We have already, in other parts of this _Her Majesty's Mails An Historical and Descriptive Account of the British Post-Office

steps which might be taken in the way of affording extra facilities to

the public. A cheaper sea service and a halfpenny post for our towns are

two of the most important and most practicable measures. Granted that

our packet service ought to be kept up as at present, we have an

invincible argument for universal free deliveries at home. When

asked[200] if he thought it necessary that our Colonies should have

greater postal facilities than they could pay for, Mr. Hamilton,

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, answered that "a colony might

reasonably complain if it was deprived of advantages of postal

communication, simply because that postal communication might not be

remunerative." Again, on the question of Post-Office revenue,[201] "I

think the first charge upon that revenue is to supply reasonably all

portions of Her Majesty's dominions with postal communication," which

consideration, it seems to us, will apply equally at home and abroad.

Still more important seems the plan of a halfpenny post for local

letters, that is, for letters posted and delivered in the same town.

Before the days of penny postage, we had penny posts in all the

principal towns of the country. A halfpenny post, if only applied to our

largest towns, where it would be certain to be remunerative,[202] would

have the effect of materially lessening the weight of the argument that

our present rate of charges is anomalous and unfair. But this would be

by no means the most important result. Such posts would necessitate more

frequent deliveries in provincial towns--the postmen to be paid

accordingly as fully, and not as now, only partially, employed. On the

other hand, it is quite clear that the Post-Office net revenue is a fair

and honourable item on the credit side of the Government accounts, with

which the public, except through their representatives in Parliament,

have nothing whatever to do. The penny postage scheme was carried

through Parliament in the confident expectation resolutely urged by the

intrepid founder of that scheme, that all the benefits promised under it

would result to the country, without any great relinquishment of

Post-Office revenue, and that only for a term of years. Gradually, year

by year, with enormous gain to the public convenience in innumerable

ways, the revenue derivable from this branch of the service has risen

beyond the highest standard of the past. Any relinquishment of the

profits--which, by the way, staves off other taxes--depends on

Parliament, and not on the Post-Office.[203]

10. Perhaps of all the prevalent misconceptions to which the public have

been, and still are, liable, none is so unfounded as that the servants

of the Post-Office are, as a body, ill-used and ill-paid. Without

question, individual cases of hardship and inequality exist; but that

there is anything inherently wrong in the system, or that that system is

administered with harshness or partiality, or that there is in this

Department more than the usual modicum of cases in which the legislation

for the many presses heavily on the few, no one who will make himself

acquainted with the subject in all its bearings can believe for a

moment. Statements to a contrary effect have often appeared in the

public newspapers; instead, however, of representing the feelings of the

officers, they have much more frequently goaded them into discontent, no

doubt, at times, against their better feeling and judgment. Two or three

years ago, the Postmaster-General, in referring to these statements,

dwelt upon the weight of responsibility resting with that part of the

public press who, unthinkingly, and on an _ex parte_ view of their case,

indulged the martial sentiments of the men with encouragement to the

utter abandonment of discipline and control. We incline to the belief

that the time will come when, in the provinces for instance, more

liberal allowances will be made to the lower grades of Post-Office

officials; when the graphic description already given by the postman

poet would, if uttered, be regarded as a libel on his class of officers.

On the other hand, with regard to the same class of men in the

metropolitan office, the more the question is calmly considered, the

less reason is there for sympathy with the popular view. In 1860, the

_Times_ gave a dismal account of the sufferings of the London

letter-carriers, whose cause it espoused more warmly than wisely.

"Hard-worked and ill-paid," said the leading journal, "these men are all

discontented and sullen; they are indifferent to the proper performance

of their duties, and hold the threat of dismissal in utter disdain,

feeling sure, as they say, that even stone-breaking on the road-side

would not be harder labour and scarcely less remunerative." A short time

after, the other side of the picture relating to these would-be

stone-breakers was given, not by an anonymous writer in the _Times_,

but by a Cabinet Minister. The report of the late Lord Elgin stated that

"there need not be the least difficulty in procuring, at the present

wages, honest, intelligent, and industrious young men, perfectly

qualified for the office of letter-carrier: and, I may add, that in

cases of dismissal--happily a rare occurrence, considering the number of

men employed--the most strenuous efforts are made to obtain readmission

to the service." Regarding the question in a practical common-sense

light, there could be no manner of doubt as to which statement should

carry most weight. Other organs of the press, however, either thought

differently, or dispensed with the preliminary investigation which the

Post-Office courts rather than discourages, and which inquiry it would

only have been fair to make. Only last year an important commercial

paper commented sympathisingly on "the loud and deep complainings of the

London letter-carrier, of the grinding oppression to which they are

subjected, and their ineffectual struggles to obtain redress;" and this

opinion was echoed round by many smaller lights.

What, however, are the facts? The rate of wages of the lowest class of

letter-carriers in London ranges from 18_s._ to 25_s._ a week. Each man

(who must necessarily begin _under 21 years of age_) commences at the

former sum, and steadily advances at the rate of a shilling more each

year, till he attains the maximum of 25_s._ This is for the lowest

class, be it remembered: but besides the chances of rising into a higher

class of carrier, he has the prospect, realized by many in the course of

two or three years, of being promoted to the higher grade of sorter. If,

as some have been, he be appointed to the corps of travelling sorters,

he will nearly double his income at a bound. But not to dwell on chances

of promotion, the letter-carrier, in addition to his wages, is allowed

to receive Christmas-boxes; and many thus receive, as the public must

know well, most substantial additions to their income. He is supplied

with two suits of clothes, one for summer, and the other for winter

wear. If ill, he has medical attendance and medicine gratis. When

unfitted for work, he may retire upon a pension for which he has not now

to pay a farthing; and during service, if he insure his life for the

benefit of his family, the Post-Office will assist him to pay his

premiums, by allowing him 20 per cent. on all his payments. Every year

he is allowed a fortnight's holiday, without any deduction from his pay;

many spare hours each day he may devote to other pursuits, for if, when

at work at the office, his hours of duty exceed eight hours daily, he is

at full liberty to ask for investigation and redress. In short, a London

letter-carrier is in as good a position, relatively, as many skilled

artisans, without, as regards his pay, being subject to any of the

contingencies of weather, trade, and misfortune, which make the wages of

other workmen occasionally so precarious, and without having had to go

through any expensive apprenticeship or preparation for his calling, as

in the case of most of the numerous handicrafts of life.[204]

Finally, it cannot truly be said that the Post-Office institution is not

moving with the age, but is as it used to be, intrenched in the

traditions of the past. Different from other departments, with their

undeviatingly narrow routine, the Post-Office is managed with that

enlightened policy which openly invites suggestion and criticism; nay,

it goes further, and offers rewards to persons, either in its employ or

otherwise, who may devise any plan for accelerating its business.

Post-Office work is of such a nature that the Post-Office establishment

admits of constant improvement as well as constant expansion. The

authorities publicly intimate that they will be glad to receive clear

and correct information respecting any faulty arrangements, promising

that such information shall have the best attention of the practical

officers of the department. At the same time, they take the opportunity

to urge upon John Bull the practice of patience, reminding him of what

he is often inclined to forget, that changes in machinery so extensive

and delicate must be made carefully, and only after the most mature

thought and fullest investigation. "The Post-Office," says Mr. Mathew D.

Hill, the respected Recorder of Birmingham,[205] "no longer assumes to

be perfect, and its conductors have renounced their claims to

infallibility. Suggested improvements, if they can sustain the

indispensable test of rigid scrutiny, are welcomed, and not, as of old,

frowned away. The Department acts under the conviction that to thrive it

must keep ahead of all rivals; that it must discard the confidence

heretofore placed in legal prohibitions, and seek its continuance of

prosperity only by deserving it."

FOOTNOTES:

[196] In this category we suppose the reviewer placed the following

letter addressed to the Secretary of the Post-Office, from Lord

Cranworth when Lord Chancellor. We adduce it here, on the contrary, as a

specimen of a handsome and manly apology: "Sir,--Complaints were made

early last month, that a letter posted by Mr. Anderson, of Lincoln's

Inn, and addressed to me, had never reached its destination.... You

caused inquiry to be made.... I feel it a duty to you, Sir, and the

Post-Office authorities, to say that I have just found the missing

letter, which has been accidentally buried under a heap of other papers.

I have only to regret the trouble which my oversight thus caused, and to

take the earliest opportunity of absolving all persons, except myself,

of blame in the matter. I have, &c. &c. CRANWORTH." Somewhat similar to

the above case, occurring only last year, we may refer to the

circumstance, probably in the memory of most of our readers, when, among

a batch of complainants whose letters The _Times_ admitted to its

columns, was one from the late Mr. John Gough Nicholls, the eminent

_littérateur_, who grieved bitterly that a letter sent through the post

to him had not arrived at his address. From a manly apology which he

made to the Post-Office authorities a few days afterwards, also given in

The _Times_, it appeared that the reason why he never received the

letter was, that _it had not been sent through the Post-Office_, as it

ought to have been, but was delivered by a private messenger at another

house in the street.

[197] We do not mention this latter circumstance, be it understood, to

discourage the use of slits or letter-boxes in private doors. An

occurrence of the above kind must be exceedingly rare, whilst nothing so

much helps the prompt delivery of letters as such an arrangement.

[198] Perhaps, however, there is room to doubt whether the true reform

will consist in anything less than the entire abolition of packet

subsidies, and the offering of the contracts in the ordinary way of

commercial transactions. An ocean penny-postage, _e. g._ penny

sea-postage, would then be almost inevitable. A letter charged a penny

the half-ounce would amount to nearly 300_l._ a ton, an enormous

freightage it will be admitted, to the United States, being even fifteen

times steam freight to India. Nor when the letters get across the sea

would they be subject to heavy inland postage either in the one country

or the other. In the United States letters are circulated for thousands

of miles for three cents, while for half an anna, a sum equivalent to

three farthings of English money, a letter may be forwarded through the

length and breadth of British India.

[199] As another example, take the United States, with Mr. Anthony

Trollope for a judge on postal concerns. In his _North America_, vol.

ii. p. 368, we read: "It is, I think, undoubtedly true that the amount

of accommodation given by the Post-Office of the States is small, as

compared with that afforded in some other countries, and that that

accommodation is lessened by delays and uncertainty.... Here in England,

it is the object of our Post-Office to carry the bulk of our letters at

night, to deliver them as early as possible in the morning, and to

collect them and take them away for despatch as late as may be in the

day; so that the merchant may receive his letters before the beginning

of his day's business, and despatch them after its close. In the States

no such practice prevails. Letters arrive at any hour of the day

miscellaneously, and were despatched at any hour. I found that the

postmaster of one town could never tell me with certainty when letters

would arrive at another. I ascertained, moreover, by painful experience

that the _whole_ of a mail would not always go forward by the first

despatch. As regarded myself, this had reference chiefly to English

letters and newspapers. 'Only a part of the mail has come,' the clerk

would tell me. With us the owners of that part which did not _come_

would consider themselves greatly aggrieved and make loud complaint.

