CHAPTER XXVI.

MISCELLANEOUS PROCEEDINGS FROM 1855 TO 1859.

Various occurrences remain to be mentioned before I proceed to that portion of my narrative with which I shall close the history of this period.

In order to give the public, in a cheap and convenient form, such information regarding the Post Office as is of general interest, we established that small periodical publication which is now so well known by the name of the "British Postal Guide." The first number appeared in the year 1856, and its acceptability was shown by the sale soon rising to between twenty and thirty thousand. From that time to this a revised edition has been regularly issued every quarter.

About two years later a valuable improvement was effected in a publication which had for many years existed under the direction of the Post Office by the name of the "Daily Packet List." This was now rearranged, enlarged, and made to convey much information beyond its former meagre contents; a weekly edition was added; and the "Postal Official Circular," as it is now called, has performed much useful service. Had the recommendation, however, which was actually adopted by the Postmaster-General, been sanctioned in full by the Treasury, the sphere of this publication would have been so extended as to render it a kind of postal monitor; correcting misconception as it arose, and keeping the public constantly informed as to the real proceedings of the department.

STAMPING.

The Post Office stamp indicating date had never been renowned for clearness, and perhaps the constant increase in the number of letters may have tended to make the dark darker still. At all events means for improvement had been for some time in earnest consideration, when circumstances drew public attention pointedly to the defect. At a trial presided over by Lord Campbell, towards the end of 1856, a question of some importance turned upon the precise date at which a letter was posted; and the stamp being too obscure to supply the necessary evidence, his lordship, though in a tone of general friendliness to the Post Office, animadverted rather sharply upon the failure. This brought me a letter from the Duke of Argyll, who was then absent from town, to which I replied as follows:--

"17th December, 1856.

"MY DEAR LORD DUKE,--Active measures for the improvement of the date stamp have long been in progress, and much has already been accomplished; a further minute on the subject will be ready, I hope, by to-morrow night's post; Lord Campbell's censures are therefore, to say the least, ill-timed.

"The foreign stamping is on the whole somewhat better than ours, but the difference is not great, and Mr. Bokenham thinks it will disappear when we have a better ink. The foreign stamping is, I believe, in most cases similar to our own, but the work is done more leisurely.

"We have tried various machines, but as yet without success. My son thinks he can overcome the difficulties, and he has for a long time been at work at a model; but your Grace is aware that mechanical inventions are slow of realization; still I hope something may be accomplished before very long.

"I have, &c., "ROWLAND HILL.

"His Grace the DUKE OF ARGYLL."

More than two years elapsed before a satisfactory result was arrived at. Amongst the various machines tried, there were several that would do the work, but such as produced legible marks were deficient in speed, and _vice versâ_; so that the human hand, imperfect as was its operation, still retained its superiority. In the year 1859, however, machines devised by my son were "at length constructed, which are found," says the Report, "to perform the work of stamping and obliterating more quickly and perfectly than by hand."[205] My son, however, laboured hard for further improvement so successfully that at the present time, with much increased legibility in the impression, the speed of operation as compared with the best handwork is at least fifty per cent. higher. The value of his invention was, two or three years after my resignation, on Mr. Tilley's recommendation, handsomely recognised by a special grant of £1,500; of which, however, about £650 was in remuneration for actual outlay.

SAVINGS BANKS.

In the year 1859 the first move was made towards that important improvement, the establishment of the Post Office Savings Bank; Mr. Edward Baines, M.P. for Leeds, enclosing to me unofficially, but with a request for attention, a paper on the subject, drawn up by Mr. Charles William Sikes, of Huddersfield, the originator of the plan. I wrote on August 2nd to express my concurrence in Mr. Sikes's views, and my readiness to do what I could towards giving them effect. My letter was as follows:--

"August 2nd, 1859.

"MY DEAR SIR,--Pray excuse the unavoidable delay in replying to your letter of the 30th ult.

"With modifications which could readily be introduced, Mr. Sikes's plan is, in my opinion, practicable so far as the Post Office is concerned.

"The plan also appears to me to be practicable in its other parts; but on these I would suggest the expediency of taking the opinion of some one thoroughly conversant with ordinary banking business, and who is acquainted also with Savings Banks.

"I need not add that, if carried into effect, the plan would in my opinion, prove highly useful to the public, and, in some degree, advantageous to the revenue.

