having in his Possession any Paper stamped with any of the Duties
hereby repealed, and not made use of, or who may at any Time
hereafter have in his Possession any Paper stamped for denoting
the Duties by this Act granted, and which may be rendered useless
by reason of any Change of Dies or by the Operation of any of the
Provisions of this Act, to bring the same to the Head Office for
Stamps in _London_, _Edinburgh_, or _Dublin_ respectively at any
Time within Six Calendar Months next after the said Fifteenth Day of
_September_ One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, or within Six
Calendar Months next after the same shall be so rendered useless, in
order that the Stamps thereon may be cancelled and allowed; and it
shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes or their
proper Officers to cancel and allow such Stamps accordingly, and to
stamp such Paper or any Portion thereof, and any other Paper which
shall be brought for that Purpose, with Stamps denoting the Duty
by this Act granted to the Amount or Value of the Stamps so to be
cancelled and allowed as aforesaid, after deducting the Amount of any
Discount allowed thereon.
s. 35. “And in order to avoid the frequent Use of divers Terms and
Expressions in this Act, and to prevent any Misconstruction of the
Terms and Expressions used therein, be it enacted, That wherever in
this Act, with reference to any Person, Matter, or Thing, any Word or
Words is or are used importing the singular Number or the Masculine
Gender only, yet such Word or Words shall be understood and construed
to include several Persons as well as one Person, Females as well
as Males, Bodies Politic or Corporate as well as Individuals, and
several Matters or Things as well as one Matter or Thing, unless it
be otherwise specially provided, or there be something in the Subject
or Context repugnant to such Construction.
s. 36. “And be it enacted, That this Act may be amended, altered, or
repealed by any Act or Acts to be passed in this present Session of
Parliament.”
“SCHEDULE referred to in this Act.
“SCHEDULE (A.)
“Containing the Duties imposed by this Act on Newspapers; (that is to
say,)
“For every Sheet or other Piece of Paper whereon any
Newspaper shall be printed 0 0 1
“And where such Sheet or Piece of Paper shall contain on One
Side thereof a Superficies, exclusive of the Margin of the
Letter-press, exceeding One thousand five hundred and thirty
Inches, and not exceeding Two thousand two hundred and
ninety-five Inches, the additional Duty of 0 0 0½
“And where the same shall contain on One Side thereof a
Superficies, exclusive of the Margin of the Letter-press,
exceeding Two thousand two hundred and ninety-five Inches,
the additional Duty of 0 0 1
“Provided always, that any Sheet or Piece of Paper containing
on One Side thereof a Superficies, exclusive of the Margin of
the Letter-press, not exceeding Seven hundred and sixty-five
Inches, which shall be published with and as a Supplement to
any Newspaper chargeable with any of the Duties aforesaid,
shall be chargeable only with the Duty of 0 0 0½
“And the following shall be deemed and taken to be Newspapers
chargeable with the said Duties; viz.
“Any Paper containing public News, Intelligence, or Occurrences
printed in any Part of the United Kingdom to be dispersed and
made public:
“Also any Paper printed in any Part of the United Kingdom, weekly
or oftener, or at Intervals not exceeding Twenty-six Days,
containing only or principally Advertisements:
“And also any Paper containing any public News, Intelligence,
or Occurrences, or any Remarks or Observations thereon, printed
in any Part of the United Kingdom for Sale, and published
periodically or in Parts or Numbers at Intervals not exceeding
Twenty-six Days between the Publication of any Two such Papers,
Parts, or Numbers, where any of the said Papers, Parts, or
Numbers respectively shall not exceed Two Sheets of the
Dimensions herein-after specified, (exclusive of any Cover or
Blank Leaf, or any other Leaf upon which any Advertisement or
other Notice shall be printed,) or shall be published for Sale
for a less Sum than Sixpence, exclusive of the Duty by this Act
imposed thereon: Provided always, that no Quantity of Paper
less than a Quantity equal to Twenty-one Inches in Length and
Seventeen Inches in Breadth, in whatever Way or Form the same may
be made or may be divided into Leaves, or in whatever Way the
same may be printed, shall, with reference to any such Paper,
Part, or Number as aforesaid, be deemed or taken to be a Sheet of
Paper:
“And provided also, that any of the several Papers herein-before
described shall be liable to the Duties by this Act imposed
thereon, in whatever Way or Form the same may be printed or
folded, or divided into Leaves or stitched, and whether the same
shall be folded, divided, or stitched, or not.
“EXEMPTIONS.
