Conveyance of Mails Act, 1893

CONVEYANCE OF MAILS ACT 1893

CHAPTER XXXVIII

An Act to make further provision for the Conveyance of Her Majesty’s Mails.[1] [24th August 1893.]

Differences as to remuneration for conveyance of mails.

45 & 46 Vict. c. 74.

1. Where under any Act relating to the conveyance of mails or under the Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882, it is provided that any matter of difference relating to any remuneration or compensation to be paid by the Postmaster-General to any railway company shall be referred to arbitration, that matter of difference shall at the instance of any party thereto be referred to the Railway and Canal Commission instead of to arbitration, and that Commission shall determine the same, and this provision shall apply to any matter of difference referred to in section eight of the Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882, where such railway companies as therein mentioned, or any company or person owning a steam vessel, are or is one party to the arbitration in like manner as it applies to a difference where a single railway company is a party to the arbitration.

Carriage of mails on tramways.

2.(1) Every tramway company, that is to say, every company, body, or person owning or working any tramway authorised by any Act passed after the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, shall if required by the Postmaster-General, perform with respect to any tramway owned or worked by the company all such reasonable services in regard to the conveyance of mails as the Postmaster-General from time to time requires: Provided as follows:—

(a) Nothing in this section shall authorise the Postmaster-General to require mails in excess of the following weights to be carried in or upon any carriage, that is to say:—

(i) If the carriage is conveying or intended to convey passengers, and not goods or parcels, then in excess of the maximum weight for the time being fixed for the luggage of ordinary passengers; and

(ii) If the carriage is conveying or intended to convey parcels only, then in excess of such maximum weight as is for the time being fixed for ordinary parcels, or if that maximum appears to the Postmaster-General to be so low as to exclude him from availing himself of the use of any such carriage, then as is for the time being fixed by agreement, or in default of agreement by the Railway and Canal Commission;

(iii) If the carriage is conveying or intended to convey both parcels and passengers but not goods, then in excess of the maximum weight for the time being fixed for ordinary parcels, or for the luggage of ordinary passengers, whichever is the greater.

(b) Mails when carried in or upon a carriage conveying passengers shall be so carried as not to inconvenience the passengers, but so nevertheless that the custody of the mails by any officer of the Post Office in charge thereof shall not be interfered with.

(c) Nothing in this section shall authorise the Postmaster-General to require any mails to be carried in or upon a carriage conveying or intended to convey passengers but not goods or parcels, except in charge of an officer of the Post Office travelling as a passenger.

(d) If goods as well as passengers and parcels are carried on the tramway the enactments relating to the conveyance of mails by railway shall, subject to the provisions of this section, apply in like manner as if the tramway company were a railway company, and the tramway were a railway.

(2) The remuneration for any services performed in pursuance of this section shall be such as may be from time to time determined by agreement between the Postmaster-General and the tramway company, or, in default of agreement, by the Railway and Canal Commission, and this provision shall have effect in lieu of any provisions respecting remuneration contained in the enactments relating to the conveyance of mails by railway which are applied by this section.

(3) For the purpose of this section a requisition by the Postmaster-General may be signified by writing under the hand of any person who is at the time either Postmaster-General or a Secretary or Assistant Secretary of the Post Office, or the Inspector-General of Mails; and any document purporting to be signed by any such person as aforesaid shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed, without proof of the official character of such person, to have been duly signed as required by this section.

Carriage of mails on tramroads.

3. Every tramroad authorised by any Act passed after the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three shall, for the purposes of the conveyance of mails, be deemed to be a railway, and the enactments relating to the conveyance of mails by railway shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, apply to every such tramroad and to the company, body, or person owning or working the same as if the tramroad were a railway, and the company, body, or person were a railway company.

Determination of differences.

51 & 52 Vict. c. 25.

4. Notwithstanding anything in the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, any matter of difference directed to be determined by the Railway and Canal Commission under this Act may in the discretion of the Commission be heard and determined by the two appointed Commissioners, whose order shall be deemed to be the order of the Commission, and subject to this provision all proceedings relating to any such matter of difference shall be conducted by the Commission in the same manner as any other proceeding is conducted by them under the Railway and Canal Traffic Acts, 1873 and 1888, or any Act amending the same, and any order of the Commission upon any such difference shall be enforceable as any other order of the Commission.

Definitions.

36 & 37 Vict. c. 48.

45 & 46 Vict. c. 74.

27 & 28 Vict. c. 121.

53 & 54 Vict. c. 52.

5.(1) In this Act—

The expression “mails” has the same meaning as in the Regulation of Railways Act, 1873, and includes parcels within the meaning of the Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882:

The expression “Act” means any Act of Parliament whether public general, local and personal, or private, and includes any order confirmed by any such Act, and a certificate granted by the Board of Trade under the Railways Construction Facilities Act, 1864, and an Order in Council made by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under the Tramways (Ireland) Acts, 1860 to 1891, or the Railways (Ireland) Act, 1890:

The expression “tramway” means a tramway authorised by an Act to be constructed wholly along public roads or streets without any deviation therefrom:

The expression “tramroad” means any tramroad or tramway which is not a tramway as herein-before defined, and includes a tramway or light railway constructed under the Tramways (Ireland) Acts, 1860 to 1891, or the Railways (Ireland) Act, 1890.

(2) A railway, tramway, or tramroad shall be deemed to be authorised by an Act passed after the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, where the construction of the railway, tramway, or tramroad is first authorised, or where the time for its construction is extended, by an Act passed after the date aforesaid.

Short title.

6. This Act may be cited as the Conveyance of Mails Act, 1893.

[1 Short title, “The Conveyance of Mails Act, 1893.” See s. 6.]