"I shall be most happy, when the time arrives for so doing, to submit it for the approval of the Postmaster-General.

"Faithfully yours, "ROWLAND HILL. "E. BAINES, Esq., M.P., Reform Club."

Mr. Sikes, I must not omit to say, never received nor ever sought any advantage, pecuniary or otherwise, in recompense for his admirable suggestion, contenting himself with the deep gratification of having done what lay in his power to confer an inestimable benefit on the humbler classes of his countrymen.

Mr. Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, at once took up the scheme warmly,[206] and subsequently carried the measure through Parliament, the machinery for giving it effect being devised by Messrs. Scudamore and Chetwynd.

SALARIES.

I have already implied an opinion that, if any of the officers in the Department are underpaid, it is rather in the higher walks than the lower. For the lower offices fit men are to be found in abundance, while for the higher there is certainly no superfluity. Many of the higher officers are, indeed, paid more than their services deserve, but this is due to a previous bad mode of promotion. On the other hand the talent, zeal, energy and integrity, with which some of the higher duties are actually filled, obtain but scanty recompense, even when every allowance is made for certainty, early income, and claim to pension, in comparison with the emoluments obtained by equal qualifications in the commercial or manufacturing world, so that there is a danger, and something more than a danger, of good men being allured from the service by offers or prospects based on the powers and qualities they have therein demonstrated. With this feeling I induced the Postmaster-General to apply to the Treasury early in 1859 for a moderate increase of salary to the Assistant Secretaries, and some few others who had distinguished themselves by efficient discharge of their duties. Sir Stafford Northcote, then Secretary to the Treasury, after calling for more information, and considering the question at an interview appointed for the purpose, obtained the adoption of this recommendation, though not to its full extent.

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

In the same year, the Volunteer movement having begun, we thought it important that a corps should be raised in the Post Office, trusting that such a move might act as an example to the Civil Service generally. Accordingly, on May 4th, I wrote to the Postmaster-General, Lord Colchester, on the subject, and obtained his ready sanction. Upon my communicating with the heads of departments, I was told that there would be readiness enough to volunteer if only the expenses could be provided for, or reduced to a low rate; that the men would willingly give their time, but thought it somewhat unreasonable that there should be a demand for their money also. The difficulty was overcome by the same means, and I suppose to about the same extent, as in other corps; but from that day to this I have been unable to understand the policy or propriety of making men pay for liberty to serve their country, a practice which must, in the nature of things, debar large numbers from enrolment. The movement was not limited to the Chief Office, and was especially satisfactory at Edinburgh.

* * * * *

I have now to mention some attempts at improvement which did not succeed at the time, and yet remain to be effected.

COMPULSORY PREPAYMENT.

In my original plan, as may be remembered, I counted upon universal prepayment as an important means towards the simplification of accounts, and consequent economy of time and expense; the expedient of double postage on postpayment being regarded by me as a temporary mode of avoiding the difficulties naturally attending a transition state; and though hitherto postponing the measure to more pressing matters, I had always looked forward to a time suitable for taking the step necessary to the completion of my plan. Of course, the almost universal resort to prepayment had rendered accounts of postage very short and easy, but obviously universal practice alone could render them altogether unnecessary.

In the year 1859, upon a review of all circumstances, we hoped that the fitting time had at length arrived, the proportion of unpaid letters having become exceedingly small; and we made the attempt. Such a change, however, could not be effected without producing a certain amount of inconvenience; and unfortunately, while those annoyed were loud in their complaints, the general public could not readily be made very sensible of the benefits, economical and otherwise, thence to be derived, and still less could they be made as earnest in defence as opponents were in attack. Not a little to my regret, I found it my duty to recommend to the Postmaster-General that the measure should be indefinitely postponed. My own feelings and opinions on the subject will be shown in the following extract from a letter which I addressed shortly afterwards to my sister in South Australia:--

"You will learn by the newspapers, perhaps, that we have been in hot water with the public, _i.e._, with the majority of the public, in consequence of an attempt to make prepayment of inland letters compulsory to the extent of one penny. By this post I send you a parliamentary return, showing our reasons for the measure, and the grounds of its abandonment.

"This is the first time I have had to retrace a step; and to confess the truth, I don't like it. Since the measure was abandoned, many have come forward to defend the restriction; had they done so in the first instance the result might, perhaps, have been different."

