The same report states:—"The Department has, from 1st. January, 1859, put in operation an arrangement for the conveyance of Parcel Packets between any two Post Offices in Canada with the ordinary mails." The charge was fixed at 1s. 3d. per pound with a maximum weight of two pounds, and prepayment was enforced.
In the Department accounts we find the following:—
| Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Co., Supply of letter and newspaper stamps | £99.6.6 |
which was simply a printing bill. The last payment for the pence issue of stamps appears in the report for 30th Sept., 1859, and is for the deliveries during the nine months from 30th. Sept. 1858 to 30th June, 1859, when the pence stamps were retired. The charge is given in decimal currency:—
| Rawdon, Wright & Co., supply of letter and newspaper stamps | $238.69 |
The report for 1858 gives an interesting table showing the growth of the postal business by decades for the thirty years previous. The remarkable increase during the last period, within which the Province assumed control and the use of stamps was introduced, is to be noted:—
| Year | Number of P. Offices | Miles of P. Routes | Gross Postage | Letters Annually | Newspapers Annually |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1828 | 101 | 2,368 | £15,000 | 340,000 | 400,000 |
| 1838 | 380 | 5,486 | 35,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,250,000 |
| 1848 | 539 | 6,985 | 65,000 | 2,000,000 | 3,000,000 |
| 1858 | 1,566 | 13,600 | 151,000 | 9,800,000 | 13,500,000 |
The year 1859 brings us to the end of the pence issues, but before leaving them there is still one more question to consider, that of the perforated varieties, which will form the subject of the next chapter.
[33] 14o & 15o Vict., cap. LXXI, sec. 12.