The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-07 00:00:00

INLAND BOOK POST.

GENERAL POST-OFFICE, June, 1855.
On and from the 11th instant, the regulations of the
Inland Book Post will be as follows, viz. :-
1. Postage rates.
For a packet .. . not exceeding 4 0z....1d.
Ditto exceeding 4oz and not exceeding 8 0z....2d.
Ditto ditto Boz ditto , 16 0z....4d.

Ditto ditto lib. ditto 1 1b....6d.
and so on, 2d. being charged for every additional half-
pound or any less weight.
2, The postage must be pre-paid in full by means of
postage stamps affixed outside the packet or its cover.
3. Every packet must be sent either without a cover,
or in a cover open at the ends or sides.
4. If the postage paid on the packet amount to as
much as 4d., it may contain any number of separate
books or other publications, prints, or maps, and any
quantity of paper, parchment, or vellum (to the exclu-
sion, however, of letters, whether sealed or open) ; and
the books or other publications, prints, maps, &c., may
be either printed, written, or plain, or any mixture of
the three. Further, all legitimate binding, mounting,
or covering of a book, publication, &c., or of a portion
thereof, will be allowed, whether such binding, &c., be
loose or attached, as also rollers in the case of prints or
maps, markers (whether of paper or otherwise) in the
case of books, and, in short, whatever is necessary for
the safe transmission of literary or artistic matter, or
usually appertains thereto.
5. But, if the postage paid be less than 4d., the packet
must consist exclusively of printed matter, without re•
striction, however, either as to number of publications
or separate sheets, or as to whether they are bound or
unbound.

6. A book packet, whatever may be the postage paid
thereon, must not contain any letter, enclosed or open,
or any enclosure sealed or otherwise closed against in-
spection, nor must there be any letter, or any commu-
nication of the nature of a letter, written or printed in
any such packet or on its cover.
7. No book packet can be received if it exceeds two
feet in length, width, or depth.
'8: Any packet, which shall not be open at the ends
or sides, or shall have any letter, or any communication
of the nature of a letter, written or printed in it or upon

its cover, will be charged with the " unpaid " or double
letter postage.
9. If a packet be found to contain any letter, whether
closed or open, or any enclosure sealed or otherwise closed
against inspection, or any unauthorised enclosure, the
letter or enclosure will be taken out and forwarded to

the address on the packet, charged with full postage, as
an unpaid letter, together with an additional rate of 4d.,
and the remainder of the packet, if duly pre-paid with
stamps, will then be forwarded to its address.
10. If a packet be not sufficiently pre-paid with
stamps, but nevertheless bear a stamp of the value of
one penny, it will be forwarded charged with the defi-
cient book postage, together with an additional rate of
4d ; but any packet, which shall bear no postage stamp
will be charged with the " unpaid " or double letter
postage, according to its weight.
U. In every case in which the postage charged
upon a packet under these regulations would be
greater than the letter rate, the latter postage must be
substituted.
12. These regulations will not interfere with the pri-
vileges allowed to Votes and Proceedings of Parliament,
or with those allowed to newspapers and other publica-
tions, when duly stamped with an appropriate die, and
posted in accordance with the regulations applicable to
such privileged publications.
13. To prevent obstacles to the regular transmission
of letters, any officer of the Post-office may, when ne-
cessary, detain a book packet for a period not exceeding
24 hours beyond the time when it would otherwise be
forwarded.

14. The Head Postmaster, who first receives a book
packet, must, whenever he has ground for suspecting an
infringement of any of the above conditions, and occa-
sionally even when there is no ground for suspicion,
open and examine the packet ; and every book packet
which shall not be open at the ends or sides, or shall ex-
ceed two feet in length, width, or depth, or shall have
any letter, or any communication of the nature of a
letter, written or printed in it, or upon its cover, or shall
bear no postage stamp, must be sent up, with as little
delay as possible, to the Dead-Letter Office in London,
Edinburgh, or Dublin, as the case may be ; but in the
event of any other infringement of the regulations, the
packet must be dealt with by the Postmaster himself, as
laid down in paragraph No. 9, and in the first part of
No. 10.

ROWLAND HILL, Secretary,

THE NEWSVENDERS AND THE REPEAL OF THE NEWS-
PAPER STAMP AOT.—On Monday evening a meeting of
the Booksellers' and 1\ ewsvenders' Association, of this
town, was held at the Roebuck Inn, for the purpose of
taking into consideration the position in which they will
be placed as regards the London weekly newspapers, by
the repeal of the Newspaper Stamp Aft. The chair was
occupied by Mr. Pepper, of Pitt.street, the president of
the association. Considerable discussion took place upon
the subject of carriage for newspapers, to which they
will be subject on the repeal of the stamp. It appears
that at present the carriage they pay to the railway com-
pany is at the rate of from ld. to 11d. per pound, and
they wish to enter into an arrangement with the com-
pany to bring down the London papers to Liverpool on
the same terms as they carry luggage, so as to enable
the trade to bring the papers into the market at a price
by which they can realise a profit. A deputation from
the trade have had an interview with the London and
North-Western authorities, and the subject is to be
brought before the board to-morrow evening (Thursday).
At the meeting on Monday evening the trade came to
the determination that, in the event of the railway com-
pany not complying with their terms, they will have
nothing to do with the London journals, but confine
their business to the sale of Liverpool newspapers. The
other business of the meeting had reference to pews-
papers and other similar publications being sold in the
streets by hawkers, and the practice, as pursued by the
proprietor of the Events, was warmly condemned, the
meeting coming to the conclusion that it was improper.
They were, however, of opinion that the practice would
find its own level, and it was left in the hands of the
trade to supply the Events or not as they pleased. Some
stated that, for the present, they would continue to take
it, while others declared that they would not take
another copy.—Liverpool Courier.