumstances of the European and native portion of the
community must be distinctly borne in mind. It must be remembered
that the former are very few in number, but, generally speaking, well
educated and in affluent circumstances; that they are accustomed and
inclined to social correspondence, for which, from being collected
at particular stations throughout the country, they have great
facilities; and are comparatively little hindered from indulging in
it by the expense which it entails on them, being for the most part
regardless of the pecuniary advantage which they might derive from a
more careful attention to the weight of their letters. The natives,
on the other hand, are incalculably more numerous than their European
fellow-subjects. Upon the moderate assumption that there are two
thousand natives for every European, and that not more than 1 per cent
of the former can read and write, still there must be twenty natives
for every European who can correspond by the post without assistance,
provided that the means of paying postage are within their reach,
and that the receipt and delivery of their letters are facilitated.
But they are poor, and, though well inclined to correspond, greatly
prevented from doing so by the present high rates of postage to
distant stations, and still more by the distance which separates the
mass of them from the nearest post office, and by the consequent
trouble, expense, uncertainty and perhaps loss, which the receipt and
despatch of their letters involve. The occupations in which large
numbers of natives are engaged connected with the internal trade of
the country are such as naturally to render their correspondence on
matters of business far more extensive than that of Europeans, the
greater part of the latter being engaged in the service of Government
and not under the necessity of writing letters except on their own
personal concerns or those of their friends. With the improvement
of the means of communication, extension of trade and the gradual
spread of knowledge throughout the country, the instructed and writing
portion of the native community will continue to bear an increasing
ratio both to the rest of their fellow-countrymen men and to the
European residents in India, but to the bulk even of these the amount
they can afford to expend on the postage of their letters must ever
be a matter of strict economical calculation. It may be regarded as
certain that the utmost care will always be observed by the native
community in keeping the weight of their letters within the minimum
chargeable weight; and unless some considerable reduction is made in
the existing rates of postage to distant places they will continue to
resort to ingenious contrivances for the purpose of saving expenditure
under that head, or avoiding it altogether."
The practice of "clubbing" or of enclosing a number of small letters in
one cover addressed to a person who undertook to deliver them by hand
was very common in India before 1850 and is not unknown at the present
time. When the difference in cost between a single and double letter
was considerable, this practice entailed a great loss of revenue to the
Post Office, and in order to stop it the Commissioners proposed to make
the unit of weight a quarter of a tola and to charge extra postage for
each quarter tola of weight. The unit finally adopted was half a tola,
as it was thought that Post Office clerks would have difficulty in
detecting such small divisions of weight as a quarter of a tola. At the
same time heavy penalties were imposed on clubbing, and the practice
has gradually fallen into disuse.
[Illustration: SIR CHARLES STEWART WILSON, K.C.I.E.
DIRECTOR GENERAL 1906-1913]
Uniformity of postage irrespective of distance had many opponents at
the time. It was recommended by the Commissioners on the ground of
fairness, simplicity and the facilities it gave for the introduction
of other improvements into the department. To use their own words:
"Combined with a low rate of charge, it forms the conspicuous and
chief benefit which the monopoly of the carriage of letters enables
Government to confer upon the whole body of its subjects, by almost
annihilating distance and placing it within the power of every
individual to communicate freely with all parts of the Empire. It
makes the Post Office what under any other system it never can be--the
unrestricted means of diffusing knowledge, extending commerce and
promoting in every way the social and intellectual improvement of the
people. It is no longer an experiment, having been introduced with
eminent success into the United Kingdom as well as into the United
States of America, France, Spain and Russia."
There was a strong body of opinion in favour of the compulsory
prepayment of postage in all cases on the ground that in India it was
most difficult to collect the postage due on bearing letters; in fact,
the letters were usually sent open, read by the addressees and then
refused, so that both the sender and recipient got all they wanted out
of the Post Office for nothing. However, wiser counsels prevailed. It
was recognized that compulsory prepayment might mean great hardship in
many cases, and the English system of charging double postage on unpaid
articles was adopted.
These few extracts are sufficient to show the fine spirit that pervaded
the work of the Commissioners. They were true Imperialists and never
took the petty view, but adhered to the maxim of the greatest benefit
to the greatest number. Their names are forgotten, but the result of
their labours has remained in the fine organization now known as the
Post Office of India.
CHAPTER III
EARLY POSTAL REGULATIONS
Act XVII of 1837, the earliest enactment establishing a proper
postal system in India, repealed Bombay Regulation XI of 1830 which
declared all private dawks within the Bombay Presidency to be illegal.
It conferred the exclusive right of carrying post for hire on the
Governor-General in Council and fixed the penalty for evasion of this
order at Rs.50 for each letter. The Bhangy Post was opened to the
public with the condition that letters exceeding 12 tolas must be sent
by bhangy wherever such a line existed. The Governor-General in Council
was authorized to frame a scale of distances, according to which the
rates for inland postage should be calculated and also to fix the
rates for steamer and ship postage. Strict regulations were laid down
compelling commanders of vessels to deliver all letters on board to the
post office at each port of call, also to receive all letters handed
over to them by the post office at any port. The commander of the
vessel received one anna for each letter delivered or received.
We find the origin of the Dead Letter Office in Sections 25 to 27 of
the Act. Unclaimed letters after lying for three months at any post
office were to be sent to the General Post Office of the Presidency,
and at intervals, not exceeding three months, lists of such unclaimed
letters and packets were to be published in the Official Gazette, When
letters and packets lay unclaimed for a period of eighteen months at
the General Post Office, the Postmaster-General was authorized to open
them and pay any valuable property found therein into the Government
Treasury for the benefit of the party having a right to it. After a
further period of twelve months unclaimed letters were to be destroyed.
The Governor-General in Council had the power to grant to any person
the privilege of sending and receiving all letters and packets by
letter post free of postage, and of sending and receiving letters and
packets by bhangy on the public service free of postage. This privilege
was granted to the following persons:--
His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.
The President and Secretaries of the Board of Control.
The Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Directors of the East India Company.
The Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Assistant Secretary at the East
India House.
The Governor-General.
The Governors of Bengal, Madras and Bombay.
The Governor of Ceylon.
The Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Provinces.
The Chief Justices of Bengal, Madras and Bombay.
The Bishops of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
The Members of the Supreme Council.
The Members of Council of Madras and Bombay.
The Puisne Judges of the Supreme Courts of Bengal, Madras and Bombay.
The Recorder of Prince of Wales' Island, Singapore and Malacca.
The Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Naval Forces.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Army at Madras and Bombay.
Postage was charged for letters according to the following schedules:--
_Distance_ _Postage for a letter not_
_in miles._ _exceeding 1 tola._
20 1 anna.
50 2 annas.
100 3 "
150 4 "
200 5 "
250 6 "
300 7 "
400 8 "
500 9 "
600 10 "
700 11 "
800 12 "
900 13 "
1000 14 "
1200 15 "
1400 1 rupee.
Single postage to be added for each additional tola or part thereof.
Special rates for distance were also fixed for:
(1) Law papers, Accounts and Vouchers attested as such, with the full
signature of the sender.
(2) Newspapers, Pamphlets and other printed or engrossed papers,
packed in short covers open at each end, imported matter being charged
at a cheaper rate than matter printed in India.
Parcels were limited to 600 tolas (15 lbs.) in weight, and the rate
was 6 annas for 50 tolas (20 oz.) for 50 miles, then 3 annas for every
additional 50 tolas or part thereof for every 50 miles up to 300 miles,
after which 3 annas was charged for each 50 tolas for every additional
100 miles up to 1000 miles. For 1200 miles the rate was Rs.2 as.13 for
every 50 tolas, and for 1400 miles and upwards Rs.3.
By Act XX of 1838 the weight of letters and packets which could be
carried by a road on which there was no bhangy post was raised from
12 to 30 tolas, and the postmaster was allowed to use his discretion
in forwarding packets exceeding 30 tolas. It was also enacted that
"all fines incurred under Post Office Acts shall be demanded by notice
from Postmasters-General or from any Postmaster, and if not paid shall
be levied together with costs on goods and chattels. If no goods are
forthcoming the offender may be committed to prison for twenty-two
calendar months unless the fines, etc., are sooner paid." Postmasters
were authorized to detain any letter in respect of which any party was
liable to a fine.
Act XVII of 1839 empowered the Governor-General in Council to alter
postage duties as fixed by Sections 6 and 14 of the Act, but not to
increase them.
The fact that postage rates were fixed with respect to distances in
1837 is not a matter for surprise when the state of Indian roads at the
time is considered. In 1833, Shore, in his _Notes on Indian Affairs_,
describes the main road between Calcutta and Benares as no better than
a cart-track, and says that the only road worthy of the name in India
is that between Calcutta and Barrackpore. Nor was it until 1854, with
the abolition of the old Military Boards and the establishment of the
Public Works Department, that the art of road-making began to improve.
It will thus be understood that in 1837 the maintenance of postal
lines was a real difficulty. All mail matter had to be conveyed by
runners, and a slight extra weight entailed a considerable extra cost.
With the introduction of railways in 1852 and good metalled roads,
upon which light wheeled carriages could be used for the conveyance of
mails and passengers over long distances, a complete change in postal
administration was effected, and it was no longer necessary to vary the
rates for letters according to distance.
With all the advance made in postal legislation and the regulation
of rates there was not yet any Controlling Head. The Post Office
was managed by Postmasters-General who were also postmasters in the
Presidency Towns, while Collectors of Districts had charge of post
offices upcountry. Receipts were still granted for every article
received for despatch, and in the Bombay Presidency the addresses of
all articles were entered in lists known as puttees; these were given
to the postmen who brought back the addressees' signatures on them. The
addresses upon all articles passing in transit through the Post Office
were also recorded; bags were not used, only packets of paper or cloth.
The English Mail at this time was received once a month and, since
not more than 200 lbs. weight of mails could be conveyed along the
Bombay-Calcutta line in one day, a week was often required for its
disposal. Originally the opium merchants had their own lines, and
on these being stopped they used to send private expresses by the
Government dawk, which was a great source of revenue to the Post
Office.
Act XVII of 1854 marks the commencement of the organization of
the Indian Post Office upon its present footing. According to its
provisions the whole department was placed under the control of a
Director-General; the office of Postmaster-General was separated from
that of Presidency Postmaster; Postmasters-General were appointed for
the direct administration and supervision of the postal services in the
larger provinces and Deputy Postmasters-General, at first designated
Chief Inspectors, were appointed to the less important provinces and
the principal Political Agencies. Postage stamps were first introduced
in 1854 and rates were fixed for the conveyance of letters irrespective
of distance.[5]
In this Act the postal monopoly of the East India Company was again
laid down, and the three exceptions to that monopoly were legalized,
namely (1) letters sent by a private friend to be delivered on his way
or journey to a person, without any hire or reward for such service;
(2) letters solely concerning the affairs of the sender or receiver
thereof sent by a messenger on purpose; (3) letters solely concerning
goods or other property sent by land or sea, to be delivered with such
goods or property without any hire or reward for carrying the same.
It was important to include these exceptions in the Act, as under the
Post Office Act of 1837 there was nothing to prevent a man who sent a
letter to his friend by messenger incurring a penalty of Rs.50, a fine
to which both the messenger and recipient were equally liable.
The great advance made in 1854 was the introduction of postage stamps
and the fixing of postage rates for letters irrespective of distance.
The rates were as follows:--
On every letter not exceeding ¼ tola in weight, 6 pies.
On every letter exceeding ¼ tola and not exceeding ½ tola in weight, 1
anna.
On every letter exceeding ½ tola and not exceeding 1 tola, 2 annas.
On every letter exceeding 1 tola and not exceeding 1½ tolas in weight,
3 annas.
On every letter exceeding 1½ tolas and not exceeding 2 tolas in
weight, 4 annas.
And for every tola in weight above 2 tolas, 2 additional annas.
With respect to newspapers and engraved papers a distinction, similar
to that laid down in the Act of 1837, was made between imported and
locally produced matter. The former was charged with 2 annas for every
6 tolas or part thereof; the latter was charged at the following
rates:--
Two annas for a weight not exceeding 3½ tolas.
Four annas for a weight not exceeding 6 tolas, and 2 annas for every
additional 3 tolas above 6 tolas.
This difference in postage encouraged the circulation of newspapers and
printed matter imported from England, but the high internal rates must
have greatly hampered the postal circulation of journals printed in
India.
Reduced rates, but still varying with distance, were laid down for
Bhangy Post according to the following scale:--
| IF NOT EXCEEDING IN WEIGHT.
+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
FOR DISTANCES. |20 |100 |200 |300 |400 |500 |600
|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.
------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
Miles. |Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.
Not exceeding 100 |0 2 |0 4 |0 8 | 0 12 | 1 0 | 1 4 | 1 8
Not exceeding 300 |0 6 |0 12 |1 8 | 2 4 | 3 0 | 3 12 | 4 8
Not exceeding 600 |0 12 |1 8 |3 0 | 4 8 | 6 0 | 7 8 | 9 0
Not exceeding 900 |1 2 |2 4 |4 8 | 6 12 | 9 0 |11 4 |13 8
Not exceeding 1200|1 8 |3 0 |6 0 | 9 0 |12 0 |15 0 |18 0
Exceeding 1200 |1 14 |3 12 |7 8 |11 4 |15 0 |18 12 |22 8
Books, pamphlets, packets of newspapers and of printed and engraved
papers were charged at the following rates by bhangy post:--
Not exceeding 20 tolas 1 anna
Exceeding 20 tolas and not exceeding
40 tolas 2 annas
For every 20 tolas above 40 tolas 1 anna
provided that the total weight must
not exceed 120 tolas.
The postage on bhangy parcels was calculated by the most elaborate
Polymetrical Tables which were supplied to all post offices in English
and Vernacular. Many a grievous complaint was laid by members of the
public against the strange methods employed by the Post Office in
calculating the distance between two places. The sender of a parcel
naturally considered that he should pay for the shortest distance
between the place of despatch and the place of receipt, but not so the
Post Office. It decided that the "postal route," however circuitous,
was the one by which postage should be calculated.
Letters were ordinarily limited to 12 tolas in weight, but by Act XX of
1838 the weight had been raised to 30 tolas upon lines where no bhangy
post existed; this limit was now raised to 40 tolas (1 lb.) and, where
both a bhangy and letter post were conveyed in the same carriage, a
special prohibition was made that letters or packets of newspapers
of less than 12 tolas weight must not be sent by bhangy post under
penalty of a fine of Rs.50 for each offence. This clause was evidently
introduced on account of the charge made by the railway companies for
the carriage of bhangy parcels.
The 600 tola limit for parcels was continued except in special cases
which were laid down by the Governor-General in Council, but in no
circumstances was the weight of any parcel to exceed 2000 tolas (50
lbs.). Ship postage was levied on parcels, when conveyed by the East
India Company's post by sea, at the rate of 8 annas for each 100
tolas. When any parcel had to be conveyed by bhangy as well as by sea,
this postage was levied in addition to bhangy postage. Letters and
newspapers for Ceylon or any place where no postal communication was
established by the East India Company were dealt with as unclaimed,
unless the full postage was prepaid by means of postage stamps.
With the introduction of postage stamps we now find the first
regulations for encouraging the prepayment of postal articles. In
Section 20 it is laid down that, where the East India Company have a
postal communication, double postage shall be charged on unstamped
letters at the time of delivery, and in the case of insufficiently
stamped letters double the deficiency. This rule did not apply to
newspapers or other printed matter, but in order to compel the public
to use the new postage stamps, post offices were forbidden to accept
money in prepayment of any postal articles except parcels. Redirected
letters were charged with postage at prepaid rates, and a penalty
of Rs.200 was imposed for sending "any explosive or other dangerous
material or substance by post."
Rules were drawn up for the use and sale of postage stamps, vendors
were appointed, and heavy penalties were exacted from vendors who
failed to comply with the regulations. Registration of any article was
allowed upon payment of a fee of 4 annas which entitled the sender to
a receipt, but, strange to say, the registration fee had to be paid in
cash, stamps not being recognized in payment.
The clauses of Act XVII of 1837 regarding the obligations of commanders
of vessels were renewed, and also the clauses dealing with unclaimed
and refused articles. The privilege of free postage was entirely
abolished, but the letters and packets sent on the public service by
certain officials were still carried under frank. The postage due on
such articles was charged to the several public departments concerned.
This measure led to wanton extravagance in the matter of official
postage, no care was taken to economize either in the number or the
size of "public service" articles and various abuses of franking
occurred. The list of officers authorized to frank became so large that
the Post Office could not exercise any proper check, and the difficulty
of accounting in connection with the postage due was enormous. The
first restriction was placed on franking in 1866 when the use of
service stamps was made compulsory on all letters passing outside the
Presidency towns or limits of the district in which they were posted,
and in 1873 all franking privileges were abolished.
In Section 48 of the Act the duty of the Post Office to abide by the
Customs regulations is insisted upon. Officers in charge of post
offices were bound to detain articles suspected of containing anything
contraband, and they could refuse to forward any parcel or packet
addressed to a foreign post, unless it was accompanied by a Customs'
House Pass. A long list of penalties, most of which exist at the
present day, was drawn up for offences and misdemeanours committed by
postal officials. Informers were encouraged by being allowed to receive
half of every fine imposed, but no proceedings could be taken against
any one under this Act without an order in writing from Government, the
Director-General or a Postmaster-General.
In 1854 Mr. Riddell was appointed the first Director-General of the
Post Office, and he compiled the first Manual of Rules to be observed
by the whole Department. At this time there were 201 head-quarter
offices and 451 minor offices in India, but every office kept its own
accounts separately and submitted them direct to the Audit Office which
was part of the Accountant General's Office. It was not until 1861 that
postal accounts were removed from the Civil auditors and handed over
to an officer known as the "Compiler of Post Office Accounts" and not
until 1866-7 that the distinction between Head and Branch offices was
made for account purposes.
The Manual of 1854 made no proper arrangement for sorting offices,
it only provided for mails being received _en masse_ and for their
distribution afterwards to peons and into the "thana" and forwarding
boxes. Every post office upon a line had to make up a separate mail
packet for every office in advance, and it received one from every
office in rear, a most cumbersome proceeding, which was put a stop to
in 1860, when long detentions were made at certain large stations upon
the main routes for the purpose of sorting the mails. Paid letters
were impressed with a red date-stamp to distinguish them from unpaid,
which bore a black date-stamp. Letters for foreign countries were sent
with steamer postage invoices (chalans) to the different Presidency
towns. Prepayment of articles sent to England via Marseilles, for which
Brindisi was substituted in 1870, was not possible, nor could letters
for countries like the United States be prepaid.
It seems hardly credible that in 1854 one of the longest chapters of
the Manual was devoted to an elaborate system of fining, under which
different offices claimed fines from one another for bad work brought
to light by them. The official who detected the finable offence was
allowed to keep the amount of the fine subject to a deduction of 10
per cent, which was remitted to the Postmaster-General's office to
cover the cost of printing Fine Statements, Bills, etc. A regular
schedule of offences with the fine allotted for each was drawn up; for
instance, the missending of a mail bag was assessed at Rs.3, while
the missending of a parcel or packet cost 8 annas. Naturally there
was great energy expended in detecting offences for which fines were
imposed, and the result was an enormous amount of correspondence and
bitter recrimination between offices. This vicious practice continued
for many years and was not finally put a stop to until 1880.
FOOTNOTE:
[5] The first issue of postage stamps in India was actually made in
1852 by Sir Bartle Frere, Commissioner of Scinde. They were local
stamps for use in Scinde only, and bore the inscription "Scinde
District Dak."
CHAPTER IV
LATER POSTAL REGULATIONS
By Act XIV of 1866 postage rates were still further reduced as
follows:--
For letters not exceeding ¼ tola 6 pies.
Exceeding ¼ tola and not exceeding
½ tola 1 anna.
For every additional ½ tola 1 "
For newspapers not exceeding 10 tolas 1 "
For every additional 10 tolas 1 "
It will be noticed that the distinction in rates between imported and
local newspapers was withdrawn.
Books, pamphlets, packets, etc.--
Not exceeding 10 tolas in weight 1 anna.
For every additional 10 tolas 1 "
Parcels were still charged according to the distance they had to be
conveyed, but the rates were reduced. The following table gives the
scale of charges:--
| NOT EXCEEDING TOLAS.
|
DISTANCE IN +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
MILES. |20 |50 |100 |200 |300 |400 |500 |600
|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.
------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.
Not exceeding 300|0 4 |0 8 |0 12 |1 8 | 2 4 | 3 0 | 3 12 | 4 8
Not exceeding 600|0 8 |1 0 |1 8 |3 0 | 4 8 | 6 0 | 7 8 | 9 0
Not exceeding 900|0 12 |1 8 |2 4 |4 8 | 6 12 | 9 0 |11 4 |13 8
Not exceeding 1200|1 0 |2 0 |3 0 |6 0 | 9 0 |12 0 |15 0 |18 0
Exceeding 1200|1 4 |2 8 |3 12 |7 8 |11 4 |15 0 |18 12 |22 8
It was now ordered that registration upon letters, the fee for which
was still fixed at 4 annas, should be prepaid in postage stamps. The
penal clauses relating to counterfeiting stamps had been included in
the Indian Penal Code, Act XLV of 1860, and were therefore omitted from
this Act. The other penal clauses were practically the same as those
that existed in the Act of 1854, and the principle is again laid down
of the non-responsibility of Government for any loss or damage which
may occur in respect of anything entrusted to the Post Office for
conveyance.
From 1866 the work of the Post Office began to develop enormously, and
its functions had to be gradually extended to meet the growing needs of
the public. In 1869 the charge on redirected letters was abolished and
the letter postage rates were further reduced as follows:--
For letters not exceeding ½ tola 6 pies.
Exceeding ½ tola but not exceeding 1
tola 1 anna.
For every additional tola or fraction
thereof 1 "
The antiquated system of making parcel post rates vary with distance
could no longer be maintained, and in 1871 a system of rates which
varied with weight, irrespective of distance, was introduced. A parcel
post service was established between India and England in 1873, but the
collection and distribution of parcels were at first effected through
the agency of the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, and it
was not until 1885 that the Post Offices of both countries undertook
the management of the parcel post. In 1873 special postage rates were
introduced for official articles, namely:
Not exceeding ½ tola ½ anna.
Not exceeding 10 tolas 1 "
Not exceeding 20 tolas 5 annas.
Not exceeding 30 tolas 10 "
Every additional 10 tolas 5 "
At the same time it was laid down that official covers from Government
offices should be prepaid by means of service postage stamps.
Under the provision of the Act of Parliament (III-IV Vict. Cap. 69)
soldiers and seamen were allowed the privilege of sending letters not
exceeding half an ounce in weight at the rate of 1d. for each letter.
This rate was introduced into India in 1854, and 8 pies was reckoned
the equivalent of 1d. In 1874 the postage on such letters was fixed at
9 pies for half an ounce owing to the increase in the rate of exchange.
In 1899 the Imperial Penny Postage scheme was introduced, by which the
initial rate of postage to the United Kingdom and to certain British
colonies and possessions was fixed at 1 anna for a letter not exceeding
half an ounce in weight, so that the privilege enjoyed by soldiers and
seamen was no longer of any advantage, and when in 1907 the initial
rate under the Imperial Penny Postage Scheme was raised from half an
ounce to 1 ounce there was no further object in retaining this special
concession.
In 1877 the Value-Payable or Cash on Delivery system was introduced,
and in 1878 the Post Office undertook the insurance of letters and
parcels. At first there was no limit to the amount for which an article
could be insured, until a claim for the contents of a parcel insured
for Rs.60,000 showed the enormous liabilities which the Department
might incur under this system. Accordingly, in 1890 the limit was fixed
at Rs.1000, but was raised in 1898 to Rs.2000, and the procedure was
greatly simplified. The insurance fee was originally fixed at one-half
per cent, which was subsequently reduced to a quarter, and in 1905 to
one-eighth per cent.
Previous to 1880 the money order work of the country was carried on by
the Government Treasuries, and the procedure was rather cumbersome; in
that year it was handed over to the Post Office, with the result that
in a few months the number of money orders issued and paid quadrupled.
The extent to which money order business has increased may be gauged
from the fact that the value of inland money orders in 1880-81 was
45 millions, and in 1917-18 it had increased to over 617 millions of
rupees.
In 1870 Government Savings Banks were first established in India in
connection with District Treasuries, and in 1882 permission was given
to open savings bank accounts at post offices, but the management
and control of the funds still remained with the Treasuries. In 1885
all savings banks at Treasuries were closed and the business was
transferred entirely to the Post Office. The general development of
this branch will be treated of in the chapter on Savings Banks, but,
as an example of the growth of business, the figures of 1882-83 and of
1913-14 are remarkable. In 1882-83 there were 39,121 depositors with
a balance of Rs.27,96,730; in 1913-14 there were 1,638,725 depositors
with a balance of Rs.23,16,75,467.
In 1883 combined post and telegraph offices were introduced, and it
is no exaggeration to say that these are solely responsible for
the extension of telegraph facilities to the smaller markets and
rural tracts of India. In 1884 the sale of British postal orders was
authorized, and the same year marks the introduction of Postal Life
Insurance, a measure at first confined to servants of the Department
but afterwards extended to all Government servants. In 1890, at the
request of the military authorities, the Post Office undertook the
payment of military pensioners in the Punjab.
In this way the Department has grown. From being a mere agency for the
carriage of correspondence and parcels in 1866, the Post Office has
now become the poor man's bank; it does an enormous value-payable and
money order business; it is an important insurance agency and pension
paymaster, and to such an extent have postage rates been reduced in
India that it would be hard to find a man who could not afford to
communicate by post with his friends.
Needless to say, the Post Office Act of 1866 was quite unsuited to
modern needs, and Act VI of 1898 was framed to deal with the new
requirements of postal work. The 1866 Act was amended by Act III of
1882, which authorized any officer of the Post Office empowered in this
behalf by the Governor-General in Council to search for newspapers
regarding which a notification had been published under the Sea Customs
Act. By Act III of 1895 powers were provided in accordance with the
general policy of the Postal Union for dealing with fictitious or
previously used postage stamps of other countries found on articles
received from abroad, and by Act XVI of 1896 the Post Office was
authorized to collect Customs duty paid in advance in the same manner
as postage under the Act.
Act VI of 1898 is to a great extent an Enabling Act which reserves
to Government the power of dealing by rule with numerous questions
of postal practice and procedure affecting the public. For the first
time legal recognition was given to registered newspapers, and the
Governor-General in Council was empowered to make rules for their
registration in the offices of Postmasters-General. The acceptance of
the official marks of the Post Office on postal articles as prima facie
evidence that they have been refused, that the addressee cannot be
found, or that any sum is due on them, was a principle taken from the
English Law.
Section 20 of the Act was quite new and prohibits the sending by
post of indecent or obscene articles, and the tendency of the age is
shown by the first mention in this clause of the word "sedition" in
connection with postal articles. "Articles having thereon or on the
cover thereof any words, marks or designs of an indecent, obscene,
seditious, defamatory or grossly offensive character" were prohibited
from being sent by post. The wording of this section is interesting
owing to the difficulty of interpreting the meaning of the word
"thereon"; it would almost seem that the framers of the Act wished to
wrap this clause in ambiguity. In Section 22 the important principle
of the English Law is laid down that the Post Office is not bound to
send parcels and packets along with the letter mail, but may detain
them as long as is necessary. By Section 25 special power is given to
search for goods notified under the Sea Customs Act, and in Section
26, the Public Emergency section, "The Governor-General in Council,
or a Local Government, or any officer specially authorized in this
behalf by the Governor-General in Council, may, by an order in writing,
direct that any postal article or class or description of postal
articles in course of transmission by post shall be intercepted or
detained." Had the framers of this Act any idea of the extent to which
this power would have to be used they might have expressed themselves
in greater detail.[6] Sections 30 to 36 and 43 to 48 of the Act deal
with the power of the Governor-General in Council to make rules for
the insurance of postal articles and the transmission of value-payable
articles and money orders by post.
To judge from the large number of additional penalty clauses introduced
into this Act, postal crime seems to have grown side by side with
postal development. Every possible misdemeanour and fraud is visited
with appropriate punishment; not even the mail runner who fails in his
duty to appear at the time he is required can escape, while the postman
who makes a false entry in his book to show that he has been visiting
a certain village, when all the time he has been loitering in a
neighbouring bazaar, renders himself liable to six months' imprisonment
or a fine of one hundred rupees. Sections 62 and 63 are taken from the
English Post Office Protection Act, 1884, and impose penalties for
injuring the contents of any letter-box or for disfiguring any post
office or letter-box. To prevent hasty and ill-considered prosecutions,
it was laid down in Section 72 that no Court should take cognizance
of any offence under the Act, except with the previous sanction or
on the complaint of the Director-General of the Post Office or of a
Postmaster-General.
In 1898 postage rates on letters were reduced to the following scale:--
Not exceeding ½ tola ½ anna.
" " 1½ tolas 1 "
" " 3 " 2 annas.
For every additional 1½ tolas or fraction
thereof 1 anna.
The postage on newspapers was fixed at:
Not exceeding 4 tolas ¼ anna.
" " 20 " ½ "
For every additional 20 tolas or part
thereof ½ "
In 1905 a still further reduction in letter postage was made, namely:
Not exceeding ¾ tola ½ anna.
" " 1½ tolas 1 "
" " 3 " 2 annas.
For every additional 1½ tolas or fraction
thereof 1 anna.
In 1907, after a long discussion, it was decided to make the Indian
anna rate approximate to the English penny rate. The British Post
Office had decided to carry 4 ounces for one penny, and as an ounce
is roughly 2½ tolas the weight that could be sent for an anna was
increased from 1½ to 10 tolas. The ¾ tolas for ½ anna was very
properly considered absurd, and the weight was raised to 1 tola. The
rates as revised in 1907 were:
Not exceeding 1 tola ½ anna.
" " 10 tolas 1 "
For every additional 10 tolas or fraction
thereof 1 anna.
This was a sweeping measure which mainly benefited that portion of the
community which could best afford to pay high rates of postage, and
the argument for making the anna rate correspond to the penny rate in
England left out of account the very important fact that in England the
minimum rate for letters was a penny, whereas in India it is half that
amount. It is difficult to estimate what the loss to the Post Office
must have been, but when one considers that a letter of 10 tolas,
which under the previous rates would have had to bear 7 annas postage,
could be sent for 1 anna it will be understood that the loss was
considerable. The measure was also one that affected the Post Office
in two ways, since less revenue was received in postage stamps and the
increased number of bulky letters necessitated a larger carrying staff.
Despite the admitted cheapness of postage in India, some short-sighted
agitators cry out for a ¼ anna letter rate; but the Post Office can
well afford to disregard their murmurings and may congratulate itself
on having made its services accessible to even the very poorest member
of the community.
By Act III of 1912 the Indian Post Office Act of 1898 was further
amended, and special rules were made to protect postmasters who had to
search or detain articles passing through the post. The public who use
the value-payable system have been protected from fraudulent traders
by a section which provides for the retention and repayment to the
addressee, in cases of fraud, of money recovered on the delivery of
any value-payable postal article; at the same time the Post Office is
authorized to levy a fee before making any inquiry into complaints of
this kind.
[Illustration: GROUP OF SENIOR OFFICERS IN 1898
C. STEWART-WILSON G. S. CURTIS W. MAXWELL C. J. BADSHAH
J. CORNWALL H. M. KISCH SIR ARTHUR FANSHAWE A. T. FORBES
_Director General_
]
Since the Great War broke out in 1914 it has been found necessary to
increase inland postage rates for both letters and parcels. In 1918 the
letter rates were fixed as follows:--
For letters: Not exceeding 1 tola ½ anna.
Exceeding 1 tola, but not exceeding 2½
tolas 1 "
For every additional 2½ tolas or part
thereof 1 "
For parcels: Not exceeding 20 tolas 2 annas.
Exceeding 20 tolas, but not exceeding
40 tolas 4 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part
thereof 4 "
Many complaints were received that the parcel rates were excessive
and injuring the fruit trade and other local industries, so that with
effect from the 1st June, 1919, the rates were reduced to 3 annas for
every 40 tolas up to 440 tolas, the minimum of 2 annas for 20 tolas
remaining the same.
FOOTNOTE:
[6] The first instance of an article being prohibited from passing
through the post is that of the _Bengal Gazette_ (editor, J. A. Hicky),
quoted by Dr. Busteed in his _Echoes of Old Calcutta_:
"_Order._ Fort William, November 14th, 1780. Public notice is hereby
given that as a weekly newspaper called the _Bengal Gazette_ or
_Calcutta General Advertiser_, printed by J. A. Hicky, has lately been
found to contain several unbroken paragraphs tending to vilify private
characters and to disturb the peace of the Settlement, it is no longer
permitted to be circulated through the channel of the General Post
Office."
CHAPTER V
PARCEL POST
The parcel post in India has its origin in the old "Bhangy Post," a
name derived from the bamboo stick or bhangy which an Indian carrier
balances on his shoulder with the weights slung at each end. The Bhangy
Post was first used solely for the conveyance of official records
and articles sent on Government service, and the limit of weight was
600 tolas (15 lbs.). In 1854 a regular Bhangy Post was established
and opened to the public. The rates varied with weight and distance
according to the scale laid down in the Post Office Act of 1854.
Where communication by rail existed, the practice was to hand over
bhangy parcels to the railway at the latter's risk and to demand their
conveyance to destination free of charge. This procedure led to a
series of those acrimonious disputes which are so characteristic of the
early relations between the Post Office and the railway companies. The
contention of the Post Office was that the bhangy mail formed part of
the regular mail which the railway was bound by law to carry free of
charge. The East India Railway, which took up the cudgels on the other
side, denied this contention and insisted upon charging for parcels
as goods sent by passenger train. Finally, after much wrangling, the
matter was settled by Government in 1855, when it was decided that
service bhangy parcels should be carried free and that the rate for
non-service parcels should be fixed at 1/3 anna per maund (80 lbs.) per
mile, which was the existing rate for passengers' luggage. At the same
time the Post Office was directed to withdraw from the carrier traffic
wherever the railway could supply its place, and post offices were
forbidden to accept non-service bhangy parcels for places situated on
railway lines.
These rules were not very effective, since it was impossible to
distinguish service from non-service parcels or to ascertain the weight
of the latter when they were both despatched together and lump sum
payments were accepted. The amounts paid show that the traffic cannot
have been very great; for instance, in 1871 the Great India Peninsula
Railway agreed to accept a monthly payment of Rs.568, the Madras
Railway Rs.173 and the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Rs.150,
which was afterwards raised to Rs.400 in 1881. The whole question was
soon merged in that of general haulage rates for postal vehicles, which
is discussed in the chapter upon the Railway Mail Service.
The statement at the end of this chapter shows the variation in
parcel rates from 1866 to 1919. The first great step forward in the
administration of the parcel post was in 1871, when rates according
to distance were abolished and a fixed rate of 3 annas for 10 tolas
was introduced. The limits of weight were retained at 600 tolas for
foot lines and 2000 tolas for railway lines, which were fixed in
1869. In 1895 rates were reduced and registration for all parcels
exceeding 440 tolas in weight was made compulsory. In 1907, after a
strong representation made by the Railway Conference that the parcel
post was interfering with the railway parcel traffic, the limit of
weight was lowered to 800 tolas (20 lbs.). As a matter of fact, after
a careful inquiry it was found that very few parcels above this weight
were carried by the Post Office and that these were carried at a loss.
In the same year the rates for small parcels were greatly reduced,
with the result that the total number carried in 1907-8 increased by
over 600,000. The railways did not gain much by the concession, as
the retail dealers adopted the simple device of packing their goods
in smaller bulk, which the low rates enabled them to do without any
appreciable loss.
The development of parcel traffic since 1854 is shown by the following
figures:--
_Number of Parcels._
1854-55 463,000
1870-71 694,000
1880-81 1,080,868
1890-91 1,901,547
1900-01 2,679,119
1910-11 11,205,844
1913-14 12,667,172
1917-18 14,150,948
The increase in the last few years is little short of marvellous and is
due to the reduction in rates and the growth of the value-payable or
cash on delivery system so largely adopted by all retail traders, which
has diverted the whole of the light parcel traffic from the railways to
the Post Office.
In 1873 an overland Parcel Post was established between Great Britain
and India through the agency of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company. The British Post Office had no concern with this
arrangement, and in 1885 a direct exchange, which was quite separate
from the P. & O. Company's contract, was introduced between the two
administrations for parcels up to a limit of seven pounds in weight. In
1897, at the Universal Postal Congress held at Washington, India joined
the International Parcel Post Union, and since 1899, when the Acts of
the Congress came into force, parcels can be exchanged with almost any
country in the world.
