Parl. Pap. 598 of 1836, and 6th Report of Post-office Commissioners, 1836, p. 32, &c.
It has been stated (see [p. 3]) that many letters by packets from foreign parts are returned unopened to the Post-Office, in order to save the postages, because the originals or duplicates had previously been received through private channels. It would be useful and important to ascertain the number of these. In the Finance Accounts for 1837, p. 54, there is entered in the Post-office deductions on account of "Returned, refused, mis-sent, and redirected letters, over-charges, and returns," the following sums:—
| England | £59,288 | 4 | 1 |
| Scotland | 11,129 | 19 | 10 |
| West Indies and British N. America | 15,337 | 15 | 9 |
| Window men, Foreign Office | 734 | 15 | 10½ |
| ——— | —— | —— | |
| £86,490 | 15 | 6½ | |
| ——— | —— | —— |
Postages.—Mediterranean, &c.
| Letters for India, year ending October 1836 | £990 | 7 | 4 |
| Ditto Alexandria, ditto, ditto | 1285 | 1 | 1 |
| ——— | —— | —— | |
| £2,275 | 8 | 5 | |
| ——— | —— | —— |
Postages of letters passing through Falmouth by the Mediterranean packet, years ending October[20]—
| 1834. | 1835. | 1836. | |||||||||
| To Cadiz | £820 | 11 | 5 | £811 | 19 | 6½ | £703 | 8 | 3 | ||
| Gibraltar | 1,114 | 17 | 11 | 1,603 | 18 | 0 | 1,527 | 14 | 8½ | ||
| Malta | 549 | 19 | 2 | 670 | 4 | 11½ | 694 | 2 | 6½ | ||
| Corfu | 300 | 9 | 8 | 421 | 19 | 10 | 486 | 8 | 10 | ||
| —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | |||
| £2,785 | 18 | 2 | £3,507 | 17 | 4 | £3,411 | 14 | 4 | |||
| —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | |||