Tilley to Rogers (Permanent Under-Secretary)

With reference to your letter of the 26th September last, and
to that part of my reply of the 11th November, in which I
stated that the Postmaster General would at once place himself
in communication with the United States' Post Office, in order
to obtain, if possible, better terms for the Colony of British
Columbia in dividing the postage upon correspondence transmitted
between that Colony and the United States, I am directed by the
Marquis of Hartington to transmit to you, to be laid before Earl
Granville, copy of a correspondence which has taken place
between this Department and the United States' Post Office upon
the subject.

By the letter from Washington dated 29th January, it would
appear that the Government of British Columbia is mistaken in
supposing that the United States' Post Office pays nothing
towards the maintenance of Mail Packet communication with the Colony.

The terms proposed by the United States' Post Office for the
exchange of Mails with British Columbia are as follows:

1. The single rate of inter-national postage on letters
exchanged in either direction to be
6 cents per half ounce or under if prepaid, and 10 cents if unpaid.

2. Newspapers and printed matter of all kinds despatched from
either side to the other to be subject to the regular domestic
rates of postage to and from the frontier in the United States
and in the Colonies respectively.

3. No postage accounts to be kept between the respective
Offices on the correspondence exchanged; each Office retaining
to its exclusive use all the postage it collects both upon
prepaid matter sent and unpaid matter received.

I am to request that Earl Granville will be good enough to
communicate these proposals to the Governor of British Columbia,
instructing him to state whether he agrees to them, and, if so,
on what date he will be prepared to carry them into effect.

Sufficient time, say three months at least, should be allowed to
enable this Department to communicate to the United States' Post
Office the date fixed upon and also to enable that Office to
issue the necessary instructions on the subject.