PENNY POSTAGE AND THE POST OFFICE. child in the kingdom enjoys a practical free

From the British Foreign Review.

1. Report from the Select Committee on Postage, together with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix, and Index. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, Aug. 14th, 1843.

2. The State and Prospects of Penny Postage, as developed in the Evidence taken before the Postage Committee of 1843, with incidental remarks on the Testimony of the Post-Office Authorities, and an Appendix of Correspondence. By ROWLAND HILL. London: Charles Knight and Co., 1844.

dom of correspondence, next in value to the liberty of speech, but the act is attended with the necessary incompleteness of his plan, whereby it can be shown that the public treasury is mulcted of an immense revenue, and the public despoiled of innumerable con

veniences.

WHEN the bill on Penny Postage was under discussion in the House of Lords, the Duke of Wellington bore testimony to the superior merits of Mr. Rowland Hill's plan "Reduction, increased convenience and eco

Reduction of postage, uniformity of charge, prepayment and use of stamps, were doubtless essential features of Mr. Hill's plan, but they were far from being the whole: from first to last Mr. Hill has professed that they formed but a portion of it. Increased speed in the delivery of letters, greater facilities for their despatch, simplification in the operations of the Post-Office, were parts, though less novel and less obvious, no less necessary. over any other. Though opposed to the re- nomy," as Sir Thomas Wilde observed, duction of postage, as inopportune at that were all to be taken together," and he proparticular time, his Grace advised the passing ceeded to say that the removal of Mr. Hill of that bill on the express ground that it ena- showed that the plan was intended to be bled the Government to carry out Mr. Hill's given up. "The dismissal of Mr. Hill was plan. The Treasury, he argued, have al- the knell of the plan." Almost with the ready sufficient powers to reduce postage to voice of a prophet, Mr. Matthew Hill foreany extent they please, and they are evidently told three years and a half ago,-before his not very scrupulous about the matter; they brother entered the service of the Treasury, may give up the whole postage revenue with- - that the very parts of the plan now left out asking their lordships' leave, they can do this mischief, but they cannot give effect to Mr. Hill's plan without new powers; he therefore recommended the passing of the bill, because it conferred those powers.

"For," to use the Duke's own words, "I am disposed to admit that the plan called Mr. Rowland Hill's plan is, if it were udopted exactly as was proposed, of all the plans that which is most likely to be successful." But the Duke's sound opinion, which is recorded in Hansard of the 5th of August, 1839, does not seem to have had much weight with any

member of the administration to which

untouched were those surrounded with the greatest difficulties of execution. He said,

"The reduction of postage and the modes of prepayment are no doubt the principal features

of your plan; but you lay great stress, and very

properly in my opinion, on increasing the facilities for transmitting letters; and this part of the reform will, I apprehend, cause you more labor of detail than that which more strikes the public eye. In this department you will be left to contend with the Post-Office almost unaided. It will be very easy to raise plausible objections to your measures, of which ministers can hardly be supposed to be competent judges, either in

respect of technical information or of leisure for inquiry."

Grace belongs. It is set at nought by the prime minister, passed over by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ridiculed by the Post- The prediction has been only too well fulmaster-General, and scorned by every one of filled. his officers, from the secretary to the letterFour years ago we argued for the adoption carrier. All are in league, not only to pre- of the Penny Postage, and a few months vent the adoption of Mr. Hill's plan exactly brought about the desired event. We have as was proposed, but even half of Mr. Hill's now to advocate its completion, and with an plan. It is hardly necessary to say that they equal confidence as to the result of our laare working to retard its success, and to fulfil their official predictions of its failure.

Bad it is for Mr. Hill, worse for the revenue, still worse for the good and convenience of the public, that the Duke's opinion should have failed to weigh with his fellow

bors, though the advent may not be quite so soon at hand as before.

