The paradox of the post: How a public good becomes a mechanism for control and exploitation

“ As we have stated, the immense amount of business transacted in the post-offices of large cities is not unfrequently lost sight of,—business transactions of a nature that few understand or comprehend, and which exercise an influence on men and nations equally as powerful as that of the press.
Few persons are acquainted with the inner arrangements of a post-office. Let any one glance into it as he passes, and he will be struck with the vast pile of mail-matter constantly arriving and departing, as well as the number of hands engaged in their arranging and distributing. ”

“ There must be a limit to governmental interferency and happily it better suits the genius of the American people to help themselves than to depend on the State. To communicate intelligence and disseminate information are the primary functions of this Department. Any divergence from the legitimate sphere of its operations tends to disturb the just rule that, in the ordinary business of life, the recipient of a benefit is the proper party to pay for it, since there is no escape from the universal law that every service must in some way be paid for by some one. ”

“ There is such a thing as patriotic devotion to public duty and no man is fit to hold an office of trust no matter how small it may be who does not consider this as an obligation to be met and honestly discharged. If any one thing has contributed to make our postal establishment prosperous and great it is the conscious acceptance of the full meaning of such an obligation. ”

“ A form of Government democratic in all its parts and tendencies requires fidelity and patriotic purpose in performance from every one to whom any trust is committed, and in every successful accomplishment of any given plan or purpose, the measure of success is always in proportion to the interest taken or the industry with which such plan or purpose is pursued. ”

“ The proper scope and purpose of government, in its relation to the people whom it serves, is always a matter of deep concern, not only as to the views held by those appointed to administer public affairs, but also in the opinions and ideas of the people themselves. ”

“ This was James Hickes, one of Witherings' clerks, the only member of the staff who threw his lot in with the royal cause. When, in 1643, Charles held his Court at Oxford, he was cut off from the service of the postal system having its centre in London; and he took steps for erecting a rival post system for his own use. Hickes was ordered by warrant to "receive and demand from all postmasters [Pg 193] on the Western and other roads obedient to His Majesty, the arrears in their hands due to the Letter Office; all refusers of the arrears to be dealt with according to their deserts." ”

“ Witherings had not long put the posts into some kind of order, as regards expedition and regularity, with the result no doubt of increased business and growing profit to himself, when his possession of the office of Postmaster for Foreign Parts excited the covetous heart of Windebank—one of the two Principal Secretaries of State and joint Comptroller with Coke of the inland posts, and a friend or creature of Laud.
Pigeon-holes in public offices, as elsewhere, have long memories ”

“ These were sometimes boys of fourteen or sixteen years of age, and sometimes old men. Mr. Palmer, at whose instance mail-coaches were first put upon the road, writing in 1783, thus describes the post-boy service. The picture is not a very creditable one to the Post Office. "The post at present," says he, "instead of being the swiftest, is almost the slowest conveyance in the country; and though, from the great improvement in our roads, other carriers have proportionably mended their speed, the post is as slow as ever. It is likewise very unsafe. ”

“ The Post Office has too generally lagged behind other institutions in the progress of improvement, instead of being, as it might be, an example to the country of skilful and energetic management. Previously to the improvements of Mr. Palmer, the mail was about twice as long in proceeding from town to town as the stage-coaches. Mr. Palmer's improvements brought up the Post Office to an equality with other commercial institutions of his day, and, as stated by the Commissioners, led to an enormous increase of revenue. ”

“ Thomas Carr, postmaster of Berwick, thus complains: "Thomas Witherings, in consideration of his grant of the letter office of England and foreign parts, is to pay the posts their wages. Witherings has reduced the wages of Thomas Carr from 2s. 4d. to 1s. per diem, all the rest being cut off only but the third part of their pay, which will not be sufficient to find horse and man to perform the service; moreover, they are enjoined to more service than formerly, viz. to carry his mail of letters forward and backward once a week gratis. ”

