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THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE IN
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
C. F. CLAY, MANAGER
LONDON: FETTER LANE, E.C. 4
[Illustration]
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
BOMBAY }
CALCUTTA } MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
MADRAS }
TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THE HISTORY
OF THE POST OFFICE IN
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
1639-1870
BY
WILLIAM SMITH
SOMETIME SECRETARY OF THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT OF CANADA
CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1920
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1,
AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.
PREFACE
My purpose, in the searches for material which led to the present
volume, has been to give as complete an account as it lay in my power to
do, of the beginnings and growth of the Canadian post office, with which
I was associated for thirty-six years. As my studies progressed,
however, I found it would be necessary to widen my field.
The Canadian post office did not come into being as an independent
organization. It was but the extension into newly-acquired territories,
of a system which had been in operation for nearly three-quarters of a
century, with well-established modes of administration. Obviously,
either reference should be made to well-known works on the older
colonial postal system, or an account of it must be attempted in this
volume.
Although careful studies of some aspects of this history have been made,
this part of colonial history has, on the whole, received less of the
attention of students than has been devoted to throwing light upon other
phases of that history; and, what was important for my purpose, little
has been done in the way of describing the relations between the
colonial postal system and the general post office in London, to which
it was subordinate.
The materials for this portion of the history are to be found in the
records of the general post office, London, the British Museum, and in
the journals of the colonial legislatures. A very interesting document
is Franklin's Account Book, which is in the Boston Public Library.
The materials for the history of the post office in the provinces now
composing the Dominion of Canada, are in the records of the general post
office, the larger portion of which have been transcribed for the Public
Archives of Canada; in the correspondence between the colonial governors
and the colonial office, which can be found either in the original or in
transcripts in the Public Archives, and in the Journals of the
Provincial Legislatures.
In the preparation of the chapter on the postal service of Newfoundland,
I had the advantage of a rather close acquaintance with that service,
due to my having had charge of it some years ago for a period of several
months. The material on which the chapter is founded has been gathered
from the records of the general post office, and the legislative papers
of the colony.
In collecting my material, I have received ready assistance from all to
whom I have applied. To all these my hearty gratitude is tendered. A
word of special acknowledgment is due to Mr. Edward Porritt, author of
_The Unreformed Parliament of Great Britain_, who kindly read the
manuscript, and to whose experience I am indebted for many valuable
suggestions.
WILLIAM SMITH.
_August 1920._
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I 1
Beginnings of postal service in former American colonies.
CHAPTER II 18
Colonial post office under Queen Anne's act--Early packet
service.
CHAPTER III 37
Communications in Canada prior to the Conquest--Extension
of colonial postal service to Canada--Effects of colonial
discontents on post office.
CHAPTER IV 58
The post office during the Revolution--Its suppression.
CHAPTER V 74
Beginnings of exclusively Canadian postal service--
Administration of Hugh Finlay--Opening of communication
with England by way of Halifax--Postal convention with
United States.
CHAPTER VI 96
Administration of George Heriot--Extension of postal service
in Upper Canada--Irritating restrictions imposed by general
post office--Disputes with the administrator of the colony.
CHAPTER VII 114
Administration of Daniel Sutherland--Postal service on the
Ottawa river, and to eastern townships--Ocean mails.
CHAPTER VIII 131
Postal conditions in Upper Canada--Serious abuses--Agitation
for provincial control.
CHAPTER IX 153
Thomas Allen Stayner deputy postmaster general--Restrictions
of general post office relaxed--Grievances of newspaper
publishers--Opinion of law officers of the crown that
postmaster general's stand is untenable--Consequences.
CHAPTER X 173
The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime
provinces--Complaints of newspaper publishers--Reception
given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances.
CHAPTER XI 193
Continuance of agitation in the Canadas for control of the
post office--Much information obtained by committees of
legislatures--Difficulty in giving effect to reforms.
CHAPTER XII 212
Durham's report on the post office--Effects of rebellion of
1837 on the service--Ocean steamships to carry the mails--The
Cunard contract--Reduction of Transatlantic postage.
CHAPTER XIII 230
Diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general--Commission
on post office appointed--Its report--Efforts to secure reduction
of postal charges.
CHAPTER XIV 243
Continuation of account of post office in Maritime provinces--
Departmental inquiry into conditions--Agitation for reduced
postage.
CHAPTER XV 263
Reversal of attitude of British government on post office
control--Instructions to Lord Elgin--Provincial postal
conference--Control of post office relinquished to colonies.
CHAPTER XVI 273
Provincial administration of the post office--Reduced postage--
Railway mail service--Arrangements with United States.
CHAPTER XVII 284
Canadian ocean mail service--Want of sympathy of British
government therewith.
CHAPTER XVIII 302
Canadian ocean mail service (_cont._)--Series of disasters to
Allan line steamers.
