Chapter I: Preface

My purpose, in the searches for material which led to the present volume, has been to give as complete an account as it lay in my power to do, of the beginnings and growth of the Canadian post office, with which I was associated for thirty-six years. As my studies progressed, however, I found it would be necessary to widen my field.

The Canadian post office did not come into being as an independent organization. It was but the extension into newly-acquired territories, of a system which had been in operation for nearly three-quarters of a century, with well-established modes of administration. Obviously, either reference should be made to well-known works on the older colonial postal system, or an account of it must be attempted in this volume.

Although careful studies of some aspects of this history have been made, this part of colonial history has, on the whole, received less of the attention of students than has been devoted to throwing light upon other phases of that history; and, what was important for my purpose, little has been done in the way of describing the relations between the colonial postal system and the general post office in London, to which it was subordinate.

The materials for this portion of the history are to be found in the records of the general post office, London, the British Museum, and in the journals of the colonial legislatures. A very interesting document is Franklin's Account Book, which is in the Boston Public Library.

The materials for the history of the post office in the provinces now composing the Dominion of Canada, are in the records of the general post office, the larger portion of which have been transcribed for the Public Archives of Canada; in the correspondence between the colonial governors and the colonial office, which can be found either in the original or in transcripts in the Public Archives, and in the Journals of the Provincial Legislatures.

In the preparation of the chapter on the postal service of Newfoundland, I had the advantage of a rather close acquaintance with that service, due to my having had charge of it some years ago for a period of several months. The material on which the chapter is founded has been gathered from the records of the general post office, and the legislative papers of the colony.

In collecting my material, I have received ready assistance from all to whom I have applied. To all these my hearty gratitude is tendered. A word of special acknowledgment is due to Mr. Edward Porritt, author of _The Unreformed Parliament of Great Britain_, who kindly read the manuscript, and to whose experience I am indebted for many valuable suggestions.

WILLIAM SMITH.

_August 1920._

CONTENTS

PAGE
CHAPTER I 1

Beginnings of postal service in former American colonies.

CHAPTER II 18

Colonial post office under Queen Anne's act--Early packet
service.

CHAPTER III 37

Communications in Canada prior to the Conquest--Extension
of colonial postal service to Canada--Effects of colonial
discontents on post office.

CHAPTER IV 58

The post office during the Revolution--Its suppression.

CHAPTER V 74

Beginnings of exclusively Canadian postal service--
Administration of Hugh Finlay--Opening of communication
with England by way of Halifax--Postal convention with
United States.

CHAPTER VI 96

Administration of George Heriot--Extension of postal service
in Upper Canada--Irritating restrictions imposed by general
post office--Disputes with the administrator of the colony.

CHAPTER VII 114

Administration of Daniel Sutherland--Postal service on the
Ottawa river, and to eastern townships--Ocean mails.

CHAPTER VIII 131

Postal conditions in Upper Canada--Serious abuses--Agitation
for provincial control.

CHAPTER IX 153

Thomas Allen Stayner deputy postmaster general--Restrictions
of general post office relaxed--Grievances of newspaper
publishers--Opinion of law officers of the crown that
postmaster general's stand is untenable--Consequences.

CHAPTER X 173

The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime
provinces--Complaints of newspaper publishers--Reception
given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances.

CHAPTER XI 193

Continuance of agitation in the Canadas for control of the
post office--Much information obtained by committees of
legislatures--Difficulty in giving effect to reforms.

CHAPTER XII 212

Durham's report on the post office--Effects of rebellion of
1837 on the service--Ocean steamships to carry the mails--The
Cunard contract--Reduction of Transatlantic postage.

CHAPTER XIII 230

Diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general--Commission
on post office appointed--Its report--Efforts to secure reduction
of postal charges.

CHAPTER XIV 243

Continuation of account of post office in Maritime provinces--
Departmental inquiry into conditions--Agitation for reduced
postage.

CHAPTER XV 263

Reversal of attitude of British government on post office
control--Instructions to Lord Elgin--Provincial postal
conference--Control of post office relinquished to colonies.

CHAPTER XVI 273

Provincial administration of the post office--Reduced postage--
Railway mail service--Arrangements with United States.

CHAPTER XVII 284

Canadian ocean mail service--Want of sympathy of British
government therewith.

CHAPTER XVIII 302

Canadian ocean mail service (_cont._)--Series of disasters to
Allan line steamers.

CHAPTER XIX 316

Postal service of Manitoba, the North-West Provinces and British
Columbia--Summary of progress since Confederation.

CHAPTER XX 333

The post office in Newfoundland.

INDEX 347

PORTRAITS

WILLIAM HENRY GRIFFIN, C.M.G. _To face page_ 273
WILLIAM WHITE, C.M.G. " 284
ROBERT MILLAR COULTER, M.D., C.M.G. " 326

HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA