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Transcriber's Notes

This is a Plain Text version. It uses the 7-bit ASCII character set.

Accented characters are represented as follows:

  ['a] indicates the acute accent
  [e'] indicates the grave accent
  [^i] indicates the circumflex accent
  [:u] indicates the umlaut

The following are used to represent special characters and marks:

  [~d] [~r] [~n] indicates a tilde above d, r, n
  [p=] indicates a line below p
  [=o] [=co] [=xon] indicate an overline above 1, 2 or 3 characters
  [^p] indicates an inverted breve above p
  [oe] indicates an oe ligature
  [L]  indicates the pound (Sterling) sign
  [S]  indicates the Section symbol

Italic typeface in the original is indicated with _underscores_. Bold
typeface in the original is indicated by UPPER CASE. Small capital
typeface in the original is indicated by UPPER CASE.

There are a large number of footnotes. These have been grouped together
at end of each chapter or major section in which they are referenced.

There are numerous quotations from documents in German, French and
archaic English which use many abbreviations, variant spellings and
inconsistent spellings. These are retained, except where obvious typo
corrections are listed at the end of this document.


       *       *       *       *       *


STUDIES IN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.

EDITED BY THE HON. W. PEMBER REEVES, PH.D., _Director of the London
School of Economics and Political Science._

No. 50 in the Series of Monographs by writers connected with the London
School of Economics and Political Science.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF RATES OF POSTAGE

       *       *       *       *       *




               THE DEVELOPMENT OF
                RATES OF POSTAGE

               AN HISTORICAL AND
                ANALYTICAL STUDY

                      BY

            A. D. SMITH, B.Sc. (ECON.)

            OF THE SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
            GENERAL POST OFFICE, LONDON

              WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

          THE RIGHT HON. HERBERT SAMUEL, M.P.
        POSTMASTER-GENERAL 1910-14 AND 1915-16


          LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD.
        RUSKIN HOUSE 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C. 1


[_Thesis approved for the Degree of Doctor of Science_ (Economics) _in
the University of London_]

_First published in 1917_

(_All rights reserved_)




PREFACE


This study, which was prepared primarily as a Research Studentship
Report for the University of London, is intended to be a contribution to
the history of rates of postage, and an attempt to ascertain the
principles, economic or otherwise, on which they are and have been
based.

The Postmaster-General accorded me permission to consult the official
records at the General Post Office, London, and through this courtesy I
have been enabled to include a detailed examination of the economic
aspect of the rates in the inland service in this country, and to place
in the Appendix copies of some original documents which have not before
been printed. Without this permission, which I desire here to
acknowledge, it would, indeed, scarcely have been possible to undertake
the inquiry. It must be made clear, however, that the work is of
entirely private character, and cannot be taken as in any way expressing
the views of the British Postal Administration.

In 1912, as the holder of the Mitchell Studentship in Economics at the
University of London, I visited Ottawa and Washington; in 1913 I visited
Paris and the International Bureau at Berne; and in 1914, Berlin. I am
much indebted to the various postal administrations visited, to whom, by
the courtesy of the Postmaster-General, I carried official letters of
introduction in addition to my letters from the University, for
facilities to consult official papers relating to the subject of
investigation, and for assistance from members of the staff with whom I
was brought into contact.

The work was all but completed at the outbreak of war, but publication
has been unavoidably delayed. The overpowering necessities created by
the war have caused Governments again to look to postage for increased
revenue. Penny postage itself has been in danger in the country of its
origin. Various war increases of postage have already been made, both
here and abroad, and brief particulars of the changes in the countries
dealt with have been included. Further proposals for increasing the
revenue from postage will possibly be made, and I am hopeful that these
pages, in which the course of postage is traced, may then be found of
service.

For the privilege of numerous facilities in connection with my work on
the rates in this country I am indebted to Mr. W. G. Gates,
Assistant-Secretary to the Post Office; and for assistance in my
inquiries abroad I am indebted to Dr. R. M. Coulter, C.M.G., Deputy
Postmaster-General, Ottawa, and Mr. William Smith, I.S.O., at the time
of my visit Secretary to the Canada Post Office; to Congressman the Hon.
David Lewis, of Maryland, and Mr. Joseph Stewart, Second Assistant
Postmaster-General, United States Post Office; to M. Vaill['e], of the
Secr['e]tariat Administratif, Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, Paris; and
to M. Ruffy, Director of the International Bureau, Universal Postal
Union, Berne.

I am especially indebted to Professor Graham Wallas for valuable
suggestions and advice.

A. D. SMITH.

LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS,
1917.




CONTENTS


                                                                         PAGE

  PREFACE                                                                   v

  INTRODUCTION                                                             xi

  I. THE RATE FOR LETTERS--
      Letter Post in England                                                1
      Letter Post in Canada                                                37
      Letter Post in the United States of America                          59
      Letter Post in France                                                78
      Letter Post in Germany                                               97

  II. THE RATE FOR NEWSPAPERS--
      Newspaper Post in England                                           111
      Newspaper Post in Canada                                            136
      Newspaper Post (Second-class Mail) in the United States of America  148
      Newspaper Post in France                                            164
      Newspaper Post in Germany                                           173

  III. THE RATE FOR PARCELS--
      Parcel Post in England                                              183