The Sun.
London, England, 1838-09-11 00:00:00

PREMIUMS.

TO WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANTS.

WANTED in ihe COUNTRY,aRESPECT-
ABLE BUSINESS, Wholesale •and Retail, with good
Connexion.
Apply by Leiter (post paid) to W. R., care of Mr. Chappell,
Stationer, 19, Cornhill, London.

THE DEVON AND CORNWALL DIS-
TILLMLY COMPANY.
At a MEETING if GENTLEMEN, friendly to the FOR-
MATION of the above COMPANY, convened by circular; and
held at the Prince George Hotel, Stonehouse, on Monday, the 3d
day f September instant,
J. MAY, Esq., in the Chair,
It was moved—
I:—That the Devon and Cornwall Districts :lord an admirable
field for the Manufacture' and Sale of Brandy. and Gin, on im-
proved principles, inasmuch as there is but one establishment en.
gaged in such' manufacture and sale at' present, for this vast and
increasing popttlation.—Carried unanimously.
IL—That the mode of creating a silent spirit by chemical means,
and thereby getting rid of all the impurities without the ordinary
mode of rectifization, is a discovery of vast importance, both in a
pecuniary and scientific point of view.—Carried unanimously.
HI That a first capital of 10,000 L, in 1,000 shares, of 101. each,
be raised, on which deposits of bs. per share for preparatory expenses,
shall be paid to the Bankers of the Company, on subscribing
for shares, and further sums of One Pound per share each, as
they ma, be called for by the Directors; further shares to be
issued, as btisiness may increase, at premiums, to be deter-
mined by the Directors, for the benefit of the original shareholders.
—Carried unanimously,
IV. That a deed be prepared and signed, limiting the respon-
sibility of the shareholders to the amount of their shares, and pro-
viding that the Company shall be dissolved, should it ever appear
that one third of the capital had been lost in the speculation, unless
a public meeting of the shareholders otherwise determine. when the
shares of dissentients shall be taken by those willing to go on.—
Carried unanimously.
V. That the Company be incorporated by Act of Parliament or
otherwise.—Carried unanimously.
Vl.—That permanent Directors and Officers be appointed tri-
ennially ; the holding of ten shares to constitute a Director's quali-
fication—provisional Directors and Officers in the mean time to be
speedily appointed.—Carrietl unanimously.
Vll.—That application for shares be received by the Bankers of
the Company, at the various branches of the Western District
Banking Company, in Devon and Cornwall ; at the London and
Westminster !lank, in all its branches ; by Mr. Thomas Taylor,
24, Cobourg-street, Plymouth ; and by Mr. H. J. Paddon, 47,
Park-street, Plymouth, Secretary to the
,Company.—Carried
unanimously.
The Chairman having left the Chair, it was moved and carried
tint the thanks of the meeting be given to J. May, Esq., for his
very able conduct in the Chair.
Further information may be had of W. S. Northhouse, Esq.,
Parliamentary Agent to the Company, 4, Parliament-street, West-
minster; or C. Davidson, Esq., 1, Fen-court, Fenchurch-street,
London.

HENRY J: PADDON, Secretary.
47, Park-street, Plymouth.
• --

PUBLICATIONS.

;THE CORN-LAWS.
This day is published, Fourth Edition, price 125.,
A. N ESSAY on the EXTERNAL CORN
TRADE.
By R. TORRENS, Esq., F.R.S.
Longman and Co.

Jugt published, in royal Soo., price
A N ATTEMPT TO DEVELOPE THE
LAW OF STORMS.
By mains of Facts, arranged according to Place and Time ; and
hence to point out a cause for the VARIABLE WINDS, with
the view to practical use in Navigation.
Illustrated by Charts and Wood-cuts.
By Lieutenant-Colonel W. REID,
Of the Royal Engineers.
Published by John Weale, .59, High Holborn.

ROPSY AND CONSUMPTION CUR-
ABLE! !—READ the ESSAY just published, price
Threepence, containing the particulars of a New and Important
Discovery (by a Physician), by which the above Diseases are
speedily Cured, and Cases in illustration thereof, with many valuable
observations apon the best remedies for curing several prevailing
diseases.

" This work should be read by every iedividual."—Evening Paper.
Published by W. Spiers, No. 399, Oxford-street, and sold by all
Booksellers.

Just published, price 3s.
CAN STRICTURES of thb URETHRA,
however protracted, be SPEEDILY and PERAIA-
NENTLY CURED? Answered in a PRACTICAL TREA-
TISE on that Disease, wherein is recommended an improved
method of treatment, its efficacy being illustrated by numerous
highly interesting and important cases, in some of which Strictures
of from thirty to forty years' duration have been totally removed in
a few week=, and its superiority thereby fully established over every
other mode of treatment hitherto .dopted.
By C. B. COURTENAY,
42, Great Marlborou,gli-street.
Sold by J. Hill, Medical Bookseller, 55, Great Winnmill-street,
Haymarket; Simpkin and Marshall, Stationers-court;
Catherine-street, Strand; Templeman, Regent-street; Cappell,
Cornhill and all Booksellers in Tomn o- Col.arv.

