PENNY POSTAGE. (1839-40.)
My attention, on my return from France (in October of this year), was
mainly directed to the means of introducing the system of penny postage
as promptly as was consistent with safety, much care being obviously
necessary to put the office in order for the expected flood of letters
before the sluices were opened. The Chancellor of the Exchequer suggested
that in the outset stamped letters should not be admitted later than 3
p.m.; the time to be extended when practicable. The heads of the two
chief departments in the Circulation Office urged, as a preliminary,
the erection of the galleries already spoken of; a measure to which
I objected, both because of the time that it would take, and because
I thought a large outlay at the chief office (the estimate, without
including any arrangement for better ventilation, being as high as
£8,000) would delay the establishment of those district offices on which
I relied so much both for public convenience and for the maintenance of
the revenue. As a temporary expedient, I suggested the use of a part of
the Bull and Mouth Inn, which happened then to be vacant; a suggestion
which, unluckily, found no favour at the Post Office; so that, as the
Chancellor of the Exchequer could not make up his mind to adopt the
district system, immediate alterations were resolved upon, at the reduced
cost, however, of £6,000.
One cause of delay was found in an invitation issued by the Treasury,
accompanied with the offer of reward, for plans of collecting the
postage, whether by stamps or otherwise; a proceeding which precluded
any positive action until all the plans, which poured in from various
quarters, should have been duly examined. The communications were more
than two thousand five hundred in number, and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, who had intended to read all himself, was obliged to delegate
the task to the Junior Lords of the Treasury, who must have had dry
work of it, as I better knew when a considerable portion of the work
devolved ultimately upon myself. Foreseeing much delay, I suggested to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer the expediency of allowing, in the first
instance, prepayment by money, though, as I pointed out, this course
might increase the difficulty of introducing the stamp.
A few days later, viz., on November the 2nd, I laid before the Chancellor
of the Exchequer the sketch of a plan which I had devised for the gradual
introduction of the new system. This was at once to introduce into the
London district the penny rate for prepaid letters, and to abolish
throughout the district the additional charge of twopence then imposed on
every General Post letter delivered beyond certain limits. As to the rest
of the country, I proposed immediately to fix fourpence as the maximum
single inland rate; with the abolition of all anomalous charges, such as
a penny for crossing the Menai Bridge, the halfpenny for crossing the
Scottish border, and the penny for delivery beyond certain limits. These
recommendations, after having been fully considered by the Post Office
and the Treasury, were carried into effect on the 5th December.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer expressed doubts as to both the economy
and the safety of prepayment; and though he admitted that stamps must be
tried, and though I submitted an elaborate Report on the whole subject,
his doubts grew yet stronger; but as I remained confident, he gave way,
only declaring that he threw the responsibility of that part of the
measure entirely upon me. Even had I felt any misgiving, it was now too
late to draw back; but I accepted the responsibility with alacrity.
Amidst these proceedings there were one or two occurrences of some
interest.
I received a letter from Mr. Cobden, from which I give an extract,
showing that, however favourably I may have thought of my plan, his
expectations far outran my own:—
“I am prepared to see all the world sorely puzzled and
surprised, to find that the revenue from the penny postage
_exceeds_ the first year any former income of the Post Office.”
The Chancellor of the Exchequer consulted me as to the policy of taking
advantage of the willingness, as reported by Dr. Bowring, of the State of
Hamburg to reduce the charge on English transit letters from fourpence
to a penny in consideration of their letters being charged a penny for
passing through England. I strongly advised that the treaty should be
concluded forthwith, which was accordingly done.
When, however, I was consulted as to the policy of further reducing the
inland rate on foreign letters generally, before negotiating similar
reductions with foreign powers, I advised against that course, as likely
to render such negotiations more difficult; and the project was abandoned.
The question of probable forgery of the stamp still causing much anxiety,
various conferences were held on the subject. Not to go into tedious
details, it may be mentioned that the three kinds of stamps now in use,
though in very different degree, viz., stamped letter-paper, stamped
envelopes, and adhesive stamps, were agreed upon, and obtained the
approval of the Treasury.
