In the year 1859, upon a review of all circumstances, we hoped that the fitting time had at length arrived, the proportion of unpaid letters having become exceedingly small; and we made the attempt. Such a change, however, could not be effected without producing a certain amount of inconvenience; and unfortunately, while those annoyed were loud in their complaints, the general public could not readily be made very sensible of the benefits, economical and otherwise, thence to be derived, and still less could they be made as earnest in defence as opponents were in attack. Not a little to my regret, I found it my duty to recommend to the Postmaster-General that the measure should be indefinitely postponed. My own feelings and opinions on the subject will be shown in the following extract from a letter which I addressed shortly afterwards to my sister in South Australia:—
“You will learn by the newspapers, perhaps, that we have been in hot water with the public, i.e., with the majority of the public, in consequence of an attempt to make prepayment of inland letters compulsory to the extent of one penny. By this post I send you a parliamentary return, showing our reasons for the measure, and the grounds of its abandonment.
“This is the first time I have had to retrace a step; and to confess the truth, I don’t like it. Since the measure was abandoned, many have come forward to defend the restriction; had they done so in the first instance the result might, perhaps, have been different.”
PARCELS POST.
As early as 1842[207] I had recommended the establishment of a parcels post, but was prevented from any immediate action by my dismissal in that year from the Treasury; and for a long time after my recall to office, measures of more pressing importance, combined with the difficulties of my position, compelled further delay. Even when I had more leisure, and was on firmer ground, the ill-judged opposition of the railway companies remained a constant obstacle. In the year 1858 the question was taken up by the Society of Arts, a meeting being held on the subject, with Lord Ebrington, now Earl Fortescue, in the chair, and an able Report, drawn up by my friend, Mr. Chadwick, was adopted. Nevertheless, this valuable addition to public convenience is still a desideratum.
TUBULAR CONVEYANCE.
The division of London into districts naturally induced inquiry as to the swiftest and cheapest means of conveyance over the comparatively short distances between office and office. Mail-carts were at once put in use, but I was inclined to hope that a swifter mode might be found—one, too, less liable to interruption. I called to mind an attempt made thirty or forty years before by a Mr. Vallance, to propel a vehicle containing passengers through a partially exhausted tube; the project then in view being the construction of an airtight tunnel between London and Brighton. Of this I had received some account from my friend, the late Mr. Moses Ricardo, who had been a passenger in a short experimental trip. He told me, indeed, that on reaching the terminus he and those with him “got a bang” by the abrupt stoppage of the vehicle, no arrangement having been made for its gradual check; but knowing that such arrangement was very feasible, and apprehending no severe consequences in any case to letters or newspapers, I hoped a similar plan might prove applicable to the purpose in hand. I therefore called in the assistance of two able engineers, viz., Mr. Charles Hutton Gregory, and Mr. Edward Alfred Cowper, who jointly made, with great care and skill, a full investigation into the practicability of the scheme. To avoid needless expense, they conducted their experiments on a small scale, nor was any line of tubes of a size for actual use ever laid down, though Mr. Cowper devised and constructed a very ingenious air-pump, especially applicable to the exhaustion of the tubes, as was attested by its complete success. The conclusion arrived at was that the plan was perfectly practicable, but that for distances so short the economy in time would not be sufficient to justify the additional expense involved in the innovation.
Some years later, remembering this ground of condemnation, I inquired whether the plan could not be made available for a larger purpose. Up to that time it had not been found practicable to convey the mail from London to Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, or Paris, within the compass of a night; acceleration, therefore, up to this point was highly desirable. Even now (1868), much as has been done, the work is not absolutely perfect; while the increased expense by which the last abridgement, though of not more than two or three hours, has been effected, exceeds £15,000 per annum. Now my hope was that by the establishment of tubular conveyance so far as Dover on the one hand, and Crewe on the other, the necessary acceleration in all the three services—Irish, Scotch, and French—might be obtained; and judging from the estimate made with reference to the London District, I hoped that the cost would not greatly exceed the actual payment for the railway service to be superseded. To these larger questions, therefore, the attention of Messrs. Gregory and Cowper was now turned.
I must confess, however, my views were not altogether limited to increased speed: I saw that tubular conveyance, if successful, would facilitate frequent despatch; indeed, that a rapid succession of mails would probably be the most economical way of using the apparatus; again, that as the tubes could without inconvenience keep the line of ordinary roads, pass through the heart of towns, and even be carried, when necessary, through the very post offices along the route, I hoped for no small economy, both of time and money, in the disuse of the mail-carts plying between such offices and the various railway stations. I further thought that, if railway companies saw a successful competitor for postal service, they would moderate their demands, or, if remaining unreasonable, would be controlled by arbitrators, who would of course take the new rival into account. Lastly, I hoped that the great acceleration consequent upon the adoption of the new plan would prove highly acceptable to newspaper proprietors, by expediting the distribution of their journals.
In due time I received a very able report upon the subject. This was drawn up by Mr. Cowper, but received Mr. Gregory’s sanction. The substance is given in the following passage:—