is thus secured from the chance of abstraction by an
unfaithful messenger employed to post it (as it is always open to
proof whether the letter was posted for registration or not), from
risk of loss by accidental mis-direction on the part of the sender,
and from mistakes in the Post Office--such as mis-sending or
delivery to a wrong party. Against actual dishonesty on the part of
the Post Office employes, a registered letter is incomparably more
secure than an unregistered one, for an unregistered money-letter
and the nature of its contents are, to any person accustomed to
handle letters, as manifest as though the letter had been singled
out and marked by the registered stamp. Moreover, the safety of an
unregistered letter is dependent on the integrity of a Post Office
Clerk during the whole time that it remains in his custody,
frequently for hours, or even days; whilst a registered letter will
almost invariably have to be acknowledged at the moment of its
passing into an officer's hands, and cannot thereafter be
suppressed without leaving him individually accountable for its
disposal.

At what date the registry system was extended to letters sent to other
countries than the United States is not clear but Mr. Howes has
succeeded in unearthing a document which shows the rates prevailing in
1865-6:--

The charge for Registration, in addition to the Postage, is as
follows, viz.:--

On Letters to any other place in Canada or British North America, 2
cents

On Letters for the United States, 5 cents

On Letters for the United Kingdom, 12-1/2 cents

On Letters for British Colonies or Possession sent _via_ England,
25 cents

On Letters for France and other Foreign Countries _via_ England, an
equal amount to the postage rate.

Both the postage charge and registration fee must in all cases be
prepaid.

It was not until 1872 that the idea of issuing special stamps for the
prepayment of the registration fee was mooted but in the
Postmaster-General's Report for that year we read:--

It seems expedient to adopt some distinctive postage stamp to be
used only in prepayment of the Registration charge, both to make it
clear that this charge has been duly paid and accounted for in
every case, and to diminish the risk which is occasionally felt at
points of