British rates for registered newspapers are double the above. To Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the Austrian dominions, they are quadruple, i.e., 4d. for 4 oz., and 8d. for every 8 oz., or fractional part thereof. Book packets are—to Sardinia, &c.,—4d. for 4 oz., 8d. for 8 oz., and the like for every additional 8 oz. But no packet of books or newspapers can be sent to the Austrian dominions via Sardinia, if it weigh more than 1 lb.
12. The term "printed papers," as applied to foreign countries, includes parliamentary proceedings, books of all kinds (whether printed, engraved, or lithographed), sheets of music, prints, maps, and every thing necessary for the safe transmission of such; but must contain no writing of any sort, except in the single case of transactions to Sardinia, where writing, not of the nature of a letter, is permitted, as in the United Kingdom; and no packet must exceed 18 inches in length, width, or depth, unless it be addressed either to Sardinia, Spain, Balearic or Canary Islands, Tuscany, Parma, Modena, or the Austrian dominions, in which countries the limit is 24 inches. But bound books cannot be sent to Spain, Balearic or Canary Islands; neither can prints, maps, nor drawings, unless they form part of a book. The United States have not yet attained a book-packet rate, except for periodicals under 16 oz. weight, at 1d. for 2 oz., 2½d. for 3 oz., and 2½d. for every additional ounce. Pamphlets under 8 oz. may be sent at the same rate.
13. Colonial book packets may be transmitted at the rate of 3d. for every 4 oz. Newspapers are 1d. each. Newspapers for India weighing above 4 oz. and not exceeding 8 oz., are chargeable with two single rates; above 8 oz., and not exceeding 21 oz., with three single rates. The book post to and from India and New South Wales is limited to packets not exceeding 3 lb. in weight; any packet weighing more than 3 lb. is liable to the letter rate. In all other respects the regulations were assimilated in 1857 to those of the inland book post.
14. By the prepayment of the ordinary postage and the British registration fee, letters, newspapers, and book packets can be registered, irrespective of weight, between this country and the British West Indies, British North America, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, St. Helena, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Mauritius, South Australia, Western Australia, Malta, Gibraltar, and Ceylon. Letters may on the same terms be registered to Belgium, Luxemburg, Holland, and countries through Holland, Sardinia, Spain, the Balearic or Canary Islands, the United States, Alexandria, Suez, India, and Liberia. By the prepayment of a fee of 9d., in addition to the usual postage, letters, &c., irrespective of weight, may be registered to Prussia, and to countries to which correspondence is usually sent through Belgium. In like manner, for a fee of 1½d., letters, &c., may be registered to Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and Venetian Lombardy; and for double postage, letters may be registered to France, and to countries, the correspondence of which is, as a rule, sent through France, and can be paid to destination.
15. When letters, &c., remain undelivered, owing to the residences of the persons to whom they are addressed being unknown, a list of the addresses is exhibited in the window of the post-office to which they have been sent during one week. "Refused" letters are sent as soon as possible to the "returned letter office," as are all letters intended for ships which have sailed before their arrival. When the reason is "not known," or "gone away," the letter is retained by the provincial postmaster, for a period not exceeding fourteen days, before being sent to the "returned letter office;" and when the reason is "not called for" (the letter being addressed to a post-office), the letter is retained for a month. Undelivered letters from the country to London are retained for three days in the "letter-carriers' office," and then sent to the "returned letter office;" whether London district letters go on the second day after the unsuccessful attempt to deliver them. All inland letters which contain the name and address of the senders are returned to them on the day of their receipt at the "returned letter office." Colonial and foreign letters are returned in periods which vary from one month to two months. Letters which contain no address of the sender are destroyed, unless they contain money or other articles of value.
[The number of letters so returned to the writers during 1857 was about 1,700,000, as against 1,581,000 in 1856. The number of newspapers which could not be delivered during 1857 was about 580,000.]
16. Redirected letters are usually chargeable with additional postage at the prepaid rate, unless they be re-directed by an officer or servant of the post-office, and be so re-directed to a place within the district of the same head-office. A registered letter, when redirected is subjected to the ordinary rate.
17. Applications for money-orders may be obtained at the United States rate of ten for ten cents. The commission is 3d. on an order not exceeding £2; 6d. above £2. No order is granted for more than Post-Office £20. When the remitter shall notify, in writing, that the order is to be paid through a bank, the person applying for it at the office must furnish the surname, and at least the initial of one Christian name, both of remitter and of payee, together with the remitter's business address. Applicants for money-orders are cautioned not to transmit the information required on payment in the same letter with the order. After once paying an order, by whomsoever presented, the office is no longer liable. Presentation must be made before the end of the second calendar month after the month of issue. If made later, a new order and new commission are required. If not paid before the end of the third calendar month after issue, all claims to the order will be lost.
18. Penalties of 1½s. for conveying any letter otherwise than by Penalities postal and of L1.100 for every week during which the practice of such conveyance is continued, are enacted by 1 Vict., c. 36, sec. 2. The against sender also incurs a penalty of L½s. for every letter, with full cost post-office of suit. The exceptions (by 1 Vict., c. 34) are these:—(1.) Letters acts, by a private friend; (2.) Letters by an express messenger on the personal affairs either of sender or of receiver, and proceedings of courts of law; (3.) Letters sent out of the United Kingdom by private ships; (4.) Letters of merchants and of owners of vessels or cargo, sent by such vessels without reward or profit for such conveyance; (5.) Letters expressly relating to any accompanying merchandise sent by conveyance hereinafter mentioned always that no collection be made on any such excepted letters.
19. The following persons are expressly forbidden to carry letters either with or without hire or reward:—(1.) Common carriers, except as above; (2.) Owners or commanders of ships, except as above; (3.) Passengers, or other persons on board ships or other vessels; (4.) Owners of, or any persons whatsoever conveyed by, any ship or boat passing on a river or navigable canal, within the United Kingdom.
III. HISTORY AND MECHANISM OF THE POST-OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster-general of the United States, but he very soon vacated the office on being appointed ambassador to France. From November 1776 to November 1858, the office has been held by nineteen persons.
From 1776 to 1816 the rates of postage varied from 7 to 33 cents (3½d. to 1s. 4½d.) according to distance; reductions of slight extent were made in 1816, and again in 1845. In 1851 Congress established the following rates:—For "drop" or local letters, 1 cent (¼d.) letters not exceeding ½ oz., for any distance not exceeding 3000 miles, 3 cents (1½d.), if prepaid; five cents (2½d.), if not prepaid; and double those rates for letters of like weight if conveyed more than 3000 miles. The existing law, enacted in 1855, and carried into full effect on the 1st of January 1856, fixed the rates at ¼d. for local letters, 1½d. for single letters if under 3000 miles, 5½d. if above 3000 miles; made prepayment compulsory; and directed that unpaid letters should be stopped and sent to the "Dead-Letter Office." It was further enacted, that from the date last named the prepayment should be by stamps. By another law of March 1856, prepayment was extended to printed matter. Under this compulsory system upwards of a million of unpaid letters were detained, not returned to the writers as in this country,—and sent to Washington, where they were destroyed. The same practice is pursued with respect to all letters refused or undelivered, from whatever cause. It leads, according to the testimony of the able historian of the American post-office, Mr. Pliny Miles, to the destruction of about 4,000,000 of letters annually.
