The publication of this plan immediately excited a strong public sympathy in its favour, and especially with the commercial onuses of the city of London. Mr. Wallace moved for a select committee to inquire into its merite on the 9th May, 1337 ; but the motion fell to the ground. On the 30th May, 1337, Lord Ashburton, upon presenting a petition from some of the most eminent merchants, bankers, men of science, and others in the metropolis, to the House of Lords, spoke strougly in favour of the plan. In the December of the same year the government assented to the appointment of a select committee to inquire into and report upon the plan. A society of merchant, was forthwith formed in the city of London to fnrniah evidence of the evils of the high rates of postage, and the insufficiency of the Post-Office management in answering the wants of the present times. The subject began to excite much interest throughout the country. In the 'Ionian of 1837 five petition. were presented to the Douse of Commons in favour of the plan. In 1838 upwards of 320 were presented, of which number seventy-three emanated from town councila,and nineteen from chambers of commerce. After sitting upwards of sixty-three days, and examining Mr. Rowland Hill and eighty-three witnesses, besides the officers of the departments of the Post-Otlico and the Excise and Stamp offices, the committee presented a most elaborate report in favour of the whole plan, confirming by authentic) and official data the conclusione which Mr. lilll had formed from very scanty and imperfect materials.
The appearance of the committee's report seemed to inspire the whole country with confidence in the plan. Petitions in its favour amounting to 2000 were presented to both houses of parliament in the session of 1839. The Duke of Richmond, then postmaster-geueral, advised the government to adopt it ; and the chancellor of the exchequer brought forward a bill to enable the Treasury to carry the plan into effect, which was carried by a majority of one hundred in the House of Commons, and passed into law on the 17th August, 1839. In the following month an arrangement was made which secured Mr. Rowland Hill's superintendence of the working out his own measure. On the 5th December, 1839, as a preparatory measure, to accustom the depart ment to the mode of charging by weight, the inland rates were reduced to an uniform charge of 4d. per half ounce. The scale of weight for letters advanced at a single rate for each half ounce up to sixteen ounces. Other reductions were made in the packet-rates ; and the London district post was reduced from 2d. and 3d. to ld. This measure continued in force until the 10th January, 1340, when a uniform inland rate of postage of ld. per half ounce, payable in advance, or 2d. payable on delivery, came into operation. On this day parlia mentary franking entirely ceased. On the 6th May stamps were introduced. The warrants of the lordsof the Treasury which autho rised these changes were published in the London Gazette of the 22nd November, 2Sth December, 1839; 25th April, 1840.
The first entire year of the penny postage was 1840, but then letters might be paid, or stamped, or were charged double. In that year 191,931,365 letters passed through the post-offices of the United Kingdom. The revenue derived from the Post-Office had been 1,649,0S81. in 1839; in 1840 it only amounted to 495,514/. In 1845 the number of letters had reached 329,161,811, and the revenue 760,588/. The number of letters and the amount of net revenue con tinued to increase rapidly. In 1848 the additional advantage was
given of a book-post, by which single books could be sent, open at the ends, at en uniform rate of Gd. per pound. This privilege was gradu ally extendod to the British colonies. In 1855 the rate of postage for printed sheets was reduced to hi. for a quarter of a pound, 2(1. for half a pound, and 2d. extra for each fraction above half a pound ; but if 4d. or upwards were paid, the packet might contain any number of sheets written or printed, except that the writing must not be of the nature of a letter. The tut regulation issued in 1857 is that the packet may contain, in every case, any number of sheets, written or printed, but the written matter must riot be of the nature of a letter, and may consist of bound Locke, or maps or prints on rollers, or whatever is necessary to the aide transmission of literary or artistic matter, such packets, however, not to exceed two feet in length, depth, or width, and all must be open at the ends or sides. Such packets may also be sent to all the British colonies' at the rate of 3d. for 4 ox., 6d. for 8 oz., and then proceeding at the rate of 6d. for every 8 oz., or portion thereof, except to Ascension Island, the East Indies, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the Gold Coast, to all of which the rates are one-third more, and the weight is restricted to three pounds. By various conventions the foreign postage of letters has been materially reduced, in some cases 50 per cent., and in others varying from 17 to 20 per cent. The rates to all the British colonies were in 1857 reduced to an uniform rate of Gd. per half-ounce, payable in advance.
The sixth annual return of the Poste0flice for 1859 states that the total number of letters delivered In the year was 545,000,000, of which 446,000,000 were in England and Wales, 47,000,000 in Ireland, and 52,000,000 in Scotland. These numbers give an average, in England, of 22 letters for each person of the population (In London it amounts to 43 for each), in Ireland of 7 for each, and in Scotland of 16 for each person. The number of newspapers parsing through the Poste Dffice was 70,500,000, more than half of which here the newspaper damp. The number of took-packets was about 11,000,000. There were 470,000 newspapers, and 1,900,000 letters that from various causes could not be delivered, chiefly from illegible or erroneous [Erections. The gross revenue (Includiug the produce of the impressed stamps on newspapers, received by the Inland Revenue Office) was 3,448,074G; the coat of management, 2,312,1141. (including 444,5191. for mil-packeta, defrayed by the Admiralty, but fairly chargeable to the Poet-Office), which, added to the net revenue, 1,135,9601., equals the revenue derived from the Post-Office in 1838; while the number of letters delivered has increased by 460,000,000. The coat of manage 'flout includes the following items :—Salaries, pensions, fie., 1,037,525/. ; buildings, 32,081/. ; conveyance of mails by railways, 446,000/. ; by coaches, carte, ke., and wages of mail-guards, 168,507/. ; by mail packets (when paid for by the Post-Office) and private ships, 5454/. ; for manufacture of postage-stamps, 25,940/. ; miscellaneous, including convey/me of mails in the colonies, under the postal direction of the postmaster-general, the conveyance of the mails through Egypt, clothing for letter-carriers and guards, rents, taxes, law expenses, /te., 188,446/.