Part 32

By abolishing the monopoly once enjoyed by the Clerks in the Offices of the Secretaries of State, and the Clerks of the Roads in this Office, permitting the Public to send and receive Newspapers free, the number increased as this circumstance became known from--20,967 to 78,217 weekly and it is by confirming this liberty to the Public and by a reduction in the charge that the circulation of Newspapers and consequently the increase of Revenue is intended to be promoted. The probable increase in the number of Newspapers circulated in the Country through the above reduced price may be stated at the lowest computation at one half penny each upon one hundred Newspapers each Clerk of the Road, one hundred each of the twenty principal Stationers & Dealers and for the more inconsiderable Dealers which are very numerous fifty of whom are known Four hundred papers by every poste, which together will make the additional number circulated every Post three thousand.

By preserving the privelege of franking to the Clerks of the Roads a competition will be occasioned between them & the other Dealers, the Public will be supplied on more moderate terms, and an increase of consumption will be promoted but should this competition be destroyed by the abolition of the privelege of the Clerks of the Roads, the principal Dealers purchasing the business carried on by less extensive circulation might thereby occasion a monopoly and then fix the price as it might suit their private interest and diminish the number of Newspapers circulated thereby greatly injuring the Revenue as formerly by the monopoly of the Clerks of the Secretaries of State and the Clerks of the Roads for it would be the interest of the Stationers and other Dealers as it was that of the Clerks under Government to sell a less number at an advanced price, the Capital employed would not be so large nor the trouble nor the risk so great.

The Clerks of the Roads here beg your Lordships attention to a proposal which there is no doubt will occasion a yet further increase of circulation of Newspapers, it has been before stated to your Lordships in the Report upon the Plan proposed by the Commissioners relative to a Tax on Newspapers that before the duty of one penny postage was laid on all Newspapers sent by Post to Ireland, the Weekly number remitted to that Kingdom was upon an Average 8,000, and that the Weekly number now sent upon an average is only 1,380, should Government consent to repeal this duty it is evident from the above statement that they would gain a considerable Sum the Clerks of the Roads will with pleasure make a considerable reduction in their charge to Ireland, as in the case of home consumption which will be a means of still further extending of circulation.

{ Number of Newspapers which passed through the General Post { Office London between the 5th April 1764, and the 5th of April 1764 { 1765, with the amount at two pence each Stamp duty, and { London Newspapers 1,090,289 [L]9,085. 14. 10 1790 { compared. { Number of Newspapers which passed through the General Post { Office London between the 5th of January 1790 and the 5th of { January 1791, with the amount at two pence each Stamp duty, { London Newspapers 3,944,093 { Country ditto 123,200 { --------- { Total No. 4,067,293 [L]33,894. 2. 2

{ Six Clerks of the Roads at 100 each night 600 Probable { Twenty Principal dealers at 100 do. 2,000 gain by { Fifty less Dealers at 8 each night 400 this plan. { ----- { No. 3,000 { 3,000 each night at two pence each Stamp duty [L]7,800 p. ann.

{ To Ireland before the Tax. { Number of Newspapers which passed through the General Post { Office to Ireland between the 5th January 1780 and the 5th 1780 { January 1781 at two pence each Stamp duty, and { 416,000 [L]3,466. 13. 4 1790 { to { To Ireland since the Tax. Ireland { Number of Newspapers which passed through the General Post compared. { Office to Ireland between the 5th January 1790 and the 5th of { January 1791 at two pence each Stamp duty and one penny each { Postage, { 71,766 [L]897. 1. 6

EDMUND BARNES CHARLES COLTSON ISAAC HENRY CABANES SAMUEL ARDRON WILLIAM OGILVY CHARLES EVANS.

No. 3.

To The Right Honorable Lord Walsingham and The Earl of Chesterfield, His Majesty's Post Master General.

The paper from the Post Master General relative to the Tax proposed by the Commissioners having been communicated to the Clerks of the Roads and the Inspector of Franks they beg permission to offer the subsequent observations.

That the proposal by the Commissioners for Government to receive a Tax of a penny for the postage of each Newspaper passing through the Post Office, however eligible it might appear at the time it was first proposed, will not they believe at this period, be productive of that expected advantage to the public the encrease of Revenue, as the reasons annexed among others may probably prove.

