Chapter XXIV: Appendix: To Chapter XXIV

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT, 1854.

The first of the series of Annual Reports was prefaced with an historical sketch of the Post Office from its origin, written by my nephew, Mr. Alfred Hill. To this interesting narrative I beg to refer such of my readers as may desire to become acquainted with the early history of the department.[175] Like all similar documents, it will be found in any collection of Parliamentary papers. Here, however, I shall only quote one or two statements not previously given, and some few other passages that may interest or amuse.

_Soldiers' Letters._

It had formerly been maintained, even by so high an authority as the Duke of Wellington, that British soldiers were but little disposed to make use of their long-existing privilege of penny postage. That opinion found little confirmation at this time, since during the first eight months, after arrangements had been made for postal communication during the Crimean War, more than three hundred and fifty thousand letters each way passed between England and the seat of war; neither did the higher rate attaching to the quicker route through France prevent its engrossing six-sevenths of the whole correspondence.

_Colonial and Foreign Posts._

Under this head the Report deals with one of a numerous class of misapprehensions. I think I have already referred[176] to the well-known propensity of Englishmen to make comparisons unfavourable to their own country. The simplified and reduced postage on letters to and from the Colonies, viz., sixpence for the whole distance, had, as respects the Australian Colonies, been unfavourably contrasted with the charge of twopence-halfpenny made for conveying a letter to Australia from the United States, whereas the American charges did not include the colonial postage, by which, even when lowest, the total was raised above our rate. Again, the American mails were despatched only by chance vessels, while the English mails were conveyed by regular packets, bound under heavy penalties to start at fixed times and to perform the voyage within a stipulated period, and therefore engaged at higher rates, the British Post Office paying threepence where the Post Office of the United States paid but one penny.

It is mentioned that the book-post was now in operation with almost every important colony, and with most of the minor ones; and that amongst other changes in foreign postage there was an important reduction in that to France, which, from a rate varying between eightpence and tenpence,--itself a very great reduction on earlier rates,--had been reduced to a uniform one of fourpence. By this improvement the postage between any place in the United Kingdom and any place in France, including even Algeria, was made as low as that charged, twenty years before, between the nearest two towns in England, and less than the eighth part of the postage charged at that earlier period on letters between say Manchester and Lyons.

_Street Nomenclature and House Numbering._

In a note to certain recommendations to the general public, remark was made on the confusion and delay in the delivery of letters arising from the application of the identical names to different streets, the extent of this practice being shown by the fact that in London alone there were found to be fifty King Streets, as many Queen Streets, and sixty John Streets and William Streets. In the Appendix mention is also made of perplexities arising from irregularity in numbering, carried in some instances to such an extent as to have the same number attached to seven different houses in the same street, and, in particular places, exhibiting such further anomalies as would seem altogether incredible. Mr. T. B. Cooke, Inspector of Letter Carriers, who supplied the information, gives the following ludicrous instance:--

"On arriving at a house in the middle of a street, I observed
a brass number, 95, on the door, the houses on each side being
numbered respectively 14 and 16. A woman came to the door, when I
requested to be informed why 95 should appear between 14 and 16;
she said it was the number of a house she formerly lived at in
another street, and it (meaning the brass plate) being a very good
one, she thought it would do for her present residence as well as
any other."

_Unfounded Complaints._

Reference was made to serious charges brought against the Post Office without sufficient examination of antecedent facts; thus it was shown to a newspaper publisher, who complained of repeated losses, that it was his own clerk who was the thief. In another case, a more general complaint on the same subject led to the discovery, near the chief office, of a thriving mart, illicitly supplied by private messengers employed to convey newspapers to the post.

_Early History of the Post Office._

In an interesting Report from Mr. Scudamore, there is a remarkable passage which shows that general views in accordance with those on which my reforms were founded were incidentally expressed, about a century and a half before, by the Postmasters-General of the day, Sir R. Cotton and Sir F. Frankland. It is as follows:--

"We have, indeed, found by experience, that where we have made
the correspondence more easie and cheape, the number of letters
has been thereby much increased, and therefore do believe such a
settlement may be attended with a like effect in those parts [viz.,
a particular district]."

