and issued certain queries to the Surveyors for England and Wales. These documents are given in the Appendix.

While the Surveyors concur generally in regarding the recent change as objectionable, they show considerable diversity of opinion on minor points, as might naturally be expected from a number of gentlemen pursuing independent inquiries, and guided by the varying circumstances and opinions of their respective districts. From this very diversity, one conclusion seems obvious, viz., that it is hazardous to make a general change, such as that recently introduced, without previous inquiry into the effects which it is likely to produce in the various districts over which its operation may extend, and such modification as the requirements of different localities may demand.

As regards the chief office in London, and the minor metropolitan offices within a radius of six miles, the change in question has left everything

untouched.

As regards the provincial offices, we are enabled to state that the principal relief afforded is to the letter carriers, more especially those serving the rural districts.

But, whatever may be the amount of relief afforded to the servants of the Post Office, there can be no doubt that it has been obtained at a great sacrifice of convenience to the public; for though, amidst the numerous communications we have received on the subject, there are many urging the continuance of the arrangement, yet, having regard to their general tenor, and to the serious specific inconveniences complained of in many of them, as also to the results of our own inquiries, we have come to the conclusion that the evils attaching to the change press heavily on a large portion of the public (not excepting the poorer classes, who cannot bear the expense of secondary means of communication), and have excited in many quarters a strong feeling of dissatisfaction.

Among the evils adverted to above, the following may be specified, viz., delay and inconvenience in the correspondence, arising out of the transactions of the country markets, when they fall, as they frequently do, on the Saturday; increased risk of theft or loss arising from the detention during Sunday, of money letters (many of which contain large remittances); obstacles to the insurance of vessels, with delay in the announcement of their arrivals and departures; hinderance to the detection of crime, and to the general administration of the law; delay in the transmission of information and directions respecting legal and other sorts of business; inconvenience to travellers, and delay in procuring medical aid, and in summoning friends and relatives in case of sudden illness or approaching death.

In confirmation of these views we may refer to numerous petitions to Parliament complaining of the recent change.

Some idea of the extent to which these evils must exist is afforded by the following facts:-1st. The number of letters arriving on the Monday morning in London has been reduced by the recent change from about 212,000 to 127,000, being a reduction of about 85,000, or 40 per cent.; so that in London alone, at least that number of letters must be delayed every week, while the number is made up by an increase on Tuesday and the following days, though probably not to the full extent. 2nd. The number of letters leaving London on the Saturday night is about 140,000, the greater part of which reaching their destination on the Sunday are not delivered till Monday. Moreover, the number of letters despatched from London on Saturday night has, as was natural, been reduced by their non-delivery on Sunday. The extent of this reduction appears hitherto to have averaged nearly 15,000. 3rd. Whereas previous to the recent change, the correspondence between one provincial town and another was not interrupted at all; now all the letters posted on the Sunday, the greater part of those posted on the Saturday, and many posted on the Friday and even earlier, are delayed (either in despatch or delivery) throughout the United Kingdom. Taking these circumstances into account, we are of opinion that probably one-seventh of all the General Post letters distributed by the Post Office, or more than 700,000 a-week, are now delayed, or altogether suppressed in consequence of the recent change. This is exclusive of a very large number of newspapers.

The extent of these delays, and the manner in which they arise, are fully explained in an able report by Mr. William Johnson, the surveyor of the Home district.

The reasons which render a complete suspension of despatch and delivery on the Sunday expedient in London do not apply to the same measure when extended to other parts of the country. Residents in London can no longer despatch letters on Saturday night with the expectation of receiving answers on the Monday morning; while residents in the provincial towns, who previously suffered the same interruption in their correspondence with London on one day of the week, are now subjected to the additional inconvenience on a second day. The truth therefore appears to be, that unless the suspension of Post Office action on the Sunday be limited to the metropolis, it must be productive of very serious inconvenience.

