POSTAGE STAMPS.] P S T-O F F I C E 585 TABLE XXIII. Comparative Table of the position of the Postal Service in the principal Countries belonging to the Postal Union, for the year 1883. * 1i s
a 51 *
QJ O l^ ID o 5 "P< <v ^* o S Q fcS C
- c _2 =a
fl Is rt " a Gross Nett Revenue y ^ 3 us w o Revenue. or Deficit. Sig, "si o "CD rt 1 |I "S-S v- o-^ 1
- 0
+3 o o ^6
Argentine Re 11,995,473 2487 4 953 110,443 191 [deficit] public ( Austria .... 290,373,000 29 13 15,763 2,002,073 354,700 ) Hungary . . 92,290,043 39 10 6,447 790,839 185,654 Belgium .... 107,662,590 13 19 4,802 535,819 202,271 Canada 78,340,000 501 18 7,2252 452,876 84,602 [deficit] Chili 11,772,884 658 5 828 71,113 8,448 [deficit] Denmark .... 30,022,899 24 15 3,167 232,615 24,521 K fypt 5,002,000 1501 1 570 94,678 14,932 France 633,261,848 32 17 52,636 6,429,101 750,250 Germany .... 843,397,870 15 19 79,384 8,897,608 1,172,343 Great Britain 1,525,007,500 8 41 91,002 7,764,855 2,610,026 Greece 4,148,447 115 2 407 36,217 12,582 Holland .... 79,328,859 10 19 4,713 432,234 113,571 India 3 165,439,644 142 1 36,943 1,003,798 15,906 [deficit] Italy 216,944,382 32 7 18,790 1,418,469 213,537 Japan 86,435,182 27 2 19,028 Norway .... 13,977,444 119 7 1,491 112^79 2 ,595 Portugal .... 18,247,577 34 4 2,457 126,321 10,908 [deficit] Roumania . . 9,491,214 261 2 1,410 163,245 50,030 Russia 124,555,076 1829 1 15,865 2,508,323 230,600 [deficit] Spain ...:.. 101,111,070 74 6 7,112 635,706 336,269 Sweden 37,500,044 90 8 3,905 337,352 39,468 Switzerland . . 71,930,625 5 25 5,936 679,476 49,833 United States S3 69,020 9,610,393 443,569 The crowning improvement in postal matters, that of an international transit entirely free, is merely a question of time. It is the logical, the necessary complement of the work initiated at Paris in 1863, organized at Bern in 1874, revised and methodized again at Paris in 1878. One postal territory, one code of postal regulations, one uniform postal tariff, free conveyance between nation and nation, will be the outcome of this important movement. Comparing the postal traffic of the various quarters of the globe for the year ] 882 we find that out of a total of 8,280,000,000 articles mailed European countries claimed nearly two-thirds, while America had considerably more than one-fourth. The total was distributed as follows : - Europe 5, 624, 000, 000 America 2,366,000,000 Asia 205,000,000 Australia 73, 000, 000 Africa 12,000,000 Bibliography. In addition to books already quoted the reader may consult K. Loeper, StammbucU der nemren Verkehrsmittel, 1881 ; "Die Post in d. Welt- literatur," in L Union Postale, ix. 12-161, 1884; and "Die Disinfection der Postentsendungen als Schvitzmassregel gegen die Einschleppung der Cholera," in Archiv f. Post, April, 1884. See also J. G. Borel, L Europe synoptique des Pastes etdes Telf-graphes, 1SS2 ; Rzcue.il de Renseignements stir le Regime postale en vigueur dans le Service interne des Pays de I Union Postale Universelle. POSTAGE STAMPS. For all practical purposes the history of postage stamps begins in the United Kingdom, and with the great reform of its postal system in 1839-40. A post-paid envelope was in common use in Paris in the year 1653. Stamped postal letter-paper (carta postale bollata} was issued to the public by the Government of the Sardinian states in November 1818 (above, p. 583), and stamped postal envelopes were issued by the same Government from 1820 until 1836. 4 Stamped wrappers for newspapers were made experimentally in London by Mr Charles Whiting, under the name of "go-frees," in 1830. Four years later (June 1834), and in ignorance of what Mr Whiting had already done, the stamp-office authorities, in a letter addressed to Lord Althorp, then chancellor of the 1 Statistique glnerale du Service postal, Bern, 1884. - The number on 1st November 1882. 3 Exclusive of French and Portuguese possessions. 4 Stamp-Collector s Magazine, v. 161 sq. ; J. E. Gray, Illustrated Catalogue of Postage Stamps, 6th ed., 167. exchequer, by Mr Charles Knight, recommended similar wrappers for adoption. Finally, and in its results most important of all, the adhesive stamp was made experi- Inven- mentally by Mr James Chalmers in his printing-office at tion f Dundee in August 1834. 