As already mentioned, nothing has affected the parcel post traffic of
the country to such an extent as the value-payable or cash on delivery
system, which was introduced in 1878 and is now used generally by
all retail firms in India. By this system the Post Office not only
undertakes to deliver a parcel, but also, for a small commission, to
collect the cost of it from the addressee. In India, where there are
few large firms outside the Presidency towns, the value-payable system
has proved an inestimable convenience to the upcountry purchaser, who
pays the Post Office for his purchases on receipt and is put to no
further trouble. Like everything designed for the good of mankind, the
Value-Payable Post is not altogether an unmixed blessing, and it is
a source of continual worry to the officials of the Department. The
weak point in the system is that people have to buy articles without
seeing them, and if they are disappointed in their purchases they are
inclined to think that the Post Office is at fault and to demand their
money back. It is customary in India for certain ladies to dispose
of their garments through the medium of the advertisement columns of
the _Pioneer_, one of the leading newspapers. The dresses are always
by Paquin and quite new; the hats are the latest from Paris. This is
the seller's point of view. How different that of the purchaser! As
Postmaster-General I have received many a bitter complaint of the rag
which has been received under the name of a new Paquin gown and for
which I apparently was held personally responsible. "I never imagined
that the Post Office could lend its assistance to such disgraceful
swindling," once wrote an indignant lady who had suffered in this way
and who was told that the Department could not possibly adjudicate on
the quality of the goods received by her, that the Department was only
in the position of carriers and that she must settle her dispute with
the sender.
The value-payable system suffers chiefly from the firm belief in
Providence which is so deeply engrained in the Eastern mind. Although
strictly forbidden by the rules of the Post Office, the small trader
sends out numbers of articles by value-payable post to persons who
have not given any orders for them, trusting that some of them will
be accepted by a confiding public, and, strange to say, he manages to
do a certain amount of business in this way. On the other hand, many
people are quite ready to order things from shops which they hope to
be able to pay for upon arrival, but, unfortunately for the firms that
supply them, these hopes are often not fulfilled. The Indian schoolboy,
who is very like all other schoolboys in the world in this respect, is
specially tempted by the flashy catalogues issued by the cheap Calcutta
firms, and when, in the enthusiasm of the moment, he orders a five
rupee watch, it doesn't follow that he has the money or is even likely
to have it; but his self-esteem is satisfied by the mere issue of the
order and, as for his ability to pay when the time comes, it lies on
the knees of the gods. The result of this trait in Eastern character
is that about 20 per cent of the value-payable articles posted are
returned to the senders.
Some years ago a firm of box-makers who wanted to push their business
discovered that the value-payable post, assisted by the national
character, provided them with a royal road to success, and they set
to work on the following lines. They issued a large number of tickets
by post, which were delivered on payment of 1 rupee and 2 annas. Any
person who was innocent enough to accept one of these found that the
ticket was composed of six coupons, and that if he could induce six
of his friends to send the coupons to the firm and each to receive
in return a similar ticket _and pay for it_, then he as the original
recipient would be presented with a steel trunk. The success of this
scheme was extraordinary, and every post office in India was flooded
with these coupon tickets. About 70 per cent were refused, but the firm
lost nothing by this, as it saved them in the matter of trunks, since,
if any one of the coupon holders failed to keep faith with his friend
the bargain was off. The whole business was a gigantic swindle, and
it so offended the Director-General's sense of morality that he had
a regulation passed to put a stop to any articles being sent by post
which contained "coupons, tickets, certificates or introductions for
the sale of goods on what is known as the snowball system."
A complete history of the Indian Parcel Post would require the pen
of a military historian. It is a history of warfare with continuous
engagements, sometimes regular pitched battles with the railways and
sometimes small but sharp skirmishes with irate ladies. The latest
foes are the municipal councils of certain large towns in which
the revenue is raised by an octroi tax upon all imported articles.
Hitherto articles received by post have been exempt from any tax of
this kind, and all attempts made by municipalities to be allowed
to scrutinize the parcel post have been strenuously opposed. The
thin end of the wedge has, however, been introduced at Delhi, where
lists of insured parcels are supplied to the municipality, which
makes its own arrangements for ascertaining the contents from the
addressees. The practice is wrong in principle, because it is a
breach of the confidence which the public place in the Post Office on
the understanding that no information of any kind regarding postal
articles is imparted except to the persons immediately concerned, and
any measure which tends to shake the confidence of the public in the
secrecy of the Department is to be strongly deprecated. A great deal
of fuss was made in Simla some years ago about this very matter on the
ground that the local traders suffered from people purchasing goods
outside the municipality and getting them in by post. When an inquiry
was held, it was found that the large majority of parcels received
by post were addressed to the firms in the town, a discovery which
put a sudden stop to the agitation. It is very doubtful if the Parcel
Post at the present rates pays the Post Office, and where places are
situated some distance off the line of rail and have to be reached by
foot lines it is quite certain that every parcel is carried at a loss.
Unfortunately these are the very places where people make the greatest
use of the Parcel Post; the tea planters of Assam, for example, getting
their whisky, jam and other stores in this way from Calcutta.
A further agitation is now afoot to have the weight of parcels brought
down to eleven pounds, which is the maximum weight for a foreign parcel
and is also the limit of weight in England. This, on the whole, is as
much as the Post Office can be fairly expected to carry, but whether
the proposal will be adopted remains to be seen.
PARCEL POST RATES
(1) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1866 to 31st
March, 1878:
| IF NOT EXCEEDING IN WEIGHT
-------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
FOR DISTANCES |20 |50 |100 |200 |300 |400 |500 |600
|tolas.|tolas.|tolas |tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.
-------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
Miles|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.
Not exceeding 300 |0 4 |0 8 |0 12 |1 8 | 2 4 | 3 0 | 3 12 | 4 8
Not exceeding 600 |0 8 |1 0 |1 8 |3 0 | 4 8 | 6 0 | 7 8 | 9 0
Not exceeding 900 |0 12 |1 8 |2 4 |4 8 | 6 12 | 9 0 |11 3 |14 8
Not exceeding 1200 |1 0 |2 0 |3 0 |6 0 | 9 0 |12 0 |15 0 |18 0
Exceeding 1200 |1 4 |2 8 |3 12 |7 8 |11 4 |15 0 |18 12 |22 8
(2) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st April, 1878,
to 14th August, 1880:
Not exceeding 40 tolas in weight 8 annas.
Exceeding 40 tolas and not exceeding
80 tolas 12 "
For every additional 40 tolas 4 "
(3) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 15th August, 1880,
to 31st July, 1895:
Not exceeding 20 tolas in weight 4 annas.
Exceeding 20 tolas and not exceeding
40 tolas 8 "
For every additional 40 tolas 4 "
(4) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st August, 1895,
to 30th June, 1901:
Any parcel not exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
Any parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but not
exceeding 40 tolas in weight 4 annas.
For each additional 40 tolas or fraction
of 40 tolas up to 2000 tolas 4 "
Registration fee (optional for uninsured parcels not exceeding 440
tolas in weight)--
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 4 "
(5) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st July, 1901, to
30th September, 1907:
(_a_) Parcels not exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but
not exceeding 40 tolas in weight 4 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 2 "
(_b_) Parcels exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel exceeding 440 tolas, but
not exceeding 480 tolas in weight Rs.3
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 4 annas.
(6) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st October, 1907,
to 31st October, 1918:
(_a_) Parcels not exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel not exceeding 40 tolas in
weight 2 annas.
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 2 "
[Illustration: SIR WILLIAM MAXWELL, K.C.I.E.
DIRECTOR GENERAL POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS 1913--1918]
(_b_) Parcels exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel exceeding 440 tolas, but
not exceeding 480 tolas Rs.3
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 4 annas.
(7) From 1st October, 1908, the maximum limit of weight for an inland
parcel was reduced from 2000 tolas to 800 tolas in the case of a
private (non-official) parcel, and raised from 600 tolas to 800 tolas
in the case of an official parcel.
(8) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 1st November,
1918, to 15th May, 1919:
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but not
exceeding 40 tolas 4 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight up to 800 tolas 4 "
(9) Rates of postage on inland parcels in force from 16th May, 1919, up
to date:
(_a_) Parcels not exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel not exceeding 20 tolas 2 annas.
For a parcel exceeding 20 tolas, but not
exceeding 40 tolas 3 "
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 3 "
(_b_) Parcels exceeding 440 tolas in weight--
For a parcel exceeding 440 tolas, but
not exceeding 480 tolas Rs.3
For every additional 40 tolas or part of
that weight 4 annas.
CHAPTER VI
THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE
One of the most important branches of the Post Office is the Railway
Mail Service, which used to be called the Travelling Post Office. The
railways are the arteries through which the very life-blood of the
Department flows, and it is upon the arrangements for the conveyance of
mails by rail that proper postal administration depends. Before 1863
the mail bags were carried in the guard's van if the weight was small,
but when the mail was heavy a separate compartment in charge of a mail
guard was used. As there was no intermediate sorting, every post office
had to make up a packet or bag for every other post office in front,
and these various packets were received and delivered at each station
by the mail guard. In a short time the number of such packets became
quite unmanageable, and the inconvenience and delay in disposing of
them considerable, so that, in order to make it possible to sort the
mails between North-West India and Calcutta, long detentions had to be
made at Allahabad, Cawnpore and Benares, otherwise letters could not
possibly be sent direct to their destinations. In 1860 a solution of
the difficulty was proposed by Mr. Riddell, Director-General of the
Post Office, namely, the establishment of a Travelling Post Office
between Calcutta and Raneegunge, but the Government of India refused
to sanction it. In 1863, however, a sorting section was established
on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway between Allahabad and Cawnpore,
but no regular service was organized until 1870, when the frontier
Travelling Post Office was introduced under a Superintendent with
his head-quarters at Allahabad. In 1877 the designation of this
Officer was altered to Chief Superintendent, T.P.O., and in 1880
to Inspector-General, Railway Mail Service. The Inspector-General
worked as an Assistant Director-General in the Direction until 1890,
but in that year he was placed in a much more independent position
as an administrative officer. Owing to the large increase in the
mileage of the Railway Mail Service it was found impossible for one
man to exercise an efficient control over it, and in 1905 a Deputy
Inspector-General was appointed; but even with his assistance the work
was too heavy, and in 1907 the whole of India was divided into four
circles and each of them placed under the jurisdiction of an officer
designated Inspector-General, Railway Mail Service and Sorting, known
by the wits of the Department as an Inspector-General of sorts. The
gentlemen with this sesquipedalian title control the railways or
portions of railways in their own circles. In 1918 their number was
reduced to three by the abolition of the Southern Circle, and their
designation was altered to Deputy Postmaster-General, Railway Mail
Service.
The main conditions under which a railway should carry mails were laid
down in Clause 20 of the contract made with the East Indian Railway in
1849, and was as follows: "That the said Railway Company will at all
times during the said determinable term convey on the said Railway the
Government mails and post bags and the guards and other servants of
the Post Office in charge thereof free of charge." A similar condition
existed in the contract with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, but
the Companies contended that the conveyance of mails did not include
the haulage of sorting carriages in which sorters were employed. The
Post Office refused to accept this view and nasty things were said on
both sides. The Post Office seemed to think that railways had been
invented for the conveyance of mails without any regard to dividends,
while the railways regarded the Post Office as a confounded nuisance
and its officials as unscrupulous thieves. It was finally settled that
two compartments of a second-class carriage should be set apart and
specially fitted for the Travelling Post Office on ordinary mail trains
free of charge. If a special carriage was required in addition, then
the haulage rate of 1½ annas a mile would be charged, and the rate for
special trains was fixed at Rs.3-8 a mile. With respect to the cost and
maintenance of postal vehicles it was decided that, if they were paid
for by Government in the first instance, the charge for maintenance
only should be incurred, but, if the Companies had to bear the cost of
construction, then the charge should include the cost of maintenance,
the interest on capital and the cost of restoring the vehicles when
worn out.
The settlement between the Post Office and the Railways did not last
long. Despite their acquiescence in the regulations which had been
laid down, the Companies refused to abide by them and repeated demands
were made for the cost of hauling postal vans. On the Great Indian
Peninsula Railway everything possible was done to hamper the work of
the Department, parcel bags were deliberately left behind at stations,
postal vans were cut off at way-side places without any warning and
there never was any certainty that the whole mail would reach its
destination. In 1879 the nuisance became so intolerable that petitions
were made by the public for the interference of Government, and after
some deliberation a settlement was made with this Railway on the
following terms:--
(1) The Post Office was to pay Rs.6000 a month for the ordinary
services performed for it by the Railway, and for this payment a large
fitted van with a well and extra vans for weekly foreign mails would
be supplied.
(2) The price for additional reserved accommodation was raised from 18
to 30 pies a mile on each vehicle.
In 1882 the Government of India prescribed definite sizes for
postal vans and called them standard full and standard half vans,
and arrangements were made with the East Indian and Madras Railways
to accept 8 annas a mile as the haulage of a standard van. Various
agreements were made with the other railways, some of which claimed
payment not for haulage but for the conveyance of bhangy parcels,
and in some cases lump sum payments were made annually to cover all
services. For instance, the Darjeeling Steam Tramway was given a fixed
sum of Rs.10,260 annually, which represented exactly the cost of the
old tonga line between Siliguri and Darjeeling.
The question of haulage of postal vans and of payment for the carriage
of mails was finally settled in connection with State Railways. In 1877
it was ruled by the Governor-General in Council that the conveyance
of mails over State Railways should be paid for. The question was
raised with reference to the conveyance of mails on the Hathras-Muttra
(Provincial) Railway, and it was decided that the actual cost of
carrying the mails on all Imperial and Provincial railways should be
borne by the Post Office. The rules regarding payment on all State
lines, both broad and metre gauge, were:
(1) Eighteen pies per vehicle per mile to be levied in proportion to
the space occupied by the Postal Department.
(2) For mail bags and parcels sent in luggage vans in charge of
railway guards, the amount to be paid was fixed at 1½ pies per maund
(80 lbs.) per mile.
(3) Accounts to be settled half-yearly and the space as well as weight
charged to be adjusted for the six months on the basis of actual space
allotted (as above) and actual weight carried on the 1st June and the
1st December of each year.
(4) All officers and servants of the Postal Department travelling in
the mail compartment to be carried without passes. All officials of
the Travelling Post Office not travelling in the mail compartment to
be carried free on being furnished with passes under the revised free
pass rules. All other officers of the Postal Department to pay usual
fares.
(5) A list to be kept of all free passes issued.
(6) These arrangements to have effect from the 1st April, 1877, and
to remain in force until the 1st April, 1884. All claims against the
Postal Department to be settled in accordance therewith without
delay, and adjusted in the accounts of the current official year. No
arrear adjustment to be made in respect of any claims other than those
arising out of the vehicle charge at 18 pies a mile.
Some misunderstanding seems to have arisen on the State Railways
regarding the half-yearly calculations mentioned in paragraph 3, and
the question of ferry charges upon Railway steamers was also raised.
There was also a certain amount of disagreement about the construction
and maintenance of Post Office vehicles, and on the 23rd May, 1884,
Government issued a Resolution to the following effect:--
(1) That from the 1st April, 1884, and until further orders the
following rules shall determine the payment for the haulage of Post
Office vehicles, etc., on State Railways, and for the conveyance
of mails by State Railway ferry steamers, and that they shall be
applied to the East Indian Railway under the terms of Clause 18 of the
Company's contract.
(2) With reference to the ruling laid down by the Government of
India Public Works Department Circular No. 7R, dated the 3rd April,
1877, that the actual expenses incurred for the carriage of mails
on all Imperial and Provincial Railways shall be paid by the Postal
Department, the charges on all State lines, both broad and metre
gauge, for the carriage of mails shall be based on a fixed rate of
18 pies per vehicle per mile, and shall be levied in proportion to
the space actually allotted to the Postal Department on its own
requisition.
(3) For mail bags and parcels sent in luggage vans in charge of
Railway guards the amount to be paid by the Postal Department shall
be 1 pie per maund per mile. Under this rule mails may be despatched
either
(_a_) as a regular daily service according to lists supplied to the
Traffic Managers for each half-year; or
(_b_) as occasional despatches not provided for in the list, a voucher
being given for each despatch; occasional despatches should be
restricted to a weight of 5 maunds for each despatch.
(4) In addition to the above, a charge equal to 4½ per cent per annum
on the original cost shall be paid by the Postal Department for all
vans or parts of carriages, built or altered on its own requisition
since the 1st January, 1878, for the exclusive use of the Post Office.
(5) In the event of the mileage run on the requisition of the Post
Office officials by any special postal vans and compartments specially
fitted for Post Office work (so as to be unuseable with convenience
for ordinary traffic) being in any half-year greater in one direction
than in the other, the charge for haulage shall be made, not on actual
distance run, but on double the highest run in one direction. For
this purpose the Railway Administration will keep a register of the
up and down daily mileage of all special postal vans or compartments
as aforesaid, but this mileage is not to be used as the basis of a
charge against the Postal Department in supersession of the procedure
laid down in paragraph 8 below unless there is a considerable
difference between the requisitioned up and down mileages.
(6) With respect to the conveyance of mails by State Railway ferry
steamers where the distance traversed is 10 miles and less, an
addition on account of the ferry should be made to the bill for
railway service, calculated at the same mileage rate as the railway
charge laid down in paragraph 2, but the addition shall not be less
than 8 annas for each trip across the river.
(7) When the ferry service is over 10 miles and reserved sorting
accommodation is not required or provided on board, the charge shall
be separately calculated at the rate of 1 pie per maund per mile. If
reserved accommodation is required, the rate of charge will be the
same as for a whole carriage, viz. 18 pies per mile.
(8) Accounts are to be settled half-yearly, and the space as well as
weight to be paid for shall be adjusted for the six months on the
basis of actual space allotted (paragraph 2) and actual weight carried
(paragraphs 3(_a_) and 7) on the 1st June and the 1st December of each
year, or on such other date as may be mutually agreed upon. It is to
be assumed that the actual service, inclusive of mileage, rendered
on these dates is constant throughout the six months. Payments under
paragraph 3(_b_) will be made monthly on bills supported by vouchers.
Regarding interest on capital outlay (paragraph 4) and the mileage of
special postal vans (paragraph 5), the accounts should be rendered for
the half-year ending the 31st May and the 30th November. The bills for
the services rendered to the Postal Department by State Railways should
be made out as above, submitted for acceptance in the months of January
and July and adjusted in the accounts for February and August in each
year, excepting bills for occasional despatches (paragraph 3_b_) which
will be adjusted in the month after presentation of the bills.
(9) All officers and servants of the Postal Department travelling in
the Post Office vans or compartments shall be carried without passes.
All officers of the Railway Mail Service and the officers and employés
named in Government of India letter No. 2604R of 16th January, 1879,
not so travelling will be carried free on being furnished with passes
under the State Railways Free Pass Rules. All other officers of the
Postal Department will pay the ordinary fares.
(10) A list shall be kept of all free passes issued and periodically
recorded in the minutes of official meetings.
All the larger railways in their renewed contracts with Government have
agreed to accept these State Railways Rules for the conveyance of mails.
In 1886 the Government of India Public Works Department issued the
following addenda to the above:
(1) In addition to the above the Postal Department shall hereafter
pay, in the first instance, the original cost of building or fitting
up all vans or parts of carriages required for its use as well as the
cost, when no longer required by the Post Office, of reconverting them
for railway purposes.
(2) The Postal Department shall also pay interest at 4½ per cent on
the original cost of all vehicles now in use, built or altered on
its own requisition since the 1st January, 1878, for the exclusive
use of the Post Office until such time as it may desire to repay the
aforesaid original cost.
These are the rules that still govern the dealings between the Post
Office and railways, and at the risk of being wearisome I have quoted
them _in extenso_. In 1910 the Railway Conference Association started
an agitation that the haulage rates paid were insufficient, and that by
comparison with those paid for goods they were performing the work of
the Post Office at a considerable loss. The result of an inquiry into
their demands for an increase was an offer from the Director-General
to increase the rate on broad-gauge lines to 24 pies a mile and to
retain the existing rate of 18 pies on narrow-gauge lines. This offer
was accepted provisionally by the Railway Conference Association in
1913, but the narrow-gauge railways were not very enthusiastic about an
arrangement which put four hundred thousand rupees annually into the
pockets of their colleagues and gave them nothing but the honour and
glory of having deprived the Post Office of a portion of its earnings.
Until the last few years the Railway Mail Service was by far the most
unpopular branch under the administration of the Post Office. The
pay was bad, the hours of duty were long, the work was trying and
the discomfort of the old postal vans baffled description. In the
hot weather they were like ovens and, being closed in with sorting
cases, it was difficult to get a through current of air. The lighting,
provided by indifferent oil lamps, was injurious to the sight and
did not lend itself to accurate sorting. The sorters started life on
Rs.15 a month; they could not ordinarily hope for more than Rs.60 at
the end of thirty years' service, and the result was an inefficient
and discontented body of men with not a small proportion of rogues.
Since the beginning of the present century the immense importance
of the Railway Mail Service to the proper working of the Department
has been recognized. Salaries have been greatly increased, and the
best sorters are picked for appointments as inspectors and Assistant
Superintendents. The vans have been improved, and the bogies in which
the large sections work are comparatively comfortable. They are fitted
with electric light and fans, and work is carried on in them under
the most favourable conditions. In the old days a continuous duty of
twelve hours in the train was an ordinary occurrence, and it is not a
matter for surprise that men, exhausted by hard work and travel in a
temperature of 110 degrees, made absurd mistakes. The length of the
beats has now been reduced, rest houses have been provided at the
out-stations and every man gets a sufficient time off duty upon his
return to head-quarters. The new conditions have attracted men of much
higher qualifications and position, and it has now been found possible
to entrust the R.M.S. with almost the whole sorting of the Post Office.
In important offices sorting for the outward mail is usually performed
in a mail office at the railway station, the great advantage being
that skilled men are employed and that, by concentrating the work in
one place, economy both in staff and bags is effected. For instance, if
the Calcutta G.P.O. and its sixty-three town sub-offices each perform
their own sorting they must each make up separate bags or bundles for a
large number of important towns and R.M.S. sections with which they are
in postal communication; but if they despatch their mail to a central
sorting office, that office, as it deals with a far greater number
of articles, will be in a position to make up direct bags for a very
much larger number of places, like Bombay, Cawnpore, Agra, Lucknow and
Delhi, thereby saving labour in handling and sorting articles in the
running sections. It is an axiom of the Post Office that no work should
be thrown on a running section which can be performed in a stationary
one, the expense being in the ratio of 3 to 1 in staff alone, not to
mention the cost of haulage.
Concentration of sorting, although admirable for large towns, is not
without its drawbacks. Where the system exists, postmasters are no
longer answerable for the disposal of the outward mail, and they are
unable to make any direct inquiry into public complaints regarding
the loss or missending of articles. As all the sorting is thrown on
one mail office, it is necessary for the various post offices which
serve it to close their mails sooner than they would if direct bags
were prepared for the travelling sections, so that the latest time of
posting has to be fixed at an earlier hour and the public suffer some
inconvenience, especially in places remote from the station. A certain
amount of double handling also occurs in towns with a large local
delivery, in which case the mail has to be overhauled before despatch
in order to pick out the local articles. Despite these drawbacks, the
system is undoubtedly a good one whenever the postings of a number of
offices can be concentrated in one mail office, but in small towns it
is preferable for the post office to do its own sorting. Supervision is
better, and the sorters can be used for other work. A solution of the
difficulty might be found by placing the control of all the important
through services under one Director of Mails with a few assistants
to help him in supervision, and it has been suggested that probably
the best results would be obtained if the Postmasters-General were
responsible for both the sorting arrangements and the discipline of the
staff upon all the railways within their circles. The present system
of having different officers in charge of R.M.S. circles has caused
a great deal of correspondence and not unfrequently means divided
counsels. It has estranged the heads of postal circles from one of the
most important branches of postal work, namely, the conveyance of mails
by railway. At the same time, the Railway Mail Service work requires
expert knowledge, and it is important that each railway should have
to deal with only one man in the matter of the conveyance of mails
within its system. This could not be done if Postmasters-General were
in charge, as many railways pass through several postal circles. The
question is full of difficulties, and after careful consideration it
has been decided not to interfere with the existing arrangements, but
to provide a closer co-ordination between the officers in charge of
Railway Mail Service circles.
CHAPTER VII
MONEY ORDERS
Previous to 1880 the Money Order system of India was managed by the
Government Treasuries. Bills of Exchange (Hundis) current for twelve
months were issued by one treasury payable upon another, and as there
were only 283 offices of issue and payment in the country the money
order was not a popular means of remittance--in fact, it failed
altogether to compete with the remittance of currency notes by post.
In 1878 Mr. Monteath, Director-General of the Post Office, proposed to
Government to take over the money order business from the treasuries.
He argued that, with the small number of treasuries and the trouble
involved in reaching one of these every time a money order had to be
sent or paid, the existing system could never become popular. The Post
Office was able to provide 5500 offices of issue and payment, and the
number of these would be always increasing and becoming more accessible
to the people. Mr. Monteath's proposal was strongly opposed by the
Comptroller-General, but was accepted by Government and sanctioned by
the Secretary of State on the 27th November, 1879.
On the 1st January, 1880, the Post Office took over the whole
management of issue and payment of money orders, and the audit was
performed by the Compiler of Post Office Accounts. For the purposes of
money order work post offices were classified under four heads:
(1) Offices of issue.
(2) Offices of preparation.
(3) Offices of delivery.
(4) Offices of payment.
The office of preparation was always the head office of the district
in which the addressee resided, and its duty was to prepare the money
order in the name of the payee upon receipt of the intimation from
the office of issue. The procedure was as follows: An application for
a money order was made at the office of issue and, on payment of the
amount with commission, a receipt was given to the remitter and the
application was sent to the head office of the district in which the
payee resided. This office was called the office of preparation, and
if the payee resided in its delivery area it would also be both the
office of delivery and payment. If, however, the payee resided at a
sub or branch office, the office of preparation made out a money order
for delivery at such sub or branch office and for payment at the post
office named by the remitter in his application. It was not necessary
for the office of delivery to be the office of payment; the remitter
could name any office authorized to pay money orders as the office of
payment. Upon receipt of the money order by the payee an acknowledgment
signed by him was sent to the remitter, and the payee had to make his
own arrangements for cashing his money order at the proper office of
payment.
The commission charged on money orders was accounted for by postage
stamps affixed to the back of the application by the office of issue,
and the rates were as follows:
Rs. A. P.
Not exceeding Rs. 10 0 2 0
Exceeding Rs. 10, but not exceeding Rs. 25 0 4 0
" Rs. 25 " " Rs. 50 0 8 0
" Rs. 50 " " Rs. 75 0 12 0
" Rs. 75 " " Rs. 100 1 0 0
" Rs. 100 " " Rs. 125 1 4 0
" Rs. 125 " " Rs. 150 1 8 0
Rs.150 was the maximum amount of a money order. Redirection was
permissible, but such redirection did not affect the original office of
payment, and this could only be altered by the payee signing the order
and sending it to the office of preparation with an application for the
issue of a new order payable to himself or anyone named by him at some
specified office. A new order was issued, but a second commission was
charged for this service. Money orders lapsed at the end of the month
following that of issue, but were still payable for two months after
lapsing if a second commission was paid; upon the expiry of that period
they were forfeited to Government.
Certain special conditions with respect to money orders were (1) that
not more than four could be issued to the same person by the same
remitter in one day, except under special permission from the Compiler
of Post Office Accounts, and (2) that under special orders the issue
of money orders could be refused by any post office. Foreign money
orders were granted on the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Belgium,
Luxemburg, Heligoland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark and
Italy. The maximum amount was £10, and the rates of commission were:
Rs. A. P.
Not exceeding £2 0 8 0
Exceeding £2, but not exceeding £5 1 0 0
" £5, " " £7 1 8 0
Exceeding £7, " " £10 2 0 0
For Canada the rates of commission were doubled.
In 1884 the Telegraphic Money Order system was introduced, with a
charge of Rs.2 for the telegram exclusive of the money order commission
upon the amount to be remitted. The charge was so high that it was
thought safe to allow a money order up to Rs.600 in value to be sent
by this means. The anomaly thus existed of having Rs.150 as the limit
of an ordinary money order and Rs.600 as the limit of a telegraphic
money order. The rule prohibiting more than four money orders daily
being sent by the same remitter to the same payee, besides being quite
unnecessary, proved no safeguard whatsoever. In actual practice the
name of the remitter was not entered in the money order receipt, so
that the post office of issue had no means of knowing how many money
orders were sent by the same remitter, unless they were all presented
at the same time. There was really no necessity to fix a low limit to
the amount of a money order, as the whole procedure was quite different
from that previously followed by the treasuries. The old treasury rule
was that the amount of money orders issued in favour of one person in
a district treasury must not exceed Rs.500 in one day, but then the
money order was like a cheque payable to bearer and the paying treasury
had no knowledge of the time at which it would be presented. The Post
Office, on the other hand, carried its own money orders and, if the
office of payment was short of funds, it could hold back the money
order until funds were obtained, and do so without the knowledge of the
payee. These arguments prevailed, and in 1889 the restrictions were
removed. The maximum value of an ordinary money order was raised to
Rs.600, and no limit was placed upon the number which could be issued
in favour of any one person. At the same time the rates were modified
as follows:--
Rs. A. P.
Not exceeding Rs.10 0 2 0
Exceeding Rs.10, but not exceeding
Rs.25 0 4 0
Exceeding Rs.25--4 annas for each
complete sum of 25 and 4 annas
for the remainder, provided that,
if the remainder did not exceed
Rs.10, the charge would be 2 annas.
On the 1st April, 1902, after a great deal of pressure from all classes
of the community, Government reduced the commission upon a money order
not exceeding Rs.5 to 1 anna.
The extension of the money order system to the payment of land revenue
was first tried in the Benares Division of the North-West Provinces at
the suggestion of Rai Bahadur Salig Ram, Postmaster-General, in the
year 1884, and proved an immediate success. In eleven months, 13,914
land revenue money orders were sent, the gross value of which amounted
to Rs.3,35,904. The system was a great advantage to small proprietors
who lived at a distance from the Government Collecting Stations. They
found that the use of the ordinary money order for payment of revenue
dues was not acceptable to the subordinate revenue officials, who
suffered the loss of considerable perquisites thereby. Such remittances
were generally refused on some pretext or other, either because they
did not contain the correct amount due or else because the exact
particulars required by the Land Revenue Department were not given
on the money order form. To meet this difficulty a special form of
money order was devised and the co-operation of District Collectors
was invited. In 1886 the system was extended to the whole North-West
Provinces except Kumaon, and a beginning was also made in ten districts
of Bengal. The action of the Post Office was fully justified by
results, and revenue money orders were quickly introduced into the
Punjab, Central Provinces and Madras. In Madras they proved a failure,
and were discontinued in 1892 after a three years' trial. The system
was again introduced in 1906, but it still does not show any great
signs of popularity, the figures for 1917-18 being 10,293 revenue money
orders for Rs.1,29,400.
Rent money orders were first tried in the North-West Provinces in
March, 1886; an experiment was also made in Bengal in October, 1886,
and the system was extended to the Central Provinces in 1891. Except
in parts of Bengal and the North-West Provinces, now known as the
United Provinces, the payment of rent by money orders has never been
popular, and the reason is not far to seek. Rent in India is usually in
arrears and, whenever a tenant pays money to a zemindar (landholder),
the latter can credit it against any portion of the arrears that he
thinks fit. With a rent money order, the case is different, the money
order itself and the receipt which has to be signed by the zemindar
indicate exactly the period for which rent is being paid, and to that
period it must be devoted. This is the ordinary ruling of the rent
courts and does not at all meet the wishes of zemindars who want to
have their tenants in their power. Besides this important factor,
there is the rooted objection of all subordinates, whether they be
government servants or zemindars' agents, to be deprived of the
time-honoured offerings which all self-respecting tenants should make
to the landlord's servants at the time of paying their rents, and the
appearance of a postman with a sheaf of money orders, however punctual
the payments may be, is hardly an adequate substitute for the actual
attendance of the tenants themselves.
In 1886 the plan of paying money orders at the houses of payees was
adopted and proved very satisfactory. India was indebted to Germany
for the idea, which not only conferred a great boon on the public but
tended to reduce the accumulations of cash at post offices and to
accelerate the closure of money order accounts.
In Appendix "E" is given the number and value of inland money orders
issued in India from 1880-81 to 1917-18, and the steady increase from
year to year is a certain sign of the great public need which the
Indian money order system satisfies, and of the confidence that is
placed in it.
On the 1st October, 1884, the public was given the opportunity of
employing the telegraph for the transmission of inland money orders,
and during the first six months of the scheme 5788 money orders for
Rs.3,75,000 were issued. The cost of Rs.2 for the telegram and ½ per
cent for money order commission was a decided bar to the popularity
of the telegraphic money order, which at first was chiefly used in
Burma and Madras owing to the isolated positions of those provinces.
In 1887 the Post Office relinquished its commission on orders for sums
not exceeding Rs.10, and the telegraph charge was reduced to R.1. This
led to an immediate increase of traffic, the number of such orders
in 1887-88 being 45,417 compared with 18,540 in the previous year,
more than half of which were issued from Burma. In 1917-18 the total
number of telegraphic money orders issued was 875,000 and the value
Rs.6,22,00,000 of which about three-fifths came from Burma. With the
improvements in railway communication in India which are continually
taking place, the pre-eminence of Burma in the matter of telegraphic
money orders is likely to continue owing to her isolation and the
largely expanding trade of Rangoon.
The ubiquitous swindler was not long in taking advantage of the
telegraphic money order to ply a profitable trade. His chief resorts
are Benares, Rameswaram, Tripati and the other great places of
pilgrimage in India; his victim is generally some unfortunate pilgrim,
who is only too anxious to meet an obliging friend willing to act as
a guide and adviser in one of the sacred cities, and the procedure
adopted is always the same. The swindler acts the part of the kind
stranger and finds out all the details of the pilgrim's family. He then
goes to the local post office, represents himself to be the pilgrim
and sends a telegram to his victim's relations to say that he has
lost his money and wants a certain sum at once. So confiding are the
people of India that it is very seldom that a request of this kind does
not meet with an immediate response, and the swindler, by waiting a
couple of days during which he takes good care to ingratiate himself
with the post office officials, walks off the richer by a considerable
amount. The earlier reports of the Post Office on the telegraphic
money order system abound in cases of the kind, and very stringent
measures were adopted to put a stop to the practice. Identification
of payees by well-known residents of the neighbourhood was insisted
upon, and a payee of a telegraphic money order had to prove his claim
and give satisfactory evidence of his permanent address. Despite all
precautions, the telegraphic money order swindler is still common
enough and manages to get away with large sums from time to time.
Probably in no country in the world is the poor man so dependent upon
the Post Office for the transmission of small sums of money as in
India. The average value of an inland money order in 1917-18 was Rs.18,
and it is not infrequent for amounts as small as Rs.5 to be sent by
telegraphic money order. The reason undoubtedly is the facility with
which payment is made and the absolute confidence which the Indian
villager places in the Post Office. An Indian coolie in Burma, who has
saved a few hundred rupees and wants to return to his village, seldom
carries the money on his person, and he has a strange mistrust for
banks; they are much too grand places for him to enter. He usually goes
to a post office and sends to himself a money order addressed to the
post office nearest his own home and then he is satisfied. It may be
months before he turns up to claim the money, as he frequently gets a
job on the way back or spends some time at a place of pilgrimage, but
he knows that his money is safe enough and he is quite content to use
the Post Office as a temporary bank to the great inconvenience of the
Audit Office. It is not too much to say that the money order system
of India is part and parcel of the life of the people. They use it to
assist their friends and defy their enemies. They have in that magic
slip of paper, the money order acknowledgment, what they never had
before, that which no number of lying witnesses can disprove, namely,
an indisputable proof of payment.
CHAPTER VIII
SAVINGS BANK
The first Government Savings Banks were opened at the three Presidency
towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in 1833, 1834 and 1835,
respectively. These Banks were announced as intended for the investment
of the savings of "all classes British and Native," the return of the
deposits with interest being guaranteed by Government. Between 1863
and 1865 the management of the Savings Banks was transferred to the
Presidency Banks, and each Presidency framed its own rules. The first
deposits were limited to Rs.500, and upon the balance reaching this sum
it was invested in a Government Loan. The limit was gradually increased
to Rs.3000 with interest at 4 per cent, but, as it was found that many
people deposited the maximum amount at once, a rule was brought in
prohibiting the deposit of more than Rs.500 a year in any one account.
