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agreement may be arrived at or not, we furthermore petition Excellency to enter upon negotiations with the neighbouring countries for the purpose of obtaining a reduction of the postage-rates in use within these countries themselves. "We are firmly convinced that our intercourse with our neighbours will thus receive an enormous increase. We are aware that negotiations undertaken with the Netherlands some years ago to this effect came to nothing. This, nevertheless, we believe to be no reason why similar negotiations should not be recommenced with the Netherlands, as also with Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, (fee. Such considerations as the prospect of a momentary and transient reduction of the receipts should, in our opinion, have no bearing upon } r our decision in (his respect. " It is solely a question of progress in the postal service, the results of which will doubtless surpass all expectations." Taxing Posterity. Several passages in this document will have peculiar interest for you. To begin with, there is the suggestion that a rate which was moderate in the seventies may now be oppressive, in face of the prodigious development of commerce. Is there any mysterious virtue in this antiquated "twopenny-halfpenny" rate? Certain experts abroad seem to regard it as a golden butterfly, not to be touched without catastrophe. They venerate it as the deacon did his wonderful one-horse shay, That was built in such a logical way It ran a hundred years, to a day. Teutonic Adaptations Next, there is the tempting invitation to the German Postmaster-General to distinguish himself by taking the lead in proposing universal penny postage, on the ground that it is the inevitable corollary of our Imperial penny postage. None could envy the British PostmasterGeneral who should suffer himself to be thus forestalled. It is, lam sure, sufficient to direct your attention to the matter. The rule that each State should levy the same rate on inland and outgoing (domestic and foreign) letters is one that I have frequently recommended. For many years Canadians paid their inland rate of 3 cents on a letter to the United 'States, while the reply was delivered in the Dominion for 2 cents, the American inland rate. Restricted Unions. The petitioners ask the German Government in the alternative to establish penny postal unions with the neighbouring countries—Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, &c.; " &c." meaning France and Russia. Such " restricted unions " are, as you know, already in existence, under clause 21 of the Postal Union Convention ; Germany and Austria, Canada and the United States, have long been linked up in this way. But the latest and grandest of the restricted unions is that embracing the whole extent of the British Empire. This has already proved an unqualified success. Since 1898 the mails to and from the colonies have more than doubled in volume, and if the exorbitant transit charges between Calais and Brindisi and Naples were reduced, your revenue would have benefited considerably. It is needless to expatiate on the benefits of Imperial penny postage to our commerce, and its interest in promoting the happiness of the poor emigrant class. Every man who affixes the tiny label to his letter home, or to the colonies, feels that he is setting his seal anew to the unwritten bond of British unity. A Transient Phantom. These long-headed burghers add a pregnant sentence, which may be commended to every Postal Minister concerned. They say, " Such considerations as the prospect of a transient and momentary reduction of the receipts should, in our opinion, have no bearing on your decision." ■'The results," they assure him, "will doubtless surpass all expectations." A "transient reduction of receipts " will not deter a farmer from laying out money on seed, or an omnibusproprietor from adopting motors, or a steamship-owner from fitting turbines. An Anglo-Saxon Union. What I ardently desire to see is an extension of the British Penny Postal Union to include also at least one great and friendly nation. The more nations combine for peaceful objects the less likely are they to find causes of quarrel, and the Postal Federation of the world, now within sight, may well prove the germ of universal peace. If we are to choose a first partner, the name of the mighty Transatlantic Republic starts to our lips. One fact dominates our thoughts. Of the fifteen millions who emigrated from our shores in the last century no fewer than ten millions went to the United States. They and their descendants never forget that they are our own flesh and blood. Last year they sent to poor relatives in the British Isles no less than .£1,250,000, mostly in small remittances —a pious tribute which makes every one of us, rich or poor, personally grateful. It is doubtful if His Majesty's Government could propose a more popular measure than a Penny Postal Union with the United States, embracing all Anglo-Saxondom in its beneficent activity. Who among us would object? Not the merchants, manufacturers, and operatives, who