But, in the States, complaints made against official departments are

held to be of little moment." We are further told that the "letters are

subject to great delays by irregularities on railways. They have no

travelling post-offices in the States, as with us. And, worst of all,

there is no official delivery of letters." "The United States'

Post-Office," says Mr. Trollope, "does not assume to itself the duty of

taking letters to the houses of those for whom they are intended, but

holds itself as having completed the work for which the original postage

has been paid when it has brought them to the window of the post-office

of the town to which they are addressed." The recognised official mode

of delivery is from the office window, many inhabitants paying for

private boxes at the post-office. If delivered, a further sum must be

paid the bearer. Surely English people have reason to be content with

their privileges, and in a certain degree to "rest and be thankful."

[200] Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on Packet and

Telegraph Contracts, p. 27.

[201] _Ibid._ p. 34.

[202] A halfpenny post is in full operation at the city of Quebec.

[203] The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his place in Parliament, has

just adverted (April) to the argument indicated above. "If the

Post-Office revenue be abandoned in whole, or in part, a gap will be

created which will have to be supplied by direct taxation." That our

postage rates may be regarded as a kind of mild taxation, not unfairly

levied, and that the work is done by the State with more uniformity of

purpose and greater regularity than would be possible under any private

company, our senators agree, perhaps with the single exception of Mr.

Roebuck. That gentleman, however, it will be remembered, held that

Sebastapol might have been reduced more easily had the business been

made a subject of contract! With respect to the state monopoly and the

advantages derived from it, political economists are also pretty well

agreed. Blackstone has been referred to previously. Sergeant Stephens,

in his _Commentaries_, endorses Blackstone's views. Mr. M'Cullagh, in

his _Principles of Political Economy_, is so clear on this point that we

venture to make a quotation: "Perhaps, with the single exception of the

carriage of letters, there is no branch of industry which Government had

not better leave to be conducted by individuals. It does not, however,

appear that the Post-Office could be so well conducted by any other

party as by Government; the latter only can enforce perfect regularity

in all its subordinate departments, can carry it into the smallest

villages and even beyond the frontier, and can combine all its separate

parts into one uniform system on which the public may rely for security

and despatch. Besides providing for the speedy and safe communication of

intelligence, the Post-Office has everywhere almost been rendered

subservient to fiscal purposes, and made a source of revenue; and

provided the duty on letters be not so heavy as to oppose any very

serious obstacle to the frequency and facility of correspondence, it

seems to be a most unobjectionable tax; and is paid and collected with

little trouble and inconvenience." Fourth Edition, 1849, pp. 296-7. See

also M'Cullagh's _Commercial Dictionary_, where he speaks still more

decidedly, and Mr. Senior's _Political Economy_. Sydney Smith, who with

Mr. M'Cullagh was opposed to the penny-postage movement, was favourable

to the Government monopoly of the Post-Office.

[204] These remarks must not be understood to apply to the _clerks_ in

the different branches of the London establishment. These clerks, &c.,

who are required to be educated gentlemen, are as a rule, paid on lower

scales of salary than obtain, we believe, in the other Government

departments.

[205] _Fraser's Magazine_, September, 1862, p. 536.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX (A).

CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE POST-OFFICE

_ENGLAND._

_Her Majesty's Postmaster-General._

THE RIGHT HON. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY.

_Secretary_ JOHN TILLEY, ESQ.

_Assistant Secretaries_ {FREDERIC HILL, ESQ. and

{FRANK IVES SCUDAMORE, ESQ.

_Chief Clerk of the Secretary's Office_ RODIE PARKHURST, ESQ.

_Chief Clerk of Foreign Business_ WILLIAM PAGE, ESQ.

_Solicitor_ WM. HENRY ASHURST, ESQ.

_Assistant Solicitor_ R. W. PEACOCK, ESQ.

_Inspector-General of Mails_ EDWARD JOHN PAGE, ESQ.

_Deputy Inspector-General of Mails_ JOHN WEST, ESQ.

_Receiver and Accountant-General_ VACANT.

_Controller of Circulation Department_ WILLIAM BOKENHAM, ESQ.

_Deputy Controller_ _ditto_ THOMAS BOUCHER, ESQ.

_Controller of Money-Order Office_ FRED. ROWLAND JACKSON, ESQ.

_Controller of Post-Office Savings'_}

_Banks_ } GEORGE CHETWYND, ESQ.

_Medical Officer_ WALLER LEWIS, ESQ. M.D.

_Post-Office District Surveyors._

Northern District CHRIS. HODGSON, ESQ. Penrith.

Southern District J. H. NEWMAN, ESQ. Dorking.

Eastern District ANTHONY TROLLOPE, ESQ. Waltham Cross.

Western District G. H. CRESSWELL, ESQ. Devonport.

Derby District ERNEST MILLIKEN, ESQ. Derby.

Manchester District WILLIAM GAY, ESQ. Altrincham.

Shrewsbury District W. J. GODBY, ESQ. Shrewsbury.

Gloucester District JOHN PATTEN GOOD, ESQ. London.

Birmingham District A. M. CUNYNGHAME, ESQ. London.

_IRELAND._

_Secretary_ GUSTAVUS CHARLES CORNWALL, ESQ.

_Accountant_ JOSEPH LONG, ESQ.

_Controller of Sorting Office_ R. O. ANDERSON, ESQ.

_Solicitor_ R. THOMPSON, ESQ.

_Surveyors_ {H. JAMES, ESQ. Limerick, and

{W. BARNARD, ESQ. Dublin.

_SCOTLAND._

_Secretary_ FRANCIS ABBOTT, ESQ.

_Accountant_ JOHN MARRABLE, ESQ.

_Controller of Sorting Office_ T. B. LANG, ESQ.

_Solicitor_ J. CAY, JUN. ESQ.

_Surveyors_ {JOHN WARREN, ESQ. Aberdeen, and

{E. C. BURCKARDT, ESQ. Edinburgh.

APPENDIX (B).

ABSTRACT OF THE PRINCIPAL REGULATIONS.

"It may not be too much to say that half the people in this country

who use the Post-Office do not know clearly all the benefit they may

derive from it."--_Household Words_, 1856.

We have already directed the attention of those engaged in frequent

correspondence, especially with our colonies and foreign countries, to

the necessity of consulting the official books published for their

guidance. The following digest of Post Office regulations may, perhaps,

answer the ordinary requirements of the general reader.

THE LETTER-POST.

As at present constituted, the British Post-Office has, with the few

exceptions noticed in our historical survey, an exclusive authority to

convey _letters_ within the United Kingdom. It is also required by law

to convey newspapers when the public choose to use the post for that

purpose. The Post-Office further undertakes the conveyance of books and

book-packets, and the remittance of small sums of money. Still more

recently, it has entered into competition with the banking interest of

the country: it now threatens a scheme which will compete with benefit

societies and insurance offices. It is only with regard to the carriage

of letters, however, that the Post-Office possesses any special

privileges, the other branches of its business being open to any person

or persons who may choose to undertake them.

(_a_) The rates of postage on all letters passing through the

Post-Office are now regulated by weight,[206] irrespective of distance,

and (with some exceptions, which we will mention presently) altogether

irrespective of their contents. Letters weighing _less than four ounces_

may be sent unpaid, but they will be charged double postage on delivery.

Letters may be sent insufficiently stamped, but that deficiency,

whatever it may be, will also be charged double postage on delivery. The

rate for letters is familiar to every reader.

(_b_) All re-directed letters are liable to additional postage, but at

the _prepaid_, and not the unpaid rate. Thus, for a letter under half an

ounce, re-addressed from one post-town to another, additional postage,

to the amount of one penny, is levied. Re-directed letters, not

addressed to a fresh post-town, but to a place within the district

belonging to the same post-town to which they were originally sent, are

not charged with any additional postage, the first payment franking them

until they are delivered. Letters for officers in the army and navy, and

private soldiers and seamen employed on actual service, have their

letters re-addressed to them from place to place without any charge for

re-direction.

(_c_) No letter, &c. can be forwarded through the post which is more

than two feet in length, breadth, or depth, nor any unpaid letter or

packet which weighs more than four ounces, unless three-quarters of the

postage due on it have been paid. The exceptions to this rule are--

1st. Packets sent to or received from places abroad.

2d. Packets to or from any of the Government departments or public

officers.

3d. Petitions or addresses to the Queen, whether directed to Her Majesty

or forwarded to any member of either House of Parliament.

4th. Petitions to either House of Parliament.

5th. Printed parliamentary proceedings.

(_d_) Late letters, &c. are received till within five minutes of the

despatch of the mails, except where the Post-Office surveyor may deem a

longer interval necessary, and providing that this arrangement does not

necessitate any office being open after ten o'clock at night. In each

post-office window placards are exhibited showing the time up to which

such letters may be posted.

No late letters can be forwarded by the mail preparing for despatch

unless prepaid in stamps, including the ordinary postage and the

late-letter fee. Government letters are an exception to this rule; they

may be posted, without extra fee, up to the latest moment.

(_e_) Letters containing sharp instruments, knives, scissors, glass, &c.

are not allowed to circulate through the post, to the risk of damaging

the general correspondence. Such communications, when posted, are

detained and forwarded to the Metropolitan Office, where correspondence

is at once opened with the senders.

Letters for the United Kingdom found to contain coin are only forwarded

to their destination under certain restrictions. Such letters, if not

registered, are at once treated as if they were, and charged on delivery

with a double registration-fee, or eightpence in addition to the

postage.

REGISTERED LETTERS.

The registration-fee of fourpence, prepaid in stamps, will secure

careful treatment to any letter, newspaper, or book-packet addressed to

any part of the United Kingdom. Record is kept of all such letters

throughout their entire course. The registration of a packet makes its

transmission more secure, by rendering it practicable to trace it from

its receipt to its delivery. For a fee of sixpence letters may be

registered to any British colony, except Ascension, Vancouver's Island,

British Columbia, and Labuan, for which places they can only be

registered part of the way. Letters may be registered to several foreign

countries at varying rates. (_See British Postal Guide._)

Every letter meant for registration should be presented at the

post-office window, or counter (as the case may be) and a receipt

obtained for it, and must on no account be dropped into the letterbox

among the ordinary letters. If, contrary to this rule, a letter marked

"registered" be found in the letter-box, addressed to the United

Kingdom, it will be charged an extra registration-fee of double the

ordinary fee, or one of eightpence instead of fourpence.

The latest time for posting a registered letter on payment of the

ordinary fee is generally up to within half an hour of the closing of

the letter-box for that particular mail with which it will require to be

forwarded. A registered letter will be received at all head offices up

to the closing of the general letter-box, or until the office is closed

for the night, on payment of a late fee of fourpence in addition to the

ordinary registration fee. All fees, as well as postage, of registered

letters must be prepaid in stamps. A registered letter, when

re-directed, is liable to the same additional charge as if it were an

ordinary letter, the original register fee, however, sufficing until it

is delivered.

