When the second division of the Tirah Force was demobilized it was decided to retain a strong column in the Swat Valley to take up positions in Dir territory for the protection of the line of communications and the route of the relieving and relieved Chitral Force. The arrangement necessitated the opening of three field post offices from the 1st May, 1898, and from the same date the Swat Sorting Office at Nowshera was strengthened. It was also decided to retain the services of a Superintendent to accompany the column up to Dir territory and return with the relieved troops from Chitral.

The postal arrangements had to be maintained till the end of June, when the column having been considerably reduced, two field offices were abolished and only one was retained till the 15th July, 1898.

In November, 1899, the Director-General was requested to open a field branch post office at Bonjur and connect it by a runners' line (twenty-four miles long) with Sadiya, where there was a civil post office. This place was made the base of operations of the Mishmi Field Force. About 200 military police and 1000 regular troops operated in this expedition, which began in December, 1899, and ended in January, 1900. The Bonjur office was opened on the 1st December, 1899, and closed on the 9th February, 1900.

At the request of the Home Government, a force entitled "The China Expeditionary Force" was mobilized in India for service in China under the command of General Sir A. Gaselee. The first intimation of the despatch of the army was received on the 29th June, 1900. This, however, referred only to one brigade of troops of all arms; but on the 25th June intimation was received that a force of two brigades with divisional troops were under orders for China. The control of the field postal arrangements was in the hands of Mr. Stewart-Wilson, Postmaster-General, Punjab, under whose orders the postal staff was mobilized and equipped. At first it was decided to fit out twelve field post offices to accompany the force. Mr. W. T. van Someren was appointed Chief Superintendent, and Mr. A. Bean and Mr. A. B. Thompson were selected to work under him.

By the end of August, 1900, the force in China was strengthened by a cavalry brigade, one infantry brigade and three large coolie corps, and the postal staff had to be supplemented. Thus by the end of the year there were in China:

On the 29th June, 1900, a notification was issued regarding the conditions under which postal articles could be exchanged with the China Expeditionary Force. The Indian Base office was at first opened at Linkung-tao (Wei Hai Wei), but was shortly transferred to Hongkong. Articles for the force were despatched by the steamers of the B.I.S.N. Company, the Messageries Maritimes and also by the Opium steamers to Hongkong. The Colonial post office at Hongkong had an arrangement with all merchant vessels binding them to carry mails as far as Shanghai, and owing to the courtesy of the Postmaster-General, Hongkong, this concession was made use of to carry the mails of the Field Force. North of Shanghai the mails were carried by transports and men-o'-war. Later on the Chinese Imperial Postal Authorities carried our mails from Shanghai to Taku and back free of charge until the latter port was closed by the winter ice. Another route had then to be chosen for the North China mails, and once more we had to resort to the kindness of the Imperial Chinese Post Office, who agreed to supply transport from Chifu to Chaingwantao twice a week on condition that half the cost of the coal used should be paid. Thus the mails were conveyed from Hongkong to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Chifu and from Chifu to Chaingwantao and thence to Tientsin. The chief postal land routes were (1) Taku to Pekin and (2) Tientsin to Shanhaikwan.

Dollar currency was used in the field offices, the rate of a dollar being fixed at 1s. 11d., equivalent to Rs.1.7.0. The first postal detachment took with them a full supply of postage stamps, postcards, etc., but it was found inadvisable to use them owing to the fact that it would be impossible to sell them at a price exactly equivalent to face value. At Hongkong the postal equivalent for 10 centimes, i.e. 1 anna, is 4 cents. It followed, therefore, that twenty-five 1-anna stamps could be bought for a dollar and that the purchaser would be able to make 2 annas for every dollar spent on stamps, and it was feared that advantage would be taken of this to buy up Indian stamps wholesale for remittance to India. The postage stamps were therefore overprinted with the letters "C.E.F.," i.e. "China Expeditionary Force," so that their use would be localized, and the surcharged stamps came into circulation about the middle of August, 1900. In order to confine the use of field offices to the members of the force, orders were issued that our postage stamps should not be sold except to soldiers and officers in uniform. The rates of postage fixed for all purposes were those in force in India, the postage to India being reckoned at Indian inland rates.

