The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-22 00:00:00

THE POST-OFFICE

(Continued from the Sun of yesterday.)
MONEY ORDERS.
During the last year 127 now money order offices
were opened viz., 104 in England and Wales, 14
in Ireland, and 9 in Scotland ; making the whole
number 2,360, exclusive of two colonial money
order offices in connection with the United Kingdom.
Total profit in each of the last 10 years :
Profit.
1849 £322
1850 3,236
18.51 7,437
1852....
1853 14,149
1854 16,167
1855 20,2.52
1856 22,674
1857 24,175
1858 25,936
-

The increase in the number of money orders last
year (about 4 per cent.) is greater than that in
1857, though less than the average of the last five
years. The greatest increase was in Ireland, and
the least in Scotland. The money order system,
though now productive of a large profit in England
and Scotland, is still carried on at a loss in Ireland ;
this last result being attributable in part to the
larger proportion there of money orders for small
sums ; a class of orders, which, as stated in a pre-
vious report, does not defray its cost.
The year's accounts again furnish evidence of
increased means in Ireland of obtaining remunera-
tive labour ; the number of money orders issued in
Ireland and payable in England having increased
much mere than the number issued in England and
payable in Ireland. The average value, moreover,
of each of the first class of orders is the greatest.
There has, for some time, been a provision both
at Gibraltar and Malta for making remittances to
this country by means of money orders; and our
troops there seem to avail themselves of the ar-
rangement to a considerable extent ; about five
orders daily being issued at each place, notwith•
standing the commission is rather high, being 9d.
for sums not exceeding £2, and ls. 6d. for sums
between £2 and £5.
The void orders last year, viz., those which lapsed
to the revenue owing to non-application for pay-
ment, amounted to £1,902, viz., in England and
Wales £1,517, in Ireland to £203, and in Scotland
to £lB2.
In proportion to the whole amount of orders in
the three countries, the greatest number of void
orders was in Ireland, and the least in England.
The proceeds of the void orders are always car-
ried to the fund for assisting the officers of the de-
partment to insure their lives; indeed, this fund is
formed exclusively of the proceeds of these orders
and of unclaimed property found in dead letters.
COLONIAL POSTS.
The European and Australian Royal Mail Com-
pany, which for some time conveyed the mails be-
tween this country and Australia, but which per-
formed the service very ill and incurred heavy
penalties for overtime on the voyages and other
irregularities, has been permitted to terminate its
contract. The service (which hitherto has always
been in an unsatisfactory state) is now undertaken
by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company ; and I trust that it will be executed with
vigour and punctuality, the best guarantee for
which is the excellent manner in which this com-
pany has performed its other postal services,
together with the peculiar advantages which it
possesses for the service.
By the completion of the railway between Alex-
andria and Suez, and under the provisions of a new
agreement with the Pasha, the mails are now con-
veyed through Egypt with much greater expedition
than formerly ; and the transit has been further
expedited by an arrangement with the Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, under
which the packet containing the heavy part of
each mail, namely, that from Southampton, will
arrive at Alexandria a day earlier than the packet
from Marseilles; so as to allow of the passengers,
goods, and mails brought by the first packet being
carried on to Suez before the swifter mail arrives.
A provision, similar in principle, has been made for
the return mails.
In accomplishing these objects, and in effecting
various improvements in the post-offices at Alex-
andria, Suez, Malta, and Gibraltar, much valuable
aid was afforded by Mr. Anthony Trollope, one of
the surveyors, who, for these purposes, was sent on
a special mission to the Mediterranean, and who is
now rendering an important service of a similar
kind in the West Indies.
The contract with the Union Steam Shipping
Company for the conveyance of a monthly mail to
the Cape of Good Hope (referred to in last report)
has been definitively settled, and the company is
performing the service in a very creditable manner.
The Government of Newfoundland has concluded
a contract with the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam
Navigation Company for the conveyance of mails,
once a month, between Galway and St. John's.
In consequence of the difficulties attending the
land conveyance between Halifax and Quebec, all
letters for Canada are now forwarded either direct
by Canadia mail packets or through the United
States.