In 1870 District Savings Banks were instituted in all parts of India
except Calcutta and the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay. The limits
for deposits were fixed at Rs.500 a year with a total of Rs.3000 and
interest at 3¾ per cent was fixed. In December, 1879, revised rules
were drawn up for District and other Government Savings Banks, the
most important change being that the limit of a deposit account was
raised to Rs.5000 and interest was fixed at 4-1/6 per cent. The result
of these rules was to attract to the Savings Banks a large number
of deposits which should have gone to other banks, and in 1880 the
monthly limit of Rs.500 with a maximum of Rs.3000 was again imposed and
interest was reduced to 3¾ per cent.
The proposal to establish Post Office Savings Banks on the lines of
those which existed in England met with great opposition, especially
from the Comptroller-General. The same arguments were brought forward
which the opponents of the Post Office Savings Bank Bill in England
used when Mr. Gladstone managed to get this wise and beneficial measure
through both Houses in 1861. In 1882 the first Post Office Savings
Banks were opened in every part of India except Calcutta, Bombay and
the head-quarter stations of Madras. In Madras, savings banks could
be opened by the Director-General, provided they were not within five
miles of a head-quarter station. The immediate consequence of this
measure was an increase in the number of savings banks in the country
from 197 to 4243. The minimum deposit was fixed at 4 annas, and
interest was allowed at 3 pies a month on every complete sum of Rs.5;
it was also arranged to purchase Government Securities for depositors.
The end of the first year's working showed 39,121 depositors with a
balance of Rs.27,96,796.
On the 1st April, 1886, District Savings Banks were abolished and the
balances transferred to the Post Office, but the Local Government
Savings Banks at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras remained in the hands of
the Presidency Banks until the 1st October, 1896.
In 1904, when the balance at the credit of depositors exceeded 130
millions of rupees, the Government of India began to be rather
nervous of being liable to pay up such a large sum at call without
any warning. A sudden rush of depositors to withdraw their savings
would tax the resources of Government to the utmost and, in order to
afford some protection, a rule was made that an extra quarter per cent
would be paid upon deposits, which were not liable to withdrawal until
six months' notice had been given. Needless to say, the bait did not
prove attractive. The additional interest meant practically nothing to
small depositors and was poor compensation to large depositors for the
inconvenience of having their money tied up for six months. What the
measure did involve was a great increase of work and account-keeping
for little or no purpose, as the number of accounts subject to six
months' notice of withdrawal never exceeded 3 per cent of the total.
These accounts were abolished in 1908 and, although the Government of
India does not keep any special reserve against the balance in the Post
Office Savings Bank, the depositor has the satisfaction of knowing that
his deposit is guaranteed by the whole revenue of the country.
The history of the Post Office Savings Bank in India is rather
monotonous. With a single exception it has been one of continual
prosperity and expansion from 1882, the year of its commencement, to
1914. The balance on the 31st March, 1914, was over 231 million rupees,
and, as the money belongs very largely to small depositors, who can
demand immediate payment, the bank is placed in a very responsible
position towards the public. It will, therefore, be of advantage to
examine the political and economic crises which have occurred in this
period, and how they have affected the small depositors' confidence in
the Government of India.
In Appendix D is given the number of accounts and the balance year by
year from 1882 to 1914, which shows that in no year have the accounts
failed to increase in number and only in 1897-8 has the balance at the
credit of depositors declined. Yet during this period three important
crises occurred. The first was in 1885, and was known as the Russian
Scare, the second in 1896-7 when India was visited by the worst famine
on record, and the third in 1907-8 when a great wave of sedition and
discontent spread over the country.
Two of these crises were political and one economic, and it is a
remarkable fact that the effect of the former two was felt almost
entirely, and of the latter very largely, in the Bombay Presidency.
This circumstance goes to prove that the inhabitants of Bombay are more
in touch with the affairs of the world than those in other parts of
India.
The Russian Scare of 1885, culminating in the "Penjdeh Affair," led
to very heavy withdrawals from almost all the more important savings
banks on the Bombay side. No less than Rs.2,93,000 were paid out to
depositors in the Presidency Savings Bank from the 1st to the 22nd
April. The withdrawals in March from Ahmedabad, Kaira, Broach and
Surat totalled Rs.2,80,000 against Rs.1,10,000 in March, 1884, and
the excess of withdrawals over deposits for the whole Presidency in
January, February and March amounted to Rs.9,50,000. The rest of India
was not affected by the scare, in fact the total number of Savings Bank
accounts increased by 38,000 and the balances by Rs.59,00,000 despite
the heavy deficit in Bombay.
The crisis of 1897 was purely economic and was due to a widespread
famine and abnormally high prices. Its effect was felt in the Savings
Bank for three years, the balance falling from Rs.9,63,00,000 in 1896-7
to Rs.9,28,00,000 in 1897-8, and not reaching Rs.9,64,00,000 until
1899-00. The Bombay Postal Circle accounted for Rs.30,50,000 out of the
Rs.35,00,000 deficit in India, the other deficits being in Madras, the
North-West Provinces and Oudh, and Bengal.
In 1907-8, as I have already mentioned, the country was full of
unrest. Leaflets calling on the men to mutiny were being distributed
broadcast among the Indian regiments. Several Sikh regiments were
supposed to be seriously disaffected. The feeling in Bengal against
the British Government was being carefully nurtured, but the real
head-quarters of the anti-British movement was Poona. In 1908-9 the
balance of the Savings Bank increased by Rs.5,00,000 only, which meant
a serious set-back considering the way in which the Post Office was
developing, but the figures for the Bombay Postal Circle are peculiarly
instructive. The number of accounts actually increased from 264,558
to 271,604, whereas the balance at the credit of depositors declined
from Rs.4,41,00,000 to Rs.4,30,00,000, the actual decrease being
Rs.11,46,388. Now in this year Bengal showed an increase of nearly
Rs.2,00,000, and the decline in the proportional rate of increase in
India was found to be due to the heavy withdrawals of some depositors
in Bombay. There is reason to believe that a number of wealthy persons
belonging to the commercial class use the Post Office Savings Bank in
Bombay as a convenient place to deposit money. This class of depositors
numbered 12,198 in 1907-08 and 12,503 in 1908-09, which is larger
than in Bengal. Such people do not deposit their money from motives of
saving or thrift, but merely take advantage of the convenience which
the Post Office offers as a safe place to keep, at interest, money
which can be immediately realized. The rule which permits a depositor
to have accounts in his own behalf or on behalf of any minor relatives
or any minor of whom he happens to be the guardian has opened a way to
great abuse of the system. There is nothing to prevent a man having
any number of imaginary relatives and opening accounts in all their
names. He can deposit the maximum in each account, and naturally in
times of crisis or when money is tight the Savings Bank has to face
the immediate withdrawal of all these amounts. As one example of what
is done, a case came to light some years ago in which a depositor
at Dharwar was authorized to operate on eighty-three accounts with
a balance of nearly Rs.30,000. He was a broker by profession and it
was quite possible for him to control a balance of Rs.2,00,000 in the
Post Office, if he wished to do so. Further inquiries made at the time
elicited that one depositor at Bijapur controlled forty-two accounts,
another at Surat thirty, and another at Karwar nineteen. Such persons
are really speculators and are a danger to the Savings Bank, and it
would be interesting to know what proportion they hold of the total
deposits in the Bombay Circle. These deposits represent a very high
proportion of the total in India, so that the action of any strong body
of depositors in Bombay has a very serious effect on the balance of the
Savings Bank.
The examination of transactions for the thirty years previous to
1914 has this satisfactory result that, with the exception of the
undesirable element in Bombay, a political crisis, at any rate, seems
to have no marked influence upon the great mass of depositors in India.
The number of depositors on the 31st March, 1914, was 1,638,725 with
a balance of Rs.23,16,75,000. The outbreak of the war with Germany,
however, had a disastrous effect on the Savings Bank balances. When
the announcement was made that the German Government had temporarily
confiscated the Savings Bank deposits in that country, a regular panic
ensued and within a few months about 100 millions of rupees were
withdrawn. The action of the Government of India, however, in meeting
all claims in full did a great deal to allay public fears, and a
certain amount of money came back later in the year, but the balance on
the 31st March, 1915, had declined from about 231 to 149 millions of
rupees. Since then there has been a gradual recovery, and the balance
on the 31st March, 1918, was nearly 166 million rupees. The recovery
would have been much quicker but for the large sale of five-year cash
certificates in 1917-18 on behalf of the War Loan. The price received
was about 100 million rupees, of which a considerable portion was
withdrawn from Savings Bank deposits. At the same time the small
depositors were busy purchasing cash certificates with money that would
otherwise have been put into the Post Office Savings Bank. Now that the
War is over and the rush for cash certificates has ceased, there is
every prospect that the Post Office Savings Bank will shortly regain
its former popularity.
CHAPTER IX
THE PEOPLE AND THE POST OFFICE
There is no branch of the Public Service that comes into such close
contact with the people as the Post Office. Its officials are consulted
in all kinds of family troubles, they have to deal with curious
superstitions and beliefs and to overcome the prejudices ingrained by
an hereditary system of caste. The official measure of the successful
working of the Department is gauged by the annual statistics, but the
real measure of its success may be learned from the attitude of the
people themselves. The Indian villager dreads the presence of the
Government officer in his neighbourhood, but he makes an exception
in the case of Post Office employés. The postman is always a welcome
visitor and, if he fails to attend regularly, a complaint is invariably
made.
It is in the delivery of correspondence throughout the smaller towns
and rural tracts in India that the Post Office has to face some of
its most difficult problems. Towns in India, with the exception of
the Presidency and more important towns, are mere collections of
houses, divided into "mohullas" or quarters. Few streets have names,
and consequently addresses tend to be vague descriptions which tax
all the ingenuity of the delivery agents. Among the poorer classes
definite local habitations with names are almost unknown, and the best
that a correspondent can do is to give the name of the addressee, his
trade and the bazaar that he frequents. Such cases are comparatively
simple, as the postman is usually a man with an intimate knowledge of
the quarter, and the recipients of letters have no objection to be
described by their physical defects, such as "he with the lame leg" or
"the squint eye" or "the crooked back"! Real difficulties, however,
arise when articles are addressed to members of the peripatetic
population consisting of pilgrims, boatmen and other wanderers. There
is an enormous boat traffic on the large rivers of Bengal and Burma.
The boat is the home of a family, it wanders over thousands of miles
of channels carrying commodities, and letters to the owner rarely give
anything except a general direction to deliver the article on board
a boat carrying wood or rice from some river port to another. The
pilgrims who travel from shrine to shrine in the country are also a
puzzle to the Post Office, and in sacred places, like Benares, special
postmen have to be trained to deliver their letters.
The forms of address are seldom very helpful for a speedy distribution
and delivery of the mail. The following are characteristic of what a
sorter has to deal with any day:--
"With good blessings to the fortunate Babu Kailas Chandra Dey, may the
dear boy live long. The letter to go to the Baidiabati post office.
The above-named person will get it on reaching Baidiabati, Khoragachi,
Goynapara. (Bearing.)"
"To the one inseparable from my heart, the fortunate Babu Sibnath
Ghose, having the same heart as mine. From post office Hasnabad to
the village of Ramnathpur, to reach the house of the fortunate Babu
Prayanath Ghose, District Twenty-four Parganas. Don't deliver this
letter to any person other than the addressee, Mr. Postman. This my
request to you."
"If the Almighty pleases, let this envelope, having arrived at the
city of Calcutta in the neighbourhood of Kulutola, at the counting
house of Sirajudin and Alladad Khan, merchants, be offered to and
read by the happy light of my eyes of virtuous manners and beloved
of the heart, Mian Sheikh Inayat Ali, may his life be long! Written
on the tenth of the blessed Ramzan in the year 1266 of the Hejira of
our Prophet, and despatched as bearing. Having without loss of time
paid the postage and received the letter, you will read it. Having
abstained from food and drink, considering it forbidden to you, you
will convey yourself to Jaunpur and you will know this to be a strict
injunction."
The three addresses given below have been taken from letters posted
by Hindus to Hindus, and it will be noticed that they merely bear the
names of persons with no indication of the place of delivery.
"To the sacred feet of the most worshipful, the most respected
brother, Guru Pershad Singh!"
"To his Highness the respected brother, beneficent lord of us the
poor, my benefactor, Munshi Manik Chand."
"To the blessed feet of the most worshipful younger uncle, Kashi Nath
Banerji."
It is not uncommon for Europeans to receive letters with honorific
titles added to their names, in fact it would be considered impolite
to address an English gentleman in the vernacular by his mere name.
Such a thing is never done. Whatever address is given by the writer,
the Indian postman has his special methods of noting it. He seldom
knows English, and when names are read out to him by the delivery clerk
he scrawls his own description on the back in a script that can only
be read by himself. A well-known judge of the Calcutta High Court,
Sir John Stevens, was much amused to find that the words "Old Stevens
Sahib" were constantly written in the vernacular on the back of his
letters, this being done to distinguish him from his younger colleague,
Mr. Justice Stephens.
A story recently received from the Persian Gulf explains how it is
that letters sometimes fail to reach their destinations despite the
greatest care on the part of the Post Office. The incident is worthy
of the _Arabian Nights_, and I will quote the account given by the
sub-postmaster of Linga.
"On the 8th of December in the year 1912 a well-known merchant of
Linga, Aga Abbasalli by name, informed me that his agents at Bombay,
Karachi and other places in India had informed him by telegraph that
for the last two weeks they had received no mails from him. He asked
for an explanation from me for this, indirectly holding me responsible
and even threatening to report me to you, for he maintained that the
letters he sent to the Post for many years past had, at least, always
reached their destination, if late, and that he could not now for
his life imagine as to how it was that the several letters which he
himself sent to the Post, by bearer, for the last two weeks, were lost
during transmission. As Abbasalli was known to me, I sent word to him
through somebody to the effect that, in the first place, he would do
well to examine the bearer with whom he sent his letters to the Post.
The bearer was thereupon called by him and confronted with the question
of his mails; but before quoting the silly dolt's interesting reply it
would be better to note the following few points:--
There are two identical terms in Persian, the "Poos" and the "Poost,"
which have three distinct meanings, the word "Poos" meaning a dock,
or, in such a place as the port of Linga, only a shelter for ships'
anchorage, whilst the word "Poost" meaning (1) hides and skins,
or leather and (2) the Post Office. As far as pronunciations are
concerned it has been a very indiscriminate colloquialism at Linga to
pronounce both the above said words alike as "Poos," without any regard
to the final "t" of the word "Poost"; and practically, therefore,
the word "Poos" has three separate meanings as quoted above. The
"Poost-e-Buzurg" or the "Poos-e-Buzurg," literally equal to the big
Post Office, is used by the mass of people for the British Post Office
at Linga, as distinct from the Persian Post Office, which is known as
the "Poost-e-Ajam." But to many again the "Poos-e-Buzurg" is known as
the big dock, also styled the "Poos-e-Aga Bedar" (Aga Bedar's dock),
in contradistinction from another which is smaller, and is only known
as the "Poos-e-Bazar," that is, the Bazar dock. Moreover, both the
big dock and the British Post Office are situated somewhere near Aga
Bedar's Coffee shop, the latter being, however, a little farther than
the dock.
Having noted these points I now beg to revert to the question put to
his bearer by Abbasalli and the former's reply thereto. "What did
you do with my mails, that I gave you, for the last two weeks, to
be conveyed to the 'Poost'?" asks Abbasalli in his vernacular, and
the bearer replies, "The first week when you told me to carry your
letters to the 'Poost' I _went_ to the shoemaker's and was putting them
_exactly_ amongst the 'Poost' (meaning leather and leather-ware), as
ordered by you, but, he won't let me do so, and said I should carry the
letters to the 'Poos-e-Buzurg' near Aga Bedar's Coffee shop." "Ah! you
blockhead, you," explained the exasperated merchant, "but, what did
you do with my letters after all when he told you to carry them to the
'Poos-e-Buzurg'?" "Why, rest easy on the point," says the bearer, "I
carried them exactly to the 'Poos-e-Buzurg' (meaning the big dock) and
threw the letters in. The first time when there was plenty of water in
the dock (on account of tide) I had simply to throw your letters in,
and I am sure they must have reached their destination quite all right;
but the next week, when there was but little water in the dock, I had
to dig a pit in the sand to put the mails in, and perhaps they may not
have reached their destination."
Poor Abbasalli was quite perplexed and awfully sorry to know that all
the valuable letters written by him for the two weeks, some containing
cheques even, as I am given to understand, were thus entirely washed
away by the merciless waves; but, no less embarrassed am I, on hearing
of the tomfoolery, to think of what blame it may sometimes accidentally
and unnecessarily entail on a Postmaster, and I therefore venture to
put this real story before you, with the fullest hope that, in future,
complaints of a like nature may kindly be considered only on their due
merits.
I may be allowed to add that the story was related by me before
H.B.M.'s Vice-Consul and the small European Community at the Linga
Club, and they all, while sympathizing with me in my perplexity,
enjoyed a hearty laugh over the recital.
On the 31st March, 1918, there were over 19,410 post offices and 49,749
letter boxes in India to serve a population of 319 million people in an
area of 1,622,000 square miles. This gives a post office to about every
16,000 persons, or to each 83 square miles of country, which seems a
very poor service by comparison with Western countries, but, when one
considers that the literate population of India is only 18,500,000,
the service is good and the prospect of future development with the
increase of education is enormous.
It must not be supposed, however, that the Post Office confines its
energies to the literate population. It is largely used by people who
can neither read nor write, and this is made possible by the existence
of professional letter-writers, who are to be found in every town
and village in the country. For a pice (farthing) they will write an
address, and for two pice they will write a short letter or a postcard
or fill up a money order, though slightly higher fees are charged if
the letter is very long.
In rural tracts where it is not worth while to maintain a post office,
the people are served by a letter-box or by a village postman who
makes periodical visits and acts as a travelling post office. It is
a wonderful achievement of the Department that there is scarcely a
village in India which does not lie within the beat of a village
postman. The competition between villages to obtain post offices is
often very keen, and a Postmaster-General has many a troublesome
decision to make, as to which of two or three neighbouring villages
is to have the honour conferred upon it. While the matter is yet
undecided the competitors vie with each other in pouring correspondence
into the nearest post office in order to show the postal importance
of their respective villages, an importance which is apt to decline
sadly when once the post office has been opened. On one occasion, when
Postmaster-General, I received application from two villages A and B
for the opening of post offices. There happened to be an office in a
village C close by, but the applications stated that this village was
separated from them by a river, difficult to cross at most seasons
and quite impossible during the rains. The inspector who visited the
locality reported that the river could be crossed dry-shod at most
seasons and with little difficulty during the monsoon, but that A was
a much more important place than C and that the post office ought to
be transferred there. A fresh complication was then started, and the
indignation of the villagers in C knew no bounds. They threatened to
carry the matter up to the Viceroy, and for the time they began to post
enough letters to justify the existence of an office in the village.
The dispute was finally settled by establishing an office at A in
addition to the one at C, on condition that one or the other would be
closed if the postal work done did not justify its continuance.
One of the most important duties of a Superintendent is to watch
carefully the work of village postmen. Statistics are kept regularly
of the articles delivered and collected by them, and these statistics
give a very true indication of the places where new post offices
are required in rural tracts. In this way the Department keeps in
touch with the whole country, and a special grant has been allowed
by Government for opening experimental offices in places which show
signs of needing permanent ones. An experimental office is opened
for a period of six months and, if it leads to a development of
correspondence and pays its way, it is made permanent at the end
of that time, but unless it is a complete failure the experiment
is extended up to two years in order to give the people of the
neighbourhood every chance of retaining the office. This policy has
been most successful and has taught the village people that they are
largely responsible for the maintenance of their own post offices. The
postmaster is invariably a local man, either the village schoolmaster
or a shopkeeper, who gets a small salary, which, combined with the
dignity of His Majesty's mails, gives him a direct interest in making
the office a profitable concern.
The annual statistics of the Post Office serve as a barometer of the
prosperity of India. The Department has entered into the lives of the
people with its lines of communication, its savings bank, money orders,
payment of pensions and sale of quinine. It has only one aim and that
aim is recognized by all, namely, to do the greatest good for the
greatest number.
CHAPTER X
THE INDIAN POSTMAN
The conditions under which postal articles in England and India are
delivered differ so vastly that a knowledge of Indian life is necessary
in order to understand the difficulties that lie in the way of good
delivery work in this country. The smart official walking four miles
an hour and shooting the contents of his satchel into every house on
his beat with a rat-a-tat is unknown. House doors in India have no
knockers and no letter-boxes, and among the better class inhabitants,
both European and Indian, it is customary to send messengers to the
post office to fetch the unregistered mail, so that to this extent the
postman's work is reduced. The balance of the articles received by him
often forms a strange medley in many languages, of which perhaps he is
able to read one with difficulty. In a large town like Calcutta letters
are received addressed in as many as a dozen different languages, and
special clerks versed in the various tongues have to be employed.
Luckily people of the same race are accustomed to congregate in the
same quarters of the town, and the postmen are able to get some of the
local residents to assist them in deciphering many a doubtful address.
In Bombay certain private delivery agencies exist, which are recognized
by the Department and which work very satisfactorily. On the whole
the distribution of letters to the public is performed in a leisurely
fashion which is quite in accordance with the national character. One
may often see a postman, with the assistance of a dozen of the literate
inhabitants of the quarter, spelling out from a dirty piece of folded
paper an address, which turns out to be one Gunga Din living near the
temple of Hanuman in the courtyard of some ancient who has died years
ago, but whose name is still perpetuated in the soil where his house
once stood. Gunga Din may be dead or vanished, the quarter knows him
no more, but his sister's grandnephew arrives to take the letter,
and after some haggling agrees to pay the 1 anna due on it, for such
letters are invariably sent bearing. This little episode being finished
the postman proceeds on his beat to find another enigmatical addressee,
and is it any wonder that, although his salary is often a low one, the
Indian postman is one of the most expensive delivery agents in the
world? He seldom delivers more than three hundred articles a day, and
in the Indian business quarters of the town he gets rid of the majority
of these at the post office door, since the merchants and others who
expect letters always waylay the postman just as he is proceeding on
his beat, knowing well that it may be many hours before he will find it
convenient to visit them at their houses.
In the matter of slow delivery, however, the public are more
frequently to blame for delays than the postman, especially in the
case of articles which have to be signed for. Parcels, money orders
or registered letters are taken at the door by a servant and, if the
sahib is at his bath or busy, there is a long and tedious wait before
the signed receipts are brought back. It is extraordinary how callous
people are in this respect towards the interests of the Post Office
and their own neighbours, while they are always ready to complain if
the smallest delay or mistake occurs to any articles for themselves.
It can be easily understood that where such conditions prevail, and
that is all over India, fast delivery is impossible, and the very best
regulations for getting the men quickly to their beats are useless when
they are detained unnecessarily at every house.
[Illustration: COMBINED PASSENGER AND MAIL MOTOR VAN. KANGRA VALLEY
SERVICE]
In India most money orders are paid at the door by postmen, and in
towns, where there are large payments to be made, special sets of
postmen are employed for the purpose. The rules regarding the payment
of money orders are very strict and, when the payees are not well-known
persons, identification by a respectable resident is insisted upon.
In large pilgrim resorts, like Benares, where the pilgrims are
continually getting remittances and are necessarily unknown, there is
a special class of professional identifiers, consisting chiefly of the
innkeepers. These men for a small fee are always ready to swear to
the identity of any pilgrim for whom a money order has arrived, and,
strange to say, they are often ready to pay up if it is found that
their identification was incorrect and that the money was paid to the
wrong person, a not unfrequent occurrence.
The postman, however, has to bear the brunt in case of the
identification not being complete, and his responsibility in the matter
is great. The convenience to the public of having their money brought
to their doors is considerable, but it is a source of continual anxiety
and expense to the Post Office. Large sums of money are entrusted
daily to men on small pay. When the limit, which a postman is allowed
to take, is exceeded, an overseer has to accompany him on his beat.
Accounts have to be kept with each of the money order postmen and must
be settled before the day's cash can be closed. Complaints of short
payment are frequent and necessitate detailed inquiries with usually
very unsatisfactory results, while the opportunities for blackmail are
unlimited. Despite these drawbacks, it would now be scarcely possible
to revert to a system by which everyone who received a money order
was obliged to take payment of it at a post office, although greater
security for both the public and the Department would be gained
thereby. In certain parts of the country rural delivery is effected
with extraordinary difficulty. On the North-West frontier the village
postman goes in danger of his life from trans-border tribesmen. In the
forest tracts of Central India the attacks of man-eating tigers are not
merely travellers' tales, but grim realities. In the riverine districts
of Eastern Bengal the postman has to go from village to village by
boat, and a storm on one of these immense rivers is a bad thing to
face in a frail canoe. Nor is the boat journey the worst trouble; a
long tramp from the bank through swampy rice and jute fields is often
the only way to a village which has to be visited twice a week. It is
no wonder that the village postman sometimes takes the easiest way
of delivering his letters by going to the most important place in
his beat on market day; for, if he cannot find the actual addressees
there, he is pretty sure to find some people from the vicinity who are
willing to take charge of their neighbours' correspondence, but often
not too careful about delivering it. Hence the origin of much trouble,
complaints and hard swearing. Half a dozen witnesses are always
forthcoming to affirm that the postman visited the village _in propria
persona_ on that particular day, and to prove it the visit book with
the signature of one of the perjurers is produced. How can the mere
negative evidence of another half-dozen stand against these convincing
proofs?
On the Malabar side of the peninsula, where a very strict form of
Brahminism prevails, persons of low caste are forbidden to enter the
quarters of a town occupied by Brahmins, and care has to be taken to
place these quarters in the beats of high caste postmen. In Palghat
there was almost a riot on one occasion when a postman of inferior
caste attempted to enter a Brahmin street in the performance of his
duties, and the Postmaster-General was promptly called to order by the
indignant inhabitants. It was nearly a question whether he should be
fined and compelled to feed a thousand beggars in accordance with the
custom of the caste, but, on proving that he was an indigent member
of the Indian Civil Service with a wife and family in England, he was
pardoned on admitting his error and promising that no repetition of the
offence should occur.
As a rule the Indian postman is reasonably honest and, if not
interfered with at an unseasonable moment by an over-zealous
inspector, his accounts will come out square in the course of time.
The maintenance of a private debit account with the Department at
the expense of the payees of money orders is not unknown. The usual
practice is to withhold the payment of a certain number of money orders
for a few days and to use the money for some profitable speculation,
such as cotton gambling or betting on the opium sales. Recently one
of the most respected postmen in the Big Bazaar of Calcutta was found
to have overreached himself in carrying out this policy. He was on a
very heavy money order beat, and used regularly to keep back a number
of money orders and forge the payees' receipts so as to satisfy the
office that payment had been made. He kept a private account of these,
and when he decided to pay any one whose money had been withheld he
filled up a blank form, of which plenty are always available, and took
the payee's signature on this. The practice continued for some time
and, as everyone got paid in turn and the postman was a most plausible
fellow, no complaints were made. At last his speculations went wrong,
he got into very deep water and an unpleasant person complained to the
postmaster that he had not received a money order which he knew to have
been sent weeks before. This led to an inquiry, and the postman, being
caught unawares, was unable to account for about 17,000 rupees' worth
of money orders due to various people in the city.
One of the great problems of the Post Office in large towns is to
arrange deliveries and beats of postmen so that people will get their
letters in the shortest time after the arrival of the mail trains.
It used to be thought that the best way to effect this purpose was
to have several delivery centres in order that postmen might be near
their beats and the waste of time in walking to the beats be avoided.
To enable this to be done, the Railway Mail Service was expected to
sort all postal articles into separate bags for the different delivery
offices. The principle is excellent in theory, but in practice it has
not worked well and has led to indiscriminate missending to wrong
delivery offices. For instance, Madras at one time had twenty-six
delivery offices and, if people could have been induced to address
their correspondence to one of these offices with the word (Madras)
in brackets underneath, there might have been some hope of it being
properly sorted by the Railway Mail Service, but probably 80 per cent
of articles were simply addressed to Madras with or without the name
of a street, so that the sorters were set an impossible task and the
General Post Office had to maintain a special staff for sorting and
conveying such letters to the offices from which they would eventually
be delivered. The present policy is to have as few delivery offices
as possible, and to have postmen conveyed to more distant beats. This
has proved far more satisfactory; it relieves the work in the R.M.S.,
enables the postmen to be kept under better control and reduces the
possibility of articles going astray.
While working at the best arrangements for delivery at Calcutta Mr.
Owens, late Presidency Postmaster, devised the system of what is known
for want of a better name as "continuous delivery." Every beat is
provided with a locked box placed in a shop or some suitable place
in the beat, and the letters for delivery are placed in this box by
messengers sent direct from the post office. The postman goes straight
to his beat and remains on duty there for six hours, he finds his
letters in the box and is supposed to make the complete round of his
beat every hour, delivering articles and clearing the pillar boxes _en
route_. When he returns to the locked box he finds a fresh consignment
of letters for delivery, and deposits those that he has collected for
despatch, to be taken away by the messenger on his next visit. The
system is a good one and has worked well. It saves labour and, if the
beats are properly supervised and the postmen work conscientiously, a
great quickening up of delivery is effected. If, however, supervision
is at all lax, human nature asserts itself, postmen are inclined to
loiter and they allow letters to accumulate so that one round can be
made to do the work of two. Owing to the difficulty of supervision, the
continuous delivery system has not many ardent supporters in the Post
Office at the present time.
The postman is, in fine, one of the most important factors in the
Department, and upon his energy and honesty much depends. It therefore
behoves the authorities to see that a good class of man is recruited.
In addition to being able to read and write the language of that part
of the country in which he serves, he should know enough English to
be able to read addresses easily, but in order to obtain this class
of man careful recruitment is necessary and a good initial salary
with reasonable prospects of promotion must be given. Much has been
done in recent years to improve the status of postmen and all branch
postmasterships, which are not held by extra-departmental agents,
are now open to them. This is a great step forward. The Department
used to be very parsimonious in the matter of uniforms, and in many
important offices postmen had to pay for them themselves. Nor was
there any uniformity even in each circle about the uniforms supplied
by Government. In one town red coats and blue turbans were seen,
in another blue coats and red turbans, in another khaki coats and
nondescript turbans, while the men who supplied themselves with uniform
presented at times the most extraordinary appearance. The pattern
of postmen's uniform has now been standardized for each circle, and
uniforms are supplied free of cost in all head offices and large
sub-offices. Warm clothing is also given in all places with a cold
climate. There is no doubt about the value of a uniform to a postman.
It adds a certain amount of dignity to him and, like the soldier,
he is the better man for having a distinctive badge of office. The
pay has recently been greatly improved and much has been done to
ameliorate conditions under which they serve. There are over 27,000
postmen in India; the interests of these men are identical with those
of the Department, and their welfare should be the aim of every postal
officer.
CHAPTER XI
POST OFFICE BUILDINGS
"I don't think" was the terse though somewhat vulgar reply of a
well-known district officer on the western side of India when asked if
he would like to have a post office erected in a conspicuous place at
the head-quarters of his district. He was willing to give the site in
question for a clock tower, a public library or even a statue of one
of his predecessors, but a post office, "No, thank you." The reason
for this attitude may be easily understood by those who have seen the
ordinary Indian post office of a few years ago. It used generally to
be a rented building quite unsuited for the purpose and made perfectly
hideous by small additions and projections constructed from time to
time in order to meet demands for increased space. The windows and
doors were used not for light and air nor even for giving access to
the interior, but for business purposes. They were blocked up with the
exception of a small hole just the size of a pane of glass, through
which the members of the public had to try to get a clerk to attend
to their requirements. When a Government building existed it was very
little better, except in the matter of repairs. The interior of the
ordinary post office was a dreadful sight a few years ago, a mass of
untidy tables, a large number of cupboards, known in India as almirahs,
ill-designed sorting cases and dirt, this last article being the most
prevalent everywhere. Letters were sorted on the floor for convenience,
and the delivery table with its ragged occupants, who did duty for
postmen, was a sight for the gods.
The position of a post office in a town is a matter of the first
importance, but the chief object of the authorities in the early days
of the Imperial Post Office seems to have been economy. As a building
in a back street naturally costs less than one in a main street, many
of the city offices are hidden away in the most inaccessible slums. It
is, indeed, a case of Mohamed and the mountain, and the Post Office,
secure in its monopoly, was not going to afford any unnecessary
conveniences to its clients. Many of my readers will doubtless recall
some of those upstairs offices in big cities, which do an enormous
amount of work, especially in the afternoon, the approach being a
single staircase just broad enough for one person to ascend. Imagine
the turmoil at the busy hours of the day. In Bara Bazar, Calcutta, and
Benares City, two famous instances which come to mind at the moment,
where there is a heavy despatch of parcels, the confined space round
the parcel windows was the scene of a petty riot every afternoon. Such
a state of affairs could not exist for a month in a country where
the better class of people perform their own post office business;
unfortunately in India all this kind of work is done by native
messengers who are not particular about the surroundings of an office
and usually have plenty of time to spare. Things, however, improved
in recent years under the direction of Sir Arthur Fanshawe and Sir
Charles Stewart-Wilson, both of whom had the critical faculty strongly
developed. Assisted by the genius of Mr. James Begg, Consulting
Architect to the Government of India, they have done much to improve
the modern post office, with the result that the Department now has
some really fine buildings. For beauty of design the new Bombay General
Post Office, completed in 1910, is one of the finest in the East. The
reproduction of it in this book gives but little idea of its splendid
proportions, and its internal structure has been planned with a view to
facilitate postal work and to allow for future expansion.
The General Post Office in Calcutta was built in 1868 from designs made
by Mr. Granville, Architect to the Government of India. The site is of
great historical interest owing to its association with the tragedy
of the Black Hole of Calcutta. The building is hardly large enough
now for the great mass of work which it has to transact and, although
the removal of the Postmaster-General's Office and the Sorting Branch
has somewhat relieved the congestion, there is already a demand for
increased accommodation. The same thing has happened in Madras where
there is a large Post and Telegraph Office facing the sea, designed
by Mr. Chisholm and opened to the public in 1885. The expansion of
business has outgrown the capacity of the building, and the time has
come to construct a new post office and to use the present building as
a Telegraph Office. Most head offices and important sub-offices are now
designed to provide a proper hall for the public who wish to transact
business, with a counter for clerks and sufficient open space in the
building to allow each branch to work independently and in comfort
under the supervision of a responsible officer. At Lahore, Nagpur,
Patna, Chittagong, Bareilly, Rawalpindi, Cawnpore, Howrah, Poona,
Agra, Allahabad, Mandalay, Benares, Sholapur and Mount Road Madras,
excellent offices have been recently constructed, and the next few
years will see Rangoon, Delhi, Dacca, Darjeeling, Ajmere, Ahmedabad and
several other large towns provided with post office buildings, not only
scientifically planned, but handsomely designed.
Apart from its architectural features the essentials in a post office
building are very much those of a bank, namely, space, facility for
supervision and an arrangement of the branches dealing with the public,
so that anyone entering the office to do postal business can find
his way immediately to the clerk concerned. Space is most necessary,
especially in the sorting and delivery of mails. In crowded offices
thefts occur, packets of mails get mixed up and shot into wrong bags,
and proper supervision is almost impossible. The old Indian system of
letting the public stand in the veranda of the post office and transact
business through the windows of the buildings has always been fatal
to good and quick work. In the first place it is not easy to find the
proper window for the exact purpose one requires, and there are seldom
sufficient for all the branches. In the second place, when one has
discovered the right window, the clerk is seated inside some distance
away, and it is often difficult to attract his attention. The only
sensible arrangement is a hall with a proper counter and screen on
which the departments are clearly indicated, and the clerks sitting
right up face to face with the public. The postal clerk has the gift
of complete aloofness when his services are in the greatest request,
but it requires extra strong nerves to feign indifference to a man who
is looking straight at you two feet away and shouting his demands in
unintelligible Hindustani, especially if he hasn't yet breakfasted and
the weather is very hot. The real value of the counter is, in fine,
that it enables all work with the public to be performed in half the
time.
Except in the very largest offices where the postmaster sits in some
secluded abode like an Olympian god, the postmaster's seat should be
in the main office and readily accessible to the public. Deputy and
assistant postmasters are very fine fellows, but nothing can compensate
for the eagle eye of the Head. It is extraordinary how quickly a
delivery gets out when he is present to urge it along, and how swiftly
one gets one's money orders or savings bank deposits when he is looking
on. For this reason he should be always within hail and, if he can
accustom himself to deal courteously with the public and treat his
staff with justice and consideration, he will be the man that the Post
Office requires.
The policy in past years of obtaining rented buildings for post offices
has proved a serious misfortune to the Department. They are seldom
or never suitable for public offices, and the various attempts to
adapt them for postal purposes have been expensive and unsuccessful.
