POSTAGE AND POSTAGE STAMPS 4787 POSTAGE AND POSTAGE STAMPS 



United States navy on duty abroad, wherever 

 they may be. Foreign rates apply to all other 

 countries. 



All mail matter is divided into four classes, 

 each with special rates: 



1. The first class includes letters, postal cards 

 ted by the government), "post cards" or pri- 

 vate mailing cards, and any matter sealed or 

 closed so that it cannot be inspected. On this 

 s the domestic rate of postage is two cents 

 for each ounce or fraction thereof; on local or 

 "drop" letters, in towns or rural districts which 

 have no free delivery system, the charge is one 

 cent for each ounce or fraction. This lower rate 

 applies only to letters mailed In the town of 

 their destination. The domestic rate on postal 

 la and private mailing cards is one cent. The 

 foreign rate is five cents for an ounce or fraction 

 of an ounce for letters and two cents for postal 

 Letters for Great Britain and Ireland, 

 Newfoundland and Germany may bear domestic 

 postage, but all other classes of mail to those 

 countries are charged foreign rates. Letters to 

 Germany at the two-cent rate are carried only 

 by steamers which deliver mail at German ports ; 

 : s at the five-cent rate are sent by the quick- 

 est route. 



i'. The second class includes printed newspa- 

 pers and periodicals which are regularly issued 

 at least four times a year, and are mailed by the 

 publishers or news agents directly to subscribers 

 or to other agents. By an act of August 24, 

 1912, the second class also includes publications 

 of fraternal, benevolent, historical, scientific and 

 other learned societies, educational institutions, 

 trade unions and a few other organizations, pro- 

 vided these publications appear at stated inter- 

 not less than four times a year. The rate on 

 such mail matter was for years one cent for each 

 pound or fraction thereof, but was raised to one 

 and one- fourth cents in 1917 as a war revenue 

 measure. 



3. Third-class matter includes all other printed 

 matter, circulars made by copying devices, proof 

 sheets (but not books), and manuscripts when 

 accompanied by proofs. The limit of weight in 

 this class is four pounds. 



4. The fourth class is now called parcel post, 

 includes all mailable matter not placed In 



<>f the first three groups (see PARCEL POST). 



By special permit to large business houses the 



postage on both third-class and fourth-class mall 



may be paid In cash, and the mail sent out wlth- 



* attached, but bearing a printed label 



:ylng to payment. -At least 2,000 Identical 

 pieces must be mailed at one time to secure this 

 privilege. 



im postage on printed matter, on cora- 



; apcra (including deeds, invoices, hill 



ling, etc.), and on merchandise is one cent 



for two ounces. Tho first three classes of ni.nl 



may be registered for a fee of ten cents, and 



may also be sent by special delivery for ten 



cents extra fee. 



rate for letters posted in (ho 

 Dominion, and addressed to any place within 



its limits, Great Britain and Ireland, British 

 possessions, Mexico or the United Stat< s, i.< nvo 

 cents an ounce or fraction thereof. Post cards 

 addressed to a Canadian, Mexican or United 

 States point are charged at the rate of one cent 

 each; to British and foreign points, two cents. 

 Letters must be at least partially prepaid; 

 double the deficiency in postage is charged 

 when an underpaid letter is delivered. If no 

 stamps are attached to first class mail it is sent 

 to the dead-letter office. 



Newspapers and other periodicals published 

 in Canada not less than once a month and ad- 

 dressed to subscribers in the Dominion, Mexico, 

 Great Britain and Ireland, or any British pos- 

 session, bear postage at the rate of one-fourth 

 of a cent per pound. However, publications 

 which appear not oftener than once a week 

 and not less frequently than once a month may 

 be sent free to subscribers and dealers within 

 a radius of forty miles from the office of pub- 

 lication or from any post office, provided that 

 the post office chosen is not more than forty 

 miles from the office of publication. The rate 

 on books to be delivered in any country of the 

 Postal Union is one cent for two ounces, which 

 is also the rate for other printed matter and 

 for samples of merchandise. 



Rates in Other Countries. The postage rates 

 in all countries which are members of the In- 

 ternational Postal Union are practically iden- 

 tical. For example, the domestic letter rate in 

 Great Britain and Ireland is one penny; in 

 Germany, ten pfennig; in France, ten centimes; 

 in Mexico, twenty centavos; in Italy, ten cen- 

 tesemi; in Norway, ten ore; these rate- are all 

 the nearest equivalent of the Canadian and 

 United States rates of two cents. The rate on 

 foreign postage is everywhere the equivalent of 

 five cents. 



Postage Stamps. Strictly and correctly u>ed. 

 the term postage stamps includes only tlm-e 

 stamps which are used for the prepayment <>i 

 postage. Other classes, such as postage due. 

 official revenue and newspaper stamps are not 

 postage stamps, although they are commonly 

 grouped under that title. A postage due stamp, 

 affixed by the postmaster, is a convenient way 

 of indicating that the prepaid postage is insuf- 

 ficient. In the United States, in fact, postage 

 due stamps are used only on domestic mail; 

 letters and packages arriving from foreign coun- 

 tries are merely stamped "Due, five cents" or 

 whatever the amount may 1 



All countries which belong to the Interna- 

 tional Postal Union use a fixed scheme of col- 