The means of complete registration from the place
of posting to that of delivery have been extended
to letters addressed to New South Wales, Nova
Scotia, Newfoundland, and Bermuda.
The arrangements for sorting letters on board
ship, hitherto confined to the Australian mails,
having been found to work well, and greatly to
expedite the delivery of the letters, have been ex-
tended, within the present month, to the Indian
mails, and I am in communication with the Post-
masters-General of the United States and Canada,
with a view to the adoption of the same plan in the
packets between this country and North America.
It having been found that the use of English
postage stamps at Malta, Gibraltar, and Constanti-
nople led to no forgery, the privilege has been ex-
tended to the British West Indies, and to foreign
ports touched at by the mail packets on the Wes-
tern Coast of Africa. It is obvious that such as
arrangement is applicable only when the whole of
the postage belongs to the British Post-office.
The new Post-office at Gibraltar, mentioned in
the last report as in the course of erection, has been
completed and opened to the public.
FOREIGN POSTS.
I have had the pleasure of bringing to completion
the postal treaty with Spain referred to in previous
reports, and which had been long in hand. For this
success I am indebted in part to the exertions of
Mr. Edward Rca, whom I despatched to Madrid to
render assistance to our a eibassador there, Lord
Howden, who expressed, in strong terms, his satis-
faction with Mr. ilea's proceedings.
Under the new treaty, the postage of letters has
been much reduced, registration is provided, and a
book post established.
The benefits of the treaty extend to the Balearic
and Canary Islands, and I hope they will soon in-
clude Cuba and Porto Rico.
With the zealous aid, also, of Mr. Howard, Bri-
tish Minister at Lisbon, assisted likewise by Mr.
Rea, I have concluded a new treaty with Portugal,
including, as in the case of Spain, a large reduction
of postage and the establishment of a book post ;
and, as soon as practicable after the treaty shall
have been ratified by the Cortes, the measure will
come into operation.
The very heavy postage of letters to Portugal and
Madeira (which latter place will partake of the ad-
vantages of the new convention), and which have
remained with little alteration since 1808, have led
to repeated arid just complaints from our merchants
and the relatives of the, many invalids who resort
for health to Madeira ; but all past efforts to effect
a remedy had been fruitless. It is therefore with
peculiar satisfaction that I have brought this long-
protracted negotion to a successful issue.
Proposals for new postal conventions, including
a large reduction of postage and the establishment
of a book post, have been sent to Brazil, Chili,
Peru, Mexico, and all the other States in South and
Central America where there appeared any hope of
a successful result; and measures have been taken
'for ascertaining whether at other places in that
part of the world reductions in British postage could
safely be made ; the danger to guard against being
the retention or imposition of a heavy local charge
which would almost—possibly altogether neu-
tralise the effect of our reduction.
At Buenos Ayres and the other parts of the Ar-
gentine Republic, and in Ilayti, the alterations have
already been adopted and carried into effect ; as also,
with the ex ception;of thebook post, in Paraguay. On
the Ist August similar improvements will be made
in the postal arrangements with Nicaragua (with
which State a postal tree has just been concluded),
and probably with the escinitos and some other
parts of Central America.
A low rate of postage has also been established
between this country. and Martinique, Guadaloupe,
Curaeoa, and the foreign settlements on the Western
Coast of Africa ; with which latter there is now
also a book post.
The negotiations for a new convention with the
German Postal Union proceed very slowly, and those
with the United States make no progress whatever,
notwithstanding our proposal made more than two
agoyears to the United States Post-office for a large
reduction in postage and for the establishment of a
book post.
Progress, however, has been made towards a new
postal treaty with Holland; and like negotiations
have been entered into with Tuscany.
The Brazilian and Argentine mail service has
been much improved by increased speed in the
packets; an alteration which has greatly shortened
the course of post by securing the arrival in Eng-
land of the homeward packet a few days before the
departure of the outward packet.
Ws w yet been able to Fiat moat

in the important mails between London and Paris,
and between London and Ostend, for which the
necessary negotiations are still pending. I hope
that ultimately all these mails will be ac elerated,
that the hours of despatch and arrival - ill be im-
proved, and that the night service to Ostend will be
exchanged for a day service.

REVENUE AND EXPENDITUR'•
The gross revenue of the Post-office in each of
;he years 1857 and 1858 was as follows :

POSTAGE.
1857. 18.58.
England £2,437,053
Ireland
Scotland

£2,928,858 £2,975,939
COMMISSION ON MONEY ORDERS.
England £90,806 £94,850
Ireland
Scotland 8,463 8,786
- 106,855 - 111,596

£3,035,713 £3,087,535
The gross revenue properly appertaining to the
year 1858, adjusted chiefly with reference to the
balances due from and to the colonies and foreign
countries was £3,100,939, being an increase of
£82,792 on the adjusted gross revenue of 1857.
This increase is equal to nearly 21 per cent., as
compared with an increase of nearly 5 per cent. in
the previous year, and with an average of about 41,
per cent. in the last three years :

EXPENDITt RE.