Difficulty had all along been felt in supplying postal facilities to the small bodies of troops stationed at or near railway stations where there were no post offices. Mr. van Someren removed this difficulty by introducing a combined Post and Railway Mail Service between Pekin and Taku and Tientsin and Shanhaikwan, a scheme which was a new one in the history of the field postal service. Postal clerks had not only to sort letters in the trains, but also to receive and deliver letters and sell postage stamps at each railway station. By August, 1901, there was a reduction of the number of troops in China and fourteen field post offices were closed, the supervising staff being reduced to a Chief Superintendent and an inspecting postmaster in North China and a Superintendent and an inspecting postmaster at Hongkong. Mr. van Someren left China on the 5th August, 1901, leaving Mr. Thompson in charge.

This was the first occasion that a large postal establishment had to be sent out with a military expedition overseas to a foreign country. The force consisted of over 37,000 men stationed at various places from Shanghai to Taku and Taku to Pekin. The harmonious relations with the Chinese Imperial Postal Administration and the material assistance which it rendered on every possible occasion greatly helped to the success of the Indian Field Post Office administration in China.

The postal arrangements made to serve the Somaliland Field Force extended over a period of nearly two years from January, 1903, to November, 1904. Mr. Wynch, who was appointed Chief Superintendent, remained till June, 1904, when he was invalided and relieved by Mr. A. J. Hughes, who held charge until the end of the operations. The strength of the force was 3000, and at first one base office and one field post office, with one postmaster, five clerks and four packers, were provided. Mails were exchanged between India and Somaliland by Government transports. The field post offices were closed on the 25th November, 1904.

In 1903 the Government of India decided to send a small force to escort the Tibet Frontier Commission. At first a number of temporary post offices and lines were opened under the control of the Superintendent of post offices, Jalpaiguri Division, to serve the Mission, but it was not until it was decided that the Mission should advance into the Chumbi Valley that field post offices and lines were required. The Mission was headed by Colonel Younghusband and the escort was commanded by General MacDonald, with Mr. H. Tulloch as Chief Superintendent.

The rapid development of field post offices necessitated the appointment of a second Superintendent, and Mr. A. Bean was deputed to field service. On the 6th January, 1904, Mr. Bean took over charge of the Base Division, but shortly after died of heart disease on the 3rd March, 1904. The entire arrangements then devolved again on Mr. Tulloch until the 1st April, 1904, when Mr. C. J. Dease took over charge of the Base Division.

The Mission advanced on Gyantse on the 4th April. From Tuna to Gyantse the mail arrangements were in the hands of the military authorities, and only one postal clerk, whose duty it was to distribute letters, was sent up with the escort. The Mission reached Gyantse on the 14th May, and a field post office had to be opened there and at several other places on the lines of communications. The force remained at Lhassa from the 3rd August to the 23rd September and returned to Gyantse on the 6th October, 1904. There was by this time at Gyantse an accumulation of over 1100 parcels addressed to the members of the Lhassa column, but Mr. Angelo, who was then placed in charge of the advance division, disposed of them in three days before the troops left on their return march. The demobilization of the force began by the end of October, and the postal officials were ordered to leave Chumbi on the 26th and to close the field post offices between Chumbi and Gangtok on their way down. Mr. Tulloch relinquished charge of the F.P.O.'s on the 28th November, 1904.

The postal arrangements made to serve the Bazar Valley Field Force extended over a period of twenty-five days, from the 13th February to the 8th March, 1908. On the night of the 12th February the Chief of the Staff informed the Postmaster, Peshawar, that the force would leave the station the next morning. A base office, four first-class field post offices and three second-class field post offices were sent to the front, and on receipt of the scheme for the organization and mobilization of the force on the 14th February this establishment was reduced considerably. The work of the field post offices on this occasion was limited almost entirely to the disposal of articles of the letter and packet mails.

The postal arrangements made to serve the Mohmand Field Force extended over a period of thirty-eight days, from the 28th April to the 4th June, 1908. The first intimation that an expedition would take place was received on the 23rd April, and the Postmaster-General, Punjab and N.-W.F., was at once directed to make all arrangements to serve the troops that were concentrating on the frontier. Mr. McMinn, who was Chief Superintendent of post offices with the Bazar Valley Field Force, was placed in charge.

The postal arrangements made to serve the Abor Expeditionary Force extended over a period of about one year, from May, 1911, to May, 1912. A temporary post office was first opened on the 15th May, 1911, at Saikwaghat, a terminus of the Dibru-Sadiyah Railway, to serve the troops making preparations there for the expedition. The office was under the control of the Superintendent of post offices, Upper Assam Division. It was not until September, 1911, when the force advanced towards Kobo, that the Department was called upon to organize a field postal service. The arrangements were placed under the control of the Postmaster-General, Eastern Bengal and Assam, and for the supervision of the work in the field Mr. A. J. Faichnie, Superintendent of post offices, Upper Assam Division, was, in addition to his own duties, appointed Superintendent of Field Post Offices, assisted by an inspector.

