The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-04-27 00:00:00

' "The evidence of the select committee on postage was pub-
' lished this morning.' Farewell to the shillinc postages,—fare-
, well to a decreasing revenue,—farewell to anomalies of charge,
—farewell to tardiness,—farewell to 'the contraband postage
trade! Not long will they survive the disclosures made in the
evidence of the- select committee. Already we have an uniform
penny rate,—no postage to pay on the receipt of a letter,—no
fears for the security of money letters,—no delays, but deliveries
worthy of the name of "post-haste." So confident are we of
these results,—so completely has their feasibility been demon-
strated, beyond our most sanguine expectations, that a few
months only can elapse before these important ameliorations will
have been accomplished. No minister, with tbe fact of a sta-
tionary, if not decreasing revenue on postage disturbing his
peace of mind, can hesitate to secure the certainty of improved
finances, and at the same time confer a most welcome benefit
on the people, Let any minister proclaim, in the teeth of this
evidence, which demonstrates perfect security to the revenue,
as compatible with a penny postage, that the religious and mo-
ral sentiments of the poor shall continue to be suppressect—that
trade shall be annihilated, unless its correspondence be con-
ducted through a systematic violation.of the law,—that the re-
verence for the law, so strong and habitual in our countrymen,
shall be perverted by a frightful and universal contraband
postage,—that the post monopoly and the post smuggler shall
flourish together, and be the minister who he may, we trust the
people will hoot him from her Majesty's councils. No minister
can dare to avow his scepticism of the unanimous amturicOntra-
dieted testimony of the witnesses whose evidence is submitted
to the public. We find a difficulty in pointing to one portion
of the evidence as more valuable than another—all are equally
so; and it is only because the public are familiar with the fol-
lowing names that we single them out. There is evidence of
Messrs. Knight, Whittaker, Parker, three of the most exten-
sive publishers in the world:,—ofMessrs. Dillon and Branckston,
belonging to the largest warehouses in the world,—of Messrs.
Christie and Moffatt, each most, eminent in his respective busi-
ness,—of Messrs. F. de Porquet, the school agent; of J. Wright,
partner of Warren's blacking warehouse; of B. Sharpe, the
medicine vender,—each first-rate witnesses about advertise-
ments; of Dr. Larduer, R. Taylor, the printer and publisher;
J. Desborough, Secretary to the Atlas InSurance; L. Murray,
Chairman of the National Loan Society; J. Webster, Secretary
to the Civil Engineers; Capt. J. Bentham, &c.,—proving in-
contestably, the systematic evasion of postage in all their re-
spective departments, developing the evils of the present sys-
temll
to morals,. t ,science, and literature,—the acceptability
of Mr. Hill's pi its features of reduction, uniformity, and
payment in ad. 6,—the indisputable certainty that 'an in-
crease of letters consequent upon a reduction to a penny would
suffice to sustain the revenue,—and a perfect willingness of all
to enter into contracts to secure the revenuelrom loss "

The plan proposed by Mr. Rowland Hill embodies the
following facts and suggestions:—
That all letters passing from one post town in the
United Kingdom to another, be charged one penny for
each half-ounce, to he paid in advance through the Me-
dium of stamped covers, or stamps or that letters should
be-stamped'when delivered at the Post• offices.
This system would introduce uniformity and simpli-

city.—
An easy and cheap collection of the Revenue.—
Avoid a multiplicity of accounts kept at the Post-
office.— •
Save time in charging by pen and ink a varying rate
on each letter, and in the delivery.
Avoid candle scrutiny into each letter to ascertain
whether single or double as at present and consequent
temptation to fraud.,
The English Post-office Revenue has, during the last
twenty sears, slightly diminished.
The French Post-office Revenue has increased more.
titan half since IS2I.
The United States Post-office Revenue has more than
tripled during the twenty years that ours has been nearly
stationari:' - • ,

The vast ex t " • which the trade of the country has
•
increased wit last twenty years, must have beer.
attended by a '• increase in mercantile cor-
respondence, while 'the greAt spread of education, and
increase of population during the same period, must
have greatly augmented the correspondence of all kinds.
As the number of post letters sent through the Post-
office, during the last twenty years, has not increased at
all, it is manifest that the whole augmentation must have
gone to swell the contraband conveyance.
The average of the present postage of a single letter
(taking in all chargeable letters) is sixpence halfpenny.
The average cost of its actual carriage to any post
town is about one-tenth of a penny.
The penny posts of large towns are very profitable,
even though these pence have to be collected from house
to house.
The average cost of managing the twopenny post of
London, notwithstanding the large allowance of weight,
and the expensive manner in which the establishment is
conducted, is only 34 per cent. on the iecetpts, or about.
two-thirds of a penny per letter.
- The chargeable letters do not weigh more than about
one fourth of the whole mail.