Before we proceed to describe the portions of the plan remaining incomplete, something should be said of what has been carried into execution and of the results. A Select Com

ministers. The dismissal of Mr. Hill is not mittee of the House of Commons, on the merely unjust to an individual through whose motion of Sir Thomas Wilde, was appointed exertions almost every man, woman, and in the last session of parliament, to inquire

"into the measures which have been adopted of the rate, prepayment partially, the use of for the general introduction of a penny rate stamps, and charge by weight, instead of inof postage and for facilitating the convey-closures or sheets of paper. The public has ance of letters, and the result of such mea- quietly submitted to the alleged tyranny of sures, so far as relates to the revenue and paying a penny for all distances, both long expenditure of the Post-Office and the gen- and short; and Colonel Maberly's logic, that eral convenience of the country, and to re- "because objections had been made to difport their observations thereupon to the ferent rates for the same distances, they House." Nearly seven weeks were occu- would therefore be made to a uniform rate pied by their proceedings. Mr. Hill, the for different distances has proved fallacious." Postmaster-General, the Secretary, and chief (Committee of 1838, Evid. 3020, 3029.) functionaries of the Post-Office were ex- His impression that "a uniform rate would amined. The Committee had not only a not be practicable in this country, consistmajority of ministerial supporters, but a sec-ently with a due regard to public opinion, retary of the Treasury for its chairman, yet which a popular government must always it did not "report its observations." Indeed entertain," (Evid. 3031,) has also turned out a ministerial supporter, Mr. Bramston, speci- erroneous. Uniformity has even proved usefically proposed that the evidence merely, ful and convenient to the Post-Office, in spite without observations, should be reported, of official affirmations that it would not. and the proposition was carried after a divi- Prepayment too has been adopted almost sion, in which a member of the government, universally, and the public has not "objectMr. Emerson Tennant, is to be found in ed to paying in advance, whatever the rate," the majority. So bad must have been the Post- as was predicted (Evid. 10,932-3.); at the Office case, that even its own defenders (for present time scarcely five per cent. of the

the present administration has unfortunately allied itself with the Post-Office against Mr. Hill) were unable to stand up in its defence. The only report which was made on this important controversy it will be sufficient to print as a note.* The Committee, however, have issued a stout 'blue book,' filled with details, which will furnish us with valuable materials for the present discussion.

The parts of Mr. Hill's plan already carried out are uniformity of charge, reduction

* The following is the Committee's Report :"The Select Committee appointed to inquire, etc.,. have, with the view of ascertaining the results of the Penny Postage on the revenue and expenditure of the Post-Office, called for returns of the gross and net revenue of the Post-Office for the three years previous and subsequent to its adoption: these returns will be found in the appendix to this

Report.

"Your Committee have examined at great length Mr. Rowland Hill, with regard to several proposals which were brought under their notice by him, for extending the facilities of the correspondence of the country, and for improving the management and reducing the expense of the Post-Office. They

have also examined several of the officers of the Post-Office, with regard to the expediency and practicability of adopting these measures.

"Your Committee regret that, on account of the late period of the session to which their inquiries were extended, they find it impracticable to report their opinions on these various matters, involving, as they do, many minute details. They are unable to do more than report the evidence which they have taken; to which they beg leave to refer, as well as to the correspondence which will be found in the appendix, in connection therewith, between the

Treasury and the Post-Office; from both of which departments, they entertain no doubt, these propo.

letters are unpaid. But the Post-Office blows hot and cold with the same breath: the President of the Inland-office says:- "My impression is, that to resort to the old system of optional payment would make a great deal of labor, and produce very little revenue in proportion to the labor, for I am inclined to think that the Post-Office would be inundated with unpaid circulars, which you would have the trouble of presenting and get nothing for." (Evid. 2513.) But when he is afterwards asked, "Have you found prepayment a great convenience or not?" he says, "No, I cannot say that I have; it has facilitated the delivery of letters, but nothing beyond that." (Evid. 2592.)

