Part 35

[52] "To give a slight idea of the nature of this conveyance: _The Bye and Way Letters_ were thrown promiscuously together into one large Bag, which was to be opened at every Stage by the Deputy, or any inferior Servant of the House, to pick out of the whole heap what might belong to his own delivery, and the rest put back again into this large Bag, with such Bye Letters as he should have to send to distant places from his own Stage. But what was still worse than all this, it was then the constant practice to demand and receive the postage on all such Letters before they were put into any of the Country Post Offices. Hence (from the general temptation of destroying these Letters for the sake of the Postage) the joynt mischief of embezling the Revenue and interrupting and obstructing the commerce, fell naturally in, to support and inflame one another. Indeed, they were then risen to such a height, and consequently the discredit and disrepute of this conveyance grown so notorious, that many Traders and others in divers parts of the Kingdom had recourse to various contrivances of private and clandestine conveyance for their speedier and safer correspondence; whereby it became unavoidable but that other branches of the Post Office revenue should be greatly impair'd, as well as this ...

"Now whilst the _Bye and Way Letters_ continued to be conveyed in so precarious and unsafe a way, as is shewn above, it was thought hard to punish such as undertook to convey them in a speedier and safer manner. But from a Time that this Branch of the Revenue was put under a just regulation, in consequence of the contract with Mr. Allen, all such Persons who were any way concerned in this illegal collection and conveyance of Letters, were by proper Officers employed by him, strictly enquired after, and when detected, the most notorious of them punished as a terror to the rest."--Ralph Allen's Narrative, 2nd December 1761 (Ralph Allen's _Bye, Way and Cross Road Posts_, London, 1897, pp. 6 and 18).

[53] "Upon the next renewal of his Contract, which was in the Year 1741, the Postmasters-General, after largely expressing, as usual, their sense of the integrity of his conduct, and the services he had done to the Public, told him they judged it but reasonable to expect some addition to his rent of [L]6,000 a Year for the _Bye, Way and Cross Road Letters_, altho' he should still continue to support and increase the produce of the Country Letters for the Benefit of the King. To which, Mr. Allen answered, that their expectations of additional rent appeared very reasonable to him, and which he should have made in his own way (a way he was going to open to them) had they not themselves proposed it. That there are two ways of giving this additional Rent: the one was by paying a further some of money yearly, such as he could afford to his Majesty's use without any advance to public commerce, the other was by paying his Majesty, and immediately too, a much larger sum than he could in the first way pretend to advance, in causing a considerable increase of the produce of the _London and Country Letters_ by means of extending and quickening the correspondence of London and several of the most considerable Trading Towns and Cities thro'out the Kingdom; a project that would be of infinite advantage to commerce. Which of these two ways the Postmasters-General would think fit to prefer, he left to themselves to consider; who on duly weighing all circumstances, did not in the least hesitate to prefer the latter method.

"Upon which Mr. Allen agreed to erect, at his own Expence, one every day cost from London to Bath, Bristol, and Glocester towards the _West_; and from London to Cambridge, Lynn, Norwich, and Yarmouth towards the _East_; and to all intermediate places in both quarters: and--that all the increase of the postage of Letters thus conveyed between London and the several places, East, and West of it above-mentioned, should, without any charge or deduction, be paid in directly for his Majesty's use, as well as all the increase of the _Country Letters_ within that District, that is, such Letters as pass between one Country Town and another thro' London.

"All this was accordingly done and executed conformable to the terms of the contract."--Ibid., pp. 25-6.

Similar extensions were made at the renewals of the lease in 1748 and 1755.

[54] 5 Geo. III, cap. 25, [S] 5.

[55] "It is certain that the alteration of the rates of Postage in the year 1765 has not been attended with every good consequence then expected from it and has been some loss to the Revenue."--Mr. Draper, District Surveyor, _British Official Records_, 1783.