By Act of Parliament, the Post-Office is not responsible for the

absolute security of registered letters, though every care and attention

are given to them. Each registered letter may be traced from hand to

hand, from posting to delivery, with unfailing accuracy, and there can

be no question as to the great security which is thus afforded. Any

officer who may neglect his duty with registered letters is called to

strict account, and, if the Postmaster-General should see fit, will be

required to make good any loss that may be sustained. In cases where

registered letters have been lost (in the proportion, it is said, of

about one in ninety thousand), or some abstraction of their contents,

the Department makes good the loss, if the fault is shown to rest with

the Post-Office, and if the sum lost be of moderate amount and the

sufferer a person not in affluent circumstances.

FOREIGN AND COLONIAL LETTER-POSTS.

For information of the despatch of foreign and colonial mails; rates of

postage; and as to whether prepayment be optional or compulsory; see the

"British Postal Guide," published quarterly.

Letters addressed to places abroad may be prepaid in this country either

in money or stamps, but such payment must be made either wholly in

stamps or wholly in money. The only exception to this rule is when the

rate of postage includes a fractional part of a penny, for which, of

course, there are no existing English stamps.

With certain exceptions, the only admitted evidence of the prepayment of

a foreign letter is the mark agreed upon with the particular foreign

country or colony.

When prepayment is _optional_, any outward letter (_e. g._ going abroad)

posted with an insufficient number of stamps is charged with the

deficient postage in addition, unless the letter has to go to Holland,

or to the United States, or to a country through France, in which case

it is treated as wholly unpaid, the postal conventions with these

countries not allowing the recognition of partial prepayment. When,

however, prepayment of the whole postage is _compulsory_, a letter, or

aught else posted with an insufficient number of stamps, is sent (by the

first post) to the Returned Letter Office.

Letters for Russia and Poland are also treated as wholly unpaid, if the

full postage has not been paid in the first instance.

Letters to or from Ceylon, Australia, New Zealand, British West Indies

(except Turk's Island), Honduras, and St. Helena, posted wholly unpaid,

or paid less than one rate, are detained and returned to the writers for

postage. If the letters should be paid with one rate (paid for half an

ounce, for instance, when the letter weighs more than half an ounce),

they are forwarded (except in the case of New Zealand), charged with the

deficient postage and sixpence as a fine. Letters for New Zealand must

be fully prepaid.

Letters for nearly all our remaining British colonies, if posted unpaid,

either wholly or in part, are, on delivery, charged sixpence each in

addition to the ordinary postage.

Letters intended to be sent by private ship should, in all cases, have

the words "By private ship," or "By ship," distinctly written above the

address. The postage of letters forwarded by private ship is

sixpence--if the weight does not exceed half an ounce--and the postage

must generally be prepaid. Exception is made to most of our North

American and African colonies, to which places prepayment by private

ship is not compulsory. (See table in the _British Postal Guide_.)

When the route by which a foreign or colonial letter is to go is not

marked on the letter, it will be sent by the principal or earliest

route. In some cases, the postage paid (provided it be by stamps) is

regarded as an indication of the wish of the sender, and the letters are

forwarded by the route for which the prepayment is sufficient. Thus,

letters for Holland, Denmark, Norway, &c. which, as a rule, are sent

_viâ_ Belgium, are sent _viâ_ France, if the prepayment be insufficient

for the former, but sufficient for the latter route.

_North American and Indian Mails._--Letters for passengers on board the

Cunard mail packets for America touching at Queenstown, provided they be

addressed to the care of the officers in charge of the mails on board

such packets, _and be registered_, may be posted in any part of the

United Kingdom up to the time at which registered letters intended for

transmission to America by the same packets are received, and they will

be delivered on board the packets at Queenstown.

Letters for passengers on board the Mediterranean packets about to sail

from Southampton for India, China, Australia, &c. and the Canadian mail

packets touching at Londonderry, may, under similar conditions, be

posted up to the same time as registered letters for India and Canada.

The letters should be addressed thus: "Mr. ----, on board the mail

packet at Queenstown, Londonderry, or Southampton (as the case may be),

care of the officer in charge of the mails."

Letters directed to the care of the packet agent at Suez, and despatched

by the Indian mails _viâ Marseilles_, which always leaves after the

mails _viâ Southampton_, will most probably there reach passengers for

India, &c. who may have previously sailed in the Southampton packets.

NEWSPAPER POSTS.

(_a_) It is not compulsory to send newspapers through the post.

(_b_) The rate for newspapers stamped with the _impressed_ stamp is one

penny for two sheets, three-halfpence for three sheets, and twopence for

four sheets, of printed matter.

(_c_) No newspaper, or other publication, can pass through the post,

unless the impressed stamp be of the value of at least one penny.

(_d_) The title and date of every publication so passing must be printed

at the top of every page.

(_e_) The impressed stamp (or stamps, if more than one publication be

sent under one cover) must be distinctly visible on the outside. When a

newspaper is folded so as not to expose the stamp, a fine of one penny

is made in addition to the proper postage of the paper.

(_f_) The publication must not be printed on pasteboard or cardboard,

but on ordinary paper, nor must it be enclosed in a cover of either

material.

(_g_) Newspapers bearing the impressed stamp cannot circulate through

the post after they are _fifteen days old_.

(_h_) They must not contain any enclosure, and must either have no cover

at all, or one which shall be open at both ends. They must have no

writing either inside or outside, except the name of the persons to whom

they are sent, the printed title of the publications, and the printed

names of the publishers or agents sending them. If one of these

newspapers be addressed to a second person, the address in the first

instance still remaining, it is regarded as an infringement of the above

rule, and renders the paper liable to be charged as an unpaid letter.

(_i_) In order that newspapers may be sent abroad, the publishers must

first have had them registered at the General Post-Office.

(_j_) Newspapers intended for transmission to our colonies or foreign

countries must, in all cases, be prepaid _with postage-stamps_, the

impressed stamp here, in all respects, standing for nothing. Though this

is the case, all newspapers sent abroad are liable to the same

regulations as English newspapers bearing impressed stamps.

(_k_) It must be borne in mind, that the arrangements for inland

newspapers forwarded under the book-post regulations, and paid with the

ordinary postage-stamp, are entirely distinct from the above.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

(_a_) Printed proceedings of the British Parliament are forwarded

through the Post-Office at a special rate, and possess privileges in

their transmission not belonging to either the newspaper- or

book-postage. Parliamentary proceedings, however, may pass through the

post at either the special rate, the newspaper rate, or book-post rate,

always provided that the conditions of the particular rate chosen be

complied with.

(_b_) "Parliamentary proceedings," if these words are written or

printed on the cover (otherwise they are liable to be charged letter

rate), may circulate through the United Kingdom at the following rates

of postage:--

Weighing not more than 4 oz. 1_d._

Weighing more than 4 oz. and not exceeding 8 oz. 2_d._

" 8 oz. " 12 oz. 3_d._

" 12 oz. " 16 oz. 4_d._

and so on; one penny being charged for every additional _quarter_ of a

pound or fraction of a quarter of a pound.

(_c_) Prepayment of parliamentary proceedings is _optional_ throughout

the United Kingdom. Prepayment may also be made in part, when the

_simple difference only_ will be charged on delivery.

Parliamentary proceedings can only be sent to the colonies or foreign

countries by means of the book-post system, and, of course, only where

book-posts are established.

THE BOOK-POST.

(_a_) Written or printed matter of any kind--including matter which may

be sent by the ordinary newspaper-post, or under the special privileges

of parliamentary proceedings--may be sent through the book-post under

the following rates and conditions:--

(_b_)

A packet weighing not more than 4 oz. 1_d._

" more than 4 oz. but not exceeding 8 oz. 2_d._

" more than 8 oz. " 1 lb. 4_d._

" more than 1 lb. " 1½ lb. 6_d._

" more than 1½ lb. " 2 lb. 8_d._

and so on; twopence being charged for every additional _half-pound_ or

fraction of a half-pound.

(_c_) The postage on book-packets must be prepaid, and that by

postage-stamps affixed outside the packets or their covers. If a

book-packet should be posted insufficiently prepaid, it is forwarded,

charged with the deficient book postage together with an additional

rate; thus, one weighing over four ounces and only bearing one penny

stamp, would be charged twopence additional postage on delivery. If a

book-packet is posted bearing no stamps at all, it is charged as an

_unpaid letter_.

(_d_) In cases where a book-packet is re-directed from one to another

postal district in the United Kingdom, the same charge is made on

delivery as was originally made for the postage, one penny for four

ounces, twopence for a packet under eight ounces, and so on.

(_e_) Every book-packet must be sent either without a cover, or with one

open at the ends or sides, in order that the contents may be examined if

it be thought necessary. For greater security, it may be tied round the

ends with string, though each postmaster is empowered to remove it for

the purpose of examining the packet. He will re-secure it, however,

after examination. As a security against fraud, it has been found

necessary to adopt precautionary measures with book-packets and

newspapers: it has been demonstrated over and over again that many

people will evade the Post-Office charges, cheap as they now are, if it

be possible to do so.[207] When any head postmaster has grounds for

suspecting an infringement of the rules of the book-post, and

occasionally when he has no suspicion, he is required to open and

examine packets passing through his office, in order to assure himself

that the privileges of the book-post are being legitimately used.

(_f_) A book-packet may contain any number of separate books or other

publications (including printed or lithographed letters), photographs

(when not on glass or in cases containing glass), prints, maps, or any

quantity or quality of paper, parchment, or vellum. The whole of this

description of paper, books, and other publications, may either be

printed, written, engraved, lithographed, or plain, or the packet may

consist of a mixture of any or all these varieties. The binding,

mounting, or covering of books and rollers, &c. in the case of prints or

maps, are allowed. In short, whatever usually appertains to the sort

of articles described, or whatever is necessary for their safe

transmission, may be forwarded through the post at the same rate

charged for the articles themselves.

(_g_) Among the general restrictions, we find the following:--

No book-packet must exceed two feet in length, width, or depth.

No book-packet must contain anything inclosed which is sealed

against inspection, nor must there be any letter inclosed, or

anything in the way of writing in the packet of the nature of a

communication, either separate or otherwise. Entries on the first

page of a book, merely stating who sends it, are allowable (and even

desirable in case of failure of delivery) inasmuch as they are not

regarded as of the nature of a letter.

Any packets found with a communication written in it (if the

communication in question cannot be taken out, but forms a component

part of the packet) will be charged with the _unpaid letter

postage_, and then sent forward.

If a packet be found containing an enclosure, whether sealed or

otherwise, or anything of the shape of a letter, such enclosure or

letter will be taken out and forwarded separately to the address

given on the packet. It is sent forward, of course, as an unpaid

letter, but, in addition, another single rate is charged. Thus, if

the article taken out of the packet does not exceed half an ounce in

weight, the charge of threepence will be levied on delivery, while

the remainder of the packet, if prepaid, will be delivered free at

the same time.