CHAPTER XIX 316
Postal service of Manitoba, the North-West Provinces and British
Columbia--Summary of progress since Confederation.
CHAPTER XX 333
The post office in Newfoundland.
INDEX 347
PORTRAITS
WILLIAM HENRY GRIFFIN, C.M.G. _To face page_ 273
WILLIAM WHITE, C.M.G. " 284
ROBERT MILLAR COULTER, M.D., C.M.G. " 326
HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
CHAPTER I
Beginnings of postal service in former American colonies.
Benjamin Franklin relates that when the news reached America in 1763
that peace had been concluded between England and France, he made
preparations to visit Canada, for the purpose of extending to it the
postal service of the North American colonies, and that the joy bells
were still ringing when he left Philadelphia on his journey northward.
Franklin has universal fame as a philosopher and statesman, but is
perhaps less widely known as one of the deputies of the postmaster
general of England. He had, however, a long and useful connection with
the post office a quarter of a century before this time. He was
appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737,[1] and for many years
combined the duties of this office with that of newspaper publisher. He
became deputy postmaster general in 1753.[2] Canada had been in the
hands of the British since 1760, and until a regular system of
government was established in 1764, its affairs were administered by a
military council, which among other matters provided a rudimentary
postal service. The merchants of Quebec were desirous of a regular post
office; and, owing to Franklin's promptness, the post office was the
first of the institutions of government which was placed on a settled
footing after Canada became a British province.
On arriving at Quebec, Franklin opened a post office there with
subordinate offices at Three Rivers and Montreal,[3] and established a
monthly service between the Canadian post offices and New York,
arranging the trips so that the courier should make as close connection
as possible with the packet boats which sailed monthly each way between
New York and Falmouth, England.
The postal system into which Canada was thus incorporated was of vast
extent. It stretched from the river St. Lawrence to Florida. New York
was its pivotal point, the mail couriers running north and south
connecting there with one another, and with the packets from England.
The system was under the control of two deputies, of equal authority,
one of whom was Franklin, and the other John Foxcroft. As this system
had a long history when Canada came to be comprised in it, it seems
essential to a proper presentation of the subject that a sketch of that
history should be furnished.
The first notice of a post office in North America appears in the
records of the general court of Massachusetts Bay for the year 1639. The
colony was just ten years old. Letters from home, always eagerly looked
for, were then awaited with double anxiety in view of the distracted
state of England.
King Charles was at this time midway in the course of his great
experiment in absolute government, which ten years before had driven
these people from their homes, and ten years later was to carry him to
the block.
Some effective arrangement for the exchange of correspondence between
New and Old England was a necessity. Until 1639 there was none. On the
English side, it was the practice for sea captains, who intended making
a trip to America, to give public notice of the fact, and to place a bag
for the reception of letters in one of the coffee houses. On the day of
sailing, the bag was closed and taken on board the vessel to America.
It was at this point that the scheme failed. There was no one in America
charged with the duty of receiving and distributing the letters; and
consequently, many letters were misdelivered, and many not delivered at
all. It was to provide a remedy for this state of things that an
ordinance[4] was passed on the 5th of November, 1639.
By this ordinance public notice was given that all letters from beyond
the seas were to be taken to the tavern kept by Richard Fairbank, in
Boston, who engaged that they should be delivered according to their
addresses. He was to receive a penny for every letter he delivered, and
was to answer for all miscarriages due to his neglect. The Fairbank's
tavern was a resort of some prominence. Through the correspondence of
the time, it appears as the meeting place for various committees of the
colony, and returns to the surveyor general were ordered to be made at
Fairbank's in 1645.
The ordinance of 1639, besides giving directions for the receipt and
delivery of letters coming to Boston from beyond the sea, also
authorized Fairbank to provide for the despatch of letters posted at his
house, and addressed to places abroad. He was licensed to receive
letters from the citizens of Boston for transmission across the sea; but
the ordinance laid it down carefully that "no man shall be compelled to
bring his letters thither unless he please."
This proviso is quite in keeping with the spirit of the time. At present
and for more than two centuries past, the exclusive right of the post
office to engage in the conveyance of letters is conceded without
question. But at that time, its claims to a monopoly in letter carrying
were contested on all sides.
Indeed anything presenting the appearance of a monopoly found small
favour. The natural jealousy with which every claim to exclusive
privilege is viewed, was heightened to the point of hatred during the
struggle for constitutional government, by the fact that trading
monopolies which were granted to courtiers, not only enhanced
unreasonably the price of many of the necessities of life, but also
furnished the means, which enabled the king to pursue his illegal and
arbitrary courses in defiance of parliament.
The privy council in England had adopted in 1635 a scheme for the
administration of the post office, one of the features of which was the
bestowal upon it of the sole right to carry on the business of conveying
and delivering letters in England. This was contested in the courts, and
in 1646 was pronounced illegal.
