ittin In 4g Min%
THE PENNY PARCEL POST.
Belfast, 13th June, 1860. SIR—In your reply of last Saturday, week to my proposal of a penny parcel post, you say that it would necessitate the separation of parcels in the Post Office from letters. It is, I think, answer enough to this, to point to the fact, that four-ounce newspapers are conveyed, sorted, and delivered along with letters.
You say the railway companies would be dissatisfied, and would demand additional payment for running mail-trains. Very likely ; but they must take what payment the arbitrators award; and what they award is the esti- mated expense. Now, it is quite' certain that the expense of running a mail-train does not increase with the weight of the mails. You say that heavy parcels would require more postmen. This is true ; and I believe this would be the only additional expense worth considering.
I do not deny that a halfpenny postage would be a great boon ; but I be- lieve it would be too dearly purchased at present by sacrificing the whole surplus revenue of the Post Office. In defence of my plan, it ought to be remembered, that we have already, by the introduction of the book post, got more than half way to a penny post for all four-ounce parcels.
Previous page
