JUSTICE - SIMPLICITY- UN IFOIIIITY. I|: ! M . I i- I VI I ' ' -I ' BEITISH ANB UNITED-STATES POST-OFFICES COMPARED. PREPARED BY OTIS CLAPP. BOSTON: FOR THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. . . 1878 . ■ :ir 3 ?^ /; |rc I / ■ » j: •■ . -»ij^ , };,U ;3j: ■ ^ .'.■ ; / " • ‘ - ;:■ S I \ li : '■■ . %>*,> - w ■ • BRITISH AND UNITED-STATES POST-OEFICES COMPARED. 4.619.000. 000 letters were sent through the English post-offices between 1839 and 1854 inclusive. 955.000. 000 letters went through the United-States post-offices in the same sixteen years ; an excess of nearly five to one against our post-office. The gross receipts upon English letters were $164,500,000; ex- penses, $93,500,000 ; and the net revenue nearly $71,000,000. The total revenue and expenses in the United-States Post-Office were about the same ; namely, $82,000,000, except that government should have been charged some $20,000,000 for government and congressional postage.- This shows the receipts of the English Post-Office were double that of the United States, while its cost was only $11,500,000 more ; also that it yielded a profit of $71,000,000, while the United-States Post-Office has yielded no profit, except to do the government ser- vice free. What is the cause? The answer is this. The govern- ment of the English Post-Office have furnished facilities to invite and to distribute mail matter ^ and this has brought both business and profit. The United-States Post-Office, having failed to do this, has, there- fore, run behind. How CAN Cheap Postage be made Remunerative? This question was answered by Mr. Banning, postmaster of Liver- pool, England, who had spent his life in the post-office, and his father before him. His evidence was this: great many deliveries^ fa- cilities for sending letters^ quickness of despatch^ must be the best way of raising revenue''’ 4 The Commissioners-of-Revenue Inquiry, in England, used this lan- guage : — “The facility of frequent, punctual, and quick communication, which the institution of the post-office was calculated to secure, may be justly classed among the elements of profitable commerce. It is essential to the purpose of government, and subservient to all the ends of national policy.” Rowland Hill’s first propositions were, “ 1st, Uniform and low rate ; 2d, Increased speed in delivery ; 3d, Greater facilities for their despatch ; 4th, Simplifications in the operations in the post- office,” &c. On these principles the system of cheap postage was established in England in 1839. An idea of its success can be gained from the tables which follow. The London District Post comprises an area seventy-five miles in circuit, known as the Twelve-Mile Circle, — a radius of twelve miles from the General Post-Office. Other cities are formed into free delivery districts. The following table, prepared in 1854, explains itself: — Population. Xo. of Let- ter Carriers. Xo. of Receiving Houses. Population to each Receiv- ing House. Collections from each Re- ceiving House daily. Xo. of Letter Deliveries in each Town daily. London / . . . 2,362,236 1,385 498 4,743 2 to 11 3 to 10 Liverpool . . . 375,955 82 56 6,731 4 3 Glasgow .... 329,097 134 77 4,247 4 to 14 4 Manchester . . 316,213 123 107 2,955 Ito 5 4 Dublin .... 258,361 109 51 5,066 7 7 Edinburgh . . . 160,302 74 26 6,165 7 to 8 4 3,802,164 1,907 815 4,665 Ito 11 3 to 10 Such are the accommodations. Now let us see the financial re- sults, the profits of this great inland post, and the extensive use the inhabitants make of its facilities. 5 POST-OFFICES IN GREAT BPvITAIN. Statistics of 1854. Offices. Population. Receipts. Expenses. Per Cent. Number of Letters. Receipts per 1,000 Persons. Letters |! per 1,000 1 Persons. London .... 2,362,236 $6,111,531 $1,078,290 18 103,377,728 $2,587 45,876 Liverpool . . . 375,955 459,548 70,145 15 16,535,844 1,222 43,973 Manchester . . 316,213 373,682 63,285 17 18,238,116 1,182 57,715 Dublin .... 258,361 268,383 95,650 36 11,921,968 1,040 46,209 Edinburgh . . . 160,302 208,064 50,215 24 7,609,764 1,.300 47,561 Bristol .... 137,228 147,399 30,790 21 7,928,232 1,076 57,870 Total, six cities, 3,610,395 $7,568,607 $1,388,915 18 165,611,652 $2,096 45,876 Best of Kingdom, 24,223,106 5,940,706 1,844,280 31 278,037,649 245 11,478 Entire Kingdom, 27,833,501 $13,509,313 $3,233,195 24 443,649,301 $485 15,939 It will be seen from this table, that, although these six cities contained less than a seventh part of the population, the receipts were $1,500,000 more than in the rest of the kingdom. The number of letters per thousand persons in these six cities was 45,876, while in the rest of the kingdom it was but 11,478. It is a striking fact that the receipts per thousand persons in the six cities were $2,096, and in the rest of the kingdom but $245 ; the reason being that nearly all of the large and costly letters circulate in the large cities. These very profits help to make postage cheap in the rural districts. This letter delivery system of Great Britain in 1854 had the following, — Number. Salaries. Letter-receivers in the United Kingdom . 4,280 $236,742 00 Letter-carriers in cities and towns .... 4,395 804,515 00 Letter-carriers in rural districts .... 432 601,420 00 Total carriers and receivers .... 