The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-07-12
OLD POSTAL USAGES,
CURIOUS PHASES OF THE MAIL sERV-
ICE SIxTs YEARS AGO.

Rates on Ordinary Letters In England
Were Almost NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of
the Penny Post and the Queer Argu-
ments Against 1t.
When Queen Victoria assembled the
throne, there were no telegraphs in this
country and few railways. The mails
were forwarded by coach, and the post
age 70 les were to all bat the we'll to do
productive. 1t cost from 4d. 10 Is. Sd.
to send single letter under an
ounce in weight from one part Of the
kingdom to another There were some
40 charges, varying according to dis
lance, the average rate being 3D., or
nalf tho days wage Of laborer A
"single" letter meant a single piece of
paper adhesive envelopes had not been
invented), and tho addition of Il second
scrap Of paper made tho letter "dou-
BILE" one. The postage was paid ON de-
livery by the recipient, and as no cred
it was given the incursion Of postman
into pool ueighborhood was watched
CUleridge, the poet, saw a poor wom-
an declining to accept a letter on the
score Of inability to pay. The good
natured bard doubtless with some diff
Guilty. found the required ninepenCe,
despite the womau's rcmonstrances.
When the postmln had gone away, she
showed ColeriGge that the letter was
but blank sheet Of paper. Her brother
had arranged TO send her at intervals
such sheet, addressed in n certain
fashion, as evidence that all was well
with him, and she us regularly, after
inspecting the address, refused TO accept
| il. Some humorist on one occasion sent
out large numbers of letters, each on a
sheet as large as tablccloth, all of
which had to DO delivered as "single"
missives.
This system practically stifled written
| intercourse 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 franking covered the CORE
spondence not only Of ministers, peers
and members Of parliament but of
their relatives, friends and acquaint-
ances. While in one year early in the
queens reign no less than 7,400, 600
letters were franked, single London
firm paid annually 81 900 for postage
and writer in The Quarterly referred
fiippantly to so slight and rare an in
cident in a laborer's life as the receipt
of letter." Among the packet"
franked was a grand piano. An army
of clerks was employed to fix the charges
to be collected, and the postal revenue
remained stationary between 1915 and
1895, although in the same period the
population increased from 10, 800, 900 to
25,600,0 900.
Moved by this state of things, parlia.
ment in 1889 adopted Rowland Hills
proposal of uniform inland penny post.
age, which came into operation on Jan.
10, 1910. The writer possesses copy OF
The Quarterly Review of 1889, in which
contributor (believed to be Croker
fercely denoulces the scheme. "Will
| clerks" he says, write only to theii
fathers and girls to their mothers? Will
not letters of romance or love, intrigue
or mischief, increase in at least equal
proportions? We doubt whether social
and domestic correspondence will be
more than doubled. "A gigantic exem'
plifcation 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, as manifest con-
trivance of the pope to enslave the souls
of Englishmen. 1t was described as
"sedition made easy" The postal au
thorities, who is 1884 had opposed the
institution OF mail coaches, were i'm
placable enemies of penny postage. The
postmaster general of 1889, Lord Lich
field, based his objections on the curl
Gus ground that the building at st. Mar
tin sic. Grand would not be large
enough. The secretary, Colonel Maber'
ly, constantly repeated, This plan We
know will fail.
As we know, it succeeded, and the
penny rate has been generally adopted
in Europe as we'll as in the United
States. The number of letters rose from
80, 900, 900 in 1887 TO 900, 000,0 900 il
lS47, and for the year ending on Marcel
81, 1897, about 1900, 600, coo. The
postal surplus was in 1889 81 $50, OFT
and in 1867 CD, $50, 1873. The number
of letters, which was in 1887 about
per head and in 1854 Is per head, i
now n per head. --Fortnightly Review
High Titles without Cost.
English folk are copying the Ameri