Because since the proposal was made to the Commissioners, and they made their Report an additional Stamp has been imposed of one halfpenny a paper, and another halfpenny on each has been added by the Printers, so that the Public now pay one penny more than they did at that time.

Because the proposed Tax would be a means of compelling the Stationers, Printers and Dealers to send their papers by Coach the same day at the customary charge of one farthing each paper instead of sending them by post on Government Account at a penny the second day. And it cannot be supposed that a number of persons many of them of considerable property would quietly submit to have the circulation of their papers confined to post conveyance at one penny each paper, without those serious efforts to oppose and prevent it which the prospect of certain and total ruin to their business and consequently to their Families must excite.

But allowing it were possible to confine the whole of the papers sold in the Country to post conveyance and a recompence made to those Stationers and Printers employed in the distribution at present would not the encreased price occasioned by this Tax very much diminish the Number of Newspapers now printed to the great injury of the Stamp duty? probably to a greater Amount than would be gained by the plan proposed. For were the Stage Coaches prohibited conveying Newspapers all the Morning Papers now conveyed by them to many parts of the Kingdom would be lost to the Stamp Revenue, and all the Morning Papers read at the Coffee Houses and other public Houses, would be collected by the Newsmen at a small sum each paper in the Afternoon and sent into the Country by the post in the Evening without the least trouble to themselves, it being their daily business to go round their London district, early in the Morning, and in the Afternoon before the dispatch of the Papers by the post.

Before the Penny postage was laid on all papers sent by post to Ireland the Weekly number remitted to that Kingdom was upon an Average 8,000: the Number now sent upon an Average is only 1,380 Weekly.

Because when the Tax was recommended by the Commissioners the first cost of a London Newspaper was threepence only, the first cost is now fourpence, to which add the Tax for postage it will be fivepence to any Post Town in England, which is one halfpenny more than the highest charge now made by any Dealer in the Country for a London Newspaper. But should this Tax take place the people who live at a distance from any Post Town must pay an additional halfpenny a Paper and some twopence on the receipt of each Paper which will bring the cost to fivepence halfpenny, some sixpence, and some as high as sevenpence each London Newspaper. This high price the Clerks of the Roads well know by experience would induce many people to take only a three day paper who now take a Six day paper and many who now take a three day paper only a weekly paper, and as the Salaries of the Clerks of the Roads employed in the business would be certain and no way answerable for any loss on the papers would there not be a great many people Customers no way able to pay for their Newspapers many of whom this mode of business would certainly introduce? consequently Government would be subject to several deficiencies in payment for Newspapers sent into the Country whether paid for half yearly, yearly, or each paper on delivery, the Receiver in the latter case would not feel himself obliged to give notice for his paper to be discontinued but would refuse it when offered, the cost of the paper would then be lost to Government. This latter mode of payment would give an opportunity to the Deputy Post Masters or their Clerks to Order more papers than actually required which after being read would be returned with the Quarterly Dead Letters to be allowed as refused or gone away.

Because the proposed Tax would cause a decided preference of Country Newspapers to those of London encrease the sale of the former and diminish that of the latter for as very few of the Country Newspapers pass through the Post Office, the Country Printers would be enabled to undersell the London Printers a penny a paper. The usual method with a Country Printer is immediately upon the arrival of his London paper to print his own with the London News and disperse them to Runners from ten to fifteen miles around the Town he resides in; these Runners not only disperse a considerable quantity of Newspapers but carry also letters which must materially injure the Revenue.

Because notwithstanding the Revenue to be raised by this Tax is very uncertain the conduct and management of it will be attended with much expence taken out of the hands of those deeply interested in its success the greater Burden will fall upon the Deputy Post Masters in the Country; the Country Newspapers when they arrive cannot be dispersed without a direction being numerous, the Deputies will no doubt expect an increase of Salary adequate to the business imposed on them; this it is conceived will bring a fresh expence upon Government. In most large Towns two additional Assistants to the Post Master will be necessary one at [L]30 and the other at [L]20 per Annum, it will also materially delay (in most of the Post Towns) the delivery of the letters by the time it will necessarily take in selecting folding and directing the Papers; allowing the same time to a Post Master and his Assistants as it takes herewith the same number of hands to dispatch them in the Post Office, the delay in many large Towns will be from one to two hours.