In the minute establishing the fourpenny rate, care had been taken to
show that the measure was only temporary, and merely intended to give
needful practice in the new mode of charge, viz., by weight, before
the great expected increase in the number of letters should occur.
The explanation, however, did not give universal satisfaction, and I
began now practically to feel how great an advantage had been neglected
when Government declined to take up postal reform without awaiting the
coercion of popular demand. The spontaneous reduction of the existing
high rates to a _maximum_ of even sixpence or eightpence, would have
been welcomed with joy and gratitude; now so low a maximum as fourpence,
though this was the lowest of all General Post rates when my pamphlet
was published, was received with no small amount of dissatisfaction.
Suspicions arose that the concession would go no further; Government was
accused of an intention to cheat the public; and I, too, had a share
in the accusation, being charged in some of the newspapers with having
betrayed my own cause. Hitherto denunciations had fallen on me from
above; my elevation to office now gave opportunity—speedily seized on—for
attacks from below. I had learnt, however, before this time that all this
was to be expected and endured; that the only chance of escaping obloquy
is to avoid prominence; that the thin-skinned should keep within the pale
of private life.
December the 5th, the day appointed for the first change, was of course
passed in considerable anxiety as to the result, but of necessity I had
to await the next morning for the satisfaction of my curiosity. The
following is from my Journal, December 6th:—
“There was an increase of about fifty per cent. in the number
of letters despatched from London on Thursday as compared
with the previous Thursday, and a loss of about £500 out of
£1,600 in the total charges. The number of paid letters in
the district post has increased from less than 9,000 to about
23,000; the number of unpaid letters remaining about the same
as before, viz., 32,000. No doubt the increase is greater at
present than it will be in a day or two, as comparatively few
letters were written the day before the reduction; still the
result is as yet satisfactory. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
thinks very much so.
“_December 7th._—As I expected, the number of letters yesterday
was less than on Thursday; the increase as compared with the
previous Friday being about twenty-five per cent. only.”
When it was found that the immediate increase was so very moderate, the
moment had arrived for exultation in those who had predicted failure;
and, like Sir Fretful Plagiary, I was fortunate enough to have more than
one “damned good-natured friend” to keep me sufficiently informed of the
jubilation.
Whilst, as I have said, angry voices arose at the limited extent of the
first reduction, there were at least some persons who, being out of the
reach of general information, received the change much as I had once
hoped the whole public would do, viz., as a great and unexpected boon. A
poor Irishman, for instance, who brought a letter to the Chief Office,
with one shilling and fourpence for the postage, upon having the shilling
returned to him, with the information that the fourpence was all that
was required, broke out in acknowledgment to the window-clerk with a “God
bless your honour, and thank you.”
About a week after the change, I had the satisfaction of hearing from
Messrs. Bokenham and Smith, the two heads of the Circulation Department,
as follows:—
“_Journal, December 13th._—Bokenham says they do not put more
than one letter in twenty into the scale, and that a greater
saving than he expected results from uniformity of rate; that
the increased number of letters has required no increase of
strength. Smith gives a similar account (he has two additional
men). Both laugh at the notion of the insecurity in the
delivery as resulting from prepayment.”
Three days later I proposed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the
penny rate should come into operation in three weeks from that day; the
prepayment to be made in money until the stamps, now in preparation,
could be issued; and the abolition of franking to take place as soon as
prepayment should be made compulsory. Mr. Baring approved generally of
the plan, but preferred to extend the time to a month, and to abolish
franking at once; the former modification being of little moment, the
latter, as may be inferred from the event, a very judicious change.
Two days afterwards—that we might complete the necessary arrangements
without loss of time—the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on leaving Downing
Street, took me with him to his house at Lee, where, after dining, we set
to work, and, continuing without interruption, finished our task about
one in the morning. When I rose to retire, somewhat fatigued with my
long day’s work, I observed, to my surprise, that my host, opening his
Treasury box, began to take out papers as if for immediate examination.
Upon my expressing surprise, and a hope that he was not going to work
more that night, he told me that he should not sleep till all were dealt
with. If I had ever supposed that Chancellors of the Exchequer led an
easy life, I had abundant opportunity, now and afterwards, for disabuse.
The 10th January,[288] 1840, was determined upon as the day when penny
postage should be established throughout the whole kingdom.
I proposed that the scale of weight, as applied to high-priced letters
(foreign and colonial), should ascend throughout by the half-ounce. Mr.
Baring was favourable to this arrangement, but it was abandoned for the
time at the desire of Colonel Maberly, who maintained that trouble would
arise from the minuteness of the grade; and, in fact, it was not adopted
till more than twenty years afterwards.
Meanwhile, the examination of the multitudinous devices for producing
an inimitable stamp having at length been completed, I was called on to
prepare a minute on the whole subject, preparatory to issuing orders
for the execution of the work. The mode of proceeding in such cases may
surprise the uninitiated as much as, in the outset, it had surprised
me. By this time, however, I had fallen into the routine. Accordingly,
I put my own views on the matter, modified by what I had gathered
in conversation with my official superior, into the mouths of “My
Lords,” submitting the draft to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for his
comments, in accordance with which I altered again and again until he was
satisfied; soon learning that when this point was gained, the consent of
“My Lords” was as prompt and certain as the facing of a company at the
command of the captain.
Few fictions, I suppose, are more complete than the minutes purporting
to describe the proceedings of the Treasury Board. There was certainly
a large and handsome room containing a suitable table headed with a
capacious arm-chair, the back bearing a crown, and the seat prepared,
as I was informed, for the reception of the Sovereign, whose visits,
however, scarcely seemed to be frequent, as the garniture was in rags.
On this table, according to the minutes, the Chancellor laid such and
such papers, making such and such remarks; sometimes the First Lord of
the Treasury appeared as taking a part, though only on occasions of
some little importance, such, for instance, as my appointment; then
deliberation seemed to follow, certain conclusions to be arrived at, and
corresponding instructions to be given. This had a goodly appearance on
paper, while the simple fact was that, two or three Junior Lords being
seated for form’s sake, papers were read over which were to go forth
as the resultant minutes of the said meeting, but which, having all
been prepared beforehand, had received the signature of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, or of one of the Secretaries of the Treasury, the
attending Lords giving their assent, as a matter of course, without
a moment’s thought or hesitation. Once, indeed, while I was yet very
new, I did venture to go so far as to inquire, in somewhat hesitating
language, whether I was to complete the minute then in hand before it
received the confirmation of the Board; nor shall I readily forget the
look of perplexity which followed the question. When my meaning was at
length perceived, such answer was given that the inquiry never had to be
repeated.
With regard, however, to the competing plans for collecting the postage,
though valuable suggestions were afforded by several, no one was deemed
sufficient in itself. In the end there were selected, from the whole
number of competitors, four whose suggestions appeared to evince most
ingenuity. The reward that had been offered was divided amongst them in
equal shares, each receiving £100.
By this minute the plan of prepayment was at length definitely adopted,
as was also the use of stamps; and this in the three forms which I had
recommended before the Treasury issued their invitation for suggestions;
together with the addition recommended at the same time, that stamps
should be impressed upon paper of any kind sent to the Stamp Office by
the public. It was also ordered that the penny rate should be adopted
forthwith; the stamps to be introduced as soon as they could be got
ready. Charge by weight having been previously adopted, there was now
added the rule doubling the charge on letters not paid for in advance.
The Queen having been graciously pleased (and here the words were no mere
form) to abandon her privilege of franking, thus submitting her letters
to the same rule as those of her humblest subject, it was determined that
all other such privilege should cease at the same time. And here it may
be observed, that though the obligation then extended to all Government
offices, viz., to have their letters taxed like those of private persons,
might seem to be only formal, since their so-called payment of postage
was little more than matter of account between one department and
another, yet, as no department likes to see its postage charge in excess,
it constituted, in effect, to a considerable extent, a real check.[289]
At the same time, it was essential for showing the real earnings of the
Post Office.
