-------------------------+----------+----------+---------+--_The Development of Rates of Postage: An Historical and Analytical Study

-------------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------

Ordinary Letter Packets--| [L] | [L] | [L] | [L] | [L]

(a) Not exceeding 1 oz.| 564,811| 165,944|1,052,392|2,104,784|3,887,931

exceeding 4 oz. | 63,824| 125,288| 158,911| 317,822| 665,845

Postcards | 172,832| 50,779| 322,032| 644,064|1,189,707

Halfpenny Packets | 227,054| 83,470| 470,419| 940,838|1,721,781

Newspaper Packets | 38,972| 71,356| 103,134| 206,269| 419,731

-------------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------

Total | 1,092,909| 546,455|2,185,818|4,371,636|8,196,818

-------------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------

TABLE M

CONVEYANCE.

_Total Cost of Conveyance of Mails within the United Kingdom_:

[L]

(a) For Conveyance by Railway 2,435,566

(b) " " " Road 662,010

----------

Total [L]3,274,836

==========

Of the payment for conveyance by railway, [L]1,238,529 is the cost of the

conveyance of letter mails, and [L]1,197,037 the cost of the conveyance of

parcel mails.

The payment for conveyance by road is, on such estimate as can be made,

assignable in equal proportions between letter mails and parcel mails.

Of the payment for conveyance by sea, [L]150,000 is, on such estimate as

can be made, assignable to the conveyance of letter mails.

The cost of the conveyance of letter mails is therefore--

[L]

By Railway 1,238,529

" Road 331,005

" Sea 150,000

----------

Total [L]1,719,534

==========

And the cost of the conveyance of parcel mails is--

[L]

By Railway 1,197,037

" Road 331,005

" Sea 27,260

----------

Total [L]1,555,302

==========

TABLE N

CONVEYANCE: ANALYSIS OF COST.

LETTER MAILS.

_Total Cost_, [L]1,719,534.

Cost of conveyance is assigned between the various classes of packets in

proportion to the gross weight.

+----------------------------------------------------------------+

| Description of Packet. | Gross Weight. | Cost of |

| | [633] | Conveyance. |

+--------------------------+------------------+------------------+

|Ordinary Letter Packets-- | lb. | [L] |

| (a) Not exceeding 1 oz. | 67,200,000 | 437,734 |

| (b) Over 1 oz., not | | |

| exceeding 4 oz. | 41,700,000 | 271,600 |

| (c) Over 4 oz. | 54,000,000 | 351,700 |

|Postcards | 8,203,000 | 53,450 |

|Halfpenny Packets | 37,705,000 | 245,600 |

|Newspaper Packets | 55,192,000 | 359,450 |

+--------------------------+------------------+------------------+

* * * * *

TABLE O

BUILDINGS.

_Total Cost_, [L]706,614.

Twelve times as much office accommodation is required in respect of a

parcel as in respect of a packet other than a parcel (Table D).

Hence--

The total cost of buildings may be divided as between parcels on the one

hand and all packets other than parcels on the other hand in the ratio--

133,663,000 x 12 : 5,831,550,000

i.e. 1 : 3.6357

The total cost for buildings chargeable to parcels is therefore

[L]152,428, and the total cost for buildings chargeable to other packets

is [L]554,186.

The latter sum is assigned between the respective classes of packets in

proportion to the gross weight of each class (Table N) as follows:--

Cost for Buildings.

Ordinary Letter Packets-- [L]

(a) Not exceeding 1 oz. 141,066

(b) Over 1 oz., not exceeding 4 oz. 87,536

Postcards 17,220

Halfpenny Packets 79,150

Newspaper Packets 115,858

--------

Total [L]554,186

========

This division gives an advantage to the light packets as compared with

the heavier packets sent by Letter Post; but, as between parcels and

other packets, an advantage is given to parcels (cf. _supra_, Table E).

TABLE P

STORES AND MISCELLANEOUS EXPENDITURE.

_Total cost_, [L]811,767.

As between parcels and other packets respectively, this amount is

assigned on the unit basis, reckoning one parcel equivalent to twelve

other packets (Table D).

As between the various classes of packets other than parcels, the amount

is assigned on the basis of simple numbers.

Ordinary Letter Packets-- [L]

(a) Not exceeding 1 oz 328,857

(b) Over 1 oz., not exceeding 4 oz 37,251

Postcards 100,904

Halfpenny Packets 132,254

Newspaper Packets 22,610

Parcels 175,112

--------

Total [L]811,767

========

This method gives an advantage to the heavy packets.

TABLE Q

TOTAL COST.

--------------------+---------+-----------+----------+-------+---------+------

--------------------+---------+-----------+----------+-------+---------+------

Packets-- | [L] | [L] | [L] | [L] | [L] | d.

