Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/220

 which have hitherto prevented us from coming to any conclusion. But I confess that I think that one of the very first things to bind together the sister nations is to have the readiest and the easiest possible communication between their several units, and as far as this country is concerned I believe we should be quite ready to make any sacrifice of revenue that may be required in order to secure a universal penny post throughout the Empire.'

"The Conference of colonial Premiers was followed in the same year by a quinquennial Congress of the Postal Union at Washington. At this Congress the foreign delegates, keenly alive to the fact that every reduction of postage must develop British commerce, voted against a Postal Union penny-rate as one man. The British Post Office at once took advantage of the opportunity to revive a suggestion made originally by Sir Rowland Hill in 1837, and renewed by Sir James Fergusson in 1891. They proposed to the Colonial Post Offices the establishment of an imperial twopenny postage rate. The response of Canada to this proposal was the announcement that from January 1st, 1898, the Canadian domestic rate of 14d. would extend to correspondence to every part of the Empire. The British Post Office protested that this could not be done without the consent of the rest of the Empire; and, still hoping to force its twopenny rate on the colonies, it proposed a Conference on the subject.

"This Conference met in London, at the Westminster Palace Hotel, on June 28th, and on July 5th and 12th, 1898. The delegates included the Duke of Norfolk as Postmaster-General (Chairman), and an imposing array of Postmasters-General and representatives from the colonies and India. It was the only Conference of Postmasters-General of the Empire that has ever been held in London. For the following account of the proceedings I am indebted to Mr Henniker Heaton.