The Press.
London, England, 1854-08-19 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

POST-OFFICE MANAGEMENT.
AN INQUIRY into the General Post Office establish-
ment has been just completed by a committee ap-
pointed by the Treasury, and consisting of Lord
Elcho, Sir S. Northcote, Sir C. Trevelyan, and Mr.
Hoffay. The committee suggest extensive altera-
tions, or rather a rearrangement, of the department,
and, with one or two modifications, the Treasury
have authorised tho Postmaster-General to take steps
to give effect to their recommendations.
The first point which attracted their attention—
namely, the anomaly of Colonel Maherly and Mr.
Rowland Hill acting as secretaries of equal rank and
of independent authority in a public department
where centralisation is peculiarly essential, has
already been remedied by the retirement of the
former. The commissioners recommended the nomi-
nation of a single secretary, at a salary of 1,5001.
rising in five years to 2,0001., and two assistant secre-
taries, at salaries rising from 7001. to 1,0001. With
regard to the general salaries of the establishment,
which are at present arranged in a manner that causes
jealously and dissatisfaction, the commissioners pro-
pose a broad, consistent, and liberal reform. They
consider that, with the exception of the secretary's
office, the salaries of all the ordinary clerks should be
placed on a uniform basis, and that three classes
should be formed, the lowest receiving 80/. a year, in•
creasing annually by 51. to 150/. ; the next 1801.,
increasing by 71. 10s. to 2401. ; and the highest '2601.,
increasing by 101. to 3501. In the secretary's office,
where superior qualifications are required, the mini-
mum, it is thought, should be 1201., and the maximum
5001. Heads of offices in each case are to receive
proportionately larger remuneration. As respects the
letter-carrying business, a consolidation is recom•
mended of the hitherto separate departments known
as the inland-office, the London District-office, and
the Dead Letter•office, the whole to be placed under
a single controller, with a salary rising from 6001. to
8001. a year with a vice controller and a certain
nnmber of deputies. The sorters, letter-carriers, &e.,
are proposed to be divided into four classes, so as to
afford the prospect of promotion as a stimulus to
honesty and intelligence. For the lowest class the
recommendation is 19s. per week, rising annually Is.
a week to 235. ; for the next, 255., rising to 30s. ; for
the next 325., rising to 385.; and for the highest 405.,
rising to 50s. They are also to be eligible for the
appointment of inspectors of letter-carriers, whose
salaries are to range from 110/. to 3001. Along with
these arrangements others are put forth for abolishing
offices which are becoming obsolete, and creating new
ones called for by the altered circumstances of the
times. Among the latter are four inspectors, with
salaries of 3001. to 5001., whose duty it should be to
maintain the authority of the Post-office in dealing
with the railway companies. The yearly sum now
paid to railway companies for mail service amounts
to 372,0001. and, is it is customary for the Post•ofce
and the companies in making their respective con-
tract-s each to appoint an arbitrator, a permanent
officer is also considered necessary for that duty, at a
salary of 7001., rising to 1,0001. Finally, the depart-
ment of the Receiver-General and the Accountant_
General are recommended to be amalgamated, and
their whole system of bookkeeping simplified, some
of the accounts being still kept in much the same
form as when first established in the reign of Queen
Anne. By this means the number of persons em-
ployed in the two offices might be reduced from sixty-
four to fifty.
In dealing with the Money Order•office, the report
mentions that it originated so long ago as 1792, but,
though then sanctioned by the Postmaster-General, it
was a private enterprise of three officers of the Inland-
office, who hired premises near the Post-office, found
the necessary capital, and were allowed to carry on
the correspondence free of postage. They charged
a per centage of Bd. in the pound, and made a profit
of about 240/. a year each. It was not till 183$ that
the Money Order-office was made an official establish-
ment, and its produce appropriated to the revenue.
Such has been its growth and progress, that the
orders issued in 1853 were for 9,916,195/. The
amount of forfeited orders, which, together with the
unclaimed property found in dead letters, may be
about 1,2001. or 1,300/. a year, is appropriated to a
fund for aiding officers of the Post-office to insure
their lives.
In conclusion, the commissioners urge that all
promotion should be made to depend on qualification
and merit. They also state their opinion that
the system of precisely limiting the hours of
work, and of giving extra pay for after-services
is, in most instances, objectionable, since it in-
duces men to labour too much for the additional
advantage, and to render themselves languid and
unfit for their regular duties; but that in all cases
where work is required, as a general rule, at iinsea-
sonable hours it should operate as a reason for a
higher salary. An annual holyday, as a preservative
of vigour, is also recommended, on the ground of
public economy, and a yearly allowance of one
month, without any deduction of pay, is accordingly
proposed for the clerks, and a fortnight for th 3