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23 WEST MAIN STRF.ET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 87i-4503

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/correspondence with the post-office.

dirihurgh, July 20, 1852.

90 Princes St^

To the Postmaster-Qeneral. -. ijl- >

Sir — Some three or four weeks ago, while I was from home, a .
large packet marked ' RKi^KSBO Letier'' was handed to my
landlord, and pairl for — six shillings— on my account to the
letter-carrier. ^^

Only now have I had cj^^ptanity to ea(»mine the contents.
There are enclosed three f^K^ets desp^ktched by me to Canada
last Novembc ; received tp^i* in Januaryi, and then re/ itsed I
question not that I shoulcfitifive repaid the postage had these
packets been returned to rafrrn good time| but I do'not think I
should be liable after the i^e of upwards of fve months.

I beg of you to decide, -«nd hare the honour to he, your most
obedient, H ^ ' ' Rqjj^E.' Gourlay.

^ural Fost-Oj^ce, %ithJuly lS52.
Sir — I have received your letter of the>20th instant, arid I will
thank you to send me the cover of the let^r |to which you refer, as
it will enable me more Wectually to iiiquii;cfiinto the irregularity.
*lf you cannot spare the cover, and willlPGseal and send me the
letter, it sh|||i ]t>e carefully returned to you. — I am, Sir, your
obedient liurftMo servant,

'jM *'" W. L. Mabebi.y, Secretary.

^Primes Street, Edinhurgh, July 28, 1862.
Sir — In compliance with your desire expressed under date
27th instant, I send you the cover required, also three covers of
packets returned from Canada contained in it. The eacIOfiiures
wer0 copies of a printed pamphlet. — Your obed. serv*,, »

Rob. F. Gourlay.
Tf. L. Mahetiy, Esq, ^

a..

Oeneral Post-Ojffice, I2th August 1852.

Sir — In reply to your application of the 20th ultimo, I beg
leave to inform you that the packets in question were received
here from Quebec on the 7th June last in a return consisting of
2798 c)?ad letters and papers, and that they were forwarded to
you, as the sender, through the Dead Letter Department of this
office on the 19th of the same month. — I am, Sir, your obedient
servant, J. P. Godby, per Secreta.-y.

R. F. Oourlay, Esq.

90 Princes Street, Edinburgh, August 16, !'852.

Sir — You say in your letter to me of the 1 2th instant, in reply
to mine of 20th ultimo, ' that the packets in question were re-
' ceived here from Quebec on the *Im June last in a return con-
' sisting of 2798 dead letters and papers, and that they were
' forwarded to you as the sender through the Dead Letter De-
' partment of this office on the 19th of the same month.' Here
are facts, but no decision of the question in my letter to the
Postmaster-General. These facts, together with the post-office
dates, enable me to say that I ought not to have been charged
with repayment, for assuredly there was blame on the part of
the post-office, and that should not be overlooked. Two of the
packets appear by post-office dates stamped on them to have been
refused in Caniida, January 9, and lanother the 20th of same
month. Newifiapers .reach maJliDra Canada in three weeks ;
nay, even from the banks of the Mississippi River in the United
States ; and refused letters may be returned in like time. Such
letters need only to be opened to discover the sender, to whom
they should be returned immediately, as it may be important for
him to know who refused them, or indeed that they were refused.
Those in question might have been delivered to me in March in-
stead of July ; and I do beg of you, Sir, — the Postlpaster-Geue-
ral, — to enquire into and rectify such matters. Favour me with
acknowledgment of this. — I have the honour' to be, your obedient
servant, Rob. IS^^ Gourlay.

The Postmaater-OeTieral. "*

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General Post-Office, August 20, 1852.

Sir— I am commanded by the Postmaster-General to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, and to in-
form you that it will receive every attention. — I am. Sir, your
obedient humble servant, W. L. Maberly, Secretary.

M. Oourlay, Esq.

lS:9m'

;*•;»

General Po^t-Office, 3d September 1862.

Sir— In reply to your application of the 16th ultimo, I beg
leave to inform you that, aa it is the practice in Canada to make
a quarterly return of dead letters to this country, no unnecessary
delay has been caused by this department in the delivery of the
packets in question. They were included in the return of the
5th April last, which was not received here until the 7th June.
— I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant, J. P. Godby,

^ », ^ , „ ■'''''"' '^« Secretary.

