GROWTH OF CERTAIN POST-OFFICES.
When the past history of the Post-office is looked into, at a period
which cannot yet be said to be very remote, it is both curious and
instructive to observe the contrast which presents itself, as between
the unpretending institution of those other days, and the great and
ubiquitous machine which is now the indispensable medium for the
conveyance of news to every corner of the empire. To imagine what our
country would be without the Post-office as it now is, would be
attempting something quite beyond our powers; and if such an institution
did not exist, and an endeavour were made to construct one at once by
the conceits and imaginings of men's minds, failure would be the
inevitable result, for the British Post-office is the child of long
experience and never-ending improvement, having a complexity and yet
simplicity in its fabric, which nothing but many years of growth and
studied application to its aims could have produced.
But it is not the purpose here to go into the history of its
improvements, or of its changes. It is merely proposed to show how
rapidly it has grown, and from what small beginnings.
The staff of the Edinburgh Post-office in 1708 was composed of no more
than seven persons, described as follows:--
Salary.
Manager for Scotland, L200 0 0
Accountant, 50 0 0
Clerk, 50 0 0
Clerk's Assistant, 25 0 0
Three Letter-carriers, at 5_s._ a-week each.
In 1736 the number of persons employed had increased to eleven, whose
several official positions were as follows:--
Postmaster-General for Scotland.
Accountant.
Secretary to the Postmaster.
Principal Clerk.
Second Clerk.
Clerk's Assistant.
Apprehender of Private Letter-carriers.
Clerk to the Irish Correspondents.
Three Letter-carriers.
The apprehender of private letter-carriers, as the name implies, was an
officer whose duty it was to take up persons who infringed the
Post-office work of carrying letters for money.
The work continued steadily to grow, for in 1781 we find there were 23
persons employed, of whom 6 were letter-carriers; and in 1791 the
numbers had increased to 31. In 1828 there were 82; in 1840, when the
penny post was set on foot, there were 136; and in 1860, 244.
In 1884 the total number of persons employed in all branches of the
Post-office service in Edinburgh was 939.
The Post-office of Glasgow, which claims to be the second city of the
kingdom, shows a similar rapidity of growth, if not a greater; and this
growth may be taken as an index of the expansion of the city itself,
though the former has to be referred to three several causes--namely,
increase of population, spread of education, and development of trade.
In 1799 the staff of the Glasgow Post-office was as follows, viz.:--
Salary.
Postmaster, L200 0 0
First Clerk, 30 0 0
Second Clerk, 25 0 0
Four Letter-carriers, at 10s. 6d. a-week each, 109 4 0
A Stamper or Sorter, at 10s. 6d. a-week, 27 6 0
So that the whole expense for staff was no more than L391, 10s. per
annum, and this had been the recognised establishment for several years.
But it appears from official records, that though the postmaster was
nominally receiving L200 a-year, he had in 1796 given L10 each to the
clerks out of his salary, and expended besides, on office-rent, coal,
and candles, L30, 2s. 8d. Somewhat similar deductions were made in 1797
and 1798, and thus the postmaster's salary was then less than L150
a-year in reality. It is worthy of note here that letters were at that
time delivered in Glasgow only twice a-day.
Some ten years earlier--that is, in 1789--the indoor staff consisted of
the postmaster and one clerk, the former receiving L140 a-year, and the
latter L30.
A penny post, for local letters in Glasgow, was started in the year
1800, when, as part and parcel of the scheme, three receiving-offices
were opened in the city. The revenue derived from the letters so carried
for the first year was under L100, showing that there cannot have been
so many as eighty letters posted per day for local delivery. After a
time the experiment was considered not to have been quite a success, for
one of the receiving-offices was closed, and a clerk's pay reduced L10
a-year, in order to bring the expense down to the level of the revenue
earned. In 1803 matters improved, however, as in the first quarter of
that year the revenue from penny letters was greater than the expense
incurred.
At the present time, the staff of the Glasgow Post-office numbers 1267
persons, and the postmaster's salary is over a thousand pounds a-year.