With respect to the smuggling of letters, which has been entirely suppressed, Mr. Hill said, "Adopt the Penny Postage and the smuggler will be put down." Not so Colonel Maberly; he said in 1838, "There always must be evasion, inasmuch as the smuggler must always beat the Post-Office, whatever rate of postage is imposed," (Report of 1838, Evid. 2883.) But in 1843, in answer to the question, "Has the introduction of the Penny Post knocked up the illicit conveyance of letters?" he answers, "I do not know; but I have always considered that it would as a matter of course." (Report of 1843, Evid. 1104.)

The use of stamps is still optional, but there appears no necessity for its being so, as every post-office ought to be sufficiently supplied with them; and since every letter passing through the Post-Office must be posted, there could be no hardship in compelling no other positive fact to produce, beyond my having attempted the partial working of such a scheme in the case of a single experiment, for which I invited (through the local journals) the co-operation of not less than fifty farmers. I livery, is needlessly cumbrous, however ex- have circulated 100 copies of a printed schedule, pedient it may have been at the beginning and could have circulated more, if I had had

"Mr. Stokes, the honorary secretary to the Parker Society, (a society that contains among its members nearly all the dignitaries of the Church, and many other influential men, among whom is the present Chancellor of the Exchequer,) states that the Society could not have come into existence but for the penny postage. It is for reprinting the works of the early Eng- The present number of letters appears to lish Reformers. There are 7000 subscribers. be about three-fold the number in 1837. At It pays yearly from 200l. to 300l. postage. It that time the chargeable letters were estialso pays duty on 3000 reams of paper."

"Hitcham, Hadleigh, Suffolk, 16th April, 1843. "Dear Sir, The observation to which you refer in one of my letters to the farmers of Suffolk, respecting the advantages of the penny postage, relates to a scheme of experimental cooperation for securing the rapid progress of agricultural science, which I have been suggest-cept for scientific purposes, no one is likely to pay ing to the landed interest. The practicability at the rate of 2s. 8d. a pound for the conveyance of of such a scheme depends entirely upon the ad- fish, much needless anger would have been spared." vantages offered by the penny postage. I have

"Relative to increase in the number of letters, and the fiscal effects of the change, Colonel Maberly was of opinion that the poor were not disposed to write letters; and Mr. Lawrence, the assistant-secretary, thought there were quite as many letters written then as there would be even if postage were reduced. Again, Colonel Maberly, after stating that he 'considered that every experiment that had been made (in the Post-Office) had shown the fallacy of Post-master-General :

age at all would not be doubled in a year." Then there was a Superintendent of Mails at the time, who estimated that the adoption of a Penny Postage would cause a loss of from 7d. to 8d. a letter, which upon being calculated proved to be a loss of more than whatthe Post-Office actually received! Mr. Hill thus sums up the blunders of the late

Mr. Hill's plan, and that it appeared to him a most preposterous plan, utterly unsupported by facts, and resting entirely on assumption,' added, 'If postage were reduced to one penny, I think the revenue would not recover itself for forty or fifty years.' He also gave it as his opinion, that in the first year the number of letters would not double, even if every one were allowed to frank."

The effect of the Penny Postage on the revenue deserves more than a passing notice, for it has been made the subject of great misrepresentation. We shall first state the facts, which the reader will do well to bear in mind. The gross annual revenue in 1842 was 1,578,000l. or 67 per cent. (two-thirds) of the revenue for 1837, which was adopted as a standard by the Post Committee. The net revenue in 1842 was 600,000l., whilst in 1837 it was 1,640,000l. The cost of management has risen from 757,000l. in 1839, to 978,000l. in 1842, or 221,0007. But the greater part of this increased expenditure has nothing to do with the Penny Postage. Upwards of half of it arises from the substitution of railway for common road conveyance, compensations for loss of fees occasioned chiefly by this change of locomotion, expenses of transit, foreign postage, etc. Making these deductions, the expenses have increased about 15 per cent., whilst the increase of Post-Office business, letters and newspapers combined, has been about 100 per cent., or, counting letters only, nearly 200 per cent. For several years before the

