Part 27

A Ship Letter Office was opened on the 10th September 1799. No vessel was allowed to make entry or break bulk until letters brought by it had been handed over to the Post Office. The chief object in view was not, however, achieved. Letters sent out of the country by private ship still continued for the most part to be handed to the shipmaster without the intervention of the Post Office. Efforts were made to secure the assistance of coffee-house keepers as agents of the Post Office, but without success; and for many years the proportion between incoming and outgoing private ship letters was eighteen to one.[689]

In 1814 a further Ship Letter Act[690] raised the rate on inward single letters from 4d. to 6d., and made it compulsory to hand all outward ship letters to the Post Office to be charged. The East India Company, whose servants had previously been allowed to send and receive letters free, protested strongly against the new Act, although the official correspondence of the Company had been exempted. The Company pointed out that the Post Office maintained no packet communication with the East Indies, and to charge postage was to levy a charge where no service was performed, and in effect to lay a tax on letter-writing. They had a stronger weapon than sound argument: the ships sailing between England and India were to a large extent controlled by them, and the Act laid no compulsion on the owners of private ships to carry letters for the Post Office. When, therefore, the Post Office requested the Company to carry post letters to India, the Company replied that they did "not see fit to authorize the commanders or owners of any of their ships to take charge of any bag of letters from the Post Office subjected to a rate of postage for sea conveyance."[691] In consequence of this difficulty an Act was passed in 1815 making it compulsory on all shipmasters to carry such mails as should be tendered to them by the Post Office. The Post Office was required to pay the owners a reasonable sum as remuneration for the carriage of the letters, the ordinary fee of 2d. a letter still being paid to the commander as a perquisite. The East India Company was placated by the concession of further exemptions in its favour. By this Act the rate of postage to India or the Cape was fixed at 14d. the ounce on letters, and on newspapers at 3d. the ounce--the first enactment providing a lower rate for newspapers than for letters in the foreign service.[692]

The result of this Act was eminently satisfactory. In the first eighteen months or so the postage on letters for India and the Cape of Good Hope amounted to [L]11,658, while the amount paid for the conveyance by private ship was only [L]1,250; although it should be explained that expense was incurred for less than half the number of despatches, the remainder being conveyed by his Majesty's ships, or by ships of the East India Company which were placed at the disposal of the Post Office free of charge.

Other minor changes were made in subsequent years. In 1836 a postal treaty was arranged with France, under which certain rates--in general, rates slightly lower than those previously in force--were agreed for all letters passing through France.

The rates for colonial letters were revised when uniform postage was introduced in the inland service. They were made chargeable according to weight, and for transmission to any port in the colonies were fixed generally at 1s. the 1/2 ounce.

In 1850, on political grounds, the Postmaster-General[693] proposed the establishment of a general 1s. rate for all colonial letters. The proposal was not immediately adopted, but a few years later a rate of 6d. the 1/2 ounce was established for all parts of the Empire except India, the Cape, Mauritius, and Tasmania. This rate was extended to all the colonies in 1857, and to the United States in 1868. In 1869 the rate for letters to the United States, Canada, and Prince Edward Island was reduced to 3d. In 1875 the Universal Postal Union rate of 2-1/2d. came into operation. The next great advance was the result mainly of the efforts of Sir J. Henniker Heaton, who for many years advocated the facilitation of postal intercourse, especially within the Empire. In 1898 penny postage was established between the United Kingdom and all the chief colonies except Australia, the Cape, and Natal. In 1905 these colonies joined, and were followed by Egypt and the Sudan.

In 1907 a special rate of 1d. a pound was established for magazines and trade journals posted in the United Kingdom, for Canada. The rate did not cover the cost of service, and its justification is to be sought in political considerations. In order to secure the low rate Canada undertook to defray the whole cost of ocean transport. Difficulties in regard to the financial arrangements arose subsequently, and on the 1st January 1915 the rate was altered to the following, viz. 1d. for the first 6 ounces, 1-1/2d. for 1-1/2 pounds, 2-1/2d. for 2-1/2 pounds, and so on.

Under the old system the rates of postage were for the most part nominal, that is to say, no attempt was made to adjust the rates to the actual cost of providing the service, although in allocating between the different States the total amount of postage, a rough assignment as between land and sea services was made.[694] The usual 6d. rate for single letters to and from the various colonies illustrates this. The actual cost of service must have varied greatly. In the case of the colonies other considerations, mainly political, were allowed to enter. In the case of foreign countries the whole arrangements for the interchange of correspondence were based on such agreements as could be arrived at, and the actual rates of postage were determined in that way.[695] The chief difficulties in negotiations occurred in connection with the division between the contracting parties of the postage collected. The packet service was often conducted at a loss, and the rates of postage on foreign and colonial letters were not, in general, fixed with a view to rendering the service self-supporting, although this was regarded as a condition to be aimed at.[696]

By the Consolidating Acts of 1837 (1 Vict., cap. 34 & 36) the Postmaster-General was empowered to require the masters of outward-bound vessels to accept mails, and to deliver them without delay on arrival at the port of destination, under penalty of [L]200.