PARCELS POST.

As early as 1842[207] I had recommended the establishment of a parcels post, but was prevented from any immediate action by my dismissal in that year from the Treasury; and for a long time after my recall to office, measures of more pressing importance, combined with the difficulties of my position, compelled further delay. Even when I had more leisure, and was on firmer ground, the ill-judged opposition of the railway companies remained a constant obstacle. In the year 1858 the question was taken up by the Society of Arts, a meeting being held on the subject, with Lord Ebrington, now Earl Fortescue, in the chair, and an able Report, drawn up by my friend, Mr. Chadwick, was adopted. Nevertheless, this valuable addition to public convenience is still a desideratum.

TUBULAR CONVEYANCE.

The division of London into districts naturally induced inquiry as to the swiftest and cheapest means of conveyance over the comparatively short distances between office and office. Mail-carts were at once put in use, but I was inclined to hope that a swifter mode might be found--one, too, less liable to interruption. I called to mind an attempt made thirty or forty years before by a Mr. Vallance, to propel a vehicle containing passengers through a partially exhausted tube; the project then in view being the construction of an airtight tunnel between London and Brighton. Of this I had received some account from my friend, the late Mr. Moses Ricardo, who had been a passenger in a short experimental trip. He told me, indeed, that on reaching the terminus he and those with him "got a bang" by the abrupt stoppage of the vehicle, no arrangement having been made for its gradual check; but knowing that such arrangement was very feasible, and apprehending no severe consequences in any case to letters or newspapers, I hoped a similar plan might prove applicable to the purpose in hand. I therefore called in the assistance of two able engineers, viz., Mr. Charles Hutton Gregory, and Mr. Edward Alfred Cowper, who jointly made, with great care and skill, a full investigation into the practicability of the scheme. To avoid needless expense, they conducted their experiments on a small scale, nor was any line of tubes of a size for actual use ever laid down, though Mr. Cowper devised and constructed a very ingenious air-pump, especially applicable to the exhaustion of the tubes, as was attested by its complete success. The conclusion arrived at was that the plan was perfectly practicable, but that for distances so short the economy in time would not be sufficient to justify the additional expense involved in the innovation.

Some years later, remembering this ground of condemnation, I inquired whether the plan could not be made available for a larger purpose. Up to that time it had not been found practicable to convey the mail from London to Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, or Paris, within the compass of a night; acceleration, therefore, up to this point was highly desirable. Even now (1868), much as has been done, the work is not absolutely perfect; while the increased expense by which the last abridgement, though of not more than two or three hours, has been effected, exceeds £15,000 per annum. Now my hope was that by the establishment of tubular conveyance so far as Dover on the one hand, and Crewe on the other, the necessary acceleration in all the three services--Irish, Scotch, and French--might be obtained; and judging from the estimate made with reference to the London District, I hoped that the cost would not greatly exceed the actual payment for the railway service to be superseded. To these larger questions, therefore, the attention of Messrs. Gregory and Cowper was now turned.

I must confess, however, my views were not altogether limited to increased speed: I saw that tubular conveyance, if successful, would facilitate frequent despatch; indeed, that a rapid succession of mails would probably be the most economical way of using the apparatus; again, that as the tubes could without inconvenience keep the line of ordinary roads, pass through the heart of towns, and even be carried, when necessary, through the very post offices along the route, I hoped for no small economy, both of time and money, in the disuse of the mail-carts plying between such offices and the various railway stations. I further thought that, if railway companies saw a successful competitor for postal service, they would moderate their demands, or, if remaining unreasonable, would be controlled by arbitrators, who would of course take the new rival into account. Lastly, I hoped that the great acceleration consequent upon the adoption of the new plan would prove highly acceptable to newspaper proprietors, by expediting the distribution of their journals.

In due time I received a very able report upon the subject. This was drawn up by Mr. Cowper, but received Mr. Gregory's sanction. The substance is given in the following passage:--

"I find that with pipes of sufficient diameter, and a vacuum of 11 lbs., a speed of 120 to 150 miles an hour might be obtained, but at a very great cost, both in first outlay and in working expenses."