13,001 $1,642,677 00 6 In 1873 the number of road letter-boxes was 9,000 ; in 1874, 9,700. Whole number of “ postal receptacles,” 21,500, as compared with 15,200 ten years before. In 1874 the number was 22,000. At nearly six hundred and sixty places free deliveries have been established for the first time ; and at more than nine hundred other places the deliveries have been extended in their area, or increased in number. Number of letter-carriers in 1873, 16,072 [number in United States Post-Office in 1877, 2,265]. Arrangements are made for a very early collection of letters, so as to be sent in the earliest morning mails. In London alone half a million of letters and other packets are now thus collected weekly. The “ Controller of the Circulation ” was sent over to Dublin to re-arrange their collection and delivery upon the London system. In this way improvements and enlargement of facilities are con- stantly going on. POST-OFFICES IN THE UNITED STATES. Statistics of 1854. Offices. Population. Receipts. Expenses. Per Cent. Number of Letters. Receipts per 1,000 Persons. Letters per 1,000 Persons. New York . . . 515,517 ^619,143 $130,175 21 15,396,955 $1,200 29,879 Philadelphia . . 340,045 201,891 50,254 26 5,942,520 594 17,478 Baltimore . . . 169,054 136,581 35,023 25 2,173,171 808 12,859 Bosl^n .... 136,375 194,943 54,779 29 5,592,888 1,423 40,824 New Orleans , . 116,375 96,309 34,031 35 2,288,100 830 19,725 Cincinnati . . . 115,436 85,423 27,121 32 2,432,846 743 21,155 Total, Six cities, 1,393,338 $1,334,240 $331,383 25 33,826,480 $958 24,283 Best of U. S. . . 21,798,538 4,921,296 2,218,187 54 85,807,938 226 3,936 23,191,876 $6,255,586 $2,549,570 41 119,634,418 $270 5,158 These six principal cities in the United States contain about one- sixteenth of the population, contribute about twenty-two per cent of the receipts, make about thirteen per cent of the expenses, and 7 furnish not quite one-third of the letters. They contribute 24,283 letters per thousand persons ; and the rest of the United States but 3,963 per thousand persons. This shows, also, that the letters and profits thereon, which make cheap postage possible in the rural districts, as well as the cities, come from the literary, commercial, and man^ifacturing districts. These increased facilities in compact settlements, therefore, take nothing away from the sparse settle- ments, but earn profits to aid in increasing their facilities also. POST-OFFICES IN GREAT BRITAIN. Statistics of 1854. Cities. Letters in the Mails. City Circula- tion, or Drop- Letters. Gross Reve- nue from City Circulation. Wages of Let- ter Carriers & Receivers. Net Profit on City Circulation. London 57,186,159 46,191,569 ^1,385,747 $761,510 $824,037 Liverpool 9,145,802 7,390,042 221,701 27,035 194,666 Manchester ...... 10,088,556 8,149,560 244,487 38,225 206,262 Dublin J . 6,592,834 5,329,134 159,876 38,940 120,934 Edinburgh 4,208,094 3,401,670 102,050 20,060 ■ 81,990 Bristol 4,384,416 3,543,816 106,314- 15,855 90,459 91,605,861 74,005,791 $2,220,173 $701,825 $1,518,348 This table of six principal English cities shows the letters in the mail as 91,500,000, and drop-letters, or city circulation, 74,000,000 ; making a total of 165,500,000. The gross revenue is over 12,000,000 ; the expenses, $701,825, — less than one-third; and the net profit on city circulation is $1,818,348, or near seventy per cent of the receipts. These tables were made some years since ; but subsequent expe- rience only confirms them. In the postmaster-general’s last report (p. 26) he speaks of Con- gress having settled, that regular legitimate periodicals “ shall pass through the mails at privileged rates of postage ; that is, at less than the cost of transportation,^’’ Can this be correct ? The lowest rates for newspapers and periodicals are two cents per JS pound. This is at the rate of four dollars for two hundred p^ounds, and forty dollars per ton of two thousand pounds. Now, a barrel of flour can be transported to Europe (3,000 miles) for from fifty to eighty-seven cents, or for ^4.37 per ton, or about two mills per pound. The cost of transportation per ton to New Orleans (1,850 miles) is from two dollars and a half to four dollars per ton, — less than two mills per pound. 5 postal-cards weigh half an ounce. 160 postal-cards weigh a pound. This is 11.60 postage for a pound. At this rate the postage on 200 pounds (weight of a barrel of flour) is $320; a ton of 2,000 pounds, $3,200. Half-ounce letters at three cents each are ninety-six cents per pound; 200 pounds of them would be $192. A ton of 2,000 of letters would be $1,920. ; The average of letters is one-fourth of an ounce or less. A ton of quarter-ounce letters would be $3,840. These facts will show where postal profits come from. A thorough analysis by our most competent experts, giving all the elements of cost in moving freight on the Erie Canal, shows that it is less than one cent per ton per mile. A similar analysis shows that on a railroad on a great thoroughfare, the cost of transportation may be made within five mills per ton per mile. If, therefore, the government is paying the extravagant rates indi- cated for transportation, the facts should be known, and a remedy applied, without putting the burden upon the diffusion of knowledge. Is it creditable to our national civilization, that, with several millions more of population than England, we should fall so far behind them in the means of diffusing social, moral, and commercial intelligence, which form the very foundations of our solidarity as a nation? Should the intelligence of our nation be satisfied with a system that distributes only some 400,000,000'of letters, postal-cards, and papers in one“~year, when .the English office is circulating at the same time some 1,400,000,000, and clearing a net revenue therefrom, over expenses, of over $13,700,000 per year?