Page:The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago.djvu/27

 until his plan had been some time in operation, had never been inside the walls of any post office—a request of his, in 1836, while preparing his plans, to be permitted to see the working of the London Post Office having been politely refused.

Some two or three years before this date, Mr. Robert Wallace, M.P. for Greenock, had, in Parliament, commenced a series of bold attacks upon the postal administration, and had succeeded in breaking down the prestige which, ever since Palmer's great improvements, that department had enjoyed as a mysterious and almost perfect organisation. Mr. Wallace had compelled the Post Office to adopt many minor improvements, but the supposed necessity of protecting the Post Office revenue from any serious loss caused Postmasters-General and Chancellors of the Exchequer to set their faces firmly against all demands for a general reduction in the rates of postage.

Sir Rowland Hill had taken great interest in the question, and had come to the conclusion that the postage rates charged the public were far too high, even if revenue, and not public convenience, were the primary object for which the Post Office was maintained.

Fortunately, in the financial year ending March 31, 1836, there was a considerable excess of revenue of the country generally over the expenditure, thus leaving a good surplus at the disposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and, as is usual in such