I may add that the means recommended was exhaustion of the tube, not the injection of air; that powerful engines would have had to be erected at intervals of only four miles; that the chief weight to be dealt with was not that of the piston and the mail--which really constituted only a small fraction of the whole--but that of the air itself within the tube; that the annual expense, including four per cent. interest on outlay, would be, for a tube ten inches in diameter, about £32,000 the hundred miles, but for a fifteen-inch tube, which I regarded as indispensable, no less than £80,000.

As this latter amount largely exceeds even the high payments for railway conveyance over the same distance, the project was indefinitely postponed, without its very entertainment, so far as I am aware, ever having reached the public ear. And here, I may remark, that almost every improvement, mechanical or otherwise, is preceded by more or less of inquiry, cogitation, and experiment, sometimes involving serious labour and expense, which, ending only in disappointment, remains unknown; while the public, through absence of information, naturally makes its estimate of labour by reference to that only which produces manifest results; an error often productive of great injustice to inventors, who are thus regarded rather as men that have made lucky hits than as those who by energy, perseverance, and generally great pecuniary sacrifice, have, after many failures, worked their way to valuable results. I, indeed, was now able to make needful experiments without any risk to myself, or even much outlay by the department; but projectors are seldom so fortunately placed.

When, some time afterwards, a company was formed for reducing the plan of tubular conveyance to practice, all the information on the subject acquired by the Post Office was handed over for its use. Though greatly pressed we declined to enter into either partnership or covenant with the company until the successful working of the scheme should be established. One line was so laid down as to be available for our purpose, viz., that from the Euston Station to the North Western district Post Office, a distance of about half a mile, and was used accordingly. Unfortunately, however, the whole enterprise proved unprofitable, and for the time, at least, tubular conveyance of mails came to an end. Still, what is recorded here may one day prove useful, since the day may arrive--perhaps is now come--when, on some one line at least, the expense involved, prodigious as it must be, will be justified by the amount of correspondence and the importance of speed. Perhaps the approaching termination of the contract for the Irish mail service may afford convenient opportunity for the trial.[208]

CONTROVERSY WITH MR. ROBERT STEPHENSON.

In the course of this period I was reluctantly drawn into controversy with the eminent engineer, Mr. Robert Stephenson, then President of the Society of Civil Engineers, who, in his inaugural address, in defiance of facts, with which, at his request, I had supplied him, represented the railway system as essential to the fiscal success of penny postage, and even to the conveyance of the mails: and then proceeded to charge the Post Office with harsh and unjust dealing in relation to the railway companies, and with uncertainty, irregularity, and delay in its own proceedings. The dissatisfaction which I naturally felt and expressed at statements and charges so unfounded, being reported to Mr. Stephenson, drew from him a letter in which he expressed regret at my annoyance, thanked me for the information supplied to him, admitted "all the principal facts therein stated," but retained his own conclusions; at the same time deprecating controversy, and speaking in the highest terms of my public services. To remove, as far as practicable, the erroneous impression necessarily produced by Mr. Stephenson's address, which of course could not be affected by his private letter, I requested Mr. Edward Page, the Inspector-General of Mails, as the officer most conversant with the whole subject, to prepare a complete exposition of the facts of the case; and this, drawn up with Mr. Page's usual care and ability, appeared in the Appendix to the Second Report of the Postmaster-General (p. 45), and, I may add, will still repay perusal. In a subsequent address, however, to the Institution, Mr. Stephenson, without any effectual answer to Mr. Page's definite and accurate statements, repeated his former asseverations. Holding it unprofitable to argue against declamation, I allowed the controversy to drop; nor should I now have thought it needful to trouble the reader with this statement, had not a recent biographer of Mr. Stephenson reopened the question.

NEWSPAPER PRIVILEGES.

I now come to a question on which, I fear, sound views will at no time receive much commendation or support from the newspaper press. Inestimable as is the benefit conferred by the action of the _fourth estate_, taken as a whole, it is nevertheless unquestionable that this estate, like those more formally recognised, is at times swayed more or less by considerations not relating altogether to the highest public interest. Naturally conscious of its own high merits, it is a little apt to forget that its good work proceeds, for the most part, from the same motive that impels other caterers to the general welfare and convenience, and to suppose that it has claims which itself would be prompt to deny to other crafts. These claims it has great power of enforcing, for bold indeed must be the minister who should maintain to the full the public right against so powerful a brotherhood.