On the same authority (but in a much abridged form), the statistics of the American postal system for the last seventy years may be stated thus:—
Fourth Report, ut supra, 18. The total number of mail routes on the 30th June 1856 was 7972, and the number of contractors 6372. The aggregate length of routes, and annual amount of transportation stood thus:
**Post-Office of the United States.—Statistics of Transit, June 1856.**
| Mode of Transit | Length of Routes | Annual Transportation | Cost per Mile | |-----------------|------------------|-----------------------|---------------| | By steamboat | 14,851 | 4,240,170 | 10d. | | By railway | 20,323 | 21,809,236 | 5½d. | | By coach | 50,453 | 19,114,991 | 3½d. | | By other methods of transit | 153,915 | 26,143,440 | 2½d. |
The income and expenditure of the post-office of the United States, during each of the years 1855 and 1856, were respectively as follows:
**Post-Office of the United States.—Income and Expenditure, 1855–56.**
| Headings of Expenditure | 1855 | 1856 | |-------------------------|------|------| | Salaries and wages | L 592,253 | L 604,777 | | Conveyance of mails | L 1,215,267 | L 1,353,128 | | Miscellaneous expenses, including packet service, and balances due to foreign offices | L 197,479 | L 123,668 | | **Total** | L 2,008,999 | L 2,081,573 |
| Income | 1855 | 1856 | |--------|------|------| | Gross Income | L 1,482,366 | L 1,524,164 | | Deficiency to be provided for by votes of Congress | L 526,633 | L 557,409 | | **Total** | L 2,008,999 | L 2,081,573 |
An annual deficiency of half a million is a result so strikingly in contrast with British postal experience, that it may well claim some elucidation. Its true causes, and the lesson they convey, have been brought saliently before the American public by the indefatigable advocate of Transatlantic post-office reform, Mr Pliny Miles. On one important point, his views and those expressed in the report of the postmaster-general (then Mr James Campbell) for the year 1856 are in harmony. Both agree in condemning the extent to which the franking privilege is carried in the United States. Both recommend its abolition. On most other points of postal affairs they are greatly at variance.
Mr Campbell's report, after referring to previous expressions of his official disapproval of the continuous increase of franking, proceeds thus:—“The experience of the last year has satisfied me more fully that this privilege should be speedily abolished. For months during this year free matter by the ton passed through the mails into every part of the United States, interfering greatly with the regular transmission of the correspondence of the country. When this free matter passes from the railroad, it is almost impracticable to forward it by the ordinary conveyances. The evil is yearly increasing, detracting largely from the revenues of the department, and impairing its efficiency.” . . . “The reduced rates of postage having largely reduced the revenue, it has not been possible to confine the expenditures of the department within its income, and the postmaster-general has been compelled to apply to Congress annually to appropriate the deficiency from the general treasury. These causes have removed in effect the salutary restraints imposed by the act of 1836, and left the head of this department in a great degree uncontrolled in his expenditures. This state of things should not continue. The laws should be so framed as to produce a sufficient amount of revenue to defray all proper expenditures. If my views regarding the abolition of the franking privilege . . . be not adopted [be adopted?] by Congress, I would recommend the passage of a law enabling the department to charge the ordinary rates of postage on letters and printed matter which now pass free through the mails. If, in addition to this, the clause in the act of the 30th of August 1852, allowing a deduction of 50 per cent. on newspapers and periodicals, when paid quarterly or yearly in advance, be abolished, as recommended in my last two annual reports, and the department be relieved from the expense of ocean mail-steamships and isthmus service, it would, with a proper economy, soon sustain itself.”
In 1854 there was laid before the Post-Office Committee of the House of Representatives a report from the postmaster of Washington of the weight of the letters, newspapers, and official documents posted in that city, under franks, within one ordinary month,—that of January 1854. It ran thus:
| Nature of Matter transmitted | Weight in One Month | Amount of Postage if charged at usual rates | |------------------------------|--------------------|------------------------------------------| | Letters from members of Congress | 3,446 | L 932 15 0 | | Documents from do. do. do. | 593,508 | L 22,193 4 0 | | Letters from departments of State | 7,065 | L 1,355 8 0 | | Newspapers | 111,002 | L 2,220 0 0 | | **Total for one month** | 815,021 | L 28,701 8 0 |
According to this return, the franked matter transmitted... outwards, from Washington alone, would amount in a year to about 5000 tons, and its postage, at ordinary prepaid rates, to upwards of £320,000. Taking this as a datum, the postage of the whole of the matter so transmitted throughout the Union cannot be fairly estimated at less than £500,000 a year on the average. The amount actually appropriated by Congress to cover this expenditure has, during the last ten years over which the official reports extend, averaged but £112,535. If to this fact it be added that the entire influence of the post-office functionaries at Washington has been exerted for seventeen years to keep up the rates of postage as much as possible, and, when concessions became inevitable, to make those concessions as small in extent and as imperfect in their practical working as they could be made, further explanation or hypothesis as to the causes of the annual deficit become quite needless.
The extent to which the natural development of postal statistics of correspondence, amongst such a population as that of the United States compared with those of Great Britain, is checked by bad methods and insufficient facilities, cannot be more strikingly displayed than by contrasting the postal statistics of Great Britain with those of the United States. Those statistics show that the ratio of letters annually passing through the post to the total population of the country is nearly five times as high in Britain as it is in America; and that the population of London alone sends by post a greater number of letters than does the whole population of the Union. The details of the ten years, 1847-56 inclusive, are as follows:
| Year | London Local Letters | London Mail Letters | Total of London Letters | Total of Letters in Great Britain | Total of Letters in U.S. | |------|----------------------|--------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------|------------------------| | 1847 | 31,690,817 | 43,757,540 | 75,448,357 | 322,166,243 | 47,585,757 | | 1848 | 32,726,217 | 44,837,217 | 77,563,434 | 327,209,189 | 60,129,621 | | 1849 | 33,960,288 | 45,845,682 | 79,805,970 | 347,066,071 | 60,420,422 | | 1850 | 38,887,844 | 44,850,170 | 83,738,014 | 369,617,187 | 83,252,735 | | 1851 | 40,585,555 | 47,819,492 | 88,405,047 | 379,501,829 | 95,790,630 | | 1852 | 40,403,307 | 51,171,422 | 91,574,729 | 400,817,489 | 102,138,148 | | 1853 | 42,616,328 | 54,198,150 | 96,814,478 | 444,072,936 | 123,443,418 | | 1854 | 43,114,963 | 57,198,150 | 100,313,113 | 456,213,776 | 129,435,448 | | 1855 | 45,844,963 | 59,647,540 | 105,492,503 | 478,303,803 | 131,450,409 | | 1856 | 47,894,708 | 64,961,221 | 112,856,029 | | |
In no particular is the defective character of the American system more apparent than in its treatment of the local correspondence of towns. In none does that system contrast more unfavourably with our own. Whilst in Britain local letters yield a considerable proportion of the nett revenue of the post-office, the larger share of their transmission in the United States is left in the hands of private persons. The law which prohibits the carriage of letters by individual enterprise between New York and Philadelphia, and punishes it with heavy penalties, permits any speculator to establish a private post-office in either of these cities, provided its operations do not extend beyond the municipal limits. Mr Miles thus describes the operations of the "two that do the largest business" in New York:—
"One," he says, "employs 45 letter-carriers, has over 2000 receiving-boxes where letters can be deposited in various parts of the city; and collects and delivers, or deposits in the city post-office for the mails, from 6000 to 15,000 letters daily. In one day . . . there passed through his hands, he tells me, in collecting and delivering, 164,000 letters. This was the largest day's work he ever did. Another Post-Office tells me he employs 25 letter-carriers, lets 350 boxes in his private post-office at a rent of four dollars each, and collects and delivers an average of 10,000 letters a day. There are three or four other private post-offices . . . in the city." This system is, as might be anticipated, attended by much irregularity and insecurity. Nor are its disadvantages in any material degree compensated by the extensive and provident facilities which mercantile enterprise and competition usually bring in their train. The greatest cities of the United States are still in arrear of our second-rate towns, as respects both the number and convenience of receiving-houses and the frequency of letter deliveries.
In brief, it may be said that the chief deficiencies which improvements need to be supplied in the American postal system are these:—(1.) An equitable compensation for the service rendered to the government and nation in the transmission of official correspondence and public documents, so regulated as to admit of plain and exact account-keeping, which is wholly unattainable under the existing system of franks; (2.) Low and uniform rates of postage, graduated according to weight, and by a broad not minute or fractional scale; (3.) An ample provision of receiving-houses in the cities and great towns, more frequent and punctual deliveries, and abolition of private post-offices; (4.) A book post, at low rates and with liberal regulations; (5.) A money-order system of like character; (6.) A "returned letter office," in place of the present discreditable method of destroying all correspondence remaining undelivered, from whatever cause. These improvements once fairly established, there will be an end of the dolorful complaints hitherto reiterated, year after year, by the postmaster-general, of the inadequacy of the revenue to meet the outgoings; yet rarely, if ever, suggesting the wisdom of giving extended facilities to correspondence, were it only by way of experiment.
IV. HISTORY AND MECHANISM OF THE POST-OFFICE OF FRANCE.
The French postal system dates from the reign of Louis XI., who, by an edict of the 19th June 1464, established French posting-houses on the great roads of the kingdom, at stages of four French leagues apart, and created a postmaster-general (conseiller grand-maître des cours de France), "to be near the king's person." This edict contains minute regulations as to the passports which every courier was to be provided with, and establishes a "register of passports," as a department of the newly-created post-office. In France, as elsewhere, the posts were at first intended exclusively for the royal service, but they were soon rendered available (under stringent regulations) for private correspondence. The times of departure and arrival, however, continued long to depend on the exigencies of the governmental despatches.
For a century no important change appears to have been made in the system. But in 1565 Charles IX. gave to the postmaster-general large powers with reference to the appointment and dismissal of postmasters and their assistants; and by subsequent letters-patent precluded the jurisdiction of the law courts in relation thereto, "because the establishment of the said office of postmaster-general (contrôleur-général des postes) is a matter which concerns our special service, and is a dependency of our household, and therefore beyond the knowledge and province of our local officers."
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1 Miles, Postal Reform, Its Urgent Necessity and Practicality, 19; Comp. Banker's Magazine, Dec. 1857, N.S., vii. 441. Both publications treat the questions connected with the American post-office system with great fulness and vigour. Whatever delays may yet be interposed, Mr Miles' labour and energy can scarcely fail of ultimate success.
2 Le Quin de La Neufville, Usages des Postes, 1736, pp. 69-67. It is obvious, from the repeated issue of similar letters-patent at subsequent periods, that there were frequent contests on this point between the postmaster-general and the Parliaments.
In 1603 Henry IV. issued letters-patent which recite the great importance and dignity of the office of controller général des postes, "the designation of which," it is added, "we think fit to alter, seeing that the title of 'comptroller' has, since the creation of the said office, been made more common than it was at that time." For the future the official title was to be "general of the posts." At this period the office was held by De La Varanne, under whose successor (by purchase, at the price of 350,000 livres), Pierre D'Aiméras, the first great improvements in postal arrangements were gradually introduced. In 1622 he laid down rules for the departure of the couriers at certain days and hours. In 1627 he established a tariff for letters. Until that date it had been the practice for the writers of letters to mark on the cover the fee which was to be paid by their correspondents on delivery; a practice which was found to involve a descending scale of payments. He also established, at the same date, a rudimentary sort of "money-order office," with the view, as it is stated in the regulation, of preventing abuses which had grown up by the frequent enclosure of gold, silver, and precious stones in letters and packets, for the safe carriage of which the senders claimed to make the office responsible. A system of registration of letters sent on the public service was also set on foot.
It was not until the year 1672 that any settled revenue accrued to the State from the post-office. The sale of offices had brought occasional sums into the treasury from time to time, especially when the function of "general of the posts" was suppressed, in order to create three "superintendents." With a like view, decrees were repeatedly issued to restrain all persons other than the officers of the post from intermeddling with the supply of post horses in any part of the kingdom, as well as with the transport of letters. But the troubles of the Fronde had completely disorganized the service, which, as respects some parts of the country, may almost be said to have ceased to exist. In 1672 the postal revenue was let on lease to Lazare Patin, the first "farmer-general of the posts of the kingdom."
The farming system remained in operation until 1790. Local postmasterships continued for a long period to be hereditary. Great improvements of detail in many branches of the service were introduced by Louvois, who was "superintendent-general" from 1663 to 1691. From this period that office was usually held by one of the principal secretaries of State. In 1728 Cardinal de Fleury issued a regulation which made certain postmasters on one of the great lines of road that had become notoriously unsafe, specifically responsible for all losses or depredations occurring to the mails thereon, a principle which in subsequent years he extended to other main routes as occasion required. The rents of the farmers-general were increased from time to time, as the profits of the office augmented; but here, as in so many other departments of the State, some formidable abuses continued with little check.
The Revolution introduced a new system,—that of administration by a board. The last lease of the farmers-general was cancelled by a decree of the 12th June 1790. The constitution of the governing council, and its subordinate machinery, were modified by several successive laws; but the new plan, whatever its favourable results in other particulars, appears to have failed to secure a sufficient amount of direct and certain responsibility. Towards the close of the Consulate a postmaster-general (directeur général des postes) was again appointed. He became president, ex officio, of the council, which continued to exist as a consultative body. In substance the organization thus established still continues. The council consists of the director and two sub-directors.
The law of France vests in the post-office the exclusive extent of right of conveying letters, newspapers, periodical works, the postal packets, and papers of all kinds, not exceeding the weight of a kilogramme (two pounds), subject to the following exceptions—1. Letters or packets sent by one private person to another, in charge of a domestic servant or express messenger; 2. Registers, maps, and plans; 3. Proceedings in law-suits; 4. Printed books, not periodical, nor bearing any writing, nor partaking of the character of a circular or advertisement; 5. Newspapers or periodical works in collective packets exceeding 2 lb. in weight; 6. Letters accompanying merchandise to which exclusively they relate, or simply authorizing the delivery of merchandise to the bearer; 7. Papers exclusively relating to the personal business of a carrier. These, and also the letters referred to under No. 6, must be open at the ends or sides. Every infraction of the privilege thus conferred is punishable by fines, which range, according to the character of the offence, from L6 sterling up to L120.
In addition to the service of which it has a legal monopoly, the French post-office undertakes the conveyance at special rates of—(1.) Valuable articles of small dimensions (couteurs cotes); 2. Books, prints, and autographs; 3. Mercantile prices-current and circulars, &c.; (4.) Visiting-cards; (5.) Money subscriptions to the legal periodicals,—Bulletin des Lois, Moniteur des Communes, Bulletin des Arrêts de la Cour de Cassation; (6.) Money by orders as in England, at the rate of two per cent. commission.
Until 1847 the general letter-rates were regulated by Rates of weight and distance, under a law of the 15th March 1827, postage in the Rates were, on the average, about two-thirds of the English rates for like distances prior to the adoption of the plan of Mr Rowland Hill. One postage was charged for any weight not exceeding 7½ grammes, or about ½ oz. English, and an additional half-postage for every additional five grammes, or about ½ oz. English; so that a letter weighing an ounce was charged three postages and a half. Newspapers were charged two centimes (somewhat less than a farthing) if addressed to a place within the department in which the paper was published, and double that rate if addressed to another department. Other printed papers and pamphlets were charged at the rate of a halfpenny per sheet of 400 square inches. Under these rates, the number of Number of chargeable letters, as nearly as could be ascertained, was in letters, and the year 1837, 83,348,008; that of newspapers and other amount of printed publications was 50,376,029; that of franks was estimated at 8,760,000. The gross receipts (exclusive of charge by returns) amounted to L1,615,294, the expenditure to weight and distance, L882,653, the nett revenue to L732,641.
The details of the expenditure, which included the whole cost of providing and working the mail-coaches, were as follows:
| Description | Amount | |--------------------------------------------------|----------| | Salaries and wages | L336,610 | | Conveyance of mails | 487,142 | | Rent, furniture, printing, and incidental expenses| 58,901 | | Total | L882,653 |
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1 Lettres Patentes du Roy Charles IX., printed in Le Quin de La Neufville, ut supra, 82. 2 Le Quin de La Neufville, ut supra, 121-123. 3 Reglement du Sieur d'Alboues sur le port des Lettres, &c., ibid., 147-149. 4 Ibid. 286-291. 5 Annuaire des Postes, 1838, pp. 35-37. 6 Ibid. 7 Hill, Report on the French Post-Office, addressed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1837), 3. In August 1848 a decree of the National Assembly altered the scale and method of charge, by enacting that all mail letters of like weight should pay a uniform rate, irrespectively of distance. Such letters, if not exceeding a quarter of an ounce weight, were to be charged twenty centimes (or twopence sterling), and greater weights in prescribed proportion. This rate was increased in 1850 to twenty-five centimes (2½d.), but reduced to the former amount in 1854, so far as respects prepaid letters; unpaid letters being charged at one rate and a half, or threepence. These differential rates continue in force. Local letters pay in Paris, for any weight not exceeding 15 grammes (about ½ oz.), ten centimes, if prepaid; fifteen, if unpaid,—ten centimes being added for every additional 30 grammes, or fraction thereof. Local letters in the provinces pay the same rate, whether prepaid or not; the single rate carrying in the towns 15 grammes, but in the rural districts only 7½ grammes.
The legislation of August 1848, whilst lowering the letter rates for certain classes of correspondence, had the effect of cancelling the special tariff for mercantile circulars, prices-current, &c., which was previously in extensive operation. Matter of this sort passed almost entirely away from the post-office in consequence; but was brought back by a new law of June 1856, which established five distinct tariffs for postal matter, not of the nature of ordinary correspondence, as follows:—(1.) Newspapers and periodical works treating of politics or social economy, which are charged, for transit within the department in which they are published, at rates varying from 2 centimes (¼d.) for any weight not exceeding 40 grammes (about 1½ oz.), up to a franc and a half (1s. 3½d.) for weights ranging between 2 and 3 kilogrammes (4 to 6 lbs.), and double those rates beyond the limits of such departments. (2.) Newspapers (not political), magazines, transactions of societies, and other periodical works, exclusively devoted to literary, scientific, artistic, or industrial subjects, and appearing at intervals not exceeding three months; these are carried at rates nearly identical in amount with the preceding, but beginning at 1 centime within the department, and 2 centimes beyond it, for weights not exceeding 20 grammes, and being more minutely graduated on the scale. (3.) Circulars, catalogues, prices-current, &c., which are charged at a uniform rate, from a centime for 5 grammes or under, up to 3 francs for packets exceeding 2 and not exceeding 3 kilogrammes. (4.) Papers of business, commerce, and law proceedings in packets; these are charged at 50 centimes for any weight not exceeding 500 grammes (or 1 lb.), with an additional centime for every additional 10 grammes. (5.) Announcements of births, marriages, and deaths; visiting-cards, circulars, and other like matter, in the form of letters unsealed, or in wrappers open at the ends or sides; these are carried, separately, at the rate of 5 centimes for 10 grammes within the district in which the post-office receiving them is situated, and at double that rate beyond such district (arrondissement). Registration, whether of letters or of packets, entails an extra payment of 20 centimes (2½d.); and in the event of the loss of a registered letter or book-packet, the post-office is bound to pay to the sender 50 francs, whatever may have been its contents.
No portion of the postal reform of 1848 has worked more successfully than has the introduction of postage stamps. The good precedent set by the British post-office was of course the immediate cause; but it is curious to note that the practice had been, in rudimentary form, established in Paris itself almost two centuries before the advent of Mr Rowland Hill. In 1653 a master in chancery (maître des requêtes), named De Velaye, established an office close to the law courts, in pursuance of a royal grant giving him an exclusive privilege so to do, at which were sold for a penny stamped slips of paper, printed with the words, “Port payé le . . . jour du mois de . . . l’an 1653.” These slips were folded round the letter or note to be thrown into the letter-box, the blanks in the superscription being first filled up. The boxes were cleared and the letters delivered three times daily. How long the practice subsisted does not appear to be known. The success which has attended its re-introduction in 1849 (the law of August 1848 took effect on the 1st of the following January) will be strikingly indicated by the following tables, compiled from official sources:
| Year | No. of Stamps Sold | Total No. of Prepaid Letters (by Stamps or otherwise) | No. of Unpaid Letters | Total No. of Letters Prepaid and Unpaid | Gross Revenue | Expenditure | Nett Revenue | |------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------------------|----------------------------------------|--------------|-------------|--------------| | 1847 | 12,648,000 | 113,832,000 | | 123,480,000 | L | L | L | | 1848 | 12,214,040 | 109,926,350 | | 122,140,400 | 1,478,222 | 742,431 | | 1849 | 21,232,665 | 23,740,800 | | 134,527,800 | 1,622,406 | 683,343 | | 1850 | 21,523,175 | 31,900,000 | | 127,600,000 | 1,751,452 | 868,531 | | 1851 | 25,848,113 | 33,000,000 | | 132,000,000 | 1,814,099 | 938,683 | | 1852 | 28,589,540 | 39,820,000 | | 141,180,000 | 1,866,143 | 1,003,125 | | 1853 | 31,254,225 | 40,819,240 | | 144,722,700 | 1,942,063 | 1,079,984 | | 1854 | 33,339,350 | 104,088,650 | | 108,316,350 | 2,057,043 | 1,160,768 | | 1855 | 148,433,000 | 158,484,450 | | 35,027,550 | 2,237,826 | 1,210,354 | | 1856 | 169,508,750 | 221,773,024 | | 30,241,849 | 2,326,801 | 1,281,202 | | 1857 | 185,947,200 | 227,629,710 | | 25,292,252 | 2,334,616 | 1,317,502 |
Thus, it will be seen, the number of prepaid letters, relatively to the whole number of letters transmitted, was in 1847 and 1848 but ten per cent. After the adoption of uniform rates for like weights in 1849, the pre-payment increased, but only very gradually, until 1854, when the introduction of the extra charge for unpaid letters, during the last half of that year, raised the proportion of prepaid letters from 22 per cent. to 49 per cent., which was further increased in 1855 (the first whole year of the differential postage) to 85 per cent. In 1857 the proportions of paid and unpaid letters became directly the reverse of those which had obtained ten years previously, the paid being now 90 per cent. of the whole number.