E. F. Gouiiay, Et>q.

90 Princes Street, Edinhurgh, September 11, 1852.
Sir— Under date 20th August, I was informed by Mr Maberly
that my letter of 16th would ' receive every attention' but your
letter of Sd instant, which I have had time only now to answer,
is not satisfactory ; and I beg leave to ask if you mean it as
final.

^ Twenty and thirty years ago I have corresponded with Sir
Francis Freeling, and was uniformly pleased with results. I
should be sorry to thint that Post-Office business is now less
thoughtfully managed.— I am. Sir, your. obedient servant,

^ „ _ _ Rob. F. Gourlay.

J. P. Qodby, Esq.

General P6d-0ffi.ce, September 18, 1852.
Sir— I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your further
communication of the 11th instant, and to inform you, from the
inquiry which has been made on the subject, it appears that the
letter in question was duly delivered at Bouchwar's Inn, accord-
ing to its address. — I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Mr E. T. Gourlay. ^- ^-^f^tZlar,.

90 PHnces Street, Edinburgh, September 21, 1852.
Sir— I have received a letter, dated 18th instant, and signed
J. P. Godhy, 2Jer Secretary, accompanied with one addressed to
Mr E. T. Gourlay, which I return with this— not being that
person.

Reperuse my letter of 1 1th instant, and you will be sensible
of the mistake. You will then, I expect, reply to my question
put in that letter. — Your obedient servant,

_ ^- _ ^ Rob. F. Gouhlay.

Jo the Postmaster -General.

General Post Office, 27th September 1852.

Sir— In reply to your further application of the 16th ultimo,
I beg leave to inform you that the packets to which you refer
have been returned to you through the Dead Letter Department
of this Office in due course.

The postage with which they have been properly charged can-
not be remitted.

I regret that the letter from hence of the 18th instant, which
was intended for a gentleman bearing your name, should have
been addressed to you in error. — I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

J. P. GODRY,
R. F. Oourlay, Esq. Per Secretary.

90 Princes Street, Edinburgh, Oct. 1, 1852.

Sir — Your letter of 27th is received, and we are now at
issue. You say that the postage with which I have been pro-
perly charged cannot be remitted. I say that it has been impro-
perly charged, and that I have been robbed.

So important is the question betwixt us, in my opinion, that
I shall cause our correspondence to be printed. Along with this
letter you will receive a printed copy of the whole, and ere it
can be read by you in London, many printed copies will be on
the way to Quebec for perusal of the Governor-General and
Parliament now in session there.

I have been an owner of land in Canada forty-five years. At
an early period post-office abuse was the main subject of com-
plaint there. The head of the post-office in Canada set mer-
chants in Montreal at defiance, and caused unspeakable nriischief.

The poor creatures in Parliament always had it in their
power to correct abuses, but did nothing to the purpose, and
even now it is little better. More than thirty years ago I put the
Canadian people on a way to do their own work well and effec-
tually, but for that I was ruined. Ruined as I have been, still
my nature prompts mo to rise against injustice, and thus you
see me in arms.

I will not waste words to prove that you have robbed me of
6s., and with a pistol at my breast too, as you tell us on the
cover of returned letters that we shall be prosecuted if we do not
pay, but I will do more, I will say that if your right is good to take
from me these 6s., you have suffered the Government to be cheated
out of three times 74d. ; for each of the packets refused in Canada
has 2s. 7^d. marked upon it as the charge payable there. Had
each been returned without delay, I would have repaid that
most cheerfully, being informed thereby, in proper time, that the

persona to whom they had been sent declined correspondence
with me. This advantage to mo wcuhl have cost the post-office
nothing, for it was aa easy to return each packet as soon as re-
fused as months afterwards.

Again, if you had right to lessen the demand, by what rule
were you governed ? Could you lessen it to half, or absolve me
altogether from payment ? Then, if it was in your option to
charge or not, it may be in your option to pocket up the money.
By strict rule, each packet returned to me should have been
charged 2s. 7^d. If paid, that much was due to the post-office :
If not paid, the cover remained as a voucher that no money was
pocketed. In my single case the amount is little, but it is other-
wise when we look to the 2798 letters and papers returned from
Canada at the same time.