The claim had received an earlier blow at the hands of the long
parliament, which in 1642 condemned the post office monopoly. The
arguments for monopoly, however, were not long to be gainsaid; and when
Cromwell took up the question of the post office, and passed a
comprehensive act on the subject in 1656, the monopoly as regards the
conveyance of letters was conferred on the post office in express terms.
This act was confirmed after the Restoration in 1660; and the post
office has remained undisturbed in the enjoyment of its monopoly since
that date. In the North American colonies, the post office monopoly was
never popular, though, owing to the ease with which it was evaded, it
was regarded with indifference until close upon the war of the
Revolution.
In 1663, the English government began to see the necessity for a postal
service between England and its colonies in America. On the 1st of June
of that year, the king wrote to the governor of Barbados[5] that it had
become a matter of daily complaint that there was no safe means of
communication with Virginia, New England, Jamaica, Barbados and other
colonies in America; and he directed the governor to establish a post
office within Barbados and the Caribbee Islands.
The post office was to be under the control of the postmaster general of
England, to whom the accounts should be sent; and the rates of postage
were to be the same as those fixed for England by the act of 1660.
Nothing seems to have been done at this time towards establishing a post
office in either Virginia or New England.
So far as the interests and convenience of the people of New England
were concerned, these in no way suffered from the lack of attention on
the part of the home government. The coffee house on the one side, and
the tavern on the other, with the vessels passing between as often as
business warranted, answered every reasonable demand.
In Virginia it would not appear that the legislature at this period took
any steps towards providing a place of deposit and delivery, such as
Fairbank's, for letters passing between the colonists and their
correspondents beyond the sea. But the want of this convenience caused
little restriction on the exchange of letters by means of the trading
vessels which visited Jamestown.
New York contained the only other considerable group of settlers at this
time. It was a recent acquisition, having passed into the hands of the
English in 1664. The Dutch, the former possessors, had arrangements for
the exchange of letters with Amsterdam, not dissimilar from those in
force in New England. In 1652 the Dutch West India Company informed
their director general in New Amsterdam, that having observed that
"private parties give their letters to this or that sailor or free
merchant, which letters to their great disadvantage are often lost
through neglect, remaining forgotten in the boxes or because one or the
other removes to another place," they had a box hung up at their place
of meeting in which letters might be deposited for despatch by the first
vessel sailing; and they directed that the same step might be taken in
New Netherland.[6]
Seven years later, finding that the people of New Netherland persisted
in disregarding the measures taken for the safety of their letters, the
company repeated their order, and reinforced it by a fine of one hundred
Carolus guilders for each infraction.[7]
For some years after 1664, the trade between England and its new
possession was of small proportions, and the opportunities for sending
letters from one to the other, few. Lord Cornbury, as late as 1702,[8]
informed the Lords of Trade that there were so few vessels running
between New York and ports in England that he had to depend for his
correspondence on Boston or Philadelphia, which places had regular
communication with the mother country.
Nor was the case of New York materially improved in 1708. Cornbury, in
that year, pleaded with the board of trade for a regular packet service
to some part of the American continent. Sometimes many months elapsed,
without his hearing in any way from home. Before he received his last
letters in May, he had heard nothing from England for fifteen months.
There were but two safe ways of sending letters to England, which were
the Virginia fleet, and the Mast fleet of New England. From Virginia
there was no post, and it was very hard to know when that fleet would
sail. From Boston there was a post by which Cornbury could hear once a
week in summer, and once a fortnight in winter, so that they had a sure
conveyance by the Mast fleet. Advantage had to be taken, as opportunity
offered, Cornbury informed the board of trade, of the packets running
from the West Indies to England, but as several of the packet boats had
been captured, this was a very uncertain mode of communication.
But, although the three groups of colonies had each its own connection
with England, until 1672 there was no connection whatever between these
groups. Nor was any thought to be necessary. The groups were separated
from one another not only by space, but by social and political
differences.
The Puritans of New England and the Cavaliers of Virginia, had little in
common but the memories of a quarrel, which was still warm; and New York
was still largely Dutch, though even at that date it was taking on the
cosmopolitan character, which has since distinguished it.
As for the trade of the colonies, Mr. Woodrow Wilson stated--"the main
lines of trade run straight to the mother country, and were protected
when there was need by English fleets. Both the laws of parliament and
their own interest bound the trade of the colonies to England. The
Navigation Act of 1660 forbade all trade with the colonies except in
English bottoms; forbade also, the shipment of tobacco any whither but
to England itself; and an act of 1663 forbade the importation of
anything at all except out of England, which it was then once for all
determined must be the entrepot and place of staple for all foreign
trade. It was the Dutch against whom these acts were aimed."[9]
As has happened so often, however, that which could not be accomplished
by reason of the feebleness of the common interest was brought about by
the presence of impending danger. In 1672, war broke out between the
English and the Dutch, the object of which was maritime supremacy and
colonial expansion. The stakes were the colonies in Africa, the East
Indies, the West Indies and America.