LOSS F ' SU,
WIT/1011T SPORINGS,FEET!! CLASPPPLIEDS,. OR WIRES,
LOOSE TEETH FASTENED, •
And Filling Decayed Teeth
WITH MINERAL MA RMORATUM.
MONSIEUR LE DRAY and Co., SUR-
GEON-DENTISTS, No. 60, NEWMAN-STREET,
oxFO R MST It EET, continue to RESTO,E DECAYED TEETH with
heir celebrated MINERAL MARMORATUM, applied without PAIN,
HEAT, or PRESSURE, which in a few seconds HARDENS INTO
ENAMEL, PREVENTING and CURING the TOOTHACHE, allay.
ing in one minute the most excruciating PAIN, and rendering the
OPERATION of EXTR A C'l lON UNNECESSARY. Thcy al,.
FA 'TEN LOOSE I EETH, whether arising from neglect, the use of
Calomel, or Disease or the Gums INCORRODIBLE AnTmcl AI.
or NATURAL TEETH of SURPASSING BEAUTY FIXED, from
ONE to a COMPLETE SET, without EX R
+CTIN.G the ROO I'S,
or GIVING any PA I V, the E \i'CU M BR ANCE of SPRINGS, CLASPS.
'4/FRES, or any other LIGATURE, at the following PARIS
CHARGES:—
A Single Artificial Tooth
...... .1 A Complete Set
A Complete Set of Natural Teeth, on fine gold 5 5 0
plate
• • •
An entire Set of Natural or Terra
D 1 'ta!lic
Teeth, niglily finished, in the first sty..t, with
fine gold sockets, usually charged 4-guineas 21 0 0
c,cry
Arranged on the most improved and scientific principles, and in case restoring perfect ARTICULATION and MA STICATI 0. Aarit ii,;
aeial Teeth out of repair, remodelled to fit thcmouth, and restored equ
beauty and durability to their original state.
At home from Ten till Four.—N. No, G's
street. Newman-street, OxfovAl

15 0 0

I have every reason to believe that it would be of
material consequence to the service were country post-
masters employed to assist the surveyors. They might
be engaged in ascertaining the best routes, and the cheapest
and best modes of conveying the mails which are sent
by light carriages, on horseback, or by foot-post, in their
own neighbourhood, and while they should be debarred
from entering into agreements, still they might be very use-
fully employed and become salutary checks on surveyors, who
in their turn should be surveyed and reported on regularly by
a superior officer. I think some change of this kind is abso-
lutely necessary with a view to provide cheap and frequent
communications by post, and thereby put down illicit convey-
ance of letters, whenever postage rates are so far lowered as
to admit of officers acting beneficially in this way. I have
held these opinions for years, and been strongly confirmed in
the practical inefficiency of the present system of surveying,
by the comparative ignorance exhibited by those Post-office
surveyors who have been exan ined by this Committee, as to
the illegal practices which appear to be so well understood
and universally known to every other class, but still more from
finding that mail-carts without passengers, and horse-posts
instead of passenger-carriages, still prevail in England, where
stage-coaches are so peculiarly well adapted to supplant boar.
I look upon the twopenny-post department in London, and
the more important post-offices throughout the kingdom, as
far better schools for fitting persons for deputy postmasters
and surveyors than the General Post-office ; because, in the
London twopenny post-offices there are continuous active
duties going on from morning until night, connected with the
frequent transmission of mails, and therefore similar to the
duties incumbent on deputy postmasters and surveyors
in the country. I have never been able to see any good rea-
son fcir that part of the London centralizing mania, to the ex-
clusion of the rest of England, Ireland, and Scotland, that is,
the making deputy postmasters mere nonentities, respecting
the general business of the department they belong to, for a'cl-
ing in which very many of them are well qualified and suffici-
ently paid ; if not, they should be so paid.
THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE IN LONDON.
It having been alleged before this Committee, that this
magnificent edifice would not bq sufficient for conducting the
increase of business contemplated by Mr. Rowland Hill, were
his plan to be adopted, I considered it proper. carefully to ex-
amine this building during the hours in which the most active
duties were performing, as well as waen there was compara-
tively little doing.
I witnessed the performance of the duties from six to eight
one evening, and was highly satisfied, and in some instances
much surprised with the accuracy and expedition which .ap-.
peered to pervade every separate department. At the same
time it is right to observe,• that all I saw may be called /flannel
labour, and by no means surpassing the ingenuity, regularity,
and expedition which may be seen going on in other trades,
—for, in my opinion, this is the proper term to apply to
the duties of a post-office, whether in London or in the
country.
As regards an increase of business, I am convinced want of
space teed be no obstacle ; for I am satisfied that at least
&Wile the working space may be found under the present roof
of St. Martin's-lc-Grand, whenever it shall be required.
I may here remark the short-sighted policy which was al-
lowed to prevail in the construction of the immense splendid
building I am speaking of.
It is evident the architect, or those who directed him, had
splendour and comfortable accommodation to the persons fill-
ing the high-sounding offices of President and Vice-Presi-
dents, &c. &c. in view ; but had no idea that ever the time
would arrive when post-office duties should increase, or be in
any way changed; or be done in London with day-light; for
the sun has been nearly excluded from the chief workshops in
this ill-constructed edifice, which are called the Inland and
Newspaper offices, and very nearly so from the Foreign and
Twopenny departments.

