therefore not a pure price. Nor can it be said that this penny rate,
although it is the source of practically all the profit, is a pure tax.
In the case of a large number of letters there is no surplus beyond the
cost of the service, and often the cost is greater than the yield of the
postage on the particular letters dealt with. In such cases the rate
does not contain any element of tax. In other cases the proportion of
surplus over cost which the rate yields is exceedingly large.[748] But
in all cases it contains some element of remuneration for service
rendered. That part of it which is appropriated to cover the cost of
conducting the service is of the nature of a price for a service
rendered. The remaining part (when found), after allowance has been made
for the element of monopoly, is a tax.[749] But it does not exist in all
cases. Three categories of letters are therefore found; and the letter
rate in general may, according to the circumstances under which the
service is rendered, be (1) of composite character, partly price and
partly tax, (2) a pure price, (3) a mere fee.
The other rates (excepting for the moment the parcel rate) have all for
some specific purpose of State been fixed at a lower level than the
letter rate; but, for the most part, without any nice adjustment to the
cost of service. Consequently these subsidiary rates are not prices, and
do not contain any element of taxation.[750] They are, however, charges
made to individuals in respect of certain services performed by the
State, and fall, therefore, under the heading of fees.
The parcel rates in England and Germany may be put under the same
heading. In both cases the service is conducted at a loss, and the
charges cannot therefore be regarded as prices. In the United States
and in Canada the law provides that the rates for parcels must in all
cases be such as to yield a revenue sufficient to cover the cost of the
service, and the presumption is therefore that in those countries the
rates will partake of the nature of prices.[751]
Although there has been diversity of opinion regarding the nature of
Post Office revenue, there has been remarkable unanimity as to the
propriety of raising a net revenue for the State on the service for the
transmission of letters. In the days of high rates and relatively high
revenue it was not challenged.[752] Sir Rowland Hill's reform took away
any sort of feeling that the revenue obtained from the Post Office lay
as a burdensome tax, but the amount of surplus revenue was still so
considerable that it could fairly be regarded as containing an element
of tax.[753] It has, moreover, steadily increased, and its existence
been made the justification for claims for further reductions of
rate.[754]
The use of the Post Office for the purpose of taxation, that is, the
refusal to give away in improvements of service, or by reduction of
rates, the net surplus of revenue, is accepted by economists as
justifiable[755] and the public acquiesces. The surplus is obtained
with the minimum of sacrifice on the part of those who pay, and it would
be difficult to discover a tax in substitution which would fall as
lightly. Apart from the fact that rates higher than would be necessary
for defraying the actual cost of the service must of necessity operate
to some extent to the disadvantage of trade and commerce,[756] there is
little to urge against the raising of revenue from the Post Office,
especially as it is obtained from such popular charges as a penny and a
halfpenny, which are well within the reach of the poorest. Payment is,
moreover, in a large degree voluntary. The number of letters which a
private individual must write, and cannot avoid writing, in the course
of a year is very small. If he has anything of importance to write, he
does not think a penny an excessive sum to pay for its transmission. If
he has nothing to write, there is no law to compel him to pay postage.
The profits of postage are, however, large; and the existence of the
State monopoly, and the essentially fiscal character of the rates
charged, should not be overlooked.[757]
* * * * *
VII. GRAPHS
[Illustration: UNITED KINGDOM _INLAND RATES OF POSTAGE 1914, AND NEW
RATES INTRODUCED 1^ST NOVEMBER 1915._]
[Illustration: UNITED KINGDOM (1725-1851)]
[Illustration: UNITED KINGDOM (1820-1914)]
[Illustration: UNITED KINGDOM]
[Illustration: UNITED KINGDOM
_MOVEMENT OF STATISTICS OF POSTAL TRAFFIC 1870-1914_]
[Illustration: UNITED KINGDOM
_NUMBER OF LETTERS DELIVERED PER HEAD OF POPULATION (1854-1914_)]
APPENDIX B
DOCUMENTS AND EXTRACTS ILLUSTRATING ASPECTS OF POSTAL HISTORY
(i) ANCIENT POSTS.
_Persia_ (_circa_ B. C. 500).
"In Darius's idea of government was included rapidity of communication.