(_h_) And lastly. The conveyance of letters being the main business of

the Post-Office, the authorities make distinct stipulations that

book-packets and newspapers must not interfere with the quick and

regular conveyance and delivery of letters. Though it is believed to be

of very rare occurrence, head postmasters are authorized to delay

forwarding any book-packet or newspaper for a period not exceeding

twenty-four hours beyond the ordinary time, if the other interests of

their office demands it.

THE PATTERN-POST.

Arrangements for an inland pattern-post, such as has been in existence

for a short time between this country and France, for the conveyance of

_patterns_, have just been made. The pattern-post is now in operation,

and must prove beneficial to those engaged in mercantile pursuits.

(_a_) At present, parcels of patterns may be forwarded through the post,

subject to the undermentioned regulations, at the following fixed rates,

prepaid with stamps, viz.:--

For a packet weighing under 4 oz. 3_d._

" above 4 oz. and not exceeding 8 oz. 6_d._

" above 8 oz. " 1 lb. 1_s._ 0_d._

" above 1 lb. " 1½ lb. 1_s._ 6_d._

and so on; threepence being charged for every additional four ounces.

(_b_) The pattern must not be of intrinsic value. All articles of a

saleable nature, wearing apparel, medicine, &c. or anything which may

have a value of its own and not necessarily a money value, are excluded

by this rule.

(_c_) The patterns-packet must not contain any writing inside, except

the address of the manufacturer or trademark, the numbers, or the prices

of the articles sent.

(_d_) The patterns must be sent in covers open at the ends or sides, in

the same way as book-packets, so as to admit of easy and thorough

examination. Samples of seeds, drugs, and other things of that

character, which cannot be sent in open covers, may be inclosed in bags

of linen, paper, or other material, tied at the neck with string. If

transparent bags are used, as in France, the articles may easily be

seen; but even then the bags must not be tied so that they cannot easily

be opened in their passage through the post.

(_e_) Articles such as the following are prohibited by this new post,

and few of them can be sent even at the letter-rate of postage, viz.

metal boxes, porcelain or china, fruit, vegetables, bunches of flowers,

cuttings of plants, knives, scissors, needles, pins, pieces of watch or

other machinery, sharp-pointed instruments, samples of metals or ores,

samples in glass bottles, pieces of glass, acids, &c., copper or

steel-engraving plates, or confectionary of all kinds. In almost all

these cases, the contents of a letter-bag would be in danger of being

damaged or spoiled.

MONEY-ORDERS.

(_a_) Inland money-orders are obtainable at any of the offices of the

United Kingdom on payment of the following commission:--

On sums not exceeding 2_l._ for 3_d._

Above 2_l._ and not exceeding 5_l._ " 6_d._

Above 5_l._ " 7_l._ " 9_d._

Above 7_l._ " 10_l._ " 1_s._ 0_d._

The commission on money-orders made payable in any of the British

Colonies where money-order business is transacted is _four times_ the

sum charged for inland orders, except at Gibraltar and Malta, where the

commission is only three times the British rate.

(_b_) The amount of any one money-order cannot exceed 10_l._, nor less

than 1_d._ No order is allowed to contain a fractional part of a penny.

(_c_) Applications for a money-order should always be made in writing.

"Application Forms" are supplied gratuitously at all money-order

offices. The surname, and, at least, the initial of one Christian name

of both the person who sends the order, and the person to whom the money

is to be paid, must always be given. The address of the remitter of the

money should also be given. The following exceptions are allowed to the

above rule:--

(1) If the remitter or payee be a peer or bishop, his ordinary title

is sufficient.

(2) If a firm, the usual designation will suffice--if that

designation consist of names of persons, and not of a company

trading under a title.

(3) Money-orders sent to the Privy Council may be issued payable to

"The Privy Council Office."

(4) When the remitter notifies that the order is to be paid through

a bank, he may withhold the name of the person for whom it is

intended if he chooses; or he may, if he wishes, substitute a

designation instead of a person's name; as, for example, he may make

an order payable, through a bank, to "The Cashier of the Bank of

England," or "The Publisher of _The Times_."

(_d_) A money-order is always issued on the _head_ office of any town

where there are several money-order offices, except the persons sending

it request that it should be made out for some other subordinate office.

(_e_) The sender of any money-order may make his order payable ten days

after date, by simply signing a requisition at the foot of the order to

that effect, and affixing a penny receipt-stamp to his signature.

(_f_) An order once made out cannot be cancelled by the officer issuing

it under any circumstances. If the sender should require to transmit it

to a different town than the one he first mentioned, or to a

different name, he must apply to the issuing postmaster, and make the

necessary application on the proper form which will be furnished to

him. Directions on all these subjects are printed on the back of

money-orders.

(_g_) When an order is presented for payment (not through a bank), the

postmaster is required to see that the signature on the order is

identical with the name to which he is advised to pay the money, and

that the name be given as full in the one case as it is in the other. If

this is so, the person presenting the order is required to state the

name of the party sending it, and should the reply be correct, the order

is paid, unless the postmaster shall have good reason for believing that

the applicant is neither the rightful claimant, nor deputed by him. If

presented through a bank, however, it is sufficient that the order be

receipted by some name, and that (crossed with the name of the receiving

bank) it be presented by some person known to be in the employment of

the bank. The owner of a money-order is always at liberty to direct, by

crossing it, that an order be paid through a bank, though the sender

should not make it so payable. The ordinary questions are then dispensed

with.

(_h_) Money-orders, when paid, do not require a receipt-stamp.

(_i_) Under no circumstance can payment of an order be made on the day

on which it has been issued.

(_j_) After once paying a money-order, by whomsoever presented, the

Post-Office is not liable to any further claim. Every endeavour, it is

stated, will be made to pay the money to the proper party, or to some

one believed to be delegated by the proper party.

(_k_) A money-order in the United Kingdom becomes _lapsed_, if it be not

presented for payment before the end of the second calendar month after

that in which it was issued (thus, if issued in January, it must be paid

before the end of March). A second commission for a new order will then,

after that time, be necessary. _Six_ months are allowed in the colonies.

If the order be not paid before the end of the twelfth calendar month

after that in which it was issued, all claim to the money is lost.[208]

(_l_) In case of the miscarriage or loss of an inland money-order, a

duplicate is granted on a written application (enclosing the amount of a

second commission and the requisite particulars) to the Controller of

the Money-Order Office of England, Scotland, or Ireland (as the case may

be), where the original order was _issued_. If it be desired to stop

payment of an inland order, a similar application, with postage-stamps

to the amount of a second commission, must be made to the controller of

the money-order office in that part of the United Kingdom in which the

order is _payable_. All mistakes made in money-orders can only be

rectified in this manner by correspondence with the chief metropolitan

office and by payment of a second commission. Whenever the mistake is

attributable to the Post-Office, however, and a second commission is

rendered necessary, the officer in fault is called upon to pay it.

Proper printed forms, moreover, are supplied for every case likely to

arise, and full instructions are given on money-orders. In addition,

however, to supplying the proper forms, the postmasters are required to

give every necessary information on the subject of second or duplicate

orders.

(_m_) No money-order business is transacted at any post-office on

Sundays. On every lawful day, the time for issuing and paying

money-orders is from ten till four at the chief offices in London,

Edinburgh, and Dublin, and from nine till six at provincial offices. On

Saturday nights it is usual to allow two extra hours for this business.

POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS.

We have already explained at some length the origin and ordinary working

of these banks; the following _résumé_ of the distinctive features of

the new plan may therefore suffice:--

(_a_) Nearly all the money-order offices in the United Kingdom are

now open each working-day for the receipt and payment of

savings-bank accounts.

(_b_) Deposits of one shilling, or any number of shillings, will be

received, provided the total amount of deposits in any one year does

not exceed 30_l._, or the total amount standing in one name does not

exceed, exclusive of interest, 150_l._

(_c_) Each depositor, on making the first payment, must give every

necessary particular regarding himself, and sign a declaration. He

will then receive a book (gratis) in which all entries of payments

and withdrawals will be regularly made by an officer of the

Post-Office.

(_d_) Interest at the rate of 2_l._ 10_s._ per cent. is given on all

money deposited.

(_e_) Secrecy is observed with respect to the names of depositors in

post-office banks, and the amounts of their deposits.

(_f_) Depositors have direct Government security for the prompt

repayment, with interest, of all their money.

(_g_) Married women may deposit money in these banks, and money so

deposited will be paid to the _depositor_, unless her husband give

notice of marriage, in writing, and claim payment of the deposits.

(_h_) Money may also be deposited by, or in behalf of, minors.

Unlike some ordinary savings-bank, depositors over seven years of

age are treated here as persons of full age, though minors under

seven cannot withdraw, or have drawn, their deposits until they

attain that age.

(_i_) Charitable societies and penny-banks may deposit their funds

in the Post-Office banks, but a copy of their rules must, in the

first instance, be sent to the Postmaster-General. Special aid is

given to penny-banks established in connexion with those of the

Post-Office.

(_j_) Friendly societies, duly certified by the Registrar of these

societies, may also deposit their funds, without limitation or

amount, under the same condition.

(_k_) A depositor in an old savings-bank may have his money

transferred to the Post-Office banks with the greatest ease. He has

only to apply to the trustees of the old savings-bank for a

certificate of transfer (in the form prescribed by the Act of

Parliament regulating the transactions of these banks, viz. 24 Vict.

cap. 14), and he can then offer the certificate to the Post-Office

bank, and it will be received as if it were a cheque. Of course he

can draw out from one bank and pay into the other in the usual way,

but the transfer certificate will save him both trouble and risk.

(_l_) A depositor in any one of the Post-Office savings-banks may

continue his payments in any other bank at pleasure without notice

or change of book. The same facilities of withdrawal, as we have

previously shown, are also extended to him.

(_m_) Additional information may be obtained at any post-office, or

by application to the Controller, Savings-Bank Department, General

Post-Office, London. All applications of this kind, or any letters

on the business of the savings-banks, as well as the replies

thereto, pass and repass free of postage.

MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS.

1. Petitions and addresses to Her Majesty, or to members of either House

of Parliament, forwarded for presentation to either House, may be sent

_free_, provided that they do not weigh more than two pounds, and are

either without covers, or enclosed in covers open at the ends or sides.

They must not contain any writing of the nature of a letter, and if,

upon examination, anything of the kind be found, the packet is liable to

be charged under the book-post arrangement.

2. Letters on the business of the Post-Office, relating to any of its

numerous branches, may be forwarded to the head offices of London,

Edinburgh, or Dublin, by the public, free of all postage. Letters for

the different departments of the Government in London may be prepaid, or

otherwise, at the option of the sender.

3. Letters addressed by the public to the district surveyors of the

Post-Office, on postal business, may also be sent without postage,

though all letters addressed to local postmasters should be prepaid by

stamps.

4. It is absolutely forbidden that information respecting letters

passing through the Post-Office should be given to any persons except

those to whom such letters are addressed. Post-Office officials are

strictly prohibited from making known official information of a private

character, or, in fact, any information on the private affairs of any

person which may be gathered from their correspondence.