The English having ousted their rivals from New York presented a strong
front on the North American continent; and the only thing lacking was
cohesion among the several colonies. At the outbreak of the war, the
king directed governor Lovelace, of New York, to see what could be done
towards establishing a regular postal communication between the
colonies.
Lovelace arranged for a monthly service by courier between New York and
Boston.[10] There was no road between the two places; and governor
Winthrop was asked to provide an expert woodman, who would guide the
courier by the easiest road.
The courier was directed to blaze the route, and it was hoped that a
good road might be made along the route pursued. The courier made his
trips for a few months only, when New York was captured by a Dutch fleet
which came suddenly upon it. The town was restored to the English at the
conclusion of the war in 1674, and with the disappearance of the danger,
the communication also was dropped.
A few years later danger of a more serious character threatened from
another quarter, and again the colonies were compelled to recognize the
necessity of yielding something from the attitude of jealous
independence, which characterized them. Between the English colonies and
the French in Canada there was a steady rivalry for the possession of
the fur trade of the Western country. Each had Indian allies, whose
methods of warfare carried terror among their opponents.
The English were in numbers very much superior to the French; and if
united and determined could have overwhelmed them. The unwillingness of
the English to take any action in common was costing them dearly, as the
outlying parts of all the colonies were being constantly harassed by the
Indian tribes in league with the French.
In 1684 a conference took place at Albany between the representatives of
the several colonies and of the Iroquois nations. This conference was
important in several respects, but particularly in the fact that it was
the first in which all the colonies took part. Even remote Virginia sent
a delegate.
While the colonies were in this mind, Colonel Dongan, governor of New
York, determined to make an effort to establish a permanent postal
service among them. His plan was to establish a line of post houses
along the coast from the French boundaries to Virginia. The king, who
was much pleased with the proposition, directed Dongan to farm out the
undertaking to some enterprising contractor, for a period of three or
five years, and to turn over at least one-tenth of the profits to the
Duke of York.[11]
The duke appears to have had a claim on the revenues of the post office
on two grounds. He was proprietor of the colony of New York; and under
the post office act of 1660, he was recognized as entitled to a share in
the profits from the English post office.
How far Dongan succeeded with this extensive scheme does not appear. He
planned to visit Connecticut, Boston, and, if possible, Pemaquid. In
March 1685, he had an ordinance adopted in the council of New York for a
post office throughout the colonies, and fixed the charges for the
conveyance of letters at threepence for each hundred miles they were
carried, and for the hire of horses for riding post, threepence a mile.
Dongan's jurisdiction did not, however, extend beyond the colony of New
York; and the records of the other colonies are silent as to their
acquiescence in this arrangement. The only evidence that has appeared as
to the operation of the service, and it establishes the fact that the
service was performed for a time at least, is that Leisler, an
insurrectionary leader, who seized the government of the colony in 1689,
arrested the mail carrier on his way from New York to Boston, and
confiscated his letters.[12]
In July 1683, a weekly post was established in Pennsylvania. Letters
were carried from Philadelphia to the Falls of Delaware for threepence;
to Chester for twopence; to New Castle for fourpence; and to Maryland
for sixpence.[13]
As part of the scheme of James II for the confederation of the New
England States under a royal governor, a postmaster was appointed for
the united colonies. The choice fell upon Edward Randolph, who had just
previously been made secretary and registrar of the new province. The
appointment was dated 23rd of November, 1685.[14] He seems to have
discharged the duties of postmaster[15] until the fall of the Andros
government, which followed closely the deposition of James II in 1689.
Until this time, then, the post office would be classed generally among
the merely temporary conveniences of the state, and not among its
permanent institutions. When William III was settled on his throne, he
managed, amid his cares at home and abroad, to give some attention to
the affairs of the colonies. Those in North America had been growing
rapidly, and at the end of the period of the revolution in England, the
population is believed to have been about 200,000.
The greater part of the increase was in the middle states of New York,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania; though in the south, the colonies of
Maryland and Virginia showed considerable gain, and a beginning was made
in the settlement of the Carolinas.
The question of providing the American colonies with a postal system was
submitted to the king by Thomas Neale, Master of the Mint, who coupled
his representations on the subject with a petition for authority to
establish such a system in America at his own charges. He pointed out in
his memorial that there had never been a post for the conveying of
letters within or between Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New
England, East and West Jersey, Pennsylvania, and northward as far as the
king's dominions reach in America; and that the want thereof had been a
great hindrance to the trade of those parts.
The king thereupon, on the 17th of February, 1691, granted a patent to
Neale, conferring upon him authority to set up one or more post offices
in each of the chief ports of the several islands, plantations and
colonies in America, and to carry on all the functions of postmaster,
either in person or by deputy. He might collect as his own, the postage
accruing from the business, the rates being fixed by the English post
office act of 1660; or he was at liberty to charge such other rates "as
the planters and others will freely agree to give for their letters or
packets upon the first settlement of such office or offices."
In order to secure to Neale a monopoly of the postal business, the
patent imposed a prohibition on any person except Neale from setting up
post offices during the term of the patent, which was twenty-one years.
Neale was held bound to provide an efficient service; in case of
dissatisfaction, or of his failure to put the service in operation
within two years, the patent was to become invalid. The consideration
that Neale was to give for the patent was merely nominal; he was to
remit six shillings and eightpence to the exchequer each year at the
Feast of St. Michael the Archangel.
Having secured his patent, Neale sought a suitable person to act as his
deputy. His choice fell upon Andrew Hamilton, an Edinburgh merchant, who
after seven years' residence in New Jersey, was made governor of that
province in 1692. Hamilton was a man of energy and ability; and in the
difficult task of conciliating sensitive legislatures, and bringing them
into agreement with his views, he had much success. It was to him that
the colonies were indebted for their first effective postal system.
Neale's patent did not give him power to set up a postal service, and
fix his charges without regard to the will of the people. He might
either apply the rates fixed by the act of 1660; or come to terms with
the people or their representatives as to the rates they would agree to
pay. The latter was the alternative chosen.
Accordingly, during the year 1693, Hamilton addressed himself to the
several colonial governments, setting forth his plan, and begging that
they might "ascertain and establish such rates and terms as should tend
to quicker maintenance of mutual correspondence among the neighbouring
colonies and plantations, and that trade and commerce might be better
preserved."
The colonies having responded favourably to his overtures, Hamilton
prepared a draft bill, which he submitted to the legislatures for their
acceptance. This bill provided for a general post office or chief letter
office in the principal town of each colony, the postmaster of which was
to be appointed by Hamilton. The monopoly conferred on Neale by his
patent was enforced in the proposed bill by considerable penalties for
infringements.
The postal charges, as well as the privileges and appurtenances to be
granted to post masters and mail couriers, were discussed between
Hamilton and the several legislatures. There was some variety in the
privileges allowed to postmasters and couriers. In Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, the mail couriers were granted free
ferriage over the rivers and other water courses which lay along their
routes. In the acts passed by New York and New Hampshire, there was no
mention of free ferries, but in each of these acts a rather peculiar
exemption is made in favour of the postmasters, that they should not be
subject to excise charges on the ale and other liquors which formed the
stock in trade of their business as innkeepers.
The postmasters in all the colonies were made exempt from all public
services, such as keeping watch and ward, and sitting on juries.
Shipmasters on arriving at a port with letters in their care were
enjoined to deliver them to the nearest post office, where they would
receive one halfpenny for each letter.[16]
The principal postal rates, as settled between Hamilton and the
legislatures concerned were as follows: on letters from Europe or from
any country beyond sea, if for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and
Pennsylvania twopence; if for New York ninepence. In the interchange
among the colonies themselves, the charge on a letter passing between
Boston and Philadelphia was fifteen pence, and between New York and
Philadelphia fourpence-halfpenny.
There was a peculiarity in the postage on letters passing between Boston
and New York. It differed according to the direction the letter was
conveyed. A letter from New York to Boston cost twelvepence; while
ninepence was the charge from Boston to New York. This is one of the
consequences of the separate negotiations carried on by Hamilton with
the different legislatures.
The Massachusetts act fixed the charge on the letters for delivery in
Boston; and the New York act on the letters for New York. From Virginia,
to Philadelphia, New York and Boston, the charges were ninepence,
twelvepence and two shillings respectively. All the acts concurred in
the stipulation that letters on public business should be carried free
of charge.
The foregoing contains the substance of the acts passed by New York and
Pennsylvania. Massachusetts went a step further. To that legislature it
appeared desirable to put a binding clause requiring Hamilton to give a
satisfactory service. Massachusetts was as willing as the others to
grant a monopoly of letter carrying to Hamilton, but it was of opinion
that the exclusive privilege should carry an obligation with it. The
postal service was being established as a public convenience; and if
Hamilton was to have the power to prevent any person else from providing
the convenience, he should be bound to meet the public requirements
himself.
The Massachusetts legislature, after authorizing Hamilton to settle a
post office in Boston, fixing the postal charges, and conferring a
monopoly on him, accordingly added a clause binding Hamilton to maintain
constant posts for the carriage of letters to the several places
mentioned in the act; to deliver the letters faithfully and seasonably;
and it imposed a fine of L5 for each omission.
In order that the public might be in a position to detect any delays in
the delivery of letters after they reached a post office, the postmaster
was required to mark on each letter the date on which it was received at
his office. New Hampshire followed Massachusetts in adding this clause
to its post office acts.
