The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-12-24 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL LETTER CARRIERS.

The wretched remuneration received by this most valu-
able class of men, for services involving great labour,
fidelity, and personal hardship, has recently b-en brought
very forcibly before the public; but. like all cases of un-
just treatment or of suffering, is, we fear, less regareed
in the immediate locality where they present themselves
titan in more distant places where they do not come
hourly under observation. Morning, noun, and night
their fellow- townsmen see these patient drudges perambu-
lating our streets, in frost, in sleet, in rain, or beneath a
burning sun and amid the stifling dust. They are the
vehicles which bring us meesag-s of love or of di-aster,
remembrances of distant friends, or warnings of approach-
ing enemies. They bear to our doors rho•e communica-
tions which set in motion the wheels of commerce, and
call into action the industry and the ingenuity which
would otherwise pine unemployed ; and they bi ing also,
faithfully, the stipulated rewards, for which we have
striven. And yet we never inquire how much of this
world's compact these important pieces of human
machinery are permitted to enjoy, cr whether he, who,
during the week. may have been the means of conveying
thousands of pounds, or their equivalent in joy, to the
homes of othsrs, can take home, at the end of 'hat week's
labours, the means of procuring comforts or even bare
necessaries for himself and those who may be dependant
upon him. We never ask whether servants of the public,
so useful, have justice done to their merits, or even com-
mon consideraton given to their necessities.
For the information of those of our fellow-townsmen,
we fear a large numb: r, who may not have made them-
themselves acquainted with the claims of these men to
the support of their fellow-townsmen, in the effort row
making to procure from the proper authorities an adequate
remuneration for their services, we shall briefly state what
these services are, and how they tire rewarded.
The duties of a letter carrier, with an ordinary extent
of district, commence by an attenda ce at. the General
Post Office at seven o'clock in the morning, where he
sorts and arranges his letters, and having done so, sets
out upon I•is delivery. He may finish from ten o'clock
until half-past eieven, when he may be permitted to take
breakfast. He is again at the general office at one o'clock,
and after having sorted his letters, sets out once more
with his dclisery. lie must be at the office at four
o'clock, and again goes through the same routine of la-
bour, finishing perhaps by eight o'clock or hall-past, at
night. This is the weekday duty. On Sundays he must
attend to his first delivery, sacrificing, of coarse, all chance
of attending morning service ; end during the rest of the
day is liable to a call from the office at arty hour, to assist
in the forwarding of any letters which may arrive by post-
office packet ships or merchant vessels. During the pre-
valence of westerly winds, this Sunday duty is very ardu-
ous, and almost et-IW') to be required.
For 'his amount of labour, to be performed, be it re-
marked in all weathers, the post-office authorities in Lon-
don allow the weekly dole of 205.; and when, in addition
to the amount of bodily fatigue and exposure to be en-
dured, we bear in mind that every lettt r•carrier tnu-t nos-
seas more than a mere working man's amount of eduoitien,
and consider the great trust placed in him, (which we are
happy to say, has, in this town, been seldom violated)
it w 11 be acknowledged that this sum is miserably beneath
their deservings, and unworthy alike of that important
and flourishing branch of the revenue to which they are
attached, as it is of this peat commercial community.
The letter-carriers of the mt tropolis have 255. a-week—
a sum little enough in all consvience—and besides they
lave is uniform once a-year, a top coat every two years,
are provided with a wallet for their letters, and set down
by a post-office omnibus at their several districts : more-
over, the men attached to the general delivery go out only
once a-day, and derive a revenue from lute letters. The
Liverpool letter_carrier has not one of these aids. At
this liniment season, we see him, insufficiently clad,
holding his packet of letters, con►aining, perhaps, value-
ble-temittances, in his numbed hands, trudging on his
fatiguing duties, with less than the pay of the meanest
arti,an to reward his usefulness.
This should not be; and we trust that our fellow-
townstnen will not hold back in the eff at now making to
impress upon government the just claims or the letter.
carriers to a little store liberality at its hands. If we are
grateful for the advantages derived by us from the penny
postage system, we ought not so far to wrap ourselves up
in selfishness as to shut our eyes to the fact that the
humble instruments by whose aid that system is carried
out, and whose labours it has doubled, are the most mise-
rably remunerated body of men in the public service A
memorial to the post-office authorities. nutnerously signed,
would, we are confident, produce the desired effect. Let
such a memorial be prepared at once. We have seen
movements made in Liverpool for far less worthy objects.