“Any Paper called ‘Police Gazette, or Hue and Cry,’ published
in Great Britain by Authority of the Secretary of State, or in
Ireland by the Authority of the Lord Lieutenant.
“Daily Accounts or Bills of Goods imported and exported, or
Warrants or Certificates for the Delivery of Goods, and the
Weekly Bills of Mortality, and also Papers containing any Lists
of Prices Current, or of the State of the Markets, or any
Account of the Arrival, Sailing, or other Circumstances relating
to Merchant Ships or Vessels, or any other Matter wholly of a
Commercial Nature; provided such Bills, Lists, or Accounts do not
contain any other Matter than what hath been usually comprised
therein.”
The printing of daily newspapers in the metropolis is a distinct
branch from that of printing books and jobs, and is governed by
different rules and regulations, so as to require a separate account
of the process. The routine of business is uniform and regular,
without that variety which occurs in a book house: the qualifications
requisite for a compositor on a newspaper are, punctuality, quickness
in composing, and clean proofs, so that no delay may take place from
the deficiency of any one individual.
As the Times newspaper is one of the largest daily papers in Europe,
and as it is printed in a smaller type, and contains more matter
than any other, it consequently requires and employs more people to
prepare it for publication; and as it is generally acknowledged to be
one of the best conducted papers for the arrangement of its matter,
and the punctuality of its publication, I have selected it to give
as a specimen of the manner of printing a daily morning newspaper in
London.
The compositors employed to compose this great mass of intelligence
day by day, and every day throughout the year, Saturday excepted,
there being no publication on Sundays, are seventy-five, who are
divided into two classes; viz., the night or news hands, and the
advertisement hands. The first class consists of 39, who are divided
into full hands, 14; supernumeraries, 10; assistants, 15; to these
may be added 10 “outsiders,” who fill the frames of absentees in
cases of sickness, or from other causes: they are not considered as
belonging to the establishment, inasmuch as they hold no situation,
and are consequently dependent upon the workmen. The advertisement
department consists of 36 hands.
As it is desirable not to have to distribute letter after copy is
taken, the compositors usually put their letter in after all the
composing is completed, or take the opportunity when waiting for
copy, to be ready for the evening, or else they attend sooner in the
afternoon than the usual hour, for that purpose.
The full hands take copy at six o’clock in the evening, precisely,
and go on without regard to the old rule of first work and finish,
and the day’s work is considered to be completed at the expiration of
eleven hours, five o’clock in the morning; if engaged after that time
all hands are paid by the hour, the printer never availing himself
of the choice of beginning an hour later on account of the lateness
of the preceding morning. The full hands are expected to compose two
galleys each per night, and all over lines are paid for extra, even
though they are composed within the time prescribed by the rules laid
down for the guidance of compositors.
The supernumeraries are expected to compose one galley each per
night, and all over lines are paid for extra, the same as with the
full hands.
The full hands have each three pairs of cases--Nonpareil, Minion, and
Bourgeois; and as the most advantageous matter is generally set up in
the smaller type, they claim the benefit of it as an equivalent for
the labour of putting the forms to the machine.
The supernumeraries and assistants take copy at seven o’clock in the
evening, and continue to work till all is composed, and should there
be any standing still for want of copy, they are allowed at the rate
of a quarter of a galley per hour for all the time they may have lost
during the night. The assistants have no stated salary, but are paid
by the galley, and share the same advantages as the supernumeraries,
no distinction being made in the giving out of the copy.
The compositors in the news department have the privilege of
composing a considerable quantity of extra or “back” matter to enable
the printer to have at all times a resource in case of accident. This
extra copy is given out and divided into half galley shares, and
taken in rotation, thus preventing monopoly or favouritism.
As there is an immense quantity of letter in use, the division of
which for distribution would occasion loss of time, and frequent
disputes, the companionship pay a man to lay up the forms, mark the
letter off for each individual, and distribute the useless heads. He
is also answerable for the clearance of the boards.
Each compositor has a number attached to his frame, and when he
takes copy, his number is placed on the back of the copy, so that
each man’s matter is immediately identified, and in case of a foul
proof, or an out that will occasion much trouble, it is immediately
handed to him who composed it without further inquiry, which prevents
exposure and annoyance to the individual. The copy is also marked
with progressive numbers, which prevents confusion by enabling the
compositor to know with certainty, whom he follows in his composing,
and to empty his stick in the proper galley so as to join the
preceding matter.