The Clerks of the Roads not having received any recompence whatever for the losses sustained by the Act of 1764 which abolished their then privelege of franking letters and gave to the Public liberty to send and receive Newspapers etc. free by a permit from Peers and Members of Parliament to the great diminution of their Sale of Papers; and by the further extension of this liberty to the Public to send and receive them free under the Sanction of a Peer or Member's name without the usual permit; and by the Separation of the Irish from the English Office, would certainly consider themselves intitled by Justice to a sufficient recompence for their Lives were the privelege now remaining to them taken away.

The rest of the Officers in the Inland department who have always been told to look up to a Clerkship of the Road as a reward for their long Services would also consider themselves entitled to larger salaries were the privelege of Franking Newspapers by the Six Clerks of the Roads further restricted or abolished.

Number of News Papers which passed through the General Post Office London between the 5th January 1790 and the 5th January 1791 with the amount at one penny each--

London Newspapers 3,944,093 [L]16,433. 14. 5. Country " 123,200 [L] 513. 6. 8. ----------- ------------------ 4,067,293 [L]16,947. 1. 1.

EDMUND BARNES ISAAC HENRY CABANES WILLIAM OGILVY CHARLES COLTSON SAML ARDRON CHARLES EVANS.

* * * * *

APPENDIX C

LIST OF AUTHORITIES

UNITED KINGDOM

ALLEN, RALPH. A Narrative of Mr. Allen's Transactions with the Government for the Better Management of the Bye, Way, and Cross Road Posts. 1761 (pub. London, 1897. _Vide_ _infra_, Ogilvie, A. M. J.).

ANDREWS, ALEXANDER. The History of British Journalism. London, 1859.

BAINES, F. E. Forty Years at the Post Office. London, 1895.

BEADON, R. J. Uniform Imperial Postage. London, 1891.

BENNETT, EDWARD. The Post Office and its Story. London, 1912.

BOWIE, A. G. The Romance of the British Post Office. London, 1897.

BRUCE, SIR ROBERT, C.B. Postal Organisation, with special reference to the London Postal Service. London, 1912.

COLE, SIR HENRY. Fifty Years of Public Work. London, 1884.

COLLET, C. D. History of the Taxes on Knowledge. London, 1899.

CORRIE, JOHN M. The Dumfries Post Office, 1642-1910. Dumfries, 1912.

D'AVENANT, WILLIAM. Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England. London, 1698.

DE-LAUNE, THO. The Present State of London. London, 1681.

HARRIS, STANLEY. Old Coaching Days. London, 1882.

HEATON, J. HENNIKER. Postal and Telegraphic Communications of the Empire. London, 1888.

Postal Reform. London, 1890.

HEMMEON, J. C., Ph.D. The History of the British Post Office. Harvard Economic Studies, vol. vii. Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1912.

HENDY, J. G. The History of the Early Postmarks of the British Isles. London, 1905.

HILL, FREDERICK. An Autobiography of Fifty Years in Times of Reform. London, 1893.

HILL, JOHN. A Penny Post: or a Vindication of the Liberty and Birthright of every Englishman in Carrying Merchants and other Men's Letters, against any restraint of Farmers of such Employments. London, 1659.

HILL, PEARSON. The Origin of Postage Stamps. London, 1890.

HILL, SIR ROWLAND. Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability. London, 1837.

On the Collection of Postage by Means of Stamps. London, 1839.

The State and Prospects of Penny Postage. London, 1844.

Results of Postal Reform. London, 1864.

Life of Sir Rowland Hill, K.C.B., etc., and History of Penny Postage, by Sir Rowland Hill and his Nephew, George Birkbeck Hill, D.C.L. 2 vols. London, 1880.

HORNE, L. T. Postal Communications of the Empire. British Empire Series, vol. v. London, 1902.

HUNT, F. KNIGHT. The Fourth Estate: Contributions towards a History of Newspapers and of the Liberty of the Press. London, 1850.

HURCOMB, C. W. The Posts under the Tudors. _The Antiquary_, 1914.

HYDE, J. W. The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance. London, 1889.

The Early History of the Post in Grant and Farm. London, 1894.

JOYCE, HERBERT, C.B. The History of the Post Office from its Establishment down to 1836. London, 1893.

LANG, T. B. Historical Summary of the Post Office in Scotland. Edinburgh, 1856.