[56] "At a time when the mail leaving London on Monday night did not arrive at Bath until Wednesday afternoon, he (Palmer) had been in the habit of accomplishing the distance between the two cities in a single day. He had made journeys equally long and equally rapid in other directions; and, as the result of observation, he had come to the conclusion that of the horses kept at the post houses it was always the worst that were set aside to carry the mail, and that the post was the slowest mode of conveyance in the kingdom. He had also observed that, where security or despatch was required, his neighbours at Bath who might desire to correspond with London would make a letter up into a parcel and send it by stage-coach, although the cost by stage-coach was, porterage included, 2s. and by post 4d."--H. Joyce, _History of the Post Office_, pp. 208-9. Cf. D. Macpherson, op. cit., vol. iv. p. 54.

[57] "If the present hours fixed at all the offices of the Kingdom with the greatest care and attention to that regular plan of correspondence which has been established after long experience were to be altered it would throw into the greatest confusion for the present and would be many years before it could be restored to the degree of perfection it now has."--Observations on Mr. Palmer's Plan by Mr. Draper, District Surveyor (_British Official Records_, 1783).

"Indeed, it is a pity that the Author of the Plan should not first have been informed of the nature of the Business in question, to make him understand how very differently the Posts and Post Offices are conducted to what he apprehends, and that the constant Eye that has been long kept towards their improvement in all Situations and under all Circumstances has made them now almost as perfect as can be without exhausting the Revenue arising therefrom."--Observations on Mr. Palmer's Plan by Mr. Hodgson, District Surveyor. Ibid.

"Upon the whole it appears impracticable upon a general System to convey the Mails by Machine."--Observations on Mr. Palmer's Plan by Mr. Allen, District Surveyor. Ibid.

[58] "In 1797 there were forty-two mail-coach routes established, connecting sixty of the most important towns in the kingdom, as well as intermediate places. These coaches cost the Government [L]12,416 a year, only half the sum paid for post-horses and riders under the old system. The coaches made daily journeys over nearly two-thirds of the total distance traversed and tri-weekly journeys over something less than one-third the total distance. The remainder travelled one, two, four, and six times a week."--J. C. Hemmeon, _History of the British Post Office_, Cambridge, Mass., 1912, p. 40.

[59] 24 Geo. III, sess. 2, cap. 37.

[60] H. Joyce, _History of the Post Office_, p. 215.

[61] H. Joyce, _History of the Post Office_, pp. 317-18.

[62] 41 Geo. III, cap. 7.

[63] 45 Geo. III, cap. 11.

[64] 52 Geo. III, cap. 88. For details of the changes in the rates during this period see Appendix, pp. 338-9.

[65] "Von epochemachender Bedeutung war die ber[:u]hmte von _Rowland Hill_ angeregte Portoreform bei Briefen (sogenanntes Pennyporto) in GROSSBRITANNIEN 1839."--A. Wagner, _Finanzwissenschaft_, Leipzig, 1890, vol. ii. p. 152.

[66] Sir Rowland Hill and G. Birkbeck Hill, _Life of Sir Rowland Hill and History of Penny Postage_, London, 1880.

[67] "They were all full of high aims--all bent on 'the accomplishment of things permanently great and good.' There was no room in their minds for the petty thoughts of jealous spirits. Each had that breadth of view which enables a man to rise above all selfish considerations. Each had been brought up to consider the good of his family rather than his own peculiar good, and to look upon the good of mankind as still higher than the good of his family. Each was deeply convinced of the great truth which Priestly had discovered, and Bentham had advocated--that the object of all government, and of all social institutions, should be the greatest happiness of the greatest number for the greatest length of time. In their youth their aims were often visionary; but they were always high and noble."--Ibid., vol. i. p. 193.

[68] "Early in the 'thirties there had been some reduction in certain departments of taxation. It occurred to me that probably some ease might be given to the people by lowering the postal rate.... Although occupied with other affairs, the reduction in the postal rate was not dismissed from my thoughts. The interest it had excited induced me to read Reports, etc., on postal administration."--Ibid., vol. i. p. 242.