Regarding it as of the utmost importance that the orders of the Court
should be speedily transmitted to the provincial Governors, and that
their reports and those of the royal secretaries should be received
without needless delay, he established along the lines of route already
existing between the chief cities of the Empire, a number of
post-houses, placed at regular intervals, according to the estimated
capacity of a horse to gallop at his best speed without stopping. At
each post-house were maintained, at the cost of the State, a number of
couriers and several relays of horses. When a despatch was to be
forwarded, it was taken to the first post-house along the route, where a
courier received it, and immediately mounting on horseback, galloped
with it to the next station. Here it was delivered to a new courier,
who, mounted on a fresh horse, took it the next stage on its journey;
and thus it passed from hand to hand till it reached its destination.
According to Xenophon, the messengers travelled by night as well as by
day; and the conveyance was so rapid that some even compared it to the
flight of birds. Excellent inns or caravanserais were to be found at
every station; bridges or ferries were established upon all the streams;
guard-houses occurred here and there, and the whole route was kept
secure from the brigands who infested the Empire. Ordinary travellers
were glad to pursue so convenient a line of march; it does not appear,
however, that they could obtain the use of post-horses, even when the
Government was in no need of them.
"_Note._--It was not the distance a horse ridden gently could
accomplish in the entire day, but the distance he could bear to be
galloped once a day. From the account which Herodotus gives of the
post-route between Sardis and Susa, we may gather that the Persians
fixed this distance at about fourteen miles."--George Rawlinson, _The
Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World_, London, 1871, vol.
iii. pp. 426-7.
_Roman Empire._
"The advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, and of conveying
their orders with celerity, induced the Emperors to establish throughout
their extensive dominions the regular institution of posts. Houses were
everywhere erected at the distance only of five or six miles; each of
them was constantly provided with forty horses, and, by the help of
these relays, it was easy to travel an hundred miles in a day along the
Roman roads. The use of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by
an Imperial mandate; but though originally intended for the public
service, it was sometimes indulged to the business or conveniency of
private citizens (Pliny, though a favourite and a minister, made an
apology for granting post-horses to his wife on the most urgent
business)."--Edward Gibbon, _The History of the Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire_, London, ed. 1896, vol. i. p. 50.
_Arabia._
"The first traces of the Arabian postal arrangements date from about
fifty years after the death of Mahomed. Calif Mdowija, who died in 679,
is regarded as the founder of the Arabian posts. Kodama, a native of
Bagdad, who died in 959, gives an account of the service in his work
called _The Book of Taxes_. There were 930 postal stations on the six
great highroads starting from Bagdad. At some stations there were relays
of horses, but in Syria and Arabia the messengers rode on camels; and in
Persia the letters were conveyed from station to station by messengers
on foot. The postal service under the Califs was an independent branch
of the administration, and in addition to the conveyance of despatches
and travellers was added the supervision of all the authorities in
outlying possessions. Of the two classes of superior postal officers,
the _nowaqquium_ was the postmaster who received the postal packets and
letters and attended to their conveyance, whereas the _farwaneqqyun_ was
a kind of chief postmaster at the capital of a province, who controlled
the work of the postmasters and made his own report on all the civil and
military authorities to the central office in Bagdad. These reports
were so valuable that Calif Abu Djafar Manssur is credited with the
statement: 'My throne rests on four pillars, and my power on four men--a
blameless kazi (judge), an energetic chief of police, an honest minister
of finance, and a faithful postmaster who gives me reliable information
on everything.' It has been said that the Roman _cursus publicus_, the
_frumentarii_, the _agentes in rebus_, and the _curiosi_ served a
similar purpose, but the Arabian arrangement was more systematic. In the
Post Office of the Califs the letters and packets posted, as well as
those received from other places, were entered in special lists, where
their number and address had to be stated. This practice was observed in
India till a few years ago, and it will thus be seen that the letter
bill of the modern posts was in use already among the Egyptians in 270
B.C., and also among the Arabs. From the information that has been
preserved, it is inferred that the Arabian posts did, to a certain
extent, transmit private letters, but this was not done officially, and
the couriers and postmasters conveyed such correspondence, along with
the official despatches, on their own account."--I. G. J. Hamilton,
_Outline of Postal History_, Calcutta, 1910, p. 4.
_Mexico_.
"Communication was maintained with the remotest parts of the country by
means of couriers. Post-houses were established on the great roads,
about two leagues distant from each other. The courier, bearing his
despatches in the form of a hieroglyphical painting, ran with them to
the first station, where they were taken by another messenger and
carried forward to the next; and so on till they reached the capital.