(a) Not exceeding |3,887,931| 437,734 | 141,066 |328,857|4,795,588| 0.382

1 oz |

exceeding 4 oz.| 665,845| 271,600 | 87,536 | 37,251|1,062,232| 0.747

| | | | |---------|

All Letter Packets | ... | ... | ... | ... |6,649,478| 0.457

| | | | |=========|

Postcards |1,189,707| 53,450 | 17,220 |100,904|1,361,281| 0.353

Halfpenny Packets |1,721,781| 245,600 | 79,150 |132,254|2,178,785| 0.432

Newspaper Packets | 419,731| 359,450 | 115,858 | 22,610| 917,649| 1.063

Parcels |2,066,642| 1,555,302 | 152,428 |175,112|3,949,484| 7.091

--------------------+---------+-----------+----------+-------+---------+------

VIII

CONCLUSION

In relation to the rate of postage, the traffic of the Post Office falls

into two main groups: on the one hand light letters and packets

approximating to that type, and on the other the heavier packets and

parcels. This division corresponds with an important difference in the

practical working of the Post Office service, the task of providing for

the transmission of ordinary letters, hundreds of which can be conveyed

by foot-messenger without difficulty, being one entirely different from

that of providing for the transmission of larger packets, a few scores

of which would render necessary the use of a vehicle.

* * * * *

As to the transmission of letters, Sir Rowland Hill first perceived the

significance of the fact that with objects of light weight the cost of

conveyance, even over great distances, is small, and in his scheme of

reform he consciously applied this fact to the determination of the rate

of letter postage. This consideration remains; and as regards the

ordinary letters of business or private communication--the average

weight of which is less than half an ounce--the principle of uniformity

of rate irrespective of distance, which is now the characteristic of

letter postage, is well founded. Of the whole expense of conducting the

postal services, the expense of the actual conveyance of a letter from

place to place is not only small as compared with the cost of the

terminal services of collection and delivery, but is actually so small

in amount that no monetary system provides a coin of sufficiently small

value to make its collection a practical possibility. The uniform rate,

by making practicable the system of prepayment of postage by means of

adhesive labels, has, moreover, effected great economy in the working of

the service, and its simplicity is a boon to the public, the more so as

it has been possible to fit the common rate to a popular coin. A low

uniform rate is, however, only made possible from the financial

standpoint by the Post Office monopoly of the carriage of letters,

although that monopoly is justified on other grounds. With a uniform

rate, owing to the varying conditions under which the service is

conducted in different districts, there is inevitably a variation in the

amount of profit. In certain cases, the rate is actually unprofitable;

and were private undertakings permitted to compete for the more

profitable traffic, such as the local traffic in large centres of

population, the profits of the Post Office would be reduced to

vanishing-point.

Improvements in the means of communication have naturally had

considerable effect on the development of the Post Office. The

introduction of the stage-coach in the eighteenth century, and of

railways and steamboats in the nineteenth, in turn revolutionized the

methods of general transportation. By these improvements the capacity of

the Post Office was largely increased, and regularity, rapidity, and

increased frequency of service made possible. But such general

improvements, while of the utmost importance as regards the capacity and

character of the Post Office service, can affect the rates of postage

only so far as they affect the cost of transportation of the mails, or,

by largely increasing traffic, enable economies of business on a large

scale to be secured. The stage-coach cheapened the cost of

transportation, but, in England, had no effect on the rates of postage,

because at the time of its introduction the charges were of a purely

fiscal character, and the benefit of cheaper transportation was not

passed on to the users of the Post Office. The effect of the

introduction of the railway has, at any rate as regards letter postage,

not been much greater. Sir Rowland Hill's reform, which standardized

letter postage, was based on the ascertained cost of conveyance of mails

by stage-coach.[634] He found the cost of such conveyance too small to

be taken into account; and the introduction of the railway could not, of

course, improve such a situation.[635]

The ordinary light letter, weighing on the average considerably less

than an ounce, comprises the overwhelming bulk of Post Office traffic,

and the heavier letters occupy a quite subsidiary place. With the growth

of Post Office traffic, and the consequent economies resulting from

business on a large scale, the profits of the Post Office have gradually

increased, but not to such an extent as to admit of the reduction of Sir

Rowland Hill's penny rate without destroying the net revenue. Any

reduction has been limited to the heavier letters.

