OFFICIAL NEIGHBORLINES.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2793, 26 January 1878, Page 4

OFFICIAL NEIGHBORLINES.

In the old franking days there was hardly any limit to what the Post Office would carry for nothing, either at home or abroad. We read of a brace of grayhouuds and even of a cow being sent through the post, while it was no uncommon occurrence for wearing apparel in large quantities, and even for articles of domestic use, to be intrusted to the " Deputies " who controlled His or Her Majesty's mails. In these more degenerate days the exigencies of commerce have imposed a limit on the transport of " heavy goods" by the post, and the Postmaster-General may not carry, either with or without payment, articles beyond a certain size and weight, and is compelled to decline to have anything to do with the transport of " lire stock." Yet does the Post Office carry on a very extensive business for which, apparently, no money consideration is received. For ifc would appear that there are upwards of 60 public offices in the Kingdom which enjny the privilege of free correspondence by post, and that the weight of matter conveyed in a year on behalf of such offices and departments exceeds 460 tons. The postal value of this mass of official correspondence exceeded £103,000, and wo are told that if the several departments of Government had been charged with postage, both the gross and net revenue of the Post Office would have been increased by that amount. The Admiralty and War Office appear to be the Departments which make the heaviest demands on the Post Office, although the Inland Eevenue, the Colonial Office, the Council Office, the Foreign Office, and the Science and Art Department all figure for heavy sums in the account of official correspondence. The correspondence in connection with- Government insurances and annuities only cost the country £4 during the year, clearly indicating that the business in this particular department is not so prosperous as it might be. Ireland is debited with upwards of £12,000 for official postage-j during the year, while Scotland, which | raises a great deal more revenue, only figures for £2,453, or one - fifth of the amount. Between them, the Board of Education, the Chief and Under Secretary, Dublin Castle, the CoDstabulary Office, the Inland Eevenue, the Local Government Board, and the Regis-trar-General make up £8000 of the £12,000 debited against the sister kingdom. In the matter of telegraphs, tod, Post Office displays a wonderful generosity towards the other Departments of the Government, In the year ended the 31st of March, last, the total value of the telegraph work done for other Depart-1 meats, for which no payment was made, was only a trifle under £14,000, and the total amount debited in this way since the acquisition of the system by the Post Office is, roundly speaking, £40,000. Probably we should not be far wrong in surmising that here, as in the postal service proper, the bulk of the gratuitous telegraphic service is rendered the War Office and the Admiralty. Fortunately, these Departments are in a position to repay the telegraphic services iv a way which is not open to them in connection with purely postal 'services. The War Office may lend its Eoyal Engineers to construct and maintain the land telegraphs of the postal system, and tho Admiralty may find ships with which to lay and repair the numerous cable communications which now fall to be included in the " Inland " telegraphic system of the United Kingdom. For it is not to be supposed that a Department which is constantly being twitted with not paying its way should perform all these services without a quid pro quo. Payment in kind will probably be as welcome to the Post Office as payment in money, and it looks more "neighborly."—Times.