This suggestion was adopted. The difficulties being thus removed, the book post was at length established, the necessary warrant appearing in the Gazette of February 11th. At first any writing whatsoever found in a posted book made it subject to letter charge, but this absolute restriction was soon found to be inconvenient, especially to collectors of old books. Professor De Morgan, I remember, found it a little hard that a bar to the use of the book post should arise from the mere fact that a useful volume contained some such inscription as the following:—

“Anne price Her Booke
god give her grace therein to Look;”

The rule was accordingly made less stringent; writing, however, being still restricted to a single page. In the course of years it became allowable to write anything whatever, save only a letter, and, with the same restriction, to send any matter, even if written throughout.

I am sorry to remark, however, that meantime advantage was taken of the new facility for frequent attempt at evasion of postage; letters, small articles of dress, &c., being slipped in between the leaves of the books, and, ungallant as the statement may appear, I am bound to mention that the chief offenders in this way were ladies. Sometimes the means resorted to evinced no small pains and ingenuity, exercised for the mere purpose of saving a few pence. Thus, in one instance which I remember, a hole had been excavated in the thickness of an old book—leaving not only the binding, but several leaves above and below, uninjured, and in this hole was concealed a watch. And here I may remark that, with every desire to give the public all possible facilities, we were often deterred from so doing by the tricks and evasions which too frequently followed any relaxation of our rules; evasions which, even when detected, and when clearly opposed to the spirit and intention of the regulation, were sometimes defended—and owing to the unwillingness of Government departments to risk defeat in a court of justice, successfully defended—on the ground that there was no infraction of the letter of the regulation. The conscientious part of the public—happily, so far as my experience shows, the great majority—is little aware how much it suffers from unscrupulous conduct such as this.

ECONOMIC MEASURES.

While thus carrying forward extensive and important improvements in the single department placed under my exclusive superintendence, and while instituting the book-post system, I found myself, by want of necessary power, debarred from those more general improvements which constituted important features in my plan as laid before Parliament. I had nevertheless abundance of less profitable, though not unprofitable, occupation in work mostly of a routine character. Here I had steadily to resist such tendency to unnecessary increase in expenditure as seemed likely, if unchecked, to render all my economical arrangements nugatory. I had, at the same time, to seek every opportunity of retrieving false steps made previously to my appointment;[54] some of which were still producing serious waste. Of course, many of the savings effected either way were, individually, of small amount, yet not only were they important in their total, but also the care thus exercised tended to introduce that spirit of economy without which no department can produce its best effects.

Scales of Salaries.

Sound economy, I need not say, requires that salaries should be regulated by fixed principles; and as early as January 31st of this year I had suggested to the Postmaster-General that it would be well for the Treasury to appoint commissioners who should establish scales of salaries equally applicable to all the revenue departments, so as at once to remove mutual jealousy and to prevent unreasonable claims in one department from arising out of unreasonable concession in another. Such a Commission was actually appointed about five years afterwards, and its proceedings will be mentioned in their proper place.

Former Prodigality.

One past proceeding, strongly exemplifying the necessity for a regulating principle, is set forth in the following extract from my Journal. Rectification was an affair of great difficulty:—