To those who know Liverpool, with its expansive area, its vast shipping,
its stir of commerce, and, in the present relation, its army of postmen,
the following facts will exhibit a striking contrast between the past
and the present. In 1792, when the population of that town stood at
something like 60,000, the number of postmen employed was but three,
whose wages were 7s. a-week each; but, to be quite correct, it should be
added that one of the postmen, having heavier work than the others, was
aided by his wife, and for this assistance the office allowed from L10
to L12 a-year. One of the postmen delivered the letters for the southern
district, including Everton, St Ann's, Richmond, &c.; another served the
northern portion, taking in part of the old dock, the dry dock, George's
Dock, &c.; while the third disposed of the letters for the remaining
portions of the town. The duties of these men seem to have been carried
out with a good deal of deliberation. The postmen arranged the
correspondence for distribution in the early morning, then they partook
of breakfast, and set out upon their rounds about 9 A.M., completing
their work of delivery about the middle of the afternoon. And thus it
would appear that Liverpool at that time had only one delivery per day.
Upon all letters delivered by two of the postmen--the two first
mentioned--a halfpenny per letter over and above the postage was charged
for delivery; in the other case the ordinary postage only was levied.
The reason for the additional charge was no doubt this that the
postmaster was allowed by the Department only one postman, and that
consequently the wages of the other men who were necessarily employed
had to be met by the special tax referred to. The following minute of
the Postmaster-General, dated 28th October 1792, while in some sense
affording an explanation of the matter, shows that somewhat peculiar
notions prevailed with regard to providing force where such was
required. It runs as follows:--
"There are only two instances in the kingdom where more than one
letter-carrier is allowed, viz., Portsmouth and Bath. I understand it
has been held as a general rule not to allow more than one to any other
place, however extensive and populous it may be; in the two exceptions
to this rule the inhabitants had been accustomed to pay the deputies a
gratuity for delivering the letters, but having refused to continue the
payment, these postmasters felt their income considerably reduced, and I
believe it was not till after much discussion the rule was broke
through."
The minute continues as follows:--"Mr Palmer had some ideas respecting
such a modification of the rates of postage as might induce the
inhabitants of every place in the kingdom to pay _with cheerfulness_ an
extra halfpenny or penny over and above the rates; this extra payment to
be sanctioned by an Act of Parliament; and then the whole amount of the
sums now paid for letter-carriers, being L1927, 8s. per year, would be
saved to the Revenue." If this accurately represents Mr Palmer's ideas,
Mr Palmer did not quite understand the British public.
At the same period to which we refer, there were only three
letter-carriers in Manchester, four at Bristol, and three or four at
Birmingham; but in each case only one was allowed by the Department, the
others being employed as extras, and provided for, no doubt, by a
special tax upon the letters delivered. This system of charging extra
for delivery would seem to have been open to abuse, for we find that in
1791 the Postmaster-General called for explanation of an exceptional
charge at Eton, in a Minute as follows:--"Let the Comptroller-General
inquire who serves, and by whose authority, the parts of the country
circumjacent to the Eton delivery, as they charge no less a sum than 3d.
for each letter, in addition to the postage, for all letters delivered
at Upton, which is not above a mile from the College." And the
Postmaster-General makes this very wise observation on the
practice--"This enormous expense for letters must check and ruin all
correspondence, and essentially hurt the revenue."
At the end of last century and beginning of this--and indeed it may be
said throughout the whole term of the existence of the
Post-office--humble petitions were always coming up from postmasters for
increase of pay, and from these we know the position in which
postmasters then were.
The postmaster of Aberdeen showed that in 1763, when the revenue of his
office was L717, 19s. 4d., with something for cross post-letters,
probably about L400, his salary had been L93, 15s.; while in 1793, with
a revenue of over L2500, his whole salary was only L89, 15s., and out of
this he had to pay office-rent and to provide assistance, fire, wax,
candles, books, and cord.
At Arbroath, now an important town, the revenue was, in 1763, L76, 12s.
8d., and the postmaster's salary, L20. At this figure the salary
remained till 1794, though the revenue had increased to L367, 13s. 5d.;
but now the postmaster appealed for higher pay, and brought up his
supports of office-rent, coal, candles, wax, &c., to strengthen his
case.
In Dundee, in the year 1800, the postmaster's salary was L50, and the
revenue L3165, 9s. 5d.
At Paisley, the postmaster's salary was fixed at L33 in 1790 and
remained at that figure till 1800 when a petition was sent forward for
what was called in official language an augmentation. In the memorial it
is stated that the revenue for 1799 was L1997, 1s. 11d., and that the
deductions for rent, coal, candles, wax, paper, pens, and ink, reduced
the postmaster's salary to from L15 to L20 a-year!
To show how these towns have grown up into importance within a period of
little more than the allotted span of man, and as exhibiting perhaps the
yet more bounding expansion of the Post-office system, the following
particulars are added, and may prove of interest:--
At Aberdeen, at the present time, the annual value of postage-stamps
sold, which may be taken as a rough measure of the revenue from the
carriage of correspondence alone, is little short of L30,000; the staff
of all sorts employed numbers 191; and the postmaster's salary exceeds
L600 a-year. Arbroath is less pretentious, being a smaller town; but the
letter revenue is over L4000 a-year; the persons employed, 14; and the
postmaster's salary nearly L200. Dundee shows a postage revenue of over
L35,000; 193 persons are employed there; and the postmaster's salary is
little short of L600. While at Paisley the revenue from stamps is nearly
L10,000; the persons employed, 43; and the postmaster's salary, L300.
Notwithstanding the vast decrease in the rates of postage, these figures
show, in three of the cases mentioned, that the revenue from letters is
now about twelve times what it was less than a century ago.
It will probably be found that one of the most mushroom-like towns of
the country is Barrow-in-Furness, now a place of considerable commerce,
and an extensive shipping port. The following measurements, according to
the Post-office standard, may repay consideration. Prior to 1847 there
was nothing but a foot-postman, who served the town by walking thither
from Ulverston one day, and back to Ulverston the next. Later on, he
made the double journey daily, and delivered the letters on his arrival
at Barrow. In 1869 the town had grown to such dimensions that the office
was raised to the rank of a head-office, and three postmen were required
for delivery. Now, in 1884, thirteen postmen are the necessary
delivering force for the town.
About the year 1800 the Post-office had not as yet carried its
civilising influence into the districts of Balquhidder, Lochearnhead,
Killin, and Tyndrum, there being no regular post-offices within twenty,
thirty, or forty miles of certain places in these districts. The people
being desirous of having the Post-office in their borders, the following
scheme was proposed to be carried out about the time mentioned:--
A runner to travel from Callander to Lochearnhead--fourteen
miles--at 2s. a journey, three times a-week, L15 12 0
Salary to postmaster of Lochearnhead, 5 0 0
A runner from Lochearnhead to Killin--eight miles--at 1s. a
journey, three times a-week, 7 16 0
Salary to postmaster of Killin, 5 0 0
Receiving-house at Wester Lix, 2 0 0
Runner thence to Luib--four or five miles--1s. 6d. per
week, 3 18 0
Office at Luib, 4 0 0
--------
Total, L43 6 0
========
So that here a whole district of country was to be opened up to the
beneficent operations of the Post at an annual cost of what would now be
no more than sufficient to pay the wages of a single post-runner. It may
be proper, however, to remark in this connection, that money then was of
greater value than now; and since it has been shown that a messenger had
formerly to travel as much as fourteen double miles for 2s., it is not
surprising that Scotchmen, brought up in such a school, should like to
cling to a sixpence when they can get it.
It were remiss to pass over London without remark, whose growth is a
marvel, and whose Post-office has at least kept up in the running, if it
has not outstripped, London itself. In 1796 the delivery of London
extended from about Grosvenor Square and Mayfair in the west, to
Shadwell, Mile End, and Blackwall in the east; and from Finsbury Square
in the north, to the Borough and Rotherhithe in the south; and the
number of postmen then employed for the general post-delivery was 126.
London has since taken into its maternal embrace many places which were
formerly quite separate from the metropolis, and nowadays the
agglomeration is known, postally, as the Metropolitan district. In this
district the number of men required to effect the delivery of letters in
1884 is no less than 4030. It may be mentioned that the general
post-delivery above mentioned had reference to the delivery of ordinary
letters coming from the country. Letters of the penny post--or local
letters--and letters from foreign parts, were delivered by different
sets of men, who all went over the same ground. In 1782 the number of
men employed in these different branches of delivery work was as
follows, viz.:--
Men.
For Foreign letters, 12
" Inland letters, 99
" Penny-post letters, 44
Total, 155
It was not till many years later that all kinds of letters came to be
delivered by one set of postmen, and that thus needless repetition of
work was got rid of.
At the same period--namely, in 1782--the other officers of all kinds
employed in the London Post-office numbered 157. At the present time the
officers of all kinds (exclusive of postmen, who have been referred to
separately) employed in the Metropolitan district are nearly 16,000 in
number.