[69] "The best test to apply to the several existing taxes for the discovery of the one which may be reduced most extensively, with the least proportionate loss to the revenue, is probably this: excluding from the examination those taxes, the produce of which is greatly affected by changes in the habits of the people, as the taxes on spirits, tobacco, hair-powder, let each be examined as to whether its productiveness has kept pace with the increasing numbers and prosperity of the nation. And that tax which proves most defective under this test is, in all probability, the one we are in quest of."--Rowland Hill, _Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability_, London, 1837, p. 2.

[70] "The revenue of the Post Office has been stationary at about [L]1,400,000 a year since 1818. This can be accounted for only by the great duty charged on letters; for with a lower duty the correspondence of the country through the Post Office would have increased in proportion to the increase of population and national wealth."--Sir Henry Parnell, _On Financial Reform_, London, 1832, p. 41.

[71] "While thus confirmed in my belief that, even from a financial point of view, the postal rates were injuriously high, I also became more and more convinced, the more I considered the question, that the fiscal loss was not the most serious injury thus inflicted on the public; that yet more serious evil resulted from the obstruction thus raised to the moral and intellectual progress of the people; and that the Post Office, if put on a sound footing, would assume the new and important character of a powerful engine of civilization; that though now rendered feeble and inefficient by erroneous financial arrangements, it was capable of performing a distinguished part in the great work of national education."--Sir Rowland Hill in _Life of Sir Rowland Hill and History of Penny Postage_, London, 1880, vol. i. p. 245.

[72] _Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability_, by Rowland Hill, London, 1837.

[73] "In order to ascertain, with as much accuracy as the circumstances of the case admit, the extent to which the rates of postage may be reduced, under the condition of a given reduction in the revenue, the best course appears to be, first to determine as nearly as possible the natural cost of conveying a letter under the varying circumstances of distance, etc., that is to say, the cost which would be incurred if the Post Office were conducted on the ordinary commercial principles, and postage relieved entirely from taxation; and then to add to the natural cost such amount of duty as may be necessary for producing the required revenue."--Ibid. p. 10.

[74] "I found, first, that the cost of conveying a letter between post town and post town was exceedingly small; secondly, that it had but little relation to distance; and thirdly, that it depended much upon the number of letters conveyed by the particular mail; and as the cost per letter would diminish with every increase in such number, and as such increase would certainly follow reduction of postage, it followed that, if a great reduction could be effected, the cost of conveyance per letter, already so small, might be deemed absolutely insignificant.

"Hence, then, I came to the important conclusion that the existing practice of regulating the amount of postage by the distance over which an inland letter was conveyed, however plausible in appearance, had no foundation in principle, and that consequently the rates of postage should be irrespective of distance."--Sir Rowland Hill, _Life of Sir Rowland Hill and History of Penny Postage_, London, 1880, vol. i. p. 250.

[75] "It appears, then, that the cost of mere transit incurred upon a letter sent from London to Edinburgh, a distance of 400 miles, is not more than _one thirty-sixth part of a penny_. If therefore the proper charge (exclusive of tax) upon a letter received and delivered in London itself were twopence, then the proper charge (exclusive of tax) upon a letter received in London, but delivered in Edinburgh, would be twopence _plus_ one-thirty-sixth part of a penny. Now, as the letters taken from London to Edinburgh are undoubtedly carried much more than an average distance, it follows, that when the charge for the receipt and delivery of the letter is determined, an additional charge of one-thirty-sixth part of a penny would amply repay the expense of transit. _If, therefore, the charge for postage be made proportionate to the whole expense incurred in the receipt, transit, and delivery of the letter, and in the collection of its postage, it must be made uniformly the same from every post town to every other post town in the United Kingdom_, unless it can be shown how we are to collect so small a sum as the thirty-sixth part of a penny."--Rowland Hill, _Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability_, London, 1837, pp. 18-19.

[76] Ibid., p. 45.

[77] A "frank" was a letter or packet bearing on the outside the signature of a person entitled to send letters free of postage.

