POSTAGE. (Hansard, 1 August 1840)

§ Mr. Thornely
said, it was extremely inconvenient to the merchants that letters were not allowed to be collected to be sent by ship unless they were previously passed through the Post-office, and instanced the case of the President steamship, which was about to sail that day from Liverpool to New York.

§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer
was quite ready to give every facility to the public, but he could not give up the power of prohibiting the collection of letters, as it had been found extremely detrimental to the revenue when the postage was much higher.

§ Mr. Warburton
was satisfied with the explanation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, understanding that, although he retained the power, he did not intend to interfere with the present system of sending letters by ships.

§ Mr. Thornely
was anxious that every letter should pass through the Post-office, but the case he wished to put was, where a vessel was about to sail at twelve o'clock at night, and the Post-office was shut at eight in the evening, it would be a great convenience to the merchants if they were 1188 allowed to send their letters in, bound up to the latest hour, and he hoped there would be no objection to that.

§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer
thought there would be no objection to that arrangement. So long as the Post-office could do the business he thought no other parties ought to be allowed to collect letters, but he would permit merchants to avail themselves of the latest hour for sending those letters on board.

§ Mr. Warburton
could not allow the bill to pass through without returning his thanks to his right hon. Friend for having produced so unexceptionable a measure. He would take that opportunity of alluding to the Post-office returns of the number of letters which he considered most satisfactory. He had never been one of those who had calculated upon a quadruple and quintuple increase of letters, although he felt convinced that in three or four years the amount of revenue received from the Post-office would be quite equal to what it had been before the alteration. From these returns it appeared that the number of letters posted in London amounted previous to the alteration in the postage to 12,000,000 yearly, and that since the alteration it amounted to 23,000,000, so that in London the number of letters had increased nearly in the proportion in which the rates had been reduced; the average charge on each letter according to the old rate was twopence and one-third of a penny per letter; it was now one penny, and some allowance, in addition, ought to be made for the double and treble letters, the number of which he believed to be considerable. The number of letters in the London post had increased in the proportion of twelve to twenty-three, and if the revenue received from it were taken into account, it would appear that the revenue already received from the London post was equal to what it had been under the old rates. The annual amount of general post letters, including ship letters and packet letters, bad been estimated by the Post-office committee at 75,000,000. The annual amount at present was 127,000,000; therefore the increase fell little short of what had taken place in the London post; and if they estimated the amount of revenue, taking in charges for double and treble letters, he considered 1189 the result to be most satisfactory. From the returns he saw a progressive increase: in February the number of letters were 3,000,000 a week, and on June 22nd, the number amounted to 3,365,000. From that therefore, it would appear that there was a regular progressive increase every week. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the returns, and it was his firm belief that at no very distant period the returns would show as great an income as was derived under the old system of the Post-office. He believed, as to the moral effects of the measure, and also as to the revenue, the public were likely to reap considerable benefit. He had no doubt but that that time twelvemonth he should see the same progressive increase had taken place during the current year. He therefore renewed the thanks he had before returned to her Majesty's Ministers for the benefits they had conferred upon the public by the alterations they had made in the Post-office.