Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/599

Rh ADMINISTRATION, ETC.] POST-OFFICE 577 use of the telegraph.&quot; 1 The development of the service will be apparent when it is stated that at the date of transfer to the state (1870) the number of telegraph offices did not exceed 3700. The number of messages in a year was 8,606,000. In 1884 they were respectively 5873 and (as above) 32,843,120. The yearly increment has lately averaged nearly 700,000. More striking still is the con trast of cost. In 1851 twenty words sent from London to Edin burgh cost 10s. ; as late as 1862 they cost 4s.; since 1880 the cost has been reduced to Is. ; in August of the present year (1885) it will be reduced to 6d. Among the latest minor improvements of detail in the telegraph service is that which was effected in November 1882 by the abolition of the distinctive telegraph stamp, and the adoption of ordinary postage stamps for the payment of messages. Tele grams thus posted are conveyed, without extra charge, at the next collection of letters to the nearest telegraph office, whence they are transmitted by the wires at the earliest possible moment. 2 During 1883 and 1884 great improvements were made in the telegraphic service of Scotland and also in the communication between Great Britain and Ireland. An additional cable was established between Fishguard and Blackwater. Four new land- lines were laid in connexion therewith, namely, from London to Fishguard, and from Blackwater to Dublin, Cork, and Limerick. There are now twenty-four wires available for use between Britain and Ireland contained in six cables. A new cable depot has been erected at Woolwich, arid a cable-ship constructed (1883) expressly for post-office service. But the marvellous growth of telegraphy and telephony is best seen when we compare their statistics in individual towns. The daily average of messages in London, for example, was 450 in 1870 and nearly 6000 in 1883 ; in Derby 218 in 1870 and 898 in 1883. The staff at Derby in the former year was fourteen, in the latter year forty-six, and the instruments employed in the same years were respectively seven and twenty-seven. Government, Organization, Staff, and Regulations? is- Originally and essentially the post-office is part of the &quot; 1 domain of the crown of England. Practically its adminis- 1 n&amp;gt; tration is controlled and regulated by statute. There were in 1883 no less than twenty-one several Acts of Parliament, or parts of Acts, which affected the postal administration, although at the commencement of the reign of Victoria the existing Post -Office Acts and parts of Acts (some what more numerous still) were consolidated into a single statute, a measure which had been previously resolved upon and in part prepared under the administration of the duke of Wellington. 4 The responsibilities of common carriers do not extend to the postmaster-general or to any of his deputies. But a sub-postmaster is answerable in the ordinary courts of law for individual acts of negligence. And all subordinates of the postal service are, of course, 1 Scudamore, Report on the Reorganization, Ac., p. 17. 2 Twenty-eighth Report of Postmaster-General, 1882, p. 5. 3 The details are given at length in the Law Journal Reports for 1884. A good summary may be found in The Postal and Telegraphic Gazette, 1884, pp. 660-662. 4 Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, series iii., vol. i. pp. 706, 779. We cannot here enumerate the subsisting Acts otherwise than in briefest form. (1) The general administration and working of the department, the rates of postage, and the appropriation of the revenue thence accru ing are governed by 7 William IV. and 1 Viet. c. 33 (July 1837) ; 3 and 4 Viet. c. 96 ; 10 and 11 Viet. c. 85 (1847) ; 33 and 34 Viet. c. 79 (1870), and ibid. c. 98, 9-12 ; 34 and 35 Viet. c. 30 (1871) ; 38 and 39 Viet. c. 22 (June 1875) ; 44 and 45 Viet. c. 19 (1881), and ibid. c. 12, 47. (The Act 33 and 34 Viet., amongst other valuable improvements, extends the book-parcel post, and contains an express clause empowering the treasury to regulate by warrant postage rates from time to time. Yet there is a whole series of subsequent Acts regulating such rates. The Act 38 and 39 Viet, arose out of the provisions of the international postal treaty at Bern of 9th October 1874 (see below, p. 584), and empowers the treasury to regulate foreign and international rates of postage in accordance with these provisions.) (2) The money-order branch is regulated by 3 and 4 Viet. c. 96, 38 (1840), and by 43 and 44 Viet. c. 33. (3) The savings banks branch is regulated by 22 and 23 Viet. c. 53 (1859) ; 24 and 25 Viet. c. 14 (1861) ; and 37 and 38 Viet. c. 73 (1874). (4) The annuities and life insurance branch is governed by 27 and 28 Viet. c. 43 (1864) ; this statute applies also to savings banks managed by trustees (see SAVINGS BANKS). (5) The telegraphs branch is regulated by 31 and 12 Viet. c. 110 (1867-68) ; 32 and 33 Viet. c. 73 (1868-69) ; 34 and 35 Viet. c. 75 (1871) ; and 41 and 42 Viet. c. 76 (1878). (6) The acquisition of lands for post-office purposes is facilitated by 44 and 45 Viet. c. 20 (1881). Finally, (7) the parcel-post branch is provided for by 46 and 47 Viet. c. 58 (1883). responsible to the postmaster-general, who may, and upon due cause will, besides other and official punishment, re quire them to make good to the sufferers losses which have been inflicted by proven breach of duty. 5 The staff of the post-office department was composed as follows Staff on 31st March 1884 (Table XVII.) : Males. Females. Total. 