[132] Sir W. Mulock, Parl. Debates (Canada), House of Commons, 1st April 1898 (Official Reports, vol. xlvi.).
[133] Sir Charles Tupper, Ibid., 13th May 1898.
[134] In 1898, $3,527,810: in 1902, $3,888,126.
[135] "It is ordered that notice be given that Richard Fairbanks his house in Boston is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas or are to be sent thither to be left with him, and he is to take care that they are to be delivered or sent according to the directions; and he is allowed for every letter a penny, and must answer all miscarriages through his own negligence in this kind."
[136] Stanley I. Slack, A Brief History of the Postal Service, Omaha.
[137] M. E. Woolley, Early History of the Colonial Post Office, Providence, R.I., 1894, p. 6.
[138] New York, in 1692, enacted that any persons or body politic or corporate other than the Postmaster-General presuming to "carry, re-carry, or deliver letters for hire, or to set up or imploy any foot-post, horse-post, or pacquet-boat whatsoever" for the carrying of letters or packets should forfeit £100; and the Act of New Hampshire, passed in 1693, provided that no person or persons whatsoever should carry letters for hire, "except letters sent by private friend or by any messenger for or concerning the private affaires of any person."
[139] Preamble of Act (1st April 1693).
[140] "The mail carriers rode through the wilderness in this year of the beginning."—Stanley I. Slack, A Brief History of the Postal Service, Omaha, p. 11.