I cite also from Mr. Scudamore's Report the following curious passage:--

"The packets in those times, when war raged for so many years,
and when every sea was covered with French privateers, gave our
Postmasters-General very great and constant anxiety. Their orders
to the captains of such vessels are urgent, that they shall run
while they can, fight when they can no longer run, and throw the
mails overboard when fighting will no longer avail.... [There is] a
piteous petition from James Vickers, captain of the Grace Dogger,
who, as he lay in Dublin Bay waiting until the tide would take him
over the bar, was seized by a French privateer, the captain of
which stripped the Grace Dogger of her rigging, sails, spars, and
yards, and of all the furniture 'wherewith she had been provided
for the due accommodation of passengers, leaving not so much as a
spoone or a nail-hooke to hang anything on,' and finally ransomed
her to the aforesaid James Vickers for fifty guineas, which sum,
with the cost of the other losses, our Postmaster-General had to
pay."

_Improvement in Accounts._

A passage from the Report of the Chief Examiner shows the great improvements which had taken place in the system of accounts, and the strange laxity which had existed before the late reforms.

By this it appeared that under the old system the accounts of the provincial postmasters were usually from three to six months in arrear; that no vouchers were demanded for the proper disbursement of the money with which the postmasters were credited; that through this dilatoriness they were themselves frequently ignorant of the real state of their affairs, and under temptation to use the public money for their own purposes;[177] while, at the same time, the revenue was injured by the delay in remitting the balances. This was contrasted with the new system, under which "each postmaster renders his account week by week, with all its proper vouchers for every receipt and every payment, and showing the revenue left in his hands at the close of each week to be the smallest possible sum."[178]

At the same time, notwithstanding the "many and great struggles made to bring the accounts of the Post Office into a satisfactory state," the force in the offices of the Receiver and Accountant-General had been reduced from ninety-three to fifty-one, and that not only without any demand for extra time, but with a fair allowance of holiday to those engaged.

PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT FROM 1855 TO 1859.

NUMBER OF POST OFFICES, ETC.

The number of receptacles for letters in the United Kingdom, which before the establishment of penny postage was about 4,500, and which had subsequently been raised to about 10,000, was increased during the period now under consideration to more than 13,000,[179] thus nearly tripling the original number.[180] Of these about 2,000 were pillar-boxes. It is to be observed that, while these cannot fulfil all the purposes of post offices, they have the advantage over them in one important respect. They can be cleared at all hours of the night, when receiving-houses and sub-post offices are closed; a convenience especially valuable in London, in reference to the morning mails. Their superiority in respect of economy is obvious; and this valuable quality so facilitates their multiplication that in London, by the close of the period, there was scarcely a house but had a posting-place within a furlong.[181]

Some inconvenience arose at first, and probably is still experienced in a less degree, from the greater opportunity for mischief afforded by these isolated boxes, though there is some set-off in the circumstance that the most wanton or malicious act directed against them can extend no further than to the boxes and their contents. An abominable attempt, made in the year 1859, to set fire during the night to the contents of a box at a post office--that of Devonport--besides partially effecting this detestable purpose, greatly imperilled the whole building, and even placed in jeopardy the lives of the postmaster and his family.[182]

NUMBER OF LETTERS.

The increase in the number of chargeable letters delivered in the United Kingdom was from 443 millions in 1854[183] to 545 millions in 1859;[184] _i.e._, from somewhat less than six-fold of the number previously to the establishment of penny postage to somewhat more than seven-fold; so that the mere increment during these five years far exceeds the total amount under the old rates; the one being 102 millions and the other only 76 millions.[185]

RETURNED LETTERS.

In the Report for 1855 there is striking information as to reduction in the proportion of returned, mis-sent, and redirected letters which followed the establishment of penny postage. In the year 1838 the postage so lost amounted to 4-1/4 per cent. on the gross postal revenue of Great Britain. In three years it had fallen to 2-1/4 per cent., in eleven years more to 1 per cent., and in three years more to 3/4 per cent.;[186] and the proportion seems to have fallen afterwards still lower.[187]

REGISTRATION.