LEWINS, W. Her Majesty's Mails. London, 1864.

MACPHERSON, DAVID. Annals of Commerce. London, 1805.

MURCH, JEROM. Ralph Allen, John Palmer, and the English Post Office. London, 1880.

NORWAY, A. H. The Post Office Packet Service. London, 1895.

OGILVIE, A. M. J. Ralph Allen's Bye, Way, and Cross Road Posts. London, 1897.

Article on the "Post Office" in Dictionary of Political Economy. London, 1908.

PEACH, R. E. M. The Life and Times of Ralph Allen. London, 1895.

RAIKES, H. ST. J. Life and Letters of H. C. Raikes. London, 1898.

SMYTH, ELEANOR C. Sir Rowland Hill: The Story of a Great Reform. London, 1907.

STEPHEN, LESLIE. Life of Henry Fawcett. London, 1885.

STOW, JOHN. A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster. London, 1720.

SWIFT, H. G. A History of Postal Agitation. London, 1900.

SYMON, J. D. The Press and its Story. London, 1914.

TEGG, WILLIAM, F.R.H.S. Posts and Telegraphs. Past and Present. London, 1878.

TOMBS, R. C. The King's Post. Bristol, 1905.

The Bristol Royal Mail. Bristol (undated).

WEBB, SIDNEY and BEATRICE. The Story of the King's Highway. London, 1913.

WILLIAMS, J. B. A History of English Journalism. London, 1908.

WILSON, JOHN. History of the Birmingham Post Office. _Birmingham Weekly Mercury_, October, 1899.

The Practical Method of the Penny Post. London, 1681.

The Administration of the Post Office from the Introduction of

Mr. Rowland Hill's Plan of Penny Postage up to the Present Time. London, 1844.

The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago. London, 1890.

Celebration of the Jubilee of Uniform Inland Penny Postage. London, 1891.

Records of the Life of S. A. Blackwood. London, 1896.

PERIODICALS.

Notes and Queries, 1st series, vol. iii; 10th series, No. 141.

Quarterly Review, 1839.

Edinburgh Review, 1840.

Chambers's Journal, vol. vii.

The Postmen's Gazette. London.

The Postal Clerks' Herald. Wolverhampton.

The Telegraph Chronicle. London.

The Postal and Telegraph Record. Manchester.

Telephone Journal. London.

St. Martin's-le-Grand Magazine. London.

PARLIAMENTARY AND OFFICIAL PAPERS.

Tenth Report of the Commissioners appointed by Act of Parliament to inquire into the Fees, Gratuities, Perquisites, and Emoluments, which are or have been lately received in the several Public Offices therein mentioned. 1788.

Report of the Committee on Mr. Palmer's Agreement. 1797.

Twentieth and Twenty-first Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Collection and Management of the Revenue arising in Ireland and Great Britain. 1830.

The Ten Reports of the Commissioners for Inquiry into the Mode of Conducting the Business of the Post Office Department. 1834-38.

The Three Reports from the Select Committee on Postage. 1838. Report from Committee on the Conveyance of Mails by Railway. 1838.

Report from Select Committee on Postage. 1843.

Report from Secret Committee of House of Commons on the Post Office. 1844.

Report from Secret Committee of House of Lords on the Post Office. 1844.

Report from the Select Committee on Newspaper Stamps. 18th July, 1851.

Report of the Select Committee on Contract Packets, 1853.

Report of the Royal Commission on Railways, 7th May, 1867.

Report from Select Committee on Railway Amalgamations, etc. 1873.

Report of the Select Committee on Estimates of the Revenue Departments. 1888.

Post Office Wages. Report of Tweedmouth Committee, 1896.

Post Office Wages. Report of Bradford Committee, 1904.

Report of Select Committee on Post Office Servants (Hobhouse Committee), 1907.

The Post Office: An Historical Summary. London, 1911.

Report of Select Committee on Post Office Servants (Holt Committee), 1914.

Statement showing the Proposed Increases in Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone Charges, 1915 (Cd. 8,067).

First Report of the Committee on Retrenchment in the Public Expenditure, 1915 (Cd. 8,068).

Reports of the Postmaster-General on the Post Office. Annually (from 1854-5).

Official Records of the British Post Office.

COBBETT, WILLIAM. The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Years to 1803.