APPENDIX J
THE POST OFFICE INSURANCE FUND

The suggestion to establish a State Life Assurance was first made in 1872 by Sir Richard Temple, the Finance Member of Council. After a great deal of discussion it was dropped in 1873, but was revived again in 1881 by Mr. Hogg, the Director-General of the Post Office, when it was accepted by the Viceroy's Council and finally by the Secretary of State.

The principal features of the scheme which was actually introduced on the 1st February, 1884, were:

(1) For the time the Fund was confined to the employés of the Post Office.

(2) Provision was made for effecting life insurance in three ways, viz.—

(i) By a single payment.

(ii) By monthly payments until the person insured attained the age of 50 or 55.

(iii) By monthly payments during life.

(3) Provision was also made for two classes of monthly allowances, viz. "Immediate" or "Deferred."

(4) One life could be insured for any sum which was a multiple of Rs.50 up to the total of Rs.4,000, and the monthly allowance granted on any one life might consist of any sum which was a multiple of Rs.8 up to the limit of Rs.50.

(5) Medical examination of proposers for insurance was made free.

(6) Arrangements were made for the deduction of the monthly premia from the insured person's salary except the first premium or premium paid during leave without pay.

(7) Policies and contracts issued under the scheme were exempt from stamp duty.

The scheme worked smoothly, and, taking into consideration that many employés of the Post Office are poorly paid officials, a fair measure of success was attained during the first few years except in the Monthly Allowance branch and in the system of Life Insurance by single payment. The following figures show the proportion of officials who availed themselves of insurance during the first three years:—

In 1887 the rule under which one-half surrender value could be allowed on all policies and contracts when payment had been discontinued was modified so as to exclude from this privilege policies and contracts on which three years' premia or subscriptions had not been paid. In September, 1887, the Fund was opened to the Telegraph Department, and in 1895 to employés of the Indo-European Telegraphs and to women employed in all the departments.

With effect from the 1st February, 1898, the benefits of the scheme were extended generally to all permanent Government servants whose pay was audited in Civil or Public Works Account offices and all members of establishments of the Military Department, under audit of the Military Account offices, who were subject to Civil rules. From the same date a system of Endowment Assurances providing for payment at any age between 45 and 55 was introduced. With this general extension of the scheme it was decided that the medical examination of proposers for insurance should be more stringent and that medical officers, who had until then been examining proposers for insurance free of any charge, should be allowed a fee of Rs.4 for each examination, as their insurance work would be substantially increased. In the same year (1898) the system of Life Insurance by a single payment which had proved to be a failure, was abolished.

In 1899, Temporary Engineers and Temporary Upper Subordinates of the Public Works Department were allowed by Government to be admissible to the benefits of the Fund, provided that the Chief Engineer declared that they were eligible for admission. In 1903 it was extended to permanent Government servants in foreign service in India, and in the same year Life Insurance policies were allowed to be converted into Endowment Assurance policies.

In 1904, the following relaxations of the rules were sanctioned with a view to meet the convenience of Government servants.

(1) Insured persons who had retired from the service and whose pensions were paid in India were allowed the option of deducting their premia or subscriptions from their pension bills instead of being compelled to pay them in cash at a post office.

(2) When there was any difficulty in the way of a proposal being signed by the proposer in the presence of his immediate superior, this duty might, with the permission of the Postmaster-General, be performed in the presence of the local postmaster or any other responsible officer who had to sign the certificate.

(3) The table of subscriptions for "Immediate Monthly Allowance," which contained rates up to the age of sixty, was extended so as to provide for contracts with persons above that age.

In the same year the benefits of the Fund were extended to Temporary Lower Subordinates, clerks of the Public Works Department and to clerks of the Punjab University on the same conditions as to Temporary Engineers and Temporary Upper Subordinates.

The year 1907 witnessed several important changes in the Post Office Insurance Fund made on the recommendation of the Government Actuary. These were:

(1) That the sums eventually payable in respect of policies in existence on 31st March, 1907, in the Life Branch of the Fund were increased by 10 per cent and that the premia payable in respect of sums assured in that branch after that date would be correspondingly reduced. The rates of premia for Life Insurance were revised accordingly.

(2) That a life policy, with monthly payments payable till death, was allowed to be converted into a life policy with monthly payments payable to a specified age or into a fully paid up policy payable at death.