These couriers, trained from childhood, travelled with incredible
swiftness--not four or five leagues an hour, as an old chronicler would
make us believe, but with such speed that despatches were carried from
one to two hundred miles a day. Fresh fish was frequently served at
Montezuma's table in twenty-four hours from the time it had been taken
in the Gulf of Mexico, two hundred miles from the capital. In this way
intelligence of the movements of the royal armies was rapidly brought to
Court; and the dress of the courier, denoting by its colour the nature
of his tidings, spread joy or consternation in the towns through which
he passed."--W. H. Prescott, _History of the Conquest of Mexico_,
London, 1903, pp. 20, 21.
A similar system existed in Peru (W. H. Prescott, _History of the
Conquest of Peru_, Philadelphia, 1874, vol. i. p. 69).
_China._
"From the city of Kanbulu[758] there are many roads leading to the
different provinces, and upon each of these, that is to say, upon every
great highroad, at the distance of twenty-five or thirty miles,
accordingly as the towns happen to be situated, there are stations, with
houses of accommodation for travellers, called _yamb_ or post-houses.
These are large and handsome buildings, having several well-furnished
apartments hung with silk, and provided with everything suitable to
persons of rank. Even kings may be lodged at these stations in a
becoming manner, as every article required may be obtained from the
towns and strong places in the vicinity; and for some of them the Court
makes regular provision. At each station four hundred good horses are
kept in constant readiness, in order that all messengers going and
coming upon the business of the grand khan, and all ambassadors, may
have relays, and, leaving their jaded horses, be supplied with fresh
ones.... When it is necessary that messengers should proceed with
extraordinary despatch, as in the cases of giving information of
disturbance in any part of the country, the rebellion of a chief or
other important matter, they ride two hundred, or sometimes two hundred
and fifty miles in the course of a day."--_Travels of Marco Polo the
Venetian_, London, 1904, pp. 190 et seq.
(ii) _NUNCII_ AND _CURSORES_.
"The Royal _Nuncii et Cursores_ constituted a very important branch of
the Royal Establishment, and the payments to them form a very large and
important item in the Household and Wardrobe Accounts from the earliest
period when those accounts exist.
"These Messengers were employed both in England and in foreign parts,
and as well on affairs of State as what may be considered as the private
and confidential business of the Crown and Royal Family and the
individuals attached to or composing the Royal Court. These Messengers,
so attached to the Court, became the foundation of the establishment,
which about the time of Henry VIII, or somewhat earlier, assumed the
form of the regular establishment of the Post; and the information
connected with them is important, as showing that the institution was
intimately connected with the person of the sovereign, and that, in the
first instance, it was his convenience that was sought. Those servants
who, by usage, were more particularly employed on State affairs,
probably became those who are now specially termed the 'Queen's
Messengers.'"--_Report from Secret Committee on the Post Office_
(_Commons_), 1844, Appx., p. 21.
(iii) WITHERINGS' SCHEME FOR THE REFORM OF THE POSTS, 1635.
A Proposition for setling of Staffets or pacquet posts betwixt
London and all parts of his Maiesties dominions, for the carrying
and recarrying of his subiects l[~r]es. The cleere proffitt whereof
to goe towards the payment of the Postm^{rs} of y^{e} Roades of
England, for w^{ch} his Ma^{tie} is now chardged w^{th} 3400_l._ p
a[~n]m.
In the first place, a certen office or compting house to be by his
Ma^{tie} appointed w^{th}in the cittie of London, of purpose for
carrying out & receiving in of all L[~r]es to be conveyed from y^{e}
cittie of London into all p^{ts} w^{th}in his Ma^{ts} dominions &
answers thereof retorned to the said Cittie of London, according as
occasion shall serve.
Inprimis, for the Northerne and Scotland roade, All l[~r]es to be put
into one Portmantle that shalbe directed to Edenburgh in Scotland, and
for all places of the s^{d} roade, or neere the s^{d} roade, to be
accordinglie put into y^{e} s^{d} Portmantle, w^{th} [p=]ticuler baggs
directed to such Postm^{rs} as live upon the Road neere unto any Cittie
or Towne Corporate.
