forking [ postal sle- raphs. leceipts ad ex- endi- ire of ilegraph epart- eut. FINANCE.] By the terms of the Act of 1868, establishing the system of postal telegraphs, all the railway companies retain the privilege of transmitting messages relating to their own service free of charge, on the wires running along their lines. To the public a uniform rate of transmission is charged, irrespective of distance. The charge was fixed, provisionally, at one shilling for every twenty w r ords, and threepence for every additional word, the names and addresses of senders and receivers not being included in the number. The payments were originally made in postage stamps ; but on the 1st of April 1876, distinctive telegraph stamps for the prepayment of messages were in troduced. Forms of receipts for messages were brought into use on the 1st of February of the same year, but it was stated in the twenty-third report of the postmaster- general, dated August 4, 1877, that up to that time "very little use had been made " of this innovation by the public. The subjoined table gives the total receipts and the net revenue of the postal telegraphs, from their establishment, on the 5th of February 1870, to the end of the financial year 1876-77 : Years ended 31st March. Total Telegraph Kevenue. Telegraph Working Expenses. Net Revenue. 1870 (2 months) 1871
100,760 696,934
62,273 394,477
38,487 303,457 1872 751,611 591,776 159,835 1873 9S9 921 874 946 114 975 1874 1,083 466 967 790 115 676 1875 1,137,079 1,077,347 59,732 1876 1,276,662 1 031 524 245 116 1877 . . . 1 313 107 1 123 257 189 850 >evenue bd ex- jsndi- jtre of lie post- jSce, ex- asive I tele- raphs . taff of ic post
- fice.
The total gross receipts of the post-office, from postage, money orders, and other sources, exclusive of telegraphs, in the financial year ending March 31, 1877, amounted to 6,017,072, and the total expenditure to 4,070,006, leaving a net revenue of l,9i7,066. In the year 1840, the date of the introduction of the " penny post " and the estab lishment of the post-office on its present organization, the total gross receipts were 1,359,466, while the net revenue was 500,789. The gross receipts increased at a much larger rate within the period from 1840 to 1877 than the net receipts, which latter fell for some years, notably from 1867 to 1871, through great and costly improvements being made in the service. The chief branches of expenditure in the year ended March 31, 1877, were 2,046,065 for salaries, wages, and pensions ; 779,632 for conveyance of letters and packets by mail boats and private ships ; 684,465 for conveyance of letters by railways ; and 171,370 for the same service done by coaches, carts, and other vehicles. The total expenditure of the money-order department in the year ended March 31, 1877, resulted, according to the report of the postmaster-general before cited, in a loss of 10,000, which deficit was expected to be greater in future years, owing to " the large increase in the number of inland money orders for small amounts, on which the commission is insufficient to cover the cost of the service." Staff. The total staff of officers and servants employed by the post-office at the end of 1876 was 45,024, in clusive of 11,654 persons attendingly solely to telegraph duties. Of post-office clerks there were at the date 3380 ; of postmasters, 13,447 ; and of letter carriers, sorters, and post-office messengers, 16,327. In London alone, the staff of the post-office comprised 10,380 persons, of which number 5500 were attached to the chief offices in St Martin s-le-Grand. In 1840 the total number of post- offices in the United Kingdom was 4500 ; and at the end of 1876 they had increased to 13,447, besides which there were 10,724 road letter-boxes. It is now an established 241 fact that nut any other Government department of modern times has succeeded like the post-office in the double task of augmenting the welfare of the nation and at the same time increasing the public revenue. IX. National Revenue and Expenditure. Taxation. The finances of no European state are in a more admit- Financial able condition than those of the United Kingdom. Not periods only is the national revenue, requisite to meet the expendi- * ture, raised with the utmost facility, but for many years 18 yj the balance of them has been complete, an annual surplus being the rule, and a deficit the exception, in most financial periods. In the half century intervening between the years 1827-28 and 1876-77, both the expenditure and revenue rose to but a comparatively small degree, far below all proportion with the vastly increased wealth of the nation during the same period. In the financial year 1827-28 the total public revenue amounted to 54,932,518, and the expenditure to 53,800,291; while in the financial year 1840-41 the total revenue was 47,433,399, and the total expenditure 49,285,396. Thus, in the course of thirteen years, the fiscal burthens laid upon the population, augmented by nearly two millions in the meantime, in stead of being increased, had been greatly lessened. Sub sequently, from 1841 to 1877, a gradually increasing ex penditure took place, together with a rising public revenue ; but the upward movement was slight, and much below the growth of the population in numbers, and, still more, in wealth. At the end of the next decennial period, in the financial year 1850-51, the total revenue had risen to 53,057,053, and the expenditure to 49,882,322 ; and at the end of another decennial period, in the financial year 1860-61, the revenue stood at 70,283,674, and the expenditure at 72,792,059. At the end of the next decennial period, in the financial year 1870-71, the total revenue had fallen to 69,945,220, and the expendi ture to 69,548,539. During the whole of the thirty years from 1840-41 to 1870-71, there were but few annual periods without a surplus of revenue over expenditure. The subjoined table shows the total revenue and the total Annual expenditure of the government, together with the propor- ^ d e " 1 ^ tion of receipts per head of population of the United King- p em u. dom, in every fifth financial year from 1841 to 1871, and ture from each year thereafter to 1877. Up to 1854, the financial 1841 to years ended April 5 ; but, commencing from 1855, the 18 ^ financial years ended March 31. Till the year ending March 31, 1856, the net revenue and expenditure were always given in the official returns; but, commencing with the year ending March 31, 1871, the accounts furnished, more correctly, the gross expenditure and revenue, the latter including charges for its collection : Proportion of Tears ended April 5th and March 31st. Total Revenue. Total Expenditure. Revenue per Head of Population of United Kingdom.
s. d.
1841
47,433,399
49,285,396
1 15 9
1846
52,009,324
49,628,724
1 17 5
1851
53,057,053
49,882,322
1 18 6
1856
65,704,491
88,428,345
2 10 7
1861
70,283,674
72,792,059
2 8 10
1866
67,812,292
65,914,357
251
1871
69 945,220
69,548,539
245
1872
74;70S,3H
71,490,020
273
1873
76.608.770
70,714,4^8
282
1874
77,335>57
76,466,510
282
1875
74,921,873
74.328,040
263
1876
77,131,693
76,621,773
2 7 1
1877
78,565,036
78,125,227
276
The largest surplus in the course of the thirty-six years
from 1840-41 to 1876-77 occurred in the financial year