The general character of the foreign packet service was entirely changed by the introduction of steam propulsion, which greatly shortened the length of voyages and introduced a degree of punctuality and regularity hitherto undreamt of. Until this time the Post Office had, for many long-distance services, relied on its own packets; i.e. packets sailing under contract expressly for the conveyance of the mails and under the control of the Post Office. In 1818, with the introduction of steam vessels, this policy was changed and that of Crown ownership of the packets adopted. This method was found extremely costly, and the Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry reported emphatically against it.[697]

The policy of providing for the service by contract was then reverted to. It now appeared, however, that vessels sailing for commercial purposes could be counted upon to sail and arrive regularly, and the Government desired therefore to make use of them for the despatch of mails. It was proposed to forward mails by the _Great Western_ under the powers conferred on the Postmaster-General by the Act of 1837 (1 Vict. 34, [S] 19) for the prescribed remuneration ([S] 24). The owners refused to carry mails on these terms, and the Law Officers advised that the Postmaster-General had no power, either by Statute or Common Law, to compel the owners to carry mails.[698] It was not found necessary, perhaps it was not deemed wise, to follow up the question of powers. In 1839 a contract was entered into with Samuel Cunard for the provision of a steamship service between England and North America, at a cost to the Post Office of [L]55,000 a year. This policy proved successful. It has been followed in the case of all the great routes, and has continued until the present day.

In considering the question of the rates of postage the sums paid to the shipping companies are a little misleading. The payments were not then, and are not now, made solely from regard to the fact that the vessels convey mails. Other considerations, such as the desirability of encouraging the shipping industry, its value to the commerce of the nation, and the value of a strong mercantile marine as a naval reserve, have always entered largely into the question. It was in accordance with this view, and largely on account of abuses in the administration of the services by the Post Office which had come to light, that the control of the Post Office packet services and of contracts for the conveyance of mails by sea was in 1837 transferred from the Post Office to the Admiralty. The control was in 1860 retransferred to the Post Office, but the amount of the subsidies paid to steamship companies conveying mails has continued to be influenced by other than purely Post Office considerations. The chief development in this direction has been a legal decision obtained in 1889, in a dispute between the Post Office and the Cunard Steamship Company, which arose from an attempt by the Post Office to introduce the American system of despatching mails by the fastest ships available, and paying, not a general subsidy, but a sum calculated on the basis of the weight of mails carried. The High Court ruled that the Postmaster-General is entitled to have all such mails as he may think fit received on board any of the Company's ships and conveyed and delivered at the ports of destination without delay.[699] Failing agreement as to the payment to be made in respect of such services, the Post Office can fall back on its statutory right to the conveyance by merchant ship of all letter mails at the rate of a halfpenny a letter.

The extension of penny postage to all countries has been prevented simply by financial considerations.[700] In 1910 the question of establishing penny postage with France received a good deal of public attention both in this country and in France, but the Government were not prepared at that time to face the sacrifice of revenue.

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III. THE THURN AND TAXIS POSTS IN GERMANY

The great number of the principalities which made up the Germany of the early Middle Ages, the mutual jealousy of the princes, and the indefinite authority of the Emperor, made the introduction of any sort of general system of communication extremely difficult. But for a long period before posts of the ordinary type were established in Germany, there existed throughout the Empire a system of messengers (_Boten-Anstalten_).

These establishments were maintained by the political administration, by the scholastic institutions, by political corporations, by merchant bodies, or by private individuals.[701] Their function was to effect the exchange of the correspondence of their founders. In addition, the occasional posts (_Metzger_), merchants travelling to the fairs, judicial and Imperial messengers, and pilgrim monks were much employed for the carrying of letters.

The system of _Boten-Anstalten_ was widely extended, and its functions were not limited to the conveyance of letters.[702] Its messengers travelled some of the great routes, such as Hamburg-Stettin-Danzig; Hamburg-Leipzig-Nuremberg; Cologne-Frankfort-Augsburg; and these services were more or less permanent in character. Services on other routes were established to meet local or temporary needs, such as the assembly of the Reichstag, the meeting of the Electors, Peace Congresses, War Conferences, and fairs; and these services were discontinued when the occasion which had required them disappeared.