5. Letters once posted cannot be returned to the writers under any

pretence whatever--not even to alter the address, or even the name, on a

letter. Further, postmasters have not the power to _delay forwarding_,

according to the address, any letter, even though a request to that

effect be made on the envelope, or to them personally, either orally or

in writing. Each letter, put into the Post-Office, is forwarded,

according to its address, by the _first mail_ leaving the place, unless,

indeed, it be posted "too late," when it is not forwarded till the next

succeeding mail.

6. Each postmaster is required to display a notice in the most

conspicuous position in his office, giving every necessary information

respecting the time of despatch and receipt of mails, delivery of

letters, hours of attendance, &c. &c.

7. On Sundays there is usually but one delivery of letters, viz. in the

morning, and two hours are allowed during which the public may purchase

postage-stamps, have letters registered, or pay foreign and colonial

letters, &c.; but for the rest of the day all other duties, so far as

the public are concerned, are wholly suspended. In the General

Post-Office in London no attendance is given to the public. In all the

towns of Scotland, and also in one or two towns in England, no delivery

of letters takes place from door to door, but the public may have them

by applying during the time fixed for attendance at the post-office.

8. In England and Ireland, where, as a rule, letters are delivered on

Sunday mornings, arrangements are made under which any person may have

his letters kept at the post-office till Monday morning by simply

addressing a written request to the postmaster to that effect. Of

course, all the correspondence for such applicant is kept, even

supposing some of it should be marked "immediate;" and no distinction

is allowed. Letters directed to be kept at the post-office in this way

cannot be delivered from the post-office window, except in the case of

holders of private boxes, who may either call for their letters or not,

as they may think proper. Instructions sent to the postmasters of towns

under this arrangement are binding for three months, nor can a request

for a change be granted without a week's notice.

9. Any resident, in town or country, can have a private box at the

post-office on payment of an appointed fee. That fee is generally fixed

at a guinea per annum, payable in advance, and for a period of not less

than a year. Private bags in addition are charged an extra sum.

10. "No postmaster is bound to give _change_, or is authorized to demand

change; and when money is paid at a post-office, whether in change or

otherwise, no question as to its right amount, goodness, or weight, can

be entertained after it has left the counter."

11. Except in the case of foreign or colonial letters about to be

prepaid in money, a postmaster or his clerks are not bound to weigh

letters for the public, though they may do so provided their other

duties will allow of it.

12. Postage-stamps or stamped envelopes (the latter to be had in packets

or parts of packets, and charged at an uniform rate, viz. 2_s._ and

3_d._ for a packet of twenty-four envelopes) may be obtained at any

post-office in the United Kingdom at any time during which the office is

open--in most cases, from 7 or 7.30 A.M. till 10 P.M.

13. A licence to sell postage-stamps can be obtained, free of expense,

by any respectable person, on application to the office of Inland

Revenue, Somerset House, London, or (in the provinces) by application to

the district stamp distributor.

14. Every rural messenger is authorized to sell stamps and embossed

envelopes at the same price at which postmasters sell them; and when, in

the country, the rural postman is applied to for these articles, he must

either supply them, or (if he has none in his possession) must take

letters with the postage in money, and carefully affix stamps to them

when he arrives at the end of his journey.

15. Each postmaster is authorized to purchase postage-stamps from the

public, if not soiled or otherwise damaged, at a fixed charge of 2½

per cent. Single stamps will not be received, but those offered must be

presented in strips containing at least two stamps adhering to each

other. This arrangement was fixed upon primarily in order to discourage

the transmission of coin by post.

16. Letter-carriers and rural messengers are prohibited at any time from

distributing letters, newspapers, &c., except such as have passed

through the Post-Office. They are not allowed to receive any payment

beyond the unpaid postage on letters or newspapers delivered.[209]

Further, in delivering letters, they are not allowed to deviate from the

route laid down for them by the proper authorities.

17. Persons living within the free delivery of any town cannot obtain

their letters at the post-office window, unless they rent a private box,

in which case they may apply for them as often as a mail arrives. In

some cases where there are not frequent deliveries of letters, persons

may apply at the post-office for their letters arriving by a particular

mail after which there is not an immediate delivery from door to door.

18. Persons having a distinct residence in any town cannot have their

letters addressed to the post-office (except a private box be taken),

and a postmaster is warranted, when such letters arrive so addressed, to

send them out by the first delivery. The "Poste Restante" is meant for

commercial travellers, tourists, and persons without any settled

residence. Letters so addressed are kept in the office for one month,

after which, if they are not called for, they are returned to the

writers through the Dead-Letter Office. "Ship-letters" in sea-port

towns, or letters addressed to seamen on board ship expected to arrive

at these towns, are kept _three_ months before they are thus dealt with.

19. When any letters, &c. remain undelivered, owing to the residences of

the persons to whom they are addressed not being known, a list of such

addresses is shown in the window of the post-office to which they may

have been sent, during the time (only _one week_ in these cases) they

are allowed to remain there.

20. Greenwich time is kept at the Post-Office.

LONDON DISTRICT POSTS.

1. The London district comprises all places within a circle of twelve

miles from St. Martin's-le-Grand, including Cheshunt, Hampton, Hampton

Court, Sunbury, and the post towns of Barnet, Waltham Cross, Romford,

Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, and Hounslow.

2. There are ten postal districts, each of which is treated in many

respects as a separate post town. The names of the districts are as

follows, the initial letter or letters of the name forming the necessary

abbreviation to each, viz.:--East Central, West Central, Western,

South-Western, North-Western, Northern, North-Eastern, Eastern,

South-Eastern, and Southern.

3. The portion of each district within three miles of the General

Post-Office is designated the Town Delivery. Within the town limits

there are eleven deliveries of letters daily, the first or principal

commencing at 7.30 and generally concluded by 9 A.M.; the last delivery

commences at 7.45 P.M.; there being something like hourly deliveries

within the interval. Each town delivery occupies on an average

forty-five minutes. There are seven despatches daily to the suburban

districts.

4. As a general rule, the number of despatches from the suburban

districts is the same as the number of deliveries.

5. Information relative to the time of delivery and the time for each

despatch to the head office, and also from thence to the provinces, is

afforded at each town and suburban receiving-house. At each of these

houses, several hundreds in number, stamps are sold, letters are

registered, and separate boxes are provided for "London District" and

"General Post" letters.

THE "POSTE RESTANTE" AT THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE.

6. The "Poste Restante" arrangements for London are somewhat different

to those in the provinces; but like the latter they are meant to

provide for strangers and travellers who have no permanent abode in

London,--residents in London not being allowed the privilege.

7. Letters addressed to "initials" cannot be received; if so addressed

they are returned to their writers through the Returned Letter-Office.

8. Letters addressed "Post-Office, London," or "Poste Restante," are

delivered only at the Poste Restante Office, on the south side of the

hall of the General Post-Office, between the hours of 9 A.M. and 5 P.M.

9. All persons applying for letters at the Poste Restante must be

prepared to give the necessary particulars to the clerk on duty, in

order to prevent mistakes, and to insure the delivery of the letters to

the persons to whom they properly belong. If the applicant be a subject

of the United Kingdom (and subjects of states not issuing passports are

regarded as British subjects), he must be able to state from what

place or district he expects letters, and produce some proof of

identification; and if he sends for his letters the messenger must be

supplied with this information, as well as show a written authority to

receive them. If the applicant be a foreigner, he must produce his

passport; or should he send for his letters, the messenger must take it

with him.

FOOTNOTES:

[206] The average weight of inland letters is now about a quarter of an

ounce; that of colonial letters about a third of an ounce; of a foreign

letter also about a quarter of an ounce. The average weight of

newspapers is about three ounces, and of book-packets ten ounces.

[207] With charges extremely low, the Post-Office is victimized by all

kinds of craftiness. The dodging of the proper payment is sometimes

quite ludicrous. Hundreds of newspapers, for instance, are annually

caught (and we may reasonably assume that thousands more escape) with

short loving messages deftly inscribed between their paragraphs of type,

or letters, different descriptions of light articles, and even money

curiously imbedded in their folds. Almost everybody might tell of some

adventure of this kind in his experience not only before penny-postage,

but even after it.

[208] Moneys accruing to the revenue from lapsed orders are allowed to

go into a fund for assisting officers of the Post-Office to pay their

premiums on life assurance policies. No officer, however, can be

assisted to pay for a policy exceeding 300_l._

[209] This prohibition does not extend to Christmas gratuities.

APPENDIX (C).

INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENTS IN THE POST-OFFICE SERVICE.

All candidates for appointment in the Post-Office, whether to places in

the gift of the Postmaster-General, or to those in provincial towns in

the gift of the respective postmasters, must pass the stipulated

examination prescribed by Government, and which is conducted under the

auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners in London.

I. Candidates for clerkships in the Secretary's Office, London, must

pass an examination on the following subjects, viz.[210]:--

1. Exercise designed to test handwriting and composition.

2. Arithmetic (higher branches, including vulgar and decimal

fractions).

3. Precis.

4. A Continental language, French or German, &c.[211]

II. Candidates for general clerkships in the Metropolitan Offices are

examined in[210]--

1. Writing from dictation.

2. Exercise to test orthography and composition.

3. Arithmetic (higher rules).

III. Candidates for the place of letter-carrier, &c.

1. Writing from dictation.

2. Reading manuscript.

3. Arithmetic (elementary).

All officers nominated to places in provincial offices must be

examined by the postmaster, under the auspices of the Civil Service

Commissioners, the examination-papers to be in all cases submitted to

the Commissioners for inspection and judgment.

IV. For clerks, the examination consists in

1. Exercises designed to test handwriting and orthography.

2. Arithmetic.

V. For sorters, letter-carriers, and stampers:--

1. Writing from dictation.

2. Reading manuscript.

3. Arithmetic (of an easy kind).

VI. For messengers:--

1. Writing their names and addresses.

2. Reading the addresses of letters.

3. Adding a few figures together.

No person under sixteen years of age is eligible for any situation in

the Post-Office.

Candidates for clerkships in London must be under twenty-four years of

age but not under seventeen. The stipulated age in the country is from

seventeen to twenty-eight.

No one is eligible for an appointment who has been dismissed the Civil

Service.

No one is eligible who is connected, directly or indirectly, with the

management of an inn or public-house.

Sorters, stampers, or railway messengers must not be under 5ft. 3in.

high in their stockings.

All officers appointed to the London Office must pass a medical

examination before the medical officer of the Department. A special

examination after probation is required from those appointed to the

travelling post-offices. In the country, candidates must provide a

medical certificate to the effect that they enjoy good health.

Sorters and letter-carriers may be promoted to clerkships.

Persons of either sex are eligible for appointment in provincial

offices.

Letter-carriers are provided with uniforms.

Post-office officials are assisted, at the rate of about 20 per cent. in

payment of premiums for life assurance. They are also entitled to

superannuation allowance, according to their length of service. Clerks

in the General Post-Office are allowed a month's, and sorters,

letter-carriers, &c., a fortnight's, leave of absence each year.

