The Scotch Post Office had been amalgamated with the English Office in 1711, and Scotland was constituted one of the eighteen postal divisions of Great Britain. The Scotch rates had been the same as the English rates since that date, although an additional half-penny was paid on Scotch letters to meet mail-coach tolls. In 1821 there were only eight towns for which mails were made up. At the same time that a new building for the use of the Post Office was being erected in Dublin, a contract was signed for a new General Office building for Edinburgh to cost £14,000.[238]
The rates established by the act of 1765 were still unchanged for the colonial possessions of the United Kingdom. The American dominions had been sadly depleted by the Revolutionary War but the postage revenue from the loyal remnants had steadily increased. In 1838 the amount of postage charged upon the colonial postmasters in America amounted to £79,000. At one time Jamaica had been the most important American colony from a postal point of view. Canada now took the lead, followed in order of importance by Jamaica, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. In 1834 it was provided that, as soon as the North American Provinces passed postal acts of their own and these acts were approved by the King, the colonial rates of 1765 should cease and the net postal revenue of the North American Provinces should be retained by them.[239]
The British Post Office was now to experience the most far reaching and vital change since 1635. Sir Rowland Hill was the representative of the movement, aided by Mr. Wallace, who, as a member of Parliament, was able to exercise an important effect upon the proposed reform. The history of the adoption of penny postage has been so well told by Hill himself that only a bare story of its acceptance by Parliament is necessary here. A committee was appointed to report upon the condition of the Post Office, the attitude of postal officials and of the public towards the proposed change, its effect upon the revenue, and finally to give their own opinion. This committee examined the Postmaster-General,[240] the Secretaries and Solicitors of the London, Dublin, and Edinburgh offices, other officials in the Post Office, the Chairman, Secretary, and Solicitor of the Board of Stamps and Taxes, Rowland Hill and eighty-three other witnesses from different classes of people, and obtained many reports from the Post Office. Hill presented his plan to the Committee as follows:—
That inland letters should pay postage according to weight at the rate of one penny for each half ounce.[241]
Such postage should be paid in advance by means of stamped papers or covers.[242]
An option might be allowed for a time to pay a penny in advance or 2d. on delivery.[243]
Day mails should be established on the important lines of communication.[244]
There should be a uniform rate of postage because the cost of distributing letters consisted chiefly in the expenses for collecting and delivering them.[245] The plan then in operation for letters not exceeding one ounce in weight was to charge according to the number of enclosures. This plan was uncertain because the number could not always be ascertained, necessitated a close examination, and was evaded by writing several letters on one sheet.[246]
Payment on delivery made it necessary to keep two separate accounts against each postmaster, one for unpaid letters posted in London, and one for paid letters posted in the country. The postmasters had also to keep accounts against each other. Payment in advance, if made compulsory, would do away with half of these accounts and the use of stamped covers or paper would do away with the other half.[247] In some small places where the penny charge would not cover the cost of delivery, Hill proposed that a small additional charge be made, either in advance or on delivery, but he withdrew this suggestion later.[248]