Page:The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago.djvu/121

Rh lead to these and many other inconveniences and anomalies, is no doubt, to a great extent, independent of the reduction in postage which has been recommended: the increase in the number of letters, resulting from that reduction, would, however, greatly facilitate the necessary reforms. With regard to more frequent departures of the Mails, for instance, as two or more coaches would probably be required on each mail-road, they might arrive and be dispatched one in the morning and one in the evening, not only without additional expense, but with great advantage to the Post Office, as a means of preventing an inconvenient accumulation of business at one hour of the day, and also as a means of reducing the number of cross-posts, and thus centralising the business of the Post Office. There are serious objections to numerous cross-posts. Hitherto it has been found impossible satisfactorily to check the receipts for postage; and the number of cross-post letters which are lost is proportionately very great.

If the facilities for the general distribution of letters were rendered adequate to the wants of the public; and if the local distribution of the metropolitan district, and of similar districts about all large towns,