The parliamentary return, obligingly sent to Dr. Webb by Mr. Hume, M. P.,
bears date the 11th of June, 1847, and was made in pursuance of an order
of the House, passed April 22, 1847. The tabular statements contained in
this important paper will be examined with great interest by those who are
accustomed to statistical inquiries, and are here presented for their use.
Taken in connection with Mr. Hume’s table, on page 4, they will present
the most convincing evidence of the unparalleled success of cheap postage.
A comparative statement of the NUMBER OF LETTERS delivered in the United
Kingdom, in one week of the month of November, 1839, and of each
subsequent year, taking a week in the month of April, 1847. (Condensed
from the parliamentary document.)
Years. England and Ireland. Scotland. United
Wales. Kingdom.
1839(3) 1,252,977 179,931 153,065 1,585,973
1840 2,685,181 385,672 385,262 3,456,115
1841 3,029,453 403,421 413,248 3,846,122
1842 3,282,021 474,031 446,494 4,202,546
1843 3,401,595 478,941 468,677 4,349,213
1844 3,744,011 527,630 511,663 4,783,304
1845 4,467,619 597,425 601,715 5,666,759
1846 4,629,324 649,324 621,850 5,890,704
1847(4) 4,823,854 698,313 626,709 6,148,876
II. An account, showing the GROSS and NET POST OFFICE REVENUE, and the
COST OF MANAGEMENT, for the United Kingdom, for the year ending the 5th
day of January, 1839, and for each subsequent year.
Year ending Gross Cost of Net Revenue.
Revenue.(5) Management.(6)
5 January, 1839 £2,346,278 £686,768 3_s_. £1,659,509
—_s_. 9½_d_. 6¾_d_. 17_s_. 2¾_d_.
5 January, 2,390,763 10 1½ 756,999 7 4 1,633,764 2 9½
1840(7)
5 January, 1841 1,359,466 9 2 858,677 —5¼ 500,789 11 4¼
5 January, 1842 1,499,418 10 938,168 19 7½ 561,249 11 4¼
11¾
5 January, 1843 1,578,145 16 7½ 977,504 10 3 600,641 64½
5 January, 1844 1,620,867 11 10 980,650 7 5¾ 640,217 4 4¼
5 January, 1845 1,705,067 16 4 985,110 13 10¾ 719,957 2 5¼
5 January, 1846 1,901,580 10 2¾ 1,125,594 5 — 775,986 5 2¾
5 January, 1847 1,978,293 11 1,138,745 2 4¼ 839,548 9 6
10¼
III. Return of the PAYMENTS made by the POST OFFICE during each of the
years ending the 5th of January, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845,
1846, 1847, for the CONVEYANCE of the _Mails_ by _Railway_ in Great
Britain.
5th January, 1839, £12,380 5_s_. 7_d_.
5th January, 1840, 52,230 1 2
5th January, 1841, 51,301 6 8
5th January, 1842, 94,818 7 10
5th January, 1843, 77,570 5 7
5th January, 1844, 96,360 10 5
5th January, 1845, 89,809 4 6
5th January, 1846, 179,257 4 1
5th January, 1847, 107,890 14 2
IV. An account of the Number and Amount of MONEY ORDERS issued (and paid)
in England and Wales (London included), from the 5th April, 1839, to 5th
April, 1847, inclusive.
For the Quarters ended Number. Amount.
5 April, 1839 28,838 £49,496 5_s_.
8_d_.
5 July, 1839 34,612 59,099 9 5
5 October, 1839 38,510 64,056 7 8
5 January, 1840 40,763 67,411 2 7
5 April, 1840 76,145 119,932 12 1
5 July, 1840 94,215 151,734 15 8
5 October, 1840 122,420 196,507 14 3
5 January, 1841 189,984 334,652 14 8
5 April, 1841 275,870 567,518 12 3
5 July, 1841 289,884 608,774 11 2
5 October, 1841 334,071 661,099 9 —
5 January, 1842 390,290 820,576 11 10
5 April, 1842 419,530 890,575 17 1
5 July, 1842 422,452 885,803 4 5
5 October, 1842 432,205 901,549 5 5
5 January, 1843 493,439 1,031,850 5 3
5 April, 1843 512,798 1,080,249 2 2
5 July, 1843 495,723 1,032,643 5 11
5 October, 1843 515,458 1,060,023 8 7
5 January, 1844 562,030 1,196,428 8 2
5 April, 1844 582,056 1,212,094 4 9
5 July, 1844 555,561 1,166,161 12 3
5 October, 1844 574,250 1,184,178 — 5
5 January, 1845 621,826 1,296,451 17 4
5 April, 1845 656,452 1,372,405 18 8
5 July, 1845 613,539 1,279,050 2 4
5 October, 1845 637,369 1,316,164 12 1
5 January, 1846 719,813 1,495,832 17 6
5 April, 1846 716,618 1,490,626 12 5
5 July, 1846 679,236 1,399,789 17 2
5 October, 1846 706,055 1,447,507 17 2
5 January, 1847 779,790 1,588,549 7 2
5 April, 1847 810,603 1,654,278 7 —
The Commission on Money Orders was, on and from the 20th November, 1840,
reduced as follows:
For any sum not exceeding £2, from 6_d_. to 3_d_.
For any sum above £2, and not exceeding £5, from 1s. 6_d_. to _6_d.
V. Return of the Number of CHARGEABLE LETTERS, which is passed through the
London General Post, inwards and outwards, in the first four weeks of each
year, beginning with 1839, distinguishing the Unpaid, Paid with Coin,
Stamped, and Total.(8)
Years. Unpaid. Paid. Stamped. Total.
1839(9) 1,358,651 263,496 1,622,147
1840(10) 787,139 2,217,127 3,004,266
1841 370,080 2,204,419 2,108,074 4,683,073
1842 351,134 2,166,960 2,760,757 5,278,851
1843 312,839 2,431,231 2,972,828 5,716,898
1844 433,270 2,524,270 3,079,418 6,037,526
1845 504,519 2,613,648 3,681,026 6,800,293
1846 551,461 2,899,306 4,435,966 7,886,733
1847(11) 448,838 3,057,257 4,905,674 8,411,769
VI. Return of the Number of CHARGEABLE LETTERS which passed through the
London District Post, excluding all General Post Letters, in the first
four weeks of each year, beginning with 1839.
Years. Unpaid. Paid. Stamped. Total.
1839 800,573 220,813 1,021,286
1840 331,589 1,207,985 1,539,574
1841 157,242 926,264 752,134 1,835,640
1842 118,101 820,835 980,694 1,919,630
1843 113,293 837,624 1,020,091 1,971,008
1844 98,712 859,776 1,181,314 2,139,802
1845 99,005 947,660 1,337,132 2,383,697
1846 119,165 1,055,717 1,573,603 2,748,485
1847 108,158 1,079,378 1,685,105 2,872,641
The Penny Rate took effect on this route Dec. 5, 1839.
The increase of the total, since 1839, is 181 per cent.; showing that the
greatest increase is out of the London District.
VII. Table by Mr. Hill, showing the loss of Revenue by the Post Office,
compared with the Increase of Population.
Years. Population. Postage. Postage due Loss. Pr. ct.
by
Population.
1815 19,552,000 £1,557,291 £1,557,291
1820 20,928,000 1,479,547 1,677,000 £194,553 11.6
1825 22,362,000 1,670,209 1,789,000 118,781 6.6
1830 23,961,000 1,517,952 1,917,000 399,048 20.
1835 25,605,000 1,540,300 2,048,000 507,700 24.8
VII. Table by Mr. Hill, showing the loss of Revenue by the Post Office,
compared with the Increase of the Stage-Coach Duty.
Years. Stage Coach Postage. Post due by Loss. Pr. ct.
Duty Coach Duty.
1815 £217,671 £1,557,291 £1,557,291
1820 273,477 1,479,547 1,946,000 £466,453 24.
1825 362,631 1,670,209 2,585,000 914,781 35.
1830 418,598 1,517,952 2,990,000 1,472,048 49.
1835 498,497 1,540,300 3,550,000 2,009,700 57.
The revenue from the stage coach duty had increased 128 per cent. in
twenty years. There was no reason why the natural demand for the
conveyance of letters should not have increased at least as much as the
demand for the conveyance of persons. It was evident that the postage
revenue fell short by at least two millions which was lost by the high
rate of postage.