It must also be remembered that under the old arrangement it was possible for a resident in London to provide for the receipt or despatch of a letter on the Sunday, by sending to a post town beyond the twelve-mile circle. This expedient, so frequently resorted to in cases of emergency, prevented the people of London from ever before feeling in all its force the inconvenience arising from a total suspension of Sunday despatch.

Where the legitimate modes of conveyance are thus interrupted on every side, it is natural that other modes should be devised; and thus have arisen (as there is reason to apprehend) evasions of the law, or, at all events, substitutionary modes of conveyance; involving not only loss of revenue, but also Sunday labour in a new form. Looking further to the extensive arrangements now made for the Sunday distribution of newspapers, and to others waiting the decision of this question, as also to the recourse now had to special messengers, and to the economy of labour in the organized arrangements of the Post Office, we are not satisfied that the general effect of the measure would be to diminish Sunday labour.

The Sunday distribution of newspapers, referred to above, arises of course from the fact that so many of the weekly papers, whether in London or the country, are published on the Saturday. And the refusal of the Post Office to deliver these journals as usual, has been felt by both proprietors and readers as a great hardship.

For further information as to the effects of the recent change, we must refer to the Reports of the Surveyors.

Having regard to these various reasons, we consider the restriction established by the recent order not only as inexpedient, but ineffectual for its main purpose.

In exercising a monopoly of postal conveyance, the Government, as it appears to us, takes upon itself the duty of forwarding the public correspondence without any delay, which may not be demanded by reasons of the most cogent nature. We need not point out that the Post Office is not the only branch of the public service in which a certain amount of Sunday labour is required; and it may be added, that the general practice of delivering and despatching letters on the Sunday in all parts of the United Kingdom, except London (including even Dublin and Edinburgh), dates back, so far as we are aware, from the first regular establishment of a Post Office in this kingdom; while the non-delivery of letters in London on the same day appears to have an equally early origin.

With a view, therefore, of making a reduction in the amount of Sunday labour in the Post Office, as it existed immediately before the 23rd of June last, without completely putting an end to the collection and delivery of letters and other Post Office packets on Sundays, we recommend the adoption of the following arrangements:

With regard to the London Post Office, we think that the system which was in force at the time specified, and which has not been affected by the recent order, should be continued.

With regard to the provincial Post Offices, we recommend that a delivery of letters on the Sunday should be resumed, subject to the following restrictions, many of which have been sanctioned by the previous practice of the department :

1. That there be only one delivery and one collection.

2. That the delivery be made at such a time as shall not interfere with the hours of Divine service, especially of morning service.

3. That this delivery be made either by letter-carriers or at the window of the Post Office, according to the practice previously pursued on Sundays in

Appendix C.

Appendix C.

each place. In Edinburgh, Glasgow, and most other towns of Scotland, it has been the practice to deliver letters only at the window on Sunday. The inhabitants of these towns have become habituated to the arrangement, and we do not therefore advise its discontinuance: but we do not propose its extension to other towns, where such a usage has never been introduced, because it affords less convenience and security to the public, while it produces no diminution of Sunday labour.

4. That, as far as possible, every Post Office be closed on a Sunday at 10 A.M. for the remainder of the day, with the necessary exceptions arising from the late arrival of mails which have heretofore existed.

5. That no money payments for inland letters be received at a Post Office on a Sunday; and that no such letters be received except such as are stamped or unpaid..

6. That whenever the letters, which were delivered on the Sunday morning. reach their destination by 8 o'clock on Saturday night (which is the case in some of the more remote parts of the kingdom), the delivery be made the same night instead of on the Sunday morning.

7. That where the duties are such as to prevent the rural letter-carrier from attending Divine service, an arrangement be made for providing a substitute at least on the alternate Sundays. We apprehend that the additional cost incurred by this arrangement would be justified by the importance of its object.