Tie plan evidently contemplated lamp-light only being
used, whether in day-light or dark, which accounts for those
ludicrous and absurd apartments of fifty feet high, probably,
wLich have no windows, and are consequently difficult and
expensic'e to light, besides being rendered extremely hot,
comfortle-s, and, I should think, unhealthy, from the immense
voltime of gas-smoke rith which
,I saw them filled. If space
is required, let these lot;.: palace-like offices be divided
with floors into rooms of mou:.nate height, and have win-
dows with glass in place of being up with stone; and
be lighted at night with gas, and venti:ated also according
to the excellent plan of Dr. Reid of Ediabus,:h; in his large
class-rooms there, and also in the House of Commons ; were
this, done, another Mr. Rowland Hill must appear before St.
.slartin's le-Grand, in the opinion of practical men, would be
found insufficient to dispose of all the correspondence which
may pour into it.
Were this mode to be adopted, light would be admitted bw
the toof, and by side windows being opened, both of which cam
be done easily ; for surely the time has nearly arrived for am
end being put to the use of flaring gas to pry into letters, while.
the sup is affording broad day light, and which es-try other
workshop in the world is provided with, except those in the
r„,..tt,,:ed London Post-office.

Were obje:tionsoffered to the above proposal, a very large
space may be otta...2ed by advancing the places of business to.
the pillars on both sides the great outer hall, to which none
now-a-days would object, I ai,; confident, if the cheapening
of letter postage is connected with it.
I went through all the offices occupied r the various duties
of the department, and mobile I have great sat:.,faction in bear-
ing testimony to the order and regularity, and remarkably
neat manner in which I found them, I have no hesitation ira
saying they are capable of containing many more officers, end
having much more duty done with them; and this would be
seen, were the Post-office revenue farmed by a joint-stock
company; and were this national monopoly under the active
and stringent superintendence of men who bad a pecuniary
interest in salutary reforms and improvements; and in exer-
cising a conciliatory demeanour, with a view to extend their
trade, and encourage and increase their customers.
But this is not all. The whole basement of this immense
building may be said to be unoccupied. 1 went from end to
end and from side to side of it, and found it all remarkably dry,
with good air, free from noisome effluvia, and aiready supplied
with gas. So large is the unoccupied space here, and so com-
pletely is it fitted for being used for Post-office purpozes, in-
cluding the examining of letters by gaslight, as to satisfy me,
'11.4 the whole workino portion of the duties now done in 5:.
Martin's-le-Grand might be done in this basement. If not re-
quired to be so occupied, it should certai.,ly be immediately
turned to some account, in order that the rents niav go tervards
cheapening postage. It may be put to almost
any purpose,
being entirely arched with brick.
The working rooms at St. Martin's-le-Grand are opened
every meriting at six and closed at nine, and re-opened at rise
and closed at eight each night ; so that six hours attendance
in these is the utmost extent of the duty. Na', Inc"' some
belonging to them only do duty day about. No duty is per-
formed in them between nine and four of the day ; in fact, I!c•
attendance i, given between these hours
by those engaged in
the mantril labour imposed on the officers. a hose good fortune
has got them into this d'epartmont, which is so very opposite to
tiiie continuous duties imposed all day long on their brethren
in the London General-post branch offices, and in the London
Twopenny post department
of relief from duty during the
of S. Martin's-le-Grand,
day SSo complete pGI cet
General
tn- system '
Post-office
as
tor
app, are
s tutornmede
o cause that portion of the businesswhich arises from mails
tarriving; alter the morning delivery, or by the only day mail
otovehravtoe
td.oenraritntioent,"v:ildtiternh'
taisiey }et p
copra,,,int
yt cip
o tot
bad full and sufficient occupation for nil the force allowed it,
without the addition of General-post business. I have not
been able to ascertain why this was done or is tolerated,
Wtt
conclude male dare yet break through the Freeling
BRANCH POST-OFFICES IN LONDON.
I have examined the branch offices in Lombard.street,
ring-cross, and Ve.re.strect, and certainly been aatonishedit'
their small dimensions, the more so as so much business"-:is
well done. An enormous quantity of official businef•s is go.nia
through daily in the Lornbard-street offices, inland arid tap'
P

