The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-26 00:00:00

"TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

" Sir,—l think that in the Times, about a week ago, there
was some notice taken of a new regulation by the Post-office
authorities respecting the transmission of money by Post office
orders, that the amount could be paid only to the person to
whom it might be transmitted ; and at the same time, if my
memory serves me correctly you doubted the existence of such
a regulation, and denounced it as mischievous, annoying, and
inconvenient.

" I can now inform you, that such a regulation has been
made, and is now in operation at the Post-office. Yesterday
I sent my son, a youth of 17, to the Post-office with one of
these orders for a small surn, and endorsed lily name on the back
of it. He was told I must go myself, as the money could be
paid to no one else.

" Now, it so happens that it is not only inconvenient but it
is next to impossible for me to go for it; and as the amount is
trifling, I prefer the risk of losing it altogether to the risk of
losing much more than it is worth by going fur it. I shall there-
fore return the order to the country, and trust to receiving the
amount through some other channel.
" There are hundreds who will do so, if this absurd regula-
tion be persisted in. I need not point out cases—take the
merchant, or the poor man ; the one may not think the
amount worth his personal trouble, the other, if he live at a
distance, cannot afford to lose the value of half a day's labour.
The mischievousness and inconvenience of such a regulation
must be evident to every man, be his occupation what it may.
" Suppose the editor of the Times were to receive a Post-
office order for a small sum, would he go for it himself? The
order itself, taken as a matter of business, implies no such
mischievous condition. It says credit the person according
to my letter of advice, &c.,' alid his signature on the back of the
order was always considered sufficient, and is as much protec-
tion for the payment of the money to the right person as this
ridiculous regulation can possibly be.
" The Post-office authorities have lately made a merit of re-
ducing the per-tentage upon monies transmitted by orders,
but did they not calculate that many—very many persons,
would prefer returning the order to the inconvenience of
going for it, when a clerk or any other member of their
family going for it would do as well—that the additional
postage of sending the order back might compensate them
for the reduction of the per-tentage? This is not an over-
strained conclusion.
" Gray's-inn, Jan. 23."

It appears that this subject was brought under the notice of
the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the management
of the Post-office department, and is referred to in their tenth
Report, published in January, 1838. These orders %ere then
under the management of a distinct office specially established
for that purpose in 1792, principally with a view to the ac-
commodation of soldiers and sailors. Some of the clerks of
the Post-office at that time participated in its profits, but it
afterwards devolved upon one of the Presidents of the inland
department who advanced the capital required for the purpose.
The authorised charge for those orders then was at the rate of
Bd. in the pound for sums above 10s., a charge of 6d. being
made for any remittance under 10s., in addition to which a stamp
duty of ls. was payable by the sender of money orders to the
amount of 21. and upwards. The profits of this business were at
that time about 4001. a year, but the Commissioners recom-
mend the remission of the stamp duty, that the business
should fall under the 'direct management of the Post-office,
and that the profits, if any, should be carried to the account of
the revenue. They are of opinion, at the same time, that all
notion of profit from this source should be given up, as con.
stituting, at a very small sacrifice, a most acceptable boon to
the loner classes ; and they believe, if that were the case, that
instead of 3s. or 4s. for an order for a couple of pounds, paya-
ble in Scotland or Ireland, the remittance might be made for
as many pence. We are not aware whether these recommen-
dations of the Commissioners have been acted on, but their
Report contains no hint of the necessity of any such absurd re-
gulation as that which is now complained of.
It only requires to be added, that the whole case may be put
before the public, that these money orders are resorted to very
extensively by the lower classes generally, to a much greater
degree than by soldiers and sailors, and more particularly by
Irish labourers.
The transactions in the Funds were not of any importance.

CHRONICLE.—As regards the English Stock Market
there is nothing new to remark, both with respect to the quo-
tations and the general appearance of things. Consols left
off at 92a to for Money, and 92} buyers for the Account.
Three-and-a- Half per Cent. Reduced are 1008 to ; ditto
(new), 99,1 to -; Exchequer Bills, 65 to 67 prem. ; Bank
Stock, 2021 to 203; and India Stock, 254 k to 2551.
Spanish Securities continue to be extensively dealt in, under
a strong impression which prevails that a new loan for Spain
will shortly be introduced, and the circumstance of the French
Ministry having resigned at this eventful moment, has
necessarily much strengthened the favourable feeling, as
every one expects the disposition of the Cabinet will now
be greatly changed as regards Spanish matters. A letter,
indeed, from a gentleman in Paris, whose positicn enables him
to know what is going on, states, "Je vous affirme que
Louis Philippe a dit bier au toir 011 etait temps de rentrer
dans Ia Charte, et de marcher avec Popinion nationale.' " It
is, therefore, generally expected that Spanish matters %ill now
be taken up by the French Government. The following were
the last prices :—Spanish Active, 20 to ; Portuguese Five I