8. That in retaining a Sunday delivery of letters in a rural district the Postmaster-General be guided by the prevalent feeling of the locality; and that where the prevalent feeling of the district is opposed to such delivery, the Postmaster-General, after satisfying himself of the fact, take the requisite steps for suspending it. This principle has already been acted on to a considerable extent by the Department. The Postmaster-General, in the years 1848 and 1849, withdrew no less than 404 Sunday rural posts, 320 wholly and 84 partially. In some instances, however, the inhabitants, finding the withdrawal more inconvenient than they anticipated, subsequently requested that the post might be restored, which was accordingly done.

9. That an option be afforded to every householder to suspend the Sunday delivery of letters at his house, on his written application to the local Post Office. It would be necessary that this permission should be guarded by proper regulations of the Department, in order to prevent the inconvenience which would arise from frequent changes.

10. That the arrangements already made by the Postmaster-General for the withdrawal on the Sunday of comparatively useless mails be continued upon the same principles which have been already adopted, and that they be rendered as complete as possible.

We would also recommend to the attention of the Postmaster-General the suggestions made by the Surveyors, with a view to his considering hereafter how far it may be practicable to carry any of them into effect.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX A.

Instructions No. 21, 1850.

By Command of the Postmaster-General.

NOTICE to the PUBLIC, and INSTRUCTIONS to all POSTMASTERS, SUB-POSTMASTERS, and LETTER RECEIVERS.

General Post Office, June 1850. ON and after the 23rd instant, there will be no delivery of letters throughout the United Kingdom on Sunday, nor will there be any collection of letters, whether by messengers, lettercarriers, receivers, &c., on that day.

A collection, however, by means of boxes will still be permitted on Sunday, as at present, at the receiving offices, whether in towns or in the country, and at the chief offices, in towns, &c., it being clearly understood, that letters deposited in the receiving boxes, shall remain unsorted and untouched until the Monday, and that there shall be no attendance of postmasters or their clerks at the window of the Post Office on Sunday.

The present practice of detaining letters addressed to the metropolis itself, when posted on Saturday, until the despatch on Sunday, will not be disturbed, with the exception that the bags containing such letters must be closed on Saturday night, and as the mails will be transmitted on Sunday in the usual manner, it will be necessary that some person shall attend to despatch the bags alluded to, as well as to receive or forward those bags that have arrived from other offices.

Postmasters taking upon themselves to deliver letters to any parties whatsoever, in contravention of these orders, will be most severely punished.

APPENDIX B.

*

STATEMENT showing the exact amount of SUNDAY POST OFFICE LABOUR in LONDON on an ordinary Sunday previously to the 23rd June, the day on which Lord Ashley's motion was carried into effect.

Number of persons employed, four (i. e., one clerk and three messengers, vide
Memorandum enclosed).

Length of time employed. Average attendance of each person 12 hours.

Inland Office, 26th June 1850.

MEMORANDUM.

THE messengers are included in the four stated to be the number of persons employed

in the Inland Office on Sunday.

The number of clerks who take Sunday duty alternately is two; they attend every other Sunday.

Senior messengers, five; they attend every fifth Sunday.

Junior messengers, 65; they each attend in person or by substitute every 65th Sunday. Ambassador's messenger attends every Sunday in preference to sharing the attendance with the other messengers.

Inland Office, 5th August 1850.

W. BOKENHAM.

Upon the arrival of any extraordinary foreign or colonial mails extra persons are employed as heretofore, but in accordance with a defined scale.

SIR,

APPENDIX C, No. 1.

Dorking, 3rd August 1850.

I HAVE given my best attention to your letter of the 24th ultimo, requesting information as to the effect of the adoption of Lord Ashley's motion, by which the delivery and collection of letters has been suspended on Sunday. I will follow the different points to which you specially directed my attention.

1st. As to whether the measure is acceptable or otherwise to the public.

After as much inquiry as rests within my power on the subject, I am decidedly of opinion that with the majority of the public the change is not acceptable; no party to whom I have spoken about it is satisfied with it, and the large proportion of the postmasters whom I have seen since the alteration took place, whilst pleased with the comfort of the change to themselves, are obliged to admit that they do not consider the alteration generally acceptable in their respective districts.