~~`

[The evidence of Mr. WALLACE, M.P. for Greenock./
THE GENERAL SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT.
On this I have to observe, that, although I approve of•the
consolidation of the Post offices of the three kingdoms, vet I
feel assured that the principle of centralization has been car-
ried further than is practically useful.
I think the Secretaries in Ireland and Scotland should be
intrusiM with greater powers, be clothed with authority in
minor matters', and at the same time be held accountable to the
- Postmaster-General for all their acts.
Having had many opporfuntties of seeing, and far more of
hearing of the manner in which the duties of the office of Su-
perintendent of Mail-coaches have been performed, I am per-
fectly satisfied that the overweening vanity in regard to cen-
tralization, which so powerfully governed all the actions of Sir
I Francis Feeling, was never more unwisely eiterms:ad than in
having but one person, resident in London, to sunerinond the
P whole mail-coach department of the three kingdoms.
, lam well aware of the relative position in which the sur-
veyors stand to this officer; but having been a 1 ratty close
oherver of such matters during many years of an active life, I
unhesitatingly give it as my opinion that the duties of this
office should be performed by several persons, going round the
country, at fair but moderate salaries ; and that these:persons
should not be selected from the London Post-office, but be
sought from the country department, and in part, from ,that
class which has the best practical information and knowledge
of the chief portion of the duties of a superintendent of mail-
coaches, and which is so respectably represented all over ftet
kingdom ; namely, those who are, or have been employed by
the coaching interest. . . .
I think the surveyors have too much power, and are by far
tlo little under eontroul. They are accountable only .to.tbe
Postmaster-General, or rather the !London Secretary; and
ever)thing I have seen convinces me that no Postmaster-Gone-.
ral ever attains to sufficient practical knowledge to be able to
direct this portion of the department ; and that the same may
be said with truth of the Secretaries to the General Post-
office. lam satisfied that the practice of giving the appoint-
ment of surveyor to persons bred up in the General Post-
office is wrong, it being plain to my understanding that the
officers in that office, like other London tradesmen, are chiefly
trained up in the knowledge of one department only, so that
their training is not well calculated to enable them to fill the
office of surveyor with its multifarious duties, a vast part of
these being entirely new to such persons, that is what may be
. called out-door duties; in short, lam satisfied that much bet-
! ter officers might be found by selecting them from country
nost-otrk-es, or the twopenny-post department, than from the
London Gencral Post-office.
I further think, that survey ors are too highly paid, and in an ,
objectionable manner; and that the service would be better
done by moving them from district to district, instead of mak-
ing them stationary; and that they Are considerably too few in
number; in short, that this branch requires immediate re-
vision.

tit

,eign ; ,nd any one who will examin the small force cm-
ed, but continlously during the whole day, in the mode-
-1 a' e space allotted for it, will pause ere he believes that archi-
tects and their tradesmen must re-enter St. Martin's-le-Grand,
before spice ca 3 be found fur the duties which must be done
when mails an.: despatched and received in London during the
day.