As the matter is composed it is taken, a galley at a time, by the
printer, and made up into columns; a proof of the column is then
pulled upon the galley by one of the compositors, who all take it
in turn; it is then given to the reader; after being attentively
read and corrected, it is returned to the compositors to make the
corrections, who take it in turn, two and two; the column is divided
into four, the first compositor takes the first and third parts, and
the second takes the second and fourth parts, and he who is the last
in making his corrections, pulls a second proof, which is carefully
revised, and when the revise is corrected the matter is ready for
the paper. It thus goes on column after column, till the whole
paper is composed, when it often occurs that the arrival of foreign
intelligence increases the quantity considerably; matter of less
immediate interest is, in this instance, taken away, and kept as back
matter for a future day, to make room for the latest intelligence.
If the first compositor has six or more lines to compose of copy that
he has in hand, he must give it up, and begin to correct immediately;
but if he has less than six lines of copy in hand, he finishes it
before he commences correcting: this regulation is adopted to prevent
any interruption or delay in the progress of getting the paper out.
The full hands take it in turn to correct the revises, lock up the
forms, and take them to the machines to be worked off.
The advertisement department is not regulated after the same manner
as the news department, there being no distinction of grades, nor any
fixed salaries, nor is there any precise time of commencing work,
the uncertainty as to the time of advertisements being received at
the office rendering it an impossibility to appoint any regular hour
for beginning. The compositors are paid by the galley, not according
to the scale of prices fixed for morning papers, but more after the
scale of evening papers. The method adopted in this part of the
establishment in taking copy is the same as in other offices, the
first out of copy taking first, and so on, and as the compositors
come out of copy their numbers are placed on a slate, which prevents
disputes or confusion. The compositor marks his copy by putting his
initials at the back of it; so that if any gross error be committed,
and remain uncorrected, a wrong number in a reference, for instance,
it can immediately be ascertained who composed it, and either the
reader or the compositor is held responsible for the advertisement
duty, the proof deciding which is to pay the fine for negligence.
The salary of a full hand is 2_l._ 8_s._ per week, but the average
earnings are 3_l._ 12_s._ 6_d._; the salary of a supernumerary is
1_l._ 3_s._ per week, and the average earnings are 3_l._; it often
happens that much higher bills are written, but the above may be
taken as a fair average.
The whole establishment of the Times newspaper, including editors,
reporters, compositors, readers, engineer, overseers of the
machines, persons to lay on, and to take off, clerks, &c. consists
of one hundred and thirty-seven persons.
The following is the number of Stamps issued to four of the principal
London morning newspapers in 1838 and 1839, and also the amount of
advertisement duty paid by the said papers in each of the years 1837,
1838, and 1839, from official returns.
_Number of Stamps issued._
+------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| | 1838. | 1839. |
+------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| The Times | 3,355,000 | 3,650,000 |
| Morning Herald | 2,078,000 | 1,925,000 |
| Morning Chronicle | 2,200,000 | 2,075,000 |
| Morning Post | 797,000 | 875,500 |
+------------------------+-----------+-----------+
_Amount of Money paid by each Newspaper for Advertisement Duty._
+------------------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+
| | 1837. | 1838. | 1839. |
+------------------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+
| | _£ s. d._| _£ s. d._| _£ s. d._|
| The Times | 8,817 16 6 | 9,600 12 0 | 11,238 3 0 |
| Morning Herald | 5,217 12 0 | 4,263 0 0 | 4,796 9 6 |
| Morning Chronicle | 4,047 3 0 | 4,079 11 0 | 4,619 0 6 |
| Morning Post | 2,980 19 0 | 2,713 11 6 | 3,191 9 6 |
+------------------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+
_Number of Newspapers published in the United Kingdom. November,
1840._
ENGLAND.
_London._--Daily, 6 morning, 5 evening; twice a week, 3, including
London Gazette; three times a week, 4; weekly, Monday, 2; Tuesday, 3;
Wednesday, 4; Thursday, 2; Friday, 1; Saturday, 8; Sunday, 27; tenth
of every month, 1; first and fifteenth of every month, 1. Total, 67.
_Country._--Bedfordshire, 1; Berkshire, 4; Buckinghamshire, 3;
Cambridgeshire, 3; Cheshire, 6; Cornwall, 5; Cumberland, 4;
Derbyshire, 4; Devonshire, 12; Dorsetshire, 3; Durham, 5; Essex, 5;
Gloucestershire, 8; Hampshire, 4; Herefordshire, 2; Hertfordshire,
2; Kent, 13; Lancashire, 26; Leicestershire, 4; Lincolnshire, 5;
Monmouthshire, 2; Norfolk, 2; Northamptonshire, 2; Northumberland,
6; Nottinghamshire, 3; Oxfordshire, 4; Shropshire, 6; Somersetshire,
14; Staffordshire, 5; Suffolk, 5; Surrey, there are no papers printed
in this county, but there are 3 circulated by agents; Sussex, 6;
Warwickshire, 9; Westmoreland, 2; Wiltshire, 5; Worcestershire, 5;
Yorkshire, 28; Berwick-on-Tweed, 2. Total, 228.
