In May 1858 the colonial administration arranged with the private expresses for conveyance of letters anywhere within the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island on condition of the prepayment of five cents per letter, as colonial postage.[325]
This rudimentary arrangement was replaced in 1864 by a regular departmental postal service with headquarters at New Westminster.[326] The charges on letters and newspapers sent by post were fixed as follows: for every letter to and from British Columbia and Vancouver Island, delivered at Victoria or New Westminster, threepence per half ounce; on every newspaper posted under the same circumstances, one penny; on every letter from a post office at any one place in the colony to a post office at any other place in the colony, sixpence per half ounce; for a newspaper posted for delivery under the same circumstances, sixpence; on letters from any other place than Vancouver Island, threepence in addition to the foreign postage.
The year following the union of the two governments of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, an ordinance was passed by the government, dated April 2, 1867, in which a new set of rates were established. On a letter passing between any two post offices in Vancouver Island or between any of these offices and New Westminster or any port in the colony, the rate was five cents; between Vancouver Island or New Westminster on the one side and Clinton or Savona's Ferry, the rate was twelve and a half cents; where letters pass beyond those distances the charge was twenty-five cents.
For letters exchanged between any two post offices above Yale, Hope or Douglas, the rate was twelve and a half cents. In each case the unit of weight was an ounce. The charge on newspapers passing between any two post offices in the colony was two cents each. At this period there were eighteen post offices on the mainland and eight on the island.
The situation of the post office in British Columbia stood thus when the colony became one of the provinces of the dominion. By the act of confederation the postal service was incorporated into the Federal system which was administered by the post office department at Ottawa. The rates of postage in British Columbia were made uniform with the charges in the other provinces, viz., three cents per half ounce for letters, and one cent for newspapers.
Communication between British Columbia and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains was far from satisfactory. Until the completion of the Canadian Pacific railway in 1885, the eastern provinces had to depend entirely upon the United States postal system for the means of communication with British Columbia. At the time of the entrance of the province into the confederation, the opportunities for an exchange of correspondence were limited to twice a week.
The mails were conveyed from San Francisco by railway and stage to Olympia, between which point and Victoria, semi-weekly trips were made by steamer. There was also a service twice a month, between Victoria and San Francisco. The maintenance of these connections between San Francisco and Vancouver Island was stipulated for among the conditions of union of British Columbia with the dominion of Canada.
Within the province, the mails were carried by the steamer "Sir James Douglas" along the east coast of Vancouver Island and Comox. The mainland was supplied with mails by a steamer which ran twice a week between Vancouver and New Westminster. In the interior of the province, the mails were carried by steamer up the Fraser river to Yale, thence northward to Barkerville. The distance between New Westminster and Barkerville was 486 miles. The service from Yale to Barkerville was by means of stages, drawn by four or six horses. This service was carried on weekly during summer, and fortnightly during the winter. Striking off westward from this route at Quesnelle, there was another to Omenica, 350 miles, over which the mails were carried monthly.[327]
In bringing the narrative to a point where the several provincial systems were incorporated into one system controlled by the post office department at Ottawa, I have completed the task I undertook. It remains only to note in a summary manner the progress that was made by the post office from Confederation to the Great War.