Clerks, sorters, &c. in the provinces are allowed leave of absence for a

fortnight in each year.

Postmasters in the country and officers in the General Post-Offices must

give security to the Postmaster-General for the faithful discharge of

their duties, in amounts calculated according to the responsible nature

of the appointment. A guarantee office[212] or two sureties are taken.

The clerks, &c. in the country offices are required to give security in

the same manner to the postmasters who may have appointed them.

After the preliminary examinations have been passed successfully, each

new officer, before commencing duty, is required to make a declaration

before a magistrate, to the effect that he will not open, or delay, or

cause or suffer to be delayed, any letter or packet to which he may have

access. He is then put on _probation_ for a term of six months, after

which period, if able to perform all the duties required of him, he

receives a permanent appointment.

Promotion from class to class in the Post-Office is now, as a rule,

regulated by seniority of service--a much more satisfactory arrangement

to the whole body of officers than the system of promotion by merit

which it has just superseded.

Heads of departments, postmasters, and all other officers employed in

the Post-Office, are prohibited by law, under heavy penalties, from

voting or interfering in elections for members of parliament.

No officer of the Post-Office can be _compelled_ to serve as mayor,

sheriff, common councilman, or in any public office, either corporate or

parochial; nor can he be compelled to serve as a juror or in the

militia.

FOOTNOTES:

[210] This examination is for third-class clerks only. Vacancies are

filled up in the first and second classes from the third without any

further examination.

[211] Clerks in the Solicitor's Office are examined also in

conveyancing, and in the general principles of equity and common law.

[212] A Post-Office Mutual Guarantee Fund, suggested by Mr. Banning, the

postmaster of Liverpool, is in active operation in London, and deserves

mention. By means of this fund many officers of the Post-Office have

been relieved from the necessity of providing personal securities, or of

paying yearly sums to some guarantee office. Any clerk in London who may

wish to join _deposits_ the sum of 10_s._, and letter-carriers 5_s._

These deposits are invested in the name of trustees in Government

securities. There are at present nearly 3,000 subscribers, with an

invested capital of 900_l._ Last year there were no demands at all on

the fund except payments to members leaving the service, who not only

draw out their original deposits, but are entitled to receive back a

proportionate amount of interest after defaults have been paid.

APPENDIX (D).

APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICE IN LONDON. (_Extracted from the

Estimates of 1864-5._)

In all cases marked thus * the present holders of office, or some of

them, receive additional allowances, either on account of length of

service, compensation, as paid on some previous _scale_ of salary, or

for extra work.

----------+----------------------+-------------------------------------

_Number_ | | _Salary of Office._

_of_ | _Designation._ +-----------+------------+------------

_Persons._| | _Minimum | _Annual | _Maximum

| |per Annum._|Increment._ |per Annum._

----------+----------------------+-----------+------------+------------

| | £ | £ _s._ | £

1 | Postmaster-General | -- | -- | 2,500

1 | Secretary | 1,500 |after 5 yrs | 2,000

2 | Assistant | 700 | 50 0 | 1,000

| Secretaries* | | |

| | | |

|_Secretary's Office._ | | |

| | | |

1 | Chief Clerk | 600 | 25 0 | 800

|{Principal Clerk } | | |

1 |{for Foreign and } | 600 | 25 0 | 800

|{Colonial Business*} | | |

11 | First-class Clerks:--| | |

| 4 First Section | 500 | 25 0 | 600

| 7 Second Section* | 400 | 20 0 | 500

4 | Senior Clerks | -- | -- | 440

19 | Second-class Clerks* | 260 | 15 0 | 380

16 | Third-class Clerks | 120 | 10 0 | 240

11 | Supplementary Clerks | 80 | 5 0 | 150

10 | Probationary Clerks | | |

| at 5_s._ a day | | |

| | | |

|_Solicitor's Office._ | | |

1 | Solicitor | -- | -- | 1,500

1 | Assistant Solicitor | -- | -- | 800

1 | Second-class Clerk | 260 | 15 0 | 380

2 | Third-class Clerks | 120 | 10 0 | 240

1 | Fourth-class Clerk | 80 | 5 0 | 150

| | | |

| _Mail Office._ | | |

| | | |

1 | Inspector-General* | 600 | 25 0 | 800

1 | Deputy | | |

| Inspector-General | 500 | 20 0 | 600

1 |{Principal Clerk of } | 400 | 20 0 | 500

|{ Stationary Branch} | | |

| | | |

1 |{Principal Clerk of } | 350 | 20 0 | 450

|{ Travelling Branch} | | |

| | | |

3 | First-class Clerks | 260 | 10 0 | 350

6 | Second-class Clerks* | 180 | 7 10 | 240

12 | Third-class Clerks | 80 | 5 0 | 150

5 | Inspectors of Mails | 300 | 20 0 | 500

| Allowance of 15_s._| | |

| a day when | | |

| travelling. | | |

| | | |

| _Travelling | | |

| Post-Office._ | | |

| | | |

8 | First-class Clerks | 260 | 10 0 | 350

15 | Second-class Clerks | 180 | 7 10 | 240

30 | Third-class Clerks | 80 | 5 0 | 150

141 | Sorters:-- | | |

| 10 First-class |40s. a wk. | 2 12 | 50s. a wk.

| 19 Second-class |32s. " | 2 12 | 38s. "

| 38 Third-class |25s. " | 2 12 | 30s. "

| 74 Fourth-class |18s. " | 2 12 | 25s. "

| Clerks in this | | |

| office are also | | |

| allowed travelling | | |

| allowances at the | | |

| rate of 5s. a | | |

| trip; sorters, 3s. | | |

| a trip | | |

| | | |

1 |{Supervisor of Mails'}| | |

|{ Bag Apparatus }| -- | -- | 290

| | | |

| _Receiver and | | |

| Accountant-General's | | |

| Office._ | | |

| | | |

1 |{Receiver and }| 600 | 25 0 | 800

|{ Accountant-General*}| | |

| | | |

1 | Chief Examiner* | 475 | 20 0 | 575

1 | Cashier* | 475 | 20 0 | 575

1 |Principal Book-keeper*| 425 | 20 0 | 525

11 | First Class Clerks:--| | |

| 5 First Section | 310 | 15 0 | 400

| 6 Second Section* | 260 | 10 0 | 350

17 | Second-class Clerks* | 180 | 7 10 | 240

22 | Third-class Clerks | 80 | 5 0 | 150

| | | |

|_Money-Order Office._ | | |

| | | |

1 | Controller* | 500 | 25 0 | 750

1 | Chief Clerk* | 400 | 20 0 | 550

1 | Examiner* | 375 | 15 0 | 450

1 | Book-keeper* | 375 | 15 0 | 450

13 | First-class Clerks:--| | |

| 4 First Section | 365 | 15 0 | 400

| 9 Second Section | 260 | 10 0 | 350

52 | Second-class Clerks | 180 | 7 10 | 240

55 | Third-class Clerks | 80 | 5 0 | 150

6 | Probationary Clerks | | |

| 5_s._ per day | | |

| | | |

| _Circulation | | |

| Department._ | | |

| | | |

1 | Controller* | 600 | 25 0 | 800

1 | Vice-Controller* | 500 | 20 0 | 600

3 | Sub-Controllers | 450 | 20 0 | 600

16 | Deputy Controllers | 350 | 15 0 | 500

40 | First-class Clerks* | 260 | 10 0 | 350

80 | Second-class Clerks* | 180 | 7 10 | 240

118 | Third-class Clerks* | 80 | 5 0 | 150

| {First-class } | | |

7 | { Inspectors of } | 210 | 10 0 | 300

| { Letter-carriers } | | |

| | | |

15 | Second-class ditto | 150 | 7 10 | 200

20 | Third-class ditto | 110 | 5 10 | 145

2,356 | Sorters, Messengers, | | |

| &c. viz.-- | | |

| Sorters: | | |

| 100 1st Class | 40s. a wk.| 2 12 | 50s. a wk.

| 450 2d Class | 24s. " | 2 12 | 38s. "

| Messengers: | | |

| 20 " | 21s. " | 2 12 | 40s. "

| Stampers 60 1st Class| 28s. " | 2 12 | 35s. "

| " 199 2d Class| 21s. " | 2 12 | 27s. "

| Letter-carriers: | | |

| 330 1st Class* | 26s. " | 2 12 | 30s. "

| 962 2d Class* | 20s. " | 2 12 | 25s. "

| | | |

| _Surveyors' | | |

| Department._ | | |

| | | |

13 | Surveyors* | 500 | 25 0 | 700

32 | Surveyors' Clerks:-- | | |

| 13 First Class* | 300 | 20 0 | 400

| 19 Second Class* | 200 | 10 0 | 300

13 | Stationary Clerks | 80 | 5 0 | 150

----------+----------------------+-----------+------------+------------

The surveyors have travelling allowances at the rate of 20_s._ per diem;

surveyors' clerks, 15_s._ per diem; clerks in charge, 10_s._ and 7_s._

per diem. The whole are also allowed actual expenses of locomotion.

PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICES OF DUBLIN AND EDINBURGH.

(_Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5._)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

| | _Salary of Office._

_Number| |--------------------------------

of | _Designation _ | _Minimum | _Annual | _Maximum

Persons_| |per Annum_|Increment_|per Annum_

--------|-----------------------------|----------|----------|----------

| | | |

| _DUBLIN_ | £ | £ _s._ | £

| | | |

1 |Secretary | 700 | 50 0 | 1,000

1 |Chief Clerk | 500 | 20 0 | 600

2 |First-class Clerks | 300 | 15 0 | 400

4 |Second-class Clerks | 140 | 10 0 | 300

1 |Solicitor | -- | -- | 1,000

1 |Accountant* | 500 | 20 0 | 600

1 |Examiner* | 325 | 20 0 | 425

1 |Controller of Sorting Office | 400 | 20 0 | 500

4 |Deputy Controllers | 280 | 10 0 | 350

| | | |

| _General Body of Clerks._ | | |

| | | |

13 |First-class Clerks* | 200 | 10 0 | 300

39 |Second-class Clerks | 125 | 7 10 | 180

14 |Supplementary Clerks | 70 | 5 0 | 120

1 |Inspector of Letter-carriers | 125 | 7 10 | 200

1 |Medical Officer | -- | -- | 200

| | | |

| _EDINBURGH._ | | |

| | | |

1 |Secretary | 700 | 50 0 | 1,000

1 |Chief Clerk | 500 | 20 0 | 600

2 |First-class Clerks | 300 | 15 0 | 400

3 |Second-class Clerks | 140 | 10 0 | 300

1 |Solicitor | -- | -- | 400

1 |Accountant* | 500 | 20 0 | 600

1 |Examiner* | 325 | 20 0 | 425

1 |Controller of Sorting Office | 450 | 20 0 | 550

3 |Deputy Controllers | 280 | 10 0 | 350

1 |Inspector of Letter-carriers | 125 | 7 10 | 200

1 |Medical Officer | -- | -- | 150

| | | |

| _General Body of Clerks._ | | |

| | | |

12 |First-class Clerks | 200 | 10 0 | 300

30 |Second-class Clerks | 125 | 7 10 | 180

9 |Probationary Clerks, | | |

| 5s. a day | | |

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

APPOINTMENTS, WITH SALARIES, OF THE FIVE PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL

ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

(_Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5._)

--------+---------------------+--------+----------------------------------

Number | |Poundage| Salary of Office.

of |Designations. |allowed.|-----------+---------+------------

--------+---------------------+--------+-----------+---------+------------

| | | | |

|_Liverpool Office._ | £ | £ | £ s. d.| £

| | | | |

1 |Postmaster | 730 | -- | -- | 1,000

1 |Chief Clerk | -- | 400 |20 0 0 | 500

2 |Principal Clerks | -- | 200 |10 0 0 | 300

1 |{Controller of} | -- | 300 |10 0 0 | 400

|{Sorting Office} | | | |

5 |Assistant Controllers| -- | 200 | 5 0 0 | 250

1 |{Inspector of } | | | |

|{Letter-carriers} | -- | 125 | 7 10 0 | 200

2 |Assistant Inspectors | -- | 80 | 5 0 0 | 120

8 |First-class Clerks | -- | 150 | 5 0 0 | 200

16 |Second-class Clerks | -- | 100 | 4 0 0 | 140

15 |Third-class Clerks | -- | 60 | 3 0 0 | 100

23 |First-class Sorters | -- |31s. a week| 2 12 0 |35s. a week.

23 |Second-class Sorters | -- |26s. " | 2 12 0 |30s. "

46 |Third-class Sorters | -- |22s. " | 1 6 0 |25s. "

93 |Fourth-class Sorters | -- |18s. " | 1 6 0 |21s. "

|{Allowance to a } | -- | -- | -- |90l. a-year.

|{Medical Officer} | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

1 |Postmaster | 790 | -- | -- | 700

1 |Chief Clerk | -- | -- | -- | 450

5 |Principal Clerks | -- | 200 | 7 10 0 | 250

5 |First-class Clerks | -- | 150 | 5 0 0 | 200

10 |Second-class Clerks | -- | 100 | 5 0 0 | 150

|Medical Officer | -- | -- | -- | 80

1 |{Inspector of } | | | |

|{Letter-carriers} | -- | 150 | 7 10 0 | 200

2 |Assistant ditto | -- | 80 | 5 0 0 | 120

20 | First-class | -- |31s. a week| 3 18 0 |38s. a week.

37 | Second-class | -- |21s. " | 2 12 0 |30s. "

116 |Letter Carriers | -- |18s. " | 1 6 0 |23s. "

| | | | |

| | | | |

1 |Postmaster | 673 | -- | -- | 700

1 |{Controller of } | | | |

|{Sorting Office} | -- | 200 |10 0 0 | 300

5 |First-class Clerks | -- | 150 | 5 0 0 | 200

5 |Second-class Clerks | -- | 100 | 4 0 0 | 140

10 |Supplementary Clerks | | 60 | 3 0 0 | 100

1 |{Inspector of } | | | |

|{Letter-carriers} | -- | 125 | 7 0 0 | 200

|{Assistant } | | | |

2 |{Inspectors of } | -- | 80 | 5 0 0 | 120

|{Letter-carriers} | | | |

10 |First-class Sorters | -- |31s. a week| 2 12 0 |35s. a week.

24 |Second-class Sorters | -- |26s. " | 2 12 0 |30s. "

29 |Third-class Sorters | -- |22s. " | 1 6 0 |25s. "

66 |Fourth-class Sorters | -- |18s. " | 1 6 0 |21s. "

97 |{Auxiliary } | | | |

|{Letter-carriers} | -- | -- | -- | 6s. "

|{Allowance to } | | | |

|{Medical Officer} | -- | -- | -- | 90

| | | | |

| | | | |

1 |Postmaster | 500 | -- | -- | 700

3 |Chief Clerks | -- | 150 | 5 0 0 | 230

2 |Clerks | -- | 150 | 5 0 0 | 200

12 |Ditto | -- | 60 | 5 0 0 | 140

1 |{Inspector of } | | | |

|{Letter-carriers} | -- | 125 | 7 10 0 | 180

|{Assistant } | | | |

1 |{Inspector of } | | | |

|{Letter-carriers } | -- | 80 | 5 0 0 | 120

25 |Sorters | -- |21s. a week| 2 10 0 |35s. a week.

20 |{Third-class } | | | |

|{Letter-carriers} | -- |22s. " | 1 6 0 |25s. "

48 |{Fourth-class } | -- |18s. " | 1 6 0 |21s. "

|{Letter-carriers} | | | |

6 |{Temporary } | -- | -- | -- |18s. "

|{Letter-carriers} | | | |

5 |Auxiliaries | -- | -- | -- |10s.6d. "

1 |Medical Officer | -- | -- | -- |60l. a year.

| | | | |

| | | | |

1 |Postmaster | 325 | -- | -- | 600

1 |Chief Clerk | -- | 200 |10 0 0 | 300

2 |First-class Clerks | -- | 150 | 5 0 0 | 200

7 |Second-class Clerks | -- | 100 | 4 0 0 | 140

8 |{Supplementary} | -- | 60 | 3 0 0 | 100

|{Clerks } |

1 |{Inspector of } | | | |

|{Letter-Carriers} | -- | 110 | 5 0 0 | 140

9 |First-class Sorters | -- |27s. a week| 2 12 0 |33s. a week.

12 |Second-class Sorters | -- |23s. " | 1 6 0 |26s. "

10 |Third-class Sorters | -- |19s. " | 1 6 0 |22s. "

24 |Fourth-class Sorters | -- |16s. " | 1 6 0 |18s. "

28 |Auxiliaries | -- | -- | -- |10s. 6d. "

1 |Medical Officer | -- | -- | -- |50l. a year.

--------+---------------------+--------+-----------+---------+------------

INFORMATION RESPECTING OTHER PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL POST OFFICES.

------------------+----------+--------+------+-----------+-------------

| | | | |for 1864-5.

------------------+----------+--------+------+-----------+-------------

| £ | £ | | | £

Bath | 450 | 155 | 7 | 80 | 4,997

Brighton | 500 | 210 | 8 | 36 | 3,357

Birkenhead | 350 | 74 | 6 | 30 | 2,652

Carlisle | 300 | 68 | 6 | 45 | 3,138

Derby | 300 | 110 | 5 | 42 | 3,449

Exeter | 500 | 145 | 13 | 104 | 6,185

Gloucester | 300 | 72 | 6 | 29 | 2,404

Hull | 450 | 200 | 15 | 63 | 4,887

Leeds | 450 | 280 | 12 | 86 | 7,265

Newcastle-on-Tyne| 450 | 240 | 9 | 54 | 4,318

Norwich | 380 | 118 | 6 | 68 | 4,453

Oxford | 331 | 72 | 8 | 23 | 2,362

Plymouth | 332 | 105 | 6 | 37 | 2,648

Portsmouth | 360 | 118 | 5 | 23 | 2,104

Preston | 300 | 105 | 6 | 43 | 2,995

Sheffield | 400 | 215 | 17 | 57 | 4,708

Shrewsbury | 400 | 95 | 8 | 68 | 4,830

Southampton | 450 | 160 | 8 | 52 | 4,415

Worcester | 320 | 70 | 7 | 40 | 2,514

York | 400 | 125 | 11 | 70 | 5,059

| | | | |

Belfast | 340 | 116 | 6 | 47 | 3,407

Cork | 340 | 105 | 6 | 39 | 2,719

| | | | |

Aberdeen | 400 | 146 | 10 | 55 | 3,545

Dundee | 230 | 109 | 5 | 30 | 2,038

Greenock | 300 | 100 | 7 | 40 | 2,692

------------------+----------+--------+------+-----------+-------------

FOOTNOTES:

[213] On the sale of postage-stamps.

APPENDIX (E).

AMOUNT OF POSTAGE (including Postage-Stamps sold by the Post-Office and

by the Office of Inland Revenue) during the years 1861 and 1862 at those

Towns in the United Kingdom where the amount was largest.

+---------------------+------------- -+----------------+

| | 1861 | 1862 |

+---------------------+------------- -+----------------+

| | | |

| _ENGLAND._ | £ | £ |

| | | |

| Bath | 17,795 | 18,433 |

| Birmingham | 48,818 | 50,272 |

| Bradford, Yorkshire | 17,098 | 19,640 |

| Brighton | 21,945 | 22,579 |

| Bristol | 33,865 | 35,720 |

| Cheltenham | 11,834 | 12,315 |

| Exeter | 16,334 | 16,739 |

| Hull | 20,561 | 20,819 |

| Leeds | 30,641 | 32,736 |

| Leicester | 10,420 | 11,238 |

| Liverpool | 115,268 | 117,676 |

| London | 979,662[214] | 1,033,268[215] |

| Manchester | 102,263 | 98,650 |

| Newcastle-on-Tyne | 24,844 | 25,998 |

| Norwich | 12,740 | 12,997 |

| Nottingham | 12,237 | 13,376 |

| Plymouth | 11,520 | 11,493 |

| Sheffield | 20,364 | 21,188 |

| Southampton | 15,182 | 15,852 |

| York | 13,368 | 13,850 |

| | | |

| _IRELAND._ | | |

| | | |

| Belfast | 18,431 | 19,189 |

| Cork | 13,418 | 13,568 |

| Dublin | 67,458 | 65,199 |

| | | |

| _SCOTLAND._ | | |

| | | |

| Aberdeen | 15,283 | 16,326 |

| Edinburgh | 73,863 | 74,569 |

| Glasgow | 70,476 | 73,809 |

+---------------------+------------- -+----------------+

FOOTNOTES:

[214] Including £163,837 for postage charged on Public Departments.

[215] Including £149,202 for postage charged on Public Departments.

APPENDIX (F).

CONVEYANCE OF MAILS BY RAILWAY.

(_Estimates_ 1863-4).

_Conveyance of Mails by Railway _Amount required

in England and Wales, viz._:-- for_ 1864-5.

