The Development of Rates of Postage: An Historical and Analytical Study

by A. D. Smith

In 1832 the publishers in Upper Canada, who were working in concert with the publishers of Lower Canada, also succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a Committee of the House of Assembly. This Committee, in its Report, challenged the legality of any postage charge whatever raised in the province under authority of the British Postmaster-General

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In 1833 the publishers in Nova Scotia submitted a petition to the King, but obtained no satisfaction.[311]

In the Lower Provinces there was a sentiment in favour of the free transmission of newspapers, which had been encouraged, if not originally induced, by the circumstance that for a considerable period the holder of the office of Deputy Postmaster-General for those provinces, Mr. Howe, took little trouble to enforce the payment of that postage which, when paid, was his perquisite, preferring to forgo the proceeds rather than incur the risk of odium which might attach to any attempt to enforce his privilege.[312]

In 1842 Mr. Edmund Ward, the publisher of the Federation Sentinel, petitioned the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in New Brunswick for the abolition of the postage rate on newspapers, on the grounds that it was illegal, a tax on knowledge, and of no benefit to the public revenue, since the proceeds were retained by an official already adequately remunerated for his services. The petition was submitted to the Home authorities; and the Solicitor to the Post Office advised that, since the Act of 1837 repealed the Act of the 4th of George III, cap. 34, the charge on newspapers made by the Deputy Postmaster-General in North America rested on no legal basis, and long established usage and custom was the only justification for allowing newspapers

to pass by post at less than the legal rate. The House of Assembly in New Brunswick also took up the question on their own account. Like the Nova Scotians, they were anxious to facilitate the distribution of newspapers. They regarded the charge for postage as an odious tax on knowledge, and in 1844, in a joint Address to his Majesty, recommended its abolition.

In 1842 the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia also petitioned for the abolition of postage on newspapers and pamphlets, contending that the proceeds of the postage rate, which was collected from the country districts, on which it lay as a heavy burden, did not benefit the general revenue, since they were appropriated by the Deputy Postmaster-General, and that the newspapers were well-nigh the only vehicle of information in the province. In reply, the British authorities pointed out that since pamphlets were charged as letters in England, the Treasury could not sanction free transmission in the colonies; moreover, even with the existing rate, the number of newspapers sent by post was increasing so rapidly that it was becoming a matter of some difficulty, on account of the bad condition of the roads in the province, to provide for their transmission from place to place. Free transmission was therefore not conceded; but in July 1844 certain changes were made in the general system of rates, and the Deputy Postmaster-General's newspaper privilege was withdrawn, a uniform rate of ½d. per sheet for transmission to any point in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, and Prince Edward Island being established.

When the Post Office service throughout British North America was unified and transferred to provincial control, the then existing rates of postage on newspapers and pamphlets were continued, but power was reserved to each Legislature to authorize transmission within its respective province free of postage. By virtue of this power Nova Scotia in 1852 abolished altogether the rate of postage on newspapers, taking pride in the fact that they were the first authority in British North America to grant the boon. New Brunswick soon followed suit. But the result of this, coupled with the reduction in letter postage at the unification, was

adverse to the finances of the service in these provinces. For several years the accounts showed a deficit, which was met by the provinces cheerfully as a contribution of no less value than contributions made for roads, bridges, and schools.[313]

In connection with the changes introduced at the time of the Confederation, a charge for the transmission of newspapers by post was made general throughout the federated area. The charge met with considerable opposition from the Maritime Provinces, which thus lost the boon of free transmission.[314] It was justified as nothing more nor less than a simple charge for freight, the remission of which would be to offer a bounty to a particular industry. The possibilities of usefulness of the Post Office would, it was argued, be greatly reduced if the service were loaded with the burden of the gratuitous distribution of newspapers throughout so vast a country; since, if from the diminution of revenue which such a course must produce, the department were forced to look to Parliament for assistance, Parliament would be disposed to discourage the establishment of new offices in the thinly settled districts, where it was of the greatest importance that they should be found.[315]