_As for Example_--
One Bagge to be directed to Cambridge w^{th} such l[~r]es therein as
shalbe directed to that place or neere thereunto; to take port for them
as is now p[~d] to the Carriers, w^{ch} is Two pence a single l[~r]e,
and so accordinglie as they shalbe in bignes. At Cambridge a footpost to
be provided, w^{th} a knowne badge of his Ma^{ts} Armes, whome upon the
markett daies is to goe to all Townes w^{th}in 6: 8: or 10 miles, there
to receive & deliver all such l[~r]es as shalbe directed to those
places. The l[~r]es that the s^{d} footpost shall then and there
receive, hee is to bring them to the s^{d} Towne of Cambridge before the
retorne of the Portmantle out of Scotland, w^{ch} is to retorne at a
certen daie & houre, by w^{ch} meanes they maie be upon the verie
instante comeing back of the s^{d} Portmantle, as before, put into a
little bagge, w^{ch} s^{d} bagg is to be put into y^{e} s^{d} Portmantle
as aforesaid. It is alwaies to be understood that upon the verie instant
cominge of the Portmantle to Cambridge, the bagg of l[~r]es for that
place & thereaboutes ymmediatly to be tooke out of the s^{d} Portmantle;
the said Portmantle being presentlie to goe forwards, night and day,
w^{th}out stay, to Huntingdon, w^{th} fresh horse & man. At w^{ch} place
the like rule is to be observed as before at Cambridge, & so the s^{d}
Portmantle is to goe from Stage to Stage, night & day, till it shall
come to Edenburgh. The bags of l[~r]es to be left at all Stages as at
Cambridge and Huntingdon, as before.
Only it is to be understood, that the further the l[~r]es shall goe, the
port thereof is to be advanced, as to 3^{d}, 4^{d}, & 6^{d}, & to
Scotland more. By this way of carrying and recarrying of l[~r]es, his
Ma^{ts} subjects shall, once in 6 daies, receive answer from Edenburgh
in Scotland, and so consequently from all p^{ts} betwixt London &
Scotland.
The daie and howre of the comeing and going of the s^{d} Portmantle to
and from London to be alwaies certaine. By w^{ch} meanes all Stages upon
the Road will knowe at what certen howre the Portmantle is to come to
y^{t} place.
It is truth it maie be alledged, that some Citties & Townes of noate
will lye so farre from any of the mayne Roads of England, as Hull &
other Townes of noate upon the Sea coasts, as that it wilbe impossible
for a footman to carry and recarry the s^{d} l[~r]es w^{th}in such time
as shalbe limitted: for remedie thereof a horse is to be provided for
the s^{d} footpost, for the execu[=co]n of the s^{d} service w^{th} more
expedi[=co]n.
The like rule is to be observed to Westchester & so to Ireland.
The like rule is to be observed to Oxford, Bristoll, & so to Ireland.
The like rule is to be observed to Worcester, Shrewesbury, and so to
y^{e} Marches of Wales.
The like rule to be observed to Exceter, & so to Plymouth.
The like rule to be observed to Canterbury, & so to Dovo^{r}.
The like rule to be observed to Chelmesford, Colchester, and so to
Harw^{ch}.
The like rule to be observed to Newmarket, Bury, Norw^{ch}, and so to
Yarmouth.
In the first place, it wilbe a great furtherance to the correspondency
betwixt London & Scotland, & London & Ireland, and great help to Trades,
& true affec[=co]n of his Ma^{ts} subiects betwixt theis kingdomes,
which, for want of true correspondency of l[~r]es, is now destroyed, & a
thing above all things observed by all other nations.
_As for Example_--
If anie of his M^{ats} subiects shall write to Madrill, in Spain, hee
shall receive answer sooner & surer then hee shall out of Scotland or
Ireland. The l[~r]es being now carried by carriers or footposts 16 or 18
miles a day, it is full two monthes before any answer can be received
from Scotland or Ireland to London, w^{ch} by this Conveyance all
l[~r]es shall goe 120 miles at y^{e} least in one day & night.
It will Secondlie be alledged, that it is a wrong to the Carriers that
bring the said letters. To which is answered, a Carrier setts out from
Westchester to London on the Mundaie, w^{ch} is 120 miles. The s^{d}
Carrier is 8 daies upon the Road, and upon his cominge to London
delivers his letters of advise for his relodinge to Westchester againe,
and his forced to staie in London two daies at extraordinary charges
before he can get his loding redy.
By this Conveyance l[~r]es wilbe fr[=o] Westchester to London in one day
& night, so that the s^{d} Carriers loading wilbe made ready a weeke
before the s^{d} Carriers shall come to London, and they no sooner come
to London but maie be redy to depte againe.
The like will fall out in all other pts.
Besides, if at any time there should be occasion to write from anie of
the coast Townes in England or Scotland to London, by this Conveyance
l[~r]es wilbe brought ymmediatly: & from all such places there wilbe
weekely advise to & from London.
_As for Example_--
Anie fight at Sea: any distress of his Ma^{ts} shipps, (w^{ch} Godd
forbidd), anie wrong offered by any other nation to any of y^{e} Coaste
of England, or anie of his Ma^{ts} forts: the Posts being punctually
paid, the newes will come sooner then thought.