The four acts were sent to London, and laid before the king in council,
as all colonial acts were. The acts of New York, Pennsylvania and New
Hampshire passed council and became law. On the advice of the governors
of the post office, the Massachusetts act was disallowed.[17]
The grounds for the discrimination against Massachusetts are difficult
to understand. The Massachusetts act undoubtedly contained departures
from the terms of the patent. But they were such departures as might be
expected when an act is drawn up, by a person unlearned in the law, who,
having the patent before him, aims at substantial rather than at literal
conformity therewith. There can be no question that the drafts presented
to the several assemblies were prepared by one person. Their practical
identity establishes the fact.
There can be equally little doubt that the draftsman was Hamilton
himself. The governors of the post office, who framed the
objections,[18] noted first that the patent provided that the
appointment of Neale's deputy should, at his request, be made by the
postmaster general; whereas the Massachusetts act appeared to appoint
Andrew Hamilton postmaster general of the colonies, independently of the
postmaster general of England, and not subject to the patent.
The patent required Neale to furnish accounts at stated intervals to
enable the treasury to establish the profits from the enterprize. It
also stipulated for the cancellation of the patent in certain
eventualities. Both these terms are omitted from the act. Insufficient
care was taken in safeguarding the post office revenue, and no
provision was made for a successor in case of the removal of Hamilton
from his position.
The points to which the post office drew attention were, as will be
seen, far from wanting weight; and if they had not been pressed against
the Massachusetts bill alone, would have excited little comment. But the
Massachusetts general court noted and resented the discrimination. When
Neale was informed of the disallowance, he begged the governors of the
post office to prepare a bill which they would regard as free from
objections, and to lend their efforts to have it accepted by
Massachusetts.[19]
A bill was drawn up; and Lord Bellomont, the governor of New England,
was instructed to invite the favourable consideration of the
Massachusetts legislature to it.[20] The bill was laid before the
general court on June 3, 1699, and it was ordered to be transcribed and
read.[21]
Five days later it came up for consideration, but it was resolved that
the committee on the bill should "sit this afternoon,"[22] and it
appeared in the assembly no more. The rejection of the bill, however,
was of little or no practical consequence. The post office was too great
a convenience to be refused; and so it was established and conducted as
if the bill were in operation, except that it had no monopoly in that
colony.
But the legislature, which was evidently desirous of extending in its
own way all reasonable aid to Hamilton, passed an order in 1703[23]
requiring shipmasters to deliver all letters they brought with them from
oversea at the post office of the place of their arrival, for which they
were to receive a halfpenny each from the postmaster. Massachusetts
equally with the other colonies made an annual grant to the post office
for the conveyance of its public letters.
So far the narrative deals only with the northern colonies. The
proposition for a post office, however, was submitted to Virginia and
Maryland as well. It would seem, however, that the mode of approaching
these governments differed from that taken in laying the proposition
before the northern colonies. In case of the northern colonies Hamilton
dealt with the legislatures in person. The draft bill which he prepared
was submitted as a basis for discussion. So far as it went it was
accepted, and Hamilton agreed to such additions as the legislatures
considered necessary in view of local circumstances.
Virginia and Maryland were approached quite differently. They were
advised of the scheme not by Hamilton, but by the English court. In the
minutes of council of both governments,[24] it is recorded that the
proposition was laid before them in a letter from the queen. This fact
will account for the very different consideration the proposition
received from these colonies. Maryland rejected it outright. On the 13th
of May, 1695, the scheme was laid before the house of burgesses. It was
set aside,[25] and nothing more was heard of it.
Virginia gave attentive consideration to the proposition to establish a
post office, though the ultimate results were no greater than in
Maryland. There had been since 1658 an arrangement for the transmission
of letters concerning the public affairs of the colony.[26] An order was
issued by the council that all letters superscribed for the public
service should be immediately conveyed from plantation to plantation to
the place and person directed, and that any delay should subject the
person at fault to a fine of one hogshead of tobacco.
No arrangements of a systematic nature were made for the conveyance of
private letters. When information of the patent granted to Neale reached
Virginia, the colony showed immediate interest. The council on the 12th
of January, 1693, appointed Peter Heyman deputy postmaster,[27] and
proceeded to draw up a post office bill. This bill, which became law on
the 3rd of April 1693,[28] authorized Neale to establish a postal system
in the colony, at his own expense.
The conditions were that he was to set up a general post office at some
convenient place, and settle one or more sub-post offices in each
county. As letters were posted in the colony or reached it from abroad,
they were to be forthwith dispersed, carried and delivered in accordance
with the directions they bore, and all letters for England were to be
despatched by the first ship bound for any part of that country.
The rates of postage were to be threepence a single letter within an
eighty mile radius; fourpence-half penny for single letters outside the
eighty mile radius; and eighteen pence for each ounce weight. Public
letters were to pass free of postage. No provision was made for postage
on letters addressed to places beyond the boundaries of the colony; and
it was expressly stipulated that the act did not confer a monopoly on
Neale. Merchants were not restrained by this act from employing the
services of shipmasters and others, to carry their letters abroad.
