Fear had been expressed during the progress of the bill through Parliament that the sub-postmasters would fail to carry out the details of the measure; but it was found that—
“The postmasters throughout the country have lent themselves cheerfully and readily to the work, and instead of merely carrying out their instructions perfunctorily, and in ordinary course, have exerted themselves to make known and to explain the advantages of the Post Office Savings Banks, and to facilitate, so far as lay in their power, the transactions of the poorer depositors.”[225]
REGISTRATION.
In the year 1862 an important improvement was made in the matter of registration. It may be remembered that my urgent advocacy of the lowering of the fee from one shilling to sixpence, in opposition to the opinion of Lord Lowther, appeared to be the immediate cause of my dismissal from the Treasury by the Government of Sir Robert Peel.[226] I had easily succeeded in obtaining that important reduction after my appointment to the Post Office by the Government of Lord John Russell, and the change had been followed by a large increase in the number of registered letters, and a corresponding diminution in the amount of loss by dishonesty or negligence within the Office.[227] Of course, however, even the lower fee proved a stumbling-block to some persons, and, notwithstanding all remonstrance from the Post Office, the practice of sending coin in unregistered letters, though diminished, was by no means extinct; so that losses were still reported; and, what was far worse, sorters and letter-carriers were exposed to needless temptation, and individuals of their number occasionally subjected to undue suspicion. It was consequently resolved, with the sanction of the Treasury, to make the registration of coin-bearing letters compulsory; a double fee being charged where the duty was omitted by the sender; while, to give a compensatory advantage, the registration fee was reduced from sixpence to fourpence. Even with this mitigation, however, there was considerable anxiety in the Department as to the light in which compulsory registration would be viewed by the public; but Lord Stanley of Alderley, then Postmaster-General, being anything rather than deficient in courage, readily encountered the risk, and the result justified his boldness; the speedy consequence being a large increase in the number of registered letters, and a very great decrease in the number of alleged losses. It may be added that the near approach to absolute security obtained by registration was shown by the fact that out of about nine hundred thousand registered letters posted in the United Kingdom, whether for delivery at home or abroad, during the latter half of 1862, the whole number lost was only twelve.[228]
PATTERN POST.
In the last year of this period the pattern post was established. This was done at the express desire of the Postmaster-General. My own wish was to make it part of that more extensive arrangement which I have already mentioned under the name of Parcels Post; my chief objection to the more partial scheme being the difficulty sure to arise as to the definition of a pattern. As, however, I was not then in a state of health to surmount immediately the many obstacles to the more comprehensive scheme, and as Lord Stanley was impatient of delay, the more limited plan was adopted and carried into effect.
PACKET SERVICE.
Transference from Admiralty.
The last improvements of which I shall speak here are those connected with the Packet Service. This service, it will be remembered, had, under the management of the Admiralty, become a source of very great expense; attributable partly to the fact of its extension, for political reasons, very far beyond the requirements of the Post Office. As this extension had ceased, it was desirable, as fast as possible, to bring the expense within such limits as would render the service self-supporting, and thereby relieve the British tax-payer from a needless burden. Opportunity was given for such improvement by the transference of the service from the Admiralty to the Post Office; a change made in the year 1860. Of course progress could be but slow, seeing that existing contracts had to be respected; but steps were promptly taken to put the department in readiness for availing itself of opportunities as they should occur. The secretarial charge of the department was from the first placed in the hands of my brother, who already had like charge of the foreign and colonial departments, and had previously performed such secretarial duties relative to this service as even then devolved on the Post Office.