Upon the representation of the Friendly Societies, which send a good many small orders, these rates were changed in May of the same year to the following:—

d.
For an order not exceeding £12
exceeding £1 but not over £3 3
exceeding £3 but not over £10 4

And finally in 1903 the maximum amount of a money order was raised from £10 to £40 and the following rates established:[695]—

d.
For sums not exceeding £12
For sums above £1but not exceeding £33
£3£104
£10£206
£20£308
£23£4010

In addition to the reductions in rates which have been outlined above, other changes have been made which have resulted in certain cases in a saving to the transmitter of a money order. The charge for correcting or altering the name of the remitter or payee of an inland order has been reduced to the fixed sum of a penny. The fee payable for stopping payment of an inland order was fixed at 4d., and this was made to cover the issue of a new order if the request was made at the time of stopping payment. A penny stamp need no longer be affixed to a money order when payment is deferred and payment may be deferred for any period not exceeding ten days.[696]

The issue of telegraph money orders, commenced in 1889 as an experiment, was in 1892 extended to all money order offices which were also telegraph offices. The limit imposed was £10, the rates being

d.
On orders not exceeding£14
£26
£48
£710
£1012

There was an additional charge of at least 9d. for the official telegram, authorizing payment, which was sent in duplicate. When several orders were sent at the same time and the total amount did not exceed £50, only one official telegram was sent and paid for. The above rates were lowered in 1897 to 4d. for sums not in excess of £3, and 6d. for sums from £3 to £10 with a minimum charge of 6d. for the official telegram of advice.[697] At the present time inland telegraph money orders may be issued for the same amounts as ordinary inland money orders and at the same rates, plus a fee of 2d. and the cost of the official telegram.

During the Crimean War, the Army Post Office was authorized to issue money orders at inland rates and the system was extended to Gibraltar and Malta. In 1858 a proposition advanced by Canada for the interchange of money orders was favourably received by the Home Government, and in the following year provision was made for their issue between the United Kingdom and Canada at four times the inland rates, to a limit of £5. In 1862 the system was extended to all the colonies, the rates being the same as those already agreed upon with Canada except in the case of Gibraltar and Malta where they were three times the inland rates, and the maximum was increased to £10. In 1868 a money order convention was concluded with Switzerland, the rates being the same as those for inland orders, and in 1869 a similar agreement was made with Belgium, but in 1871 the rates for both countries were increased to three times the inland rates upon the same terms as those prevailing with other parts of Europe. In 1880 colonial rates were reduced to the same level, and in 1883 the following changes were adopted:

d.
On orders not exceeding £26
£512
£718
£1024