The real question is, whether the conveyance of a newspaper at a lower rate than other printed matter, and, indeed, at a rate too low to cover the cost, be not a sort of bounty or protection granted to a section--in fact, a small section--of newspaper readers at the expense of the general public. My own opinion being strongly in the affirmative--believing, moreover, that such a departure from the principles of free trade is unwarrantable--I found it my duty to prevent, if possible, the establishment of such an anomaly. The better, however, to set forth my proceedings on this point, I must mention some antecedent circumstances.

First, it must be borne in mind that while newspapers had been gradually relieved of all special taxation, the postal privileges originally conferred upon them in consideration of such special taxation had been not only maintained, but greatly extended. Thus, whereas under the old system free delivery, even of stamped newspapers, extended only to such as passed between post town and post town, such towns being but about nine hundred in number, while a charge, varying from one penny to twopence, was levied in all other cases, they were now almost everywhere delivered free. Of course, too, newspapers shared with letters the advantage of that rapid transmission which was maintained at great expense.[209]

All this, and much more to the same general purpose, was set forth in an elaborate minute which I had to prepare some time afterwards. Nevertheless, in the year 1858, Government was called on to extend these privileges still further, and this unreasonable demand I felt bound, in the interest of the public, to resist. As the correspondence, _pro_ and _con_, will be found at full in Parliamentary Return No. 302, 1860, a short notice here will suffice.

In a minute there given, after dwelling on the important changes mentioned above, I pointed out that the actual rate charged on newspapers, was, in respect of the heavier newspapers, only one-eighth of that charged on letters. I referred to the known impracticability of defining a newspaper, and the consequent necessity of extending the privileges now applied for, if conceded at all, to much other matter; and I indicated the obstacles that would thence arise to the rapid conveyance of the mails, through the difficulty and danger of giving out or receiving heavy bags without stopping the trains.

The Treasury, however, deciding in favour of the memorialists, all that could be done was to devise means to reduce the evil to a minimum; and in this, as indeed in the whole transaction, I had Lord Colchester's thorough support. The plan I devised received the approbation of the Treasury, but the whole matter was for the time set aside by the change of Government which speedily followed. Lord Colchester was followed by Lord Elgin, thus continuing the succession of excellent Postmasters-General. Before this time, however, the _Times_, generally so friendly to me, and so often affording my plans a support on which I set a high value, began a series of attacks on the Post Office, and more particularly on myself, which continued, at short intervals, for some months, and became the source of much trouble. This evil, however, brought its consolation. Letters of sympathy, not unmixed with indignation, came in from various quarters, amongst others from the Duke of Argyll, my late official superior, and from that tried friend of truth and justice, the late Lord Radnor.

It is with much regret that I say anything in disparagement of the leading journal; omission, however, would impair the truth of this narrative, and would so far leave others that may tread in my path unwarned as to what, in like circumstances, they must expect. As I have already said, the _Times_ has much oftener afforded me support than subjected me to attack; frequently, too, bringing a salve for the very sore it had made, and ably maintaining those views which, in its moments of irritation, it had scornfully disparaged. On one of the very points on which it attacked the office about this time, viz., the comparative amount of work and wages in the department, it subsequently wrote in an admirable manner; nor can I refer my readers to an abler exposition of sound principles than is to be found in its article of July 24th, 1862. I cannot touch upon this subject without mentioning the remarkable fact that, whereas the introduction of penny postage was really followed by a reduction in the hours of work, and at the same time by an increase in the remuneration to almost every man in the department, save only the Postmaster-General and the Secretary, an impression has very generally prevailed, and still, I believe, remains in many quarters, that the truth is the very reverse.

Early in the year 1860, Mr. Gladstone requested me to attend at his office to meet the manager of the _Times_ and another gentleman, who wished to make some representations on the part of the journals. The interview took place accordingly, when I found that the demand was for a reduction of the newspaper rate in all cases, however heavy or light the paper, to one penny. The argument chiefly relied on by the applicants was that the railway companies were happy to convey the papers at half the charge; to this I merely replied that, if such were the case, there could be no reason, seeing that there was no monopoly in the conveyance of newspapers, to make any application at the Post Office, the whole matter being already provided for. I need not say, however, that this reply, though it remained unrefuted, was held to be quite unsatisfactory. Of course, the rejoinder was that the facility in question was limited to places served by railway lines; but I had no difficulty in showing that this destroyed the whole value of the argument, since it was the very relief from the expense of extended and ramified operation which enabled railway companies to do their work at so low a rate.

It was almost immediately after this interview that I was attacked with the severe illness which for a long period disabled me for duty, and from which, indeed, I have never fully recovered. The proceedings closed for the time with a statement made by Mr. Gladstone on May 14th, 1860, when, in reply to an inquiry from Mr. Baines, member for Leeds, in relation to a bill which had been introduced on the subject, he stated that differences of opinion had arisen between those interested and the Post Office on certain points which Parliament would have to consider, and then proceeded as follows:--

"We are, however, met by this difficulty. Sir Rowland Hill, the Secretary to the Post Office, I regret to say, has been labouring under a severe illness, and an intimation has been made to him on medical authority that it is absolutely requisite, in order to the public retaining his invaluable services, that he should have leave of absence for no less a period than six months. I think, therefore, it will be impossible for the department to state its case on a subject of this kind in the absence of one who, I may say, has been the life and soul of all the Post Office arrangements in this country for the last twenty years. Under these circumstances, I have no alternative but to postpone that inquiry which I admit to be fairly demanded; and as it is uncertain whether or not Sir Rowland Hill may recover before the end of the Session, I think it best to drop the bill, reserving to myself the renewal of it at a future period, after this inquiry shall have been made."[210]

To conclude this subject, I must mention that when, nine years later, after my retirement from the Post Office, the demand for increased newspaper privileges was revived by articles in various journals and speeches in Parliament, the _Times_ leading in the one, and Mr. Graves, M.P. for Liverpool, in the other, I turned my attention to the quest of means for so far complying with such demand as might be consistent with justice to the general tax-payer; in other words, I sought to discover whether sufficient facilities might not be afforded, at a low rate, without increasing the loss already sustained by the Post Office in dealing with newspapers. I had the satisfaction to hit upon a plan, by which all that was really important might be effected without subjecting the department to any loss whatever; so that its adoption would imply a double gain, first, in adequate concession to those immediately interested; and, secondly, in making the special service self-supporting. By my plan newspapers, undirected, not folded for the post, and therefore, of course, without wrappers, would have been distributable by the Post Office much as is now done by newsagents. At the same time I pointed out how spare revenue might be advantageously employed in giving additional and very important facilities to the conveyance of letters. Throwing my views, as clearly and concisely as I could, into the form of a memorandum (see Appendix M), I sent this to Mr. Gladstone, who, in return, informed me, by his private secretary, that he had read it "with the greatest interest," and had sent it on to the Postmaster-General. Hearing nothing further, and finding that the question would be again raised in the Session of 1870, I wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Lowe, telling him of the memorandum, and offering to send him a copy. A letter from his private secretary, accepting this offer, is the last communication I ever received on the subject.

The course actually taken, viz., that of abolishing the limitation on weight and halving the postage, with no arrangement for economy in operation and no set-off, save what is implied in the abolition of the impressed stamp (in itself an important advantage, I acknowledge--one, indeed, for which I had often striven), largely increases a loss already great, and, what is still worse, greatly strengthens an example already mischievous. Its ultimate consequences it is impossible to predict. Demand has already arisen for the conveyance of other printed matter at the same rate, a demand which can plead in its support that such matter may, by existing rules, be detained to suit the convenience of the office, while newspapers must, of course, be forwarded at once. In short, I am myself quite unacquainted with any logic by which it can be maintained that while a newspaper weighing six or eight ounces is conveyed for a halfpenny, a letter weighing but half an ounce should be chargeable with a penny, or, in other words, why the lightest letter should be charged twice as much as the heaviest newspaper.

On a careful comparison of the two plans, I cannot but think that mine would have proved not only better for the Post Office, but also more acceptable to the publishers and news venders, because, while the cost of transmission would have been practically the same, they could have been saved the great trouble of folding, covering, and addressing each separate copy; processes necessarily performed at a time when every minute is of great value. I may add that, as my plan is, in its essential features, independent of rates of postage, it may still be adopted without interfering with recent changes; nay, by relieving the Post Office of railway conveyance and sorting, the cost of both of which is seriously augmented by increased weight and bulk, it would go far towards justifying the late innovation.

MISCELLANEOUS.

