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HER MAJESTY'S MAILS:
HER MAJESTY'S MAILS:
AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE BRITISH POST-OFFICE. TOGETHER WITH AN APPENDIX. BY WILLIAM LEWINS. "OUR ENGLISH POST-OFFICE IS A SPLENDID TRIUMPH OF CIVILIZATION."— Lord Macaulay. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON, 14, LUDGATE HILL. 1864. LONDON: R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
This volume is the first of a contemplated series designed to furnish some account of the history and ordinary working of the revenue departments of the country—to do for the great Governmental industries what Mr. Smiles has so ably done (to compare his great things with our small) for the profession of civil engineering and several national industries. Few attempts have ever been made to trace the rise and progress of the invaluable institution of the Post-Office. We have more than once seen th
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PART I. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE POST-OFFICE.
PART I. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE POST-OFFICE.
[Pg xii] [Pg 1] Circular letters, and a kind of post for conveying them, are frequently mentioned both in sacred and profane history. Queen Jezebel is remarkable as being the first letter-writer on record, though it is not surprising to find that she used her pen for purposes of deception. According to the sacred chronicler, she "wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles in the city." From the Book of Esther we learn that
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PART II. DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE POST-OFFICE.
PART II. DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE POST-OFFICE.
"It has often struck me that some pains should be taken to make the main features of the Post-Office system intelligible to the people."— Speech of Mr. Rowland Hill at Liverpool , 1847....
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PREFATORY.
PREFATORY.
It is scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of the postal regulations of this country. Every section of society, and, to some extent, every individual, participates in the benefits—commercial, social, and moral—bestowed by our cheap Post-Office. It is not our purpose here to urge the value and utility of the Post-Office institution—which most of our readers gratefully admit—but rather to furnish some general information relative to the organization and ordinary working of the Departm
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THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE.
THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE.
The General Post-Office, the great heart of the English postal system, is a fine and, now that so many district offices are opened in London, very convenient building. On the ground-floor the different offices attached to the Circulation and Mail departments are located. Upstairs we find the Secretary's department, that of the Receiver and Accountant-General, and other branches of the Circulation Office. Approaching the large hall of the General Post-Office, through one of the three-columned por
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THE BLIND LETTER-OFFICE
THE BLIND LETTER-OFFICE
is the receptacle for all illegible, misspelt, misdirected, or insufficiently addressed letters or packets. Here the clerk or clerks, selected from amongst the most efficient and experienced officers, guess at what ordinary intelligence would readily denominate insoluble riddles. Large numbers of letters are posted daily with superscriptions which the sorters cannot decipher, and which the great majority of people would not be able to read. Others, again, are received with perhaps only the name
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THE DEAD-LETTER OFFICE.
THE DEAD-LETTER OFFICE.
in order that they may be returned to the writers, provided any clue can be obtained from the contents as to their whereabouts. The branch in which this work is accomplished is now a very considerable establishment, employing at least a score more clerks, &c. than in the days of the old postage. In 1763, just a hundred years ago, the records show that two clerks only were engaged in opening " dead and insolvent letters ." Now, nearly fifty officers are employed in the same duties. Nor ar
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THE TRAVELLING POST-OFFICE.
THE TRAVELLING POST-OFFICE.
The travelling post-office deserves special attention, not less on account of the interesting nature of the work performed, than because it serves many important ends in the system of which it forms a part. It is to the railway post-offices that the Department is indebted for much of the simplification of its accounts. At different points in a mail-coach journey, long stoppages used to be made in order that the "bye" and "forward" letters might get sorted; on the introduction of railways, it was
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A PROVINCIAL POST-OFFICE.
A PROVINCIAL POST-OFFICE.
Thirty years ago the arrangements in the north country town of the district to which our imaginary letter was addressed, and which we are engaged to visit, were of the most primitive kind. It has always been an important town. Even anterior to the first establishment of the British Post-Office, it was the first town in the county in which it stands. Subsequently, it was on the direct line of one of the principal mail-routes in the kingdom, and now, in these days of railroads, it is a kind of jun
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ENGLAND.
ENGLAND.
Her Majesty's Postmaster-General. THE RIGHT HON. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY....
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SCOTLAND.
SCOTLAND.
"It may not be too much to say that half the people in this country who use the Post-Office do not know clearly all the benefit they may derive from it."— Household Words , 1856. We have already directed the attention of those engaged in frequent correspondence, especially with our colonies and foreign countries, to the necessity of consulting the official books published for their guidance. The following digest of Post Office regulations may, perhaps, answer the ordinary requirements of the gen
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THE LETTER-POST.
THE LETTER-POST.
As at present constituted, the British Post-Office has, with the few exceptions noticed in our historical survey, an exclusive authority to convey letters within the United Kingdom. It is also required by law to convey newspapers when the public choose to use the post for that purpose. The Post-Office further undertakes the conveyance of books and book-packets, and the remittance of small sums of money. Still more recently, it has entered into competition with the banking interest of the country
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REGISTERED LETTERS.
REGISTERED LETTERS.
The registration-fee of fourpence, prepaid in stamps, will secure careful treatment to any letter, newspaper, or book-packet addressed to any part of the United Kingdom. Record is kept of all such letters throughout their entire course. The registration of a packet makes its transmission more secure, by rendering it practicable to trace it from its receipt to its delivery. For a fee of sixpence letters may be registered to any British colony, except Ascension, Vancouver's Island, British Columbi
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FOREIGN AND COLONIAL LETTER-POSTS.
FOREIGN AND COLONIAL LETTER-POSTS.
