Codlin Moth Act of 188

[dvm27]

The Tasmanian Postal Guide dated January 1, 1891 grants exemption from postage for officials who mark the envelope with hand stamp "Codlin Moth Act, 1888". The cover below shows such a cover but with a 1d concessional rate. The PO guide makes no mention of a concessional rate as shown on this cover from Ross to Campbell Town by railway. Can anyone clarify this for me and what was the actual rate without the concession?
download/file.php?mode=view&id=5448

[admin]

I think what you have is a cover that had the status of Free Mail under the Tasmanian Post Office jurisdiction but when the Commonwealth took over the State Post Offices after Federation in 1901, the rules changed and this mail became subject to new Commonwealth regulations.
The Codlin Moth Act did provide for returns from Farmers giving details of Codlin Moth status to be sent through the post free.If you read the Codlin Moth Act you will see a clause about free mail for certain correespondence.
There were other similar Acts such as the Eradication of Rabbits Act and the Scab Act ( a disease of sheep). These also allowed for free mail. The Postal Acts of the Tas Government always had general provisions for some mail to be sent free of charge as well, including a long list of Members of Parliament, Officials and bodies such as local councils and Road and Rural Police Boards.

The 1d pictorial pays the appropriate mail for regular not free mail as the cover is dated after the Commonwealth took over.
The references to concession rates in your postal guide would not apply to your cover. The term concession meant free mail.

Pete

[dvm27]

Thank you Pete. I very much appreciate your input. I purchased this page from a former exhibitor of this material. If the cover did not qualify under the concession rate at the time of postage why is there a Codlin Moth Act handstamp on it? Could the 1d stamp have been applied after it was mailed? Or perhaps was it an older envelope that had been stamped with "Codlin Moth Act" years before it's use? I would like to include it in my international exhibit of Lepidoptera but need to fully understand the rate lest I lose points for philatelic knowledge.

Greg (USA)

[admin]

Greg,
I can check a Postal Guide around the period your cover was posted and see what I can find. The rate would not take account of any Tasmanian Act so it must be covered by Australian Commonwealth postal regulations.

I entered a one-framer at CAPEX recently on the Tasmanian Free Mail regulations which managed an LV but it stops at 1883 when Frank Stamps were introduced so doesn't include the Codlin Moth mail but there are other very similar Acts for other agricultural probems as I mentioned earlier.
The Codlin Moth endorsement is printed on the form. Official forms under the Codlin Moth Act were printed prior to use and it seems the old form was still in use in 1905.
I understand the need to have precise details for your exhibit.
As for rarity, I have collected Tas free mail for some years now and Codlin Moth covers are very scarce in the overall scheme of things. I estimate there might be half a dozen seen. Others might be able to advise on this.

Pete

[dvm27]

Thanks, Pete. I appreciate any additional information you may provide! Even though I doubt any judges would have the knowledge to dispute the cover I still want to describe it as accurately as possible since clearly it is not a concession rate cover.

Greg

[admin]

Greg, the following may may be of use.
The Codlin Moth Act was passed by the Tasmanian Colonial Government to control the moth as it was destroying apples as you know.
The act, copy here https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/tas ... n16212.pdf had copious details about how the pest was to be controlled including Apple Distrtics, committees and much more. You might find the measures to deal with the moth useful as background in your exhibit to 19th C approaches to controlling this Lepidoptera species.
Under Tas postal regulations any mail to or from orchardists could be sent free of charge.

On 1 March 1901 the Australian Government took over all postal responsibilities from the 6 Australian States and inherited the various postal regulations.
The letter rate for half an oz within Tasmania was 2d, and within town boundaries, 1d. There were also rates for commercial mail including Printed matter 1d per 2 oz (all content printed) and Commercial Papers - 1d per oz( most content printed, a small amount of handwritten content).
The Commonwealth Government did not however recognise State free mail exemptions so any mail, such as the Codlin Moth forms was now charged the appropriate new Commonwealth Government postal Charge.
Your Codlin form was charged 1d per oz as a commercial Papers item under Commonwealth regulations. This rate was in force from 1/3/1901 until 1/5/1911.
Any reference to 'concession' in your postal guide is redundant as the guide only relates to State postal arrangements which expired on 1.3.1901.
The "T" perfin shows the stamp was used by a Tasmanian Government Department. The "T" perfin was a security measure used by Tasmanian Government Departments to protect stamps they purchased for use on their own mail from theft by employees. The cover would have been stamped by the Dept prior to posting to the Orchardist who would then not have had to pay the Commonwealth postal rate of 1d. Hope that makes sense. The letter was printed back in the day when the mail was free under the state postal administration, but after the Commonwealth took over, the Tas Govt still did not want to ask the orchardists to pay for postage of these forms so they purchase stamps from the Post Office and franked this mail, sending the form as pre-paid letter to be returned, with details entered by the orchardist for State statistical recording purposes.

Its a Tasmanian Stamp as the actual postage stamps in Australia did not change to Commonwealth of Australia stamps until Jan 1913 even though the Postal Regulations and control of the Post Office had been transferred on 1/3/1901 away from the States. A bit confusing and a whole other story!



Hope that helps rather than confuses you.

Pete

[dvm27]

Wow Pete, thanks so much for the detailed information! Hopefully I can distill it into a brief coherent paragraph for my exhibit so that the next owner of it won't be misled as I was.

Thanks again,

Greg

[dvm27]

Was able to purchase this piece at auction Pete and wanted to share the inside contents with you. Thanks for all your help. Perhaps one day I'll find a pre-1901 example with the concession rate but this will do until then.

Greg

[admin]

Greg,
Thank you for posting this. I have not seen this format before. It seems the various forms and also official covers changed over the years.

Below is a scan of my best Codlin Moth Act item - a registered cover 21 Nov 1899 which was sent as free mail in an OPSM(On Public Service Only) free mail cover.
I have also posted a separate receipt same date for payment of Codlin Moth tax. Both went through the postal system free though I am not sure why the cover was registered. Walch and Sons was a well know stationer and printer so I think probably the local Codlin Moth Board Secretary, A. Dance from Lovett was sending payment for some supplies of forms and envelopes for use in his role as administering the Codlin Act in his local area (South of Hobart).

I have also included scans of another Pro-forma which went through the mail free in the Pt Arthur area.

Codlin_Moth_Act_Reg_cover-21.Nov.1899.jpg (83.63 KiB) Viewed 21381 times

Codlin_Moth_Act_Reg_Tax_receipt-21.Nov.1899-front.jpg (113.62 KiB) Viewed 21381 times

Codlin_Moth_Act_Reg_Tax_receipt-21.Nov.1899.jpg (147.85 KiB) Viewed 21381 times

Codlin_Moth_Act_undated-stats_return_acres_planted.jpg (44.26 KiB) Viewed 21381 times

Codlin_Moth_Act_undated-stats_return_acres_planted-inside.jpg (90.5 KiB) Viewed 21381 times