Telegrams Beyond the Commonwealth Regulations (Amendment) (Provisional) (Cth)
STATUTORY RULES.
PROVISIONAL REGULATIONS UNDER THE POST AND TELEGRAPH ACT 1901.
I,
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the
advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby certify that, on account of
urgency, the undermentioned amended Regulations under the
Telegrams Beyond the Commonwealth.
should come into immediate operation, and make the amended Regulations to come into operation forthwith as Provisional Regulations.
Dated this fifth day of August, One thousand nine hundred and nine.
DUDLEY,
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
JOHN QUICK.
———
Telegrams Beyond the Commonwealth.
1. In these Regulations Statutory Rules 1905, No. 36, are referred to as the Foreign Telegram Regulations.
2. Regulations 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 30, 32, 46, and 49 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations are repealed, and the following Regulations substituted in lieu thereof:—
“7. A telegram consisting merely of the address,
i.e., without text, may be accepted for transmission.“8. The address of a telegram must contain at least two words the first designating the addressee, the second indicating the name of the terminal telegraph office, which must be written as it appears in the first column of the Official Nomenclature of offices. The address must contain all particulars necessary to insure delivery of the telegram to the addressee without, in the case of private telegrams, search or request for further information; when the name of the terminal office has not yet been published in the Official Nomenclature, the name
of the country, or of the territorial subdivision, must be inserted by the sender. In all cases the sender must bear the consequences of insufficiency of address.
“9. Any supplementary instructions the sender may wish to give relative to delivery, prepayment of reply, acknowledgment of receipt, &c., must be written immediately before the address of the telegram, and shall be charged for. These instructions may be written in the abbreviated form shown below, when they shall be, respectively, charged for as one word, namely:—
(D) for Urgent.
(RPx) for Reply paid x words.
(RPDx) Reply paid, urgent x words.
(TC) for Collated.
(PC) for Telegram with telegraphic acknowledgment receipt.
(PCD) for Telegram with urgent telegraphic acknowledgment receipt.
(PCP) for Telegram with postal acknowledgment receipt.
(FS) for To follow.
(PR) for Post, post registered.
(XP) for Express, express paid.
(XPx) for Express paid x.
(XPT) for Telegraph express paid.
(XPP) for Express paid letter.
(MP) for To be delivered to addressee only.
(TR) for Telegraphe restante.
(GP) for Poste restante.
(GPR) for Poste restante registered.
(TMx) for x addresses.
(CTA) for Communicate all addresses.
“In the case of a multiple telegram, these instructions must be inserted before the address of each addressee to whom they apply; but in the case of an urgent or collated multiple telegram, it will be sufficient if the instructions relative to urgency or collation be written once only before the first address.
“13. Telegrams in plain language shall mean those of which the text is entirely written in language which offers an intelligible sense in one or more of the languages authorized for international telegraphic correspondence, viz., English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, or Latin, and shall also include code addresses, commercial marks, exchange quotations, letters representing signals of the international code of signals employed in maritime telegrams, abbreviated expressions currently used in ordinary or commercial correspondence, as fob, cif, caf, svp, or any other analogous expression.
“14. Telegrams in code language shall mean those composed of words not forming intelligible phrases, in one or more of the languages authorized for telegraphic correspondence in plain language.
“The words, whether genuine or artificial, must be formed of syllables capable of pronunciation according to the current usage of one of the following languages, viz., English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, or Latin. Artificial words must not contain the accented letters ä, á, å, é, ñ, ö, ü.
“The words must not be longer than
ten characters, according to the Morse alphabet, the combinations ae, aa, ao, oe, ue, being counted as two letters each. The combination ch is also counted as two letters in artificial words.“Combinations not fulfilling the above conditions shall be regarded as language in letters having a secret meaning (cipher language), and shall be so charged for. Those which may be formed by the union of two or more words in plain language contrary to the usage of the language shall not be admitted.
“15. Telegrams in cipher language are those which are formed:—
(
a )Either of Arabic figures, or groups, or series of Arabic figures having a secret meaning, or of letters (excluding the accented letters ä, á, å, é, ñ, ö ü), groups, or series of letters having a secret meaning;(
b )Of words, names, expressions, or combinations of letters not fulfilling the conditions of plain language (Regulation No. 13), or of code language (Regulation No. 14).“The mixture in one group of figures and of letters having a secret meaning shall not be permitted.
“The groups mentioned in Regulation No. 13 (plain language) shall not, however, be considered to have a secret meaning.
“16. Government telegrams must bear the seal or stamp of the authority sending them. This formality, however, may be dispensed with when there is no doubt as to the authenticity of the telegram.
“The text of Government telegrams exchanged between any two countries may be composed of secret language.
“Government telegrams which do not comply with Regulations 13, 14, and 15 must not be refused, but a report on this subject should at once be made by the receiving officer to the Deputy Postmaster-General.
“The right to send a reply as a Government telegram shall be recognised on production of the original Government telegram.
“Telegrams from Consular Agents, who are engaged in commerce, shall be considered as Government telegrams, only when they are addressed to an official personage, and when they relate to official affairs.*
“18. The sender and addressee of a telegram already transmitted, or in course of transmission, or the authorized representative of one of those persons may, during the period of preservation of records and after having proved, if necessary, their identity, cause inquiry to be made, or instructions to be given respecting such telegram, by telegraph. They must deposit the following amounts:—
(
a ) The charge for a telegram formulating the request.(
b ) The charge for a reply telegram, if a telegraphic answer be required.“They may also, with the object of rectification, have a telegram, which they have sent or received, repeated wholly or in part either by the office of destination or origin or by a transit office.
“In the case of repetition the applicant must pay the full charge for each word to be repeated, which charge includes the cost of the request for repetition.
“These telegrams shall be exchanged exclusively between the telegraph offices concerned, and not between the sender and addressee.
* Telegrams from Consular Agents, which do not fulfil these conditions must, however, be accepted if required and transmitted as Government telegrams, but a report on the subject should at once bemade by the receiving officer to the Deputy Postmaster-General.
“Inquiries or instructions relative to telegrams already transmitted may also be made by post, and through the intermediary of the telegraph office of origin or destination. In such case, the necessary communications shall be sent under registered cover at the cost of the person who makes the request, who must, in addition, pay the charge for postal reply when he demands one.
“19. All that the sender writes on the telegram form for transmission to his correspondent shall be charged for. Nevertheless, dashes which only serve to separate the different words or groups of a telegram shall not be transmitted, and signs of punctuation, apostrophes and hyphens are not transmitted, unless expressly desired and paid for.
“When signs of punctuation, instead of being employed singly, are repeated one after the other, they are charged for as groups of figures. (Regulation No. 26.)
“21. The following shall be counted as one word in all languages:—
1. In the address (not in the text of the message):—(
a )The name of the telegraph office of destination written as it appears in the first column of the official nomenclature of offices, and completed by any indications which appear in that column.(
b )The names of territorial subdivisions or countries respectively, if written in conformity with the said nomenclature, or of their alternative names given preface.
2. Every code word fulfilling the conditions laid down in regulation No. 14.
3. Every isolated character, letter or figure, as well as every sign of punctuation, apostrophe, or hyphen, transmitted at the request of the sender.
4. Underline.
5. Parenthesis (the two signs which serve to form).
6. Inverted commas (the two signs placed at the commencement and end of one and the same passage).
7. Supplementary instructions written in the abridged form allowed by regulation No. 9.“24. The address and signature of telegrams, the text of which is wholly or partially written in code language, are charged for in accordance with the provisions of regulations Nos. 21 and 22.
“26. Groups of figures or of letters, and commercial marks composed of figures and letters, shall be counted at the rate of one word for each five figures or five letters which they contain, plus one word for any excess. Each of the combinations, ae, aa, ao, oe, ue, and ch, is counted as two letters.
“27. Full stops, commas, colons, dashes, and bars, indicating fractions, shall each be counted as a figure or a letter in the group in which they occur. The same rule shall apply to each letter added to groups of figures to form ordinal numbers, as well as to letters or figures added to the number of a house in an address, even in the case of an address in the text, or in the signature of a telegram.
“30. The following are examples for counting telegrams:—
— | Number of Words. | |||
In Address. | In Text. | |||
New York........................................................................................................................ | 1 | 2 | ||
Newyork.......................................................................................................................... | 1 | 1 | ||
Frankfurt Main................................................................................................................ | 1 | 2 | ||
Frankfurtmain................................................................................................................. | 1 | 1 | ||
Sanct Poelten................................................................................................................... | 1 | 2 | ||
Sanctpoelten.................................................................................................................... | 1 | 1 | ||
Emmingen, Bz, Hanover *........................................................................................... | 1 | 3 | ||
Emmingen, Wurttemberg*........................................................................................... | 1 | 2 | ||
New South Wales........................................................................................................... | 1 | 3 | ||
Newsouthwales............................................................................................................... | 1 | 1 | ||
XP 2.50 (supplementary instruction written in abridged form) | 1 | — | ||
— | Number of Words. | |||
Van de Brande.............................................................................................................................................. | 3 | |||
Vandebrande (name of a person)............................................................................................................... | 1 | |||
Du Bois.......................................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
Dubois (name of a person).......................................................................................................................... | 1 | |||
Belgrave square............................................................................................................................................ | 2 | |||
Belgravesquare (contrary to the usage of the language)....................................................................... | 2 | |||
Hyde Park...................................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
Hydepark (contrary to the usage of the language).................................................................................. | 2 | |||
Hydepark square........................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
Hydeparksquare (contrary to the usage of the language)...................................................................... | 2 | |||
Saint James Street........................................................................................................................................ | 3 | |||
Saintjames street........................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
Rue de la Paix............................................................................................................................................... | 4 | |||
Rue delapaix.................................................................................................................................................. | 2 | |||
Responsabilité (14 characters)................................................................................................................... | 1 | |||
Kriegsgeschichten (15 characters)............................................................................................................ | 1 | |||
Inconstitutionalité (20 characters)............................................................................................................. | 2 | |||
Wie geht’s (instead of wie geht es)........................................................................................................... | 3 | |||
A-t-il............................................................................................................................................................... | 3 | |||
C’est-à-dire.................................................................................................................................................... | 4 | |||
Aujourd’hui................................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
Aujourdhui.................................................................................................................................................... | 1 | |||
Porte-monnaie............................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
Portemonnaie................................................................................................................................................ | 1 | |||
Prince of Wales (ship)................................................................................................................................. | 3 | |||
Princeofwales (ship).................................................................................................................................... | 1 | |||
3/4 8 (4 characters)...................................................................................................................................... | 1 | |||
44½ (5 characters)........................................................................................................................................ | 1 | |||
444½ (6 characters)...................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
444·5 (5 characters)..................................................................................................................................... | 1 | |||
444·55 (6 characters)................................................................................................................................... | 2 | |||
44/2 (4 characters)........................................................................................................................................ | 1 | |||
* Bz Hanover and Wurttemberg following Emmingen serve to complete the designation of two offices of the same name, and thus appear in the first column of the official nomenclature of telegraph offices.
In this case the expression “Hydepark” written as a single word counts as one word, because the word “park” forms an integral part of the name of the square.