Every addition means an increase of rent and, with each renewal of
the lease, the rental is regularly enhanced. I don't think that it is
an exaggeration to say that throughout India the rents paid for Post
Office buildings have increased by 50 per cent in the last twenty-five
years. In many instances the total value of the house itself has been
paid many times over, and the Department still continues to pay an
exorbitant price for the privilege of occupying the ruins. No more
miserable or extravagant policy than this can be imagined, and in large
stations the Post Office is absolutely in the hands of the landlord who
can demand what he likes when a lease expires, a position which he is
inclined to take full advantage of. In recent years the folly of this
system has become more and more apparent, and efforts are now being
made to provide Government buildings for all important offices, but any
such scheme must necessarily take time since good sites in suitable
positions are seldom available and funds are strictly limited.
[Illustration: GENERAL POST OFFICE. BOMBAY]
A far-sighted man who thinks that his business will expand in time will
provide for such expansion even as a speculation and, when expansion
is a certainty as in the case of the Post Office which doubles its
business in ten years, to provide merely for the needs of the moment
is the falsest of false economy. The standard rule laid down by Sir
Charles Stewart-Wilson with respect to new buildings was that, when
a new post office is required, the space necessary for the office at
the time should be taken and multiplied by two. Then there would be
some hope of the accommodation being sufficient at all events for one
official generation. There is hardly a single office built more than
twenty years ago which is not now overcrowded and which will not have
to be enlarged at considerable expense. If this lesson is taken to
heart by the designers of our new post offices, they will earn the
gratitude of future generations of postmasters.
CHAPTER XII
THE POST OFFICE IN INDIAN STATES
The continent of India is divided into territory of two kinds, namely,
British India and Indian States. There are 652 States with varying
degrees of independence according to the treaties that exist between
them and the British Government. Except in three of these, Mysore,
Travancore and Cochin, no proper postal system can be said to have
existed before the Imperial Post Office of India was established.
In Mysore the Anche, a local post, was a very old institution, and
its extension to the whole Kingdom was one of the earliest measures
of the reign of Chikka Devaraj Wadayar in the year 1672. A similar
system known as Anchel has existed for many years in Travancore and
Cochin, but its origin is not known. Other States had no Post Offices
in the proper sense of the term, and when the Post Office of India
was established it extended its operations to many of these without
any question. From many of the larger States, however, the Imperial
Post Office was rigidly excluded, with the result that there was
great difficulty in maintaining any postal communication between them
and British India. Gradually certain States began to develop postal
organizations of a distinct and independent character with special
postage stamps of their own and others had organizations without any
postage stamps. All kinds of different arrangements existed and the
position is well described by Sir Frederic Hogg, the Director-General,
in his Annual Report of 1878-9:
"In some places the delivery of correspondence proceeding from the
Imperial Post is effected by an agency independent of this Department,
in other places this agency is subject to Imperial Post control;
while sometimes again both descriptions of distributing agencies are
employed. There exists an arrangement under which the Imperial Post
is subsidized for the delivery of correspondence, and there are some
localities in Native territory which are destitute of any postal
organization, and where letters cannot be delivered at all. Nor is
diversity of method the sole difficulty that has to be met. Beyond the
limits of this Department information on postal matters can hardly be
obtained. Native States issue no _Postal Guide_, print no lists of
post offices and publish no postal matters for the information of the
public. Postal information is not available. It is uncertain whether a
letter will ever be delivered. Not only is prepayment to destination
in many cases impossible, but correspondence is subject on delivery
to arbitrary and unknown charges. Registration is often impossible.
Postcards don't exist and the inhabitants of Native States, which
oppose Imperial Post extensions, are debarred from the benefits of the
Money Order, Insurance and Value-Payable systems and other facilities
afforded by the Imperial post office to the public. Restrictions of
correspondence must be the natural consequence of this diversity of
system or absence of system, and the only real remedy lies in the
gradual extinction of all post organizations and their supersession
by the Imperial Post. Such a measure must entail great expense for
several years, but uniformity of postage rates, rules and conditions
would result and the cost involved would doubtless ultimately be more
than covered by increased revenue."
The first case that came prominently to notice was that of the
Patiala State with which there was considerable trouble regarding
postal exchanges. A proposal was made in 1880 to extend the Imperial
Postal System to the State, but it was not acceptable to the Council
of Regency, and after much discussion it was decided to prepare a
Convention according to which a mutual exchange of correspondence could
be arranged. The Convention was ratified in 1884 and similar ones were
made with Gwalior, Jhind and Nabha in 1885 and with Faridkot and Chamba
in 1886, the last four constituting with Patiala the group known as the
Phulkian States. The Conventions with these States are all similar and
to the following effect:--
(1) There shall be a mutual exchange of correspondence, parcels and
money orders between the Imperial Post Office and the post offices
of the Native State, this exchange including registered, insured and
value-payable articles, and being governed by the rules of the _Indian
Postal Guide_, as periodically published.
(2) Certain selected post offices in British India and in the Native
States shall be constituted offices of exchange, and these offices
shall be the sole media of exchange for insured and value-payable
articles and money orders, and shall be entrusted with the duty of
preparing the accounts arising from the exchange.
(3) Indian postage stamps and postal stationery overprinted with
the name of the Native State shall be supplied by the Government of
India on indent at cost price, and shall be used for the purpose of
prepaying inland correspondence posted in the State.
(4) The Government of India shall bear the cost of conveying mails
over British territory, and the Native State shall bear the cost of
conveying mails within the limits of the State.
(5) The Imperial Post Office shall establish no new post offices in
Native State territory without the permission of the Durbar, excepting
at Railway Stations or within British Cantonments, the Durbar
undertaking the establishment of any post offices or letter-boxes
required in State territory by the Imperial Post Office.
(6) On foreign correspondence posted in the State, postage shall be
prepaid only by means of Imperial postage stamps not bearing the
overprint, postage stamps with such overprint not being recognized for
the purpose.
(7) Monthly accounts shall be kept of the amounts due to the Imperial
Post Office by the Native State and vice versa upon the money order
exchange.
No sooner had these Conventions been agreed to than Government began
to regret the step that had been taken, and it was then seen that real
postal unity in the country could only be effected by the abolition of
separate systems in the different States, a policy directly opposed to
that which had been adopted towards Gwalior and the Phulkian States.
When, therefore, the Dewan or Prime Minister of Mysore asked for a
Convention, he was met with a definite refusal, and an alternative
proposal was made to the Mysore Government that the Imperial Post
Office should undertake the postal service of the State. The proposal
was accepted in 1887, and the Mysore Anche was abolished at the end of
1888. This measure of amalgamation, in which the Mysore Darbar rendered
substantial assistance, was carried into effect from the beginning of
1889. The facilities afforded by the Indian Post Office, which were
thus extended to the whole of Mysore, were fully appreciated by the
people and resulted in a great development of postal business, the
number of articles delivered having increased in the first year by no
less than a million.
The case of Mysore was such a striking example of the benefits arising
from the unification of a State Post Office with the Imperial system
that Sir Arthur Fanshawe, the Director-General, used every endeavour
to extend the policy to other States. The result was that the Kashmir
State followed suit in 1894, and shortly afterwards Bamra, Nandgaon and
Pudakottah. The efforts to win over Hyderabad, the premier State of
India, were not successful. Although negotiations were extended over
many years and every inducement was offered, the Nizam steadfastly
refused to surrender the management of his own Posts as a separate
system.
In 1906 Mr. Stewart-Wilson, who succeeded Sir Arthur Fanshawe as
Director-General, started a fresh campaign for the unification of the
Post Office all over India, and he succeeded in getting Indore and
Bhopal to join in 1908. Since then Jaipur asked for a Convention, but
this was refused in accordance with the policy that Conventions were
undesirable as only tending to perpetuate the many diversities which
Government were anxious to abolish. The position at present is that out
of 652 States, 637, including Faridkote which voluntarily abandoned
its Convention in 1904, have cast in their lot with the Imperial Post
Office, The number of outstanding States is thus fifteen, of which
only Hyderabad, Gwalior, Jaipur, Patiala and Travancore are of much
importance.
[Illustration: GENERAL POST OFFICE. MADRAS]
The policy of the Government of India has been clearly laid down in
the correspondence dealing with the unification of the Hyderabad Posts
with the Imperial Post Office. The Government is unwilling to take over
the postal system of any State without the full consent of the Durbar
or State Council, but it exercises the right of opening an Imperial
post office or placing a letter-box anywhere in a State if Imperial
interests require it. As a rule such offices are opened at railway
stations or military cantonments, but they may be opened elsewhere in
cases of real necessity. The aim of the Government is towards complete
unification of the Post Office all over the country. The inconvenience
of separate systems is keenly felt, and the inequality of Conventions
on mutual terms between a great Empire and a small State is obvious.
The principle upon which each country of the Postal Union retains its
own postage on foreign correspondence is based on the theory that for
every letter sent a letter is received, and that the transit charges
are fairly apportioned, and in many cases the difference is slight
when spread over a long period. When the principle is applied to a
small State in a big country like India, the burden of handling
correspondence is very unevenly divided. For every ten miles a letter
has to be conveyed within the State, the Post Office of India may have
to convey it a thousand miles or more at a cost altogether out of
proportion to the postage receipts for half the correspondence handled.
The difference is still more marked in the case of parcels and money
orders and, despite all efforts to make the division of fees correspond
with the work done by each administration, the position has never been
satisfactory.
The postal future of the few States that still refuse to join the
Imperial system is uncertain. All compromises have been rejected, and
the arguments of prestige and prejudice are used to contest those of
uniformity and convenience. As matters stand now the inconsistencies of
small postal systems within the Indian Empire seem likely to continue
until a firm hand on the one part and enlightened opinion on the other
combine to abolish them.
CHAPTER XIII
THE OVERLAND ROUTE
Overland trade between Europe and India has existed from the earliest
times and was fully developed during the Roman Empire. After the
overthrow of the Western Empire by Odoacer in A.D. 476 and during the
struggles with the Persians and Saracens the overland trade with the
East languished until the consolidation of the Saracenic power at
Damascus, Cairo and Bagdad. It was again thrown into disorder by the
ascendancy of the Turkish Guard at Bagdad, and did not revive until the
thirteenth century, when, as the result of the Crusades, Venice and
Genoa became the great emporia for Eastern spices, drugs and silks. The
merchandise came by land to the ports of the Levant and the Black Sea,
but the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1483 drove
the traffic to Alexandria, which continued to be the mart for Eastern
wares until the discovery of the Cape route to India altered the whole
conditions of trade.
The first historical attempt to reach England from India by the
overland route was made in 1777 when Lord Pigot, Governor of Madras,
was placed in confinement by his own Council. Both parties attempted
to avoid loss of time in representing their case to the Board of
Directors by despatching messengers up the Red Sea and across Egypt.
The Council's messenger, Captain Dibdin, managed to land at Tor near
the mouth of the Gulf of Suez, to make his way across Egypt and finally
to reach his destination. Not so Mr. Eyles Irwin, the messenger of the
Governor. He sailed in the brig _Adventure_, and after many mishaps
only succeeded in reaching Cosseir on the Red Sea in July, where he and
his companions were detained by the Turks.
In 1778, after the fall of Pondicherry, Warren Hastings was determined
that the good news should go home via Suez, and he engaged to send Mr.
Greuber by a fast sailing packet to that port with the despatches. The
proposal was strenuously opposed by Francis and Wheler, but Hastings,
having Barwell on his side and a casting vote in Council, was able to
carry out his intention. Mr. Greuber managed to get through by this
route, but neither Hastings nor the Board of Directors anticipated the
objections which the Ottoman Porte had to any navigation of the Red
Sea by the Company's ships. In 1779 the Porte issued a firman putting
a stop to all trade between Egypt and India by the way of Suez and
decreed that ships from India could proceed only as far as Jeddah. If
despatches were to be sent by Suez, the messenger conveying them had
to travel from Jeddah by Turkish ship. This was a hopeless arrangement
and meant endless delay, besides which the fate of messengers or of
any Europeans crossing the desert between Suez and Cairo was very
uncertain. The terrible dangers and difficulties of the journey are
graphically described in Mrs. Fay's letters. Owing to the opposition of
the Turkish Government the overland route was abandoned for some time,
but in 1797 an arrangement was made with them and the company's cruiser
_Panther_, under the command of Captain Speak, sailed in that year
with despatches. She left Bombay on the 9th March and reached Suez on
the 5th May, where she waited for three months for return despatches;
but since these did not arrive she returned to Bombay, and, being
delayed by contrary winds at Mocha, finally arrived after an absence of
thirteen months.
In 1798 the Government carried into execution a project which they had
long been contemplating, namely, the establishment of a mail route from
India to England by the Persian Gulf and Turkish Arabia. A number of
packet boats were put on this service which plied between Bombay and
Basrah once a month. Private correspondence was allowed to be sent by
this route upon the following conditions:--
1. No letter was to exceed four inches in length, two in breadth, nor
to be sealed with wax.
2. All letters were to be sent to the Secretary to Government with
a note specifying the name of the writer and with the writer's name
under the address, to be signed by the Secretary previous to deposit
in the packet, as a warrant of permission.
3. Postage had to be paid upon the delivery of each letter at the rate
of 10 rupees for a single letter weighing one-quarter of a rupee, for
letters weighing half a rupee 15 rupees, and for letters weighing one
rupee 20 rupees.
Two mails were sent by each despatch, one by Bagdad and one by Aleppo.
We are not told if many private people were wealthy enough to pay these
overwhelming rates of postage or were prepared to face the irksome
conditions imposed upon anyone using this route.
In the first quarter of the nineteenth century the East India Company
continued to retain a Resident at Busra long after their trade had
ceased to be of any consequence. One of his principal duties was in
connection with the desert post, by which despatches were forwarded to
England from the Bombay Government. Later on the post of Resident was
abolished, and in 1833 the desert post was closed, as despatches, when
forwarded overland, were sent in the Company's cruisers via Cosseir on
the Red Sea and Cairo.
On the 5th November, 1823, a meeting was held in the Town Hall at
Calcutta to discuss the feasibility of establishing communication with
Great Britain by means of steam navigation via the Mediterranean,
Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea. A premium of £10,000 was offered
to the first company or society that would bring out a steam vessel
to India and establish the communication between India and England.
The first steamer to reach India via the Cape was the _Enterprise_,
commanded by Captain Johnson, in 1826. She was a vessel of five hundred
tons burthen with two engines of sixty horse-power each and also built
to sail, and she performed the journey in fifty-four days. Her great
fault was want of room for coal, a circumstance which nearly led to a
disaster on the voyage, as the coal, which had to be packed on top of
the boilers, ignited and the fire was extinguished with difficulty.
The credit for establishing the Suez route belongs to Lieutenant
Thomas Waghorn, of the East India Company's Marine. He was the first
to organize direct communication between England and India by means of
fast steamers in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. In 1830 the steamer
_Hugh Lindsay_ made the first voyage from Bombay to Suez, and Waghorn
from that time worked hard at his scheme. He built eight halting places
in the desert between Cairo and Suez, provided carriages and placed
small steamers on the Nile and the canal of Alexandria, Waghorn's
triumph was on the 31st October, 1845, when he bore the mails from
Bombay, only thirty days old, into London. This memorable feat settled
the question of the superiority of the overland as compared with the
old Cape route, but it was not given effect to without great opposition
from the shipping companies.
In 1840 the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company obtained a
charter of incorporation, and one of the conditions was that steam
communication with India should be established within two years. This
condition was fulfilled by the despatch of the _Hindustan_ to India
via the Cape of Good Hope in 1842. The advantages of the route across
the isthmus of Suez were, however, too obvious, and the P. and O.
Company took up a contract for the conveyance of mails between London
and Suez, while vessels of the East India Company's navy conveyed them
between Suez and Bombay. The journey from Alexandria to Suez was most
uncomfortable for passengers. It was made by canal boat to Cairo, and
then by two-wheeled vehicles across the desert to Suez. In 1844 a
contract was given for five years to the P. and O. Company to establish
a regular mail service in the Indian seas, with a subsidy of £160,000
a year for the combined India and China services. This contract was
subsequently extended, and in January, 1853, a fresh contract was
concluded with the Company under which fortnightly communication was
secured between England, India and China, with a service once in
two months between Singapore and Sydney. On the 7th July, 1854, a
supplementary contract was entered into for the conveyance of mails
between Southampton and Bombay through Alexandria, by which way the
transit time was twenty-eight days. The total subsidy under both
contracts was £224,300 a year. The sea postage collected by the United
Kingdom and India was devoted to the payment of this subsidy, and
any deficiency was borne equally by both countries. In 1867 a fresh
contract for twelve years was concluded with the Company for a weekly
service to and from Bombay and a fortnightly one to and from China and
Japan. The annual subsidy was fixed at £400,000, to be increased to
£500,000 if such should be necessary, in order to enable the Company
to pay 6 per cent dividend upon their capital. This absurd clause was
cancelled in 1870, and the annual subsidy was fixed at £450,000.
The Suez Canal was opened in 1869, but owing to difficulties with the
British Government it was not used for the passage of the mail steamers
until many years later. In 1880 the Southampton route was abolished,
and the contract for the weekly service stipulated for a transit time
of 17½ days between London and Bombay via Alexandria and Suez. It was
not until 1888 that the mails were sent by the Suez Canal instead of by
rail across Egypt.
During the term of the contract 1867-1869, the port for reception and
despatch of mails was Marseilles. Arrangements were made in the new
contract of 1869 for the substitution of Brindisi for Marseilles on the
completion of the Mont Cenis Tunnel and railway, and Brindisi remained
the European port for the reception and despatch of mails until the
outbreak of war in 1914.
[Illustration: POST OFFICE. AGRA]
On the 1st July, 1898, a new contract was drawn up for a combined
Eastern and Australian service. The transit time between London and
Bombay was limited to 14½ days and the annual subsidy was fixed at
£330,000, of which £245,000 represented the payment for the service
between Brindisi, India, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements and China.
The last contract was entered into with the Company on the 1st July,
1908, for seven years. The transit time between Brindisi and Bombay
was reduced to 11¼ days with an allowance of thirty-six hours in the
monsoon, and the total subsidy was fixed at £305,000.
The present contract with the P. and O. Company expires in 1922, and
what fate the future has in store for the Suez Canal route we cannot
tell. There has been much talk of a through railway from Calais to
Karachi, and with the Channel tunnel completed this would mean a
railway route from London to India. The cost, however, of transporting
the Indian mail, which often consists of more than ten thousand bags,
over this enormous distance by rail would probably be prohibitive.
Under the International Postal Convention each country traversed would
have the right to claim a territorial transit charge, and with fast
steamers between Marseilles and Bombay the saving in time might not be
so great as has been anticipated.
Another competitor to the steamer service has appeared recently in the
form of Aviation. Several proposals for an Air Mail Service between
England and India have been made, but the success of long distance
transits by air is not yet assured.
It has been stated that the old familiar scenes at Port Said and Aden
will soon be as unknown to the Eastern traveller as Table Bay and St.
Helena. The old trade routes are to be revived again, no longer with
slow and picturesque caravans, but with rushing trains and aeroplanes.
Despite these prophecies the P. and O. continue to build new ships,
they book passages even a year ahead, and are preparing to tender for a
new mail contract. Is this mere contempt, is it optimism, or is it the
adoption of Warren Hastings' motto: "Mens aequa in arduis"?
CHAPTER XIV
THE SEA POST OFFICE
In 1859 the Postmaster-General, United Kingdom, announced that it had
been determined to open the homeward-bound mails on board the steamers
between Alexandria and Southampton and Alexandria and Marseilles, with
a view to effect a partial or complete sorting of the letters and
newspapers. He also suggested that the clerks entertained for this
service might during the voyage out be employed in sorting the letters
and newspapers contained in the mails despatched from England to India.
At the same time he inquired whether the Government of India would be
willing to bear their proportion of the cost of the scheme. The offer
was declined on the ground that English clerks could not sort letters
correctly for stations in India, where there were many places with the
same name.
In 1860 the Bombay Government reported that on the Europe side of Egypt
the former practice of sending an Admiralty Agent with each steamer
of the Peninsular and Oriental Company in charge of mails had been
abolished, and instead the Company carried a couple of post office
clerks to sort the homeward mail. They embarked on the Marseilles boat
at Alexandria, and before arriving at Malta they sorted all the letters
for transmission via Marseilles. At Malta these clerks were transferred
to the vessel for Southampton, and when the steamer reached that port
all the heavy mails were sorted. The Bombay Government suggested that
a similar arrangement might be adopted east of Suez, the clerks told
off for the work being employed in the Bombay post office when they
were not engaged on the steamer. The Bombay Government's suggestion was
negatived on the ground of expense in view of the unsatisfactory state
of the Indian finances at the time.
In 1864 the subject was revived by Lord Lawrence, The Director-General,
Mr. Monteath, agreed with the objections formerly urged that English
Post Office clerks could not sort letters for all stations in India,
but held that they could sort letters received by the Marseilles route
only for Bombay and put up in boxes the letters and papers for the
several Governments or Administrations in the provinces. It was then
decided that sorting to the above limited extent might best be done
in London and that, if it were done by a sorting establishment on a
steamer west of Suez, the Indian Government might be reasonably called
upon for a contribution. Thus the discussion ended for the time and
nothing was done.
The subject was revived in 1868, when weekly communication between
England and India was established. In the new contract with the
Peninsular and Oriental Company provision was made to accommodate a
postal sorting office and give free passages to sorters on the vessels
east of Suez. The Government of India decided to take advantage of this
arrangement and authorized experimental sea-sorting establishments on
the scale of six sets of sorters for fifty-two voyages annually in each
direction between Bombay and Suez. Each set consisted of a head sorter,
a sorter and two packers. The calculation was based on an allowance
of fifteen days each way for the voyage to and from Suez, with an
interval of from two days to six days between a return from Suez and
the next departure from Bombay, Notice was at the same time given for
the withdrawal of the Naval Agents employed on board the steamers. One
of the principal duties of these Naval Agents appears to have been to
report whether penalties for delay should be exacted or not according
to the circumstances in which the delays occurred.
In his final report in 1870 on the working of the system, as a
result of which the establishment was permanently continued, the
Director-General described the work of the sea post office as
"embracing the sorting of mails for transmission to the various
localities of a huge continent, as well as the checking of the accounts
made out in respect of such correspondence by the various European
offices from which the mails are received.... It is a work which, in
an office on shore, would be distributed among a large establishment,
each member of which would have to learn only a small portion of
the business; and it is a work the bad performance of which even
occasionally will give rise to the most serious consequences." The
experimental formation of the sea-sorting office had succeeded so well
that the inward overland mail was received at Bombay ready for despatch
into the interior, instead of having to be detained there for about
six hours, which often involved the loss of a whole day for certain
places. The Bombay delivery ticket-holders got their overland letters
at the post office window about ten minutes after the mail had arrived,
and the delivery to Calcutta ticket-holders of letters, which had been
sorted at sea, was similarly expedited.
The Indian sea-sorting office sorted letters for the United Kingdom,
but the London General Post Office did not reciprocate by sorting the
mail for India, the latter being done at sea, which enabled London
to dispense with a large expenditure for Naval Agents. Although the
revised contract with the Peninsular and Oriental Company provided for
proper sorting accommodation on their vessels eastward of Suez, there
was no similar provision westward of Suez; on the contrary, it was
specially provided that the master or commander of the vessel should
take charge of the mails to the west of Suez. The fact was that the
work done by the Indian sea-sorting office on the homeward voyage was
so complete and thorough that the British Post Office was able to
abolish all its sea-sorting establishments west of Suez.
The steady growth in the work to be done and in the number of men
required to cope with it gave rise to many difficulties in connection
with the provision of suitable and adequate accommodation on board the
steamers, the proper supervision of the staff, and the improvement of
the service. The sorting arrangements had to be revised frequently, and
the extent of the run, which, as stated above, was originally between
Suez and Bombay, had in 1890 to be curtailed to the voyage between
Aden and Bombay in consequence of the decision of the Peninsular and
Oriental Company to tranship the outward and homeward mails at Aden
every alternate week.
With the steady increase in the volume of the mails to be dealt with,
it was found necessary to add to this staff considerably from time to
time. In 1873 the total staff of the six sets comprising the "Marine
Postal Service, Suez and Bombay," was raised to six mail officers,
six assistant mail officers, six supernumerary assistant mail officers
and twelve packers, i.e. five men for each set. When the journey was
curtailed to the Bombay-Aden run the sets were reduced to three, but
the number in each set had to be steadily increased until in 1908 it
reached twenty-nine, consisting of an assistant mail officer, fifteen
sorters and thirteen packers.
In the year 1899 a special inquiry, made in connection with a question
asked in Parliament as to the effect of the introduction of Imperial
penny postage on work in the sea post office, revealed the fact that
the conditions of the service were very exacting on the staff. The
extent to which the sorting of the mails could be done at Bombay or in
the Railway Mail Service instead of at sea was very fully considered,
and, although the Committee of postal officers convened at Bombay
to examine the subject did not recommend the discontinuance of the
existing arrangement, its retention was made conditional upon the
adoption of a number of special measures to reduce the amount of work
at sea.
A further inquiry into the conditions of service in the sea post
office, instituted in the year 1905 in connection with a representation
on the subject made to the Secretary of State for India by the late
Mr. Samuel Smith, M.P., again brought into prominence the fact that
the work had to be performed in circumstances of a peculiarly trying
nature. It also established that, owing to the rapid increase, at the
rate of 10 to 12 per cent a year, in the volume of the mails, the
question of arranging for the sorting work to be done on shore instead
of at sea could not be deferred much longer. This growth was bound to
involve further additions to the staff from time to time, while the
accommodation which it was possible to secure for the work, especially
on board the through mail steamers, was strictly limited.
The subject of abolishing the sea post office altogether, or, at least,
of restricting it to very small proportions, was again taken up in
1907, as the Postmaster-General, Bombay, reported that the service
could not be placed on a proper footing without the provision of much
more accommodation on board the through steamers, and expressed the
opinion that the time had come for considering whether it was not
possible to have most of the work of sorting done on shore.
By the end of 1908 the volume of the mails had become so large and the
difficulty of dealing with them on board so great that a radical change
was needed. The question of having the sorting work done on shore was,
therefore, fully examined again with the Postmaster-General, Bombay.
The position at the time was as follows: The mails for India despatched
from the United Kingdom were received by the Aden-Bombay sea post
office partly sorted for the various territorial divisions of India,
and partly unsorted. The unsorted portion, which amounted to about
40 per cent of the total, consisted of the articles of all classes
posted or received in London late on Friday evening, which the London
General Post Office did not sort before despatch. The Indian mails from
countries other than the United Kingdom were received by the sea post
office wholly unsorted. With the exception of trade circulars and price
lists, all the unsorted mails received were dealt with by the sea post
office between Aden and Bombay. The average number of the unregistered
letters, postcards, newspapers, packets of printed papers, and samples
which had to be sorted by the sea post office on each voyage from Aden
to Bombay was 150,000 and, in addition, some 7000 registered articles
had to be specially treated and about 6000 unpaid articles examined and
taxed with postage. This work had to be performed under very trying
conditions and, during the monsoon season especially, the staff was
hard pressed to finish the sorting before the steamer reached Bombay.
The accommodation for sorting the mails provided on the through mail
steamers was becoming less and less adequate as the volume of the mail
increased and no additional space could be obtained.
The proposal to meet the situation by again extending the run of the
sea post office to Port Said or Suez had to be negatived owing to the
transhipment at Aden on alternate weeks. Moreover, it was undesirable
to resort to a measure of this kind, as, quite apart from the large
additional expenditure involved in return for insufficient advantages,
the difficulty of keeping the staff under close and constant
supervision was becoming more pronounced. In fact, this difficulty of
exercising proper supervision over the enormous volume of work at sea
furnished in itself a very strong argument in favour of having the work
of sorting and dealing with these important mails done entirely on
shore.
It was estimated that, with the provision of all necessary appliances
and conveniences for dealing rapidly with the work on shore, a staff of
about 150 well-trained and efficient sorters could do within a period
of two and a half hours from the time of the _landing_ of the mails the
whole of the work then done by the sea post office. This number could
be easily provided from among the sorters already employed in the sea
post office, in the Bombay General Post Office, and in sections of the
Railway Mail Service working into and out of Bombay. The provision of
suitable accommodation for the sorting to be done on shore, which was
formerly a matter of much difficulty owing to the want of space in the
General Post Office, Bombay, no longer existed as the new General Post
Office near the Victoria Terminus, the building of which was then well
advanced, had ample room for this purpose.
It was unnecessary to enter into any examination of the question in
respect of the outward mails from India as the whole of the work done
by the sea post office in connection with those mails could just as
easily be performed, without any public or postal inconvenience and at
very little extra cost, by the Railway Mail Service and in the various
large post offices in India.
In view of the increasingly unfavourable conditions under which the
sorting had to be performed at sea and of the greater security and
efficiency that would be secured by having it done on shore, it was
admitted that the best course would be to abolish the sea sorting
service, but to do so gradually in order to avoid any dislocation in
the disposal of the foreign mails. The various Indian Chambers of
Commerce were consulted in 1911, and the general opinion was that
no change should be made until the Alexandra Docks at Bombay were
completed. The authorities of the Bombay Port Trust were accordingly
requested to provide a sorting hall for the Post Office on the new
pier. On the completion of the new mole in the harbour the mail
steamer, instead of discharging its mails in the stream, would be able
to berth alongside the pier; the delay in transhipment would be greatly
reduced, and with a sufficient staff of sorters on the spot the mails
would be ready for despatch by the special trains due to leave Bombay
within four and a half hours of the signalling of the steamers.
The question was finally settled by the outbreak of the War in 1914.
The sailings of the mail steamers became very irregular, accommodation
on board could no longer be provided for sorters, and consequently the
sorting of both the outward and inward mails had to be performed in the
Bombay General Post Office. The sorting of the homeward mail on shore
was undertaken from the 15th August, 1914, and the last inward mail
sorted on board arrived at Bombay on the 27th August, 1914. In spite of
war conditions, the first special train usually started within seven
hours of the steamer having been signalled. In these circumstances the
sea post office was formally abolished as such, and the Indian share of
the Eastern Mail Service subsidy was reduced by a sum of £8800 a year
on account of its discontinuance.
No other Postal Administration of the world has ever attempted to
undertake the task of sorting the foreign mails while in course of
transit by sea on anything like the scale on which this work was done
by the Indian Post Office. A certain amount of sorting of mails was
done on the steamers of the White Star Line sailing between Liverpool
and New York, and on those of the American Line sailing between
Southampton and New York, also on board the German steamers sailing
between Bremen or Hamburg and New York. The work done on those lines,
however, was on a very minor scale and a small staff of four men on
the White Star and American Line steamers, and of three on the German
steamers was employed. The strength of the staff of the sea post
office working between Bombay and Aden was, in 1914, one hundred and
three men, divided into three sets of one assistant mail officer,
seventeen sorters and fourteen packers each, with seven probationary
sorters. The staff was a most extravagant one; the men were not
employed for more than half their time. By using a large staff and with
proper organisation the work that took five days at sea is now being
done more efficiently in a less number of hours in Bombay.
Under present arrangements the mails are hoisted from the steamer
direct into the Foreign Mail Sorting Office on the Ballard Pier. There
they are opened and sorted for the various parts of India by about one
hundred and fifty sorters, and within three hours they are ready for
the postal special trains which leave the pier station for Calcutta,
Madras, Lucknow and the Punjab. Foreign Mail Service sections work in
each of these trains to deal with the final sorting and distribution of
the mails to the various stations _en route_.
CHAPTER XV
THE POST OFFICE IN MESOPOTAMIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF
The Great War has thrown such strong light on the countries which
border on the Persian Gulf that it may be interesting to record the
important part which has been played by the Post Office of India in
connection with imperial policy in Persia and Mesopotamia.
Owing to political considerations and the necessity of keeping open
alternative means of communication between Europe and India, the
importance of the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia as a mail route was
established nearly a century and a half ago. The ships of the old
Indian Navy carried mail packets from Bombay to Basra, which was the
starting-point of a regular dromedary post to Aleppo, linked with a
horse post from Aleppo to Constantinople, and it is an interesting
piece of history that Lord Nelson's letter to the Bombay Government,
giving the news of the naval victory of the Nile, was transmitted by
this route.
During the first half of the last century, as the Persian Gulf and the
Shat-el-Arab were infested with pirates, these waters were avoided by
British trading vessels, so that, when a ship of the Indian Navy was
not available to convey mails to Bombay, letters from the Political
Residents of the East India Company stationed at Bagdad and Basra were
sent to India by the desert route via Damascus and Beyrout and thence
through Egypt, and correspondence between Bushire and India had to be
diverted through Teheran and Alexandria. In 1862 a regular six-weekly
mail service between Bombay and Basra was undertaken by the British
India Steam Navigation Company, and about the same time the Euphrates
and Tigris Steam Navigation Company agreed to extend the mail service
from Basra to Bagdad by running their steamers in connection with
the ocean line. The postal system at the coast ports, however, was
defective owing to the absence of local post offices for the collection
and distribution of mails, but these were gradually established from
the year 1864 onwards at Bushire, Muscat, Bandar Abas, Bahrain,
Mohammerah, and other places under the protection of British Consular
officers, and post offices were opened at Bagdad and Basra in Turkish
Arabia in 1868.
Although all these post offices were primarily intended for the benefit
of political officers of the Government of India, they have proved
just as useful to the consular representatives of other European
nations and to the public, and there is no doubt that, by supplying
a commercial want, they gave a great impetus to trade in the Persian
Gulf region. For years there was no other local postal service worthy
of the name, and intercourse with the hinterland was entirely under
the control of the British Consular officers. In 1868 Turkish Arabia
was wholly dependent for regular communication with the outside world
on English enterprise. There were two mail routes from Bagdad, one to
Teheran via Kermanshah, a distance of 480 miles, and the other from
Bagdad to Damascus, 500 miles, in connection with the British Consulate
at the latter place and the route to England via Beyrout. A monthly
mail service was also maintained by the Government of India for the
convenience of the British Legation at Teheran and the Residency of
Bushire, the route lying through Shiraz and Ispahan, where British
agencies had been established, but no postage was charged on letters
despatched, as the line was kept up purely for political purposes. In
addition to this post the Indo-European Telegraph Department had a
weekly service from Bushire to Shiraz. These Persian lines were worked
partly by runners and partly by horsemen, and continued until the
Persian Government inaugurated its own service in 1877 and established
a weekly post between Bushire and Teheran.
The Turkish representative at the International Postal Congress held
at Berne in 1878 urged that all foreign post offices in the Ottoman
dominions should be suppressed, but the demand was rejected as it
involved a diplomatic question outside the province of the Congress.
In 1881 the Turkish Government established a dromedary post between
Bagdad and Damascus in opposition to the English consular overland
post and, after repeated representations on the part of the Ottoman
Government, the latter was abolished in 1886 after having been in
existence for upwards of a hundred years. In the following year the
Ottoman Government closed their own line, and the only direct route
left open to Europe was the Turkish post via Mosul on the Tigris to
Constantinople. When reporting the closing of the British desert post,
the British Consul-General at Bagdad asked the Postmaster-General in
London to warn the British public not to post anything of value by any
route other than the one from London to Bombay and thence by sea to
Basra and Bagdad, and the numerous complaints of the loss of parcels,
books and letters fully justified his want of confidence in the Ottoman
post.
The British post offices at Basra and Bagdad and the service by river
steamer between these two ports were subjected to marked hostility on
the part of the Turks, notwithstanding the continued efforts of the
British Consular officer to limit their functions. Competition with the
local Ottoman postal institutions was never aimed at, and Indian post
offices were primarily and chiefly maintained for Consular purposes
and located in the Consulate buildings. Local traders, however, were
not slow to discover the advantage of the safe transit offered by the
Indian mail service and the convenience of the parcel post system, but
their efforts to avoid payment of Customs dues on articles imported by
this means were frustrated at the outset by the British Consul-General
of Bagdad, Sir Arnold Kemball, who went so far as to suspend the
parcel traffic in the interests of the Turkish Government until the
latter could make adequate provision for Custom-House examination
and levying of dues on both import and export parcels. After various
methods of detecting and dealing with dutiable parcels had been
tried for many years, the system of handing over all inward parcels
received from the offices of exchange at Bombay, Karachi and Bushire
to the Turkish Customs at Bagdad and Basra with copies of the Customs
declarations and invoices received was adopted by the Consular post
offices, the addressees being required to take delivery at the Customs
House on presentation of a delivery order signed by the British-Indian
postmaster.