The next table shows the specific items of which the gross revenue of the French post-office during the same period was composed:
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*Quoted, on the authority of Pélassès, by Pierre Clément, in his Appreciation des Consequences de la Réforme Postale; and by the editor of the Annuaire des Pôtes (1858), p. 6.* Post-Office of France.—Sources of the Income.
| Sources | Gross Income in the several Years. | |---------|-----------------------------------| | | 1847 | 1848 | 1849 | 1850 | 1851 | 1852 | 1853 | 1854 | 1855 | 1856 | 1857 | | 1. Letters | 1,877,005 | 1,830,777 | 1,841,080 | 1,484,280 | 1,607,854 | 1,629,059 | 1,787,489 | 1,929,316 | 1,969,905 | 1,985,117 | 2,002,928 | | 2. Newspapers and books | 112,844 | 101,491 | 183,160 | 118,277 | 42,458 | 114,579 | 124,668 | 144,841 | 154,559 | 158,438 | 166,231 | | 3. Money-orders | 33,120 | 41,568 | 46,490 | 46,601 | 46,581 | 47,820 | 51,018 | 64,128 | 71,933 | 72,954 | 68,531 | | 4. Conveyance of precious metals, &c. | 17,150 | 17,447 | 21,557 | 19,849 | 17,857 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | | 5. Places in the mail | 83,452 | 64,910 | 60,364 | 46,712 | 36,961 | 26,292 | 21,014 | 17,433 | 11,189 | 5,969 | 614 | | 6. Mail-packets | 44,284 | 40,776 | 58,110 | 52,461 | 44,064 | 2,265 | 2,265 | 324 | ... | ... | ... | | 7. Balances from foreign offices | 45,986 | 34,738 | 33,857 | 39,261 | 44,489 | 51,831 | 51,425 | 53,630 | 84,636 | 83,675 | 83,338 | | 8. Miscellaneous receipts | 5,020 | 4,959 | 3,224 | 7,571 | 6,332 | 1,627 | 19,290 | 18,182 | 18,624 | 15,821 | 14,515 |
Total of receipts | 2,929,653 | 2,905,839 | 1,751,452 | 1,814,999 | 1,845,143 | 1,942,063 | 2,057,043 | 2,237,825 | 2,251,608 | 2,236,801 | 2,234,618 |
Three of the sources of income here indicated have ceased to exist—the fourth and sixth absolutely, in consequence of the transfer of the packet service to ordinary commercial enterprise (aided, however, by an annual grant or subsidy); and the fifth by the almost entire suppression of the mail-coaches. Allowance being made for these changes, and for the contingent expenditure, the nett income, as compared with the outgoings, was, according to the official reports, 61 per cent. in 1847, and 79 per cent. in 1856.
The total number of branch-offices, receiving-houses, and letter-boxes in Paris is 406,—namely, branch-offices (bureaux d'arrondissement) 10; supplementary offices, 25; receiving-houses and boxes (boîtes aux lettres), 371; that of country post-offices is 2374. The total number of despatches, daily, throughout France, is 3363; of which number 1054 are conveyed by mail-carts or coaches, 1031 on horseback, 1162 by letter-carriers on foot, 102 by railway, and 14 by steam-packets or ships. A hundred and two travelling post-offices are attached to the various railways, and employ 786 post-office functionaries. The packet service employed in January 1858, 53 steamers, having an aggregate of 11,000 horse-power, 43 of which were on the Italian, Algerian, and Eastern lines; 7 on the Corsican and Sardinian lines; and 3 on the Calais and Dover line. Ninety-three inspectors and 30 deputy-inspectors are employed in the general superintendence of the circulation service, which is further provided for by the appointment of 30 local comptrollers, each presiding over a district. Early in 1858 an enhanced scale of remuneration was introduced into the more important offices, with the view of increasing the efficiency of the service. The entire staff attached to the French post-office numbered (at the same date) 26,071 persons, and was thus composed:
Post-Office of France.—Staff, January 1858.
| Administration generally | 315 | | Collection and distribution of letters in Paris | 1,194 | | Railway service (including travelling post-offices) | 1,138 | | Country post-offices and agencies | 21,585 | | Agents connected with packet service | 57 | | Postmasters, chiefly employed in the relay service on the roads | 1,782 | | Total | 26,071 |
The system of official franking on public business still prevails in France. No regular account of the number or weight of franked letters is kept, but from time to time special inquiries on the subject have been instituted by the Post-office authorities. This was the case in 1841, in 1850, and in 1854, and the results were as follows:
Post-Office of France.—Franked Letters, 1841, 1850, and 1854.
| Year | No. of Franked Letters | Amount of Postage, if charged at the ordinary rates. | |------|------------------------|--------------------------------------------------| | 1841 | 12,263,956 | 2,034,684 | | 1850 | 38,810,442 | 1,692,695 | | 1854 | 30,919,704 | 1,854,017 |
Finally, it may be stated, that the number of letters undelivered in due course (tombeées en rebut), from various causes, and that of letters containing money, bills of exchange, or other articles of value, claimed of the post-office letters, as having miscarried during transit, for the years 1847 to 1857 inclusive, are thus stated in the official reports (we repeat the total number of letters posted in each year for the sake of comparison):
Post-Office of France.—Undelivered and Miscarried Letters.
| Year | Total Number of Letters Corrected | Number of Letters Undelivered in due course | Number of Undelivered Letters eventually Corrected and Restored | Number of Letters so Claimed as Lost in Transit | Number Undelivered, not Claimed, nor restored | Proportion of Letters Undelivered, but Undiscovered, in each 100,000 carried by Post. | |------|----------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1847 | 126,480,000 | 3,706,000 | ... | 4902 | 2982 | 1/29 | | 1848 | 122,140,400 | 3,987,000 | ... | 4483 | 2837 | 1/34 | | 1849 | 158,263,000 | 4,351,000 | ... | 4573 | 2151 | 1/53 | | 1850 | 159,500,000 | 4,285,000 | ... | 4627 | 2857 | 1/10 | | 1851 | 165,000,000 | 4,059,000 | 307,512 | 4747 | 2458 | 1/38 | | 1852 | 181,000,000 | 3,825,000 | 301,534 | 4659 | 2249 | 2410 | | 1853 | 185,542,000 | 3,106,785 | 315,209 | 5049 | 2763 | 2286 | | 1854 | 212,388,000 | 2,501,930 | 294,631 | 5531 | 2866 | 2866 | | 1855 | 233,617,000 | 3,349,488 | 400,000 | 6188 | 3236 | 2952 | | 1856 | 252,014,873 | 2,857,904 | 389,254 | 6767 | 3111 | 3556 | | 1857 | 252,921,942 | 2,731,493 | 629,709 | [5395] | [2495] | [2997] |
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1 Annuaire des Postes, 1858, p. 13: "Ces déductions étant opérées, nous trouvons que le produit net versé dans les caisses du Trésor, a été, comparativement aux dépenses : en 1847, de 61 % ; en 1856, de 79 %." 2 Ibid. 28. 3 Annuaire des Postes, 1858, pp. 17, 32. 4 The figures within brackets apply to nine months of the year only. It appears from this table that the number of delayed and undelivered letters, together, has been reduced from 2-93 per cent., which was the proportion in 1847, and 2-46 per cent., which was still the proportion in 1851, to 1-8 per cent., the proportion in 1857; and, further, that whilst in 1851 only 7,577 of these were replaced in distribution, after inquiry, and ultimately delivered, 23 per cent. were so replaced and delivered in 1857. The figures, however, contrast unfavourably with those of the British post-office. There, in 1856, out of an aggregate number of postal letters amounting to 478,000,000, the total number of letters undelivered in due course was but 2,400,000, of which 1,581,000 had to be returned to the writers after failure of all the attempts which could be made to deliver them. In 1857 the number of returned letters was about 1,700,000, out of an aggregate of 504,000,000. The French official tables, moreover, do not discriminate between the letters returned and those destroyed. Nor do they give any statistics of undelivered newspapers (which, in Great Britain, in 1857, were about 1 in 22 of the whole number).