Examples for Counting Telegrams.—(
— | Number of Words. |
44/ (3 characters).......................................................................................................................................... | 1 |
2% (4 characters).......................................................................................................................................... | 1 |
2p%................................................................................................................................................................. | 3 |
2% (5 characters).......................................................................................................................................... | 1 |
2p%................................................................................................................................................................. | 3 |
54-58 (5 characters)..................................................................................................................................... | 1 |
17 | 1 |
Le | 3 |
10 francs 50 centimes (or 10 fr. 50 c.)...................................................................................................... | 4 |
dixcinquante.................................................................................................................................................. | 1 |
10 fr. 50.......................................................................................................................................................... | 3 |
fr. 10. 50......................................................................................................................................................... | 2 |
11 | 3 |
11.30............................................................................................................................................................... | 1 |
huit/10............................................................................................................................................................ | 2 |
5/ douzièmes................................................................................................................................................. | 2 |
May/August................................................................................................................................................... |
3 | |
5 bis (number of dwelling house).............................................................................................................. | 1 |
15a (number of dwelling house)................................................................................................................ | 1 |
15-3 or 15/3 (number of dwelling house)................................................................................................ | 1 |
30 | 3 |
15×6*............................................................................................................................................................. | 4 |
Two hundred and thirty four...................................................................................................................... | 5 |
Twohundredandthirtyfour (23 characters)............................................................................................... | 2 |
Troisdeuxtiers............................................................................................................................................... | 1 |
Unneufdixièmes............................................................................................................................................ | 1 |
Deux mille cent quatre-vingt-quatorze..................................................................................................... | 6 |
Deuxmillecentquatrevingtquatorze (32 characters................................................................................. | 3 |
E...................................................................................................................................................................... | 1 |
Emvthf (6 characters).................................................................................................................................. | 2 |
Emvchf (6 characters)................................................................................................................................. | 2 |
GHF (Commercial mark or secret language); a group of 3 characters............................................... | 1 |
G.H.F. (Commercial mark or secret language); a group of 6 characters............................................ | 2 |
AP/M (Commercial mark or secret language); a group of 4 characters............................................. | 1 |
G.H.F (without final stop) (Commercial mark or secret language); a group of 5 characters......... | 1 |
G H F45 (Commercial mark); a group of 5 characters......................................................................... | 1 |
G.H.F. 45 (Commercial mark); a group of 8 characters........................................................................ | 2 |
197 a/199 a (Commercial mark); a group of 9 characters..................................................................... | 2 |
3/M (Commercial mark); a group of 3 characters.................................................................................. | 1 |
E M (Isolated letters, initials of christian names)................................................................................... | 2 |
EM (initials of two Christian names, wrongly combined).................................................................... | 2 |
L’affaire est | 9 |
| 10 |
* Telegraph instruments cannot
reproduce such expressions as 30
“
“32. The sender of a telegram, or his authorized representative, may, if in time, and on proving his identity, stop its transmission.
“When a sender cancels his telegram before transmission has been commenced, the amount paid shall be returned to him. If the telegram has been transmitted by the office at which it was lodged, the sender’s only means of requesting its cancellation shall be by a paid service advice addressed to the office of destination. The sender must pay, at his option, the cost either of a telegraphic or of a postal reply to the notice of cancellation.
“
“46. Maritime telegrams are telegrams exchanged with ships at sea by means of semaphores or radio-telegraph stations established on land or on board ships permanently moored (coast stations). These telegrams are called respectively semaphore telegrams and radio-telegrams.
“The address of maritime telegrams intended for ships at sea must contain, in addition to the ordinary instructions and the name of the maritime station as it appears in the official Nomenclature of Offices, the name of the ship for which they are intended, supplemented, in the case of ships bearing the same name, by the nationality of the ship and, if necessary, by its distinguishing signal under the international code of signals.
“The sender of a maritime telegram intended for a ship at sea may indicate the number of days during which the telegram is to be kept at the disposal of the ship by the semaphore or coast station. In this case he must write before the address the instruction days, indicating the number of days, including that of handing in the telegram.
“When a maritime telegram intended for a ship at sea cannot be transmitted to the ship within the period indicated by the sender, or, failing such indication, by the morning of the 29th day, the sender shall be advised accordingly, when he may request, by paid telegraphic or postal service advice, addressed to the semaphore or coast station, that his telegram may be retained during a further period of thirty days for transmission to the ship, and so on. If this request is not made, the telegram shall not be retained beyond the thirtieth day (day of handing in not included). If, however, the semaphore or coast station knows that the ship has passed beyond its range of transmission before the telegram could be transmitted to it, the sender will be advised accordingly.”
“The following are not admitted as maritime telegrams:—
(
a )Telegrams with pre-paid replies (except semaphore telegrams destined for ships at sea),(
b ) Collated telegrams,(
c )Telegrams with telegraphic or postal acknowledgment of receipt (except telegrams destined for ships at sea in regard to their transit over the lines of the telegraph system),(
d ) Telegrams “to follow,”(
e )Urgent telegrams, except as regards transmission over the lines of the telegraph system,(
f ) Telegrams to be delivered by express or by post:“46a
. Semaphore telegrams must be written either in the language of the country in which the semaphore station from which they are to be signalled is situated, or in groups of letters of the international code of signals.“The charge for such telegrams shall be tenpence (10d.) each, in addition to the ordinary cost of transmission by telegraph. The total charges shall be collected from the sender for telegrams addressed to ships at sea, and from the addressee for telegrams from ships at sea.”
“49. Re-imbursement of the following charges, to those who have paid them shall take place if a claim be made, or in the event of a complaint against the service:—
(
a ) All charges erroneously collected in excess.(
b )The full charge paid for every telegram which has failed to reach its destinationthrough the fault of the telegraph service. (
c )The full charge paid for every telegram stopped in transmission owing to interruption of a route, and for that reason cancelled by the sender.(
d )The full charge paid for every telegram which, owing to the fault of the telegraph service, is received later than it would have been delivered by post, or has not been delivered to the addressee until after a delay of 48 hours in the case of a New Zealand message, and in the case of an international message, 72 hours, if a private telegram, or 36 hours, if a Government or urgent telegram.(
e )The full charge paid for every collated telegram in secret language, and for every telegram in plain language which has manifestly been unable to fulfil its object in consequence of errors made in its transmission, unless the errors have been rectified by paid service advice.(
f ) The supplementary charge for special services not rendered, as well as the charge for the corresponding supplementary instruction.(
g )The amounts deposited for the repetition of a passage supposed to be incorrect, if the repetition does not agree with the first transmission, with the reservation, however, that when some words have been correctly and some incorrectly transmitted in the original telegram, the charge for the words relating exclusively to words correctly transmitted originally shall not be refunded, unless the mistakes made rendered unintelligible the words which had not been mutilated.(
h )The full charge paid for every other telegraphic or postal paid service advice, the sending of which has been necessitated by an error in the telegraph service.(
i ) The full amount deposited for a reply when the addressee has not been able to make use of the voucher, or has refused it, and when such voucher remains in the hands of, or within three months from the date of issue has been returned to, the office from which it was issued.(
j ) The charge in respect of the telegraph section not traversed by the telegram when, owing to interruption of a telegraph route, the telegram has been forwarded to its destination by postal or other means. The expense of replacing the original telegraphic route by any other means of transport shall, however, be deducted from the amount to be refunded.(
k )The full charges for every telegram with prepaid reply which has manifestly been unable to fulfil its object owing to a service irregularity which warrants the return of the charges for the reply; also the full charge for every prepaid reply which has manifestly been unable to fulfil its objects owing to a service irregularity which warrants the return of the charge for the original telegram.(
l ) The charge, when it amounts to 10d. or more, for the word or words omitted in the transmission of a telegram, unless the error has been corrected by paid service advice.(
m )The difference between the amount of a reply voucher, and the charge for a reply telegram of less value prepaid by means of said voucher.(
n ) The charge for every telegram stopped on the ground that it is considered dangerous to the security of the State, or contrary to the laws of the country, to public order, or decency, or owing to the suspension of the telegraph service.(
o ) The proportion of charge due on every cancelled telegram.“In the case provided for in paragraphs (
b ), (c ), (d ), (e ), (i ), and (j ), the refund only applies to the actual telegrams lost, cancelled, delayed or mutilated, including any supplementary charges not used, and not to telegrams necessitated or rendered useless by such non-delivery, delay, or mutilation.“In case of a partial refund on account of a multiple telegram, the total charge received shall be divided by the number of copies, and the quotient shall represent the charge appertaining to each copy, the telegram itself counting as one copy.
“When errors of the telegraph service have been corrected by paid service advices within periods fixed by the application of paragraph (
d )of this regulation reimbursement shall only apply to the charges for such service advices. No refund shall be made in respect of telegrams to which such advices relate.“No refund shall be made for rectifying telegrams which, instead of being exchanged between telegraph offices as paid service advices, have been exchanged direct between sender and addressee.
“Every claim for refund must be made under penalty of rejection within five months from the date of deposit of the telegram.
“Every claim must be made to the original sending administration, and be accompanied by documentary evidence,
i.e., a written statement from the terminal office or the addressee, if the telegram has been delayed or not been delivered; or the copy delivered to the addressee, if the question is one of alteration or omission.“The claim may, however, be presented by the addressee to the office of destination, which shall decide whether it will deal with it, or whether it must be forwarded to the sending administration.
“The right to refund lapses after a period of six months from the date of the letter by which the sender is informed that a refund has been granted.”
3. Regulation 10 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by omitting the words ‘‘be preceded by,” and by substituting in lieu thereof the words “contain, immediately after the designation of the real addressee.”
4. Regulation 12 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by omitting the word “private.”
5. Regulation 23 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by adding at the end of the first sentence thereof the words “counted in accordance with regulation No. 14.”
6. Regulation 28 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by inserting after the word “language” the words “and combinations or alterations dissimulated by reversing the order of letters or syllables.”
7. Regulation 37 of the Foreign
Telegram Regulations is amended (
“On delivery of a reply-paid telegram, there shall be handed to the addressee a voucher of a value corresponding to the cost of a telegram of a number of words equal to that given in the supplementary instruction, intended for the office of origin of the reply
C. 11265.
b
paid telegram, and to be sent by the same route as the latter. The voucher carries the right of sending, within the limit of its value, and within a period of six weeks from receipt thereof, a telegram to any destination whatever from any telegraph office in the country in which such voucher is issued;” and
(
b )By adding at the end of paragraph 4 the words “within three months from the date of issue of the voucher.”
8. Regulation 39 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by omitting the figure and letter “5d.” from the second paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof the figures and letter “2½d.”
9. Regulation 42 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by inserting between the first and second paragraphs thereof the following new paragraph:—
“In telegrams addressed to several addressees the particulars concerning the place of delivery, such as exchange, railway station, market, &c., must appear after each address, or, if they relate to a succession of addresses, after the last of those addresses,” and by inserting the word “paid” after the figures “100” wherever they occur in paragraphs 2 and 3.”
10. Regulation 43 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by omitting the heading thereof and by inserting in lieu of that heading the following heading:—“Telegrams to be delivered by post or express,” and by adding at the end of the first paragraph of that regulation, the words “the sender may also request that his telegram be transmitted by telegraph as far as an office which he indicates, and thence by post to destination.”
11. Regulation 47 of the Foreign Telegram Regulations is amended by repealing the first three paragraphs thereof and substituting the following paragraphs in lieu thereof:—
“Telegrams admitted as press telegrams are those the text of which contains only news relative to politics, commerce, &c., intended for publication in newspapers. Such telegrams must be addressed to newspapers, periodical publications, or news agencies, and solely to the name of the newspaper, publication, or agency, and not to the name of a person connected in any capacity whatever with the management of the newspaper, publication, or agency. The use of abbreviated and registered code addresses is permitted.
“Press telegrams must be written in the French language or in one of the languages of the country of origin or of destination authorized for international telegraphic correspondence in plain language, or in the language in which the receiving newspaper is printed, provided that this language is admitted for international telegraphic correspondence.
“Press telegrams must not contain any passage, advertisement, or communication having the character of private correspondence, nor any advertisement or communication, the insertion of which is made in consideration of payment. Stock Exchange and market quotations, with or without explanatory texts, are allowed, but the sender shall, if required, furnish proof that groups of figures appearing in a telegram really represent Exchange quotations.”
Printed and Published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by J. Kemp, Government Printer for the State of Victoria.
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