“ Under these circumstances there would be a potent tie between [Pg 166] these men, for Burlamachi could only hope for the recovery of his money through the good fortune and favour of the king. It is well that all this should be borne in mind, for Burlamachi's name will come up hereafter.
The public do not realise how effective, as a trap, the Post Office is, until they find themselves in the position of having written and posted a letter which, upon cooler reflection, they would fain withhold from the eyes of the person addressed. ”

“ What rural delivery has done in other directions may be summed up as follows: It has broadened the field of industrial opportunity, touched as if with magic power the possibilities of human endeavor, and transformed conditions to a degree almost marvelous. It has brought special delivery almost to the door; secured good roads [27] and maintains them by official interest and concern; has attracted the attention of the various States to this question and obtained results; it has made farm lands more valuable and contributed to increased production; it has abridged time by rapid communication ”

“ During the course of last winter horses were obliged to be occasionally employed; and it is often the case that a strong highlander, with so great a weight upon him, cannot travel more than two miles an hour, which greatly retards the general correspondence of this extensive district of country."
These humble servants of the post office, travelling over considerable tracts of country, would naturally become the means of conveying local gossip from stage to stage, and of spreading hearsay news as they went along. ”

“ Young ladies waited upon by their admirers, mothers with their children, a bachelor group or two from the inn, and here and there a native of the place, some expecting letters, others indulging a feeble hope in that direction, attend as assistants at what is one of the excitements of the day. Presently the post-runner, with his wallet slung upon his back and a rustic walking-stick in his hand, appears in the distance, jogging along with that steady swinging stride which is so characteristic of his class. The visitors begin to close up around the Post-office ”

“ Postal service was intended for all the people, not a part, not merely for those who had chosen to live in cities but for those outside as well. This desire to share at least in the benefits so freely accorded to others became at length so outspoken and insistent that recognition could no longer be denied and the matter was finally introduced into Congress and an attempt made to secure legislation upon the subject. ”

“ The question has frequently been asked to what extent and in what way has rural delivery service benefited the country sections of the United States. Many magazine articles have been written to show the general advantages it affords in rendering rural conditions more tolerable and enduring the inconveniences to which such life is subject. In one particular at least, it has been of immense advantage and that alone has secured it great public favor. It has given the farmer his daily paper. ”

“ The introduction of the parcel post as a great common carrier is an added feature in connection with this subject. The fourth-class postmaster receives much more mail than he sends out. This inequality which affects his pay can be largely corrected if the postmasters in cities would adopt some practical measures towards stimulating orders from city patrons for farm produce which could be shipped by mail. ”

“ The Parcel Post is now a recognized benefit to the country. All classes and conditions profit by its mutual advantage. Its gigantic strides to popular favor cannot be measured or adequately described. The burdensome exactions of the high tariffs, which corporate enterprise so long interposed, have been lifted and closer relation established between buyer and seller, by which both are the gainer. ”

“ Suburban express, the result of motor service, gives the farmer an easily reached and remunerative market and the consumer finds upon his daily table the fresh products which this rapid means of communication from the farm can so readily supply. The Parcel Post is one of the most popular measures of this administration and everything possible has been done to foster and perfect it. ”

“ The farmer can now find the opportunity he has been seeking. By some little care and attention to the conditions that assure favorable results, such as putting himself in touch with his customers, properly packing and furnishing a good article at a reasonable price, he can develop a profitable market for what he produces, reduce the cost of living to others while reaping an advantage for himself. ”

“ The great success of rural delivery is peculiarly the farmers triumph. He is now on a par with his neighbor in the cities in all that enterprising postal service can give. Taken both together, the widely admitted success of the Parcel Post as well as the rural delivery, a chapter of achievement has been written of which the Department is justly proud and against which criticism can find no ground for righteous complaint. ”

“ It is in this primary sense that the word Education, whether religious or secular, is understood to be used. Religious publications are not as a class entitled to exemption from charge. The law exempts only those which come within the foregoing definitions. [Pg 25]
U.S. periodicals not exempt.
No United States periodical of any kind or description can, upon any ground, claim exemption from Canadian postage.
Returned periodicals.
Parcels of unbound periodicals may be returned by a subscriber to the office of publication at the rate of two cents per 8 oz. or fraction of 8 oz. ”

“ Canadian Booksellers and News Agents may also post for transmission by mail in Canada small periodicals, whether Canadian, British or United States, weighing less than 1 oz., such as the Children's Paper, Child's Paper, The Play Hour, The Carrier Dove, The Sabbath School Visitor, The Evangelizer, The Gospel Message, The Good News, and others of a like description, in packages to one address, at the rate of 5 cents per pound, or fraction of a pound bulk weight, provided that the said News Agents and Booksellers pre-pay such packages by postage stamps. ”

“ Publishers of newspapers in Canada are allowed to enclose in copies of their papers sent to subscribers, subscription accounts, and receipts for the same, without rendering them liable to any additional postage.
Packets of returned papers.
Packets of unbound newspapers published in Canada may be returned by a subscriber to the office of publication, at the rate of 2 cents per 8 oz. or fraction of 8oz., which must be pre-paid.
Rate to United States.
Transient newspapers addressed to the United States must be pre-paid one cent each by postage stamp, otherwise they will not be forwarded. ”

“ No United States newspapers of any kind or description (with the exception of exchange papers) are on any ground entitled to pass through the Canadian mails free of postage.
How to be forwarded from publication office.
In cities and towns where newspapers are published, the printers and publishers should send them to the post office put up in a manner to admit of their being readily counted, and if necessary withdrawn from their covers for examination. The newspapers for each office also should be made up in strong paper in a separate parcel, which should be plainly addressed. ”

“ The option of paying the commuted rate on newspapers does not apply to papers published in the United States: they must be paid for at the full rate of one cent each.
News agents.
[Pg 23]
Canadian news agents and booksellers may post American newspapers unpaid, when addressed to regular subscribers in the Province; but such newspapers are chargeable on delivery with one cent each.
Rate to U. Kingdom.
Newspapers posted in Canada and addressed to the United Kingdom must be pre-paid by stamp, one cent each. ”

“ There are many lighter articles than books forming the substance of railway packages. Is the Post Office to undertake all the light carrier trade of the kingdom, without extra payment to the railways for the use of the roads?
The Report says, “Mr. Stephenson is unfortunate in putting forward as an illustration the cheap transmission of printed proceedings of Parliament. Under the old postal system, and during the existence of mail coaches, Parliamentary reports and proceedings were conveyed by post free of all charges. ”

“ Yet the Post Office itself considers that all these parcels are entitled to special attention and consideration, for before a railway servant is entrusted with the charge of them he takes an oath or makes a declaration—the same, we believe, as is taken by Post Office mail guards; and in order that they may be considered Post Office servants pro hac vice, they receive, if we recollect rightly, a gratuity of a few shillings per annum. If this be not so, it does not, in reality, affect the man’s responsibility: it is the oath or declaration that binds, not the gratuity. ”

“ The genius of the American Postal System is found in the harmonious cooperation of its several parts, in direction and in operation; wise policy and purpose as seen in the formulation of plans, with willing assistance in operation to render such plans effective. The Postmaster General directs the policy, the bureau heads execute what is determined upon and the benefit or failure is seen in practical administration. All alike share in achievement, the mind that conceives, the heads that direct, and the force upon whose faithful and intelligent effort the outcome depends. ”

“ It was the custom of this guard, as no doubt of others of his class, to take charge of parcels of value for conveyance between places on his road. On one occasion he had charge of a parcel of £1500 in [Pg 72] bank notes, which was in course of transmission to a bank at headquarters. It happened that the driver had been indulging rather freely, and at one of the stopping-places the coachman started off with the coach leaving the guard behind. ”

“ In June 1635, the following scheme of public posts for inland letters was propounded; it is attributed to Witherings:—
"Proposition for settling a 'staffeto' or packet post betwixt London and all parts of His Majesty's dominions for carrying and recarrying his subjects' letters. The clear profits to go towards the payment of the postmasters of the roads of England, for which His Majesty is now charged with £3400 per annum." The chief points of the proposal are: "That an office or counting-house should be established in London for receiving letters ”

“ Malyn appears to have been connected with one or other of the public offices. These men called themselves "the first undertakers for reducing letters to half the former rates." They tell us that Prideaux continued to exact the high rate of 6d. for every letter. In the account given by them of their proceedings, they say that:—"The undertakers, observing this extortive rate to be held up, as well in Witherings' lifetime as after his [Pg 227] death,—when the pretence of that illegal grant was ended in point of limitation—and observing that the whole benefit went into one private hand, ... ”

“ Whitley rather discouraged visits from the deputies them [Pg 305] selves on the subject of salaries, and the object of the friend's visit is not very clear.
While Lord Arlington had reduced the scale of pay in 1667 to something like 30s. a mile per annum, the scale was further reduced under Whitley to about 20s. a mile. The postmasters were not entirely remunerated by salary. They enjoyed privileges not allowed to other innkeepers, which brought them profits and immunities. They had the old monopoly of providing horses for persons riding post, at the fixed rate of 3d. per mile, with 4d. ”

“ The horses supplied for riding the posts were at some places very poor creatures, and in certain cases the postmasters appear not to have had any horses of their own. On the 1st December 1674, the postmaster of Berwick was complained of for not having a horse and boy to carry the mail for Edinburgh, and for having sent it forward to Cockburnspath by carriers, thus causing great delay. On the 15th January 1675, the following letter on this subject was written to Mr. Glover, postmaster of Dartford:—"This day your boy brought the mail on his back to the office, about one o'clock in the afternoon. ”

“ And the “Report upon the Post-Office for the year 1854,” in which this innovation is first announced, expresses the hope that such persons on an inferior salary would be able, as necessity arose, or on “occasions of any extraordinary pressure,” to take a share also in the duties of the clerks. This is perhaps one of the earliest indications of that policy of cheese-paring and depreciation of the value of official work, which, if it has not always justified discontent and agitation, has proved a fruitful source of it. ”

“ Prideaux, out of a hypocritical pretence of keeping the Sabbath day, by his own warrant commanded his postmasters to require the justices of peace in the several counties to stop our mails on the Sabbath, whereas his own went free." ... "Whilst we were labouring amidst these difficulties, it pleased God to devolve authority on such worthy persons as had from the beginning countenanced us in our work; who, in their first entrance on their management of public affairs, intrusted us with their ordinary and extraordinary despatches." ”

“ REGISTRATION.
Fees on Registered Letters.
By the pre-payment of the following fee, in addition to the ordinary postage, letters and parcels can be registered at the office at which posted:—
To Canada.
On letters addressed to any place in Canada or the other
British North American Provinces2 cents.
To U. States.
On letters addressed to any place in the United States5 "
To U.K.
" " " " United Kingdom 121⁄2 "
On parcels. ”

“ The rate of postage on letters between any place in Canada and any place in the United States, except California and Oregon, is 10 cents per 1⁄2 oz., which may either be pre-paid or not, at the option of the sender. ”

“ Should a book packet addressed to the United Kingdom be posted unpaid, or with a pre-payment of less than 7 cents, or be enclosed in a cover not open at the ends, or should it exceed the dimensions specified, it will be sent to the Dead Letter Office. ”

“ Those paid for by the receiver.
The first class, or that containing letters of correspondence of which each pays for one, comprises probably five-sixths of the whole number of letters conveyed, and would be practically unaffected by the plan of invariable payment in advance; for it is obvious that so long as each party pays for one letter, it can be of no consequence whether he pays on the dispatch of his own, or on the receipt of his correspondent's. ”

“ Let the rates of postage between post-towns be reduced, say, one half, fractions of a penny being disregarded, and let the extra charges depend on weight, as in France, instead of on the number of enclosures, any packet not exceeding half an ounce being considered a single letter. The first of these changes would evidently reduce the varieties of charge by one half, the second would make way for the introduction of stamped covers; both would therefore tend to simplify the mechanism of the Post Office. ”

“ The only objection which occurs to me to the universal adoption of this plan is the following: Persons unaccustomed to write letters, would, perhaps, be at a loss how to proceed. They might send or take their letters to the Post Office with* out having had recourse to the stamp. It is true that on presentation of the letter, the Receiver, instead of accepting the money as postage, might take it as the price of a cover, or band, in which the bringer might immediately inclose the letter, and then re-direct it. But the bringer would sometimes be unable to write. ”

