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Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 8 November 1907, Page 2

TIIE STORY OF PENNY POST. One uf tlic must interring Vis.tors Australia lias hud had lor buuAt me paaL is -Ml- llenniker Ikalon, M.l'.. Uo\v in Sydney and shortly; to arnye iu Zeaiaud. ' Ml' Uuiuiker lleUon, as evi'iyuuo knows, U the ehamp.oii of tlic pcuny po*tj and an ardent imperialist. He was induced during the course of a speech last week Lo tell the story of tlie <>ieat reform with which his name, like "hit of Kuland Hill before him, will lor a long time he associated, He stated that wlien he entered the .British House of Commons nearly a quarter of a i century ago he found that from 2UU.UOU to emigrants l it Great Britain and Ireland every year lor all parts oi the earth, most cf tliem never to return, it >truck him that it was the highest policy to encourage these emigrants to j keep up communication with the Old | Land, and especially with their native j villages and the old folk at iiume. But ; the cust of a letter to Australia was j sixpence, to India iivepence, and to other parts of the Empire equally higli rati a prevailed. The consequence was that emigrants Jirst wivte letters home once a. month, and Jinally letters ceased, and there was >ilrnce of the grave. ; There were, of iour-c, notubl • exceptions and allVciinna te ivniiMibrancCiS. These emigrants sent from Australia in small niuin y ordcr> from o> to £5 in value no le*s than X-'jU.ouu in one year; and from Canada and the I'uited Elates ol Amenta there was a million and a-hulf of money to the old folks and to sisters and brothers uf tJiu emigrant# to add to the comforts of those relatives or to pay their passages to the new homes. The heavy burden of postage was greitlv felt among the poor. Alter a struggle against ollicialdom the battle of Imperial penny postage was won chiefly by the aid of the I'ress of the United Kingdom and the colonies. The struggle meant tor n.iu many harassing days and sleepless nights, repeated voyages to every couutry and interviews ( with every Postmaster-Ueneral. His reward was the greatest that could he conferred 011 an Englishman, the freedom of the City of London .in a gold ■ casket; and a similar honor from Canterbury, the ecclesiastical eapit.il of the British Empire. To-day the postage of a letter Irom threat iiirtuin and Ireland to every part of the British Empire was one penny; and this was reciprocated from every one of the countries, colo- ■ nies, dominions, and dependencies of* his Majesty with one not:ible exception —the great Commonwealth h id not come inlo line with the re>t of the Empire on this question. Beiore closing his speech, however, Mr llenniker Jleaton was able to give the satisfactory assurance he had received in a message from the Federal Post master-General that the I enny Posi J.jll would be passed this session, Mr llenniker-lleaton j* not content with what ha* already been accomplished. lie strongiy supports the views expressed by our New Zealaud iteinier at the imperial Conference, that one ol the boot means of streiigLliemng tiie bonds of Empire would be tu siiustanti ;ily reduce the cable rates, iu his speech, irom which we have quoted, the penny post apostle referred to "the Cunl-given g.it of electricity now in tiie nanus ol a few monopolies." To-day, he said, we spent JWnyjuu a year in caOie messages—more than JCIiJUU a day iii communicating business io and irom England. Jjy reason of the iii"ii c laigeo loi cable messages, only one message in a hundred was of a private or family nature, it often eosi a sovereign for the name and address in a ianuly e t-ble nu ssage. Most people would ol ten send messages if they could do it jor a few shillings i n place ol a Jew pounds. Incredible as it appeared, there yerc tlnneeu cable hue, irom .iiylan, to ii.unti, and 11 uf these are v pt idle- by the cable or tLlble e' V', , lh ' s t ' ouull >- the cables HOW led about SUOU words a day lj e knew llf. ir carrving caoacitv to I . tt: 1111 ; ur - lj,s .1 ]iomi-ed hi,,, Jienuv telegrams, but hiHl im hj, favored ' V 10 ihuujjh the short |.V.n, 'P. l * ,lWwn imd i""r s ;„ l T d Y Has Ileum- \ I I (:ullt| ieiil. for one lii I ' i 0 llul " C..IUW via l<-ii'''l!i'" | |S |"^'| l ' ,UlL ' m,> m ' m l-i«! " Im " hearty colonial endorsenitut. ™