The Royal Mail Part 21

Lack of interest in the mails did not, however, stand in the way of their turning the post to account in favour of their visitors; for in another official report the following observation is made on the subject of franking: "The Post-office is not of the consequence or recommendation to an inn which it used to be before the restriction in franking took place; and a traveller, now finding that my host at the public office is deprived of that privilege, moves over to the Red Lyon."

When mail-coaches came to be put upon the road, the necessity for having postmasters other than innkeepers forced itself upon the authorities, so that there should be an independent check upon the contractors, and a better regulation of the arrival and departure of the mails, with less chance of excuse for delays; and thus a change was brought about in the status of country postmasters.

But postmasters in the old days do not seem to have been uniformly happy in their posts. The following from a surveyor's report of December 1792, relating to the postmaster of Wetherby, in Yorkshire, shows this, and no doubt describes the case accurately. The Wetherby office had been made more important by some rearrangement of posts, with the result which the surveyor thus pathetically brings under notice: "The Postmaster-General's humanity, I humbly apprehend, would be very much affected if they knew exactly the situation of this poor deputy. He has now experienced the difference between his former snug duty and the very great fatigue of a large centre office, and labour throughout almost the whole of every night since the 10th October 1791. Also the very heavy expenses incurred thereby for a.s.sistance, coal, candles, paper, wax, &c., without any addition to his salary. To add to his distresses--for he is not rich" (who ever heard of a rich postmaster?)--"he has been so closely pressed from the Bye-letter Office for his balance due there as to have been compelled to borrow money to discharge them, at the very time that he could not obtain any account from the General Office, nor warrants for payment of as large sums due to him."

It is not difficult to picture this poor postmaster of Wetherby, tied to duty all night long arranging his mails by the light of a guttering candle, and smarting under financial difficulties; the Head Office squeezing him for revenue with one hand, and holding back what was due to him for his services with the other.

Sometimes country Post-offices would be the scene of small gatherings late at night, waiting the arrival of the mail, as was the case at Dumfries in 1799, when some few of the inhabitants would wait up till ten, eleven, or twelve o'clock to receive the English newspapers, so eager were they to peruse them.

Similar anxiety to be first in possession of commercial or political news conveyed through the newspapers was no doubt common to all business centres at the period referred to; though in our own age such information is largely antic.i.p.ated and discounted by the telegraph, and in this respect the circ.u.mstances have changed. Senex, in 'Glasgow Past and Present,' humorously describes the scene enacted at the Tontine Coffee Rooms, in Glasgow, during the French War, at the close of last century, on the arrival of the mail. He says:--"Immediately on receiving the bag of papers from the Post-office, the waiter locked himself up in the bar, and after he had sorted the different papers and had made them up in a heap, he unlocked the door, and making a sudden rush into the middle of the room, he tossed up the whole lot of newspapers as high as the ceiling. Now came the grand rush and scramble of the subscribers, every one darting forward to lay hold of a falling newspaper. Sometimes a lucky fellow got hold of five or six newspapers, and ran off with them to a corner, in order to select his favourite paper; but he was always hotly pursued by some half-dozen of the disappointed scramblers, who, without ceremony, pulled from his hands the first paper they could lay hold of, regardless of its being torn in the contest. On these occasions I have often seen a heap of gentlemen sprawling on the floor of the room, and riding upon one another's backs like a parcel of boys. It happened, however, unfortunately, that a gentleman in one of these scrambles got two of his teeth knocked out of his head, and this ultimately brought about a change in the manner of delivering the newspapers."

Again, when a mail was pa.s.sing through a town between stages in the middle of the night, the postmaster, awoke by the postboy's horn, would present himself at an upper window and take in his bag by means of a hook and line, his body shivering the while in the cold night blast.

An instance of such a proceeding is given by Williams in his history of Watford, where the destinies of the post were, at the time, presided over by a postmistress. "In response," says he, "to the thundering knock of the conductor, the old lady left her couch, and thrusting her head, covered with a wide bordered night-cap, out of the bedroom window, let down the mail bag by a string, and quickly returned to her bed again."

