As already shown, the chief increase in the cost of management was referable to the following causes—increase in the staff, consequent on the great multiplication of correspondence (by that time seven-fold its original amount); increased salaries and allowances; the extension and ramification of the postal system (already affording collection and delivery to almost every village in the United Kingdom); the expense of increased facilities and conveniences afforded to the public; the costly acceleration of the more important mails; and, lastly, increase in the charge for mail conveyance consequent upon its transfer from mail-coaches to railway trains. It is obvious that several of these causes of expenditure have no reference whatever to Penny Postage, but must have arisen had the old rates been maintained.
It must be remarked here that the multiplication of sub-post offices and receiving-houses, implied in what has just been mentioned, would have been very much more costly had not the expense been controlled by established rules based on sound principles. It has already been shown that the old plan of considering every case “according to its merits,” to use the official expression, that is to say, of fixing the salary of A without ever inquiring how much was paid to B, C, or D, for equal service, had been to a considerable extent superseded by fixed scales. But we now went fully into the matter and brought the system to completion, thus providing a satisfactory guide available not only for new offices but also for any increase of duty at those already established; an arrangement which removed many anomalies and also saved much valuable time. The care with which the work was done is attested by the fact that up to the present time the scales, so far as I am aware, have undergone little or no modification, and have even been used for higher offices than those for which they were originally intended. Like benefit was derived from a scale prepared, about the same time, for regulating the amount of security demanded from postmasters according to the extent and frequency of their opportunities for defrauding the revenue; a scale which is, I believe, still in force.
Predictions Fulfilled.
It may be remembered that, in my evidence before the Parliamentary Committee of 1838, I expressed a confident anticipation that, if penny postage were adopted, the public would, after a while, expend as much in postage as under the old system, and consequently that the gross revenue would, in the end, be made good. This anticipation was more than realized in the year 1851.[156]
As regards net revenue, I expressed an opinion to the effect that the great increase of letters necessary to make good the gross revenue would require an additional expenditure of about £300,000 per annum, and, consequently, that the net revenue would be reduced by that amount, or to about £1,300,000 a year. The actual increase of expenditure, however, owing to causes already mentioned, far exceeded my estimate; consequently the net revenue of the same year (1851) was only £1,118,000,[157] and it was not till six years later that it rose to £1,300,000.[158] And though, as must be obvious to the attentive peruser of the foregoing pages, these results, but for almost endless obstructions, would have occurred at a much earlier date, it was with deep satisfaction that I at length saw my predictions fulfilled. I may add here that in the year 1862, the net revenue so far exceeded any expectation that I had held out as nearly to equal the largest amount obtained under the old high rates;[159] and that ever since that year it has greatly exceeded that amount. Of course these comparative statements are all based on the mode of calculation which was in use at the time when penny postage was adopted.
When, however, my predictions with regard to revenue were fulfilled beyond all question, we thought it would be well, while retaining the old mode of reckoning for the purpose of showing progress under the new system as compared with the old, to introduce a more accurate mode, for the purpose of exhibiting as nearly as possible, the actual financial results of postal operations; and the results thus arrived at were given, for the first time, in the Report for 1859. By this changed mode of reckoning, which is set forth in some detail in its proper place,[160] it appears that the amount to which the Treasury was actually benefited by the Post Office, though rather less than that arrived at by the old mode of reckoning, was still more than £1,100,000. Of course, when comparison with the past is not in question, the amount thus ascertained is the one which it is best to take. It may be added that the substantial part of this revenue, viz., about £1,000,000, was derived from inland correspondence; to which, as the reader may remember, I had always pointed as the main source of actual income.
STAFF.
Promotion by Merit.
During this period the system of promotion by merit was brought into full operation. In the three metropolitan offices, when a vacancy occurred, application for appointment was open to all; the respective claims were carefully compared, and without the admission of any other consideration whatever, the claim which was adjudged to be best carried the day. How strict our practice was may be shown by the following incident. To keep our course free from disturbing influence, it had been laid down that any intercession from without in favour of individual officers should act, if not injuriously, at least not beneficially, on the advancement of those concerned; and, as the rule had been sanctioned by the Treasury, it certainly was not from that quarter that I should have expected its breach. It is much easier, however, to authorize the establishment of a rule than to bend old habits in conformity with its tenour, or even to remember its very existence; and, not a little to my amusement, I received an interceding letter from the very Secretary of the Treasury, my friend Mr. (now Sir William) Hayter. The following was my reply:—