E.—No. 8,

[SCHEDULE A.] Eegulations and Conditions under which Telegrams are authorized to be transmitted on the Lines of Electric Telegraph belonging to the General Government, New Zealand. Form of Telegram. 1. Printed forms, upon which telegrams should be written,' are issued at the various Stations of the department, and may be had on application; but all telegrams, whether written upon the prescribed form, upon any other printed form, or upon plain paper, will be considered as presented for transmission under the several conditions contained in these regulations. 2. All telegrams presented for transmission must be written in ink in a clear and legible manner; they shall contain a proper address, and bear a genuine signature, in the usual handwriting of the sender. 3. In order to prevent errors in tho transmission of telegrams all words must be written in full, and no abbreviation will be allowed. It is advisable to write all numbers in words in full; but to insure accuracy, it is better to employ both words and figures. Precedence of Telegrams. 4. Telegrams will be transmitted in accordance with " The Electric Telegraph Act, 1865," as follows : —English Mail Press Telegrams ; Messages of the General or Provincial Governments, marked urgent; Messages relative to the arrest of criminals or persons accused, to the discovery or prevention of crime, or connected with the administration of justice ; and telegrams in cases of pressing emergency, such as accident, sickness or death, may be transmitted in priority to any other telegrams. 5. Subject to the provisions of the last regulations, Ordinary Government messages, Press and Ordinary messages, shall be transmitted in the order in which they may be received by the officers of the department; but when several telegrams are presented for transmission about the same time, and any of these telegrams shall be of considerable length, then no officer shall be bound to transmit more than two hundred words of any such telegram at one time, in order to prevent telegrams of the same date suffering too great a delay, and to prevent a monopoly of the line by any one company, firm, or individual. 6. Telegrams will be received for transmission at each Station at the usual hours of business, published in the New Zealand Gazette. Telegrams in Cypher. 7. Telegrams may be written in cypher, which will be counted according to the following scale, whether for figures or letters : — 8. Separate cyphers count as one word : groups of five cyphers, or fractional part of five cyphers, count as one word ; groups exceeding five cyphers are counted at the rate of five cyphers to the word, and any fractional portion remaining is to be counted as one word. 9. Where cyphers are used, the sender is recommended to pay for the repetition of such telegram in order to insure accuracy. Delays in Transmission of Telegrams. 10. In the event of serious delays occurring through accident to the lines, which may prevent the transmission of a telegram within a reasonable time, or may destroy the value of any telegram, notice will bo sent to the senders of such telegrams should their address be known ; and the sender may on producing a written application to the officer in charge of the Station at which such telegram was presented, receive the amount paid thereon if so desired, and the telegram will be cancelled. Delivery of Telegrams. 11. Telegrams will be delivered free of charge within one mile of the Station to which they may be addressed and transmitted; but beyond that distance, cab or omnibus fares, or horse hire, will be charged as necessary. 12. All telegrams requiring to be delivered on shipboard, or on the water, or across the water, will bear an extra charge to defray any boat expenses so incurred. 13. Eeceipts must be signed by the receiver of telegrams. 14. When the sender of a telegram objects or refuses to pay the above charges, the ordinary rates for postage must be charged to prevent tho non-delivery or detention of such telegram, and it will be sent by post immediately on its arrival at the Station to which it is destined. Telegrams that may be refused transmission. 15. Telegrams of a seditious, libelous, indecent or injurious nature are to be refused transmission by the officer in charge of any Station.

TELEGRAPH REGULATIONS AND TARIFF CHARGES.