The penny rate for the ordinary letter, though so moderate, is

considerably in excess of the average cost even of long-distance

letters.[636] Its maintenance, therefore, depends not on economic, but

on general political and financial considerations. The question is, what

general considerations shall be allowed to govern the rate? Shall it be

fixed on the simple basis of cost and revenue, or shall it be fixed at

such a level as to yield a surplus revenue? In other words, is it

thought that the general public advantages which would result from a

reduction of postage to the cost basis would counterbalance the

disadvantages which would result from the loss of public revenue? This

question will, of course, be answered in accordance with the varying

circumstances in the different countries and at different times.[637]

An important consideration in relation to any proposal for reduction or

increase of the letter rate, or, indeed, of any rate of postage, is, of

course, the probable effect on the volume of traffic. Sir Rowland Hill,

when he put forward his plan, laid stress on the increase in the number

of letters which he anticipated would follow the adoption of his

proposal. Since that time it has become almost an axiom that a reduction

of rate will naturally and inevitably be followed by an increase of the

traffic, more or less considerable, according as the reduction is large

or small. Indeed, some writers have thought that the new postal system

was based on a law of fixed relative proportions between a reduction of

rate and the corresponding result on traffic. In point of fact, Sir

Rowland Hill's estimates were based only partially on the probable

effect of the reduction in stimulating traffic, and rather on the

anticipation that, with a rate reasonably low, all that vast letter

traffic which it was well known was being unlawfully dealt with outside

the Post Office would be attracted to the lawful service. It is probable

that a point of approximate satiety can be reached in the reduction of

postage rates no less than in the reduction of the price of other

commodities. A reduction would then result in only slightly increased

consumption of the commodity--that is, in the case of letters, increase

of the number posted. _Per contra_, a moderate increase of rate would

result in a comparatively small reduction of the number of letters.[638]

But moderate variations of postage on ordinary letters are difficult to

make, since popular charges, such as a penny or halfpenny, while they

offer obvious advantages from many points of view, are not susceptible

of slight modifications.

The variation of rate according to the weight of the packet is a point

which has received insufficient attention. There can be no doubt that

the cost to the Post Office of performing the service it affords in

respect of packets of any kind entrusted to it increases with the

increase of the weight and size. But it does not increase

proportionately. A letter of 8 ounces does not cost twice as much to

collect, transmit, and deliver as a letter of 4 ounces. The operations

of stamping, sorting, and making up for despatch occupy more time and

cause more inconvenience in the case of the larger packet, but the

difference is slight when compared with the difference in size and

weight. Nor does the cost of conveyance vary directly with the weight.

In any system of rates, therefore, which are accurately adjusted to the

cost of the service, the rate of charge must increase considerably less

rapidly than the increase in weight, that is to say, the rate would be

degressive. Of modern postage rates very few are constructed on this

principle, and to that extent they are uneconomic. In the case of

letters, since the weight of the packet is normally unimportant, and

simplicity of charge very important, this factor has been for the most

part ignored.[639]

* * * * *

The same consideration which makes the uniform rate irrespective of

distance economically just in the case of ordinary letters, takes away

any ground on the score of cost of service for a special rate for local

letters lower than the general uniform rate. On the other hand, the

considerations which make for monopoly and unified control in the case

of a general service, do not apply with the same force in the case of a

service limited to a small area. In the latter case, competition can

much more easily be set up; and as the uniform penny rate is much higher

than the cost of service even in the case of long-distance letters,

competing agencies, which can leave aside unprofitable districts, such

as the rural districts, can secure a profit on a local service while

charging much lower rates. The maintenance of a local rate for letters

side by side with a uniform rate 100 per cent. greater for all distances

outside the local area, as in Canada, is nevertheless inconsistent from

the economic standpoint.

* * * * *

The postcard, which may be regarded as a development of the letter post,

is, in effect, an admission that the letter rate is much higher than the

cost of service. The difference in cost of service in the case

respectively of a light letter and a postcard is negligible. Indeed, in

some respects light letters are more easily and more rapidly handled

than postcards. From that standpoint, therefore, there is nothing to

justify the difference of 100 per cent. in the rate of charge, and the

lower rate is an arbitrary concession. The logical ground for its

existence is rather to be looked for in the familiar and generally

accepted principle applied to the determination of transportation rates

by railway, by road, or by sea, viz. charging "what the traffic will

bear," or the variation of the rates according to the intrinsic value of

the goods transported.[640] Many messages are sent on postcards which

otherwise would be sent as closed letters. But, at the same time, many

messages are sent on postcards which otherwise would not be sent at all.

This has been especially the case since the introduction of the picture

postcard.

* * * * *

These remarks apply equally to the lower rate which has been conceded to

circular letters. Both rates represent a great concession relatively to

the letter rate, and under them a large traffic has grown up.[641] They

closely approximate to the actual cost of service, and probably yield a

small profit. They are of great importance in the general scheme of

rates, because they provide a cheap means for the transmission of a very

large proportion of ordinary personal and commercial messages, and thus

indirectly strengthen the position of the profitable penny rate for

ordinary letters.

The picture postcard has strengthened the position of the letter rate in

another way, viz. by raising the cost of sending a postcard, so that in

many cases it is now greater than that of a letter. A common charge for

a picture postcard is a penny; the cost of sending a communication on

such a card by post is then three-halfpence, whereas the cost of a

letter is only a penny plus the very slight cost of the paper and

envelope.

* * * * *

The newspaper rate involves some new considerations. The original aim of

the posts was the distribution of a certain form of intelligence. They

had by the seventeenth century developed into an instrument whose main

function was the distribution of letters. The first postal traffic in

packets which were not letters was that in newspapers. The early

newspapers were, however, in fact as well as in some cases in name also,

merely news "letters," and it would have been surprising, therefore, had

the posts not been made use of for their distribution. For newspapers,

however, the charges have from the first been of a fundamentally

different character from those for letters, and the traffic in

newspapers, so far from being a source of profit, has in general

resulted in heavy loss. There are certain general considerations which

render the application of the rates of postage charged on letters

inappropriate. The bulk and weight of a single newspaper is usually much

greater than the bulk of a single letter; and if the newspaper were

charged at the same rate and on the same basis as the letter, viz. by

weight, it must in general be charged several times the rate for an

ordinary letter. Such a charge would be unjust, because, as already

pointed out, the cost of performing the services of transportation and

delivery does not increase in direct proportion, or anything approaching

direct proportion, to the increase of weight. If a newspaper is regarded

as a very heavy letter, the importance of the factor of weight is at

once perceived. Weight charges levied on newspapers should at least be

on a degressive scale. But any system of charge by weight proportioned

to letter postage must lead to a higher charge than that for a single

letter. How much higher is of little consequence, because even the rate

for single letters would be almost prohibitive for ordinary newspapers.

The papers would either be excluded from the mails and despatched by

private agencies, where such agencies exist, or, in countries where the

Post Office holds the monopoly of the carriage of newspapers, the

traffic would be greatly restricted.

A lower rate for newspapers is also justified on the principle of

charging "what the traffic will bear." But the chief reason is that it

has usually been considered desirable to encourage the distribution of

newspapers for the benefit of the public; and in its origin, the special

rate for newspapers seems to rest rather on the two general

considerations of the expediency of providing for the easy distribution

of intelligence, and the impossibility of charging newspapers with the

same rate as letters.

* * * * *

Merchants' and manufacturers' samples are not, of course, strictly

speaking, of the nature of correspondence, and their conveyance by post

represents in some aspects an expansion of function. The main function

of the Post Office is the distribution of letters, or, as it may be

expressed generally, the distribution of any species of communication

between persons, reduced to material form, whether as manuscript

letters, postcards or circular letters, printed or written, or even in

the form of newspapers. For samples of merchandise some relationship to

ordinary communications may perhaps be claimed. They are themselves

often the necessary complement of letters of business and are forwarded

in order to convey a precise notion of the commodities with which the

business is concerned, a purpose served much more effectively by the

small sample than by the descriptive letter, which would be the only

alternative. So far, then, as the Post Office is intended to assist the

transmission of information of whatever sort, the carriage of merchants'

samples is perhaps a legitimate part of its function, especially as the

encouragement of trade is no small part of its main function. The

transmission of small packets not inconvenient to handle and transport,

although essentially different in make-up from letters, was therefore a

natural development when advantage to commerce would result.

The impracticability of charging the ordinary letter rate, since such a

charge would have been prohibitory, which has influenced the newspaper

rate, is equally applicable to samples. The case for a lower rate was

strengthened by the consideration that commerce would benefit, and the

general considerations of the justice of a lower weight-rate for

moderately heavy packets and for packets of less intrinsic value,

applied to sample packets, no less than to newspapers, although this

point of view was not perhaps consciously adopted. Based on these

considerations, a special rate was given to samples, fixed more or less

arbitrarily, and without examination into the question of what rate

would be the lowest profitable rate for the business.

* * * * *

The basis of the book rate is only to a slight degree economic, that is

to say, related to the cost of providing the service. The justification

for a low rate rests for the most part on the same considerations as the

privileged rate for newspapers: the desirability of assisting the

education of the people and the utility of books for the purpose, the

comparatively low intrinsic value, and the impossibility of charging the

scale of rates applied to letters--even less possible in the case of

books than in the case of newspapers.

* * * * *

The exceptionally low rate for printed matter for the blind has been

given as a measure of philanthropy. By its means, although at some loss

to postal revenue, the effect of the disadvantage of bulk and weight in

such printed matter, which results from the affliction, is in a large

degree removed.[642]

* * * * *

The Development of Rates of Postage: An Historical and Analytical Study · 第 22 / 42 段