CONVEYANCE OF MAILS.
As the reader is aware, I had long regarded it as of primary importance to obtain a general Act regulating railway charges to the Post Office, an Act that should fix the charges for ordinary trains, and establish some principle applicable to other cases, and thus either supersede arbitration—generally a very unsatisfactory expedient—or confine it within definite bounds. There seemed at one time a prospect of some progress in this direction, a bill being introduced into Parliament by Government, under the administration of Lord John Russell, the object of which was to remove doubts as to our right to send a guard as a passenger by any ordinary train with the mails as his luggage, and also to authorize our sending bags as parcels on payment of the usual parcel rates. If this measure had been adopted, it would have enabled us to establish additional mails, especially between the larger towns, at hours when the correspondence, though important, is not sufficient to justify the high charges usually made by the railway companies. I did all in my power to support such a measure—of which, indeed, I was in great part the author—but nothing was effected. The bill was, first, so modified, through concessions to the railway companies, as to become worse than useless, and then, because yet further modification was resisted by the Government, was thrown out.
Eighteen months later, under the authority of Lord Hardwicke, I prepared clauses, intended to secure fair rates of charge, for insertion in all new railway bills. These his lordship determined to incorporate in a bill, with a view to their extension also to existing railways. I estimated that their adoption (and they were perfectly just) would reduce our annual expenditure in railway conveyance (then about £360,000) by at least £100,000. The overthrow of Lord Derby’s administration, which occurred a few days later, transferred the matter to other hands.
A committee being appointed on railway and canal bills in the session of 1853, with Mr. Cardwell as chairman, I gave evidence,[105] of which the following is a summary.
I showed that the existing relations between the Post Office and the railway companies were very unsatisfactory, tending greatly to restrict the use of the railways for the conveyance of mails, to the real injury of the companies, and still more to that of the public. I showed, also, that while the construction of railways had greatly reduced the cost of conveying passengers and goods, it had largely increased that of conveying the mails. Thus, since the opening of railways, although the total weight of mail had increased by only 140 per cent., the cost of its conveyance had increased by nearly 300 per cent., viz., from, £112,000 in 1836 to about £442,000 (of which about £362,000 was for railway conveyance) in 1852. I laid before the committee a bill[106] (approved first by Lord Hardwicke, and afterwards by Lord Canning) framed with a view of prescribing rates of charge for mails conveyed by ordinary trains (those run at hours determined by the companies), such rates being fully equal, all things considered, to those charged to the public for like services, and of laying down a principle of arbitration in respect of trains run at hours fixed by the Postmaster-General. I also laid before the committee a copy of my Report to the Postmaster-General of the 1st of January, 1847.[107]
The committee, in its Report, referred especially to my evidence, and, in the main, adopted my view, expressing an opinion “that the companies should afford to the Post Office, at the same charge as would be paid by private individuals for similar services, every assistance which might add to the convenience of the public. They think that no railway should have any claim to be considered as fulfilling its obligations to the district in which it is situate which fails to facilitate in this way the postal communications of that district.”[108]
Nothing, however, was accomplished; and repeated attempts, subsequently made, were equally unavailable. In truth, the railway influence is so strong in Parliament, and, on this point, so little guided by a knowledge of true railway interests, that the injurious law enacted thirty years ago, though avowedly a temporary measure, to last only until experience of the working of railways should have afforded the requisite data for laying down a scale of charges, continues in force to the present day.
Meanwhile, willing to try what could be done with the existing laws, I devised a new application of them. Being pressed to supply Ayr and the neighbouring towns with a more direct communication than they then enjoyed, and finding that the railway company to be dealt with, though having suitable trains actually running, refused to carry the mails, except at prices far beyond what the correspondence would justify, I devised a new kind of notice, which the solicitor to the Post Office regarded as strictly legal, requiring the company to carry the mails by the existing trains, but leaving them at liberty to alter or withdraw these trains altogether on giving us fifteen days’ notice. Under such a notice our arbitrator was of opinion that the remuneration awarded would be, as it ought to be, very low. This plan succeeding, I obtained its extension to some other lines, but at length met with resistance from one of the companies. On reference to the law officers of the Crown, our claim was pronounced untenable, they holding that by the law as it stood, the Postmaster-General was bound (whether he desired it or not) to fix the hours for the mail-trains without reference to the arrangements of the companies. The Post Office is thus kept in a position quite unintelligible to the public, who cannot understand why existing trains, obviously capable of employment for postal service, are not used wherever convenience requires; the real obstacle being that the amount of correspondence in question, though sufficient to justify the expense of conveyance at a moderate rate—a rate, however, fully remunerative to the company—is often quite insufficient to meet the heavy cost of a regular mail train.
Amidst these efforts to procure that cheapness of conveyance which would justify greater frequency of despatch, it was clearly of importance to obtain for the conveyance of the mails the greatest practicable speed, though the public can be little aware how many difficulties, direct and incidental, attend acceleration. In the year 1851 we called upon the North Western Company to accelerate its mail trains, but met with resistance. In a conference with Captain Huish, the manager of the line, while explicitly insisting on our right to require the change, I expressed a wish to meet the convenience of the company as far as possible, and proposed a modification, which I hoped would remove objections. After a week’s consideration, the company persisted in its refusal, disputing our right to require them to carry mails at a speed exceeding twenty-seven miles an hour, including stoppages. This view unfortunately was supported by our solicitor. Meanwhile, however, at the desire of the Postmaster-General, I made a compromise with the company until the opinion of the Crown officers should be obtained. By this, when given, our right was sustained. Even the amount of acceleration thus procured proved highly valuable, was very popular in the City, and produced some strong expressions of thanks; but before the end of the year I procured sanction for the gradual introduction of a measure to run the mails, at least on the long lines of road, at express speed.
The work of acceleration was quickened by a manœuvre of the Great Northern Railway Company, which, in July of that year (1851), spontaneously began to run a train at night-mail time, and at such speed as to outstrip the mail train on the North Western line. Believing that the object was to force upon us, through the public voice, the use of this train, of course at a large expense, I applied to the North Western Company for such acceleration on their line as would obviate the demand. It was at this time that I first suggested what are now called limited mails, though the expedient was not adopted till some years afterwards.[109]