POST-OFFICE. (Hansard, 15 December 1837)

The Earl of Radnor

presented a petition from the principal London booksellers, praying for a general reduction in the present rates of postage. A very general interest was felt upon this subject, and great anxiety prevailed among all classes that considerable alteration should be made in the charges of both the general and twopenny post. The petitioners complained that they were obliged under a severe penalty to have their letters transmitted through the post at an enormous rate of charge, while they could despatch them by other modes of conveyance as safely, regularly, and with a great saving of expense. They might send by the steam boat from London a packet of 1,000 letters to Edinburgh at the cost of 1s., whereas the postage charged on them singly would amount to upwards of 50l. There was another fact mentioned in the petition which went far to illustrate the hardship of the present system: the expense of the conveyance of a newspaper from London to Edinburgh amounted to only four-fifths of the penny stamp charged on the paper itself, the other one-fifth being profit to the post-office; and yet a single letter, very much smaller in bulk, and of course more easily transmitted, was charged for the same distance at the rate of 1s. 1½d. The petitioners further stated, that carry- 1115 ing on their trade principally through the medium of letters, if the postage were reduced the increased correspondence between one part of the country and another would very soon indemnify the public for any immediate and temporary loss of revenue; they would themselves despatch and receive between 50,000 and 100,000 letters in the course of the year more than at present.