5 These experimental stam were printed from ordinary type, and were made adhesive by a wash of gum. Their inventor had already won local distinction in matters of postal reform by his strenuous and successful efforts, made as early as the year 1822, for the acceleration of the Scottish mails from London. Those efforts resulted in a saving of forty -eight hours on the double mail journey, and were highly appreciated in Scotland. There is evidence that from 1822 onwards his attention was much directed towards postal questions, and that he held correspondence with the postal reformers of his day, both in and out of parliament. It is also plain that he was far more intent upon aiding public improve ments than upon winning credit for them. He made adhesive stamps in 1834, and showed them to his neigh bours, but took no step for publicly recommending their adoption by the post-office until long after such a recom mendation had been published although very hesitatingly by the author of the now famous pamphlet, entitled Post-Office Reform. Mr Hill brought the adhesive stamp under the notice of the commissioners of post-office inquiry on 13th February 1837. Mr Chalmers made no public mention of his stamp of 1834 until December 1837. Only a fortnight before his examination by the above- named commissioners Mr Hill, in his letter to Lord Mont- eagle (then Mr Spring Rice and chancellor of the exchequer), seemed to have no thought of the adhesive stamp. He recommended to the treasury that " stamped covers and sheets of paper be supplied to the public from the stamp- office, or post-office, . . . and sold at such a price as to include the postage. . . . Covers at various prices would be required for packets of various weights. Each should have the weight it is entitled to carry legibly printed with the stamp. . . . Should experience warrant the Govern ment in making the use of stamped covers universal, 7 most important advantages would be secured. The post- office would be relieved altogether from the collection of the revenue." 8 Then, upon suggestion, it would seem, of some possible difficulty that might arise from the occa sional bringing of unstamped letters to a post-office by persons unable to write, he added : "Perhaps this difficulty might be obviated by using a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash." It is a quite fair inference that this alternative had been suggested from without. In reviewing the sub ject, long afterwards, in his History of Penny Postage, Sir R. Hill says : " The post-office opinions as to the use of stamps for ... prepayment were, on the whole, favour able." In a paper of 1839, entitled On the Collection of Postage by means of Stamps, the author continued to look upon " stamped covers or envelopes a,s the means which the public would most commonly employ ; still believing that the adhesive stamp would be reserved for exceptional 5 Patrick Chalmers, Sir Roivland Hill and James Chalmers, Inventor of the Adhesive Stamp (London, 1882), passim. See also the same writer s pamphlet, entitled The Position of Sir Rowland Hill made plain (1882), and his The Adhesive. Stamp: a Fresh Chapter in the History of Post-Office Reform (1881). Compare Mr Pearson Hill s tract, A Paper on Postage Stamps, in reply to Mr Chalmers, reprinted from the Philatelic Record of November 1881. Mr Hill has therein shown conclusively the priority of publication by Sir Rowland Hill. He has also given proof of Mr James Chalmers s express acknowledgment of that priority. But he has not weakened the evidence of the priority of invention by Mr Chalmers. 6 Ninth Report of Commissioners of Post-Office Inquiry, 1837, pp. 32, 33, reprinted in Sir R. Hill s "History of Penny Postage" (Life, &c., ii. 270). 7 I.e., by prohibiting the prepayment of letters in money. 8 Ninth Report, as above.
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