2nd. As to its effect in delaying or suppressing correspondence (distinguishing as far as you can domestic from commercial correspondence), or in causing evasion of the law by diverting correspondence into improper channels; also as to its effect on the distribution of newspapers.

Delay of Correspondence. Although, previous to the recent alteration, no person could write from the country to London on Saturday night, and obtain an answer from London on Monday, yet all the inhabitants of the metropolis could write to the country on Saturday, and obtain an answer on Monday. It therefore follows that the course of post from London on Saturday to the country and back again is now delayed from 6 to 24 hours; for in the most favourable case of a town having a day mail despatched on Monday sufficiently late to admit of a reply being forwarded by it, such reply is not delivered in London until late in the afternoon of that day, whilst from all towns without day mails, and from the WHOLE of the rural districts attached to ALL my post towns the answer cannot be received until Tuesday morning.

I have no means for discriminating with any accuracy the relative effect which such a delay of postal communication as I have above pointed out would produce on commercial and domestic correspondence separately. When, however, it is considered that the metropolis is the seat of the Legislature and Government, of the Courts of Law, as well as the great centre of all the monetary transactions of the kingdom, it is obvious that letters of the greatest urgency on business subjects must be most numerous on every night in the week, and consequently on Saturday, from which it results that the delay now entailed on the reply of the correspondence of Saturday must in many cases be productive of the most serious inconvenience and loss.

In a domestic point of view, the metropolis embraces more than two millions of inhabitants having connexions in every part of the kingdom. Prior to the late change, any relative could be summoned by a letter on Saturday, and in most cases reach London in the course of Sunday; now, in the most favourable case he can only do so in the course of Monday, and if he reside at any considerable distance from his post town he cannot arrive before Tuesday morning. A regulation like this applying to the seventh part of every year must, in the aggregate, be productive of a large amount of misery and distress.

Such is the case as regards the recent alteration to the towns in my district in their connexion with London. It is very far worse with each other.

The cross posts throughout the country, previous to the late alteration, proceeded uninterruptedly every night, and all towns embraced within the respective lines of communication could not only write to each other on Saturday night, receiving the letters on Sunday morning and the replies on Monday morning, but they could write on Sunday, receiving the letters on Monday and the replies on Tuesday.

Under the new regulation, letters written on Friday were delivered on Saturday, but the replies cannot be received until Monday. Letters written on Saturday cannot be received until Monday, nor the replies before Tuesday. Letters written on Sunday cannot be received before Tuesday, nor the replies before Wednesday, thus entailing a loss of 24 hours in the course of post between country towns for three days out of every week, to which they were not before subjected.

The case applies still more strongly to the intercourse between the villages attached to the same post town. The rural messenger leaves a village distant seven or eight miles from the post town at 5.30 P.M. Under the new regulation, after his departure on Saturday afternoon, at half-past 5, no communication by post can be had with any neighbouring village before Tuesday morning, being an interval of more than 60 hours, or two days and a half.

Evasion of the Law.-I am not aware of any systematic arrangement having been organized to provide for the transmission or delivery of letters on Sunday, but I believe such will eventually exist if the present system is persevered in, for the newspaper dealers are gradually providing for the distribution of their papers. The South Western Railway openly placard the conveyance and distribution of newspapers, on prepayment of Id., at all the stations on their line, as well as the receiving-houses in London, where they may be deposited; and Kennett's Parcel Company advertise the collection up to 6 P.M. on Saturday of small parcels, to be delivered on Sunday in the country, and that newspapers will be conveyed for 1d.

A system like this, with so many parties interested in it, will at least become so organized as to be capable of being converted into an instrument for distributing letters, as well as anything else.

The effect on the distribution of newspapers I have adverted to in my answer to the next point of inquiry.