Coming thus nightly to the open window in her night dress could not have been without its risks to a delicate creature like the postmistress.

These postmasters required looking after occasionally, however, for they sometimes did wrong. In 1668 the postmaster of Edinburgh got into trouble by levying charges of 1d., 2d., or 3d. upon letters over and above the proper rates, and he was peremptorily ordered to discontinue the practice.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Postmistress of Watford despatching the Mail.]

They also, it would appear, exercised some sort of surveillance over private correspondence. Chambers, in his 'Domestic Annals of Scotland,'

to which valuable work we are again indebted, gives a case in point: "In July 1701, two letters from Brussels, _having the cross upon the back of them_, had come with proper addresses under cover to the Edinburgh postmaster. He _was surprised with them_, and brought them to the Lord Advocate, who, however, on opening them, found they were of no value, being only on private business; wherefore he ordered them to be delivered by the postmaster to the persons to whom they were directed."

Yet zeal for the King's interest did not always have an acceptable reward, as is shown by the Scotch Privy Council Record of 1679. The keeper of the Edinburgh letter-office was accused of "sending up a _bye-letter_ with the flying packet upon the twenty-two day of June last, giving ane account to the postmaster of England of the defeat of the rebels in the west, which was by the said postmaster communicated to the King before it could have been done by his Majesty's Secretary for Scotland, and which letter contains several untruths in matter of fact."

For having forestalled his Majesty's Secretary, probably, rather than for the inaccuracy as to facts, the keeper of the post was sent to the Tolbooth, there to meditate upon the unprofitableness of official zeal, during the Council's pleasure.

It does not seem to have been thought prudent to intrust the date-stamping of letters to postmasters generally until some time in the present century. Down to the close of last century, at any rate, according to a Survey report of the year 1800, this was allowed only at the more important offices. The report is as follows:--"In regard to having the Dumbarton letters stamped with the day of the month, as now done at Glasgow, the subject has often been considered, and although it has been approved of with some large commercial towns in England, and Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, it has been much doubted how far it would be proper or necessary to establish it generally with less towns, where the practice might be more subject to irregularity or abuses, besides the very great expense such a supply of stamps would occasion to the revenue."

The smallness of the salaries allowed to the postmasters of former times is referred to in another chapter, and this may, no doubt, have contributed to the lack of interest taken in the work by some of these officials.

But while their pay was small, a good deal of form and circ.u.mstance attended their appointment, as will be seen from the following reproduction, on a reduced scale, of the formal appointment of the postmaster of East Grinstead in 1786. From a Post-office point of view the form is interesting, as no such doc.u.ments are now in use.

[Ill.u.s.tration: This whole page is a facsimile.

CHARLES _Earl of_ TANKERVILLE, _and_ HENRY FREDERICK _Lord_ CARTERET, _His Majesty's Postmaster-General of all His Majesty's Dominions in_ Europe, Africa, _and_ America.

TO ALL PEOPLE to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting. KNOW YE, that We, the said CHARLES _Earl of_ TANKERVILLE, and HENRY FREDERICK _Lord_ CARTERET, having received good Testimony of the Fidelity and Loyalty to His Majesty, of Mr. Thomas Palmer and reposing great Trust and Confidence in the Knowledge, Care and Ability of the said Thomas Palmer to execute the Office and Duties required of a Deputy Postmaster, have deputed, const.i.tuted, authorized and appointed, and by these Presents do depute, const.i.tute, authorize and appoint, the said Thomas Palmer to be our lawful and sufficient Deputy, to execute the Office of Deputy Postmaster of the Stage of East Grinsted in the County of Suss.e.x to have, hold, use, exercise and enjoy, the said Office of Deputy Postmaster of the Stage aforesaid, with all and every the Rights, Privileges, Benefits and Advantages to the same belonging, from the Fifth Day of January last for the Term of Three Years, unless sooner removed by Us, under such Conditions, Covenants, Provisoes, Payments, Orders and Instructions, to be faithfully observed, performed and done by the said Deputy, and Servants, as he or they shall, from Time to Time, receive from Us, or by our Order. In Witness whereof, We the said CHARLES _Earl of_ TANKERVILLE, and HENRY FREDERICK _Lord_ CARTERET, have hereunto set our Hands, and caused the Seal of the said Office, in such Cases used, to be affixed. Dated the Eighth Day of 1786 in the Twentysixth Year of His Majesty's Reign.

