Mr. Henniker-Heaton on Tuesday proposed a uniform penny postage on
all letters to the Colonies, basing his argument mainly on the way in which cheap postage bound different countries together. Considering that anybody may send a letter to Ireland for a penny, and that half the letters written in this world are disagreeable, the argument is not worth much ; but it was sentimental, and ought' to have succeeded with the House. Mr. Fowler showed, however, that the loss on Colonial postage was already £365,000 a year, chiefly owing to the subventions necessary to secure speed, and that the expenditures demanded by the House were gradually re- -clueing the total profits of the Post Office. He gave the Rouse a most well-deserved lecture on extravagance, and so impressed the new Members, that on a division, Mr. Henniker-Heaton was beaten by 258 to 157. That is a sound vote in a fairly full House, and shows that Members, while they -delight is sentiment, are not sure that- the constituencies wish to pay for it. The check is a feeble one, but, as far as it goes, it is welcome, for without it the House might some evening declare, with a deceased Bishop, that" it was impossible to be a Christian on less than a pound a week," and. make that the minimum of wages.
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