1. Chief officers, secretariat, and surveyors 2. Head-postmasters 63 789 1 130 64 3. Sub-postmasters and letter-receivers 4. Clerks and superintending officers 5. Supervisors, countermen, sorters, tele graphists, &c. 6. Postmen, porters, &c 12,038 2,Q93 10,074 15 269 2,790 616 2,115 3 14,828 2,909 12,189 15 277 7. Assistants and servants of various grades (unestablished) 8. Colonial postmasters and foreign agents 28,829 29 16,139 1 44,968 30 Grand total 60 3S4 21 800 The general post-office, London, is organized in seven principal departments, viz., (1) secretary s. (2) solicitor s, (3) receiver- and accountant-general s, (4) money order, (5) savings banks, (6) tele graphs, (7) circulation. The secretary s office has a general control over all the others. At the beginning of 1858 the total number of post-offices in the United Kingdom was 11,101 ; at the beginning of 1884 it was 15,951. Of the former number 810 were head post-offices, of the latter number 921. In 1858 the number of street and road receiving-boxes was 703, in 1884 15,749. The quarterly Post-Office Guide is now so widely known that we Letter need say very little about rates of postage. &quot;Whilst a letter not rates, &a exceeding 1 oz. passes for Id., and one not exceeding 2 oz. for lid., one not exceeding 12 oz. is charged 4d., but for every weight exceed ing 12 oz. a penny for each ounce, beginning with the first, is charged. There is no express limit to weight, but no letter, unless it be from or to a Government office, must exceed the dimensions of 18 x 9 x 6 inches. The uniform rate for a registered newspaper is d., unregistered newspapers pay the book-rate of |d. for every 2 oz. In weight no book-packet must exceed 5 lb, nor must it exceed in _ dimensions those prescribed for letters. The official post-card is impressed with a ^d. stamp ; cards for reply, bearing two stamps, may be transmitted not only between places within the United Kingdom but between such places and many foreign countries (see Post-Office Guide). Petitions and addresses to Her Majesty and to the Houses of Parliament are exempt from charge up to a weight of 2 lb. Parliamentary proceedings are charged at the book rate, but are unlimited as to weight or size, and prepay ment is optional, without entailing any increased rate of charge. The rates of the parcel post (1st August 1883) are for 1 lb or part thereof, 3d. ; not exceeding 3 lb, 6d. ; not exceeding 5 lb, 9d. ; not exceeding 7 lb, Is. The limits of size are 3 feet 6 inches in greatest length, and in length and girth combined 6 feet. In all cases par cels must be prepaid in adhesive stamps. The rule as to registration is held to be inapplicable to postal parcels ; but in January 1885 a useful system of stamped certificates of the postage of parcels was introduced. For foreign rates of postage and for all like details we necessarily refer to the Post-Office Guide above-mentioned. In social importance no branch of postal administration exceeds its savings banks system and the dependencies attached to it. At every post-office forms can be obtained on which twelve penny postage stamps can be fixed, which will be received as a postal savings bank deposit for a shilling, provided a clue declaration be made that the depositor has no account with any other savings bank. When the deposit reaches 1, interest at the rate of 6d.a year on each pound is given. The depositor can withdraw his money (which may accrue to the limit of 30 in any one year) from any one of the 7475 post-office banks. At any such office a person who wishes to invest 10 or any larger sum up to 100 in Government stock can do so at the current price of the day. In conclusion we add a brief retrospective survey of the more salient Resume&quot;, incidents, in chronological order, of the British post-office. (1533) First appointment of a postmaster -general for England; (1591) partial organization of rudimentary English post-office; (1619) appointment of a special postmaster-general for &quot;foreign parts&quot;; (1635) reorganization of English post-office under Thomas Wither- ings ; (1665) settlement of post-office revenue on James, duke of York, and his heirs-male ; (1680) establishment of a metropolitan penny post by William Dockwra ; (1711) consolidation of Postal Acts by statute 9 Queen Anne, c. x. ; (1720) organization of cross road and rural posts under Ralph Allen ; (1753) organization of post-office of American colonies under Benjamin Franklin ; (1784) 5 Compare the judgment given in Lane v. Cotton, in Lord Raymond s Reports, i. 646, with that in Whitfield v. Lord Le Despencer (post master-general, 1766-1781), iu Cowper s Reports, 754, and with that in Browning v. Goodchild, in Wilson s Reports, iii. 443. XIX. - 73