The second document in the collection of PAPERS is a
compara- tive statement of the actual expense of the Post-office with reference to the scale proposed by the Commissioners of In- quiry. We have already proved (in No. 300 of the Spectator), as clearly as figures can prove any thing, from the returns furnished by the Post-office itself, that this statement is deceptive ; that it is a trick, very characteristic of the men who attempted to play it off, but quite unworthy of honest and faithful public officers. The truth is, that instead of being dearer, the plan of the Commissioners, which would give us five men of business constantly superintend- ing the concerns of the department, in the place of an inefficient tool of the Secretary, would actually be less expensive than the one now in operation. Again, then, we warn the Members of the House of Commons bow they put faith in the statements from the Treasury Bench, which will be made on Tuesday night.
We have yet another instance, in these " Papers relating to the Post-office," of the tricky mode in which the returns have been got up. The last page contains an "Accountof theGross and Net Revenue and Charges of Management in Great Britain for the last ten years." The readers of this journal are already aware that this account is incomplete, and that the net revenue and charges of management do not make up the amount received as gross re- venue, by upwards of a million sterling. It appears from the fol- lowing table, that while the gross receipts for 1833, as compared with 1824, have increased by 72031., the net receipt has fallen off by 47,3111., and the charges of management increased by 51,2621. Thus,
Charges of Years. Gums Receipt. Net Receipt. Management.
1S11 .f.2,062,839 1,391,469 552,734 1824 2,055,6.16 1,438,780 501,472 ---
7,203 47,311 51,261
This perind of ten years is cunningly chosen. By reference to the Finance Accounts of 1819, 1820, 1821, we find the average receipts and charges of management of the Post-office were the following.
92,573 2,540 161,650
This shows, that since 1821 the net revenue of the Post-office has in- creased only 25401., and that the charges of collection hasi increased by 161,6501. Therefore, with these facts so established, it is idle for the Post-office to try to make the public believe that the Commis- sioners of Revenue Inquiry dealt only in theories, and had no practical knowledge, when they attacked the rapid progress of the charges of collection, and suggested methods for reducing them.
Charges of
Gross Receipt. Net Receipt. Management. Average of three years, 1819, 1t320, 1821 £1,970,266 1,394,009 391,084
In 1833 2,062,13.39 1,391,469 552,734
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