POSTAL PROGRESS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7975, 28 February 1906, Page 7

POSTAL PROGRESS.

■ Mr Heuniker Heaton has an article on postal matters in the "Grond," which is of particular interest just now, in view of the coming Congress at Eomo. He points out that ■ihe surplus on the working of the British Pest Office, £3,881,000 is derived entirely from letter postage, all other branches of tue business being unremuuerative, and some maintained at a heavy 1039. "As •everybody writes letters, the surplus is very much in the nature of the old obnoxious poll-tax, which, ■five centuries ago, goaded 100,000 Kentishmen, under Wat Tyler, to maroh on London. Many worthy officials appear to regard me as a dangerous man, because I hold that a large portion of this increment should in strict justice be applied "to the provision of more" postal facilities. It seems to tnem right, 'but to me scandaiouo. that with an annual profit of JE3.881.000 the Department cannot (for instance) see its wav to register a letter for Id, instead of exacting 2d." Naturally "Mr Heaton is somewhat impatient with the slow methods of the Britißh authorities. He states that the Canadian and Australian Post Offices 'long ago introduced machines which post-marked letters in very clean, •distinct type, whereas it was with "the greatest difficulty that ho induced the British Post Office to spend a moderate sum on these machines, which are now being gradually introduced in some centres. When the British Government protested that it could not afford .to lose £75,000 a year by establishing Imperial Penny Postage, a smart advertising agent wrote to Mr Heaton, offering to find the money in return for the privilege of supplying the Potit Office with >3ate-marking machines, and the right of addin-g a new horror to life by impressing in a legend encircling the date, a shurt but eloquent ojommendation of certain pills. As some ten thousand millions of postmarks are annually impressed ou letters, the offer showed fine business capaoity, but it went no further than Mr Heaton. For the deflcienoy in the Telegraph account (there is an average loss of 4>£d a message) he prescribes the remedy of cheaper messages. He would try fonmenny, threepenny, and even twopenny messages, and so tempt the masses, who hardly know what it is to telegraph. tyr ; Heaton tells several humourous -anecdotes of postal work, and declares that be derives most amusement from the man who objects to all postal progress. Such men were perhaps Lord Monteagle, Postmaster General, in 1839, who said of Inland Penny Postage, that of all the "wild and visionary schemes," etc., "that was the most extraordinary ," and Mr Bentinck, *1857, who, bought the Penny Post Act was one of tha greatostjobs ever perpetrated, and one of the greatest financial mistakes evermade by England.