By Command]

Traditions of hard work and long hours linger still in the Post-office, though nowadays the periods of duty are generally reduced to moderate limits. Some idea of the service required to be rendered formerly by Post-office servants may be gathered from the following order, dating about 1780 or 1790. It refers to the Secretary to the Post-office in Dublin, but we ought perhaps to put a very free interpretation upon it:--"The duty of the Secretary is to carry on the general correspondence, and, under the direction of the Postmaster-General, to superintend the whole business of the office; to attend the Board, and give directions for carrying into execution the orders of the Postmaster-General. His attendance is constant, and at all hours by day and by night--generally from 7 until 10, from 12 until 5, and from 9 until 11 o'clock each day."

The postmasters of the United Kingdom are a very large cla.s.s, numbering many thousands, and comprising every variety of individual from the honest country shopkeeper to the highly intelligent men who are placed in charge of the offices in our princ.i.p.al towns. The former have enough to do in mastering the various codes of rules under which the many branches of business are carried on; while the latter, in exercising discipline over their forces, carrying out changes of administration, and endeavouring to meet the wishes of a public ever wakeful to their interests and privileges, are something in their way like petty sovereigns, of whom it might not inaptly be said, "Uneasy is the head that wears a crown," though the material emblem itself be wanting.

CHAPTER XXV.

RED TAPE.

The Post-office is no stranger to the taunt that it is swathed from head to foot in red tape; or, at any rate, that its operations are so trammelled with routine that no inquiry into irregularities can be made with anything like due expedition. Such accusations as these often come from unreflecting persons, or from those whose business operations are of a small kind, and who have no idea of the methods necessary for carrying on a huge administration.

An ordinary shopkeeper, for example, has under his own eye the whole sphere of his daily business; he has a personal knowledge of all purchases from the wholesale houses, and knows exactly the particulars of his daily sales; he has, moreover, the behaviour of his servants constantly under observation with a view to discipline; in fact, he is ever present in his own business world, the whole scope of which is within his individual purview. If a person of this cla.s.s were asked a question in regard to his affairs, it would probably be in his power to afford an answer at once; and when he addresses an inquiry to the Post-office he expects a reply with like rapidity. Not receiving an answer with the looked-for despatch, as might very likely happen, the cause would be a.s.sumed to be needless routine--otherwise red tape.

Now it is proper here to observe, that between business or trade in the ordinary sense, and the administration of a department like the Post-office, there exists a gulf which forbids all comparison, and establishes a contrast of the most striking kind. A stranger, were he taken through the Secretariat of the Post-office at St Martin's-le-Grand, the brain of the whole Department, could not fail to be struck by the method which reigns throughout, and the way in which various subjects coming up for consideration are disposed of in different branches. In one quarter he would find inquiry going on into the characters and antecedents of candidates for appointments throughout the country, and preparations being made for their examination by the Civil Service Commissioners. In another room would be found officers exercising judicial functions in regard to cases of misbehaviour reported from the country-- meting out arrest of pay or dismissal in accordance with the gravity of the offence in each instance. Then in other rooms questions as to new buildings, their fittings and furniture, and the increase of staff when demanded by provincial offices, are undergoing close examination. Inquiries for missing letters take up attention in one branch; various other kinds of irregularities are dealt with in another. The foreign mails branch, the home mails and parcel-post branch, the telegraph branch, with all their subdivisions of work, occupy separate rooms, and claim the attention of officers specially trained to their several duties.