The proportion of registered letters, too, which under the original high charge had been comparatively small, was now steadily advancing; the Fourth Annual Report showing that in the year 1857 it was one out of 400.[188] In the year 1868 it was as high as one out of 333. The general adoption of registration, however, was, and probably still is, somewhat retarded by the fear that, as the very fact of registration indicates value, which might otherwise remain unobserved, its use tends rather to create danger than to diminish it. This objection is sufficiently disposed of by a statement in the Sixth Annual Report, by which it appears that of the 1,400,000 letters registered within the year, only 785, or one in about 1,750, were reported as not having reached their destination. Further, that all these except 15 were afterwards recovered; and that of eight, out of this small exceptional number, the loss had occurred after they had left the custody of the British office.[189] In contrast with this it may be mentioned that in the same year (1859) no less than £260 found in unregistered letters remained in the hands of the Post Office simply from the want of means to find out either the addressee or the sender.[190] Such negligence in remitting money is the more blameable because, as remarked in the Postmaster-General's Third Report, it offers temptations to theft which often prove irresistible, "bringing many a man in the service of the Post Office to disgrace and ruin, who, but for the thoughtlessness[191] or parsimony of others, might have remained an honest and useful member of society."[192] As if this were not quite enough, a cry was raised that the dishonesty really due to this blameable conduct on the part of individuals was attributable to parsimony in the department. It was alleged, though without any justification, as will hereafter be shown, that men were driven to depredation through scantiness of pay.

_Soldiers' Remittances._

During the time of the Russian War the money order system was carried into active operation amongst our forces serving in the East, who, in the course of the year 1856, sent home by this means more than £100,000.[193]

_Increased Facilities of Remittance._

It was in this period that the maximum amount for a single money order was raised from £5 to £10,[194] an improvement long urged; that opportunity was given for converting, at an almost nominal charge, a money order into what was in effect a bill payable ten days after date; and that, to facilitate small remittances, postage stamps were made exchangeable for money at a low commission, on application at a post office.[195]

_Extension of Money Order System to Colonies._

In the year 1857, after overcoming many difficulties, a plan was devised for establishing a money order system between the mother country and the colonies. In fear of opposition on the ground of interference with private enterprise, the plan was arranged with a view to remove objections previously regarded as insuperable on the part of bankers, and succeeded in obtaining the acquiescence of those most likely to be affected by the change. The consent first of the Postmaster-General (Lord Colchester), and afterwards of the Treasury, was obtained; but when the arrangement was about to come into operation the Treasury sanction was suspended, on that very allegation of interference which it was hoped had been provided against. In 1859, however, taking advantage of an application on the subject from the Canadian Post Office, these views were again urged. With Lord Colchester's approval, application was again made to the Treasury, which, after some hesitation, agreed to try the experiment. It is only necessary to add that the trial proved so successful that money order communication was gradually extended to all the other colonies, and to some foreign countries.

_Intra-colonial Rates of Postage._

By returns obtained from the colonies during the year 1856, it appeared that reduction of rate was universal, or very nearly so, and uniformity of charge almost as general. The lowest rate reported was that in India, where the minimum charge was, and still is, for all distances, as low as three farthings; and though the weight thereby covered is certainly very small--being only about one-tenth of an ounce--yet on the one hand such restriction appears to produce little or no inconvenience to natives, and on the other hand it is more than counterbalanced by the vast extent of country over which a letter may be conveyed. The new postal system, which involved in effect the complete adoption of my plan, was established on the recommendation of a Commission of Inquiry. I have lately learnt (1870) with great satisfaction, that, whereas before the change, the Indian Post Office was a source of expense, it is now self-supporting.

_Transference of Management of Colonial Post Offices._

As it had been found difficult, or rather impracticable, for the Postmaster-General effectually to superintend postal affairs in distant colonies, measures were taken in the year 1859--though they could not be completed until the next year--for transferring to the different Colonial Governments in the West Indies (unfortunately, in the case of Jamaica, at least, much against their will) the management of their respective offices. Of course such transfer, following as it did a similar change with regard to all our North American colonies, materially reduced the amount of our revenue, the counterbalancing advantage being the benefits usually arising from autonomy.