NORTHERN HOSPITAL—On Sunday last, after an'excellent
sermon by the Rev. James Martineau, a collection was Made
in Yatadise•,street chapel for the benefit of this charity,
amounting to £55 16s.

CROWS' ,Nasrs.--TWo crows have recently taken up their
abode in a singular position, at the back of Air. Lyon's house,
in Bold-street, above Slater-street. There are, we believe, but
three trees in the yard, yet, in one of them, the crows liavefor
about a week been engaged in building a nest. 'A. third crow
made his appearance a day or two since, but was beaten off as
an intruder. Two crows have also built a nest on a house-top
in Wood-street, Hanover-street.

'EXTRAORDINARY DESPATCH.—The barque Brilliant, Gib-
son, belonging. to Joseph B. Yates, Esq. which arrived from
Jamaica on Saturday night, was reported at the Custom-house
on Monday morning, began the discharge of her cargo at two
o'clock the same day, and finished on Wednesday morning at
nine o'clock, having occupied in the discharge less than twenty
hours. The cargo consisted of 469 casks of sugar, coffee and
rum, and 25 tons of dyewoods.

Li 9

KINNEAR.—This notorious character was sent off from Kirk-
dale prison on Tuesday week for Woolwich, in a van with other
convicts. He was in good health, and did not appear to be
affected in any degree by his prostrate contlition. During
the time he was confined in gaol he subsisted on prison allow-
ance, and complied with all its regulations without any complaint
or apparent uneasiness. His wife; who is stated to be a well-
educated woman, visited him in gaol only once, a few weeks
before his trial. It appears that she was living at Paris at the
period of his apprehension.
'rurnuTE of RESPECT.--OR Saturday, a number of gentle-
Men, the friends of Mr. Samuel Mime, met, at Mr. Lacy's'
80ld-street, to consult upon the best method of presenting to
his mother a picture, ( a portrait of that gentleman) painted
by Mr. Midge, when it was determined upon to request him to
be the medium of presentation. Mr. Holme being sent for, on
his arrival was addressed by one of the gentlemen present:—
" I bee,. in the name of the gentlemen present, to request the
favour (knowing the retiring habit's of that excellent ladyl of
your presenting to your honoured mother this memorial of their
regaid for her, and their esteem for you. They thought they
could not present to her any thing she would value more, as a
Irnenento of friendship, than a likeness of her eldest son. I
need not express to you how much pleasure they
.have in
finding au occasion of exhibiting some token of their attach-
ment to you, and in congratulating themselves upon having
fixed upon an artist who has been so happy in the execution of
the work, and in conclusion, I am requested to say, how heartily
they wish, that you may continue to enjoy that good health
to which it has pleased Divine Providence again to restore you,
and their wish that your life may be long spared, that th-ey may
have the happiness to continue to enjoy, uninterruptedly, your
friendship and acquaintance." To which Mr. Holme replied
in a neat and appropriate speech. The picture is a halfdength
portrait, an admirable likeness, and well painted; an what
adds to the value of the gift is the consideration that it is a
joint contributfon of men of all parties, and not. as was ei rone-
ously slated in the Mail and Standard of Tuesday, of the con-
servatives only.
DiErdenA ea BAR—IMPORTANT INFortMATJON TO MARINERS.
---Nye understand from Captain Spence, of the ship Johnstone,
which arrived here yesterday from Demerara, that a floating
1 iglhatchtil;%n
light vessel, with n fixed white circular light, was nioored off' the
bar
and of Demerara 13th ultimo, in 3y2 fathoms at low spring tides,
on in 7 d ettf
er e
shore
northre
a t
the latitude, p
orat oifi d
S.W. by S. distance 12 miles. All vessels inward bound will
Demeraras7s 59
e tit e r long.,theg i
he supplied w •
ith a pilot front the said floating light upon their
heaving to fur that purpose ; and the light will be lowered every
night ekactl
Y at twelve o'clock,• to be supplied with fresh
trimmed lamps : this will oceupy not more than fifteen minutes,
du
ingwhich time a coalition lantern will be hoisted at the mast
head,

Tn
the object of the rryeting we cordially concur, and we
hope that the proceedings will be characterised by that
prudent deliberation which is so requisite in discussing a
stThie6t of such general importance. On this questiOn
tht* will be found a degree of concord among men of
all shades of-Political opinions which can be very rarely
expected to exist on any other topic connected with the
fiscal arrangements of government. The glaring ano-
malies which so frequently present themselves to our ob-
servation in the Postoffiee regulations, and the gross
abuses and mismanagement which are so often witnessed
in its various departments, have given rise to an opi-
nion, almost unanimous, that a searching reform of the
whole system is indispensably necessary.
The Postoffice Circular has rendered valuable service
in bringing the subject of Postoffice reform more promi-
nently before the notice of the public. In its last num-
ber, which we have just received, we find the following
observations on the evidence taken before .the. Select
Committee on Postage :