“ Hopes to be preserved in their important public work from the stroke of the [Pg 279] destroying angel." Williamson had asked Hickes to give £5 on his behalf to the poor of St. Martins-in-the-Fields; but the latter answered that he did not know where to get it at this time, "where all doubt ever seeing each other again." Hickes adds, that the sickness is increasing, and that their gains at the Post Office are so small that "they will not at the year's end clear £10 of their salaries." The whole business of the City of London seems to have become paralysed. ”

“ Books, periodicals, newspapers, circulars, and other printed matter, cannot be registered unless pre-paid the full letter rates, in addition to the ordinary registration fee.
Receipt required on Delivery.
Registered letters and packets can only be delivered to the parties to whom they are addressed or to their order, and a receipt must be given on the delivery of each registered letter in a book kept by every Postmaster for that purpose.
Post office not responsible for loss. ”

“ How the Post Office Department Helps the Farmer
Of all the great Executive Departments, the Post Office comes closest to the people and is of particular interest to the farmer living away from the great avenues of postal service supply. The Postmaster General, from his service in Congress, where the needs of the farmer are known, coupled with the opportunities of his present position, was able to render him a great service, and that he has done so, that his administration has shown his successful efforts in this direction cannot be questioned nor denied. ”

“ Moreover, in a country of vast extent like ours, where most of the operations of the Department are carried on remote from the controlling center, the disposition to engage in lateral enterprises, more or less foreign to the theory of the system, may lead to embarrassments whence extrication would be difficult. ”

“ Differences between the administrative heads of the Department and Congress as to the necessity or advantage of certain plans or methods, are not uncommon, especially when any proposed changes antagonize existing usage or clash with party policy or expediency. When proposed changes invade the domain where private enterprise has interests more or less valuable already established, influence may be brought to bear to counteract the reforms proposed, based on honest grounds of dissent as to the real benefit or practical advantage to be gained by the adoption of such measures. ”

“ In twine alone the required amount for 1916 was 2,000,000 pounds, or 680,000 miles of it. Ink 15,000 gallons. Facing slips more than a billion; pencils, pens, blanks, envelopes [42] and paper in staggering amounts. The utmost economy is practiced in sending out these immense supplies that waste may be prevented and the money appropriated used to the best advantage. The capable management of the Superintendent and those in charge of the Division of Equipment and Supplies, has produced gratifying results in all directions and rendered service which has been recognized and appreciated. ”

“ The revenues of the Post Office Department are derived from sales of stamps, stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers and postal cards, second-class postage (pound rate) paid in money, box rents, money order business, balances due from foreign postal administrations, miscellaneous receipts, fines and penalties, and from unclaimed dead letters and postal matter. Its greatest revenue is received from postage paid on mail matter. The amount so received in the last fiscal year was $287,001,495.13, or 91.97 per cent of the total revenue received. ”

“ Although the advocates of the privileged rights of private enterprise have ever resisted the entrance of government into the field [52] of national endeavor, the triumphant progress of the Parcel Post under Departmental direction has silenced all captious objection, for its admitted adaptation to the needs of the country and its growing popularity among the people, attests the fact that no limitations can be wisely set in public affairs which bars the progress of an intended benefit. ”

“ The Department must always be a public function and under Government control and be conducted, more or less, according to public usage. While red-tape rules and customs will to some extent remain, great progress has been made in many directions and public methods, by skilful management, brought nearer to the successes of business life, and the time is near at hand when the answer to the interrogatory first propounded, may be made in the affirmative. ”

“ If it is a question between favoring a very limited number of publishers and favoring twenty-one millions of people who live on the farms of the United States, there ought to be no hesitation in serving the many rather than the few. The abuse should be uprooted as a public duty, the national delivery service should be undertaken as a public policy, and when through the overthrow of the wrong the right can be established without the slightest additional burden, the appeal becomes irresistible. ”