Page:The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago.djvu/134

66 desires, be neglected, it will swell into a loud, distinct, and irresistible demand; and then a reform, which, would now be received with gratitude, as one of the greatest boons ever conferred on a people by its Government, would perhaps be taken without thanks, and even with expressions of disappointment, because less extensive than unreasonable people might have expected.

Fortunately this is not a party question, some of the leading men of each political party having expressed themselves favourable to great changes. The Duke of Richmond, Earl Spencer, and Lord Ashburton, in the House of Lords, and Viscount Lowther, Mr. Hume, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Warburton, and many others, in the House of Commons, have declared themselves in favour of extensive reforms; the necessity for which may almost be said to have been acknowledged by the present Government, when they proposed to appoint a Commission of management, and by the late Government, when they appointed a Commission of Inquiry. Lord Ashburton, whose opinion is deserving of great attention, appears to think that the cheap transmission of letters is so important that postage ought to be relieved altogether from taxation.

It is believed, therefore, that the proposed reform, if undertaken by Government, would not meet with opposition. Its object is not to increase the political power of this or that party, but to benefit all sects in politics and religion; and all classes, from the highest to the lowest. To the rich, as to the less wealthy,