Chapter I: Tables From the Parliamentary Returns

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.

NEWSPAPERS.

[From Porter’s Progress of the British Nation.]

Owing to the great craving of the people for information upon political subjects during the agitation that accompanied the introduction and passing of the bill “to amend the representation of the people,” commonly known as “The Reform Bill,” a great temptation was offered for the illegal publication of newspapers upon unstamped paper, many of which were sold in large numbers in defiance of all the preventive efforts made by the officers of government. The stamp duty of fourpence per sheet was therefore taken off in 1836, leaving a stamp of 1_d_., as an equivalent for free postage.

IX. Table showing the Number of Newspapers at different periods, and the Revenue derived from the same.

Years. Newspapers. Revenue. 1801 16,085,085 £185,806 1811 24,421,713 298,547 1821 24,862,186 335,753 1826 27,004,802 451,676 1830 30,158,741 505,439 1831 35,198,160 483,153 1835 33,191,820 453,130 1836 35,576,056 359,826 1837 53,496,207 218,042 1838 53,347,231 221,164 1839 55,891,003 238,394 1840 60,922,151 244,416 1841 59,936,897 1842 61,495,503 1843 1844

X. Table showing the Increase of Expense in the British Post Office, consequent upon the Increase of the Number of Letters under the new System; the Rate per Letter of the Cost of additional Letters, and the Profits realized from such Increase, expressed in decimals of a penny.

Years. Increase of Increase of Additional Additional Letters. Cost. Cost. Profit. 1840 93,000,000 £70,231 _d_. 0.181 _d_. 0.819 1841 27,500,000 101,678 0.887 0.113 1842 12,000,000 72,256 1.445 (12) 1843 12,000,000 35,826 0.716 0.284 1844 21,500,000 (13) — 1.004 1845 29,500,000 6,870 0.055 0.945 1846 28,000,000 140,576 1.205 (14) 1847 2,2500,000 23,879 0.257 0.746

N. B. The increase of letters since 1839 is 246 millions, and cost of the increase is .347 of a penny; so that every letter now added to the circulation yields a net profit to the government of .625_d_., or nearly two thirds of the penny postage.

FOOTNOTES

1 “The estimate for 1839 is founded on the ascertained number of
letters for one week in the month of November, and strictly
speaking, it is for the year ending Dec. 5th, at which time 4_d_.
was made the maximum rate. The estimate for each subsequent year is
founded on the ascertained number of letters for one week in each
calendar month.”

2 “This is exclusive of about six and a half millions of franks.”

3 The number of franks was ascertained for each of the weeks ending
January 11, January 21, and February 4, 1838; and the mean of these
three gives 126,212 as the estimated number for one week, which is 8
per cent. of the whole, and leaves 1,459,761 as the number of
chargeable letters.

4 Week ending April 21, 1847. The whole number in the week ending
February was 6,569,696. The number 6,148,876, for one week,
multiplied by 52, gives 319,741,552, the total number for the year
1847.

5 Namely, the gross receipts, after deducting the returns for refused
letters, &c.

6 Including all payments out of the revenue in its progress to the
Exchequer, except advances to the Money Order Office; of these sums
£10,307 10_s_. per annum is for pensions, and forms no part of the
disbursements on account of the service of the Post Office.

7 This year includes one month of the Fourpenny Rate.

8 By multiplying any of these numbers by 13, you get the number for 62
weeks, which is, for all practical purposes, the number for a year;
as 20,087,971 in 1839, to 109,362,997 in 1847

9 Estimated from an enumeration for four several weeks in that year.

10 The Penny Rate commenced Jan. 10, 1840; Stamps, May 6, 1840.

11 The increase of the total, since 1839, is 418 per cent.; of paid in
coin, since 1840, 39 per cent.; of unpaid, since 1841, 21 per cent.;
of stamps, since 1841, 183 per cent.

12 Cost diminished by £364, equal to _d_. 0.004 per letter.

13 Cost increased equal to _d_. 0.445 per letter.

14 Cost increased equal to _d_. 0.205 per letter.