SCOBELL, HENRY. A Collection of Acts and Ordinances. London, 1658.

Calendars of State Papers.

Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts.--Reports.

Hansard's Parliamentary Debates.

CANADA

Report of the Special Committee of the House of Assembly on the Post Office Department of the Province of Lower Canada. February 11, 1832.

Lower Canada. Report of the Special Committee of the House of Assembly on the Present Condition of the Post Office Department. March 8, 1836.

Report of the Special Committee of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada on the Bill intitled "An Act to establish a Post Office in this Province, etc." March 15, 1836.

Report of a Select Committee of the Legislative Council of the Province of Upper Canada upon the Post Office. February 17, 1837.

Report on Affairs in British North America, by the Earl of Durham. 1840.

Report of the Commissioners appointed to Inquire into the Affairs of the Post Office in British North America. December 31, 1841.

Report of a Committee of the Executive Council of Canada on the Post Office. June 10, 1848.

Correspondence on the Subject of the Establishment of a General Post Office System in the British Provinces of North America. Montreal, February 27, 1849. (Appendix B.B.B., 8th volume of Journals of the Legislative Assembly of Canada.)

Report of the Railway Service Commissioners. Quebec, March 29, 1865.

Canada Official Postal Guide.

Debates and Proceedings in Dominion Parliament, reported in Ottawa _Times_.

Hansard. Official Reports of the Debates of the House of Commons and of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada.

KINGSFORD, WILLIAM. The History of Canada. London, 1890.

HENDY, J. G. Early Posts in Canada. _Empire Review_, London, 1903-4, vols. iv. and vi.

UNITED STATES

BANCROFT, GEORGE. History of the United States of America. New York, 1883-5.

BURROWS, CHARLES WILLIAM. One-Cent Letter Postage, Second-Class Mail Rates, and Parcels Post. Cleveland, Ohio, 1911.

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. Autobiography. London, 1908.

LEAVITT, JOSHUA (Corresponding Secretary, Cheap Postage Association). Cheap Postage. Boston, Mass., 1848.

LEECH, D. D. T., and NICHOLSON, W. L. The Post Office Department of the United States of America; its History, Organization, and Working. Washington, D.C., 1879.

NEWCOMB, H. T. The Postal Deficit. Washington, D.C., 1900.

NICHOLSON, W. L. _Vide_ Leech, D. D. T.

NORVELL, S. Parcel Post. Address at Atlantic City, N.J., November 16, 1911.

PHELPS, E. M. Selected Articles on the Parcels Post. Minneapolis, 1911.

SEITZ, DON C. (Chairman, American Newspaper Publishers' Association). Statement before Commission on Second-Class Mail Matter. New York, 1911.

SLACK, STANLEY I. (Curator of the Postal Museum). A Brief History of the Postal Service. Omaha (undated).

WILLIAMS, NATHAN B. The American Post Office. A Discussion of its History, Development, and Present-Day Relation to Express Companies. Washington, D.C., 1910.

WOOLLEY, MARY E. The Early History of the Colonial Post Office. Providence, R.I., 1894.

History of the Railway Mail Service. Columbia Correspondence College. Washington, D.C., 1903.

International Parcels Post. Some Serious Errors Corrected, 1912. Document H.E. 6171.I.6, Library of Congress.

Report to Members of the American Weekly Publishers' Association of Proceedings before the Postal Commission on Second-Class Mail Matter. New York, 1906.

The Private Profit Railway _versus_ The Public Service Post Office. Postal Progress League (1908).

An Argument on Second-Class Postal Rates from the Business Side Alone. Submitted to the Postal Commission on behalf of the Periodical Publishers' Association of America. New York, 1911.

An Answer to the Statement of the Post Office Department showing the estimates by which the cost of transporting and handling the several classes of Mail was obtained. The Periodical Publishers' Association of America. New York, 1911.

The Answer of the Magazines and their Demand. New York, 1911.

Progress of the Contest for a Free, Untrammelled, Independent Public Press in the United States. Address delivered before the Periodical Publishers' Association of America (April 17, 1912).

Mail-Carrying Railways Underpaid. A Statement by the Committee on Railway Mail Pay. New York, 1912.

CONGRESSIONAL AND OFFICIAL PAPERS.

Report of Committee on Rates of Pay for Carrying the Mails on Railroad Routes (1884).