[78] These proposals are not, however, necessarily related to the principle of uniformity, and, although interesting and important at the time, are now only of historical interest. They relate more particularly to the practicability of applying low and uniform rates to the postal service in the United Kingdom, having regard to the circumstances then obtaining and to the necessity for maintaining a large net revenue. Given that uniformity of rate was scientifically sound, it did not follow that it should be immediately adopted, and the financial effect was, to say the least, speculative. But since it was unlikely that the plan would be adopted if any large decrease in revenue were likely to result, Sir Rowland Hill was at great pains to explain methods by which his plan could be adopted without serious reduction of net revenue, and it was in this connection that the question of the increase in traffic which might be anticipated assumed such importance.

[79] See, e.g., H. von Stephan, _Geschichte der preussischen Post_, Berlin, 1859, p. 615.

[80] _Ninth Report of Commissioners for Inquiring into the Mode of Conducting the Business of the Post Office Department_, 1837, Appendix, pp. 26-40.

[81] "Of all the wild and visionary schemes he had ever heard or read of, it was the most extraordinary."--Lord Lichfleld, Postmaster-General, 15 June 1837, _Parl. Debates_ (_Lords_), vol. xxxviii, col. 1464.

"He considers the whole scheme of Mr. Hill as utterly fallacious; he thought so from the first moment he read the pamphlet of Mr. Hill; and his opinion of the plan was formed long before the evidence was given before the Committee. The plan appears to him a most preposterous one, utterly unsupported by facts, and resting entirely on assumption. Every experiment in the way of reduction which has been made by the Post Office has shown its fallacy; for every reduction whatever leads to a loss of revenue, in the first instance: if the reduction be small, the revenue recovers itself; but if the rates were to be reduced to a penny, revenue would not recover itself for forty or fifty years."--Abstract of Evidence of Colonel Maberly, Secretary to the Post Office, _Third Report from the Select Committee on Postage_, 1838, p. 18.

[82] _Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability_, by Rowland Hill, second edition, London, 1837.

[83] See _Life of Sir Rowland Hill and History of Penny Postage_, London, 1880; Sir Henry Cole, _Fifty Years of Public Work_, London, 1884.

[84] _Third Report of the Select Committee On Postage_, 13th August 1838, [S] 10.

[85] In 1837-8 the deficiency was [L]1,428,000; in 1838-9, [L]430,000; in 1839-40, [L]1,457,000; in 1840-1, [L]1,851,000; and for 1841-2 it was estimated at [L]2,421,000.

[86] "Was the Committee ignorant--we think not--that the radicals in politics and the sectarians in religion, have been the warmest advocates--and indeed (except the mercantile body we have alluded to) the only very zealous advocates for this penny post?"--_Quarterly Review_, October 1839, p. 531. Cf. _Edinburgh Review_, January 1840; J. Morley, _Life of Cobden_, London, 1881, p. 411.

[87] "On the 9th April 1839, Lord Melbourne's Government brought in what is generally known as the Jamaica Bill--a Bill for suspending for five years the constitution of that colony. This measure was strongly opposed by the Conservative party (led by Sir Robert Peel), and by many of the Radicals. On the second reading of the Bill, the Government only escaped defeat by the narrow majority of five votes. The Ministry thereupon resigned; Sir Robert Peel was sent for by her Majesty, but owing to the 'Bedchamber Difficulty' failed to form a Government. Lord Melbourne was recalled, and in the negotiations with the Radical members for future support to his Government, the bargain was struck that that support should be given, provided Penny Postage was conceded.

"Thus one of the greatest social reforms ever introduced was, to speak plainly, given as a bribe by a tottering Government to secure political support."--_The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago_, London, 1890, p. 24. Cf. _Parl. Debates_, 26th March 1855, vol. cxxxvii, col. 1136; Sir Stafford H. Northcote, _Twenty Years of Financial Policy_, London, 1862, pp. 8-9.

[88] As a temporary measure, with the view of minimizing the practical difficulties of the Post Office, a uniform rate of 4d. a letter (1d. a letter for London local letters) was introduced on the 5th December 1839.