The t ffice at Charing-cross, including the duties for the
city of Westminster and the whole of the West-end district,
consists of a single room only, of very moderate size, which is
reported to be quite sufficient for the great quantity of business
done in it. There is a small porch here to keep off storm
from the public.
Here, too, the force is small ; hut the duties, being spread
over the whole day, are done easily and well. The hours
.„
from eight o'clock of the morning to seven at night.
The office in Vere-street is a fine contrast the magnifi-
cenceat St. Martin's-le-Grand, for it 13 th., most wretched hole
I ever saw public servants sten'ed into any where and
baa a most offensive stench but the duties are consider-
able, and well (lone, in that unostentatious spat. It is about
24 feet long, by only e;gbt or nine feet wide. I put some
questions to the officer on duty, who accounted for the smell
by letting me understand there is a necessary at the further
end, fording a component part of the post-office, being under
the very same roof, and with the same atmosphere as the
office has. To a further question I was informed that he was
only there to supply the place of the proper officer, who was
on .ick leave. I asked if the state of the office had caused
his illness, and was told (reluctantly, as I thought), that he
did not know es to that, but admitted that it was extremely
cold and unco:nfortablc in stormy weather.
Besides the discreditable condition of the interior, this
post-office has no outer porch or other shelter from storm for
those who use it, as a vast mace, do put in letters, both paid
and unpaid.
TWOPENNY POST-OFFICES AND DUTIES.
I was surprised to Ld that these post-offices have not letter-
etaceivine boxa, attached to them. I could not learn why ;
but took occa:aion to ascertain that there are no fewer than
three reteiving-houses, for which high rents are said to be
paid, within about 300 yards, in each direction, from the two_
penny post-office at Charing Cross, which is close adjoining
to that centrical and convenient general-office. Receiving-
boxes for general and twopenny-post letters should ale ae sbe
placed close together, with a label to each, if separated at all.
I saw the duties of the Twopenny Post-office performed at
St. Martin's-le-Grand, and also at Charing-cross, and have
great satisfaction in stating they appeared to me to be admi-
rably arranged, and speeuily despatched ; and having now a
proportion of the general post-letters.to deliver, which is per-
formed regularly and without difficulty, I am more than ever
convinced of the. correctness of the opinions I gave in evidence
before the Poet-office Commissioners, in February 1837, oa
the general management of the Twopenny-post department in.
London ; and of none more than my recommendation, thet the
duties of the General and Twopenny posts should be blended
in London, and be performed by the same men, as is the case
all Or er the kingdom.
I have also been confirmed in another opinion then given
to the Post-office Commissioners, as to the necessity of more
general-post branch offices. London should have twelve of
these at least, in convenient streets, and each with a porch or
proper covering to keep the rain off those who use them.
These offices should receive and dispose of both general and
twopenny-post letters.
Were this properly attended to, and the receiving-boxes
kept open night and day, I am satisfied the revenue would
benefit ; the rents ofa considerable number of receiving-houses
would be saved, and officers at present unemployed during the
day at the General Post-office, might do the duties, as is done
at present in the four branches already spoken of, and so pre-
pare the letters for the head office. I mean that boxes for general
post letters and for twopenny letters should be always placed
close together and kept open day and night. Sep-rate boxes
expedite sorting of letters, and would be used by the great
bulk of the public. As to letters being stolen out of the boxes,
it is chimerical ; I find it never has occurred, and the officers
absolutely Stared with astonishment at my inquiring if they
pprehended such a consequence.
POST-OFFICES IN THE COUNTRY.
Very great public inconvenience is suffered from the im-
proper position of these Post-offices. An Act should be
Passed to compel the community at large in every consider-
able town te build and maintain, at their own expense, a
suitable post-office, with an outside porch or covered place,
and in a clean, central situation. The deputy postmasters
should be empowered and ordered to receive suggestions from
1 nblic bodies in towns, respecting the management of the
smaller, and local class of mails, and the mode of sending
them, and be authorized to report to the surveyor, or direct, if
required, for the information of the secretaries in Ireland
and Scotland, and the Postmaster-General. Mails ought to
be sent by every kind of passenger conveyance, from
the
mail-coach with four horses to the cart of the common
Carrier ; or by foot posts, on application f the
employment of such facilities ; and any law or usageor which
restrains the taking of passengers with mails, should be im-
mediately repealed-or put a stop to ; Post-office men might be
sent with mail-bags on stage-coaches, or other carriages, and
with steam-packets, were this found economical, and neces-
sary to check the conveyance of illicit correspondence. Pla-
cards should be put up at every post-office and market, or
other public place, intimating any change to be made, and the
local postmasters should have this duty imposed on them ;
Postmen sent with mail-bags, by stage-coaches and other pas-
'eager conveyances, or on foot, ought to be alto the carriers
of post-office or mail-conveyed parcels, and in this way tend
to prevent their being the carriers of illegal correspondence,
and benefit the revenue.
Branch offices might be established with advantage and