Do not suppose. Sir, that I accuse you of dishonesty. You
may be an honourable man, while the system under which you
act is vicious. In the time of Sir Francis Freeling I uniformly
had satisfaction ; and it was my boast, at home and abroad, that
we had one departnient of the Government faultless. Tshall men-
tion two cases, as instances of the attention paid by Sir Francis
Freeling to complaints. Nearly forty years ago there was an
irregularity in a post-office transaction with me. I complained,
and, by return of post, was informed that the law-officer of the
post-office would be consulted. In two days more, I was righted.
Again, more than twenty years ago, a packet was returned to
me, for which I paid 9s. Cd. This seemed strange, as the per-
son to whom I had addressed the packet was a Privy Councillor.
I stated the case in a letter to Sir Francis Freeling ; and, after
a week's delay, the money was repaid to me, with explanation,
that the Privy Councillor in question was the only one who did
not enjoy the privilege of unlimited frank ; and that the officers
of the post-office themselves would have been deceived as I was.
When informed by you, under date August 20, that my
letter would ' receive every attention,^ I was sanguine that inquiry
would be made in Canada. Now, that, in ray opinion, I am
robbed of Gs., the story of the two thieves is brought to mind :
the thief that took the purso, having handed it to another, swore
that he had it not ; while he who had it swore that he did not
take it. Again I say, do not suppose that I accuse you per-
sonally, although I illustrate in this way.

The paltry sum of 6s. never could have induced me to take
all this trouble ; but the smaller the sum the more necessary
is it to investigate. Of the many thousands who have just
complaints to make against irregularity or imposition in the
post-office, I may be the only one with will and power to un-

ravel difficulties ; and in tiio caso botbre us I do beliovo there is
no other who has the will and the power. I have paid dearer
than any other individual alive for the knowledge of colonial
abuses ; nay, dearer than any one dead, for I have suffered worse
than death by endeavours to put matters right ; but the crisis, I
hope, has arrived when my many sacrifices may work out de-
liverance from evil. This very day I have read in a newspaper
that Lord Elgin is recalled from the government of British North
America ; and the fulness of time seems to be at hand for
enquiry into all the abuses throughout that uiighty and im-
portant portion of the empire. Now, I hope, the parliament in
session at Quebec will set aside all cavilling, and immedi-
ately send home commissioners, as I have all along advised, to be
here by the meeting of the Imperial Parliament.

Sir, as a nation, we have more than ever reason to be proud,
and to do our best that the empire shall be kept entire. The
world is becoming sensible that it is a matter big with the best
hopes of humanity ; and if all of us do our duty as British sub-
jects, both at homo and abroad, the world will continue more
and more to admire and to value our institutions.

I have often said that Rowland Hill merits a statue more than
any man alive for establishing the penny stamp system, which
enables the poorest labourer to correspond with his friends ;
which indeed has aflfbrded more social enjoyment to all classes
than any contrivance ever invented. And now, Sir, that
the system works so well within the United Kingdom, how
easy might it be to extend the blessing to our colonies. If it
pays to let half an ounce be convoyed throughout Great Britain
and Ireland for one penny, how clear is it that another penny
would defray the expense of carriage across the ocean, and a
third or fourth penny to the utmost bounds of the empire. But
I must close, as the printer is at work. — I am, very faithfully,
your obedient servant, Rob. F. Gouhlay.

The Postmaster-Oeneral.

90 Princes Street, Edinburgh, Od, 7, 1852.
Sir — I have this day read the Annual Report of Mr Morris,
Postmaster General of Canada, dated Quebec, September 1,
1852, wherein are these words : — ' The Dead Letters originating
' in the United Kingdom and United States have been returned
' unopened to London and Washington.' In contradiction, I
have to say that one of mine, returned, was opened by the special
leave of Mr Morris ; and, if he can allow one, he may all,
which may be proper, but it should be known to all, and not at
his option. — Your obedient servant, Rob. F. Gourlai.

PostmasteT'Oeneral.

-■'s-/

90 Princes Street, Ed'mhuvgh, Oct. 8, 1862.

Sir John — A man who has seen sevonty-fivo eummers has no
time for many words ; and, generally, few are best.

Read the accompanying correspondence with the Post-Oftice :
advise her Majesty to establish an Ocean Penny Postage. It
would be of infinite service to the Colonies, and would well be-
come the Queen of the Ocean.— I have the honour to be, your
obedient servant, Rob. F. Gourlay.

Sir J)hn Pakingtoti,

-■i.i

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