One of the most striking and impressive events of this period is thus mentioned in the Report for 1856:--

"In recording the chief events of last year, I must not omit the melancholy loss, by shipwreck, of the 'Violet' mail-packet, between Ostend and Dover; a catastrophe attributed at the time, in one of our public journals, to an undue strictness by the department in requiring mail-packets to put to sea at the appointed time, even in a violent storm.

"I need scarcely say that no such rule exists, and that no such orders had been given. It would certainly be the duty of the captain of a mail-packet not to allow slight obstacles to cause delay; but on this point we may always fully rely on the courage and sense of duty of a British commander.

"Mr. Mortleman, the officer in immediate charge of the mail-bags, acted on the occasion with a presence of mind and forethought which reflect honour on his memory. On seeing that the vessel could not be saved, he must have removed the cases containing the mail-bags from the hold, and have so placed them, that when the ship went down they might float; a proceeding which ultimately led to the recovery of all the bags, except one containing despatches, of which, from their nature, it was possible to obtain copies. I may add, that a similar spirit of determination to perform their duty to the last has, on several previous occasions of exposure to imminent danger, distinguished the conduct of our officers."[211]

The following passage from the same page records, not for the first time, foreign aid kindly given to one of our mail-steamers in distress:--

"An instance, calling for grateful acknowledgment on my part [it is the Duke of Argyll who speaks], occurred last year, of prompt and gratuitous assistance given by two foreign Governments in the conveyance of a large mail from India, which was on board a ship belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company bound for Southampton, when, owing to an accident to the machinery, the vessel became unable to proceed. The casualty happened near Tunis; and the Bey gave immediate orders for a steam-vessel in his own service to be got ready to convey both the mail and passengers, without cost, to Marseilles, which was accordingly done; and from Marseilles the mail was, by the French Government, forwarded gratuitously to Calais; whereas, under ordinary circumstances, a mail of the same weight would for this part of the journey alone have entailed a charge of more than £800."

It has been mentioned that our number of letters in 1857 was more than 500,000,000; the following passage shows very strikingly that the correspondence of a country is not always according to its population:--

"According to an official return in a recent number of the 'Journal de Saint Petersbourg,' giving various Russian postal statistics for the year 1855, the whole number of letters posted in Russia was about 16,400,000, or almost exactly the same as the number posted in the single city of Manchester and its suburbs."[212]

It will be remembered that one of the changes made on the establishment of penny postage was the total abolition of franking, and some account has been given of the monstrous abuses which existed under that pernicious system. As germane to the matter, I quote the following from "Hansard;" the passage being also curious as recording, I believe, the last attack ever made on penny postage within the walls of Parliament:--

"_June 22nd, 1857.--Government Postage._

"On the motion that £88,045 be voted for the postage of Government letters,

"_Mr. Bentinck_ suggested that it would be better to return to the system of franking, adding that he had always thought that the Penny Post Act was one of the greatest jobs ever perpetrated, and one of the greatest financial mistakes ever committed by the country.

"_Sir Francis Baring_, in reply, suggested that the hon. gentleman should try to bring back the old rates of postage, and he would then see what was the feeling of the country with regard to the penny rate; ... that the accounts ought to show the amount of service performed by the Post Office, and the charge was brought into the estimates in order to put a stop at once to the gross abuse of official franks. He was inclined to think that abuse was carried to an enormous extent, and he was afraid if they gave the public offices the right of franking the same abuse would recur.

"_Mr. Roebuck_ said there were two objects in voting this money, to know what was expended and to check persons spending more than necessary. The appearance of this item prevented any abuse of the Post Office machinery. The 'Ambassadors' bag' in past times had been sadly weighted. Coats, lace, boots, and other articles were sent by it, even a pianoforte; and not only a pianoforte, but a horse."[213]

I hear with much regret that in the present year (1868) the old practice has been in some sort restored at the various Government offices previously enjoying the privilege, and even extended to such as never had it before; the whole change being doubly injurious, since, in addition to the evil tendencies already adverted to,[214] it gives to the estimates of expenditure in the various offices a delusive appearance, to the extent, in the aggregate, of about £200,000 a year, the annual expenses of those offices, and the real earnings of the Post Office, being alike understated by that amount.[215]

Before quitting the Reports from which I have drawn so largely, I must mention that the historic sketch of the English Post Office already referred to is followed in the Second and Third Reports by an equally curious account of the old postal system in Scotland and Ireland; and I can safely add that each of the three will well repay perusal.