great convenience in large towns ; their establishment would
facilitate and encourage correspondence, promoting the duty
at the chief office, and saving, besides, the expense of re-
ceiving houses.
POSTMASTERS IN THE COUNTRY.
Postmasters in the country, and their assistants, are treated
and paid very differently from those in the London Post-office.
The various returns I procured in Parliament show this most
conspicuously ; that is, the invidious and unnecessary distinc-
tion made under the Sir Francis Freeling system, and which
I am led to understand not only still prevails, but has been
extended in favour of all who have the good fortune to be em-
ployed in the London department, where munificence in the
expenditure of the Post-office revenue has attended the magni.
ficence in the structure at St. Martin's-le-Grand. If I am
rightly informed, no officer in the General Post-office has oc-
casion to put his hand in his pocket to take money out of it for any
official purpose; their hands and pockets are only required for the
receipt of ample salaries, perquisites, allowances, and
compensations, free from all deductions, and they have super-
annuations besides ; and, in addition to this, the whole estab-
lishment in London send and receive their correspondence
free. Far otherwise is the fate of the servants employed by
the same Pestrnaqer General, and paid by the same public,
from the same Exchequer-chest, throughout the empire.
The returns which I have had made to the House of Com-
mons will show not only that those manifold advantages are
denied to those employed in the department in the
country, but that large calls exist, and drafts are
masie from the salaries and allowances of deputy post-
masters; and this, too, very often from wretched pit-
tances. They are actually called upon and made to find the pest-offices in many instances, and pay the rent of them ;
they frequently have to pay their clerks, and always their coal
and candle, paper and pens and ink, and even the very wax and
twine they must tic and seal the mail-baes with ; and they are
strictly debarred, under pain of 17.rosecution and dismissal, from
sending or receiving any letter or scrap of piper, without pay.
ir.g the full rate of-postage. This cannot be just in both cases ;
and, in my opinion, ie highly discreditable to all Postmasters-
- General. Some, but comparatively very few, deputy post-
masters are overpaid ; for instance, those of Liverpool, Man.
chester, Glasgow, Birmingham, &c. It is not that their sala
ries are eery large, but their perquisites are; the chief of
which .rise from private letter boxes, for which yearly sums are
p :id. I aveuld not recernmend this being aboliabed, or that it
should be obtained gratis; but do recommend that the amount
should go to the revenue in every case when a postmaster has
an income of 3001. a year, which I would hold as a sufficient
maximum, so long, at coy rate, as his duties shall continue
restricted as at present.
The taxes affecting inland conveyances bearing mail-bans and
ne•seneers be taken off; the revenue would not suffer.
e should -
as the work would be done so much cheapee, and the letter
postage certainly increase. The cen'ract prices for mail-coaches
in Scotland, and mail-ears in Ire) elide show this.
Mr. Bilnconi's s:ucce,s, it converting ho -se and foot-pores,
and malt-cars without passengers, into mail-cars tub
pessener, rs, all o:cr the south and west of Ireland, should
be cerefully exp!sinecl and recommend, d ; and his evi
eence made known in every way, in every corner of
the kingdom ; and every eneouragemeat be hell out to Reflex
his example, by setting up light carriages of any kind, opened
or covered, fur carrying mails and, pas-,eugers. all aver Great
Britain, wherever it i 3 practicable and economical.
I have been led into these remarks, chiefly fur the flu rpoE e
of showin,, my belief of Post office accommodation an]
ma-
lag-ement'being utterly unworthy of the comparatively useless,
immense, costly building which has beer, erected in London ;
and also tot ell up to public view aid derision the mystery
which, as I think, has beet so carefully thresen around the
conduct of this A-tea:emcee In slier!, after five years' inces-
sant agitation for I', st-t.fit.cleforirati“n, both in and oat of Par-
liameet, during all of whit!: time I have felt that my endeavours
11,:ve been strenuously opposed or eoun:?racted by the P
°Esc depertment, lam coefirmed in the opinions formedost-
at
the first
oance_ramel v. that the country had been cunningly
betrayed let. a cf there being ssmething extraord,nary
and ,p, sing,
re
not almost sup` in Post-office
nag
in.
ni u-ce o- t:tieli which would shake our socia•
aryl I,f•er,s's t ) their foundation. Under the
v. a-3 c:ircfully concealed from public a,
R-. 1,
/Lee, tai. t the half ameloyment of servants and
').::revs ;'
enormous salarit s. w ti, like the re-
ve tu,s of the d ii,, - t
subject,:ictl..from the eyes of an intelligent
to no efficient control, and
•
se rem d with tine, asing l
t
errs if there be opportonitie,
people, whl then.r)re is al-Ai:vs excluded, it
of justly
fornvngarea
afraid of such an ordeal.
pc s,iblc, by those oho are _
To conclude this pr: iofl of evidence,l ferlano hesitation in
General as,eholdingoat.
sat ing that I leek t:p011 a Pestmaater-
tmeion sin:ilar t:it of a person in th.c! mine!, 'rent an
extensive age:.cv, or acting in the capa^ tyof master trades_
man; and th it, for teis icy reason,
trade nor hu>ines:
it n,le I never b,.! expected
that men telei have eceteee been bred up to t
political
of eny kind, end no are employed merely to fill
gap, and get a coed selery, ever can Le competent to direct
and manage their clerks and journeymen, arid, consequently,
never can give satisfaction to their customers.
TOLLS ON CARRIAGES BEARING MAILS.
An Act sholthl be pas3“l declaratory of the principle of
carriages with mails being allowed to pass over every road toll-
'me, and those which pass at present free should be continued

in the privi
new mails,
by the ael
pisscngers
iron.

ilege ; a
with paf.
ual tear
only.

A the same time it might be pr,vided th,,t
ssengers, should pay a rate of toll modified
and wear of the read by the weight of the
I mean roads •Illether laid with stone cr

POSTAGE ON NEWSPAPER°.
It having been explicitly declared, by the r's.,•nancepior
ofi
the Exchequer, that the stamp upon news:;;„, was to be con-
sidered as a postage, it appears to pert
~ hot only quite fair to al.
sumo it as such, but that
it into account, and' ....present is the proper time lo take
Lent with as pge; e more so as
news
papers frj.rn so bulky ant
item inosta transit, th
and of cOurse
cause r',!eavy charge to the Post-office department.
In this view of the matter, it will be fair to take the reve-
nue from newspapers in aid of any efrect cheapeninci of posmre
may have for A time on the revenue of the Pest.ntiace ; and I
submit this view of the subject with perfect confidence in its
Justice, and being in every*ay as legitimate, as it. will be to give
credit to the Post,odlce department for the amount of stimped
pnoer or topers, when these shall be used in payment of let-
ter-pe;tage, although collected by the Stamp-office, l'ke the
penny stAmp postage on newspapers, which is so bericfi...:isilly
collected at present by that deoartment.

THE PRIVILEGE OF FRANKING.
I have always been opposed to franking. Some mode may
he devised for official and Parliamentary papers being sent
free, but I never yet could see any rational reason why o,licial
franks should go free, nor why the correspondence of Mem-
bers of both Houses of Parliament, who are rich men, should
he an incubus on the correspondence of the industrious and
humb:e classes. If franking were done away with, we should
have less dandyism and frirolty in the House of Commons,
and thus admit of business being conducted without the large
intermixture of trifling matters which so inconveniently occupy
the time of the House. At all events, a sum should be voted
by Pal-Lament towards sending official papers and privileged
correspondence free, causing the cost of these to fall et:lu illy
on the country at large, and thus keep down the general
char-ges itEctinff' the Post-office, and the price of postage to
those usng the Post-office for seniing letters paying postage.
EFFECTS OF DETENTION OF. CORRESPON-
DENCE IN LONDON ON SUNDAY.
I have never been able to listen, with any thing like pa-
tience, to the reasoning applied in excuse for the practice of
stopping the whole correspondence of this country, and of the
world, thirty-six or forty-eight hours weekly, by ret:,,,n of the
Poatmaster-General relieving from duty er, 'that day, those
public servants employed under him !•;', London, while he im-
poses the complete performar
Ce of the official duties of the
department on all who Le employs on that tame day, all over
the rest of the kirgsiom.
There is nu part of the world, I believe, where Sunday is
so strie:ly observed and respected as in Scotland, and there
_postmasters and their assistants perform their official duties
on Sunday with the same regularity as on other days ; the
people, generally speaking, receive their letters and news-
papers on that day, and I never yet heard the slightest insi-
nuation against the postmasters who attend to their duties,
or those who use the post-office on Sunday.
I believe that many persons write letters of a moral and
domestic nature on Sundays, because they cannot find time to
do so on other days; and I cannot conceive how parents,
relations, and friends, placed at a distance from each other,
can better dispose of the time they can spare from the religious
observances of the seventh day, than by conveying to absent
children, relations, and friends, the advice they have to offer,
the sentiments they wish to communicate, or the inquiries they
desire to make.
I further believe that few letters on business are, generally
speaking, written in Scotland on Sunday. It is those who
cannot find time to write during the week who do so on
Sunday, the others being well pleased to be relieved of such
drudgery.
As respects the revenue of the Post-office, I am satisfied
the stoppage in London of the correspondence of the country
has a very unfair as well as an injurious influence; and I think
the power vested by Patent, and especially in a Peer of Par-
liament, thus to tax the people, is by much the most excep-
tionable of the many objectionable points in the Patent, under
which Postmasters-General are authorised to excercise their
arbitrary and highly unconstitutional taxing powers.
I have endeavoured to calculate the amount which the re-
venue suffers by Sunday detention in London ' - seeing that it
operates over the whole country, by making a blank post-day
to, and another from, London weekly, (on business days,) in
every town and locality in the three kingdoms; and bearing
in mind that regularity and frequent correspondence, and
facilities for its transmission, are the acknowledged ingredients
for the encouragement of trade and increasing the revenue of
the Post-office, my mind is made up, that the revenue suffers
needlessly a heavy loss,while the whole expence ofthe machinery
of the Post-office is equally incurred on the blank days, which
comparatively pay nothing, as on the working ones which pay
well ; in short, it is my conviction that the whole nation would
be greatly benefitted, and the Post-office revenue would be
increased by 100,0001. a-year, were the Postmaster-General
or the Treasury to direct the duties of the department to be
performed in London on Sunday, in the same manner as they
are done in Edinburgh and Dublin, and every town and village
in the three kingdoms, London excepted.
In so far as this question is made to rest on the ground of
interfering with the religious observance of the day in Lon-
don, I cannot see the slightest reason for supposing, that the
writing or the reading of letters in London on Sunday can be
a greater desecration of the day, or more immoral, than doing
so is found to be all over the three kingdoms. On the con-
trary, I think parents and children, and friends and relations,
even of the truly pious class, in London, would be better em-
ployed in communicating on religious, moral, educational, and
domestic subjects, including inquiries as to health, or in seek-
ing or offering medical Advice, than in spending those parts of
Sunday, not devoted to religious exercise, in walking about
the streets and parks in and around this metropolis.
But let us see if the stoppage of the correspondence of the
country in London, and the correspondence of the inhabitants
of London itself, does not actually lead to frequent and open
breaches of the law, as well as of the Sabbath, by all classes
and ranks of society.
It is well known, and canwt be disputed, that, although
mails are neither despatched nor received, still a very large
extent of correspondence finds its way into and out of
London mu Sundays, by all the various ways in which people
escape from, and return to or enter London on Sundays; in
this way the breach of the Post-office law is no less extensive
and unblushing than that of the Sabbath, besides being ex-
tremely injurious to the revenue; evidently enhancing postage
by needlessly increasing the expense of the department with.
out any corresponding return ; that this is attributable entirely
to those official men who are weak enough to countenance and
wink at, the necessity of evading postage, no one will doubt
who will look deliberately at the subject.
Again, let us see if it is just or politic to debar one million
and a half of people, which I believe is short of the extent of
the population of London and its vicinity, who are affected
F'y the absurd stoppage of correspondence, from hearing of the
health and welfare of friends in the country for forty-eight
hours weekly ; that is, from Saturday morning at nine to
Monday morning at nine in London.
I would ask if it is wise to prevent the sick in and around
London from calling in the aid of their families or friends, or
their medical advisers, by communicating by letter, on Sunday?
Is it wise to encourage breaking the law and the Sabbath,
by every coachman and guard, and by hundreds who go by
every steam-packet which plies to and from London on
Sundays ?

If all this be wise and proper in London, it follows, I sub-
mit, that the opposite must be improper, and should be put an
end to all over th• kingdom. Will the Postmaster- General or
the Treasury dare try this earth:lent ?
It has been stated, by gentlemen resident in London, that
the more frequent arrival and departure of mails, and giving
letters from the Post-office to those who might choose to take
them on Sunday, would be improper, and contrary to the
taste of London folks.

But the inhabitants of London have never known the benefits
and comforts of uninterrupted correspondence; they have
Framed their business and their habits in accordance with the
existing usage, and to these they naturally enough look ; but
let them remember the tradesman and artizan class of Lon-
don, and their friends and companions out of London, who are
nearly debarred from correspondence by the high rates of
postage, and in no small degree by the Sunday restriction.
Let it be seen, if that far more numerous and no less useful
elass object to receiving letters of a Saturday evening, when
their work is over, or on a Sunda:7, when they may have time
to hear of relations and friends. Indeed, might not sending
and receiving letters induce less frequent calls at gin-palaces,
.r the still more dreaded beer-houses. But every witness,
hose of London excepted, agree in the opinion I now es-
cress, (and have often declared in Parliament,) by giving the
most unqualified evidence to the contrary of any evils arising
out of Post-office duties being performed on Sunday, all over
the empire.
For the information then of the [louse of Commons and
the country, I consider it my duty to say here, as I have ever
,
done before, that as letters are sent round as usual by letter-
carriers in all the great towns of England and Ireland on
'3unday, in addition to being given out to all who choose to
take them ; and as the latter mode of distribution is also the
practice at the post-offices of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in
every town and village whatever throughout Scotland, I state
confidently, that it must he injurious to' the revenue, and in
convenient to the nation at large, to have the Post-office of
London managed differently from those in the rest of the em-
eire ; causing as this does, the mail-coaches and posts of
-very description to be sent through the country compara-
tively empty an two business days in each week, thus greatly
interfering with the convenience and commercial interests of
all classes, needlessly keeping up the expenses of the Post-
office, and consequently the rates of postage, with a very
considerable divination of revenue, for no tenable reason
shateser.

NEW ARRANGEMENTS.
I❑ concluFien, I have to state my unqualified opinion of the
unfitne's of the present officers of the London Post-offire de_
pirtmtnt, to carry into effect any comprehensive plans of Post_
.{rice reformation; the evidence they have given this Corn-
nittea has strongly confirmed my previous opinion on this

The officers cf the London department have distinctly stated
that there is quite enough to do already. Like all other
*.,,ily-Paid men habituated to routine business, they cling to
hat to which they have been used. In attentively observing
:e conduct of the officers who gave evidence before this Corn-
iiittee, I could only discover an ovidrnt desire for inr rove-
cent in Sir Edward Lees and Mr. Godby, the Secretaries to
tc Scot,.•h and Irish P•-st-office department, especially the
`ormer ; unless indeed Air. Bianconi, who so meritoriously
rn•crs the south and west of Ireland with his light mails carry-
;ng passonvrs, can be considered as belonging to the depart-
neut. NVih tho above exceptions, I believe, gcnet ally spells.-
if W, that the Post-otlice department throughout the empire is
.)IFosed to improvement and reform; (specially to any plan
which would augment their duties, for which, in most instances