Anyone who has had experience of the vagaries of Turkish Customs House
officials can sympathize with people whose goods fell into their
hands. The smallest irregularity, however unintentional, detected
in a declaration or manifest could only be set right by the liberal
distribution of bribes. Woe betide the scrupulous owner or consignee
who declined to adopt such methods and decided instead to stand by
his rights and carry his complaint to higher authorities. The story
is told of a young missionary lady whose wedding outfit was packed
into a box which was taken in custody by a Turkish official and was
detained for the ostensible purpose of examination of the contents and
assessment of duty. The settlement of this knotty point proceeded in a
leisurely fashion for weeks, because the owner's conscience or purse
would not permit of her speedily clinching the matter by a suitable
payment. When the box was finally delivered the addressee found, to
her horror, that the wedding dress and other articles of her trousseau
bore unmistakable traces of having been worn. To add insult to injury,
the Customs authorities threatened to confiscate the goods, saying that
there was a prohibition against the importation of "worn clothes"!
There is no doubt that they had been freely used by the harem of some
Ottoman Customs official, as the curiosity of Turkish ladies regarding
the latest European fashions was notorious and could usually overcome
official scruples.
When the Inland Insurance system was introduced in India in 1877 it was
extended to the post offices in the Persian Gulf and Turkish Arabia.
The Insured Parcel Post was used largely by traders at Bagdad, Basra
and Bushire for the exportation of specie, and the total value insured
in 1882-83 amounted to over twenty-four lakhs of rupees. The pearl
merchants at Bahrain, which is the centre of the pearl fisheries in the
Gulf, availed themselves largely of the Insured Parcels Post for the
export of valuable parcels of pearls. Protests were soon lodged by the
British India Steam Navigation Company, which held the mail contract,
against this competition on the part of the Post Office on the ground
that it infringed their monopoly. They argued that the carriage of
specie and pearls was almost the sole source of profit from the Persian
Gulf service, and after a careful review of the whole question it was
decided in 1885 to abolish insurance of parcels and letters to and from
the British post offices in the Gulf and Turkish Arabia. This measure
resulted in a heavy loss in postal revenue, but was only fair to a
Company which had risked much in maintaining British trade relations
with that part of the world, and which has done more than any other to
throttle German competition.
The steamship companies employed to carry mails have all along had
to contend with serious difficulties at the Gulf ports. The original
mail service undertaken by the British India Steam Navigation Company
between Bombay and Basra, and by the Euphrates and Tigris Steam
Navigation Company between Basra and Bagdad, was a six-weekly one,
but a monthly service was arranged in 1866 and a fortnightly service
in 1870. From 1878 onwards mails were despatched weekly in both
directions, and this has been supplemented in recent years by a fast
service in connection with the English mail, the steamers calling only
at the principal intermediate ports. There were many obstacles to
speedy transit and delivery of mails, such as absence of lights and
buoys, want of harbour facilities at the Persian ports, difficulties
of navigation in the river Tigris during the dry season, obstruction
on the part of the authorities, especially the Turks, and difficulty
of obtaining regular labour at the various anchorages. At many places
the mail steamers have to anchor far out in the roadstead, and in rough
weather there is some risk and delay in landing and embarking mails.
The mail contract with the British India Steam Navigation Company
required that mails should be exchanged during daylight, and three
hours were specified for the purpose; but this condition could not
always be observed, and it was in the power of the local postmaster to
upset all arrangements. Unrest was a common feature of the political
life of these parts, especially when there was a change of Governors,
and the authorities were generally too feeble to cope with a rising
among the Arab or Persian tribes without the assistance of British
bluejackets or Indian troops, who were not always available on the
spot. At such times the Indian postmaster used to shut up his office
long before darkness set in and barricade himself and his mails in the
inner rooms of the building, so that the ship's mail officer arriving
at dusk had no easy task in getting access to him. On one occasion the
Political Resident of the Persian Gulf, whose word is law in these
regions, was a passenger by the mail steamer which arrived at a certain
port on a very sultry summer evening. Being anxious that the steamer
should sail to Karachi without unnecessary delay, he asked the captain
to expedite its departure, and the latter, who had previous experience
of the local post office, said that he had his doubts about receiving
the mails before morning, but promised to try his best, and went ashore
himself. Two hours later a message came to the ship asking for the
Political Resident's personal assistance, and there was nothing left
for the distinguished official to do but to go to the office himself.
He found the captain and his second officer pelting the roof of the
post office with stones, while from inside issued forth the vilest
abuse of all ships' captains and their relations, with threats to
report the attack to the Resident. The matter was eventually settled,
and the story is still told by all the natives with great gusto, as the
Eastern mind sees a special humour in the setting down of an important
official.
The Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, owned by Messrs.
Lynch Brothers, during the many years of its existence was never able
to obtain permission from the Ottoman Government to run more than
two steamers between Basra and Bagdad. The distance is five hundred
miles, and, as the paddle-boats had occasionally to tie up during the
night when the river was low, it is not surprising that the weekly
mail service each way had no reputation for regularity. There were
several other causes which contributed to misconnection between these
boats and the ocean-going mail steamers of the British India Company.
The run from Basra to Bagdad and vice versa was usually accomplished
in five days, which left only two days at either end for loading and
unloading, cleaning and repairs of engines and other duties. If a
steamer reached port towards the end of the week, little or no work
could be done. Friday is a general holiday among the Turks and Arabs
who are Mohammedans, and the Customs House is kept closed; Saturday
is the Hebrew Sabbath, when Jews are absent from the wharves; while
Sunday is a _dies non_ with the Armenian Christians, who are among the
most important of the shippers. It was hard for an European merchant to
contend with such an accumulation of sacred days. He was willing to
keep open and work on every day of the week, but the susceptibilities
of the local population cannot be overridden. The Turkish Government
tried every conceivable method of hindering the enterprise of Messrs.
Lynch and Company, but their steamers continued to flourish and gain in
popularity, whereas the Ottoman line of steamers, established in 1867
under the auspices of the Government with the avowed object of smashing
the British line, failed to justify its existence. The Turkish steamers
were badly equipped and inefficiently controlled, and being always in
a state of dilapidation became a byword of reproach even among the
Turkish subjects of Mesopotamia. It was not surprising, therefore, that
overtures on the part of this Company to obtain the English contract
for the carriage of mails were never seriously considered. Apart from
the unreliability of the service, there were strong political grounds
for supporting the Company which had done so much under the British
flag to open up the commerce of Mesopotamia.
Originally the merchants at the intermediate river ports of Kurnah,
Kut and Amara, on the Tigris, were accustomed to post letters on the
river mail boats and the clerk on board acted as a sort of travelling
postmaster, but it was not long before the Turkish authorities raised
objections to this practice as an infringement of their postal rights,
notwithstanding that they had a concession of free carriage of
Turkish official correspondence through the British Post. After much
correspondence and discussion between the Indian Political and Postal
authorities it was decided not to allow the mail steamer to be used
as a post office. Consequently all letters posted on board were made
over to the Ottoman post offices, and this procedure was also followed
in respect of local postings in the British post offices at Basra and
Bagdad for all places in Turkish Arabia.
The purely Consular status of the Post Office in the Persian Gulf
region was shown by the fact that our mail bags for Bagdad were
always labelled "H.M.'s Consul-General, Bagdad," and those for Basra
directed to "H.M.'s Consul," special seals with the Royal Arms being
used. The British Indian postmasters at these places held no written
communication with Turkish officials, and the rule was that all such
correspondence should pass through the Consul or Consul-General.
Service privileged correspondence between Turkish Government
departments, if properly franked, was allowed to pass free of postage
through our post offices at Bagdad and Basra, and registered letters
or packets suspected to contain precious stones, jewellery and other
valuables liable to duty were transferred to the local Customs House.
The Indian Post Office in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf was not
only the handmaiden of British commercial enterprise for many years,
but also helped in an unostentatious way to consolidate our position
and influence in those regions. Over thirty years ago a Persian Gulf
division was formed under the control of an European Superintendent
who had to supervise and visit the offices regularly. The postmasters
are either Indian Christians, Mohammedans or Hindus, and they are
invested by the backward and unenlightened inhabitants of the remote
Gulf ports with mysterious powers as the representatives of the great
Indian Government. Wild-looking Central Asian traders armed with dagger
and pistol, who bring down camel-loads of carpets, dried fruit and
other merchandise from the interior of Persia and the Mekran; courtly
and picturesque Arab horse-dealers who ship their thoroughbreds to
Bombay every year; sleek Persians in their sky-blue tunics; emancipated
negro slaves--all trust the postmaster in matters relating to their
private business as they would never trust one of their own kind. The
arrival of the weekly mail at a Persian Gulf port is like a festival.
The precincts of the post office are thronged with a large and motley
crowd drawn from all grades of the populace. Letters are delivered on
the premises on this day, and everyone who has any link with the outer
world is present on the off-chance of getting a communication through
the post. The postmaster or his munshi stands at an open window calling
out the addresses on the letters, the owners holding up their hands
when they hear their names called. Most letters are prefixed with the
word "Haji," which denotes that the recipients are good Mohammedans
who have made the pilgrimage to the Prophet's tomb at Mecca. The deep,
guttural Arabic or the soft Persian response is occasionally broken
by a reply in the more familiar Hindustani or Gujrati, for in each
Gulf port there is a small colony of Hindu traders from the West coast
of India, easily distinguishable by their alert and business-like
appearance. Women are conspicuous by their absence--more so, in fact,
than in other Eastern countries--but, after the crowd has dispersed, a
closely veiled and sheeted figure occasionally glides to the window and
in plaintive tones asks for some service, the performance of which she
must personally see to in the absence of her lord and master from home.
The Great War completely altered the conditions in Mesopotamia. In
consequence of the Turkish Government having ordered the closure of all
foreign post offices within their territory, the Indian post offices
at Bagdad and Basra were closed under protest on the 1st October, 1914.
The sub-postmaster, Basra, continued at work settling the affairs of
his office until the 27th October, 1914, and left for India next day,
whereas the Postmaster, Bagdad, was made a prisoner on the outbreak of
hostilities with Turkey on the 1st November, 1914, and the post office
property in his charge fell into the hands of the Turks.
The formal entry into Basra by British troops was made on the 23rd
November, 1914, and the postal service was undertaken by the Indian
Field Post Office. The service was developed and extended as the troops
advanced. A railway was constructed from Basra to Amara and from
Kut-el-Amara to Bagdad, and a regular mail service has been introduced
by river steamers between Amara and Kut-el-Amara. The transit time
of mails between Basra and Bagdad has thus been reduced to two days.
Excellent jetties have now been built at Basra, so that much time is
saved in loading and unloading mails, and, with well-equipped post
offices at all important places, the postal service of Mesopotamia has
become quite efficient.
Since the Armistice in 1918 the Indian Field Post Offices have been
gradually withdrawn and have been replaced by civil offices under
a Civil Director of Postal Services. The occupied territory in
Mesopotamia is known as Iraq, and Turkish postage stamps overprinted
with the words "Iraq under British Occupation" were introduced in 1918.
On the 1st May, 1919, the Military Director of Postal Services was
withdrawn and the postal administration of the country handed over to
the Civil Director, who is now an official of the Local Government.
A few Indian field post offices are still retained for the troops
stationed beyond the frontiers of Iraq, but these will be closed as
soon as military operations are finished.
The first Civil Director of the Post Office of Iraq was Mr. C. J. E.
Clerici, an officer of the Indian Establishment. Almost the whole staff
consists of men from the Post Office of India, and will continue to
do so until local men have been trained in postal work. Indian inland
postage rates were at first charged for correspondence exchanged
between India and Iraq, but from the 1st September, 1919, the British
Imperial foreign rates of postage were introduced. With the exception
of four post offices on the Persian Gulf--namely, Koweit, Abadan,
Mohammerah and Ahwaz, which are being administered by Iraq--the other
Indian post offices in the Persian Gulf area are still under the
control of the Post Office of India.
Such is the history of the establishment of the Indian Post Office in
Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf region. It began with the opening
of small offices for the British Consular Agencies and commercial
establishments of the East India Company. The public, however,
were not slow to take advantage of the means of communication thus
provided, and, despite the strenuous opposition of the Ottoman Empire,
a really efficient postal system was organized. The extension of
the Bagdad Railway, the Euphrates Valley irrigation project and the
opening of the Anglo-Persian oil field, whose pipe-line terminates
on the Shat-el-Arab, are the three great factors in the development
of Mesopotamia. This country already occupies a prominent place in
the affairs of the Empire, and, situated, as it is, on a main highway
between East and West, it is possible that the region, which was the
centre and cradle of the earliest civilization of the world, will
recover its old importance. When this has been achieved the Post Office
of India will always be able to look back with pride on the pioneer
work which it has done in its quiet, unassuming way during the past
half century.
CHAPTER XVI
THE POST OFFICE DURING THE INDIAN MUTINY
Every student of the history of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 knows the
part played by the Indian Telegraph Department during that great
crisis. The famous telegram of warning which was transmitted to the
principal stations in the Punjab by two young signallers of the Delhi
office (Messrs. Brendish and Pilkington) upon their own initiative on
the morning of the 11th May, 1857, when the Meerut rebels, flushed with
success, crossed the bridge of boats over the Jumna and entered the
city of Delhi to join hands with their comrades there, is a splendid
example of an assumption of responsibility followed by prompt action.
Sir Herbert Edwardes refers to the final telegraphic message sent by
Brendish to Mr. Montgomery, the Judicial Commissioner at Lahore, in
these terms:
"When the mutineers came over from Meerut and were cutting the throats
of the Europeans in every part of the Cantonment, a boy, employed in
the telegraph office at Delhi, had the presence of mind to send off
a message to Lahore to Mr. Montgomery, the Judicial Commissioner, to
tell him that the mutineers had arrived and had killed this civilian
and that officer, and wound up his message with the significant words
'we're off.' That was the end of the message. Just look at the courage
and sense of duty which made that little boy, with shots and cannon all
round him, manipulate that message, which, I do not hesitate to say,
was the means of the salvation of the Punjab."
In the General Report of the Telegraph Department for the year 1857-58
the Director-General remarked:
"The value of that last service of the Delhi office is best described
in the words of Montgomery: 'The electric telegraph has saved India.'"
Excellent work was also done by Post Office officials during the Indian
Mutiny, but unfortunately it is forgotten owing to its having received
little historical recognition. A perusal of musty records which lie in
the archives of the Indian Government reveals a record of duties well
performed in the midst of insuperable difficulties and dangers of which
the Department may well be proud.
At the time of the Mutiny the British Army in India was deficient
in the organization of two branches indispensable to the success
of military operations in the field, and it was left to the Post
Office to supply the want to a considerable extent. The Intelligence
and Transport Departments were in their infancy, and the military
authorities were not slow to take advantage of facilities afforded by
the Post Office. At the commencement of the outbreak it was evident
that postmasters in the affected districts were in a position to keep
the authorities accurately informed of the direction in which the
rebellion was spreading and to report the movements of the mutineers as
long as the postal lines of communication remained intact, especially
in the districts where there were no telegraph lines or where the wires
had been cut. Many officials--European, Eurasian and Indian--were
killed at the outset, post offices being looted and destroyed and mails
intercepted on the various lines wherever the rebels were in power.
Much valuable information regarding such occurrences was collected and
passed on to the authorities by postal employés in remote places. For
transport, the Army had ready at hand, on the trunk roads of India, the
machinery of the Post Office horse transit and bullock train, which was
then in a high state of efficiency, and was able to render incalculable
service in connection with the forward movement of troops and munitions
of war as well as the despatch down country of wounded officers and
men--and of refugees when the campaign was well advanced. After the
final Relief of Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell many of the ladies and
children of the garrison were conveyed by this means in safety to
Calcutta.
[Illustration: GROUP OF SENIOR OFFICERS IN 1907
P. ROGERS H. A. SAMS C. H. HARRISON C. H. HOGG E. R. JARDINE
G. R. CLARKE
E. A. DORAN H. N. HUTCHINSON C. STEWART WILSON H. C. SHERIDAN
W. MAXWELL
_Director General_
]
The Sepoy Mutiny began at Meerut on the 10th May, 1857. From the
18th May, 1857, onwards telegrams and letters were received at the
Director-General's headquarters in Calcutta from the postmasters at
Allahabad, Benares, Umballa and other stations, reporting the stoppage
of mail communication with places which had fallen into the hands of
the mutineers. News was also thus given of the destruction of post
offices and plunder of mails at Sitapore, Indore, Hirapore, Cawnpore,
Shahazadpore, Daryabad, Saugor, Segombe, Hamirpur, Jaunpor, Azimgarh
and many more places. On the 15th May, 1857, the Postmaster-General,
North-Western Provinces, gave instructions to his postmasters to
collect waggons and bullocks for the conveyance of troops. On the
21st May the Postmaster, Agra, reported to the Director-General
that Dr. Clark, who had been specially vested with the authority of
Postmaster-General in a portion of the North-Western Provinces, was
safe and well at Muttra, and was trying to open mail communication.
On the 26th May, 1857, the Postmaster, Benares, applied to the
Director-General for authority to supply horses for conveyance of
troops. Mr. H. B. Riddell, Director-General at the time, was fully
alive to the situation and set a brilliant example to all ranks. He
addressed the following letter to the Government of India from his camp
at Sherghotty on the 30th May, 1857:--
"I have the honour to report that arrangements have been made or are
in train which will, I trust, enable the Bullock Train establishment
to convey daily without interruption one hundred men from Raneegunge
to Benares. There will be fifty-six pairs of Bullocks at each stage
between Sherghotty and Benares.
"The Bullocks procurable are of the smallest and most miserable
description.... A workshop will be established at Dehree and, as the
road over the sand of the Soane will be broken up in a day or two, the
men of each detachment will be conveyed over in country carts, fresh
waggons being ready on the other side. I shall probably have to stay
to-morrow and make some arrangements at the Soane, but will, after
doing so, move on to Benares and arrange for the despatch of troops
from Benares to Allahabad. If the Commissariat bullocks are stationed
along the line and they have any covered carts, large detachments can
be sent every two or three days, but I will telegraph what can be done
when I reach Benares. In the meantime Commissariat Gun bullocks should
be stationed along the line."
The Director-General's efforts were ably seconded by Mr. C. K. Dove,
Postmaster-General, and Mr. Garrett, Deputy Postmaster-General of
Bengal, both of whom did all in their power to ensure the prompt
despatch of troops up country, calling in the aid of the local
magistrates to secure the best cattle and the services of the
Engineering Department to facilitate the passage of carts over
unbridged rivers along the Grand Trunk Road.
On the 2nd July, 1857, it was arranged to place the whole of the
Bullock Train establishment north of Benares at the disposal of the
military authorities. The transfer was made at the instance of General
Havelock, who had just assumed command of the troops at Allahabad.
He decided to use the Bullock Train entirely for the transport of
stores and ammunition to the front and, when the rains had broken and
the rivers became navigable, to convey troops by river steamers, a
far more convenient and expeditious means than road conveyance. When
it was necessary to use the roads, elephants were provided by the
Commissary-General at Calcutta and by local zemindars (landholders).
On the 29th July, 1857, the Government of India published a
notification authorizing the Chief Covenanted Civil or Military officer
at every station throughout India where there was a post office under
a Deputy Postmaster and no resident Postmaster had been specially
appointed, to assume the office of Postmaster or to assign the office
to some other Covenanted Civil or Military Officer at the station,
reporting the arrangement in each instance for the information of
the Postmaster-General of the Presidency. The Deputy Postmaster was
to perform duties connected with the post office under the orders of
the Postmaster so appointed. The functions of Inspecting Postmasters
remained unaffected by this order, and post offices at places where
there was no covenanted Civil or Military Officer were left in charge
of the Deputy Postmasters. These orders were necessitated by the
interruption of mail communication between many post offices and
their head-quarters and the difficulty of control being exercised
by Postmasters-General who were not always in a position to issue
prompt instructions to their subordinates in matters of importance
or emergency. At the same time no general power of censorship over
correspondence was granted to officers, nor was anything done to
diminish public confidence in the Government mail service.
Reports regarding the plunder of mails continued to come in from
places as far removed as Kolhapur in the Southern Mahratta country and
Bahraich in the United Provinces. Mails between Bengal and the United
Provinces on one side and the Punjab on the other had to be diverted
via Bombay, the Commissioner of Sind taking the responsibility for
their safe despatch through Hyderabad (Sind). Many of the reports from
postmasters referred to fresh outbreaks, and the movements of mutineers
who did not hesitate to remove dak horses from relay stations on the
mail routes whenever they had the chance. The information contained in
these letters was duly passed on to the military authorities.
In connection with the correspondence for the army in the field, post
offices were organized to accompany the movable columns under General
Havelock, the Malwa Field Force and later the divisions commanded by
General Outram and other distinguished leaders. During the campaign
soldiers' letters were exempt from forward postage.
The large tract of country known as the North-Western Provinces and
Oudh was the focus of the disturbance of 1857, and the strain put upon
the postal officials in those provinces was greater than in other
affected parts of the country. Most of the post offices and mail lines
had to be closed at the beginning of the outbreak and were reopened one
by one, as order was gradually restored by the British forces. A most
interesting narrative of the interruption in the mail arrangements in
the North-Western Provinces and Punjab subsequent to the outbreak at
Meerut and Delhi on the 10th and 11th May, 1857, was supplied by Mr.
Paton, Postmaster-General, and will be found in Appendix G.
As might be expected, the outbreak of the Mutiny caused a complete
disorganization of postal communications, and the task of restoring
mail lines in hostile territory was no easy one. The pay offered by
the Department was not sufficient to induce men to risk their lives in
isolated places, which were always open to attacks by the mutineers or
by bands of armed villagers, and it is characteristic of the Indian
Government at the time that they expected men to serve for salaries
which were admitted to be inadequate even in times of peace. I will
quote extracts from the reports of the Postmasters-General of the
North-Western Provinces, Bengal and Bombay, which throw an interesting
light upon the difficulties with which the Post Office had to contend
in these troublous times.
Report of the Postmaster-General, North-Western Provinces, for the year
ending the 31st March, 1858:
"In consequence of the rebellion, the Post Offices and lines of postal
communication in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh were closed
more or less, nearly throughout the year under review, and many of
those in Oude and Bundelkund have not yet been reopened, owing to
a portion of the above Provinces being still in the hands of the
rebels, so that a report of the transactions of the present year is
chiefly a narrative of the effects of the disturbances on the Post
Office Department, The results shown herein cannot therefore be fairly
compared with those of the previous years.
"The number of complaints of the loss and missending of letters
during the year under review is comparatively greater than many of
the previous years, which is chiefly owing to the frequent loss of
the mails on different lines of road by rebels, their transmission by
circuitous routes from the direct lines being closed or unsafe, and
their irregular despatch by inexperienced hands employed in the Camp
Post Offices.
"The proportion of bearing to paid or stamped letters is 0.974 to
1, which shows a progressive increase in the number of the former.
This may be fairly attributed to the general habit of the natives,
especially those in the army, and also among lower classes to despatch
their letters bearing, more particularly at this period, when, from
the constant movements of the troops from one place to another and
the disturbed state of the country, they are undoubtedly liable to
miscarry.
"I may also observe that a very large number of letters posted by the
military and lower classes of the people are intended for places in
the interior of districts, and, as the District Post establishments
have not yet been fully reorganized, there is no guarantee for their
punctual or safe delivery. Natives, being real economists, naturally
prefer the despatch of their letters bearing, and so prevent any loss
from prepayment of postage.
"The staff of the Department was much reduced by casualties during
the late mutinies, and much difficulty has been experienced in
procuring properly qualified persons to accept employment. A large
number of offices having had to be hastily reopened, the demand for
English-speaking clerks has been unprecedented, and, without raising
the salaries, I could not fill up the vacancies in the Post Office.
"It is not a matter of surprise that extraordinary difficulty has
been experienced in reorganizing the Post Office in such a crisis,
when it is recollected that the salaries allowed to the officers
of the Department are on a scale below that generally obtained in
other Departments, that there are no holidays allowed them, and
that leave of absence, excepting on medical certificate, is in a
measure prohibited, owing to the establishment being generally on
such a minimum scale as not to admit of any one being absent without
providing a trained substitute.
"But notwithstanding an increase to the salaries of the officials
having been generally granted to the extent that I have represented
as necessary, I regret to have to record that I have not yet been
able to complete the revision of all the office establishments to
my satisfaction. There are still many incompetent officials in the
Department, whom I am obliged to tolerate, until I meet with better
qualified persons to take their places.
"As might be expected from an inexperienced or untrained
establishment, working under great disadvantages, a comparatively
large number of complaints of the missending and loss of letters have
been received during the year under review, and, though every care
has been taken to prevent mistakes, yet, from the circumstance of
the direction on letters being often hastily and illegibly written,
and the army, in numerous detached parties, constantly in the field,
without their locality or destination being correctly known to the
Post Office, the percentage of missent covers for the troops has
unavoidably been great.
"I have again to remark the increase in the number of bearing letters;
but considering the unsettled state of these Provinces, it is only
what might be expected. I need not here repeat the reasons which
induce the non-commercial class of natives to send their letters
bearing postage.
"Taking into consideration the variety of languages in which native
letters are generally written, and the very careless and illegible
manner in which the directions and the names of addressees and senders
are given, I am of opinion that the proportion disposed of at my
office (being about 33 per cent on the whole number received) is
satisfactory."
Report of the Postmaster-General, Bengal, for the year 1857-58:
"The mutinies which broke out in the North-Western Provinces in May,
1857, were also felt during the past year in the Bengal Presidency,
and parts of the province were more or less affected by them, but,
happily for Bengal, the interruptions and disorganization to her
Postal Department caused by them were, by the adoption of prompt and
vigorous measures, speedily restored. The Post Office Department,
however, did not escape--a Deputy Postmaster and an Overseer were
killed, a runner was wounded, a number of post offices, especially in
Behar, were plundered, and a number of mails and mail packets were
seized and destroyed by the mutinous sepoys.
"The rebellion of Koer Sing and the mutinies of the Dinapore sepoys
interrupted and closed for a short time a portion of the Grand Trunk
Road between Saseram and Benares, and the insurgents carried off some
cattle belonging to the Department, and also burnt down some dak
bungalows above Sherghotty.
"The revolt of the hill tribes on the southern line in the
neighbourhood of Sumbulpore disturbed the communication with Bombay
via Sumbulpore, which had been opened after the interruption of
communication with Bombay by the Jubbulpore road, and the rebellion
of the Ramghur Battalion disorganized the daks for a while in the
South-West Frontier Agency between Chota Nagpore and Chyebassa.
"The mutinies of the Chittagong sepoys and the Segowlee insurgents
caused only the destruction of some packets that fell into their
hands, but passed off without any serious interruption to any mail
line in Bengal."
Report of the Postmaster-General, Bombay, for the year 1857-58:
"The mutinies imperilled and interrupted almost every line in the
Presidency; the foot lines were obliged to be strengthened, diverted,
abandoned and reopened as circumstances required; those most severely
tried were in Malwa, Rajpootana, Khandeish, Berar, the Southern
Mahratta country and Guzerat, on some of which double pay and double
numbers were scarcely sufficient to keep them open, and it was only by
the activity, local knowledge, morale and reliance of the inspecting
officers (always supported strongly by the Civil officers), whose
powers were discretionally enlarged by me, that the lines were
sustained.
"It is remarkable that in the midst of universal disturbance
(especially in Malwa and Rajpootana), when distrust and confusion were
at their height, and opportunities for plunder were frequent, and
detection next to impossible, only one case occurred, or rather was
brought home, in which the carriers of the mails either personally
plundered or wilfully destroyed them.
"Although animosity was directed against the servants of the Post
Office in common with every class of persons in Government employ,
it was not especially so in this Presidency against the Post Office,
unless where the collections offered temptation, as at Indore,
Erinpoora, Neemuch and Mundessore, which offices were assailed and
gutted.
"The knowledge that other lines of post either existed or would
assuredly be established, and that no efforts would be left unemployed
to effect free postal intercourse whenever required, possibly
pointed to the futility of a general crusade against post runners.
Nevertheless, both as a precaution against disappointment and as
removing a source of temptation, banghy parcels were discontinued for
four months, from July until November.
"The only lines which have been permanently closed are four branch
lines in Malwa.
"That no coercion was used, and that the post was kept open (it is
true by circuitous routes, but still open) all through this postal
range, is strong evidence that the feeling of the country was not
unfavourable to British authority; it was found that whenever a road
was impracticable, it was rendered so only from fear of the acts of
rebels, upon whose departure or overthrow the post line was again
opened.
"Exempt as the post carriers have been from concurrence in the
general insurrection, the conduct of the other descriptions of
postal servants has been not less good, with the exception of those
attached to the Indore post office. There the temptation of plunder
excited an overseer and peon, and the people of the workshop, to
join in plundering the post office and premises, and one kitmutgar
(table servant), a Mussulman at Samwere, near Oojein, hounded on some
miscreants to murder an European serjeant from Mahidpore, who took
refuge in it, for which he was subsequently hanged, and the others
transported.
"In the higher grades, the conduct of the postal officers has been
very exemplary; no instance has occurred in which a postmaster either
deserted his post, or has been suspected of having made use of his
position to give information, to open letters, or to favour in any way
the rebel cause.
"Ten travellers' bungalows and seven post offices have been burned
down, and ten evacuated, of which three only have remained closed.
This does not represent the extent of injury done, or loss occasioned,
the destruction of stamps, and in other ways by the carrying away of
mail carts, destruction of property, and loss in postage collection,
and compensation to people in postal employ for good behaviour, or for
personal suffering."
The success of the postal arrangements during the Mutiny is largely due
to the organization and example of Mr. Riddell, the Director-General,
who attended to all important matters personally. He was assisted
by the loyal devotion of the entire staff, and the men whose names
may be mentioned for special services are Mr. Dove, officiating
Postmaster-General, Bengal; Mr. Bennett, Mr. Wallace and Mr. McGowan,
of the Bengal establishment; Lala Salig Ram in the North-Western
Provinces; Dr. Clark and Mr. H. A. Brown in Agra; Captain Fanshawe
and Babu Eshan Chander Mookerjee in Aligarh; Mr. Taylor in the
Deccan and Babu Sheo Pershad in Delhi. Where so many did well it
seems invidious to mention only a few names, and the President in
Council, when thanking the Director-General for the work done by the
Post Office during the crisis, expressed the high opinion which the
Government entertained of the services rendered by all the officers of
the Department, European and Indian, in circumstances of the greatest
difficulty.
Enough has been written to show the nature of the help given to the
Indian Empire by the staff of the Post Office during the Mutiny. It is
a record of loyalty and devotion to duty of which the Department may
well be proud.
CHAPTER XVII
THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE
In a country where there is seldom perfect peace it is only natural
that the Post Office must accustom itself to war conditions, and the
Field Postal Service has been a feature of the Indian Post Office for
more than sixty years. During that period there have been over forty
wars and expeditions, extending from Burma to the Mediterranean, and,
as postal arrangements were required for the forces engaged, the Field
Post Office system in India has been gradually developed and perfected,
and is now recognized as an important part of the military organization
of the country.
Field Post Office arrangements used to be in the hands of the
Postmaster-General of the Punjab, and he maintained lists of men
willing to serve. In 1918, however, owing to the wide distribution of
the postal staff in various parts of the world, it was found necessary
to bring the Field Post organization under the immediate control of
the Director-General. When an expedition is announced, the forces of
the Post Office are immediately mobilized according to the strength of
the field army, and, as the staff required for a brigade and division
has been settled by long experience, no time is lost in getting the
necessary number of men to the assembling stations.
The regulations for the working of Field Post Offices are laid down
in the Indian Field Service Manual and the Postal Manual (War),
two handbooks issued by the Indian Army Department; and a complete
equipment of tents and furniture, sufficient for three base post
offices, fifty first-class and twenty second-class field offices,
and for the use of the supervisory staff, is kept at Lahore ready
for immediate despatch. When the Department has to make its own
arrangements for the carriage of mails between the base post office and
the field offices, overseers are employed to supervise the transit. The
establishment laid down for a base office is one postmaster, two deputy
or assistant postmasters, fifteen clerks and ten menials, but these
numbers must necessarily vary with the number of field offices required
with the different units.
Postal officials in the field are subject to full military discipline
under the Army Act. Superior officers wear field service khaki uniform
with badges of rank and the letters "Post" in brass on the shoulders.
A Deputy Postmaster-General or Assistant Director-General of the
Post Office ranks as a Lieutenant-Colonel, and a Superintendent as
Major, Captain or Lieutenant, according to his grade and length of
service. Subordinate officials, if Europeans, are classed as Assistant
Commissaries, Sub-Conductors or Sergeants, according to their pay, and
Indians are given rank as Subadars, Jemadars, Havildars or Naiks. Field
allowances, in addition to pay, are fixed according to a sanctioned
scale, the rate for a Director or Superintendent being 25 per cent
of his pay, subject to a minimum monthly allowance of Rs.100 in the
case of the latter. Inspectors and Postmasters draw Rs.90 a month in
addition to pay, other subordinates being remunerated at a lower rate.
In virtue of the military rank held by them, officers and subordinates
are entitled to all privileges and advantages for service in the field,
such as wound pensions, family pensions, medals and compensation for
loss of baggage.
The officer in charge of field post offices is attached to the
head-quarters of an Expeditionary Force as adviser to the Military
Authorities on all postal matters; he is required to visit the base and
field post offices as frequently as possible, and is responsible for
the proper working and efficiency of mail arrangements. He arranges
with headquarters for carriage of mails between the base and the
field, fixes the hours of despatch of mails from all post offices
and the hours during which money orders are issued, and also settles
the question of making over cash collections to the nearest Field
Paymaster, Treasure Chest Officer, Regimental Accounts Officer or Post
Commandant, as the case may be.
The development of the Field Postal System has been gradual and has
undergone many changes. The earliest record of a regular Indian Post
Office staff proceeding for active service with a military force is
in connection with the Persian Expedition of 1856. The establishment
consisted of two clerks, an interpreter (moonshee) and four peons,
and, as no suitable departmental officer could be found to take charge
of the arrangements, the Government of Bombay appointed the Military
Paymaster of the Persian Expeditionary Force to take control.
The work accomplished by the Post Office during the Indian Mutiny has
been described in a separate chapter. Every office situated within the
wide area of the disturbances or on the line of march of the troops
performed the functions of a field post office, the control of the
arrangements devolving on the chief local civil or military authority
in places where there was no departmental officer of sufficient
seniority or rank to hold charge. The great services rendered by the
Post Office horse transit and bullock train establishments to the
Army were a prominent feature of the campaign. Separate field post
offices accompanied the moving columns under Generals Havelock, Outram,
Campbell, Hugh Rose, Hope Grant and other leaders. Twenty years later,
when the Afghan war broke out, the Army had again to rely on the Post
Office for the transport of mails and military stores for hundreds of
miles through the Khyber and Bolan passes into Afghanistan.
The extension of the railways to the frontiers of India has put an
end to this branch of postal enterprise. Mail tonga lines worked by
contractors still flourish on routes where there are no railways, but
they are being gradually supplanted by motor conveyances.
A scheme under which the Post Office should maintain a large number
of motor mail vans, which could be used in time of war for military
transport, has already been suggested, and it is one well worth
consideration. An arrangement of this kind should go far towards
solving the problem of maintaining transport in times of peace, and
should prove advantageous and economical to both the Army and the Post
Office.
The success of the Indian Field Post Office in the numerous wars and
expeditions in which it has been employed can be vouched for by the
reports of commanding officers. Experience has been bought by long
practice, and the Department never loses an opportunity of training its
staff for military service. At the great military manoeuvres which are
frequently held during the cold weather in India the troops engaged
are always accompanied by field post offices fully equipped for war
conditions, with the result that there is always a large body of men
in the Post Office thoroughly trained in this kind of work. On field
service the postal official is "Nobody's child." He has to fend for
himself, and, although transport is told off for the conveyance of camp
equipment and mails, it is seldom forthcoming when required. The Army
Head-quarters Staff looks after its own post office, but is inclined to
regard the others as an encumbrance, and this attitude has developed a
faculty of "slimness" in the field postal officer, which he uses for
defeating military regulations. He has become an expert in stealing
transport; a mule, a cart, a few coolies, a motor lorry, even an idle
railway train, all serve his purpose as occasion rises, and his motto
is "Get there, if not by fair means, then somehow," and get there he
generally does. He has an uncanny instinct for finding out the secret
destination of his brigade and is often on the ground, sorting the
mail, before the troops arrive.
Mr. Charles Sheridan, a very well-known member of the Department,
used to tell an amusing story of the horror of a senior staff officer
meeting him one day on a frontier road pronounced absolutely unfit for
wheeled traffic. Mr. Sheridan was driving along merrily with the mails
in a two-horsed tonga; it was the shortest road and he took it, and the
staff had to reconsider seriously their strategic plans, simply because
the Superintendent of the Postal Service would not act according to
military instructions.
The heart of the field postal system in any campaign is the Base
Office. It is there that all information concerning the movements of
regiments and units is carefully recorded. Lists of officers are kept
in alphabetical order, and these lists are kept corrected from day to
day on information received from the various field offices. The Base
Office controls the main routes of mails to the divisional and brigade
offices, it issues instructions and is ready to supply reliefs. It
searches for missing men, disposes of undeliverable correspondence and
has a hospital for repairing articles damaged in transit; in fact, the
smooth running of the whole organization depends on the work done at
the Base.
The arrangements for conveying the mails between the base office and
the field offices devolves on the supervising officers, and endless
difficulties have to be faced in order to obtain transport. A great
deal depends on the personality of the postal officer in charge. If
he is a pleasant fellow and popular with the transport staff he can
get most things done, but, if he is insistent on his rights and has
not learnt the meaning of "give and take" on a campaign, he will get
nothing but excuses and regrets, the mail bags will be left behind in
the last camp, irate Colonels will write to their personal friend the
Director-General and the promising career of a conscientious public
servant will be seriously injured.
In Appendix H is given a list of the most important expeditions in
which field post offices have been employed, with a brief account
of the arrangements made on each occasion. Most of these were small
frontier wars and little difficulty was felt in providing the
personnel. The Great War, however, was a very different matter. It
necessitated the despatch of large numbers of post offices all over
the world, and the demand on the resources of the Post Office of India
was on such a vast scale that an account of it has been reserved for a
separate chapter.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE DURING THE GREAT WAR
In 1914, when war broke out, a large postal contingent accompanied the
troops sent to France. It was under the control of Mr. Pilkington,
Assistant Director-General of the Post Office, who had the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel, and it comprised one Base Office and 22 field
offices, with a staff of 13 supervising officers, 22 field postmasters,
84 clerks and 78 menials. During the early years of the war the work
performed by this staff was very heavy. Frequently over 23,000 letters
and 2000 parcels would arrive for the Indian contingent in one day,
while newspapers published in England were regularly received for
delivery to the troops. At the end of 1916 the Indian field postal
staff in France was considerably reduced, as large numbers accompanied
the Indian troops transferred to Egypt and Mesopotamia, and at the end
of the war only one or two field offices remained to serve some Labour
Corps units which had been left behind.
At the end of 1916 Mesopotamia was the most important theatre of
war so far as the Indian Post Office was concerned. A small field
postal contingent was sent in 1914 and was steadily increased as the
operations extended. Mr. A. B. Thompson, Deputy Postmaster-General,
was the first Director of Postal Services. He was succeeded in 1917
by Mr. A. J. Hughes, who had been Deputy Director in Egypt. By the
end of 1917 the army was so large and the work of the Post Office
so extensive that it was decided to place an officer of the rank of
Postmaster-General in charge, and Mr. H. A. Sams, Postmaster-General,
Central Circle, was selected to be Director of Postal Services in
Mesopotamia. By 1918 the staff consisted of 17 superintendents,
45 inspectors, 2 base postmasters, 7 deputy postmasters, 79 field
postmasters, 542 clerks and 797 menials. The Field Post Office in
Mesopotamia had not only military work, but also a great deal of civil
work. The magnitude of the business may be gauged by the following
monthly figures:--
ABOUT
Number of letters received and despatched 12,000,000
Number of parcels received and despatched 70,000
Number of money orders issued and paid 67,000
Value of money orders issued and paid Rs.30,00,000
Large numbers of British postal orders were also sold and Savings Bank
business was freely transacted.
During the year 1916 a great deal of difficulty was experienced in
Mesopotamia in dealing with returned letters, the addressees of which
could not be traced. To dispose of these a Returned Letter Office was
established at Basra, for which a staff of 165 permanent base men was
employed. Subsequently, as these men were released or recalled to
military duty, their places were taken by Anglo-Indian boys recruited
in India. The establishment of the Returned Letter Office put a stop
to very many complaints regarding loss of letters. The office used to
deal with about 200,000 articles a month and worked very efficiently
under the supervision of the Base Postmaster, Basra.
Upon the fall of Kut the field post office there shared the fate of the
garrison, and a number of postal officials were taken prisoners of war
by the Turks.
From the beginning of 1918 to the end of the war the postal service in
Mesopotamia was extremely good, and both in Basra and Bagdad a regular
local post was established and deliveries by postmen were introduced.
At the end of 1918 a number of civil post offices were opened and
steps were taken to close down field post offices wherever possible.
From the 1st May, 1919, the postal administration of Mesopotamia was
finally handed over to the civil authorities and almost all the field
post offices were withdrawn, but a very large proportion of the Indian
Field staff remained in the country and took service under the new Iraq
Government.
Next in importance to Mesopotamia came the Indian postal services in
Egypt, Palestine and Salonika, and in these places the Indian field
post offices worked side by side with the British Army Postal Corps.
In 1915 they were under the control of Mr. A. J. Hughes as Deputy
Director, who was succeeded later by Mr. S. C. Sinclair. In 1915
Indian field post offices were sent to Gallipoli, and the work done
by them there won the warm appreciation of the military authorities.
The extension of operations to Palestine necessitated the despatch of
a number of field post offices to that country. In 1918 it was found
necessary to separate the postal contingent at Salonika from the
control of the Deputy Director in Egypt, and the force was placed in
charge of Mr. A. Gillespie as an independent Assistant Director, with
a staff of 1 base postmaster, 2 inspectors, 28 field postmasters and
clerks and 36 menials. The Salonika postal service extended to Baku and
Constantinople, where there were Indian field post offices.
Field post offices were sent to East Africa in 1914 under the
control of Mr. K. A. Appleby, who was subsequently made a Brevet
Lieutenant-Colonel. The organization consisted of a base office, 25
field post offices, with a staff of 4 superintendents, 6 inspectors, 1
base postmaster, 25 field postmasters, 76 clerks and 67 menials. About
a million letters and parcels were handled monthly by this staff, and
work had to be carried on under the most trying conditions, as many of
the mail lines traversed country covered with thick jungle. In 1917
and 1918 the whole postal service of German East Africa was carried
on by the Indian Field Post Office, and the greatest credit is due to
Lieutenant-Colonel Appleby for the excellent arrangements made by him.
In 1918 Lieutenant Kilman was sent to take control of the field
post offices attached to the East Persian Cordon between Meshed and
Dalbandin. The East Persian Cordon was subsequently known as the Force
in East Persia, and the postal organization consisted of 1 Base post
office and 13 field post offices, with a staff of an Assistant Director
of Posts and Telegraphs, 1 inspector, 1 base postmaster, 13 field
postmasters, 31 clerks and 54 menials.
A field post office contingent was also sent to Bushire in 1918 in
connection with the operations between Bushire and Shiraz. This was
placed under the control of Mr. C. F. Quilter as Assistant Director,
who was also given control of the postal arrangements of the British
Mission Escort in South Persia operating from Bunder-Abbas to Kerman
and Shiraz. The British Mission Escort commenced its operations
early in 1916 and its postal arrangements were in charge of Captain
Greene, R. E., Superintendent of post offices, prior to their being
taken over by Mr. Quilter. Up to March, 1919, the postal organization
of the Bushire Force and British Mission Escort consisted of 2
Base post offices and 18 field post offices, with a staff of an
Assistant Director, a Deputy Assistant Director, 2 inspectors, 2 base
postmasters, 18 field postmasters, 49 clerks and 86 menials. From
April, 1919, the Force was considerably reduced and a large portion of
the field postal staff was withdrawn.
The operations in the neighbourhood of Aden led to the establishment of
a few field post offices under the postmaster of Aden, who carried out
this work in addition to his own.
The total number of officials of the Indian field post offices serving
with the various Expeditionary Forces in 1918 was about two thousand,
and with this large contingent serving abroad the Department in India
had to undertake the difficult task of equipping and despatching
regular reinforcements to the several theatres of war. In order to deal
with the enormous quantity of Army mails, both originating in India and
received from abroad, two special base offices were established, one
at Bombay and one at Karachi. The Base Office in Bombay was converted
in 1918 into a Base Postal Depot, and in addition to dealing with the
mails for the troops it was also assigned the duty of recruitment
and mobilization of postal reinforcements. The establishment of the
Base Postal Depot in Bombay solved many of the difficulties which
attended the organization of field post offices and the disposal of
mails for armies in the field. The depot was divided into four main
sections for Enquiry, Sorting, Mobilization and Correspondence. The
chief duty of the Enquiry section was to ensure the correct delivery of
correspondence for the troops that had returned or had been invalided
from the field. This section was in charge of a lady Superintendent
with forty lady clerks, and their duty was to keep up to date a regular
record giving the names, designations and addresses of officers and
men who had returned to India. The Enquiry section kept its records
by means of index cards, of which there were over 133,000 when the
armistice was declared. About 330,000 letters monthly were disposed of
in this section.
In the Sorting section the average number of postal articles dealt
with in a month was about one million. The sorting of mails for all
the forces was done by units, separate bundles or packets being
prepared for the officers and men with each unit. These mails were
then forwarded ready sorted to the base offices at the various fronts,
where they were distributed to the field offices serving the units in
question.
The Mobilization section dealt with all matters relating to the
mobilization of the staff recruited in India for service overseas. Only
men who had volunteered for field service were taken, and on receiving
orders these men reported themselves to the Officer Commanding, Base
Postal Depot, Bombay, who arranged for their kit, uniform and transport
to the force for which they were detailed. The Correspondence section
dealt with all complaints regarding postal articles for the field
forces, and, by being in close connection with the Enquiry branch, it
was able to dispose of a large number of complaints without delay.
The Base Postal Depot, Bombay, was thus the most essential factor
in the whole postal organization, and the smooth working of mail
arrangements for the Expeditionary Forces depended very largely upon
its efficiency. The Depot was directly under the control of the
Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs and in charge of Captain Love,
a pensioned officer of the Department, who had retired as Presidency
Postmaster, Bombay.
To reward the good work done by the Indian postal staff in the field,
no less than fifty-two personal distinctions were granted and over
three hundred men were mentioned in despatches. The Department may
well be proud of its achievements during the war. Volunteers were
always ready to come forward for service in the worst places and many
lost their lives. The best proof of their work, however, is the high
reputation which the Post Office of India has earned among all branches
of the Army.
CHAPTER XIX
INDIAN POSTAGE STAMPS
The first issue of postage stamps in India was made by Sir Bartle
Frere in the Province of Scinde (now spelt Sind) in 1852. At that time
the post offices of Scinde were administered by the Local Government,
and it was not until 1855 that they were placed under the control of
the Postmaster-General of Bombay. The Scinde District dawk stamps
are very rare. There were three kinds: (1) the design embossed on
white paper without colour; (2) blue embossed on white paper; (3)
the design embossed on vermilion wafers. The design is shown in the
accompanying illustration (Fig. 1), and the central portion consists of
a modification of the broad arrow used by the East India Company. The
issue was a comparatively small one, and the stamps were withdrawn from
use in September, 1854.
The early postal system of India was solely used for official purposes,
and it was not until 1837 that a public post was established. Postage
rates varied with distance, and the charge was levied in cash, the
lowest rate being two annas for every hundred miles. For this purpose
copper tokens of the value of two annas were struck which were
available for the prepayment of postage.
In 1850 a Commission was appointed to inquire into the working of the
Post Office, and among its recommendations were the formation of an
Imperial Post Office of India under a Director-General, the abolition
of franking and the employment of stamps in prepayment of postage.
[Illustration: EARLY STAMPS
FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4]
[Illustration: SHEET OF FOUR ANNA STAMPS, 1854. PRINTED IN CALCUTTA]
There was a great deal of discussion between the Indian Government
and the Court of Directors in London as to where the stamps should be
manufactured; the former desired to procure them from England, but the
latter, on the ground of economy, decided that sufficiently good stamps
could be made in India. The first effort was a design of the "Lion and
Palm tree" made by Colonel Forbes of the Calcutta Mint. This essay
(Fig. 2), however, was never used, as the Mint could not promise a
sufficient supply. Subsequently the manufacture of stamps was entrusted
to the Survey Office, and after many failures Captain Thuillier, Deputy
Surveyor-General, succeeded in producing nine hundred sheets of red
half-anna stamps by means of lithography. These stamps are known as the
red ½ anna stamps "with 9½ arches" and were printed in sheets of one
hundred and twenty, consisting of twelve rows of ten labels. They were
sent to Bombay on the 5th April, 1854, but after despatch it was found
that the stock of vermilion was exhausted, and as the same quality of
ink could not be procured in India a new ink was prepared and at the
same time a fresh design was made. Owing to the fresh design, it was
decided not to issue the "9½ arches" stamps. It is disappointing to
think that this first and historic set of Indian stamps was never used
postally; but the omission does not seem to have detracted from their
philatelic value. Good specimens are very rare, and command a high
price in the market.
The design for the ½ anna stamp that was finally accepted was one of
eight arches, and it was printed in blue. There are three distinct
shades of blue in the 1854 issues, varying from deep to pale. These
stamps were prepared by engraving on copper plate and transferring to
stones. The sheets consisted of twelve horizontal rows of eight stamps
on paper watermarked with the arms of the East India Company. The
sheets, dated May and July, 1854, were evidently made up of blocks of
twenty-four stamps, repeated four times on each sheet. This is apparent
from the fact that the fifth stamp in each of the third, sixth, ninth
and twelfth rows is slightly out of alignment, and the sixth stamp in
each of the first, fourth, seventh and ninth rows has had the chignon
redrawn (Plate facing p. 180). The sheets are not perforated, and are
without gum: 333,399 sheets were printed in 1854 and 48,831 in 1855.
The 1 anna stamp was printed in vermilion-red, and 26,897 sheets were
ready by August, 1854; there were further supplies of 54,961 sheets in
November, 1854, and 15,834 sheets by November, 1855.
The colour selected for the 2 annas stamp was green, and the printing
was completed in October, 1854. There is no record of the number
printed.
The need for a 4 annas stamp was badly felt for postage to the United
Kingdom, which cost 1 rupee 4 annas an ounce in 1854. A design was
prepared in two colours, blue and red, and the first sheets contained
only twelve stamps (Plate facing p. 178), and the first supply
consisted of 17,170 sheets delivered on 14th October, 1854; in all
61,580 sheets were printed. In April, 1855, a new setting was adopted
with twenty-four stamps on a sheet, and two arrangements of this
setting were made, one with the stamps much closer together than the
other.
[Illustration: BLOCK SHOWING ONE THIRD OF A SHEET OF BLUE HALF ANNA
STAMPS OF 1854. PRINTED IN CALCUTTA]
All the stamps referred to above were prepared by Captain Thuillier,
who subsequently became General Sir Henry Thuillier, C.S.I.,
Surveyor-General of India.
In November, 1855, stamps of the value of ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 annas were
received from Messrs. De La Rue & Co. The designs were engraved on
steel and the stamps were printed on white wove unwatermarked paper
with white gum. The 4 and 8 annas are also found printed on a highly
glazed thick bluish paper without watermark. These stamps supplanted
the old issues manufactured in India, but the stocks of the latter were
not finally called in and destroyed until 1858.
In 1860 8 pies[7] stamps were on sale in India. These were required for
prepayment of soldiers' letters to the United Kingdom. Up to August,
1855, British soldiers' correspondence was carried free of charge, but
when this privilege was withdrawn they had the option of prepaying the
postage in cash at 9 pies a tola (2/5 of an ounce) or else affixing a
stamp for 8 pies. Up to 1864 certain changes were made in the colours
of some of these stamps; the 2 annas green was altered to brown-pink
early in 1856, subsequently to buff, and then to yellow. At the end of
1864 the colour of the 4 annas was changed from black to green, as the
stamp had been forged.
The 8 annas and 4 annas stamps on bluish glazed paper, and the 4 annas,
1 anna and 8 pies on white paper, have been found cut in halves upon
postal articles in order to pay half their face value postage. All
covers found with these bisected stamps were posted in Singapore, which
had an Indian post office at the time.
The first issue of Indian postage stamps with the elephant's head
watermarked was made in 1866. The values bearing this watermark are ½
anna, 8 pies, 1 anna, 2 annas 9 pies, 4 annas, 6 annas, 6 annas 8 pies,
12 annas, 1 rupee.
The 6 annas 8 pies stamps were printed as this was the rate per ounce
for letters to the United Kingdom via Marseilles between 1863 and 1874.
The stamps, however, were not actually issued until 1867, and their
sale was discontinued in 1874, when the Marseilles route was abandoned.
Up to 1882 all the Indian stamps printed in London were of smaller
size than English stamps, and they bore the inscription "EAST INDIA
POSTAGE." In 1882 new dies on a larger scale were prepared by Messrs.
De La Rue, and the inscription was changed to "INDIA POSTAGE." The
values issued were ½ anna 9 pies, 1 anna, 1 anna 6 pies, 2 annas, 3
annas, 4 annas, 4 annas 6 pies, 8 annas, 12 annas, 1 rupee. The stamps
were printed on medium white wove paper watermarked with a five-pointed
star.
On 1st January, 1891, the postage to the United Kingdom was reduced
to 2 annas and 6 pies, and a new stamp was prepared. Until the new
issue was ready the 4 annas 6 pies stamps were surcharged with "2½
As." Bi-coloured stamps of 1 rupee, 2 rupees, 3 rupees and 5 rupees
were also printed and a provisional 3 pies stamp was issued, made by
surcharging the ½ anna stamp with "¼" in black. The stamps of 2, 3 and
5 rupees were of specially large size and bore a later portrait of the
Queen (Fig. 3). This portrait was also adopted for the 3 pies carmine
stamp which was issued in 1899. Owing to the decision of the Postal
Union to have uniform colours for stamps representing the initial rates
of international postages the colours of the ½ anna, 1 anna and 2 annas
6 pies stamps were changed to yellow-green, carmine and ultramarine.
This necessitated a change in the 3 pies from carmine to grey and in
the 2 annas from ultramarine to mauve.
[Illustration: SPECIMEN VICTORIAN ISSUES]
The King Edward VII issues of 1902-3 were of the same corresponding
values as those of the Queen Victoria stamps 1882-1900. The colours are
3 pies, grey; ½ anna, yellow-green; 1 anna, carmine; 2 annas, mauve; 2
annas 6 pies, ultramarine; 3 annas, orange-brown; 4 annas, olive-green;
6 annas, bistre; 8 annas, purple; 12 annas, purple on red paper; 1
rupee, green and carmine; 2 rupees, carmine and yellow-brown; 3 rupees
brown and green; 5 rupees, ultramarine and violet.
In 1906 it was decided to abolish the special receipt stamp and to
use the ½ anna and 1 anna postage stamp for both postage and revenue
purposes. A new design was therefore prepared for these values with the
inscription "INDIA POSTAGE AND REVENUE."
In 1909 the double-headed telegraph stamps were abolished and it was
decided to employ postage stamps in payment of telegrams. The value
of telegraph stamps extended to fifty rupees, but it was considered
sufficient to add three new values to the postage stamps for use upon
the more expensive telegrams, namely 10, 15 and 25 rupees. These stamps
are of the same size and design as the 2, 3 and 5 rupees issues, and
the colours are 10 rupees, pink and green; 15 rupees, olive-brown and
blue; 25 rupees, orange and blue.
The stamps of George V issued in 1911 were completely re-designed. The
higher values with the elephants as supporters are very artistic. In
1913 the 2 annas 6 pies stamp was re-designed and the colour changed
from ultramarine to bright blue.
In 1918 the United Kingdom raised the postage rate to India from 1d.
to 1½d., and, to correspond with the increase, the Government of India
raised the postage to the United Kingdom to 1½ annas. The new stamp was
intended to be a dark chocolate-brown, but was printed by Messrs. De La
Rue & Co. in a light chocolate.
In 1866 service postage stamps first came into use for employment on
official correspondence. The ½ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas and 4 annas were
overprinted with the word "Service." The first supply was overprinted
in India pending the arrival of the stamps ordered from England. A
consignment of 8 annas overprinted was also received from England. In
1874 the overprint was altered to "On H. M. S.," as shown in Fig. 4,
and in 1883 the rupee stamp was also overprinted in this way.
Various other overprints were used by local bodies in India, but after
a time the practice was forbidden. In 1911 the overprint was again
altered to "Service."
The following overprints were also used for Indian postage in other
countries:
Straits Settlements 1867-1868, Queen's Head.
Zanzibar 1895-1896 "
British East Africa " "
C.E.F. (China Expeditionary
Force) 1900 to present date.
British Somaliland 1903-1904, Queen's and
King's Head.
I.E.F. (Indian Expeditionary
Force) 1914 to present date.
[Illustration: SPECIMEN EDWARDIAN AND GEORGIAN ISSUES]
OVERPRINTS (INDIAN CONVENTION STATES)
Patiala 1884 to present date.
Gwalior 1885 "
Jhind " "
Nabha " "
Faridkot 1886-1901.
Chamba 1896 to present date.
There are many varieties of the overprints in the Indian Convention
States stamps and many errors, which have led to numerous forgeries of
the different overprints.
A very exhaustive history of the postage stamps of India with detailed
accounts of errors and provisional issues will be found in _The
Postage and Telegraph Stamps of British India_, by L. L. R. Hausburg,
C. Stewart Wilson and C. S. F. Crofton, published by Messrs. Stanley
Gibbons. This is the standard work on the subject, and it contains many
fine plates and illustrations. Part I, on postage stamps, is written
by Mr. Hausburg, and no article on Indian stamps can pretend to be
anything more than a résumé of his detailed researches.
One merit the Postal Administration of India can justly claim and that
is the purity of its stamp issues. The simple design of the Sovereign's
head has always been maintained and the temptation to issue fancy
pictures for commemoration purposes has always been steadily avoided.
FOOTNOTE:
[7] 12 pies = 1 anna = 1 penny approximately.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
PERSONNEL OF THE POST OFFICE
The following table gives the staff of the Department on the 1st April,
1919:--
Controlling Staff 88
General Supervising Staff 747
Postmasters 7,041
Extra Departmental Agents 12,668
Clerical and Signalling Staff 24,620
Postmen and Peons 43,768
Road Establishment 18,467
Linemen 2,959
-------
Total 110,358
The Audit Staff of the Posts and Telegraphs has not been included as
this is under the control of the Finance Department.
Recruitment for the posts of Superintendent is effected in two ways,
namely--
(1) by the selection of qualified persons not already in the service
of the Department, and
(2) by the promotion of officials from the subordinate ranks of the
Department.
In the former case the person selected is generally required to join as
a probationary superintendent, and is not given a permanent appointment
until he has shown his fitness in every respect for the position and
has passed an examination in Post Office work.
Ordinarily a probationary superintendent is not allowed to act as a
superintendent until he has had a practical training in postal work;
that is to say, he performs the duties of a postmaster, accompanies
a superintendent on tour and is given an insight into the general
working of the Department in the offices of the Postmaster-General
and Superintendent. There is no minimum period fixed in which a
probationer, when fully qualified, must receive a permanent post.
It depends on the vacancies that occur in the sanctioned cadre; but
experience has shown that the period seldom exceeds two and a half
years, and the average is two years and two months.
Postmasters are generally recruited from the lower ranks of the
Department, such as sub-postmasters and clerks, who usually start
their careers as probationers. The exceptions to this rule are the
probationary postmasters, who are specially selected in order to
improve the personnel in the higher appointments.
APPENDIX B
EXTRACTS FROM EARLY REGULATIONS REGARDING THE MAIL SERVICE
An extract from the Consultations, 17th January, 1774, gives in detail
the arrangement made by Warren Hastings for the improvement of postal
arrangements.
The President lays down before the Board the following plan for the
better regulations of the Dauks and for forming a General Post Office:--
The present management of the Dauks is attended with many
inconveniences. Private letters are exempt from postage and the whole
expense of the establishment falls upon the Company. The Dauks from
the same cause are loaded with packages of the most frivolous kind and
of unreasonable weights. The privilege of sending private letters by
the Dauks being confined to the European inhabitants, affords but a
partial aid to the necessary intercourse of trade. The establishment
is branched out into various departments, all independent and
unconnected, the expense partly defrayed by ready-money payments and
partly by taxes on the zemindars and farmers, who make an advantage
of them in the deductions of their rents. From all these causes
the establishment is involved in a labyrinth of obscurity, without
checks and without system. The delays on the road are often greater
than those of common cossids or couriers without a possibility
of correcting them, because it cannot be known by whom they are
occasioned. Of these delays the President himself has had repeated
proofs insomuch that whenever he has had occasion for extraordinary
despatch he has made use of express cossids, and these never failed
to exceed the regular Dauks by nearly half the space of time employed
by the latter for the same distance. The loose and irregular manner
in which the letters are received and distributed exposes the
correspondence of individuals and even the public despatches to great
delays and to the risk of being lost or intercepted.
To remedy these evils, the following plan is submitted to the Board,
for the future management of this office, in which it is attempted
to limit the expense to provide a fund for its support by laying a
moderate postage on private letters, to render it of more extensive use
and to form the different parts into one uniform and general system.
_Plan of a new Establishment of Dauks and of a General Post Office_
1. That the Dauks be formed into four divisions as follows:--
First Division from Calcutta to Ganjam;
Second Division from Calcutta to Patna;
Third Division from Patna to Benares and to such farther distance as
may be hereafter determined;
Fourth Division from Calcutta to Dacca.
2. That no Dauks be appointed to the cross-roads (excepting Dinagepur)
as hereafter mentioned, but cossids only occasionally employed by the
Provincial Councils and Collectors to convey the letters to the nearest
stages of the Dauks; the pay and other charges of these cossids to be
transmitted monthly to the Postmaster-General, whose office will be
hereafter described.
3. That as the military operations in Cooch Behar require a constant
and regular correspondence, a cross-post be established between
Dinagepur and Rajmehal, and that it remains for future consideration
whether it will be necessary to establish a cross-post from Burdwan on
the assembling of the Council at that place.
4. That three hercarrahs or dauks, one massalchy[8] and one drum be
appointed to each stage, viz.:
Miles. Furl. Stages. Harcrs. Massl. Drum.
From Calcutta to Ganjam 358 2 42 126 42 42
" Calcutta to Patna 398 6 48 144 48 48
" Patna to Benares 165 4 19 57 19 19
" Calcutta to Dacca 179 4 21 63 21 21
Cross-road from Dinagepur
to Rajmehal 77 2 9 27 9 9
---- -- --- --- --- ---
1179 2 139 417 139 139
5. That a Munshi be fixed at each capital stage who shall have charge
of a certain number of stages.
6. That two gurreewallas or time-keepers be appointed with each Munshi
for the purpose of determining the arrival of each packet, which shall
be written on the outside of the packet and an account thereof with the
time of the last despatch kept by the Munshi.
7. That a deputy postmaster be appointed with the following
establishment of servants at the following stations, who shall have
charge of all the stages from the Presidency to the place of his
residence, pay the Munshi's charges dependent on him, take an account
of all letters received and despatched, receive and issue letters,
transmit his accounts and reports to the Postmaster-General, and
receive his orders:--
Establishment at Deputy. Peons.
Moorshedabad 1 10
Patna 1 10
Benares 1 2
Ganjam 1 2
Dacca 1 2
Dinagepur 1 2
-- --
6 28
8. That a Postmaster-General be appointed at Calcutta with one Deputy,
one merda or native assistant, seven sorters, one jemadar and fifteen
peons for distributing letters. He will have the control of the whole
establishment, and all the accounts will be brought into his office.
BYE-RULES
1. That all letters shall pay postage, excepting such as are on the
public service.
2. That the postage on inland letters shall be paid when put into the
office at the following rates:--
Single letters for every 100 miles, 2 annas. Double letters in
proportion according to their weight.
3. That letters coming by sea, or from foreign settlements, shall pay
on delivery and be rated at half postage.
4. That a table of postage, formed according to the above rules, be
affixed at the different offices for the public inspection.
5. That the post office in Calcutta shall be open from 10 o'clock in
the morning till 1 for the delivery of letters, and from 6 till 9 in
the evening for the receipt of letters.
6. That a daily account of the number and weight of letters despatched,
with the amount of postage, be kept at each office, that a monthly
account be transmitted to the Postmaster-General by his Deputies and
that a general abstract of the whole receipts and disbursements be laid
before the Board every month.
7. That the letters when received into the offices shall be sorted and
put up in separate bags for the different stations, together with a
note of the number in each.
8. That all letters shall be stamped with the day of the month on which
they are delivered into any chief office.
9. That for the facility of paying the postage on letters small copper
tickets be immediately struck to be received at the rate of 2 annas
each, but to pass only at the post office.
FOOTNOTE:
[8] Torchbearer.
APPENDIX C
METHODS OF TRAVEL IN EARLY DAYS
The dak or travelling system prevailing in India in the year 1857 was
almost wholly arranged by the Post Office and was available for private
individuals as well as for officials. When a traveller contemplated
a journey he applied to the local postmaster for means of transport,
giving, as a rule, two or three days' previous notice. Horse daks,
i.e. wheeled conveyances drawn by horses, were available only on the
great trunk roads, which were metalled. On other roads, the journey,
when not performed on horseback, was accomplished in a palanquin or
palkee, a kind of wooden box, about six feet in length by four in
height, fitted at the sides with sliding shutters and suspended on two
poles borne on the shoulders of four men. The pleasures of travelling
in this fashion have been described by Bishop Heber and other writers.
The traveller provided his own palanquin, and the postmaster supplied
the palkee-burdars or palanquin-bearers, eight in number, as well as
two mussalchees or torchbearers and two bhangy-burdars or luggage
porters. The charges, about one shilling per mile for the entire set
of twelve men, had to be paid in advance, the traveller notifying the
time and place of starting and the duration and localities of halts.
There was also an extra charge for demurrage or delays on the road
attributable to the traveller himself. For these charges the postmaster
undertook that there should be relays of dak servants throughout the
whole distance, and, to ensure this, he had to write in advance to
the different villages and post stations ordering relays to be ready
at the appointed hours. The stages averaged ten miles each and were
accomplished in three hours, at the end of which time the twelve men
retraced their steps, having been succeeded by another twelve; for
each set of men belonged to a particular station. The horse daks were
established on the same system, several pairs of horses or ponies
being kept at the different stages as relays. The bullock train, which
was intended chiefly for baggage and parcels, was largely used for
conveyance of troops during the Mutiny. There were one or two private
companies in existence, but the public as a rule preferred to use the
Government vehicles, as they were considered more reliable.
There were no hotels or inns on the road, but dak bungalows or rest
houses, a convenient substitute, were established at places varying
from fifteen to fifty miles apart, according as the road was much or
little frequented. These bungalows were under Government control, a
khidmatgar or servant and a porter being in attendance at each, the
traveller paying a fixed sum for the use of his room and making a
separate bargain for any few articles of provisions that might be
obtainable. The building was little more than a thatched house of one
story, divided into two or three rooms, to each of which a bathroom was
attached. The khidmatgar cooked and served the meals ordered, while
the porter supplied wood and water. The dak system was perfected by
Lord Dalhousie, during whose administration many fine metalled roads,
including the grand trunk road from Calcutta to the Punjab, were
completed. The new system was a great improvement upon the primitive
arrangements in force during the Punjab campaign of 1846, when, owing
to the tedious nature of the journey and the slow method of progress,
out of one hundred officers sent off by palanquin from Calcutta to aid
Viscount Hardinge only thirty arrived at the Sutlej before the campaign
was over.
APPENDIX D
STATEMENT SHOWING THE WORK OF THE POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK
FROM 1882 TO 1918
Balance.
Year. No. of Banks. No. of Accounts. Rs.
1882-83 4,238 39,121 27,96,796
1883-84 5,199 84,848 75,14,455
1884-85 5,499 122,599 1,34,41,911
1885-86 5,833 155,009 2,25,45,891
1886-87 6,048 219,010 4,25,19,345
1887-88 5,966 261,157 5,04,88,357
1888-89 6,056 311,001 5,88,64,681
1889-90 6,350 358,272 5,86,96,755
1890-91 6,455 408,544 6,34,67,408
1891-92 6,452 463,453 7,05,93,160
1892-93 6,408 520,967 7,81,87,727
1893-94 6,358 574,050 8,26,57,319
1894-95 6,384 611,947 8,40,17,923
1895-96 6,343 653,892 9,04,23,072
1896-97 6,420 713,320 9,63,92,411
1897-98 6,290 730,387 9,28,72,978
1898-99 6,310 755,871 9,42,80,041
1899-1900 6,479 785,729 9,64,64,466
1900-01 6,636 816,651 10,04,32,569
1901-02 7,053 866,693 10,68,21,233
1902-03 7,075 922,353 11,42,15,534
1903-04 7,372 987,635 12,33,36,717
1904-05 7,855 1,058,813 13,40,70,130
1905-06 8,071 1,115,758 13,99,26,260
1906-07 8,049 1,190,220 14,76,69,789
1907-08 8,328 1,262,763 15,18,14,343
1908-09 8,501 1,318,632 15,23,41,514
1909-10 8,767 1,378,916 15,86,71,786
1910-11 8,929 1,430,451 16,91,88,224
1911-12 9,502 1,500,834 18,89,85,438
1912-13 9,460 1,566,860 20,61,14,502
1913-14 9,824 1,638,725 23,16,75,467
1914-15 10,161 1,644,074 14,89,26,323
1915-16 10,386 1,660,424 15,32,12,517
1916-17 10,421 1,647,419 16,59,53,401
1917-18 10,975 1,637,600 16,58,46,470
APPENDIX E
STATEMENT OF INLAND MONEY ORDERS ISSUED IN INDIA SINCE 1880
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number and
amount of Ordinary Number and amount of Number and amount of
Money Orders Revenue Money Orders Rent Money Orders
issued in India. issued in India. issued in India.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year. Number. Value. Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880-81 1,604,174 4,57,08,580 -- -- -- --
1881-82 2,157,796 5,73,32,026 -- -- -- --
1882-83 2,565,904 6,46,84,182 -- -- -- --
1883-84 3,034,894 7,31,24,179 -- -- -- --
1884-85 3,550,257 8,20,88,559 13,914 3,35,904 -- --
1885-86 4,163,078 9,38,27,375 39,768 7,11,117 -- --
1886-87 4,821,117 10,68,49,151 66,204 11,29,415 1,213 12,358
1887-88 5,512,395 11,84,43,572 138,687 20,38,586 30,165 3,55,283
1888-89 6,136,790 12,99,06,864 196,037 26,83,469 39,823 5,25,217
1889-90 6,759,116 14,65,32,147 262,585 34,70,576 58,127 7,42,284
1890-91 7,326,065 15,77,70,303 278,075 41,95,716 78,421 9,74,272
1891-92 7,783,296 16,44,09,526 300,336 44,27,796 99,973 13,01,721
1892-93 8,237,855 17,19,16,585 320,651 49,21,950 110,198 14,37,050
1893-94 8,754,940 18,35,34,008 335,933 50,49,372 119,952 15,84,581
1894-95 9,422,105 19,43,09,308 348,178 56,27,613 113,266 15,61,021
1895-96 10,055,036 20,62,03,368 371,806 59,64,630 111,594 15,37,883
1896-97 10,947,571 21,97,28,206 346,510 58,23,851 102,875 14,68,352
1897-98 11,644,350 24,23,37,096 382,402 67,91,786 110,324 15,98,602
1898-99 11,740,565 24,54,50,445 441,034 81,37,197 121,987 17,31,680
1899-00 12,505,059 25,62,50,323 441,739 78,00,682 124,155 18,15,998
1900-01 12,922,465 26,27,19,976 453,862 82,83,758 134,977 19,72,389
1901-02 13,581,928 26,84,51,162 471,387 91,96,336 153,800 22,47,435
1902-03 15,311,955 27,82,17,678 530,778 95,72,448 167,711 23,67,739
1903-04 16,470,115 29,43,59,136 579,851 1,06,87,532 192,375 25,88,723
1904-05 17,657,917 31,04,28,794 692,705 1,04,12,346 192,926 25,83,483
1905-06 19,622,437 33,14,36,803 724,747 1,00,03,341 199,754 26,70,518
1906-07 20,923,383 35,25,97,091 690,688 97,26,046 203,157 27,93,647
1907-08 22,109,666 37,97,08,358 622,501 94,67,041 176,195 23,80,811
1908-09 23,132,115 39,19,26,114 685,021 1,11,10,709 198,683 26,89,768
1909-10 23,888,149 39,96,74,848 740,776 1,16,93,227 219,651 29,82,614
1910-11 24,781,847 41,85,13,444 750,777 1,24,17,561 222,747 29,87,628
1911-12 26,322,257 44,29,23,702 754,306 1,23,49,182 226,982 30,39,792
1912-13 28,624,470 47,39,38,492 754,766 1,21,77,802 252,618 34,27,203
1913-14 29,940,631 51,18,35,732 764,673 1,20,02,271 240,662 32,74,757
1914-15 29,317,377 51,54,81,941 863,235 1,24,31,425 247,468 33,21,068
1915-16 31,281,231 53,92,17,506 844,742 1,36,70,463 261,667 36,73,409
1916-17 32,331,652 57,54,48,259 839,506 1,38,59,594 274,990 37,94,479
1917-18 33,903,625 62,77,87,899 880,700 1,50,47,255 268,419 36,15,440
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX F
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE CALCUTTA GENERAL POST OFFICE
This handsome building is situated on the west side of Dalhousie Square
at the corner of Koila Ghat Street, being a portion of the site of the
old Fort of Calcutta. The removal of the old foundations was a work of
great difficulty owing to the extreme hardness of the masonry, which
in many cases had to be blasted away. The building was erected from
designs by Mr. Walter B. Granville, Architect to the Government of
India. It was opened to the public in the year 1868 and cost 6,30,000
rupees. It consists of two lofty storys, the east and south fronts
being faced with tall Corinthian columns flanked by massive piers in
which are the staircases. The south-east angle of the building is
semicircular, also faced with Corinthian columns leading to a lofty
circular hall in which are the public counters. This is surmounted by a
lantern crowned by a dome, which forms a conspicuous object in the city.
