The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-10 00:00:00

Vtirb Xtittion,

DONCASTER RACES.
(THIS DAY.)

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH).
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)
The Municipal Stakes.

Emma ..
Jaok Rag

The Sheffield and Rotherham Stakes.

Surveyor ...
Proctor ... ...
Sir Charles Napier

UNIFORM FOREIGN POSTAGE RATES.
When the Committee was first formed during the
Great Exhibition to effect a reduction of foreign post-
age, it was generally considered that the object
could be best attained by friendly negotiation
between the British and foreign Governments.
Many persons, however, who have taken great
interest in the matter, and who, considering how back-
ward foreign Governments have been in following the
example of England as far as the introduction of a low
and uniform inland postage rate is concerned have
thought some plan may be devised by which the British
Government could test at once the practicability of a
low and uniform ocean postage rate, and adopt a policy
by which other Governments would be compelled to give
the subject of cheap foreign postage an immediate con-
sideration and trial.
Considering that England has adopted in all its in-
tegrity a low and uniform inland postage rate—that she
is the principal ocean carrier for the correspondence of
the whole world, and that she collects a vast amount of
foreign postage for other nations, the following definite
course of procedure it has been deemed advisable should
be pressed on the British Government.
Let the colonial and ship letter postage rate be at once
reduced to a low and uniform one, say twopence a letter.
Let the prepayment of this rate by stamps be compul-
sory on outward correspondence, and on inward corres-
pondence let it be paid on delivery. The local colonial
postage rate should be collected abroad as it is in most
cases at the present time. As this latter rate
is now a low and uniform one in almost all our
colonies and dependencies, it would not impede that
vast increase of correspondence which would natu-
rally arise from the reduction of the ocean rate. This
plan could at once be adopted by the British Govern-
ment without any aegotiation, and without any inter-
ference with the local administration of the colonies.
By adopting this plan, an enormous increase of colonial
correspondence would, doubtless, take place; the ex-
pense and trouble which result from optional and money
prepayment of colonial postage, and from keeping
postal accounts with the colonies would be avoided; and
the value of a reduction of ocean postage, upon an ex-
tensive scale, would at once be practically brought to
the test.
With regard to postage on letters to foreign countri©s
—such as those on the European continent for in-
stance—perhaps success might attend our efforts in
negotiating a reduction of toreign postage with those
countries with which we have a packet communica-
tion, if their respective Governments had adopted
the English
policy with regard to their internal cor-
respondence, but unfortunately this is not the case.
The great difficulty, however, of the negotiating prin-
ciple would be found with inland countries, where the
foreign postage on letters to which, is enhanced by the
toll demanded by the Governments of intervening states,
through which these letters must necessarily pass. What
course, then, should the British Government pursue to
avoid the endless diffictilties and delays of negotiation
with foreign Governtee ins for a reduction of foreign
postage, and to bring those Governments at once to
reason and an enlightened policy in this matter?
Before pointing out a course it will be advisable to state
some particulars respecting our present foreign Postal sys-
tem. At the present time letters to many countries can be
sent from England four, tire, and even seven different
routes. They are often charged according to different
scales of weights; they must be specially addressed to go
some routes, and not others. They must be prepaid or sent
unpaid to some places; to other places the prepayment
is optional. To various parts they can be prepaid to
their destination; to some countries they can only be
prepaid part of the way. The whole of these compli-
cated regulations arise from the various foreign postal
conventions which are in existence between England
and other nations, and they entail great expense to
this country, and cause much incenvenienoo to the
public. English merchants find correspondence re-
turned to them after a foreign mail has left this
country, because some postal regulation in addressing
or prepaying has not been complied with. Now, ac-
cording to Parliamentary evidence, the English Go-
vernment, twenty years ago, collected only its own
foreign postage, and other nations collected theirs. This
was done by the enforced pre-payment of postage on all
foreign correspondence mailed in England to the foreign
termini of the British mail-packet lines. This postage
was a variable and much higher rate than the present
British one, according to the evidence above alluded to.
Having premised the above, it will be understood why
the British Government should be pressed to renounce as
quickly as possible ell postal conventions at present in ex-
istence with foreign Governments, and to recur to the ori-
ginal policy of collecting only its own postage, and let it
make the foreign rate a low and uniform one, instead of a
variable and comparatively high one as it is at present.
Let the British postage on a foreign letter mailed in
England for the continent of Europe be twopence, paid
in advance by means of a stamp. A large amount of
expense would then be saved in working the foreign de-
partment of post offices throughout the kingdom. The
public would be spared much perplexity through the
simplicity of the arrangements, and a vast amount of
foreign correspondence would originate in England, com-
pared with what originates at present.
Some persons may think this would be foolishly ge-
nerous on the part of Eo4land, because foreign Govern-
ments woule not reciprocate, and reduce their rates on
foreign letters • but foreign Governments would be obliged
to reciprocate:No person in any country can be compelled
to accept of correspondence addressed to him, and Govern-
ments always fix such a rate of postage on letters as in-
duces the acceptance of them when introduced into their
territories. No Government is so mad or stupid as to fix
such a postage on foreign letters as to have any con-
siderable portion of them thrown on its hands. Letter
postage with all governments is a source of revenue, and
no government, however absolute, would be permitted to
make such a charge as to induce the rejection of corres-
pondence when by lowering the charge they would get
as much or more revenue, and increase tho trade and in-
tercourse of their respective countries with other nations.
By the redaction on the part of the British Govern-
ment of the postage on foreign letters mailed in this
country to a low and uniform charge, England would
have to land an immense amount of correspondence on
foreign shores at a great deal less expense than the
management of her foreign correspondence costs at pre-
sent, by which the postal revenue of this country would
scarcely suffer, and Great Britain could say in
e
estrepocctd to foreign nations, "'There is the corre•
for
i;enee for your country, charge as high as you please
pep:n(l
°IIIY remember that we do not take it back again."
ay into on
he
possession
that all such correspondence would find its
wernment would
dsession of the public. A foreign Go-
letters at
not refuse to deliver a thousand
a in
it than by w figure when it could get more by
higher one. All the
deliveringone hundred of thorn at a
if the British poste English Government requires is, that
gee on toreign letters be reduced from
one shilling to twopence, that that lour or five times as many
letters should be
:tie at present. It would only
require such an increase make, up the deficient re-
venue, because the expengeo Post-office management
c,f a simple foreign postal schetmrheesvaoduld be much less
eafely guarantee
than by a complicated one. ,
suchvocates of cheap
ocean postage M. ay
faugmenta-
, ..engstvaeciliih,ites for con-es-
tion from the demand for increaen,
nations, and which efts' arisen from
pondence, consequent,. on the ra, • -
eecouree bee
tween different
extension of railways and steam-packets, and tlae de-
velopmentfile
of trade and commerce all over the civilized
world.