The organization of this system of messengers resembled in many ways that of ordinary posts: it was established and managed by the political authorities; the services were regular; the routes were fixed and stages were appointed; and the messengers undertook the conveyance of letters, goods, and persons, by foot, horse, or wagon.[703] At a later date letter-carriers were employed in some instances for the delivery of letters conveyed by the messenger services. A charge of 3 pf. was raised on letters so delivered, the delivery charge on letters obtained directly from the _Botenmeister_ being 1 pf.[704]

The intellectual awakening of the early sixteenth century, the great discoveries of that period and their effect on commerce, together with the tendency then developing towards amalgamation of the principalities and creation of larger political entities, all increased the necessity for an efficient system of intercommunication. The result is seen in the establishment of an Imperial system of posts.[705]

The regular Imperial posts were established towards the end of the fifteenth century by the Emperor Maximilian I. Johann von Taxis was the first Imperial Postmaster, and the earliest record of his tenure of the office is in 1489.[706] A decree suppressing the system of _Boten-Anstalten_ and the _Metzgerposten_ was issued, but these posts continued, and it was discovered at a later date that their continuance was not incompatible with the maintenance of a system of Imperial posts.[707]

The Imperial posts were to provide more particularly for the transmission of despatches, and their immediate object was to provide a means of obtaining information regarding the Turks, and a means of communication with the princes of neighbouring territories.[708] Their history is inseparable from that of the family of Thurn and Taxis, to whom their management was from the first entrusted. This family was of Italian origin, and before the establishment of the Imperial posts, Roger the First of Thurn and Taxis had established a horse-post between Italy and the Tyrol, which proved of so much value to the Empire that as a reward Roger was made a chevalier. On the routes along which the Imperial posts were laid, stages were fixed at intervals of about 5 (German) miles, and messengers were stationed at each stage.[709] These messengers from the first enjoyed the privilege of exemption from all taxes and charges in all the countries through which the post routes passed. The posts were solely for the service of the Emperor, and at his charge; and at first, like the earlier messenger services, were established temporarily for special purposes, such as the movements of the Imperial Court, or to meet necessities arising from war; or permanently to provide services between distant and newly acquired territory.[710]

In 1500 Francis von Taxis was appointed _capitaine et ma[^i]tre de nos postes_ at Ghent by Philip the Fair, son of the Emperor Maximilian I, and in 1505 a convention was concluded between Philip and von Taxis under which the latter undertook to establish a line of posts between the Court of Maximilian I, the Court of the French King, and the Spanish Court, for a payment of 12,000 livres a year. The German and Spanish services were intended to maintain permanent and regular communications. The French post was intended to facilitate diplomatic intercourse.[711] The time occupied in the transmission of letters between Innsbruck and Brussels at this period was 5-1/2 days in summer and 6-1/2 days in winter; between Paris and Brussels 44 hours; and between Granada and Brussels 15 days.

Owing to financial difficulties the payments to von Taxis from the royal exchequer could not be kept up, and in order to maintain the service another source of revenue had to be discovered. It was found in the acceptance for transmission by the posts of private letters, and in allowing the use of the posts by private persons desirous of travelling. This was made part of the ordinary business of the posts, with the reservation that the use of the posts by private persons should not interfere with or impede the official service.[712]

In 1512 the Emperor Maximilian conferred on Francis von Taxis, and on several others of his family, titles of hereditary nobility in the Empire and in the Austrian and Burgundian dominions, together with the dignity of Count Palsgrave.[713] In 1516 the Taxis posts were extended to Verona, Rome, and Naples, and were improved and accelerated. In 1615 the office of Imperial Postmaster-General was conferred on Lamoral von Taxis and his descendants as an hereditary fief.

The actual development of the posts was of a twofold character. At first the Taxis family were able to establish their posts in various parts of the Empire without opposition; the princes were themselves satisfied with their messenger systems, and were indisposed to establish posts on account of the heavy cost. But after a time, when the profitable character of the Taxis posts became apparent,[714] the princes questioned the right of the Imperial Postmaster-General to lay posts within their territories, and claimed that they alone possessed that right.[715] In 1597 the posts were proclaimed an Imperial reservation,[716] but this theory was never accepted by the princes.[717] The Taxis posts, therefore, never became general throughout the Empire. Eights were obtained in certain States, so that they became an important system reaching many parts of the Empire; but they did not altogether supplant the territorial services.[718]

