New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-06-20

some forty charges VARYING according Ia
distance. the average rate being I'd or half the
days wage of a laborer A single letter meant
a single piece of paper adhesive envelopes had
not been invented. and the addition OF a second
scrap of paper made the letter a double one.
The postage was paid on delivery by the
c:pient: and as no credit was given, the incursion
of a p0stman into a poor neghborhood
watched on all sides with fear rather than hope.
Coleridge. the poet, saw poor woman decln-
ing to accept letter on the score of inability to
pay. The good-natured bard doubtless with
some difficulty found the required ninepence. de-
spite the womans remonstrances. When the
postman had gone away she showed Coleridge
that the letter but a blank sheet Of paper
Her brother had arranged to send her at inter-
walls such n sheet. addressed in n certain fashion,
as evidence that all was we'll with him. and she
accept it. Some humorst on one occasion sent
large a tablecloth. all of which had be de-
livered as single" missiyes.
This system practically stined written inter-
course among the working class. and pressed
with severity upon the middle class. but the
rich and highly placed entirely escaped postal
taxation. The privilege of Thanking covered the
correspondence not only of Ministers. Peers and
members OF Parliament. but of their relatives.
friends and acquaintance. While in one year
early in the Queens reign no less than 100000
letters were franked. a single London firm paid
annually Ell 600 for postage. and writer in
The Quarterly" referred flippantly so slight
receipt of a letter" Among the packets:
franked grand piano. An army OF
clerks employed to fix the charges to be coll
lected, and the postal revenue remained station
period the population increased from 19.5OOOOO
to 25 COO 600
Moved by this state Of things. Parliament in
1889 adopted Rowland Hills proposal of uniform
inland penny postage. which came into operation
January TO- 1910. The writer possesses a copy
OF 1.-The Quarterly Review OF 1889. in which q
contributor believed to be Croker) fiercely de-
nounces the scheme. 'Wiil clerks" he says
write only to their fathers and girls to their
mothers? Will not letters Of romance love-
intrigue or mischief increase in at least equal
proportions? We doubt whether social and do
nestle correspondence will be more than doubled
A gigantic eXemplification of the old proverb-
Penny wise and pound foolish etc.
Macaulay says that the penny post when first
established. was the object of violent invective.
manifest continuance of the Pope to enslave
the souls of Englishmen. 1t was described
sedition made easy The postal authorities.
who in 1IS4 had opposed the institution of mail
coaches were implacable enemies OF penny post
age The Postmaster-Cseneral of 1889 U4ord Lich-
field based his objections on the curious ground
that the building at St. Martin s. le- Grand would
not be large enough. The secretary. Colonel
Maberly constantly repeated, This plan
know will fail"
As we Know. 1t succeeded. and the penny rate
has been generally adopted in Europe. we'll
in the United States The number of letters
from 80 600 900 in 1881 :s9 OOOOOO in 1S47
and for the year ending on March 81. 1897, they
must be about l.9OOOOO.OO The postal surplus
was i'm 1899 IL .6'J95lO and In lS96'97 fS 6S2 l3
The number OF letters. which in 1887 about
three per head and in 1854 fifteen per had. 10
NOV seventy Seven per head