(3) That an endowment policy might be converted into a paid-up policy payable at some anterior date or at death, if earlier.

(4) That insurants could reduce their monthly premia to any desired extent from any specified date.

(5) That when a policy of either class was surrendered the policy holder should be given the full surrender value which on an actuarial calculation could be paid without loss to the Fund, instead of half that amount as hitherto given.

(6) That the surrender value of a lapsed policy was payable at any time after default, on application being made for the same.

(7) That the period up to which payment of arrears of premium or subscription was allowed for the revival of a policy of less than three years' duration was extended from three to six months.

The tables of premia, introduced at the time the Fund was started, as already stated, were calculated on the mortality rates which had been deduced from the experience of the Uncovenanted Service Family Pension Fund, Bengal—a Fund which was confined to Europeans resident in India—there being no more reliable mortality statistics available for the purpose at the time. In 1909 the India Office Actuary, in his review on the operations of the Fund for the year 1907-08, noticed that, in view of the rapid growth of the scheme, it was necessary to revise the tables according to more accurate mortality statistics. In his review on the work of the Fund for 1908-09 the Actuary asked for detailed particulars of all the policies issued by the Fund since its institution in the form of statements, in order to enable him to deduce therefrom the necessary mortality rates, and thus prepare fresh tables of premia. These statistics were submitted with the Director-General's Annual Report on the operations of the Fund for the year 1910-11.

In the meantime it was brought to notice in 1909 that, under the existing method of calculating surrender values of Life policies, the values in certain cases were found on calculation to be considerably in excess of the total amount of premia paid on the policies. Taking advantage of this, insurants began to surrender their policies in large numbers. The matter was referred to the Secretary of State. As a result, the Actuary at the India Office forwarded revised tables for the calculation of surrender values of Life policies, to be used until the general revision of the Mortality tables and of the tables of premia, which had been under contemplation, was effected. In 1909 an important concession was sanctioned regarding the payment of premia by insured persons while on leave or suspension or when retiring. It was laid down that an insured person should not be considered as in arrears of premium or subscription for any month so long as he has not drawn any pay, pension or suspension allowance.

In 1910, with a view to afford greater facilities to the lower grades of postal servants to insure their lives and to popularize the Fund, sanction was obtained to grant to these officials from the Post Office Guarantee Fund travelling expenses actually incurred by them in their journey for examination by the medical officer for insurance, provided the proposer actually took out a policy and paid the premium for not less than twelve months. In 1912 Mr. Ackland, the Actuary at the India Office, made a thorough investigation into the past experience of the Fund from the statistics furnished to him. He drew up a report showing the results of the investigation and prepared fresh tables of mortality statistics, as well as new tables of premia for both Life Insurance and Endowment Assurance. He also prepared new formulæ for the calculation of paid-up policies, surrender values, etc., and recommended the following further concessions and changes:—

(1) The grant to all policy holders on the 31st March, 1912 (the valuation date), of a bonus at the rate of 2 per cent per annum in the case of Whole Life Assurances, and at 1 per cent in the case of Endowment Assurances in respect of each month's premium paid since 31st March, 1907, up to 31st March, 1912.

(2) The grant of an interim bonus at half of the above rates in respect of the premiums paid since 31st March, 1912, in the case of policies which became claims by death or survivance between 1st April, 1912, and 31st March, 1917, provided that premiums have been paid for at least five years and up to date of death or survivance.

(3) "Age next birthday" should be taken as the age at entry for all classes of Assurances.

(4) An integral number of years' premia should be charged on Endowment Assurance policies and Life policies with limited payments.

(5) Transfers from the Whole Life to the Endowment Assurance class or vice versa should be allowed only after any number of complete years' premia have been paid.

(6) When surrender values were granted in the Monthly Allowance class, medical examination at the policy holder's expense should be insisted on and payment should in no case exceed 95 per cent of the present value of the monthly allowance.

(7) Policy holders should be allowed to commute future premia by payment either of a lump sum or of an increased monthly premium ceasing at age 50 or 55.

(8) Transfers from the Endowment Assurance to the Whole Life class should be allowed only on the production of a fresh medical certificate obtained at the policy holder's expense.

(9) The valuations of the Fund should be made at quinquennial intervals.

It was also decided that, as an Actuary had been appointed by the Government of India, all questions relating to the administration of the Fund, as well as future valuations of the Fund, might be dealt with by that officer instead of being submitted to the Secretary of State.

INDEX