The Virginia act of 1693 was local in its scope and provincial in its
character. There is a certain simplicity in the extent of its demands as
compared with the paucity of its concessions. Neale, at his own cost,
was to establish a postal system, comprising a general post office at a
place agreed upon, and one or more subordinate offices in each county.
Couriers were to be available to take letters anywhere within the
colony--without postage if on public business, at rates fixed by the
colony if they were private letters. But no person need employ the post
office, should any other more convenient or cheaper mode of conveyance
offer itself.
A post office, like other kindred accommodations, creates business for
itself; but Virginia did not intend that Neale should have any assurance
of the business he had brought into existence. As soon as it reached a
point at which it was worth struggling for, a competitor might step in
and deprive Neale of the fruits of his enterprise.
The act of 1693 seems to have been adopted before the colonies were made
aware of Hamilton's connection with the American post office. When the
council of Virginia were advised of Hamilton's appointment, they opened
communication with him. The notes of the correspondence as they appear
in the minutes of council[29] do not give much information, but they
show that Hamilton's proposition when submitted to council was not found
acceptable; and as subsequent communications failed to remove the
difficulties, matters remained as they were until after the Neale patent
had expired.
In 1710, the subject was reopened, and the governor reported to the
board of trade, that for two months past he had been expecting Hamilton
to visit Virginia, for the purpose of opening a post office, and
connecting it with the other colonies. The governor believed that the
scheme was feasible, and would do his utmost to encourage it. He
foresaw a difficulty in the lack of small currency, tobacco which was
the only specie, being in the governor's words "very incommodious to
receive small payments in, and of very uncertain value."[30]
The line of posts established by Hamilton extended from Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, to Philadelphia. Over this long line, couriers travelled with
the mails weekly each way.[31] The volume of correspondence carried
cannot be ascertained, as the great mass of it, being on public
business, would be free of postage. But the postage collected throughout
North America during the first four years, from 1693 to 1697, was only
L1456 18_s._ 3_d._, an average receipt of considerably less than L400 a
year.
By way of comparison it may be noted that, in 1693, the revenue between
London and Edinburgh was L500; and it was explained that nearly the
whole of that amount was for government despatches. The expenses of the
Portsmouth-Philadelphia service during those years were L3817 6_s._
11_d._[32] The deficit of L2360 8_s._ 8_d._ fell upon Neale. Results
such as these would be sufficiently discouraging. But Neale and his
deputy, Hamilton, were hopeful, and drew comfort from the fact that the
revenue of New York which was quite insignificant the first year had
doubled itself in the third year.
At the end of the sixth year, the revenue had increased to the point at
which all the expenses were met, except Hamilton's salary.[33] In 1699,
Hamilton went to England, and joined Neale in an appeal to the
treasury.[34] After pointing out the benefits accruing to the colonies
from the post office--the increase in the transatlantic and
intercolonial trade, the rapid diffusion of intelligence in time of war,
and the facilities afforded for the delivery of public letters--they
declared that unless steps were taken to secure to them the transmission
of the whole, and not a mere portion of the oversea correspondence, they
might be compelled to abandon the undertaking.
The plan Neale and Hamilton proposed to this end, was to put a stop to
the collection of letters at the English coffee houses, and to compel
the shipmasters to take all their letters from the local post office,
where they would be made up in sealed bags.
Besides ensuring to Neale, by this means, the postage on all the
correspondence passing between the mother country and the colonies, the
measure proposed would prevent certain abuses which were incident to the
existing arrangement. Where the bag hung open in a coffee house, any
person might examine its contents on the pretext that he wanted to get
his own letter back, and when the ship had reached its destination it
was the practice of some captains to delay the delivery of the letters
in their hands until they are ready to sail again, and then they got rid
of their letters in any way they could.
If the mails were made up in post offices, and the captains were
compelled by law to deliver them to the post office at the port of
destination before they broke bulk, these evils would be corrected, and
a large revenue now lost to the post office would be saved.
Neale and Hamilton also submitted a revised tariff of postal charges, in
which there was a general increase. The postmasters general in England
rather deprecated the increased postal rates, stating that experience
had taught them that low rates were found to be more productive of
revenue than those which placed the post office beyond the reach of the
mass of the people. They approved of the suggestion that post offices
should be established in England for the handling of oversea mails, and
hoped that a few years of good management would make the service a
remunerative one.
At this point the postmasters general in London threw out a suggestion,
which was worth discussion. They doubted whether a post office in
private hands would ever commend itself to the colonies in the same way
as if it were directly in the hands of the king. The post office
depended for its prosperity on the maintenance of its monopoly, a thing
naturally distasteful. The monopoly was easily evaded, even if the
colonial governments supported it heartily, but any lack of inclination
on their part would leave it valueless. They were of opinion that it
would require all the authority possessed by the king to induce the
colonial governments to co-operate with the heads of the post office in
the efforts of the latter to put the service on a sound footing.
