New-York tribune., 1868-06-29
TIE BRITISH POSTAL CONVENTION


The correspondence between the Post-Ofice
authorities of Great Britain and the United
States relative to the termination of the Postal
Convention between the two countries has been
laid before Congress. Our readers will remem-
Der that the present treaty, by which, among
other reforms great reduction of rates was
secured, went into operation on the 1st OF Jan
uary last and was to be terminablc by either
party on one years notice. Such notice was
given by the British Postmaster-Gcncral,t the
Duke of Montrosc, in December, 1SG,-before
the new regulations were even tried-and Mr.
Anthony TrollOpe has since been sent here as
a Commissioner to negotiate new treaty. 1t
is unnecessary to recitc all the objections made
by the British Government to the existing ar
rangements, because most of them are trivial, and
some could have been obyiatcd without abro-
CATION of the treaty; but the chief concessions
which the Duke demands as the basis of new
Convention are virtually that the regular mails
both ways shall be transmitted exclusively by
the CunaTd and Inman steamship lines, and
that we shall pay them for the service n sub
sidy larger than the payment they now receive.
Mr.. TrolOpe's mission, therefore, is really in
the interest of the British steamship companies.
Before the present treaty went into operation,
the Cunard line used to receive a fixed subsidy
for carrying the mails both ways, and our share
of the expense had to be settled after more or
less trouble and annoyance, with the British
Post Office authorities. The termination of the
Cunard contract gave an opportunity for reform,
and the new Convention provided that each party
should arrange for the conveyance of its own
mails and make the best terms it could with
the various lines. The Inman, the North
German Lloyd and the Hamburg lines made
contracts with us at the rate of IS cents per
ounce letter. and the Inman line also made a
contract with the British Post-Onice; but the
Cunard Company refused to perform the ser
vice except on the old plan of receiving n
fixed sum for the round trips; and we believe
it is the settled conviction of most Englishmen
that if the Cunard steamers should cease TO
carry the royal mails, consequences would fol-
low too awful to contemplate. The Company
must have their demand; and after a Commits
sioner had been sent to Washington in the
vain hope of persuading us to violate the Con-
venton and return to the old subsidy system,
it was finally arranged that the Cunard
Company should make n contract with the Uni
ted States on the same terms as the other lines,
pay over what they obtained from us to the
British Government, and then receive from the
latter an annual subsidy of GS0,OOO for the ser
vice both ways. This of course, was q bad
bargain for the British Post Office but that in
stitution has always been ready to coddlc Sir
Samuel Cunard and his associates at the public
cost This, however, was not all. The Inman
line also got great deal more from Great
Britain than it got from us, because Her
Majesty's Government, when it invited pro-
pOsals from the owners of vessels, offered in
advance tho whole sea-postage of a cents per
ounce, while the United States, having thrown
the bids open to competition, was enabled to
have the very same service performed mostly
by the same vessels, for IS cents per ounce.
Bearing these facts in mind, we shall be pre-
pared TO appreciate the extraordinary demands
which the Duke of Montrose makes in his pro-
posals for new treaty. He asks that three
mails a week shall be dispatched each way,
and no more, leaving New York and Liverpool
respectively on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays; that the two Governments shall
make joint contract for this service with the
Cunard and Inman lines exclusively, paying
them on the old and unsatisfactory subsidy
system or if this cannot be, that wo shall
make separate contracts with the same vessels
and on identical terms; and. finally, that tho
amount of the subsidy shall be equal, as
nearly as can be estimated, TO the entire sea-
postage. The argument by which the
English authorities sustain this last