For information of the despatch of foreign and colonial mails; rates of postage; and as to whether prepayment be optional or compulsory; see the "British Postal Guide," published quarterly. Letters addressed to places abroad may be prepaid in this country either in money or stamps, but such payment must be made either wholly in stamps or wholly in money. The only exception to this rule is when the rate of postage includes a fractional part of a penny, for which, of course, there are no existing
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NEWSPAPER POSTS.
NEWSPAPER POSTS.
( a ) It is not compulsory to send newspapers through the post. ( b ) The rate for newspapers stamped with the impressed stamp is one penny for two sheets, three-halfpence for three sheets, and twopence for four sheets, of printed matter. ( c ) No newspaper, or other publication, can pass through the post, unless the impressed stamp be of the value of at least one penny. ( d ) The title and date of every publication so passing must be printed at the top of every page. ( e ) The impressed stamp (
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PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.
( a ) Printed proceedings of the British Parliament are forwarded through the Post-Office at a special rate, and possess privileges in their transmission not belonging to either the newspaper- or book-postage. Parliamentary proceedings, however, may pass through the post at either the special rate, the newspaper rate, or book-post rate, always provided that the conditions of the particular rate chosen be complied with. ( b ) "Parliamentary proceedings," if these words are written or printed on t
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THE BOOK-POST.
THE BOOK-POST.
( a ) Written or printed matter of any kind—including matter which may be sent by the ordinary newspaper-post, or under the special privileges of parliamentary proceedings—may be sent through the book-post under the following rates and conditions:— ( b ) and so on; twopence being charged for every additional half-pound or fraction of a half-pound. ( c ) The postage on book-packets must be prepaid, and that by postage-stamps affixed outside the packets or their covers. If a book-packet should be
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THE PATTERN-POST.
THE PATTERN-POST.
Arrangements for an inland pattern-post, such as has been in existence for a short time between this country and France, for the conveyance of patterns , have just been made. The pattern-post is now in operation, and must prove beneficial to those engaged in mercantile pursuits. ( a ) At present, parcels of patterns may be forwarded through the post, subject to the undermentioned regulations, at the following fixed rates, prepaid with stamps, viz.:— and so on; threepence being charged for every
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MONEY-ORDERS.
MONEY-ORDERS.
( a ) Inland money-orders are obtainable at any of the offices of the United Kingdom on payment of the following commission:— The commission on money-orders made payable in any of the British Colonies where money-order business is transacted is four times the sum charged for inland orders, except at Gibraltar and Malta, where the commission is only three times the British rate. ( b ) The amount of any one money-order cannot exceed 10 l. , nor less than 1 d. No order is allowed to contain a fract
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POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS.
POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS.
We have already explained at some length the origin and ordinary working of these banks; the following résumé of the distinctive features of the new plan may therefore suffice:—...
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THE "POSTE RESTANTE" AT THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE.
THE "POSTE RESTANTE" AT THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE.
[206] The average weight of inland letters is now about a quarter of an ounce; that of colonial letters about a third of an ounce; of a foreign letter also about a quarter of an ounce. The average weight of newspapers is about three ounces, and of book-packets ten ounces. [207] With charges extremely low, the Post-Office is victimized by all kinds of craftiness. The dodging of the proper payment is sometimes quite ludicrous. Hundreds of newspapers, for instance, are annually caught (and we may r
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APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICE IN LONDON. (Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5.)
APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICE IN LONDON. (Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5.)
In all cases marked thus * the present holders of office, or some of them, receive additional allowances, either on account of length of service, compensation, as paid on some previous scale of salary, or for extra work. The surveyors have travelling allowances at the rate of 20 s. per diem; surveyors' clerks, 15 s. per diem; clerks in charge, 10 s. and 7 s. per diem. The whole are also allowed actual expenses of locomotion....
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PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICES OF DUBLIN AND EDINBURGH.
PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICES OF DUBLIN AND EDINBURGH.
( Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5. )...
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INFORMATION RESPECTING OTHER PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL POST OFFICES.
INFORMATION RESPECTING OTHER PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL POST OFFICES.
[213] On the sale of postage-stamps....
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APPENDIX (F). CONVEYANCE OF MAILS BY RAILWAY.
APPENDIX (F). CONVEYANCE OF MAILS BY RAILWAY.
( Estimates 1863-4)....
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APPENDIX (G). MANUFACTURE OF POSTAGE-LABELS AND ENVELOPES.
APPENDIX (G). MANUFACTURE OF POSTAGE-LABELS AND ENVELOPES.
( From the Estimates of 1864-5. ) The following important document, published by Sir Rowland Hill on his resignation of the Secretaryship of the Post-Office, and circulated privately, is deserving of careful study, as giving the results of the penny-postage reform up to the latest date:—...
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RESULTS OF POSTAL REFORM.
RESULTS OF POSTAL REFORM.
Before stating the results of postal reform, it may be convenient that I should briefly enumerate the more important organic improvements effected. They are as follows:— My pamphlet on "Post-Office Reform" was written in the year 1836. During the preceding twenty years, viz. from 1815 to 1835 inclusive, there was no increase whatever in the Post-Office revenue, whether gross or net , and therefore, in all probability, none in the number of letters; and though there was a slight increase in the r
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RESULTS.
RESULTS.
While the revenue of the Post-Office has thus more than recovered its former amount, the indirect benefit to the general revenue of the country, arising from the greatly increased facilities afforded to commercial transactions, though incapable of exact estimate, must be very large. Perhaps it is not too much to assume that, all things considered, the vast benefit of cheap, rapid, and extended postal communication has been obtained, even as regards the past, without fiscal loss. For the future,
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