Neale, who was sinking deeper and deeper into debt, seized on this
expression of opinion, and offered to surrender his patent at any time,
on such consideration as seemed just. The treasury, however, were not
yet ready to take over the American posts, but they directed the
postmasters general to give Hamilton every assistance in their power,
and requested the governors of the colonies to do the same, adding that
when the value of the post office could be ascertained, they would give
the question of the resumption of the patent, further consideration.
Neale's indebtedness to Hamilton for salary now amounting to L1100, he
assigned his patent to Hamilton, and to one Robert West, who had made
some advances to Neale some years before. The new patentees besought the
government to extend their term, which in ordinary course would expire
in 1712. Their confidence in the eventual success of the scheme,
however, suggested to the postmasters general that the time was now ripe
for the crown to take back the patent, and manage the postal service
through the general post office in England.
The transfer was made; and John Hamilton,[35] son of the founder of the
American post office, who died in 1703, was entrusted with the
management of the service, as the deputy of the postmaster general. The
results were no better than when the service was privately administered.
In 1709, there was a yearly deficit of L200; and as the queen would not
allow her losses on this head to be augmented, the postmasters were not
being paid.[36]
The postmaster of New England made a strong representation to the
government of Massachusetts, pointing out that he had received nothing
from the government since 1706, although he had saved the colony L150 a
year by the delivery of the public letters. The remonstrance was
fruitless, and he renewed his application in 1711. The legislative
council on each occasion was prepared to pay what was due to the
postmaster, but the assembly could not be brought to authorize it.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Parton, _Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin_, I. 240.
[2] _Ibid._, p. 330.
[3] G.P.O., _Treasury Letter-Book_, 1760-1771, p. 95.
[4] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, third series, VII. 48.
[5] _Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies_, 1661-1668, no.
463.
[6] _New York Colonial Documents_, XIV. 186.
[7] _Ibid._, p. 446.
[8] _N. Y. Col. Docs._, IV. 1017.
[9] _A History of the American People_, II. 16.
[10] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, fifth series, IX. 83-84.
[11] _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._, 1681-1685, no. 1848.
[12] _N. Y. Col. Docs._, III. 682.
[13] Winsor, _Narr. and Crit. Hist of Am._, III. 492.
[14] _Edward Randolph_, I. 270 (Publications of the Prince Society).
[15] Samuel Sewall to Thomas Glover, July 15, 1686 (_Sewall
Letter-Books_, I. 21).
[16] The several colonial acts were as follows: New York, passed
November 11, 1692 (_Laws of Colony of N. Y._, I. 293); Massachusetts,
June 9, 1693 (ch. 3, 1 sess. _Province Laws_, I. 115); Pennsylvania, May
15, June 1, 1693 (_Duke of York's Laws_, p. 224); New Hampshire, June 5,
1693 (_N. H. Prov. Laws_, p. 561); Connecticut, May 10, 1694 (_Pub. Rec.
of Conn._, 1689-1706 p. 123).
[17] Note to this effect attached to the act (ch. 3, 1 sess. 1693,
_Province Laws_, I. 117).
[18] _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._, 1693-1696, no. 2234.
[19] _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._, 1696-1697, no. 505.
[20] _Ibid._, no. 1286.
[21] _Prov. Laws of Mass._, I. 263.
[22] _Ibid._, p. 420.
[23] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, third series, VII. 64.
[24] Minutes of council, Virginia, January 12, 1693, _Cal. S. P. Col.
Am. and W. I._, 1693-1696, no. 21; minutes of council, Maryland,
September 24, 1694, _ibid._, no. 1339.
[25] Minutes of council, Maryland, _ibid._, no. 1816.
[26] Hening's _Statutes at Large_, I. 436.
[27] Minutes of council, Virginia, _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._,
1693-1696, no. 20.
[28] Hening's _Statutes at Large_, III. 112; _Journals of the House of
Burgesses_, 1659/60--1693, pp. 444-446.
[29] Minutes of council, Virginia, May 25, November 10, 1693; October
19, 25, 1694; May 3, July 25, 1695; _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._,
1693-1696, nos. 371, 671, 1430, 1454, 1804, 1975.
[30] _Spottswood Letters_ (published by Virginia Hist. Soc.), I. 22.
[31] Minutes of council, New Hampshire (_N. H. Prov. Papers_,
1686--1722), p. 100.
[32] G.P.O., _Treasury_, II. 256.
[33] _Cal. Treasury Papers_, 1697-1702, p. 289
[34] G.P.O., _Treasury_, II. 253.
[35] G.P.O., _Treasury_, VI. 205. John Hamilton was appointed deputy
postmaster general by the queen in 1707.
[36] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, third series, VII. 69.