FOREIGN POSTS.

_France._

The reduction of postage between England and France, already mentioned, which extended to the transit rates charged in each country on the letters of the other, having been followed by a large increase of correspondence, further changes were considered desirable,[196] and in the year 1856 my brother was sent to Paris to negotiate with the French Office. The result of the proceedings was the completion of a new postal convention involving large mutual reduction in transit rates and sea postage, an important clause being inserted which empowered the two Offices, by mutual agreement, to make future alterations in most of the provisions of the convention without the delay and formality of ordinary diplomatic action. This important provision, being one on which great stress was justly laid, was carefully included, when practicable, in subsequent treaties with whatever power.

_Other European Countries._

New postal conventions, having for their object a reduction and simplification of charges, were in the same year (1856) in progress with Belgium, the German Postal Union, and Spain. Even with the first of these powers negotiation advanced but slowly; with the other two progress was slower still; while all attempts with Portugal, even to obtain reduction in the excessive rate then charged to Madeira, viz., one shilling and tenpence the quarter ounce, with an additional charge on delivery, a matter of no small importance to many English families, were for the time fruitless.[197] Indeed, so sluggish were the movements of this power, that no new convention had been effected with it, and consequently no postal improvement made (save in marine transit), for fifty years. Two years later, however, through the efforts of the British ministers at Madrid and Lisbon, aided by Mr. Edward Rea, who had been despatched by the Postmaster-General for the express purpose, better postal treaties with Spain and Portugal were at length concluded.[198]

_United States._

Arrangements were also made for the registration of letters between this country and the United States;[199] but on other points of far more importance negotiations with that country made no effective progress during the period now under review. Our proposals made in 1856, which involved a reduction in the letter postage from a shilling the half ounce to sixpence, the establishment of a book-post, and the adoption of low transit rates on terms more favourable to the United States than were required by simple equity, were met by a counter-proposal, which, not being regarded as satisfactory, was replied to with a full statement of objections; an offer being made at the same time to submit the whole matter, if needful, to the arbitration of a third party. Instead, however, of making any rejoinder to this, the American Postmaster-General, in his next Annual Report, while entirely passing over the offer of arbitration, represented England as acting so unsatisfactorily, "that for the present no disposition is felt to pursue the matter further."[200] Any one wishing to satisfy himself as to the respective merits of the parties in this proceeding will find the necessary documents in the Appendix to the Sixth Report of the British Postmaster-General, p. 57.

Before the English rejoinder could be made, however, the misrepresentations so boldly put forth raised an outcry in America, which was partly echoed here. Error in this country, so far as it went, was likely to disappear, or at least to become harmless, as soon as the next Annual Report came out; but in America, correction, if left to ordinary means, would doubtless have been found very slow. Fortunately, as might be expected in so energetic a nation, the need called forth the man; and so much as one man could do for diffusing sound knowledge on the whole subject was done by the late Mr. Pliny Miles; who, in his zeal for postal reform--a zeal, I must remark, rarely leading him into any inaccuracy--published more on the general subject in America than ever I did in England, travelled widely also in the Union, to urge his views by word of mouth, and several times crossed the Atlantic for the furtherance of his object. I must forestall events so far as to add that, long as he had to labour, and often as he endured disappointment, he happily lived to see his efforts rewarded with a large measure of success.[201] I must also so far anticipate here as to express the pleasure with which I have heard during late years of a total change in the spirit of the American Post Office, the new authorities of which have, I am informed, shown the utmost readiness to concur frankly in any measure of improvement, and an honourable desire to form arrangements equitable to both parties.

_Treaties made easily Terminable._

As much inconvenience had arisen from past treaties having been made generally for long periods, so that, in case of disagreement as to interpretation on any point, or of serious modification being found needful, nothing could be done save by the slow and cumbrous process of diplomacy through the Foreign Office, a clause was inserted in all these new conventions, in accordance with a general rule previously laid down, whereby they were made terminable by either party at moderate notice.