The following table shows the expenditure of
,he Post office during the year 1858 :

- _
Salaries, pensions, &c £983,830
Buildings, repairs, &c. 27,015
Conveyance of mails—
By railways
By coaches, carts, &c., and wages of mail
guards 165,703
By mail packets and private ships (when paid
for by the Post-office)
Manufacture of postage stamps 23,852
Miscellaneous, including the conveyance of mails
in colonies, under the postal direction of the
Postmaster-General; the conveyance of the
mails through Egypt ; clothing of letter-car-
riers and guards ; official postage, rents, taxes,
law expenses, &c

Total
_. _ £1,770,554

The increase of expenditure properly appertain-
ing to the year was rather more than 3 per cent.,
as compared with 2-1 per cent. in 1857, and with
3 per cent., the average of the last three years.
The increase of £35,000 in salaries, pensions, &c.,
is partly for an increased force of 641 officers, partly
for poundage on money orders and postage stamps
(which increases with increasing business), and
partly for annual increments of salaries and wages.
The decrease under the bead conveyance of mails
by packet boats and private ships is owing to the
cessation of the payment by the Post-office for cer-
tain temporary Australian packets.
The packet service is for the most part under the
superintendence of the Admiralty, and is borne on
the expenditure of that department, many of the
contracts for this service having been entered into
with other objects, besides those of postal commu-
nication. Indeed, as postal enterprises, few of
them could be maintained, the expense, in the large
majority of cases, far exceeding the earnings.
The omission in the expenditure of the Post-
office of such portion of the cost of these packets as
may be fairly chargeable to this department is in
part counterbalanced by the omission (under the
head of revenue) of the charge for transmission
(inland) of stamped newspapers, amounting last
year to upwards of £154,000.
The net revenue, taken as the difference between
the gross revenue and expenditure properly apper-
taming to the year was as follows :
_

1857.
£1,304,671

1858.
£1,330,385

Increase.
£25,714

This increase is at the rate of nearly 2 per cent.,
as compared with 8 per cent. in 1857, and 51, per
cent. in the last years.

STAFF OF OFFICERS.

At the end of 1858 the staff of officers was as
follows :
Officers in British Isles—
Postmaster-General .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1

Secretary, Assistant-Secretaries, and Secretaries for
Ireland and Scotland 5
Surveyors .. •• .. .. .. •• .. .. •• 15
Other superior officers; viz., heads of departments,
chief clerks in the metropolitan offices, &c.. 18
Postmasters
Clerks, &c. .. 1,632

GlaariS, .. ee So eo O. Os 60 Od Oe 197
Letter-carriers, messengers, &c. .. 11,076
Marine mail officers .. 7

Postmasters, clerks, letter-carriers, &c., in the
Colonies, the posts of which are under the direc-
tion of the Postmaster-General .. .. .. .. 125
Agents in foreign countries for collection of post-
age, &c. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. • • 61

24,372

The portion of the above staff attached to the
chief office in London, which is less than it was,
owing to the removal of many men to the district
offices, now consists of about 1,700 officers. Includ-
ing this number, about 3,300 belong to the London
district.

The health of the large body of officers attached
to the General Post-office in London has been good ;
showing improvement even on the satisfactory
state in the previous year.
The general conduct of the officers of the depart-
ment during the last year has also been good,
indeed that of many has been excellent ; and, under
the system of promotion according to merit, which
has now for some years been in operation, I have
had the pleasure of advancing many zealous and
efficient men.

During part of the year, indeed, there was some
misconduct among the London letter-carriers, but it
was confined to comparatively few. The wrong-
doing of these few did not deter me from entering
into a full examination of the complaints ; and
being satisfied that while the alterations in the
scales of wages made some time since on the recom-
mendation of the committee appointed by your
lordships' predecessors had, on the whole, been
beneficial, they had in some instances pressed
rather hard, or at any rate had left some grievances
unremoved, I advised those modifications which you
were pleased to sanction. These alterations have
considerably improved the condition of a large
body of letter-carriers, and have, I trust, rendered
every industrious and well. conducted letter-carrier
fully contented.