“May 20th, 1842.—Received the Parliamentary Returns from the Post Office. Very inaccurate. Sent Ledingham with them to the Post Office to get them corrected.”
In short, it is literally true that an accurate return or statement in detail of any kind from the Post Office was at this time a rare exception.
If I had found it hard to make head previously to the late change, I found progress now almost impracticable; and, though I persevered in unremitting effort, I had little, indeed, of that encouragement which is derived from the prospect of speedy success. For some time I had even considerable anxiety lest much that had been done should be undone; but these forebodings, at least, were not confirmed by the event:—
“March 7th, 1842.—To-day’s Morning Post has a leader on the subject of the financial measures to be brought forward by Sir Robert Peel on Friday, from which the following is an extract:—‘It is conjectured by some that Mr. Rowland Hill’s Penny Postage inroad upon a revenue which could ill afford such an experiment, is to be counteracted, not by the restoration of the old system, but by an increase to the uniform rate of postage. The objections to this are that it would not do much to supply the deficiency, and that it would be an interference with an experiment deliberately adopted by a former Parliament, and not yet acknowledged by advocates to have failed in a financial point of view.’”
It is to be feared that to this very day the “advocates” remain as obstinately unconvinced as ever:—
“March 12th, 1842.—Penny Postage is safe. Sir Robert Peel, in announcing his financial measures last night, states that he does not intend to advance the rate, at least at present. He speaks highly of the social advantages of Penny Postage, and expresses an opinion that the measure has not yet had a full trial. But he states, erroneously, that the cost of the packet service defrayed by the Admiralty exceeds the Post Office net revenue.”
This was, I believe, the first appearance of a statement which, in one form or other, has ever since tended to perplex or mislead the public. More of this hereafter.
Of my efforts for improvement during this year of difficulties I propose to speak in less detail than heretofore, limiting attention to a few matters of chief importance. My labours were not altogether ineffectual, though for the most part, as I have already said, it was but seldom that I was able to accomplish anything of much importance. To some extent the rule already adopted with regard to new salaries and additional emoluments must, I think, have acted to check extravagance, even when control had passed from my own hands; and I may add that an occurrence about this time, due to past proceedings, showed in a striking manner the value of the rule:—
“June 11th, 1842.—Week’s work chiefly a large number of salary cases, i.e., applications for advances, allowances, &c., which have been waiting ever since May, 1841, for returns ordered from the Post Office. Many prove on investigation to be utterly groundless: whether this explains the delay of twelve months in making the returns (some, indeed, are not even yet sent in) I cannot say.”