The site of the General Post Office is of great historical interest
owing to its association with the great tragedy of the Black Hole of
Calcutta. On entering the Post Office courtyard from Koila Ghat Street
there are two tablets with the following inscriptions:--
[Illustration: GENERAL POST OFFICE. CALCUTTA]
[Illustration: BLACK HOLE, CALCUTTA. ADJOINING THE GENERAL POST
OFFICE]
I. The brass lines in the stone,
on the adjacent ground,
mark the position and extent
of the South Curtain
of old Fort William.
II. The two lines of twelve arches
to the west of this tablet
are all that now remains above ground
of old Fort William and
originally formed a portion of the arcade
within the South Curtain.
The Black Hole Prison was a small room
formed by bricking up two arches
of a similar but smaller arcade
within the East Curtain
south of the East Gate.
The sunken arches, where the Post Office vans were kept, once formed
part of the arcade within the south curtain, the wall line of which
is marked out by brass lines let into the pavement. The wall of the
curtain, a portion of which was still standing in 1895, backed the old
export and import warehouses, and through the arches one would have in
the old days looked into the parade ground within the Fort. The export
and import warehouses were built against the south curtain in 1741 and
would have followed the line of Koila Ghat Street.
The angle of the south-east bastion and the thickness of its walls
is indicated by brass lines let into the steps of the Post Office. A
tablet pointing out this fact is on the adjacent wall, and the entrance
to the east gate of the Fort is commemorated by a tablet fixed into the
red building opposite the Holwell obelisk:
Sixteen feet behind this wall
was the entrance of the East Gate
of old Fort William through which
the bodies of those who perished
in the Black Hole were brought and
thrown into the ditch of the Ravelin
on 21st June, 1756.
To the north of the General Post Office building, inside the large
gateway, is a tablet with the following inscription:--
THE BLACK HOLE.
The marble pavement below this spot
was placed here
by
Lord Curzon, Viceroy and Governor-General of India,
in 1901
To mark the site of the prison in Old Fort William
known as the Black Hole.
In which 146 British Inhabitants of Calcutta were
confined on the night of the 20th June, 1756,
and from which only 23 came out alive.
The pavement marks the exact breadth of the prison,
14 ft. 10 in., but not its full length, 18 feet.
About one-third of the area at the north end being
covered by the building on which this tablet is erected.
Near by Mr. Holwell, then Collector of Calcutta, who was one of the
survivors, erected an obelisk at his own expense to the memory of those
who perished in the Black Hole on the spot where the 123 killed were
buried. The tablet bore the following inscriptions:--
To the Memory of--
Edward Eyre, William Bailie, Esqrs.; the Revd.
Jervas Bellamy; Messrs. Jenks, Reeveley, Law, Coates,
Napcourt, Jebb, Torrians, E. Page, S. Page, Grub, Street,
Harod, P. Johnstone, Ballard, N. Drake, Carse, Knapton,
Goslin, Dod, Dalrymple; Captains Clayton, Buchanan, and
Witherington; Lieutenants Bishop, Hays, Blagge, Simpson,
and J. Bellamy; Ensigns Paccard, Scott, Hastings,
C. Wedderburn, and Dymbleton; Sea-Captains Hunt, Osburn,
and Purnell; Messrs. Carey, Leech, Stevenson, Guy Porter,
Parker, Caulkee, Bendal and Atkinson;
Who, with sundry other inhabitants, Military and
Militia, to the number of 123 persons, were, by
the tyrannic violence of Suraj-ud-Dowlah,
Suba of Bengal,
Suffocated in the Black-Hole Prison of Fort William,
on the night of the 20th day of June, 1756,
and promiscuously thrown the succeeding
morning into the ditch
of the ravelin of this place.
This monument is erected by their surviving fellow-sufferer,
J. Z. Holwell.
This horrid act of violence was as amply as deservedly
revenged on Suraj-ud-Dowlah, by His Majesty's arms,
under the conduct of Vice-Admiral Watson and Col. Clive,
Anno 1757.
The Marquis of Hastings in 1840 had the monument pulled down, but Lord
Curzon in 1903 had a replica made and placed in the same spot where it
now stands.
APPENDIX G
Extract from the narrative of the interruption in the mail
arrangements in the N.-W.P. and Punjab subsequent to the Mutiny at
Meerut and Delhi on the 10th and 11th May, 1857.
By MR. G. PATON, Postmaster-General, North-West Provinces.
On the mutiny of the native troops at Meerut and Delhi on the 10th
and 11th May, 1857, the mail communication between Meerut, Delhi and
Allyghur was interrupted. The eastern mails were then forwarded from
Allyghur via Anoopshahur and Moradabad to Meerut and thence direct to
Kurnaul or via Seharanpore to Umballa. In like manner the mails from
the north-west were forwarded from Kurnaul and Umballa to Allyghur.
There was delay by the arrangement, but it was the only one practicable
on the route via Delhi being closed by the mutiny and rebellion there.
2. After the lapse of a week the mail was reopened between Allyghur and
Meerut, but by the mutiny of the 9th Regiment N.I. on the 20th June at
Allyghur all postal communication from the north, the south, the east
and west of that station was stopped.
3. Exertions were made to establish communication between Cawnpore and
Meerut via Futtehgurh, Bareilly and Moradabad. Mails were forwarded
towards Bareilly, but none issued from or through that station. This
excited much uneasiness for some time, but was explained by the mutiny
of the troops there and at Shajehanpore on the 30th June. Bareilly was,
like Delhi, the scene of the political intrigue, and the suppression of
postal communication was there, as elsewhere, an object of the first
importance with the insurgents.
4. The post offices and mail lines in Oude, generally, became
disorganized about the same time as in Rohilcund, as the troops
mutinied almost simultaneously in both provinces.
5. While the Grand Trunk Road between Cawnpore and Agra was open,
arrangements were made to maintain communication between the Punjab and
Cis-Sutledge States with Agra via Kurnaul Hansie and Jeypore, but the
mutiny of the Hurrianah Battalion and a portion of the 4th Irregular
Cavalry at Hansie and Hissar in the end of May entirely stopped that
line.
6. An attempt was made to open communication with Agra and Meerut via
Muttra and by a line midway between Khoorjah and Secunderabad, but it
had to be abandoned owing to the rebel Wulleedad Khan and his followers
having obtained undisputed possessions of the district of Bulundshahur.
7. But, although Bulundshahur and a large portion of Allyghur were
occupied by the rebel Wulleedad Khan, a line of runners was established
between Meerut and Agra via Gurhmooktesur Ghat, the left bank of the
Ganges, Anoopshahur and Allyghur. Letters of light weight were managed
to be conveyed with tolerable safety by that route, notwithstanding
that large sums were offered for the murder of those caught in the act
of conveying English correspondence.
8. On or about the 5th June the troops at Allahabad, Cawnpore,
Futtehgurh, Hameerpore, Banda Jansie, Lullutpore and Saugor mutinied;
and, in consequence, all the post offices and mail lines in the
Doab and Bundlekund as low down as Mirzapore became disorganized.
Communication between Agra, the Cis-Sutledge States and Calcutta was
then fairly cut off and could not be re-established by the Grand Trunk
Road so long as Delhi remained in the possession of the mutineers. The
route via Multan to Bombay was, however, open and instructions were
given for the mails to and from the N.-W.P., Cis-Sutledge and Punjab
being forwarded via Lahore.
9. Between Agra and Bombay the mail was not interrupted till the mutiny
of the Gwalior Contingent on the 17th June, and since then up to 1st
February, 1858, or a period of seven months and thirteen days, the road
via Gwalior and Indore to Bombay was closed or not practicable and safe
for the mail.
10. So soon as it was apparent that the mail between Bombay and Agra
could not be re-established via Gwalior and Indore, the establishment
of runners between Agra, Jeypore, Naseerabad, Deesa and Ahmedabad was
strengthened, and the mails to and from Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, etc.,
were very regularly conveyed by that route.
11. In the course of the month of August, Dr. Clark managed at
Agra to organize an establishment of kossids, thence via Etawah to
Cawnpore, and for very light letters not exceeding a ¼ tola in weight
the arrangements, although occasionally interrupted, were generally
successful excepting for a period of nearly eighteen days in the end
of November and beginning of December, when the troops of the Gwalior
Contingent crossed the Jumna and invested Cawnpore. On the defeat of
the Gwalior Contingent at Cawnpore on the 7th December the kossid dak
was again useful in keeping up communication between Agra and Cawnspore
until the 5th January, 1858, when the mail carts were re-established
after having ceased to run from the 5th June, or a period of seven
months.
12. Communication with the province of Kemaon was uninterruptedly
maintained by an establishment of runners posted via Sreenugger,
Teeree, Mussoorie and Deyrah Dhoon.
13. Between Meerut and the Camp at Delhi runners were posted via
Bagput, but they were frequently cut off, and the communication had to
be kept up via Shamlie and Kurnaul or via Seharunpore and Umballa. When
the runners between Meerut and the Camp at Delhi were intercepted it
was frequently impossible to open direct communication even by kossids,
so closely was the country infested with insurgents.
14. The mail cart establishment between the Camp at Delhi and Lahore
was steadily kept up. Occasionally it was unsafe to take the carts over
the twelve miles leading to and from the Camp, and there the coachman
rode the horses across country or proceeded on foot and so managed to
elude the insurgents.
15. The mail cart establishment was the only available means by which
officers could travel to and from the Camp before Delhi, and it
afforded them an easy and speedy mode of travelling.
16. Extra horses were posted at each stage between the Jhellum and
Delhi to admit of express cart daks being laid when necessary for mails
or passengers.
17. In the month of August it became necessary to provide means for
the removal of the sick and wounded officers from the Camp in Delhi to
Kurnaul or Umballa, and some of the Inland Transit Company's carriages,
in addition to the palanquin carriages and vans attached to the Post
Office, were hired for the purpose. All sick and wounded officers
were allowed, at the recommendation of the Brigadier-General, now Sir
Archdale Wilson, to travel free of expense. Many valuable lives were
thus saved.
18. I consider the conduct of the native coachmen beyond all praise
during the disturbances. Great temptations to desert us were held out
to them by the mutineers, but not one of them proved unfaithful to
Government. From the date of arrival of our troops before Delhi on the
8th June till the 20th of September, the date of the fall of Delhi, the
coachmen conveyed the mails to and from the Camp with the same safety
and the same regularity as before the outbreak.
19. The public mind of the Punjab and Cis-Sutledge States was at the
highest pitch of excitement watching the result of the operations of
our troops against the mutineers at Delhi, and any interruption of the
mail would have had a fatal effect on the peace of those States. The
telegraph wire connecting the Camp with the Punjab was frequently cut,
and thus it may be easily understood that the regularity of the mail
throughout the crisis was of the most vital importance.
20. The Commissioner of Scinde, anticipating the possibility of
the communication between the Punjab and Scinde or Bombay being
cut off, organized on his own responsibility a mail establishment
between Bhawulpore and Jaudhpore, and again with Deesa and Hyderabad.
This arrangement was useful in conveying intelligence between Agra,
the Punjab and Central India, and also as an auxiliary line of
communication between the Punjab and Bombay.
21. In the middle and end of July the mail cart establishment between
Googairah and Mooltan became very clamorous and appeared to be inclined
to strike. The vital importance of that establishment made me determine
on travelling to Mooltan so as to ascertain whether the contractors
had any reasonable grievance. There had been many expresses besides
passenger daks, and their horses had been perhaps somewhat overworked
in consequence, and accordingly I authorized an additional horse at
each stage, which for the time quieted the contractors and they gave
no more trouble. I was not without some suspicion that there were
political influences exciting dissatisfaction amongst them. This
impression was in some degree corroborated by an effort on the part
of the prisoners of the jail at Googairah attempting to effect their
escape. Happily, through the prompt and rigorous measures adopted
by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Elphinstone, the _émeute_ amongst
the prisoners was most successfully crushed and the peace of the
district was not disturbed. Otherwise the mails would have there been
interrupted.
22. On the 14th September insurrection broke out between Googairah
and Hurruppa. Many horses of the mail cart establishment were carried
off by the rebels. Several carts were burnt, and communication by the
direct route between Lahore and Mooltan was for several days wholly
cut off. The local authorities of the district had no warning of the
outbreak till the morning of the night on which it took place. The
District Officers gave me reason to hope that the insurrection would
be instantly put down, but unfortunately, owing to their paucity of
troops, the rebels were not overawed sufficiently to admit of the mails
being conveyed by the direct road within fifteen days. In the interim,
however, they were, after several days' stoppage, conveyed via Shahpore
and Seeah to and from Mooltan and Lahore.
23. It is here worthy of remark that the successful assault of Delhi on
the 14th September by our troops was telegraphed to Lahore, and full
particulars thereof were transmitted by the mail of that date from
Lahore to Mooltan, Scinde, Bombay, etc., before the outbreak between
Googairah and Humppa. The receipt of the news of the successful assault
of Delhi was signally opportune in Scinde, as the native troops then at
Karachi, Hyderabad and Shikarpore were in a state approaching to open
mutiny.
24. The route for the mail between Lahore and Mooltan via Shahpore
being very circuitous and also unsafe as the country between the
Sutledge and Ravee and even for some distance west of the Ravee was in
open revolt, it became necessary to determine on having a more direct
line of communication between Lahore, Scinde and Bombay. Accordingly
a camel dak was established by the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab
between Bhawulpore and Ferozepore. The head overseer of the Jullunder
Division, Hurdeo Bux, was transferred for the superintendence of this
dak and managed it most successfully.
25. The establishment of runners between Ferozepore, Lahore and
Loodianah was at the same time strengthened in view to provide for
the extra weight of the mails in transit via Bhawulpore, and thus the
stations east and west of the Sutledge were rendered independent of
the direct mail line between Lahore and Mooltan in respect to Scinde,
Bombay, Calcutta, etc., etc.
26. The post offices and mail lines at and above Meerut and throughout
the Cis-Sutledge States and Punjab have continued in uninterrupted
operation excepting those situated on the line of road between
Googairah and Humppa, which were for a short time the scene of
insurrections in September.
APPENDIX H
THE WORK OF THE FIELD POST OFFICE BETWEEN 1867 AND 1912
_The Abyssinian Expedition._
At the end of September, 1867, the Postmaster-General, Bombay, reported
that a reconnoitring party under Colonel Merewether, Political Agent,
had left for Abyssinia and a Field Force was shortly to follow. A
post office under Mr. J. Gardiner as Inspecting Postmaster sailed for
Abyssinia on the 25th November along with the second detachment of the
Expeditionary Force. A portion of the staff was left at Massowah, where
the troops disembarked, and the rest was ordered to advance with the
Army. Having fallen ill through overwork, Mr. Gardiner was replaced by
Mr. E. de C. Williams on the 1st March, 1868.
Ordinary postage stamps were used, the denominations of the stamps
supplied for the Field Force being ½ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas, 4 annas, 6
annas 8 pies, and 8 annas 8 pies. The postage payable on articles for
members of the Expeditionary Force was as follows:
LETTERS--4 annas for every ½ oz., 8 annas for 1 oz. and 8 annas for
every additional oz. in excess of the first oz.
NEWSPAPERS--8 pies for 4 ozs., 1 anna 4 pies for 8 ozs.
BOOKS--2 annas for 4 ozs., 4 annas for 8 ozs. and 4 annas for every
additional 8 ozs.
Prepayment in the latter two cases being compulsory. It does not
appear that parcels or money orders were exchanged or Savings Bank
transactions allowed.
The postal officials began to return from Abyssinia by the end of June,
1868, the last batch arriving at Bombay on the 4th July.
_The Afghanistan Expedition._
The war broke out in November, 1878, and Mr. J. H. Cornwall was
appointed to take charge of postal arrangements with the column under
the command of General Stewart, Mr. W. T. van Someren with the column
under the command of Major-General F. S. Roberts, and Mr. J. L. Fendal
with the Peshawar column. The approximate strength of the whole force
was about 45,000 fighting men and 60,000 camp followers. The mails
between Quetta and Kandahar were conveyed under the control of the
Political Agent and the military authorities.
When General Roberts moved out, a hill cart service was opened from
Kohat to Thull, a distance of sixty-four miles, in the Kurram Valley.
The principal difficulty was the work of organizing and maintaining the
mail lines, which were also used for conveying military stores. Apart
from the work done at the Post Office workshops at Aligarh, workshops
had to be opened at Rawalpindi, Jund, Thull and other places for the
construction and repair of carts. In this expedition non-commissioned
officers were taught to do postal work, and whenever they were required
to do so they were allowed a postal salary of Rs.30 a month.
The control of the whole postal arrangements devolved upon Colonel W.
M. Lane, Postmaster-General, Punjab, and it was due to his exertions
that the arrangements met with success.
_Malta Expeditionary Force._
In April, 1878, it was decided to send an Expeditionary Force to
Malta under Major-General J. Ross, C.B., and at the instance of the
military authorities a small postal staff, consisting of a postmaster
(Mr. Dinshaw Jijibhoy) with a clerk and three peons, was selected to
accompany the troops. The postal arrangements were made under the
direction of the Postmaster-General, Bombay, and the Expeditionary
Force started from Bombay on the 1st May, 1878.
When the island of Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain by Turkey
the Indian Contingent went to occupy it, and the postal staff was
accordingly ordered to embark for Cyprus. A British post office was
opened at Larnaka and Mr. Dinshaw was placed in charge of it, and there
he worked conjointly with the British postal staff till his return to
India on the 22nd August, 1878. Shortly after Sir Garnet Wolseley came
out from England as Governor, and the island was then divided into six
parts, each with a Civil Commissioner and garrisoned by a regiment.
The Commissioners were ex-officio postmasters of their respective
divisions, and there was no regular arrangement between these divisions
for the exchange of mails, which were occasionally conveyed by means
of Japties or policemen. When Cyprus was first occupied there was only
a fortnightly communication with India by means of the Austrian Lloyd
Steam Navigation Company's steamers; subsequently a weekly service was
also established by the Bells Asia Minor Line of steamers. A small
Austrian post office at Larnaka was permitted, and this served the
entire island. The field post office was opened at Malta on the 27th
May and closed at Cyprus on the 22nd August, 1878.
_Egypt Expeditionary Force._
In the beginning of July, 1882, the Government of India directed an
Expeditionary Force of about 7000 men of all arms for service in Egypt
under the command of Major-General Sir H. Macpherson, V.C., K.C.B.
The postal arrangements were made by Mr. Fanshawe, Postmaster-General,
Bombay, and Mr. J. H. Cornwall, who had special experience of the
management of field post offices in Afghanistan, was selected as the
Chief Superintendent of Field Post Offices.
The Indian field post office establishment started from Bombay on the
22nd August, 1882, and returned there on the 31st October of the same
year.
_Kalahandi Expedition._
The rising of Khonds in Kalahandi, an important feudatory State in the
Chattisgarh Division in Central Provinces, necessitated the despatch
of troops. In June, 1882, the Deputy Postmaster-General, Central
Provinces, reported that the rising was of a serious character and
that the country was not likely to be quiet for some time. The troops
marched from Sambalpur and Raipur, and three field post offices were
opened to serve them.
Mr. P. Gorman, Superintendent of the Division, was in entire charge of
the postal arrangements. The expedition lasted for only a short time,
but the communications had to be maintained till about the end of the
year.
_Suakim Field Post Office, 1885._
In February, 1885, it was decided to send an Expeditionary Force
composed of Indian troops to Egypt, and the Director-General was asked
to make arrangements for a field post office to accompany it. Mr.
O'Shea, as Chief Superintendent, was in charge of the postal staff,
under the direction of the Postmaster-General, Bombay.
The strength of the Expeditionary Force was 10,517, including
followers, and General Hudson, C.B., was in command of the force. The
postal staff started from Bombay on the afternoon of the 24th February,
1885, and on the 7th March, 1885, arrived at Suakim, where the Base
post office was opened on the 8th current. Mails were exchanged between
Egypt and India by Government transports and P. & O. packets. Only two
officers, Messrs. O'Shea and Lalkaka, received medals, and none were
granted to the subordinate postal staff. The field post office was
closed in November, 1885.
_The Upper Burma Expedition._
On the 23rd October, 1885, the Government of India asked the
Director-General to make the postal arrangements for the Expeditionary
Force in Upper Burma. The strength of the Force consisted of 10,000
fighting men and 2000 followers, besides 1000 dhooly bearers and 3000
coolies. On the 10th November, 1885, the Expedition, under the command
of Major-General H. N. D. Prendergast, C.B., V.C., left Rangoon
for Upper Burma by steamers up the Irrawaddy river to Thayetmyo and
thence by the land route to Mandalay. Mr. G. Barton Groves, Deputy
Postmaster-General, Burma, was called on to organize the service
and accompany the Force as Deputy Postmaster-General in charge. The
Rangoon, Prome and Thayetmyo post offices were strengthened, and the
last-named was converted into a Base office. Five field post offices
were also opened on board the head-quarters steamers of each of the
five brigades which composed the force.
_The Pishin Field Force._
In March, 1885, the Governor-General in Council decided to increase the
garrison in Baluchistan to a strength of three divisions comprising
about 25,000 men and 20,000 followers, and the necessary postal
arrangements had to be made. Mr. J. Short, Deputy Postmaster-General,
Sind and Baluchistan, was in charge, assisted by Mr. E. Walker,
Inspector of post offices.
In April, 1885, a head office was opened at Rindli, in Baluchistan,
which was designated the "Pishin Force Frontier Office," and the Quetta
post office was strengthened. Nine camp post offices were also opened,
and mails were carried to these offices by camels and sowars.
_Sikkim Expedition._
The orders for the despatch of a force for operations in Sikkim were
notified in the _Gazette of India_ of the 3rd March, 1888. Shortly
after the commencement of hostilities the Government of Bengal
requested Mr. H. M. Kisch, Postmaster-General, Bengal, to open a
runners' line from Siliguri to Kalimpong, a distance of thirty-seven
miles. This line was used only for transmission of letter mails, parcel
mails being conveyed by the old route from Darjeeling via Ghum and
Pasok. On the 24th March the Padong post office was converted into a
sub-office, and from that date it was constituted a Base office for the
expedition.
On the 16th March the force, which concentrated at Padong, moved
out in two columns, one under Brigadier-General T. Graham, R.A.,
commanding the expedition, and the other under Colonel Michel, of the
13th Bengal Infantry, the former advancing towards Fort Lingtu and the
other towards the Rhenok Bazar. With the advance of troops the post
office opened at Dulapchin was shortly removed to Ranglichu. Other
post offices were opened at Gnatong, Sedonchin, Gangtok, Rhenok Bazar
and Pakyong. The mail lines connecting these offices were under the
management of the Post Office as far as Ronglichu and Pakyong, but the
lines beyond were under the Political authorities.
_The Black Mountain or Hazara Field Force._
Towards the beginning of September, 1888, the Home Government having
decided to send a punitive expedition against the tribesmen of the
Black Mountain, a Field Force was organized on the Hazara frontier. The
object of the expedition was to punish the Khan Khel Hassanzai and the
Akazai tribes. Brigadier-General J. W. McQueen, C.B., Commanding the
Punjab Frontier Force, directed the expedition. On the 8th September,
1888, Mr. W. T. van Someren, Superintendent of post offices, Rawalpindi
Division, was deputed to make the postal arrangements with the force.
Haripur was constituted a Base office for the Derband column, and
Abbottabad for the Oghi column. The tonga service from Hassan Abdal
to Abbottabad was strengthened and extended to Mansera, and a mixed
tonga and horse service was established between Abbottabad and Oghi.
A runners' line was opened from Haripur to Derband. A railway sorting
office, under the supervision of Mr. N. G. Wait, was also opened at
Hassan Abdal for the sorting and onward transmission of articles for
the Field Force.
_The Chin Expedition, Burma._
In December, 1888, a small force of about 1200 men, besides civil
officers and followers, headed by Brigadier-General Faunce, started for
the Chindwin Division to quell a rising of Burmans and to reduce to
order the country which was then infested with dacoits. The expedition
was undertaken very suddenly, and the Quartermaster-General in India
asked the Deputy Postmaster-General, Burma, to arrange for the opening
of a field post office at Kalemyo at a distance of twenty-seven miles
from the base of operations at Kalewa. About July, 1889, the country
was brought to a normal state and the troops were withdrawn.
_The Lushai Expedition._
In 1888 the Government of India having decided to send a punitive
expedition against the Shendus and other tribes in the Chitagong
Hill Tracts, a small force under Colonel V. W. Tregear was organized
and concentrated at Demagiri. The force was styled the "Lushai
Expeditionary Force," and consisted of about 1200 men besides followers
and coolies. An inspector was deputed to make the postal arrangements.
The boat line from Rangamati to Demagiri, which was maintained by
the Frontier Police, was strengthened, also the post offices at
Rangamati and Demagiri, the latter being constituted a base office,
and a post office was opened at Barkul--half-way between Rangamati and
Demagiri--where there was a stockade of military police. The troops
kept the field for about four months and came back at the end of April,
1889.
_The Chin Lushai Expedition._
In 1889 two armies operated in this expedition, one from Burma and
the other from Chittagong. The troops in Burma were divided into
two columns, one operating from Fort White as a base against the
Syins and other tribes, and the other starting from Gangaw as a
base and advancing via Yokwa on Haka. The Chittagong force advanced
from Fort Lungleh on Haka. Brigadier-General W. P. Symons commanded
the operations on the Burma side, and Colonel Tregear commanded the
Chittagong column. The strength of the force concentrated at Gangaw
consisted of about 40 officers, 1200 European and Indian troops and
2500 followers. The strength of the Chittagong column consisted of
about 3500 men besides followers and coolies.
On the Burma side much difficulty was experienced by the supervising
officers in organizing and maintaining the lines, which lay over sandy
beds of rivers, hillocks and jungles and on the Chittagong side, on
account of constant illness and the consequent change of officials
deputed. Mr. J. W. McCrea, Superintendent of post offices, Burma
Circle, was deputed to make postal arrangements for the force under
the direction of Mr. G. J. Hynes, Deputy Postmaster-General, Burma. On
the other side postal arrangements were made by Mr. G. S. Clifford,
Superintendent of post offices, under the direction of Mr. G. Barton
Groves, Deputy Postmaster-General, Eastern Bengal.
_The Zhob Expedition._
The object of the expedition was to explore the borders of the Zhob
Valley and to take steps either to capture the outlaw Dost Muhammad
or to expel him from the Kakar country and to coerce the Khiddarzai
Shirani tribe into submission.
Towards the middle of September, 1890, intimation was received from the
Quartermaster-General in India that a force of about 2000 men, besides
camp followers, was about to start for the Zhob Valley, and on the 27th
of that month a small field post office, consisting of a sub-postmaster
and two peons, started from Quetta with a portion of the troops for
Hindubagh, which was to be the general rendezvous. The expedition was
commanded by Sir George White.
_The Black Mountain Expedition._
In 1891 a force was sent for operations against the Hassanzai and
Akazai tribes of the Black Mountains. The strength of the force, which
was under the command of Major-General Elles, C.B., was about 6800 men,
and it advanced from Darband in two columns--one marching via Baradar
and Pailam to Tilli, and the other along the river route via Kotkai
and Kunhar. The postal arrangements were made by Mr. W. T. van Someren
under the direction of Mr. G. J. Hynes, Postmaster-General, Punjab.
_The Chin Hills Expedition._
The Government of India sanctioned military operations in the north
and east frontier of the Bhamo district and Chin Hills during the cold
season of 1891-92. In the Bhamo direction the object of the expedition
was to explore the amber and jade mines, the Hukong Valley and the
country on the east and north-east frontier above the Taeping river on
the Chinese border. The expedition had a quasi-military character, and
about 5000 troops, including police battalions, operated in various
columns, under the direction of Major-General R. C. Stewart, commanding
the Burma districts.
Mr. F. McCrea, Inspector of post offices, Eastern Division, was deputed
to organize and supervise the arrangements.
_The Manipur Expedition._
The outbreak in Manipur in 1891, and the consequent massacre of Mr.
Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, and his party, necessitated
the despatch of troops to quell the rebellion. The force was designated
the "Manipur Field Force," and about 2500 men, including followers,
operated from the Tammu side and about the same number from Kohima and
Silchar. Mr. W. Roussac was in charge of the postal arrangements with
the Tammu column, and Mr. F. P. Williams, assisted by an inspector,
with the Kohima column. All correspondence for the Tammu column was
sent from India to Rangoon and thence by boats to Kindat. From Kindat
to Tammu the mails were conveyed by runners, and a runners' line
was opened from Tammu to Manipur. These arrangements worked for a
very short time on account of the rapid advance of troops and their
immediate return.
_The Miranzai Expedition._
The object of the expedition, which was under the command of
Brigadier-General Sir William Lockhart, K.C.B., was to overawe the
recalcitrant Samil clans of the Urakzai tribe in the Miranzai Valley.
The force was ordered to the front in January, 1891, and advanced in
three columns, the first column having its base at Shahu Khel, the
second at Tog and the third at Hangu. Mr. A. Bean, Superintendent of
post offices, Peshawar Division, was placed in charge of field postal
arrangements connected with the force in addition to his own duties.
_The Wuntho Expedition._
On the 15th February, 1891, the station of Kawlin was suddenly attacked
by a party of rebels from the Wuntho State, in Upper Burma, and a few
police who formed the garrison of the place had to evacuate it. The
post office had to be abandoned and the sub-postmaster had to come
away along with the other officials. A combined force of police and
military, consisting of about 2500 men, was at once organized and
advanced on Wuntho from Shwebo, Katha and Tigyaing to put down the
rebellion and bring the country under permanent occupation. The troops
employed were not designated a Field Force, and the postal arrangements
were therefore carried out on ordinary scale and not according to the
rules of the Field Service Manual.
_The Isazai Field Force._
In September, 1892, the Government of India decided to send out an
expedition under Major-General Sir William Lockhart to punish certain
villages of the trans-Indus Isazai clans who had harboured Hashim Ali
Khan of Seri in contravention of their agreement entered into at Seri
in May, 1891. A force of about 4000 men of all arms concentrated at
Derband and was styled the "Isazai Field Force." On the 17th September,
1892, Mr. C. J. Dease, Superintendent of post offices, was deputed to
make the special arrangements for the force with the assistance of an
inspector.
_Kurram Field Force._
In the beginning of October, 1892, the Government of India decided
to depute a Political officer at the head of a force in the Lower
Kurram Valley. The object was to expel the Chikkai tribes from the
valley and to effect a thorough settlement of the country. The force
which accompanied the Political officer, Mr. W. R. H. Merk, C.S.I.,
consisted of about 2500 men, including followers. Mr. P. Sheridan,
Postmaster-General, Punjab, arranged for field post offices, and the
Superintendent of post offices, Peshawar Division, was placed in
charge. By the end of October the presence of troops in Kurram was no
longer necessary, and the field offices were closed with the exception
of the head-quarters office, which was retained for the use of the
garrison.
_The Wano Expedition._
In August, 1892, owing to disturbances in Afghanistan, a detachment
of troops had to be sent beyond the frontier to take up position at
Kajuri Kuch in the Wano country, thirty miles beyond the Gomal Pass.
As there was no post office at the place, arrangements were made by
the Superintendent of post offices, Derajat Division, to send and
receive mails via Gomal post office. In September, however, owing to
the despatch of further troops, the Post Office was called upon to make
arrangements. By the end of April, 1893, the strength of the Kajuri and
Jandola forces was considerably reduced, and the postal establishments
were gradually abolished.
_The Abor Expedition, 1894._
The only postal arrangements made in connection with this expedition,
which lasted for a very short time, were the opening of a runners' line
from Sadiya to Bomjur and the strengthening of the delivery staff of
Sadiya post office by an additional postman.
_The Waziristan Field Force._
In August, 1894, the Government of India sanctioned the despatch of
troops to accompany the British Commissioner in connection with the
Afghan boundary demarkation. Pundit Shiv Pal, the Superintendent of
post offices, Derajat Division, was placed in charge assisted by two
inspectors, till he was relieved by Mr. W. T. van Someren, who was
placed on special duty in this connection. The post office at Tank was
temporarily converted into a Base head office, and three field post
offices were opened to move with the force.
On the 3rd November the Mushud Waziri made a determined night attack
on the British camp at Wano, and, although the attack was repulsed, it
resulted in 120 casualties. In the beginning of December, 1894, the
Government of India having sanctioned active operations in Waziristan,
Lieutenant-General Sir William Lockhart, who was now placed in command,
asked for an additional Superintendent, and Mr. A. Franks Ryan was
placed on special duty with the force.
_The Chitral Relief Force._
In the middle of March, 1895, a scheme was prepared for field
operations in Chitral, the object of which was to compel Umra Khan of
Jandol to withdraw from the Chitral country, and the Director-General
was requested to make postal arrangements for the force, which
consisted of about 20,000 troops of all arms and about 30,000 camp
followers. This was the largest force mobilized in India since the
Afghan War of 1879, and the postal arrangements had therefore to be
made on a proportionately large scale. The expedition was titled "The
Chitral Relief Force" and was commanded by Major-General Sir Robert
Low, K.C.B.
On the 18th March, 1895, Mr. P. Sheridan, Postmaster-General, Punjab,
was requested by the Director-General to arrange field post offices,
and by the end of the month the postal staff, who were collected at
Nowshera, were in readiness to start. Mr. A. Franks Ryan was the
senior Superintendent in charge. In the early stages of the campaign
considerable difficulty was experienced by the supervising officers
in organizing lines for the conveyance of mails. Mule transport being
very limited, pack bullocks had to be used for the first few days, and
when those were withdrawn a temporary runners' line had to be opened.
Information, however, was shortly received that the country was open
as far as Durgai, a distance of forty-one miles from Nowshera, and
arrangements were made with Messrs. Dhanjibhoy to open a tonga line.
On the 30th March the force moved out to Mardan and the head-quarters
field post office went with it. On the 22nd April, 1895, information
was received that Colonel Kelly had succeeded in reducing the Chitral
fort from the Gilgit side, and a further hasty advance of troops was
therefore no longer necessary. With the occupation of the Chitral
territory by the 3rd Brigade the expedition practically came to an end.
The Abbottabad Force was broken up on the 31st May, 1895.
_Suakim Expedition, 1896._
In May, 1896, under orders from the Home Government, an Expeditionary
Force, 3000 strong, was sent to Suakim under the command of
Brigadier-General C. C. Egerton, C.B., D.S.O., and a field post office
was ordered to accompany it. The chief of the postal staff was Mr.
Bennett, who, however, did not hold the rank of Chief Superintendent
as the Force was too small. It started on the 22nd May, 1896, and
arrived on the 1st June at Suakim, where the Base office was opened.
Subsequently a sub-office was opened at Tokar, and the exchange of
mails between this office and the Base office was carried on by camel
dak twice a week. There was fortnightly communication between India and
Suakim by Egyptian steamers, and parcel and letter mails were conveyed
by these and by P. & O. steamers. The field post office was closed on
the 8th December, 1896.
_The Malakand Field Force._
On the 31st July, 1897, the Adjutant-General in India forwarded to the
Director-General a scheme for operations in the Malakand country, and
Mr. P. Sheridan, Postmaster-General, Punjab and N.-W.F., was requested
to make special postal arrangements for the force. Mr. H. C. Sheridan,
Assistant Director-General of the Post Office, was placed in charge.
By the middle of August all the troops forming the 1st and 2nd Brigades
went across the Malakand to the Swat Valley. In the meantime, fresh
trouble having arisen round and about Peshawar, the Government of
India issued orders for punitive operations against the Mohmands, who
had invaded British territory and attacked the village and fort of
Shabkadar, nineteen miles from Peshawar. Accordingly a strong force
was concentrated about the place, and Mr. C. A. Stowell was deputed
to Peshawar to make special postal arrangements for this force. "The
Mohmand Field Force," under Major-General Ellis, left Shabkadar on
the 15th September and returned to Peshawar on the 8th October, 1897.
During the expedition a small force was sent to Abazai to guard the
works of the Swat Canal, and a field post office accompanied it.
On New Year's day of 1898 orders were issued for an advance to Buner,
and the 2nd Brigade marched to Katlang, which was at once connected
with Mardan by an ekka service, later extended to Sanghao. There
were now two ekka services--one from Mardan to Rustam, a distance of
nineteen miles, and the other from Mardan to Sanghao, a distance of
twenty-one miles. On the 9th January the name of the force was changed
to the "Buner Field Force." The postal arrangements for this force,
which was not in existence for more than a fortnight, were in the hands
of Mr. N. M. Cama, Superintendent of post offices.
The Malakand Field Force began to be demobilized on the 22nd January,
1898, but only a small portion of the troops returned to India. The
rest went forward and became part of the Swat garrison. In this
expedition arrangements were made for the first time for the sale
of newspapers by field post offices, a service which was greatly
appreciated. So efficient were the postal arrangements and the
regularity of the tonga service that the mails to and from the front
travelled with a punctuality which would compare favourably with any
long-established line in India.
_The Tirah Expedition._
On the 17th September, 1897, the Director-General was asked to make
arrangements for a postal service for the Expeditionary Force to be
sent against the Afridi and Orakzai tribes on the Kohat and Peshawar
frontier. The Postmaster-General, Punjab and N.-W.F., Mr. P. Sheridan,
was immediately communicated with, and Mr. van Someren was appointed
Chief Postal Superintendent with the expedition.
The Base post office for the main force was at first situated at Kohat,
and the Base office for the Peshawar column at Peshawar. When the
troops marched through Tirah and took up their position for the winter
in the Bara Valley, the Khyber Pass and the neighbourhood of Peshawar,
Messrs. Dhanjibhoy established two tonga services connecting Peshawar
with Bara and Jamrud, while beyond these places they arranged for the
carriage of mails by a horse post. The mail service for the Peshawar
column previous to this had been carried on by the Afridi horse
contractors, and as the roads were improved the tonga services were
extended up to Landi Kotal in the Khyber Pass and Gandao in the Bara
Valley.
The postal arrangements lasted for a period of six months. On this
occasion, too, the field post offices were specially authorized to sell
newspapers to the troops and were allowed a commission on the sales.
_The Tochi Field Force._
The postal arrangements in connection with the Tochi Field Force lasted
for a period of about eight months, from July, 1897, to February, 1898.
The base of the operations was Bannu, which is 111 miles away from the
railway at Khushalgarh, and, as soon as it was known that a force was
to be mobilized at Bannu, arrangements were made for the introduction
of an efficient tonga service from Khushalgarh to that place and for
a proper railway connection between Golra and Khushalgarh. Between
Khushalgarh and Kohat a feeble tonga service was already in existence
under the management of the District Board of Kohat, while for the
local demands an ekka service had been established between Kohat and
Bannu. Neither of these lines could be relied upon to meet the special
requirements for mails and passengers caused by the expedition, and
Mr. Dhanjibhoy, the mail contractor of the Rawalpindi-Srinagar line,
established a complete and efficient tonga service over the entire
distance.
The postal arrangements were carried out very satisfactorily. Mr. W.
T. van Someren was in charge of the actual arrangements in the field
from the beginning till September, 1897, when he was relieved by Mr. F.
O'Byrne, who remained in charge during the remainder of the operations.
_The Tochi Valley Field Force._
After the breaking up of the Tochi Field Force in December, 1897,
it was decided to retain in the valley a brigade of troops on field
service scale under the command of the General Officer Commanding,
Tochi. The troops were quartered in six military posts, and camp post
offices were opened to serve them. During the Tochi Expedition there
was a tonga service between Edwardesabad and Bannu, but this having
been discontinued a new arrangement had to be made for a tonga service
with Messrs. Dhanjibhoy and Sons for the conveyance of mails between
Khushalgarh and Kohat and an ekka service between Edwardesabad and
Miranshah and Datta Khel.
_The Swat Valley Column._
When the second division of the Tirah Force was demobilized it
was decided to retain a strong column in the Swat Valley to take
up positions in Dir territory for the protection of the line of
communications and the route of the relieving and relieved Chitral
Force. The arrangement necessitated the opening of three field post
offices from the 1st May, 1898, and from the same date the Swat
Sorting Office at Nowshera was strengthened. It was also decided to
retain the services of a Superintendent to accompany the column up to
Dir territory and return with the relieved troops from Chitral.
The postal arrangements had to be maintained till the end of June, when
the column having been considerably reduced, two field offices were
abolished and only one was retained till the 15th July, 1898.
_The Mishmi Expedition._
In November, 1899, the Director-General was requested to open a
field branch post office at Bonjur and connect it by a runners' line
(twenty-four miles long) with Sadiya, where there was a civil post
office. This place was made the base of operations of the Mishmi Field
Force. About 200 military police and 1000 regular troops operated in
this expedition, which began in December, 1899, and ended in January,
1900. The Bonjur office was opened on the 1st December, 1899, and
closed on the 9th February, 1900.
_The China Expeditionary Force._
At the request of the Home Government, a force entitled "The China
Expeditionary Force" was mobilized in India for service in China
under the command of General Sir A. Gaselee. The first intimation of
the despatch of the army was received on the 29th June, 1900. This,
however, referred only to one brigade of troops of all arms; but on
the 25th June intimation was received that a force of two brigades
with divisional troops were under orders for China. The control of
the field postal arrangements was in the hands of Mr. Stewart-Wilson,
Postmaster-General, Punjab, under whose orders the postal staff was
mobilized and equipped. At first it was decided to fit out twelve
field post offices to accompany the force. Mr. W. T. van Someren was
appointed Chief Superintendent, and Mr. A. Bean and Mr. A. B. Thompson
were selected to work under him.
By the end of August, 1900, the force in China was strengthened by a
cavalry brigade, one infantry brigade and three large coolie corps,
and the postal staff had to be supplemented. Thus by the end of the
year there were in China:
1 Chief Superintendent.
4 Superintendents.
4 Inspectors.
1 Postmaster.
2 Deputy Postmasters.
20 Sub-Postmasters.
53 Clerks.
76 Followers.
On the 29th June, 1900, a notification was issued regarding the
conditions under which postal articles could be exchanged with the
China Expeditionary Force. The Indian Base office was at first opened
at Linkung-tao (Wei Hai Wei), but was shortly transferred to Hongkong.
Articles for the force were despatched by the steamers of the B.I.S.N.
Company, the Messageries Maritimes and also by the Opium steamers to
Hongkong. The Colonial post office at Hongkong had an arrangement with
all merchant vessels binding them to carry mails as far as Shanghai,
and owing to the courtesy of the Postmaster-General, Hongkong, this
concession was made use of to carry the mails of the Field Force.
North of Shanghai the mails were carried by transports and men-o'-war.
Later on the Chinese Imperial Postal Authorities carried our mails
from Shanghai to Taku and back free of charge until the latter port
was closed by the winter ice. Another route had then to be chosen for
the North China mails, and once more we had to resort to the kindness
of the Imperial Chinese Post Office, who agreed to supply transport
from Chifu to Chaingwantao twice a week on condition that half the
cost of the coal used should be paid. Thus the mails were conveyed
from Hongkong to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Chifu and from Chifu to
Chaingwantao and thence to Tientsin. The chief postal land routes were
(1) Taku to Pekin and (2) Tientsin to Shanhaikwan.
Dollar currency was used in the field offices, the rate of a dollar
being fixed at 1s. 11d., equivalent to Rs.1.7.0. The first postal
detachment took with them a full supply of postage stamps, postcards,
etc., but it was found inadvisable to use them owing to the fact that
it would be impossible to sell them at a price exactly equivalent to
face value. At Hongkong the postal equivalent for 10 centimes, i.e.
1 anna, is 4 cents. It followed, therefore, that twenty-five 1-anna
stamps could be bought for a dollar and that the purchaser would be
able to make 2 annas for every dollar spent on stamps, and it was
feared that advantage would be taken of this to buy up Indian stamps
wholesale for remittance to India. The postage stamps were therefore
overprinted with the letters "C.E.F.," i.e. "China Expeditionary
Force," so that their use would be localized, and the surcharged
stamps came into circulation about the middle of August, 1900. In
order to confine the use of field offices to the members of the force,
orders were issued that our postage stamps should not be sold except
to soldiers and officers in uniform. The rates of postage fixed for
all purposes were those in force in India, the postage to India being
reckoned at Indian inland rates.
Difficulty had all along been felt in supplying postal facilities to
the small bodies of troops stationed at or near railway stations where
there were no post offices. Mr. van Someren removed this difficulty
by introducing a combined Post and Railway Mail Service between Pekin
and Taku and Tientsin and Shanhaikwan, a scheme which was a new one in
the history of the field postal service. Postal clerks had not only to
sort letters in the trains, but also to receive and deliver letters
and sell postage stamps at each railway station. By August, 1901,
there was a reduction of the number of troops in China and fourteen
field post offices were closed, the supervising staff being reduced
to a Chief Superintendent and an inspecting postmaster in North China
and a Superintendent and an inspecting postmaster at Hongkong. Mr. van
Someren left China on the 5th August, 1901, leaving Mr. Thompson in
charge.
This was the first occasion that a large postal establishment had to
be sent out with a military expedition overseas to a foreign country.
The force consisted of over 37,000 men stationed at various places
from Shanghai to Taku and Taku to Pekin. The harmonious relations with
the Chinese Imperial Postal Administration and the material assistance
which it rendered on every possible occasion greatly helped to the
success of the Indian Field Post Office administration in China.
_The Somaliland Field Force._
The postal arrangements made to serve the Somaliland Field Force
extended over a period of nearly two years from January, 1903, to
November, 1904. Mr. Wynch, who was appointed Chief Superintendent,
remained till June, 1904, when he was invalided and relieved by Mr.
A. J. Hughes, who held charge until the end of the operations. The
strength of the force was 3000, and at first one base office and one
field post office, with one postmaster, five clerks and four packers,
were provided. Mails were exchanged between India and Somaliland by
Government transports. The field post offices were closed on the 25th
November, 1904.
_The Tibet Mission._
In 1903 the Government of India decided to send a small force to escort
the Tibet Frontier Commission. At first a number of temporary post
offices and lines were opened under the control of the Superintendent
of post offices, Jalpaiguri Division, to serve the Mission, but it
was not until it was decided that the Mission should advance into the
Chumbi Valley that field post offices and lines were required. The
Mission was headed by Colonel Younghusband and the escort was commanded
by General MacDonald, with Mr. H. Tulloch as Chief Superintendent.
The rapid development of field post offices necessitated the
appointment of a second Superintendent, and Mr. A. Bean was deputed
to field service. On the 6th January, 1904, Mr. Bean took over charge
of the Base Division, but shortly after died of heart disease on the
3rd March, 1904. The entire arrangements then devolved again on Mr.
Tulloch until the 1st April, 1904, when Mr. C. J. Dease took over
charge of the Base Division.
The Mission advanced on Gyantse on the 4th April. From Tuna to Gyantse
the mail arrangements were in the hands of the military authorities,
and only one postal clerk, whose duty it was to distribute letters,
was sent up with the escort. The Mission reached Gyantse on the 14th
May, and a field post office had to be opened there and at several
other places on the lines of communications. The force remained at
Lhassa from the 3rd August to the 23rd September and returned to
Gyantse on the 6th October, 1904. There was by this time at Gyantse
an accumulation of over 1100 parcels addressed to the members of the
Lhassa column, but Mr. Angelo, who was then placed in charge of the
advance division, disposed of them in three days before the troops left
on their return march. The demobilization of the force began by the end
of October, and the postal officials were ordered to leave Chumbi on
the 26th and to close the field post offices between Chumbi and Gangtok
on their way down. Mr. Tulloch relinquished charge of the F.P.O.'s on
the 28th November, 1904.
_The Bazar Valley Field Force._
The postal arrangements made to serve the Bazar Valley Field Force
extended over a period of twenty-five days, from the 13th February
to the 8th March, 1908. On the night of the 12th February the Chief
of the Staff informed the Postmaster, Peshawar, that the force would
leave the station the next morning. A base office, four first-class
field post offices and three second-class field post offices were
sent to the front, and on receipt of the scheme for the organization
and mobilization of the force on the 14th February this establishment
was reduced considerably. The work of the field post offices on this
occasion was limited almost entirely to the disposal of articles of the
letter and packet mails.
_The Mohmand Field Force._
The postal arrangements made to serve the Mohmand Field Force extended
over a period of thirty-eight days, from the 28th April to the 4th
June, 1908. The first intimation that an expedition would take place
was received on the 23rd April, and the Postmaster-General, Punjab and
N.-W.F., was at once directed to make all arrangements to serve the
troops that were concentrating on the frontier. Mr. McMinn, who was
Chief Superintendent of post offices with the Bazar Valley Field Force,
was placed in charge.
_The Abor Expeditionary Force, 1911-12._
The postal arrangements made to serve the Abor Expeditionary Force
extended over a period of about one year, from May, 1911, to May,
1912. A temporary post office was first opened on the 15th May, 1911,
at Saikwaghat, a terminus of the Dibru-Sadiyah Railway, to serve the
troops making preparations there for the expedition. The office was
under the control of the Superintendent of post offices, Upper Assam
Division. It was not until September, 1911, when the force advanced
towards Kobo, that the Department was called upon to organize a field
postal service. The arrangements were placed under the control of the
Postmaster-General, Eastern Bengal and Assam, and for the supervision
of the work in the field Mr. A. J. Faichnie, Superintendent of post
offices, Upper Assam Division, was, in addition to his own duties,
appointed Superintendent of Field Post Offices, assisted by an
inspector.
APPENDIX J
THE POST OFFICE INSURANCE FUND
The suggestion to establish a State Life Assurance was first made in
1872 by Sir Richard Temple, the Finance Member of Council. After a
great deal of discussion it was dropped in 1873, but was revived again
in 1881 by Mr. Hogg, the Director-General of the Post Office, when it
was accepted by the Viceroy's Council and finally by the Secretary of
State.
The principal features of the scheme which was actually introduced on
the 1st February, 1884, were:
(1) For the time the Fund was confined to the employés of the Post
Office.
(2) Provision was made for effecting life insurance in three ways,
viz.--
(i) By a single payment.
(ii) By monthly payments until the person insured attained the
age of 50 or 55.
(iii) By monthly payments during life.
(3) Provision was also made for two classes of monthly allowances, viz.
"Immediate" or "Deferred."
(4) One life could be insured for any sum which was a multiple of Rs.50
up to the total of Rs.4,000, and the monthly allowance granted on any
one life might consist of any sum which was a multiple of Rs.8 up to
the limit of Rs.50.
(5) Medical examination of proposers for insurance was made free.
(6) Arrangements were made for the deduction of the monthly premia from
the insured person's salary except the first premium or premium paid
during leave without pay.
(7) Policies and contracts issued under the scheme were exempt from
stamp duty.
The scheme worked smoothly, and, taking into consideration that many
employés of the Post Office are poorly paid officials, a fair measure
of success was attained during the first few years except in the
Monthly Allowance branch and in the system of Life Insurance by single
payment. The following figures show the proportion of officials who
availed themselves of insurance during the first three years:--
1884-85 1·05% of the whole Post Office establishment.
1885-86 1·46% " " "
1886-87 1·79% " " "
In 1887 the rule under which one-half surrender value could be allowed
on all policies and contracts when payment had been discontinued was
modified so as to exclude from this privilege policies and contracts
on which three years' premia or subscriptions had not been paid. In
September, 1887, the Fund was opened to the Telegraph Department,
and in 1895 to employés of the Indo-European Telegraphs and to women
employed in all the departments.
With effect from the 1st February, 1898, the benefits of the scheme
were extended generally to all permanent Government servants whose pay
was audited in Civil or Public Works Account offices and all members of
establishments of the Military Department, under audit of the Military
Account offices, who were subject to Civil rules. From the same date a
system of Endowment Assurances providing for payment at any age between
45 and 55 was introduced. With this general extension of the scheme it
was decided that the medical examination of proposers for insurance
should be more stringent and that medical officers, who had until then
been examining proposers for insurance free of any charge, should be
allowed a fee of Rs.4 for each examination, as their insurance work
would be substantially increased. In the same year (1898) the system of
Life Insurance by a single payment which had proved to be a failure,
was abolished.
In 1899, Temporary Engineers and Temporary Upper Subordinates of the
Public Works Department were allowed by Government to be admissible to
the benefits of the Fund, provided that the Chief Engineer declared
that they were eligible for admission. In 1903 it was extended to
permanent Government servants in foreign service in India, and in the
same year Life Insurance policies were allowed to be converted into
Endowment Assurance policies.
In 1904, the following relaxations of the rules were sanctioned with a
view to meet the convenience of Government servants.
(1) Insured persons who had retired from the service and whose
pensions were paid in India were allowed the option of deducting their
premia or subscriptions from their pension bills instead of being
compelled to pay them in cash at a post office.
(2) When there was any difficulty in the way of a proposal being
signed by the proposer in the presence of his immediate superior,
this duty might, with the permission of the Postmaster-General,
be performed in the presence of the local postmaster or any other
responsible officer who had to sign the certificate.
(3) The table of subscriptions for "Immediate Monthly Allowance,"
which contained rates up to the age of sixty, was extended so as to
provide for contracts with persons above that age.
In the same year the benefits of the Fund were extended to Temporary
Lower Subordinates, clerks of the Public Works Department and to clerks
of the Punjab University on the same conditions as to Temporary
Engineers and Temporary Upper Subordinates.
The year 1907 witnessed several important changes in the Post Office
Insurance Fund made on the recommendation of the Government Actuary.
These were:
(1) That the sums eventually payable in respect of policies in
existence on 31st March, 1907, in the Life Branch of the Fund were
increased by 10 per cent and that the premia payable in respect of
sums assured in that branch after that date would be correspondingly
reduced. The rates of premia for Life Insurance were revised
accordingly.
(2) That a life policy, with monthly payments payable till death,
was allowed to be converted into a life policy with monthly payments
payable to a specified age or into a fully paid up policy payable at
death.
(3) That an endowment policy might be converted into a paid-up policy
payable at some anterior date or at death, if earlier.
(4) That insurants could reduce their monthly premia to any desired
extent from any specified date.
(5) That when a policy of either class was surrendered the policy
holder should be given the full surrender value which on an actuarial
calculation could be paid without loss to the Fund, instead of half
that amount as hitherto given.
(6) That the surrender value of a lapsed policy was payable at any
time after default, on application being made for the same.
(7) That the period up to which payment of arrears of premium or
subscription was allowed for the revival of a policy of less than
three years' duration was extended from three to six months.
The tables of premia, introduced at the time the Fund was started,
as already stated, were calculated on the mortality rates which had
been deduced from the experience of the Uncovenanted Service Family
Pension Fund, Bengal--a Fund which was confined to Europeans resident
in India--there being no more reliable mortality statistics available
for the purpose at the time. In 1909 the India Office Actuary, in his
review on the operations of the Fund for the year 1907-08, noticed
that, in view of the rapid growth of the scheme, it was necessary to
revise the tables according to more accurate mortality statistics. In
his review on the work of the Fund for 1908-09 the Actuary asked for
detailed particulars of all the policies issued by the Fund since its
institution in the form of statements, in order to enable him to deduce
therefrom the necessary mortality rates, and thus prepare fresh tables
of premia. These statistics were submitted with the Director-General's
Annual Report on the operations of the Fund for the year 1910-11.
In the meantime it was brought to notice in 1909 that, under the
existing method of calculating surrender values of Life policies, the
values in certain cases were found on calculation to be considerably
in excess of the total amount of premia paid on the policies. Taking
advantage of this, insurants began to surrender their policies in
large numbers. The matter was referred to the Secretary of State. As
a result, the Actuary at the India Office forwarded revised tables
for the calculation of surrender values of Life policies, to be used
until the general revision of the Mortality tables and of the tables of
premia, which had been under contemplation, was effected. In 1909 an
important concession was sanctioned regarding the payment of premia by
insured persons while on leave or suspension or when retiring. It was
laid down that an insured person should not be considered as in arrears
of premium or subscription for any month so long as he has not drawn
any pay, pension or suspension allowance.
In 1910, with a view to afford greater facilities to the lower grades
of postal servants to insure their lives and to popularize the Fund,
sanction was obtained to grant to these officials from the Post Office
Guarantee Fund travelling expenses actually incurred by them in their
journey for examination by the medical officer for insurance, provided
the proposer actually took out a policy and paid the premium for not
less than twelve months. In 1912 Mr. Ackland, the Actuary at the India
Office, made a thorough investigation into the past experience of the
Fund from the statistics furnished to him. He drew up a report showing
the results of the investigation and prepared fresh tables of mortality
statistics, as well as new tables of premia for both Life Insurance and
Endowment Assurance. He also prepared new formulæ for the calculation
of paid-up policies, surrender values, etc., and recommended the
following further concessions and changes:--
(1) The grant to all policy holders on the 31st March, 1912 (the
valuation date), of a bonus at the rate of 2 per cent per annum in
the case of Whole Life Assurances, and at 1 per cent in the case of
Endowment Assurances in respect of each month's premium paid since
31st March, 1907, up to 31st March, 1912.
(2) The grant of an interim bonus at half of the above rates in
respect of the premiums paid since 31st March, 1912, in the case of
policies which became claims by death or survivance between 1st April,
1912, and 31st March, 1917, provided that premiums have been paid for
at least five years and up to date of death or survivance.
(3) "Age next birthday" should be taken as the age at entry for all
classes of Assurances.
(4) An integral number of years' premia should be charged on Endowment
Assurance policies and Life policies with limited payments.
(5) Transfers from the Whole Life to the Endowment Assurance class or
vice versa should be allowed only after any number of complete years'
premia have been paid.
(6) When surrender values were granted in the Monthly Allowance class,
medical examination at the policy holder's expense should be insisted
on and payment should in no case exceed 95 per cent of the present
value of the monthly allowance.
(7) Policy holders should be allowed to commute future premia by
payment either of a lump sum or of an increased monthly premium
ceasing at age 50 or 55.
(8) Transfers from the Endowment Assurance to the Whole Life
class should be allowed only on the production of a fresh medical
certificate obtained at the policy holder's expense.
(9) The valuations of the Fund should be made at quinquennial
intervals.
It was also decided that, as an Actuary had been appointed by the
Government of India, all questions relating to the administration of
the Fund, as well as future valuations of the Fund, might be dealt with
by that officer instead of being submitted to the Secretary of State.
INDEX
Abolition of District Post, 20
Abolition of Sea Post Office, 135
Abolition of unpaid postcards, 7
Abor Expedition, 1894, 220
Abor Expeditionary Force, 1911-12, 231
Abyssinian Expedition, 210
Accounts, Postal, 36
Act, Post Office. _See_ Post Office Act
Address, Forms of, 89, 98
Aden, Military operations in neighbourhood of, 175
Aden, Transhipment of mails at, 130, 133
Admiralty Agents, 127, 129, 130
Afghanistan Expedition, 168, 211
Anche, The, 112, 116
Anchel, The, 112
Aviation, 125
Bagdad Railway, 148, 149
Baku, Field service in, 174
Bank, Savings, 81
Base office, 166, 169, 175
Base Postal Depot, 175
Bazar Valley Field Force, 230
Beadon, Mr., 21
"Bearing" correspondence, 7, 25, 34, 158, 160
Bhangy post, 26, 29, 33, 48
Black Hole of Calcutta, 108, 200
Black Mountain Expedition, 217
Black Mountain or Hazara Field Force, 215
Bombay G.P.O. building, 108
Bombay Regulation XI of 1830, 26
Branch office, 4
Brindisi as European port for Indian mails, 124, 182
British India Steam Navigation Company, 138, 142
British Mission Escort in South Persia, 175
British postal orders, 42
Buildings, Post Office, 106
Bullock train, 154, 168, 196
Buner Field Force, 223
Bungalows, Dak or Travellers', 17, 196
Burlton, Mr. S. P., 14
Burma, Chin Expedition, 215
Bushire Force, 174
Calcutta, Black Hole of, 108, 200
Calcutta G.P.O. building, 108, 200
Camel dak, 209
Cape route to India, The, 118, 123
Cash certificates, Five-year, 87
Cash on Delivery system, 40, 46, 50, 51
Caste, 101
Centres, Delivery, 102
Chin Expedition, Burma, 215
Chin Hills Expedition, 218
Chin Lushai Expedition, 216
China Expeditionary Force, 226
Chitral Relief Force, 221
"Clubbing," 24
Combined post and telegraph offices, Introduction of, 41
Commission of 1850, 1, 21, 178
Compiler of Post Office Accounts, 36, 72
Compulsory prepayment of postage in all cases, Rejection of, 25
Constantinople, Field service in, 174
Construction and maintenance of postal vans, 63
Consultations of 24th March, 1766, Minutes of, 12
Consultations of 17th January, 1774, Extract from, 191
Continuous delivery system, 103
Control of the Department, 2, 30, 31
Conventions with Indian States, 114
Copper tickets, or tokens for postal purposes, 14, 178, 194
Cost of carrying mails on railways, 62
Counterfeit stamps, 39, 42
Courtney, Mr., 21
Crises in the Savings Bank, 84
Custom-House, Turkish, at Bagdad and Basra, 140, 146
Customs regulations, 36
Cyprus, 211
Dak bungalows, 17, 196
Dak system, 195
Dead Letter Office, 26
Delivery centres, 102
Delivery of mails, 102
Delivery system, Continuous, 103
Department, Control of the, 2, 30, 31
Department, never regarded as revenue-producing, 9, 22
Department, Organization of the, 3, 30, 31
Depot, Base Postal, 175
Deputy Postmaster, 155, 193
Desert post, The, 122, 137, 139
Direction, Organization of the, 2
Director-General of the Post Office, First, 36
Distance, Uniformity of postage irrespective of, 24, 32, 39, 49
District dawk stamps, Scinde, 31, 178
District Post, 16, 17
District Post, Abolition of, 20
District Savings Banks, 81
Dromedary post, 137, 139
Early Postal Regulations, 26
East Africa, Field service in, 174
East Persian Cordon, 174
Egypt during the Great War, Field service in, 171, 173
Egypt Expeditionary Force, 212
Encouragement of prepayment of postage, 34
England, Parcel post with, 39, 50
English mail, 30, 121, 127, 142
Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, 138, 142, 144
European port for reception and despatch of Indian mails, 124, 182
Experimental post offices, 20, 96
Ferry charges upon Railway steamers, 63, 65
Field Post Office, The, 165
Field post offices, 166
Field Service Manual, 166
Field service, Military rank on, 166
Field service uniform, 166
Fines incurred under Post Office Acts, 29
Fining, 37
First appointment of a Postmaster-General, 14
First Director-General of the Post Office, 36
Five-year cash certificates, 87
Forbes, Mr., 21
Force in East Persia, 174
Foreign money orders, 73
Foreign parcel post, 51
France, Field service in, 171
Franking, 35
Free postage, Abolition of privilege of, 35
Free postage, Grant of privilege of, to certain persons, 27
Gallipoli, Field service in, 173
Great War, 170, 171
Great War, Effect of, upon savings bank balances, 87
Guarantee Fund, Post Office, 236
Haulage charges, 60, 67
Hazara Field Force, Black Mountain or, 215
Head Office, 3
Horse transit and bullock train, 153, 168, 196, 206
Identification of payees of money orders, 79, 99
Imperial Penny Postage Scheme, 40
Imported and locally produced printed matter, Differentiation between, 32, 38
Indian Convention States, 114, 185
Indian Mutiny, The Post Office during the, 151, 167, 196, 204
Indian States, The Post Office in, 112
Insurance fee, 41
Insurance system in the Persian Gulf and Turkish Arabia, 141
Introduction of first regular postal system by Lord Clive, 12
Introduction of postage stamps, 31, 32, 178, 179
Introduction of postcards, 7
Introduction of railways, 30
Iraq, 148, 173
Isazai Field Force, 219
Kalahandi Expedition, 212
Kurram Field Force, 219
Kut, 173
Land revenue money orders, 75
Later Postal Regulations, 38
Letter-writers, Professional, 94
Life Insurance policies, Surrender values of, 236
Life Insurance, Postal, 42, 232
Loan, War, 87
Lord Clive, Regular postal system introduced by, 12
Lushai Expedition, 216
Mail runner, 4
Malakand Field Force, 222
Malta Expeditionary Force, 211
Malwa Field Force, 156
Manipur Expedition, 218
Manual, Post Office, 2, 36
Manual (War), Postal, 166
Marine Postal Service, Suez and Bombay, 130
Marseilles as European port for Indian mails, 124, 182
Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf, The Post Office in, 137
Mesopotamia, Field service in, 171
Methods of travel in early days, 195
Military pensioners, Payment of, 42
Military rank on field service, 166
Minors' accounts, 86
Minutes of Consultations of 24th March, 1766, 12
Miranzai Expedition, 218
Mishmi Expedition, 226
Mohmand Field Force, 1897, 223
Mohmand Field Force, 1908, 231
Money order work transferred to Post Office, 41, 71
Money orders, 71
Money orders, Foreign, 73
Money orders, Inland, Statement of issues since 1880, 198
Money orders, Land revenue, 75
Money orders, Rent, 76
Money orders, Telegraphic, 74, 77
Monopoly, Postal, 26, 31
Mosul, Turkish post to Constantinople via, 139
Mounted post, First employment of, 11
Mutiny, The Post Office during the Indian, 151, 167, 196, 204
Naval Agents, 127, 129, 130
Newspapers, Registered, 43
Newspapers, Sale of, by field post offices, 223, 224
Non-postal work, 9
Octroi Tax, 53
Official articles, Special postage rates for, 40
Official marks of the Post Office, Acceptance of, as evidence, 43
Organization of the Department, 3, 30, 31
Organization of the Direction, 2
Origin of the Post Office, 10
Overland Route, The, 119, 137
Overprinted postage stamps, 115, 148, 182, 184, 228
Overprinted Turkish postage stamps, 148
Overprints, Indian Convention States, 115, 185
Overseer, 99, 166
Palestine, Field service in, 173
Parcel post, 48
Parcel post, Foreign, 51
Parcel post rates, Statement of, 55
Parcel post with England, 39, 50
Parcels and packets liable to be detained, 43
Paton, Mr. G., 157, 204
Payment of money orders at houses of payees, 77, 99
Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company,
Charter of incorporation of, 123, 127
Penjdeh Affair, 84
Penny Postage Scheme, Imperial, 40
Persian Expedition, 167
Persian Gulf and Turkish Arabia, Insurance system in the, 141
Persian Gulf, The Post Office in Mesopotamia and the, 137
Personnel of the Post Office, 189
Phulkian States, Conventions with, 114
Pishin Field Force, 214
Polymetrical tables, 33
Post, Bhangy, 26, 29, 33, 48
Post, District, 16, 17
Post, District, Abolition of, 20
Post Office Act--
of 1837, 17, 26
of 1838, 29
of 1839, 29
of 1854, 2, 31
of 1866, 38
of 1882, 42
of 1895, 42
of 1896, 42
of 1898, 42
of 1912, 46
Post Office, Branch, 4, 94
Post Office buildings, 106
Post Office, Experimental, 20, 96
Post Office, Field, 166
Post Office, Head, 3
Post Office Manual, 2, 36
Post Office, Origin of, 10
Post Office, Sub, 3
Post Office, Travelling, 58
Post free, Grant to certain persons of privilege of sending and
receiving correspondence, 27
Postage rates, 28, 38, 55
Postage stamps, Introduction of, 31, 32, 178, 179
Postal Life Insurance, 42
Postal Manual (War), 166
Postcards, Abolition of unpaid, 7
Postcards, Introduction of, 7
Postcards, Unpaid, 7
Postman, 97
Postman, Village or rural, 4, 94, 100
Postmaster, Deputy, 155, 193
Postmaster, Probationary, 190
Postmaster-General, First appointment of, 14, 193
Prepayment of postage, Encouragement of, 34
Prepayment of postage in all cases, Compulsory, Rejection of, 25
Presidency Postmaster, 16, 30, 31
Private posts, 17
Probationary Postmaster, 190
Probationary Superintendent, 189
Professional letter-writers, 94
Public Proceedings of 7th July, 1766, Extract from, 13
Quinine, Sale of, 4, 96
Railway Conference Association, 49, 67
Railway Mail Service, 58
Railways, Introduction of, 30
Rates of postage, 28, 38, 55
Receipt stamp, Abolition of special, 183
Redirected letters, Abolition of charge on, 39
Registered newspapers, 43
Registration, 35
Registration fee to be prepaid in postage stamps, 39
Regular postal system introduced by Lord Clive, 12
Regulations, Early Postal, 26
Regulations, Later Postal, 38
Rent money orders, 76
Rented buildings for post offices, 106, 110
Returned Letter Office at Basra, 172
Revenue-producing, Department never regarded as, 9, 22
Riddell, Mr. H. B., 36, 154, 163
Runner, Mail, 4
Rural postman, 4, 94, 100
Russian Scare, 84
Salonika, Field service in, 173
Savings bank, 81
Savings bank balances, Effect of Great War upon, 87
Savings bank, statement showing work from 1882 to 1918, 197
Savings bank work transferred to Post Office, 41, 82
Scinde District Dawk stamps, 31, 178
Sea Customs Act, 43
Sea Post Office, 127
Sea Post Office, Abolition of, 135
Seamen's letters, Soldiers' and, 40, 181
Service stamps, 35, 40, 184
Ship postage, 26, 34, 37
Sikkim Expedition, 214
"Snowball" system, Sale of goods on the, 53
Soldiers' and seamens' letters, 40, 181
Somaliland Field Force, 229
Sorting, Concentration of, 69
Sorting offices, Introduction of, 37, 58
South Persia, British Mission Escort in, 175
Southampton route, 123, 124
Special postage rates for official articles, 40
Stamps, Employment of postage stamps in place of telegraph, 183
Stamps, Overprinted or surcharged postage, 115, 148, 182, 184, 228
Stamps, Service, 35, 40, 184
Standard vans, 61
Suakim Expedition, 1896, 222
Suakim Field Post Office, 1885, 213
Sub-office, 3
Suez Canal, Opening of, 124
Suez Canal route, Future of, 125
Superintendent, 189
Superintendent, Probationary, 189
Suppression of foreign post offices in Ottoman dominions,
Turkish demand for, 139, 147
Surcharged postage stamps, 182, 184
Surrender values of Life Insurance policies, 236
Swat Valley Column, 225
Taylor, Captain, 17
Telegraph stamps, Employment of postage stamps in place of, 183
Telegraphic money orders, 74, 77
Thuillier, General Sir Henry, 179, 181
Tibet Mission, 229
Tirah Expedition, 224
Tochi Field Force, 224
Tochi Valley Field Force, 225
Transhipment of mails at Aden, 130, 133
Travel in early days, Methods of, 195
Travellers' bungalows, 17, 196
Travelling post office, 58
Turkish Arabia, Insurance system in the Persian Gulf and, 141
Turkish Customs House at Bagdad and Basra, 140, 146
Turkish post to Constantinople via Mosul, 139
Turkish postage stamps overprinted, 148
Unification of Indian State Posts with the Imperial Post Office, 115
Uniform, Field service, 166
Uniform, Postmen's, 104
Uniformity of postage irrespective of distance, 24, 32, 39, 49
Unpaid correspondence, 7, 25, 34, 158, 160
Upper Burma Expedition, 213
Value-payable system, 40, 46, 50, 51
Vans, Construction and maintenance of postal, 63, 66
Vans, Standard, 61
Village postman, 4, 94, 100
Waghorn, Lieutenant Thomas, 122
Wano Expedition, 220
War Loan, 87
Watermarks, 180, 182
Waziristan Field Force, 220
Wuntho Expedition, 219
Zhob Expedition, 217
Transcriber's Notes
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Hyphen removed: missending (p. 69), upcountry (p. 30).
p. 25: "addresses" changed to "addressees" (read by the addressees).
p. 55: Last column of third row of table changed from "41" to "14".
p. 91: "seldoms" changed to "seldom" (He seldom knows English).
p. 205: "Bolundshahur" changed to "Bulundshahur" (although Bulundshahur
and a large portion of Allyghur).
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