"The hopelessness, too, of obtaining a revenue from a penny rate, is supported by a statement of Lord Lichfield, who had ascertained that each letter costs the Post-Office 'within the smallest fraction of 24d.,' by which calculation, if we could suppose the cost per letter to remain the same, the penny rate must entail an expense twice as great as the amount of its produce. Again, Lord Lichfield stated as follows:- He (Mr. Hill) anticipates only an increase of five and a quarter fold: it will require twelve-fold on our calculation, and he does not say that he expects any thing to that extent. Therefore, if it comes to that point, which is right, and which is wrong, I maintain that our calculations are more likely to be right than his.' It is now demonstrable that the increase necessary to sustain the gross revenue, the point in debate, is little more than four-fold. On the twelve-fold theory, however, Lord Lichfield said, in his place in Parliament, The mails will have to carry twelve times as much in weight (on Mr. H ll's plan), and therefore the charge for transmission, instead of 100,000/., as now, must be twelve times that amount. So unfavorable, indeed, were the late Postmaster-General's views on the whole subject, that he said, 'Were the plan adopted, instead of a million and a half of money being added to the revenue, after the expenditure of the establishment was provided for, he was quite certain that such a loss would

be sustained as would compel them to have recourse to Parliament for money to maintain the establishment. "-(72, p. 21.)

Let us now see who has turned out to be right and who wrong. Mr. Hill says :

"I calculated on eventually obtaining the same gross revenue as in 1837, and that to affect Penny Postage was introduced, there was a this a five-fold increase of letters would suffice. gradual annual increase in the Post-Office ex- Of course this calculation, which had no referpenditure. Comparing the expenditure of ence to immediate consequences, was founded 18:39 with that of 1836, three years before the upon the supposition, yet unrealized, that the

reduction, the increase was 27 per cent. Comparing the expenditure of 1842 with that of 1839, three years after the reduction, the increase was only 24 per cent. Be the increased expenses as they may, there is still a net revenue from the Post-Office of 600, 0001. a year. Let us see what were the official anticipations before the reduction of postage? We have already quoted the Sec

plan was to be adopted in its integrity. It rested also upon the circumstances of the country remaining in their ordinary state, and neither did nor could anticipate the season of calamity which has ensued. In 1842, however, the gross revenue was fully two-thirds the former amount, and it is steadily increasing. Again, there is now no doubt that little more than a four-fold increase of letters will suffice. That such is the fact will be shown by the following state

ment:

retary's rash prediction, "that if the postage "The gross revenue of 1842 was 1,578,0001. were reduced to one penny, the revenue which must be increased by 48 per cent., in orwould not recover itself for forty or fifty der to raise it to an equality with the gross revyears," and "that the letters without any post- | enue of 1837, which in the Committee was taken [JUNE, as a standard. The number of letters delivered At least one-half of the cost of these packin the United Kingdom, in 1842, was about 209, ets has no reference at all to Post-Office ob000,000, which increased by 48 percent., becomes 309,000'000, or little more than four times the jects, and the adoption of steamers to the

framed for the misguidance of the Chan- have thought it fair;" (Evid. 1441.) and hethus cellor of the Exchequer, by which it was complacently throws off the responsibility made to appear that the Post-Office, instead of the deed, "If I am asked whether the of affording a net revenue of 600,000/., is Post-Office would have put in the expense of

but it is no less true that the vessels are of a I repeat it again," says Colonel Maberly, size and character suitable for other far less "that the return was prepared under Lord peaceful objects than the transmission of Lowther's orders by a clerk, whoın he has correspondence; and, though they exist since appointed surveyor in Canada, and it under the name of Post-Office packets, they was checked by another clerk who was constitute in fact an armed marine, to be then in the Accountant-general's office, and used in times of war, and are liable, by who has been appointed surveyor at New the very terms of their contract, to be so Brunswick; those clerks therefore are not