In anticipation of a large influx of letters, it was ordered that, for a
time, the free receipt of letters at the London offices should cease one
hour earlier than before, with a corresponding arrangement at the country
offices; but that the time for the receipt of late letters should extend
to as late an hour as before.
The warrant for this minute appeared in a supplementary _Gazette_ the
same evening, December 28th; and this is the last event I have to mention
in the year 1839, the third of the penny postage movement.
A question soon arose as to the hour for posting _newspapers_, a
subject accidentally omitted in the minute. Here I may observe that,
though I was constantly striving to anticipate all contingencies, and
that for the most part with success, it would now and then occur that
something escaped observation, and that, in a minute elaborately framed
to meet all cases, some little flaw would still appear to give trouble.
Often, however, the explanation was that a draft liable to extraneous
modification would sometimes be materially changed by the substitution
of a phrase, which, without careful comparison with the whole document,
seemed a just equivalent for that which it replaced. However, as already
said, here was certainly an omission. I had supposed that no change would
be made in respect of newspapers, while Colonel Maberly considered these
as included in the term letters. While we were discussing the point
before the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Colonel Maberly contending that
the restriction would be indispensable, I urging that it would be very
unpopular, we were interrupted by the Chancellor, who meantime had been
opening his letters, and now suddenly exclaimed, “My Exchequer Bills are
at one per cent. premium; so I don’t care for a little unpopularity.” And
thus the matter ended.
All being resolved upon, we did not hold it necessary to pursue the
cautious policy observed on some previous occasions, but took means to
make the coming change as widely known as practicable. Accordingly, a
form of notification having been agreed upon, I ordered half-a-million of
copies to be printed, and at the same time inserted a short advertisement
in every newspaper throughout the kingdom.
On the day before that appointed for the establishment of Penny Postage,
came information as to the effect of the fourpenny rate, showing that
the numerical increase in the letters affected by the reduction was, for
England and Wales, 33 per cent.; for Scotland, 51; and for Ireland, 52;
the increase on the whole being 36 per cent.
At length the great day arrived. The following are the entries in my
Journal:—
“_January 10th._—Penny Postage extended to the whole kingdom
this day![290] ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer much pleased
with Matthew’s admirable article on postage in the ‘Edinburgh
Review,’ published yesterday.
“I have abstained from going to the Post Office to-night lest
I should embarrass their proceedings. I hear of large numbers
of circulars being sent, and the _Globe_ of to-night says the
Post Office has been quite besieged by people prepaying their
letters.[291] I guess that the number despatched to-night will
not be less than 100,000, or more than three times what it was
this day twelvemonths. If less, I shall be disappointed.
“_January 11th._—The number of letters despatched last night
exceeded all expectation. It was 112,000, of which all but
13,000 or 14,000 were prepaid. Great confusion in the hall
of the Post Office, owing to the insufficiency of means for
receiving the postage. The number received this morning from
the country was nearly 80,000, part, of course, at the old
rate. Mr. Baring is in high spirits. It cannot be expected,
however, that this great number will be sustained at present.
“_January 13th._—As was expected, the number of letters
despatched on Saturday was less than on Friday. It was about
70,000. I did not expect so great a falling off.”
I must not omit to mention that I received a large number of
letters—mostly from strangers—but all dated on this, the opening day,
thanking me for the great boon of Penny Postage.
“_January 14th._—The number of letters yesterday somewhat
increased. About 90,000 each way. Mr. Baring, on my report that
many persons were unable to get to the windows to post their
letters in time, promised to write to Mr. D. W. Harvey, the
superintendent of police, to direct that the thoroughfares may
be kept clear.”
I learnt that on the first evening of the penny rate, notwithstanding
the crush and inconvenience, three hearty cheers were given in the great
hall for Rowland Hill, followed by three others for the officers of the
department.