_Wales._--9.
SCOTLAND.
_Edinburgh._--Twice a week, 6; three times a week, 2; weekly, 6.
Total, 14.
Aberdeen, 4; Ayr, 3; Dumfries, 3; Dundee, 3; Elgin, 1; Fife, 2;
Glasgow, 11; Greenock, 2; Inverness, 3; John O’Groat’s Journal, 1;
Kelso, 2; Kilmarnock, 1; Montrose, 1; Paisley, 1; Perth, 4; Stirling,
2. Total, 44.
IRELAND.
_Dublin._--Daily, 3; twice a week, 2; three times a week, 6; weekly,
8. Total, 19.
Athlone, 1; Ballyshannon, 1; Belfast, 6; Carlow, 1; Clare, 1;
Clonmel, 1; Connaught, 1; Cork, 3; Downpatrick, 1; Drogheda, 2;
Enniskillen, 2; Fermanagh, 1; Galway, 1; Kerry, 2; Kilkenny, 2;
Leinster, 2; Limerick, 3; Londonderry, 3; Mayo, 2; Munster, 1;
Nenagh, 1; Newry, 2; Roscommon, 2; Sligo, 2; Tipperary, 2; Tuam, 1;
Ulster, 1; Waterford, 4; Westmeath, 1; Wexford, 2. Total, 55.
BRITISH ISLANDS.
Guernsey, 3; Jersey, 7; Isle of Man, 4. Total, 14.
ABSTRACT.
ENGLAND:--
London 67
Country 228
Wales 9
--- 304
SCOTLAND:--
Edinburgh 14
Other parts of Scotland 44
--- 58
IRELAND:--
Dublin 19
Other parts of Ireland 55
--- 74
BRITISH ISLANDS 14
----
Total 450
_Newspaper Postage._--3 & 4 Vict. c. 96. “An Act for the
Regulation of the Duties of Postage.”
s. 1. “Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That all Letters and
Newspapers and other printed Papers, which shall be posted in
any Town or Place within the United Kingdom, or shall be brought
from Parts beyond the Seas to any Port or Place within the
United Kingdom, or shall be sent by the Post between the United
Kingdom and Places beyond the Seas, or between any of the other
Places herein-after mentioned, or shall pass through the United
Kingdom, shall be subject to the several Regulations and Rates
herein-after contained.”
s. 12. “And be it enacted, That all Letters posted in any Town
or Place within the United Kingdom shall, if written on stamped
Paper or enclosed in stamped Covers, or having a Stamp or Stamps
affixed thereto, and all printed Votes and Proceedings of the
Imperial Parliament, and all Newspapers which shall be liable to
Postage under this Act, shall, if posted in any Town or Place
within the United Kingdom and enclosed in stamped Covers, or
having a Stamp or Stamps affixed thereto, (the Stamp or Stamps
in every such Case being affixed or appearing on the Outside,
and of the Value or Amount herein-after expressed and specially
provided under the Authority of this Act or of the said recited
Act, [2 & 3 Vict. c. 52.] and if the Stamp shall not have been
used before,) pass by the Post free of Postage, as herein-after
mentioned.”
“And on all such printed Votes and Proceedings of Parliament
and Newspapers the Stamp or Stamps shall be equal in Value
or Amount to the Rates of Postage to which such Votes or
Proceedings or Newspapers would have been liable under this Act:
“And that in all Cases in which the same shall be necessary,
in order to place on any such Letters, printed Votes or
Proceedings of Parliament, and Newspapers, the full Amount of
Stamps hereby required as aforesaid, there shall be affixed
thereto such a Number of Adhesive Stamps as alone or in
Combination with the Stamp on such Letters or Packets, or
on the Envelope or Cover thereof, will be equal in Amount to
the Rate of Postage to which such Letters, printed Votes or
Proceedings of Parliament, and Newspapers would be liable under
this Act.