In the early part of the seventeenth century the struggle against the monopoly of the Imperial posts developed. The States were jealous of the growing power of Austria, and political affinities were weakening. There was, moreover, some feeling against such an office being held by an alien family.[719] The Palatinate, W[:u]rtemberg, Saxony, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg established posts within their respective territories.[720] The whole question became involved with the disputes which led up to the Thirty Years' War, and the princes found their position indirectly strengthened by the Peace of Westphalia, which contained no settlement of the disputes regarding the posts, but merely referred the question to the next Reichstag. Attempts were made to extend the Imperial posts, but much opposition was encountered. Nevertheless, the system continued to expand and attained considerable dimensions. The family held the exclusive right of carrying passengers as well as letters; and it was estimated that during the eighteenth century the house of Thurn and Taxis received a gross sum of 20,000 livres per day, and a net profit of four millions a year. Some 20,000 men, and a greater number of horses, were employed in the service.[721]

The Revolutionary Wars were disastrous to the system. The Taxis posts were in many instances replaced by territorial posts,[722] and by the Peace of Luneville (1801), which made the Rhine the boundary between France and Germany, the family lost control of all their posts to the west of the Rhine. They were, however, compensated for the loss of the revenues of those posts by a grant of territory (Reichs-Deputationshauptschluss of 25 February 1803).

In the following years the Prince of Taxis strengthened his position by a series of agreements with the German States, but with the establishment in 1806 of the Confederation of the Rhine and the abdication of the Emperor, the Holy Roman Empire and the Imperial posts fell together. In 1814 Prince Charles Anselm of Thurn and Taxis attempted unsuccessfully to regain possession of the posts in the Low Countries. The territorial posts were not, however, altogether satisfactory, and the rights of the Taxis family were restored by the Agreement of 1815, establishing the German Confederation; in pursuance of which the family recovered the posts in Electoral Hesse in 1816, in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Oldenburg, and Saxe-Coburg in 1817, Hesse-Darmstadt in 1818, and W[:u]rtemberg in 1819. The posts in other States were recovered in subsequent years, and in 1848 the Taxis posts comprised an area of 2,675 square (German) miles, with a yearly income of a million Marks.[723] In most cases a rent was paid to the State for the privilege of conducting the posts. Thus, W[:u]rtemberg received a yearly payment of 70,000 florins, the Grand Duchy of Hesse of 25,000 florins, and Electoral Hesse of 40,000 thalers.[724] In addition, the Governments of the respective States were given considerable privileges in regard to free transmission of State correspondence, etc. The rates of postage charged compared favourably with those charged in the States in which territorial posts were established.[725] In 1850 the rates were simplified by the introduction of a scale based on three distance zones: not exceeding 15 miles, 4 kr. (1 sgr.); from 15 to 30 miles, 7 kr. (2 sgr.); and for distances exceeding 30 miles, 10 kr. (3 sgr.). In 1861 these rates were reduced to 3, 6, and 9 kr. respectively for the three zones.[726] In addition there was a local rate of 2 kr. (1/2 sgr.) for letters delivered within a distance of 3 miles. In some of the towns a still lower local rate, 1 kr. (1/4 sgr.) was in operation.[727]

The Taxis posts were, however, still regarded with a good deal of jealousy, although it was recognized that in some ways the system was advantageous in providing a unified postal service for a large part of Germany at a time when it would have been difficult to arrange directly between the various States for the maintenance of a common service.

The situation was materially changed when, after the events of 1864-6, Prussia absorbed the duchies of the Elbe, Hanover, Electoral Hesse, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Nassau and Frankfort. Prussia, of course, desired to assume control of the posts in these territories, which formed a large part of the whole Taxis system. After some discussion of the rights of the Taxis family, as a result of which it appeared that legally the system was well grounded, and could not be taken, therefore, from the Taxis family without compensation, the Prussian Government decided to buy up the rights of the family in the new Prussian territory.[728] The taking over of these posts would have left so small a system in the hands of the Taxis family that they preferred to negotiate for the transfer of the whole system to Prussia. The compensation to be paid was based mainly on consideration of the net revenue of the Taxis posts.

During the years 1855-65 this had been as follows:--

Florins. 1855-6 405,582 1856-7 579,218 1857-8 692,884 1858-9 500,412 1859-60 638,801 1860-1 648,519 1861-2 464,751 1862-3 583,409 1863-4 753,917 1864-5 724,405[729]

The amount of compensation was agreed at three million Marks. The sum was voted by the Prussian Parliament without debate, and on the 1st July 1867 Prussia assumed the control of the entire Taxis system of posts. The administration was amalgamated with that of the ordinary Prussian posts.

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IV. PARCEL POST IN CANADA

Difficulties arising from the circumstances of the country made the early establishment of a parcel post system impracticable.[730]