From July 1st any letter under half-an-ounce in weight can
,be sent anywhere out of England for 20. The rate is -uniform, whether the destination of the letter be Paris or Pekin. The Post Office has been gradually advancing towards this uniformity for some time past, and at last a has been fully attained, with this great advantage, that there is only one rate to remember, and only one stamp to keep for foreign correspondence. We wish Sir James Fer- gusson could have seen his way to abolish the halfpenny; but foreign Post Offices are tenacious of their receipts, and only half-believe that low rates multiply letters almost in geo- metrical ratio. We shall get down to the penny rate by- and-by, nevertheless, the grand obstacle being the urgent selfishness of newspaper proprietors, who want their heavy parcels carried at rates which involve loss. There is no shadow of justification for their claim ; but in every country they can influence votes and make things unpleasant for Postmasters-General.
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