s. 13. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which Letters
posted in and addressed to Places within the United Kingdom shall
be posted without any Stamp thereon, and without the Postage
being pre-paid, there shall be charged on such Letters a Postage
of Double the Amount to which such Letters would otherwise be
liable under this Act; and in all Cases in which printed Votes
or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers liable to Postage
under this Act, shall be posted without any Stamp thereon, there
shall be charged on such Votes and Proceedings or Newspapers the
Postage to which the same would be liable under this Act.”
s. 16. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which any Votes
or Proceedings of Parliament, Newspapers, addressed to Places
within the United Kingdom, shall be posted, having thereon or
affixed thereto any Stamp or Stamps the Value or Amount of which
shall be less than the Rate of Postage to which such Votes or
Proceedings or Newspapers would be liable under this Act, there
shall be charged on such Votes or Proceedings or Newspapers a
Postage equal to the Amount of the Difference between the Value
of such Stamp or Stamps and the Postage to which such Votes or
Proceedings or Newspapers would be liable as aforesaid.
s. 17. “Provided always, and be it enacted, That it shall in all
Cases be optional with the Parties sending any Letters, printed
Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers, by the Post,
to forward the same free of Postage by means of a proper Stamp
or Stamps thereon or affixed thereto in manner herein-before
provided, or to forward the same in like Manner as the same might
otherwise have been forwarded under this Act; but nevertheless,
in case any Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament,
or Newspapers, addressed to Places out of the United Kingdom,
shall have thereon or affixed thereto any Stamp or Stamps being
less in Amount or Value than the Rates of Postage to which such
Letters, or such Votes or Proceedings, or Newspapers, would be
liable under this Act, such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings
of Parliament, or Newspapers, if the Postage thereon be required
by the Postmaster General under the Provisions of this Act to
be paid when posted, shall not in any Case be forwarded by the
Post, but shall, so far as may be practicable, be returned to
the Senders thereof through the Dead Letter Office; and if
the Postage on such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings, or
Newspapers, be not so required to be paid when posted, the same
may be forwarded charged with such Postage as if no Stamp had
been thereon or affixed thereto.”
s. 32. “And be it enacted, That the Foreign Postage marked on
any Letter or Newspaper, or other printed Paper brought into the
United Kingdom, shall in all Courts of Justice and other Places
be received as conclusive Evidence of the Amount of Foreign
Postage payable in respect of such Letter, Newspaper, or other
printed Paper, in addition to the _British_ Postage; and such
Foreign Postage shall be recoverable within the United Kingdom
and other Her Majesty’s Dominions as Postage due to Her Majesty.”
s. 36. “And for encouraging Masters of Vessels, not being Post
Office Packets, to undertake the Conveyance of Letters; be it
enacted, That the Postmaster General may allow to Masters of
Vessels, on Letters and Newspapers conveyed by them for or on
behalf of the Post Office between Places within the United
Kingdom, a Sum not exceeding Two Shillings and Sixpence for each
and every Number of One hundred of such Letters and Newspapers,
and for any less Number in the like Proportion, and may allow to
the Masters of Vessels bound from the United Kingdom to the _East
Indies_ a Sum not exceeding One Penny for each Letter and One
Halfpenny for each Newspaper conveyed by them for or on behalf
of the Post Office, and may allow to the Masters of all other
Vessels a Sum not exceeding Two-pence for each Letter conveyed
by them for or on behalf of the Post Office from the United
Kingdom to Places beyond Sea, and may allow to the Masters of
all Vessels not exceeding Two-pence for each Letter brought into
the United Kingdom, which they shall deliver at the Post Office
at the first Port at which they touch or arrive, or with which
they communicate, (all which Gratuities may be paid at such Times
and Places, and under all such Regulations and Restrictions, as
the Postmaster General shall in his Discretion think fit); and
every Master of a Vessel outward-bound shall receive on board
his Vessel every Post Letter Bag tendered to him for Conveyance,
and having received the same shall deliver it, on his Arrival at
the Port or Place of his Destination, without Delay; and every
Master of a Vessel inward-bound shall cause all Letters on board
his Vessel (except those belonging to the Owners of the Vessel,
or of the Goods on board, which do not exceed the prescribed
Weights,) to be collected and enclosed in some Bag or other
Envelope, and to be sealed with his Seal, and to be addressed
to any of Her Majesty’s Deputy Postmasters, that they may be in
readiness to send on shore by his own Boat, or by the Pilot Boat,
or by any other safe or convenient Means, in order that the same
may be delivered at the first regular Post Office which can be
communicated with, and at the regular Port or Place where the
Vessel shall report, shall sign a Declaration in the Presence of
the Person authorized by the Postmaster General at such Port or
Place, who shall also sign the same.”