Equally vain would be any attempt to discover the rules, methods, or results of the inspection of "suspicious" correspondence. The historian of French police under the monarchy writes of this practice, as it then existed, with significant brevity:—“Violation of the secrecy of letters is regarded as an ordinary prerogative of government, and comparative Statistics. that pretended prerogative weighs as heavily on the princes nearest to the throne as on the most obscure subject of the realm.” There is good reason to believe that these words have still as much applicability and force as they ever had; but the whole matter remains one of inferential deduction. Precise evidence is at present out of reach.
V. COMPARATIVE STATISTICS OF THE PRINCIPAL POST-OFFICES OF THE WORLD.
One of the chief difficulties which lie at the threshold of comparative postal statistics on a comprehensive scale arises from the fact, that nearly all the continental post-offices are concerned with the transport of passengers as well as of letters. This difficulty, however, does not affect all the points of comparison, even as between the continental systems and those of Britain and America, nor does it in any degree diminish the value of the comparison between the working expenses and revenue of the same office at different periods. We give, therefore, the best approximation to such a synopsis which is at present attainable, taking as a foundation the results of the elaborate inquiries of Mr Pliny Miles, contributed to the New York Bankers' Magazine in November 1857, but with needful variations:
| Country | Ordinary Amount of Postage for Single Letters | No. of Letter Rates | Year | Gross Revenue | Expenses | Year | Gross Revenue | Expenses | |---------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------------|------|---------------|----------|------|---------------|----------| | Austria | 1½ to 3½ | 3 | 1841 | 702,680 | 417,269 | 1852 | 906,805 | 839,860 | | Baden | 1½ to 3½ | 3 | 1841 | 91,714 | 69,314 | 1852 | 96,263 | 74,929 | | Bavaria | 1½ to 3½ | 2 | 1842 | 70,824 | | 1853 | 77,648 | | | Belgium | 1½ to 2 | 2 | 1848 | 138,619 | 60,612 | 1852 | 140,671 | 66,468 | | Brazil | 1½ to 2½ | 1 | 1842 | 10,196 | 16,481 | 1851 | 22,877 | 30,902 | | Brunswick | 1½ to 2½ | 3 | 1848 | 17,749 | 12,863 | 1852 | 21,102 | 14,940 | | Denmark | 1½ to 2½ | 1 | 1841 | 79,556 | 54,204 | 1852 | 70,963 | 70,405 | | France | 1½ to 2½ | 2 | 1847 | 2,220,653 | 1,478,222| 1856 | 2,326,801 | 1,512,120| | Great Britain | 1½ to 2½ | 1 | 1840 | 1,359,468 | 838,677 | 1856 | 2,867,354 | 1,650,229| | Hamburg | 1½ to 3½ | 3 | 1851 | 7,916 | 3,359 | 1852 | 8,245 | 3,062 | | Hanover | 1½ to 3½ | 1 | 1849 | 35,762 | 12,470 | 1852 | 31,992 | 12,040 | | Holland | 1½ to 3½ | 3 | 1849 | 112,547 | 39,927 | 1852 | 115,217 | 62,261 | | Oldenburg | 1½ to 1½ | 2 | 1851 | 12,626 | 10,910 | 1852 | 12,301 | 12,120 | | Peru | 3½ to 2½ | 6 | | | | 1852 | 7,600(?) | 7,600(?) | | Portugal | 1½ to 2½ | 1 | 1853 | 36,900 | | 1853 | 36,900 | 27,675 | | Prussia | 1½ to 3½ | 3 | 1843 | 1,123,026 | 895,844 | 1853 | 1,285,996 | 1,133,101| | Russia | 1½ to 3½ | 1 | 1842 | 665,549 | 261,988 | 1852 | 771,050 | 489,978 | | Sardinia | 1½ to 2½ | 1 | 1850 | 125,116 | 67,038 | 1852 | 128,506 | 78,787 | | Saxony | 1½ to 2½ | 3 | 1849 | 117,756 | 79,637 | 1852 | 133,579 | 90,654 | | Spain | 1½ to 2½ | 1 | 1844 | 254,200 | 152,600 | 1852 | 326,370 | 208,250 | | Sweden | 1½ to 5 | 9 | 1839 | 52,000 | 45,200 | 1852 | 66,888 | 64,788 | | Switzerland | 1½ to 1½ | 3 | 1850 | 207,146 | 177,223 | 1852 | 260,685 | 192,484 | | Tuscany | 1½ to 1½ | 1 | 1839 | 30,595 | 15,919 | 1852 | 45,109 | 28,483 | | United States | 1½ to 5 | 3 | 1840 | 908,704 | 943,647 | 1856 | 1,024,104 | 2,081,573| | Wurttemburg | 1½ to 2½ | 3 | | | | 1850 | 76,672 | 74,287 |
Broadly it may be stated, that the half-ounce scale of Great Britain is now adopted in nearly the whole of Germany, in the United States, in Holland, Denmark, Spain, the Brazils, and Peru. In most other points of postal economy there are still wide diversities of practice; but the introduction of a simple scale of charge is in itself a vast improvement, and the sure pioneer of other improvements to come. How great the alteration is, in some cases, will appear by the statement, that in Spain, for example, under the old system, inland letters were charged at the rate of one real (2½d.) for six sixteenths of an ounce, and the fifth of a real for each eighth of an ounce additional; whilst all letters to the Spanish islands were treated as single up to five sixteenths of an ounce, and were charged at the rate of 1s. 5½d., with an additional penny for every additional sixteenth of an ounce. The anomalies of the postal arrangements of many European and American countries are still numerous and complex enough. France yet retains the quarter-ounce scale, as do also Switzerland, Sardinia, and Tuscany. The unitary letter weight of Belgium, Brunswick, and Portugal is three-eighths of an ounce; that of Sweden is about five-eighths; that of Bremen, Russia, and Chili, is an ounce; and of Russia it may be noted, in passing, as a fact of some significance, that the whole number of letters posted in a year (1855), throughout the empire, is considerably less than the num-
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1 Frézier, Histoire de l'Administration de la Police, ii. 363. 2 About 16,400,000, according to an article in the Journal de St Petersbourg of 1857. Ocean Mail her posted in the single town of Liverpool and its suburbs.
Naples, again, adheres to the old plan of charging by the sheet, and is very chary of publishing the statistics of her post-office. And, lastly, in Iceland, letters are carried free of postage at the cost of the national treasury. The worthy Icelanders, however, have an intense love of orderly arrangements. Their mail to Denmark sails once in six weeks. In order that the way-bill of the postal letters may be carefully made out and alphabetically arranged, they find it necessary to close the boxes two days before the departure of the mail.
The number of letters to each 1000 persons of the whole population, as it stood in 1853, was in Great Britain, 14,760; in Switzerland, 8239; in the United States, 4404; in Holland, 4367; in France, 4192; in Belgium, 2603; in Spain, 2209. In Great Britain, prior to the postal reform of 1840, the number of letters to each 1000 persons was but 3055, or little more than one-fifth of the ratio of 1853. In Holland the like proportion, prior to its postal reform of 1850, was about 2001 letters to each 1000 persons. There the inland letters have increased under the new tariff from 4,274,180, the number of the year 1849, to 12,729,143, that of the year 1856; and the number of foreign letters from 1,504,180 to 3,395,973. In 1850, it may be added, the mails of Holland were conveyed over an aggregate distance of 6247 Dutch miles; in 1856, over an aggregate of 17,076 miles.
The details of the comparison of 1853 run thus:
Postal Correspondence, as compared with Population, in Six European States, and in the United States of America, 1853.
| Country | Population in 1853, or nearest Census | Number of Letters conveyed by Post in 1853 | No. of Letters to each 1000 persons in 1853 | Estimated cost of 1000 Letters | |------------------|--------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------| | 1. Great Britain | 27,833,501 | 410,817,489 | 14,760 | 6 4 0 | | 2. Switzerland | 2,392,740 | 19,773,625 | 8,239 | 4 1 2 0 | | 3. United States of America | 23,191,876 | 102,139,148 | 4,404 | 11 12 0 | | 4. Holland | 3,055,591 | 13,349,853 | 4,267 | 4 8 0 | | 5. France | 35,783,170 | 150,000,000 | 4,192 | 12 8 0 | | 6. Belgium | 4,492,202 | 11,521,955 | 2,603 | 13 4 0 | | 7. Spain | 13,936,218 | 30,775,086 | 2,205 | 8 8 0 04 |
VI. OCEAN MAIL SYSTEMS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
The importance of an efficient system of ocean mails cannot be measured by the profit or loss which may directly attend it. With a regular and rapid packet service, the commercial prosperity and the defensive power of a country are obviously and closely connected. On this point public opinion has made great strides since 1830, when we find the Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry asserting, as a matter about which there could be no sort of doubt, that the excess of the outgoings of the packet service over its income, "amounting in the period of nine years to over L300,000, must be considered a total loss." Almost a quarter of a century afterwards, the same subject was elaborately reviewed by a Treasury committee (appointed in 1853). "It is unreasonable," reports this committee, "to expect that any person, or association of persons, should incur the expense and risk of building vessels, forming costly establishments, and opening a new line of communication at a heavy outlay of capital, without some security that they will be allowed to continue the service long enough to reap some benefit from their undertaking. It must be borne in mind that the expensive vessels built for the conveyance of the mails at a high rate of speed, are not in demand for the purposes of ordinary traffic, and cannot therefore be withdrawn and applied to another service at short notice. . . . . . . The value of the services thus rendered to the State cannot, we think, be measured by a mere reference to the amount of the postal revenue, or even by the commercial advantages accruing from it. It is undoubtedly startling at first sight to perceive that the immediate pecuniary result of the packet system is a loss to the revenue of about L325,000 a year; but although this circumstance shows the necessity for a careful revision of the service, and though we believe that much may be done to make that service self-supporting, we do not consider that the money thus expended is to be regarded, even from a fiscal point of view, as a national loss."
The conveyance of mails in steamers was first adopted by the British post-office in 1821. The Holyhead station, for Ireland, and the Dover station, for the Continent, were selected for the first experiments. Theretofore the practice had been to engage sailing-vessels, under agreements with their owners or commanders, at fixed annual payments, for the carriage of the mails; the proceeds of passengers and freight accruing, of course, to the owners. After various fruitless negotiations with steam-packet companies, it was determined to build vessels at the cost of government. Eventually six such packets were stationed at Holyhead, and several others at Dover and elsewhere. The report of the Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry led to the gradual and advantageous introduction of commercial contracts for this service, the first of which was made by the postmaster-general in 1833 with the Mona Isle Steam Company, to run steamers twice a week between Liverpool and Douglas. This company has retained the contract during twenty-five years at the same rate. In the following year the General Steam Navigation Company contracted to carry the mails twice a week between London and Rotterdam, and London and Hamburg, for L17,000 a year. This contract remained in force until 1853, when these mails were transferred to the Ostend route. In 1837 a contract was made with Mr Richard Bourne to convey the mail weekly from Falmouth to Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon, and Gibraltar, for L29,600 per annum. This contract was transferred in 1843 to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, the port of Southampton was substituted for Falmouth, and the trips limited to three, monthly, the subsidy being proportionally reduced. In 1839 an epoch was marked in world-history, as well as in postal affairs, by the establishment of a fortnightly mail line between Liverpool, Halifax, and Boston, by contract between the postmaster-general and Samuel Cunard of Halifax, at L60,000 a year. Soon the port of destination was made alternately Boston and New York; and, with this change, the contract continues in greatly increased activity, weekly trips being required instead of fortnightly, and the subsidy being raised by the renewal contract of 1850 to L173,340 a year, with certain contingent allowances in addition. Last year (1858) the Cunard Company owned nine steamers, with an aggregate tonnage of 18,406, and an aggregate horse-power of 6418. This continues in force until 1862, with twelve months' notice of its discontinuance. In 1840 a contract was made for mail steamers to Malta, Corfu, and Alexandria, extended in 1845 to Suez, Bombay, Ceylon, Calcutta, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. This contract was renewed in 1853, and made terminable in 1862, on twelve months' notice. By its terms, the Peninsular and Oriental Company was bound Ocean Mail to provide two packets for the conveyance of the Indian mails, one to steam between Southampton and Malta, and another between Marseilles and Malta; then one between Malta and Alexandria, and one between Suez and Aden; one between Aden and Bombay, and another between Aden and Calcutta. But owing to the rapid increase of Indian traffic, the company, of its own accord, doubled the service between Malta and Alexandria, and also between Suez and Aden. The terms of the contract with the post-office secured its performance for a subsidy of L244,800 a year; but the communication having now become double during the greater part of the route, an addition to the amount was wisely made in 1857, which insured an additional packet between Marseilles and Malta, and thus made the most important mail route to India double throughout. The departure of the packets was also arranged at intervals of about a week. At this date the company had already thirty-nine vessels, with a tonnage of 48,835, and a horse-power of 12,850. In 1856 a new contract was made for a monthly service between Southampton, Marseilles, Malta, Alexandria, Suez, and Sydney, with the European and Australian Mail Steam-Packet Company, at L185,000 a year. Under this contract the company runs 336,000 miles a year, at 11½ mile.
For the service of the West Indies, and of Central America, Mexico, and Brazil, a contract subsists with the West India Royal Mail-Packet Company, which dates from 1850, and is terminable in 1862 (on the usual notice). Under this contract the company runs steamers twice a month over 37,000 miles. Its aggregate annual mileage is 547,296, and the average pay 9s. 10d. per mile. These are the chief contracts at present in force. The entire ocean mail service stood thus in 1857:
### Ocean Mail Service of Great Britain—Close of 1857.
| Routes | Date of Service | No. of Steamers | Horse-Power | Tonnage | No. of Crews | Voyages | Annual Subsidies | |--------|----------------|----------------|-------------|---------|-------------|---------|-----------------| | I. HOME ROUTES | | | | | | | | | 1. Liverpool and Isle of Man | 1833 | 4 | 799 | 2,089 | 91 | Twice a week | L 850 | | 2. Holyhead and Dublin | 1850 | 4 | 1,284 | 2,408 | 115 | Twice daily | 25,000 | | 3. Aberdeen and Shetland | 1840 | 2 | 300 | 850 | 42 | Weekly | 1,200 | | 4. Southampton and Channel Islands | 1848 | 5 | 797 | 1,852 | 107 | Twice a week | 4,000 | | 5. Thurso and Stromness | 1856 | 1 | 60 | 250 | 16 | Daily | 1,300 | | II. COLONIAL AND FOREIGN ROUTES | | | | | | | | | 6. Southampton, Spain, and Gibraltar | 1852 | 4 | 973 | 2,782 | 500 | Twice a month | 29,500 | | 7. Southampton, Mediterraneanan, India, and China | 1853 | 35 | 12,850 | 46,053 | 2,877 | Fortnightly | 224,300 | | 8. Liverpool and Boston | 1850 | 9 | 6,418 | 18,406 | 922 | Weekly | 173,340 | | 9. Liverpool and New York | | | | | | | | | 10. Colonial Halifax to St Thomas | 1854 | 2 | 300 | 1,151 | 60 | Monthly | 14,700 | | 11. Dover and Calais | 1854 | 6 | 640 | 1,765 | 96 | Daily | 15,300 | | 12. South American—Panama and Valparaiso | 1852 | 7 | 2,395 | 5,719 | 378 | Fortnightly | 25,000 | | 13. Plymouth to Madeira and West Coast of Africa | 1852 | 7 | 850 | 5,951 | 320 | Monthly | 21,250 | | 14. Dartmouth to the Cape, Mauritius, and Calcutta | 1856 | 5 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 575 | Monthly | 41,000 | | 15. Southampton to Marseilles, Malta, Suez, and Sydney | 1857 | 7 | 3,290 | 13,410 | 671 | Monthly | 185,000 | | Add payments to minor lines | | | | | | | | | Totals | | 118 | 42,256 | 140,140 | 8,137 | | 1,066,707 |
At the date of the report of the Treasury committee, already referred to (1853), the amount of these subsidies was L822,390, and the estimated amount of postage was but L479,600. Under the increased payments of 1857, the service has been improved, and the revenue has also benefited by some of those improvements, but the actual receipts cannot be estimated at more than one-half of the outgoings. The deficit becomes a charge upon the naval estimates. The remarks of the committee on this point tell all their force:—"The objects which appear to have led to the formation of these contracts, and to the large expenditure involved, were—to afford a rapid, frequent, and punctual communication with those distant ports which feed the main arteries of British commerce, and with the most important of our foreign possessions; to foster maritime enterprise; and to encourage the production of a superior class of vessels which would promote the convenience and wealth of the country in time of peace, and assist in defending its shores against hostile aggression. These expectations have not been disappointed. The ocean has been traversed with a precision and regularity hitherto deemed impossible; commerce and civilization have been extended; the colonies have been brought more closely into connection with the home government; and steam-ships have been constructed of a size and power that, without government aid, could hardly—at least for many years—have been produced."
The experience of Great Britain as to the value of its costly packet service has excited energetic endeavours in the United States to arouse the government to the necessity of keener emulation. Mr Thomas Rainey, the author of an able work entitled *Ocean Steam Navigation and the American Ocean Post*, has endeavoured to do for this branch of the postal service of his country what Mr Pliny Miles is so zealously striving to do for its inland mails and local posts. Mr Rainey contends that, whilst steam mails upon the ocean control the commerce of the world, the United States have not established such mails commensurately with the national ability and requirements; that only very fast and powerful steamers can carry the mails with adequate speed; that such a speed is so costly that the steamers cannot live on their own receipts; that self-support is not likely to be attained by increasing the size of steamers; that the propelling power in fast steamers must occupy all, or nearly all, the available space not devoted to passengers and express freight; that American trade has greatly suffered for the want of more ocean mails, rapid and well organized; and
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1 This contract expired in 1857, and a new one was made with the Union Steam Shipping Company with improved results for the public service. 2 Ibid. 3 Report on Contract Packet Service (in Sessional Papers of 1853, No. 195), p. 8. 4 Second edition, London, Trübner and Co., 1858. that the only way in which the government can discharge its unquestionable duty in this respect is, by imitating British example in the payment of liberal subsidies for the conveyance of mails for a long term of years.
The Havre and Bremen mail services were the first established in the United States. The former remains in the hands of the Old Havre Company, founded by the late eminent merchant, Mr Mortimer Livingston. The Bremen line passed into the hands of Mr Vanderbilt in 1867, on the termination of the contract. On both lines, for the present, the mails are carried for the gross ocean and inland postages. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and the Aspinwall Steamship Company, respectively, maintain the two lines which connect the Atlantic and Gulf seaboard with the American possessions in the Pacific, California, and Oregon. The Pacific Company possesses thirteen steamers, and may, it is said, boast that it "never lost a trip, a mail-bag, or a passenger, by marine disaster, during the eight or nine years they have been running in the Pacific. These steamers run the 3300 miles between Panama and San Francisco within an average period of less than fourteen days, stoppages included, or at the rate of about 250 miles a day." They carry the mail at a charge of 6s. 11½d. per mile. The United States Mail Steamship Company has six steamers, with a tonnage of 8544. This company's vessels run 5200 miles twice a month, at 7s. 9½d. per mile. The Collins Company had at the close of 1857 three steamers, with an aggregate of 9727 tons. At that date the American ocean mail service, in commission, stood thus:
| Route | No. of Steamers | Tonnage | Miles of Route | No. of Trips | Compensation | |--------------------------------------------|-----------------|---------|----------------|-------------|--------------| | New York and Liverpool (Collins Line) | 3 | 9,727 | 3100 | 40 | L77,000 | | New York and Havre | 2 | 4,548 | 3270 | 26 | Gross amt. of postage | | New York and Bremen (Vanderbilt) | 3 | 6,523 | 3700 | 23 | Do. | | New York, Havana, New Orleans, and Aspinwall (U.S. Mail Company) | 6 | 8,544 | 5200 | 48 | 58,000 | | Astoria and Panama (Pacific Mail Company) | 13 | 16,421 | 4200 | 48 | 69,650 | | Charleston and Havana | 1 | 1,115 | 660 | 48 | 12,000 | | New Orleans and Vera Cruz | 1 | 1,149 | 900 | 48 | 5,800 |
Some particulars of the French packet system have been glanced at already. Here it must suffice to add that the stations (Mediterranean and Levantine), routes, French and departures of the mail steamers, were as follows in ocean mails:
| Route | Trips | Length of Route | |--------------------------------------------|-------|----------------| | Marseilles to Malta | Weekly| 870 miles | | Marseilles to Naples | | 432 miles | | Marseilles to Alexandria | Fortnightly| 1500 miles | | Alexandria to Smyrna | Do. | 1230 miles | | Marseilles to Smyrna | Weekly| 1350 miles | | Smyrna to Constantinople | Fortnightly| 250 miles | | Smyrna to Constantinople | Do. | 300 miles | | Marseilles to Constantinople | Do. | 1441 miles | | The Piraeus to Constantinople | Fortnightly| 667 miles | | Constantinople to Ibrais | Weekly| 404 miles | | Constantinople to Trebizon | Do. | 552 miles |
This service, together with that of part of the Algerine lines, is performed by the powerful company of the Messageries Impériales; but the official documents at present accessible do not state the terms of contract. The company possesses fifty steamers, with an aggregate power of about 12,500 horses, and an estimated tonnage of 60,000. It has recently added the line of the Brazils to its former contracts.
Here we close our protracted survey. It offers not a few topics for comment and further elucidation, which cannot, however, find present place. One reflection will probably have suggested itself to many readers during this retrospect of post-office annals: Few subjects should give more encouragement for steady perseverance to the practical reformer in the field of social science. What has been achieved, with great toil and difficulty, and after long delay, in one country, speedily works its way into other countries, and produces results of world-wide magnitude. Even when improvements are borrowed with an ostentatious avowal of jealousy at the progress they have facilitated amongst those who originated them, they cannot fail to add some strength to the ties which give to different countries an indefeasible interest in their common prosperity, whatever may be the prejudices or animosities of the passing moment. The history of postal improvements is eminently a history of international benefactions.
(K. K.)