The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-17 00:00:00

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TUE United States journals received by last mail
contain a report by Mr. Hoenig, the first assistant
postmaster-general, who lately visited Europe com-
musioned to make arrangements for facilitating the
conveyance and delivery by mail of letters between
the new and the old world. It is an extremely clear
and business-like document. It contains a distinct
exposition of that knotty and ravelled affair, the postal
system of Germany; and of the French post-office
arrangements; as also of what has been effected, or
may yet be hoped to be effected, towards establishing
satisfactory co-operation between the post-offices of
these countries and America. But the most important
part of the report, in so far as this country is con-
cerned, is Mr. ROBBIE'S statement of the negotiations
with our Lords of the 'freasury, arising out of the
Post-office order of 9th June.
Before proceeding to explain Mr. ROBBIE'S views
of this order, it may not be unadvisable to show that he
is far from eutertaining hostile or disparaging opinions
of this country or its institutions. This will appear
from what ho says of our Poet-office organisation.
We have seldom seen a more frank or cordial acknow-
ledgment of foreign excellence than le contained in
the following passage of Mr. lionnte's report :
Your instructions made it a part of my duty to examine
into the operation of other post-office systems abroad, to
a-certain what improvements might be transferred to our
own. When in Loudon, especially upon my firstvisit, and when
my time could not be made available upon the business that
copped rise there, I employed it chiefly is making those exa-
minations. Every facility was granted me for that purpose.
Fur this 1 feel greatly indebted to the courtesy of Colonel
Moberly, the able secretary of the British Posvotfiee ; and,
in making acknowledgments for the kindness shown me in
giving information, 1 cannot refrain from naming another,
little known from his othoat position, but of distinguished
reputation as the successful proji ctor of toe penny postage
reform—Rowland Rill. Tneir mode of mailing, barging,
forwarding, and delivering—their forms of post bills, and
of postina.sien' accounts, and mode of rendering them,
and their manner of contracting for mail conveyance, are
entirely dii!erent from ours. They have—what never
belonged to our estab.ishment—a registration of letters (a fee
being paid for that purpose), Vie better to prove and trace
them through the mails; and a money order (Alice, to super-
sede remittauces of small sums throng's the mails, by pro-
viding fur the seceipts of deposits at sue past-office and the
payment of the amount at another, upon a commission
allowed for that purpose, the operations of which, for the
last year, extended to the aggregate amount of 15,115,4531.
sterling. I 11..ve not space, at the close of this report, to
enter upon a description of the peculiar features of the
British post .dministration, the great superiority of which
residers it unnecersary to refer to others; nor to discuss the
practicability and expediency of engratting them upon our
system. These will be reserved es the subject of a second

ieport.
Well, this candid and good-natured appreciator ot
British merit narrates his and Mr. Beeettoefs nego-
tiations with the British Treasury, in effectas follows :
—The first American ocean steamer arrived at South-
ampton on the lath of June last. Oa the 9th of that
month an order was issued by the English Post-
office imposing the British packet postage of ls.
sterling for each letter of a half-ounce, and twopence
for each newspaper brought in the United States
mails by the Washington. " This," says Mr. Houele,
‘• was chargeable as well upon those destined for France
as those delivered to the United Kingdom, and the
postmaster in Southampton was required to forward
to London ail mail-bags left by the Washington with-
out being opened. The effect of tkis order was to
subject all tile letters and newspapers to double post-
age, and those addressed to France to additional
delay, by being taken out of the direct course to their
places of destinaticn." The same order required
a pre-payment of the full packet rates of the English
Post-Aim on all letters and newspapers sent to the
United States by the ‘Vashiegton. A representation
was immediately made by Mr. BANCROFT. Subse-
quently a postal convention was proposed by the
British government, but the terms could not be agreed
upon, bectuee it was necessary for Mr. BOBBIE to
return to America. On the nature and terms of those
negotiation, which are still pending, that gen-
tleman is silent; but he explicitly states it to
have been announced by the British minis-
ters, in their reply to Mr. BANCW.,FT'S first
communication, " that this postage was imposed
as a discriminating one, to protect the Cunard
steam-ship mail line—that is, to induce the employ-
ment of tha: line for the transportation of letters, in
preference to the American mail line, by enhancing
the cost of conveyance by the latter."
We must confess that this conduct, and this avowal
on the part of our government, was eminently un-
ceurteous and unfriendly, considering that the United
States government had relinquished their ship postage
in respect of the British and Canadian mails brought
by the Cunard steamers to Boston, and transmitted
thence to St. John's, and in all other cases abated it
to tao cents where the letter was to be delivered
elsewhere than at the port of arrival. It was un-
gracious, to say the least, to repay this friendly con-
cession of the American government by a measure
which had the effect of making the mails sent to
Great Britain by the Washington on its second
trip nineteen per cent. less than they were on the
first trip, and the postage 41 per cent. less. It was
impolitic, for it was not to be expected that the
American government would tamely submit to see
their ocean mail steamers driven from the sea by a
protected English line. " Retaliation," says Mr.
}Lorene, "is unavoidable. If we levy the same con-
tribution on the British mails which they exact from
ours, we shall place the international mail service on
an equal footing, and obtain out of the mail service of
the British steamers a redress equal at least to the
exactions forced from our own." That this is not
mere brutron fawn no one will doubt who has cor-
respondence with Canada ; at least the unsatisfactory
state of the mail communication with that colony
since the order of the 9th of June was known in
America, seems to indicate that retaliation has begun.
And it is not only with America that we shall have to
engage in a retaliatory struggle : France, it is
obvious from Mr. Homes statement, is as deeply
injured as the United States by the Post-office order
of 9th June, and will be equally prompt to resent it.
Apart however altogether from apprehensions of
retaliation, the policy of the order of the 9th of June
is miserably short-sighted and imprudent. Ministers
cannot expect that other countries will allow us to
establish a monopoly of ocean mail transport. We
must lay our account with competition. And what-
ever government may fancy with regard to its own
ease and convenience, it is pretty certain that the
public will be benefited by Beet competition. With-
out denying that ocean mail transport, as effected by
our chartered steam companies, is a great advantage,
there can be no doubt that the object might be effected
more efficiently and at a less price. There has been
a leelle parliamentary expiating and jobbing in the
procur:ug of parliamentary greats in aid of certain
steam companies for carrying the mails; and
these grants have enabled saute of the com-
panies to put down the rivalry of private
enterprise. If private • individuals could send
their letters and newspapers, either by an American
or an English line, our privileged companies would
be compelled to seek the greater share of the custom
by increased exertions to be speedy, punctual, and
faithful in delivery, instead of treating the public
with the supercilious liatitetir of parties relying on an
annual parliamentary grant. It is for our interest,
too, that the American liners should continue to make
Southampton their port of call between New York
and Bremen, instead of selecting some harbour on
the other side of the channel as their intermediate
station, which they are pretty certain to do, if we
continue to retard the delivery and increase the post-
age cf their French mails.
What the nature of the postal convention was,
which our government proposed to the American envoy,
does not appear. Mr. 11OBBIE'S ideas ot what ought
to be embraced in such a convention will be found
in another part of this day's publication. They seem
fair enough ; but our object at present is not to in-
quire whether they are such as can be entertained or
not. All we would argue at present is, that fair play is
our best policy, and that the sooner a perfectly equit-
able postal convention is concluded with the United
States, the better for all parties.

(From the Daily News.)
We have at d:ffereut times explained the manner
in which taxation has been brought to bear with
undue weight upon newspapers through the instru-
mentality of the excise upon paper, the adver-
tisement duty, and the newspaper stamp. Legislators
and financiers appear to have strained their in-
genuity to bring taxation to bear in all possible ways
upon parties engaged in newspaper undertakings.
These luckless culprits, in common with their fellow-
subjects, are taxed upon their property and income
by the tax which thence derives its name ; they are
taxed upon their consumption by the aid of