And how does all the correspondence for the Secretary at headquarters find its way to its proper quarter for treatment? There is a branch called the Registry, in which every letter or communication of any importance is registered on receipt--that is, it receives a number, the name of the writer is indexed, and the subject of his letter recorded.

The number of officers employed in the Registry is 73; and the original papers pa.s.sing through the branch in the way stated exceed 320,000 annually. From this branch every morning the papers for treatment are distributed over the Secretariat, each officer receiving the papers proper to his duty. Nor does the business of the Registry end here, for every _case_--each separate set of papers on a subject is called a _case_--is recorded again whenever sent elsewhere, so that its destination can be traced. Were this not done, laggard postmasters, or persons acting from base or interested motives, might find it convenient not to return the papers, and so by silence _end them_. Sometimes a single case will go backwards and forwards thirty or forty times, yet its whole history of travel is recorded. This is the routine which some people call _red tape_.

In dealing in this way with large ma.s.ses of correspondence, each atom of which has to receive its due share of brain-attention, there is necessarily some degree of r.e.t.a.r.dation; and it may be remarked that, between this process and the law in mechanics, under which, other things being equal, a gain of power is accompanied by a loss of speed, there exists a strong a.n.a.logy. But by this cla.s.sification and division of labour it is possible to bring about results which could not be achieved by a much larger staff under any plan of desultory working.

We will mention one thing which, perhaps more than any other, excites the public to use the taunt of _red tape_. It is a printed reply to a complaint, commonly spoken of as the "stereotyped reply." The public do not know how carefully and conscientiously delays and reported losses of letters are investigated in the Post-office. Inquiries are made in every office through which the letters would pa.s.s in transit, and records made, lest an explanation should afterwards be forthcoming; but after all, in the eyes of some persons, the printed reply spoils all. These persons forget, however, that the printed letter conveys all that is to be said on the subject, and that it is used in the interests of economy.

It may be admitted of the Post-office, that of all its characteristics, the most prominent is that of its method, routine, or red-tapeism, in the limited sense of what is necessary for the furtherance of the public service; but there is, perhaps, no concern of like magnitude in the world in which there is less of the musty fusty red tape of antiquity that has outlived its time, and no longer serves any useful purpose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Red tape]

PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH.

THE ROYAL MAIL:

ITS CURIOSITIES AND ROMANCE.

BY JAMES WILSON HYDE,

SUPERINTENDENT IN THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE, EDINBURGH.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

=The Times.=--"The author of 'The Royal Mail' has served five-and-twenty years in the Post-office, and had it been his fortune to turn novelist, like his confrere Anthony Trollope, he would never have been so lavish of invaluable materials. The merest glance through his pages might suggest subjects or incidents for half a score of sensational romances.

But the whole of the volume is so full of fascination that once taken up it is difficult to lay it down."

=Sat.u.r.day Review.=--'Mr Hyde's work certainly shows that, even at the present time, the business conducted by the Post-office is not unfrequently enlivened by romantic incidents; while in antiquarian interest it is rich beyond the average."

=Pall Mall Gazette.=--"This volume is a storehouse of amusing anecdotes."

=The Echo.=--"The curiosities and romance of the Post-office have furnished Mr J. Wilson Hyde, Superintendent in the General Post-office, Edinburgh, with a subject for one of the most entertaining books of the year. The book is well written, well arranged, and thoroughly deserves success."

=Graphic.=--"Contains a vast number of well-arranged facts, some valuable, some curious, about what is pre-eminently 'the people's inst.i.tution.'"

=St James's Gazette.=--"The result is a work that is sure to be widely read. The author treats of the old coaching days in a cheery spirit; and if some of his excellent anecdotes lack the gloss of novelty, that was only to be expected. But by far the most interesting pages in his interesting book are those in which he deals with the working of the present system.... An extremely readable and meritorious book."

=Whitehall Review.=--"'The Royal Mail' is not a book to be put down unfinished, for what is told in it is well worth knowing, and the admirable way it is related makes it all the more enjoyable."