It seems hardly credible that in 1854 one of the longest chapters of the Manual was devoted to an elaborate system of fining, under which different offices claimed fines from one another for bad work brought to light by them. The official who detected the finable offence was allowed to keep the amount of the fine subject to a deduction of 10 per cent, which was remitted to the Postmaster-General's office to cover the cost of printing Fine Statements, Bills, etc. A regular schedule of offences with the fine allotted for each was drawn up; for instance, the missending of a mail bag was assessed at Rs.3, while the missending of a parcel or packet cost 8 annas. Naturally there was great energy expended in detecting offences for which fines were imposed, and the result was an enormous amount of correspondence and bitter recrimination between offices. This vicious practice continued for many years and was not finally put a stop to until 1880. FOOTNOTE: [5] The first issue of postage stamps in India was actually made in 1852 by Sir Bartle Frere, Commissioner of Scinde. They were local stamps for use in Scinde only, and bore the inscription "Scinde District Dak." CHAPTER IV LATER POSTAL REGULATIONS By Act XIV of 1866 postage rates were still further reduced as follows:-- For letters not exceeding ¼ tola 6 pies. Exceeding ¼ tola and not exceeding ½ tola 1 anna. For every additional ½ tola 1 " For newspapers not exceeding 10 tolas 1 " For every additional 10 tolas 1 " It will be noticed that the distinction in rates between imported and local newspapers was withdrawn. Books, pamphlets, packets, etc.-- Not exceeding 10 tolas in weight 1 anna. For every additional 10 tolas 1 " Parcels were still charged according to the distance they had to be conveyed, but the rates were reduced. The following table gives the scale of charges:-- | NOT EXCEEDING TOLAS. | DISTANCE IN +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ MILES. |20 |50 |100 |200 |300 |400 |500 |600 |tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas. ------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ |Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a.|Rs. a. Not exceeding 300|0 4 |0 8 |0 12 |1 8 | 2 4 | 3 0 | 3 12 | 4 8 Not exceeding 600|0 8 |1 0 |1 8 |3 0 | 4 8 | 6 0 | 7 8 | 9 0 Not exceeding 900|0 12 |1 8 |2 4 |4 8 | 6 12 | 9 0 |11 4 |13 8 Not exceeding 1200|1 0 |2 0 |3 0 |6 0 | 9 0 |12 0 |15 0 |18 0 Exceeding 1200|1 4 |2 8 |3 12 |7 8 |11 4 |15 0 |18 12 |22 8