Hawke's Bay Herald, TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1887. UNIVERSAL PENNY POSTAGE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7632, 4 January 1887, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald, TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1887. UNIVERSAL PENNY POSTAGE.

Mr Henniicer-Heaton has set himself the task of securing the boon of penny postage throughout the world, and if he does not succeed it will not be through lack of persovovance. In Parliament, in newspapers and magazines, he pursues the advocacy of his project unweariedly, aud he never appears to have exhausted his budget of arguments- he always has some new phase of the question to present or some seemingly strong objection to knock over. His latest article appears in the Fortnightly, and in it ho demolishes very easily several objections that were urged in Parliament against his proposal. It was said that its adoption would entail a loss to the Post-oilice revenue of England of half a million a year. Mr. Hen-nikcr-lleaton's rejoinder is to the ellect that the Post-odice should yield no revenue at all ; that so long as it pays its expenses that should be sullicicnt. _" llic State," he says, " has no moral right to make a thumping profit ont of tho Postoilice. The Post-oliice is not a branch of the revenue. It is, or-should be, regarded as a great socialistic institution, earned, on for the general benefit of the conimu-' nity. Since Charles I. established it, tins vast monopoly has had tho exclusive i-it'lit of carrying our COITOSpomIGIICO, and we arc compelled by law lo sub;mt to any exaction which it may enforce. Now it is easy to show that tho taxation raised by means of this institution is of a character utterly opposed to economical science, and even to common justice. A large part of the business of life is now entirely dependent on the postman's agency. Thero aro hosts of great undertakings, each employing hundreds, and even thousands, of men, which could not bo continued for a week without his assistance. Probably one half of tho documents despatched through the post— certainly through tho f>ost to foreign countries — consists of msincas letters. Another large proportion is sent by poisons of small means, wl.io hayo lnauy stern inducements to save their nonce. ' in oilier words one-half of our postal reyeiine is derived from a' tax on trade,' anil another Jaigo portion fiom a fine on tho expression ot natural afl'dction among tho poorest classes of the community. It is obvious that for ten letters exchanged between friends and relatives of tho well-to-do classes, ninety at least will be exchanged among the classes who have to count their ponce. We thorafpre insist that tlio State is not justified in loY-yiiig more money through the Post-bttice than "is necessary for the efficient working of tile ' concern." Mr Honnikci-Heftton bliowh that the yearly i net revenue of tho Mlisli office is about

three ■ "millions 1 ; and- 'lie argues - that it. would be only' carrying ont an admitted ", principle — that of setting unprofitable against profitable services — if : out •of 'that-large- surplus revenue half a million were devoted; to carrying out universal penny postage. But ho contends that the loss would lie only temporary, as the would increase so largely 'and rapidly as to very soon make up the deficiency, and at any rate as the Postoffice revenue is growing at the rate of £40,000 a year the loss would be niade up within a decade. "even supposing that not one single person wrote a single letter in consequence of the lowering of the rate from sixpence to a penny." Amongst some Post-office anomalies which Mr Henniker-Heaton adduces the following seem actually ridiculous :— Tho British Post-office charges 4d per half-ounce for letters to the West Indies, West Africa, and tlie Mauritius, while it will convey . by the same steamers to those places' letters from foreign countries at 2ld per half ounce. To India 5d per half ounce ■is charged upon English letters and oply 2Jd upon those from foreign countries. " The argument of the Post-office," says Mr Henniker-Heaton, "is that we must" cairy for menihers of the Union at these low rates, under the provisions of the convention, as the. price we pay for_ countervailing advantages on the Continent and elsewhere. But they say that lossaccrues on this branch of the service, and we have no obligation to treat our countrymen as _ well as we treat tho foreigner. This' precious argument, stated,, nakedly, is this : 'We will tax Englishmen by means of heavy rates, in order to enable business men of the Continent to cut out English trade in the East and in the English colonies.' So the Post-office surplus does not all go to pay the expense of our little wars and the cost of our administration ; it is partly paid over as a subsidy to our foreign commercial competitors." ' Mr Heuuiker-Heaton Holds that whatever may be the case with regard to other places, it would actually pay to send letters, per parcel to Australia at a penny each, for a parcel containing 200 could be sent for 3s Gd, leaving 13s 2d for cost of delivery.. In conducing his ; paper Mr HennikerHeaton expresses" a. hope, in which we cordially join, that, in honor 'of the jubilee year of Her Majesty's ' reign, the Post-master-General will complete the beneficent work of Sir Rowland Hill, and win everlasting renown for himself by making communication- between the nations of the earth "as easy as speech, as free as air.' ■ - : ' •