It wilbe, thirdlie, alledged that this service maie be [^p]tended by
the Lo: Stanhope to be in his graunt of Post M^{r} of England. To w^{ch}
is answered, neither the Lo: Stanhope, nor anie other that ever enjoyed
the Postm^{s} place of England, had any benefitt of the carrying and
recarrying of the subiects L[~r]es: beside, the profitt is to paie y^{e}
Posts of the Road, w^{ch} next unto his Ma^{tie}, belong to y^{e} office
of the s^{d} Lo: Stanhope, and upon determina[=co]n of any of the s^{d}
Posts places, by death or otherwise, the Lo: Stanhope will make as much
of them as hath heretofore bin made by this said advancement of all
theire places.
The Lord Stanhope now enioying what either hee or any of his
Predecesso^{s} hath ever heretofore done to this day.
(Indorsed by Sec. Coke)
"Proposition for Missive Letters."
--_Report from Secret Committee on the Post Office_ (_Commons_), 1844,
Appx., pp. 55-6.
(iv) THE MONOPOLY AND THE GENERAL FARM OF THE POSTS.
No. 1.
"Whereas heretofore sundry wayes have bene devised to redresse the
disorders among the postes of our realme in generall, and particularly
to prevent the inconveniences, both to our owne service and the lawfull
trade of the honest merchants, by prohibiting that no persons whatsoever
should take upon them, publiquely or privately, to procure, gather up,
receive ... any packets or letters to or from the countreys beyond the
seas, except such our ordinarie posts and messengers for those parties,
etc."--royal Proclamation, April 26th 1591.
No. 2.
"There has long been a constant trade betwixt London and Norwich in
sundry sorts of stuffs and stockings made in Norwich and Norfolk, which
trade has always been maintained by the merchants of Norwich employing
their stocks in buying wares of the makers and sending them up weekly in
carts by common carriers to London, whence they are dispersed into all
parts of this kingdom, and also exported to foreign parts, in which
intercourse of trade we always had our letters safely and speedily
carried by our common carrier, by a horseman, not in manner of postage
by change of horses, but as is usual by common carriers, and for little
or no charge to us. Of late Mr. Witherings has intercepted our letters
and molested our carriers, forbidding them to carry any of our letters
otherwise than to go along with their carts, and no faster."--Petition
to Privy Council, 1638; J. W. Hyde, _The Post in Grant and Farm_,
London, 1894, p. 131.
No. 3.
" ... By a Proclamation dated about July 1635 his Majestie did expresse
his pleasure, that _Thomas Witherings_ should have the carriage of the
said letters who would settle it in a better and more speedy course;
thereupon he undertook the said work, and for a long time, after his
said undertaking, it cost him some weeks 20l. 30l. 40l. more than he
received, to the great weakening and hazard of the ruine of his estate.
It is verie true, that untill he had his patent of his Office granted
unto him for his life, which was in the yeare 1637, he did in some
places lay horses of his owne, in others he did make use of the
ordinarie Post-horses, and because he desired quick dispatch, hee paid
them for a guide and a horse to carrie the male 6d. _per_ mile, after
not conceiving a guide necessarie he made only use of one horse, and
paid 3d. _per_ mile.... for the other Posts, they have 3d. _per_ mile
which is more than ordinarie pay. But the objection which seems to
carrie the greatest shew, or colour of probabilitie with it is; That the
P^{mrs} had formerly 4,000_l._ _per annum_ fee, onely for carrying his
Majesties packets, that Witherings hath reduced this to 2,053l. _per
annum_, and yet puts a greater burthen upon them by carrying his male;
hath displaced many of them and received 4,000l. for Post
places."--_Full and cleare answer to a false and scandalous Paper
entituled: The humble Remonstrance of the grievances of all his
Majesties Posts of England, together with Carriers, Waggoners, etc._,
1641, pp. 2, 3.
No. 4.
Reasons presented to the Committee for Postmasters why the office should
not be farmed:--
(1) What is of public interest, if farmed, often becomes a great public
grievance.
(2) The postmasters who have served faithfully and others who run best
to Lynn, Yarmouth, etc., must be restrained and will complain as they
did in 1642 to the late Parliament which ordered them redress.
(3) By farming, the pay of postmasters will be made so inconsiderable
that they will grow careless.
(4) The expectations of the people now at this juncture so highly raised
to hopes of ease and freedom, will be disappointed when they see new
monopolies.
* * * * *