By the Birkenhead Railway 2,500

" Bristol and Exeter 9,875

" Chester and Holyhead 30,200

" Cockermouth and Workington 104

" Colne Valley 15

" Cowes and Newport 23

" Cornwall 5,500

" Great Northern 9,877

" Great Western 49,829

" Great Eastern 21,367

" Knighton 120

" Lancaster and Carlisle 18,206

" Lancashire and Yorkshire 6,900

" Leominster and Kington 300

" Llanelly 40

" London, Brighton, and South Coast 1,890

" London, Chatham, and Dover 94

" London and North Western 82,416

" London and South Western 21,620

" Manchester and Altrincham 60

" Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire 2,600

" Maryport and Carlisle 841

" Midland 35,190

" Monmouthshire 91

" London, Tilbury, and Southend 25

" North Eastern 39,177

" North Staffordshire 712

" North Union 4,878

" Oystermouth 40

" Oldham and Guide Bridge 20

" Seaham and Sunderland 70

" Shrewsbury and Hereford 2,031

" Shrewsbury, Borth, &c. 2,180

" Shropshire Union Railway 2,085

" South Devon 7,479

" South Eastern 23,635

" South Staffordshire 45

" South Yorkshire 18

" Stockton and Darlington 1,311

" Taff Vale 1,000

" Tenbury 8

" West Cornwall 1,500

" West Hartlepool 17

" Whitehaven Junction 364

" Allowance for probable variation of Awards or

Agreements 19,313

--------

405,566

The Irish Railway Service (the principal recipients being

the Great Southern and Western £30,982, Midland

and Great Western £15,208, Belfast and

Dublin Junction £5,917, Dublin and Drogheda,

£4,485) requires 86,833

The Scotch Railway Service (the principal items being the

Caledonian £28,497, the Scottish Central £13,068,

the Scottish North Eastern £12,000, and the

Great North of Scotland £7,584) requires 79,754

--------

Total for conveyance of Mails by Railway £564,102

APPENDIX (G).

MANUFACTURE OF POSTAGE-LABELS AND ENVELOPES.

(_From the Estimates of 1864-5._)

--------+--------------------------------------------------+---------

_Number | |_ Amount

of | |required

Persons | | for_

| | 1864-5.

--------+--------------------------------------------------+---------

| | £

1 | Controller | 500

1 | Assistant-Controller | 300

1 | Assistant-Superintendent of Postage Stamping | 200

1 | Clerk | 120

1 | Superintendent of Printing Label-stamps | 175

1 | " Perforating " | 100

1 | Foreman of Embossing Machines, 42_s._ per week | 109

1 | Packer, at 25_s._ per week | 65

3 | Tellers, from 18_s._ to 30_s._ per week | 211

6 | Assistant-Telling Boys, from 7_s._ to 12_s._ per |

| week | 127

24 | Boys for working Machines, from 4_s._ to 12_s._ |

| per week | 433

| Allowance to the Accountant's Department for |

| keeping the Accounts, to the Receiver- |

| General's and to the Warehouse-keeper's |

| Departments | 1,050

| | ------

| Total Salaries, &c. | 3,390

| |

| Poundage to Distributors and Sub-Distributors | 4,600

| Paper for Labels and Envelopes, Printing |

| and Gumming Labels, and Folding and |

| Gumming Envelopes | 18,500

| Postage and Carriage of Parcels | 450

| Tradesmen's Bills | 400

| Miscellaneous Expenses | 500

| Estimate of additional expenditure for increase |

| of business | nil.

| | ------

| Total amount required for the |

-- | Manufacture of Postage-Labels |

41 | and Envelopes | 27,840

--------+--------------------------------------------------+---------

APPENDIX (H).

The following important document, published by Sir Rowland Hill on his

resignation of the Secretaryship of the Post-Office, and circulated

privately, is deserving of careful study, as giving the results of the

penny-postage reform up to the latest date:--

RESULTS OF POSTAL REFORM.

Before stating the results of postal reform, it may be convenient

that I should briefly enumerate the more important organic

improvements effected. They are as follows:--

1. A very large reduction in the rates of postage on all

correspondence, whether inland, foreign, or colonial. As instances

in point, it may be stated that letters are now conveyed from any

part of the United Kingdom to any other part--even from the Channel

Islands to the Shetland Isles--at one-fourth of the charge

previously levied on letters passing between post towns only a few

miles apart;[216] and that the rate formerly charged for this slight

distance, viz. fourpence--now suffices to carry a letter from any

part of the United Kingdom to any part of France, Algeria included.

2. The adoption of charge by weight, which, by abolishing the charge

for mere enclosures, in effect largely extended the reduction of

rates.

3. Arrangements which have led to the almost universal resort to

prepayment of correspondence, and that by means of stamps.

4. The simplification of the mechanism and accounts of the

Department generally by the above and other means.

5. The establishment of the book-post (including in its operation

all printed and much MS. matter) at very low rates, and its modified

extension to our colonies and to many foreign countries.

6. Increased security in the transmission of valuable letters

afforded, and temptation to the letter-carriers and others greatly

diminished, by reducing the registration fee from 1_s._ to 4_d._, by

making registration of letters containing coin compulsory, and by

other means.

7. A reduction to about one-third in the cost--including postage--of

money-orders, combined with a great extension and improvement of the

system.

8. More frequent and more rapid communication between the metropolis

and the larger provincial towns, as also between one provincial town

and another.

9. A vast extension of the rural distribution--many thousands of

places, and probably some millions of inhabitants, having, for the

first time, been included within the postal system.

10. A great extension of free deliveries. Before the adoption of

penny postage many considerable towns, and portions of nearly all

the larger towns, had either no delivery at all, or deliveries on

condition of an extra charge.

11. Greatly increased facilities afforded for the transmission of

foreign and colonial correspondence, by improved treaties with

foreign countries, by a better arrangement of the packet service, by

sorting on board, and other means.

12. A more prompt despatch of letters when posted, and a more prompt

delivery on arrival.

13. The division of London and its suburbs into ten postal

districts, by which, and other measures, communication within the

twelve-miles circle has been greatly facilitated, and the most

important delivery of the day has, generally speaking, been

accelerated as much as two hours.

14. Concurrently with these improvements, the condition of the

_employés_ has been materially improved; their labours, especially

on the Sunday, having been very generally reduced, their salaries

increased, their chances of promotion augmented, and other important

advantages afforded them.

RESULTS.

My pamphlet on "Post-Office Reform" was written in the year 1836.

During the preceding twenty years, viz. from 1815 to 1835 inclusive,

_there was no increase whatever in the Post-Office revenue, whether

gross or net_, and therefore, in all probability, none in the number

of letters; and though there was a slight increase in the revenue,

and doubtless in the number of letters, between 1835 and the

establishment of penny postage early in 1840--an increase chiefly

due, in my opinion, to the adoption of part of my plan, viz. the

establishment of day mails to and from London--yet, during the whole

period of twenty-four years immediately preceding the adoption of

penny postage, the revenue, whether gross or net, and the number of

letters, were, in effect, stationary.

Contrast with this the rate of increase under the new system, which

has been in operation during a period of about equal length. In the

first year of penny postage the letters more than doubled; and

though since then the increase has, of course, been less rapid, yet

it has been so steady that, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of

trade, every year, without exception, has shown a considerable

advance on the preceding year, and the first year's number is now

nearly quadrupled. As regards revenue, there was, of course, at

first a large falling off--about a million in gross, and still more

in net revenue. Since then, however, the revenue, whether gross or

net, has rapidly advanced, till now it even exceeds its former

amount, the rate of increase, both of letters and revenue, still

remaining undiminished.

In short, a comparison of the year 1863 with 1838 (the last complete

year under the old system) shows that the number of chargeable

letters has risen from 76,000,000 to 642,000,000; and that the

revenue, at first so much impaired, has not only recovered its

original amount, but risen, the gross from 2,346,000_l._ to about

3,870,000_l._ and the net from 1,660,000_l._ to about

1,790,000_l._[217]

The expectations I held out before the change were, that eventually,

under the operation of my plans, the number of letters would

increase fivefold, the gross revenue would be the same as before,

while the net revenue would sustain a loss of about 300,000_l._ The

preceding statement shows that the letters have increased, not

fivefold, but nearly eight and a half fold; that the gross revenue,

instead of remaining the same, has increased by about 1,500,000_l._;

while the net revenue, instead of falling 300,000_l._, has risen

more than 100,000_l._

While the revenue of the Post-Office has thus more than recovered

its former amount, the indirect benefit to the general revenue of

the country, arising from the greatly increased facilities afforded

to commercial transactions, though incapable of exact estimate, must

be very large. Perhaps it is not too much to assume that, all things

considered, the vast benefit of cheap, rapid, and extended postal

communication has been obtained, even as regards the past, without

fiscal loss. For the future, there must be a large and

ever-increasing gain.

The indirect benefit referred to above is partly manifested in the

development of the money-order system, under which, since the year

1839, the annual amount transmitted has risen from 313,000_l._ to

16,494,000_l._--that is, fifty-two fold.

An important collateral benefit of the new system is to be found in

the cessation of that contraband conveyance which once prevailed so

far that habitual breach of the postal law had become a thing of

course.

It may be added, that the organization thus so greatly improved and

extended for postal purposes stands available for other objects, and

passing over minor matters, has already been applied with great

advantage to the new system of savings' banks.

Lastly, the improvements briefly referred to above, with all their

commercial, educational, and social benefits, have now been adopted,

in greater or less degree--and that through the mere force of

example--by the whole civilized world.

I cannot conclude this summary without gratefully acknowledging the

cordial co-operation and zealous aid afforded me in the discharge of

my arduous duties. I must especially refer to many among the

superior officers of the Department--men whose ability would do

credit to any service, and whose zeal could not be greater if their

object were private instead of public benefit.

ROWLAND HILL.

HAMPSTEAD,

_Feb. 23rd, 1864_.

R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, LONDON.

FOOTNOTES:

[216] When my plan was published, the lowest General Post rate was

fourpence; but while the plan was under the consideration of Government

the rate between post towns not more than eight miles asunder was

reduced from fourpence to twopence.

[217] In this comparison of revenue, the mode of calculation in use

before the adoption of penny-postage has of course been retained--that

is to say, the cost of the packets on the one hand, and the produce of

the impressed newspaper stamps on the other, have been excluded. The

amounts for 1863 are, to some extent, estimated, the accounts not having

as yet been fully made up.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

A missing reference to footnote [83] was inserted.

The following is a list of changes made to the original.

The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one.

been the permanent arrangements for the transmision of the

been the permanent arrangements for the transmission of the

Nothwithstanding the losses he must have suffered

Notwithstanding the losses he must have suffered

wafer or wax, or even if totally unfastened by either. "At

wafer or wax, or even if totally unfastened by either. At

rusely no argument against a State monopoly of letter-carrying.

surely no argument against a State monopoly of letter-carrying.

Rev. Sydn Smith, Mr. McCullagh.

Rev. Sydney Smith, Mr. McCullagh.

it might be desirable, but impracticable" (10,939). "Most

it might be "desirable, but impracticable" (10,939). "Most

offices; (3) a hourly delivery of letters instead of one every

offices; (3) an hourly delivery of letters instead of one every

vender, and how trade--retail at any rate--is fostered by it.

vendor, and how trade--retail at any rate--is fostered by it.

the parties concerned, but the depositor run the risk of

the parties concerned, but the depositor ran the risk of

Thus, letters addressed to Newport should alway give the

Thus, letters addressed to Newport should always give the

A singular accident befel one of these letter-boxes (1862) in Montrose.

A singular accident befell one of these letter-boxes (1862) in Montrose.

every town and village in the kingdom, having any correpondence

every town and village in the kingdom, having any correspondence

Her Majesty's Mails An Historical and Descriptive Account of the British Post-Office · 第 12 / 12 章

We have already, in other parts of this book, offered an opinion on