[89] Estimate of number of chargeable letters delivered in the United Kingdom (in round numbers):--

1839 Letters 76.0 millions Franks 6.6 " 1840 Letters 169.0 " 1841 " 197.0 " 1842 " 208.0 " 1843 " 220.0 " 1844 " 242.0 " 1845 " 271.0 " 1846 " 300.0 " 1847 " 322.0 " 1848 " 329.0 " 1849 " 337.0 " 1860 " 564.0 " 1900-1 " 2,323.6 " 1913-14 " 3,477.8 "

The total number of packets of all descriptions delivered in the United Kingdom in the year 1913-14 was about 6,000 millions.--_Annual Reports of the Postmaster-General._

[90] See J. R. McCulloch, _Taxation and the Funding System_, Edinburgh, 1863, p. 331.

[91] The number of letters per head of population shows a continuous increase, as follows:--

+----------+-----------+----------+--------- Year. | England. | Scotland. | Ireland. | United | | | | Kingdom. -----------+----------+-----------+----------+--------- 1880-1 | 38 | 29 | 15 | 34 1890-1 | 50 | 36 | 21 | 45 1900-1 | 61 | 47 | 32 | 57 1905-6 | 68 | 51 | 36 | 62 1910-11 | 73 | 56 | 40 | 68 1913-14 | 81 | 63 | 45 | 75 -----------+----------+-----------+----------+---------

[92] As in other countries. It is contrary to the general principles upon which the post is conducted in the leading countries of Europe to throw a quantity of heavy matter upon the letter post, which exists primarily for the carriage of light letters, and would be seriously hampered by the transmission of large numbers of heavy packages."

[93] Of these, 123,640 were established and 125,813 unestablished officers.

[94] The following table shows the date and annual cost of the various revisions:--

1881-2. Fawcett Revision [L]320,000 1888-91. Raikes Revision 406,600 1897-8. Tweedmouth Revision (including Norfolk-Hanbury concessions) 388,000 1905. Stanley Revision 372,300 1908. Hobhouse Committee Revision 707,900 1914. Holt Committee Revision 1,335,750 1894-1912. Other improvements 144,400 ---------- Total [L]3,674,950

In addition, the annual cost of the War Bonus granted in 1915 is estimated at [L]1,080,000.

[95]

+------------------------- | Percentage of Salaries, Year. | Wages, etc., to Total | Revenue. ----------+------------------------- 1880-1 | 28.39 1890-1 | 35.78 1900-1 | 45.30 1905-6 | 45.34 1909-10 | 49.09 1910-11 | 47.61 1911-12 | 49.20 1912-13 | 47.88 1913-14 | 47.04 ----------+-------------------------

[96] The increase is partly accounted for by the fact that parcels are included in the later figures. Deducting the estimated cost of the parcel post (see _infra_, Chapter VII), the cost for staff for packets other than parcels was, in 1913-14, some .340d. per packet.

[97] Omitting the cost of conveyance of mails by sea, and omitting the cost of conveyance of parcels by railway, which is fixed by the Parcel Post Act of 1882. The following table shows the movement of the general cost of conveyance of mails:--

+-------------+------------------------------------ | | Percentage of Cost of Conveyance Year. | Cost of | of Mails by Road and Rail to Total | Conveyance. | Revenue (excluding Cost of | | Conveyance of Parcels by Railway). ------------+-------------+------------------------------------ 1880-1 |[L]921,093 | 16.17 1890-1 | 1,273,894 | 12.62 1900-1 | 1,519,219 | 11.26 1905-6 | 1,710,891 | 10.68 1910-11 | 1,812,505 | 9.18 1913-14 | 1,940,735 | 8.85

[98] Assuming there is no loss on the Parcel Post. If there is such loss, the cost per packet other than a parcel would be reduced (see _infra_, Chapter VII).

[99] The general increase of wages partly accounts for this (see p. 34, opposite). The cost of working is, however, higher in the larger offices (where the bulk of postal work is done) than in the smaller offices, and tends to be highest in the largest offices. The matter is complicated by the fact that higher scales of pay are in force in the larger towns.

[100]