The Associated Chambers of Commerce, at their annual meeting on
Tuesday, strongly supported two projects for enlarging the functions of the Post Office. One is, that it should carry small parcels at uniform rates, to be paid for by adhesive stamps. There can be no doubt that this innovation would be a great convenience to the public, more especially if the rates were regulated by weight alone ; but it alarms the Post Office, which dreads, with reason, that its carriers may be overloaded ; and it is extremely obnoxious to the Railway interest. The other, which has, we believe, been adopted by the Government, is that the Office should issue El Post-Office orders, payable at the larger money-order offices to bearer, and remaining valid for twelve months. Such not 3s would make remittances extremely easy, particularly intramural remittances, and we do not quite see why the validity of the notes should be limited by time. The objection that they would be one-pound notes, and therefore dangerous, is unreasonable, the very basis of the scheme being that they should be convertible at numerous offices at sight. We should dread the increased temptation to forgery much more than any injury to the currency of the country.
Previous page
