forming part of the mail-train, where letters are arranged during transit, and which sometimes receive and drop the letter-bags while the train is going at full speed.
In 1812 the rates of postage on letters were fixed at 4d. for 15 miles, with a regular increase up to 17d., which was the charge for any distance over 700 miles. In 1837 a plan of post-office reform was suggested by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Rowland Hill, the adoption of which not only immensely increased the utility of the post-office, but changed its whole administration. Its principal features were the adoption of a uniform and low rate of postage, a charge by weight, and prepayment. The new system came into full operation in 1840. A penny was adopted as the uniform rate for every inland letter not above half an ounce in weight. Facilities for prepayment were afforded by the introduction of postage stamps, and double postage was levied on letters not prepaid. Arrangements were made for the registration of letters; and the money-order office, by a reduction of the commission charged for orders, became available to an extent which it had never been before. The immediate result of these changes was an enormous increase in the amount of correspondence, arising in part from the cessation of the illicit traffic in letters, which had so largely prevailed before; but for some years there was a deficit in the post-office revenue. Since 1897 the rates have been as follows when prepaid: Not exceeding 4 ounces, 1d.; over 4 ounces and not exceeding 6 ounces, 1½d.; over 6 ounces and not exceeding 8 ounces, 2d., and so on at the rate of one halfpenny for every additional two ounces. A letter posted unpaid is charged double postage. Letters insufficiently stamped are charged double the deficiency on delivery. Redirected letters are charged additional postage at the prepaid rate; and this may either be prepaid or charged on delivery. Letters for officers, soldiers, or seamen on actual service abroad are redirected without charge. The same privilege extends—with several restrictions—to such letters redirected at home. By paying ½d. extra, letters may be posted in the boxes attached to mail trains, in which sorting is performed.
The home and foreign mail-packet service was, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in the hands of the post-office authorities, but was removed to the Board of Admiralty, under whose control it remained till 1860, when it was again restored to the post-office. Steam-vessels were first used for conveying the mail in 1821; and in 1833 mail contracts were introduced, the first being with the Mona Steam Company to run steamers from Liverpool to Douglas in the Isle of Man. Of the home mail-packet contracts, the most important are those with the City of Dublin Steam-Packet Company for conveying the Irish mails between Holyhead and Kingstown. The principal foreign contracts are for the Indian and Chinese mails, entered into with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the mails to North and South America, the West Indies, the Australian colonies, and the Cape.
In 1901 there were 22,189 post-offices in the United Kingdom besides 33,590 road and pillar letter-boxes. The total number of letters delivered during the year was 2,323,600,000, as against 1,097,000,000 in 1879. The total number of post cards, books, newspapers, and parcels delivered through the mails amounted to 1,400,200,000. The number of money orders issued was 13,263,567, with an aggergate value of £39,374,665. The number of ‘postal orders’ issued amounted to 85,390,029, with an aggregate value of £29,881,726. The total receipts of the post-office exclusive of the income from the telegraphic service was £13,995,470, while the expenditures were £9,064,903, leaving a balance of £3,930,567.
The postal service of the United Kingdom is now under the immediate control of the Postmaster-General assisted by the chief secretary of the post-office in London, a financial secretary, and four other secretaries. There are also chief officers in Edinburgh and Dublin, with secretarial and other departmental staffs. The Postmaster-General is a member of the Privy Council, and sometimes a Cabinet Minister. He is the only officer connected with the department who leaves office on a change of Ministry. The secretary is his responsible adviser. The receiver and accountant-general keeps account of the money received by each department, receiving remittances from branch and provincial offices, and taking charge of the payment of all salaries, pensions, and items of current expenditure. The surveyors are the connecting link between the metropolitan and provincial officers, each postmaster, with some exceptions, being under the superintendence of the surveyor of his district. In 1900 the staff of officers employed in the post-office, including those engaged in telegraph work, was over 167,000.
Postal Savings Banks. See under that heading.
Post-Office Insurance. The system of post-office insurance, first established by the English Government through the Government Annuities Act of 1864, like the system of postal savings banks, was primarily intended for the promotion of habits of thrift among the working people. For many years the Government had sold terminable annuities for one life, two lives, or a term of years, through the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt. The act of 1864, which went into effect April 17, 1865, provided for the sale of such annuities of any amount between £4 and £50 through the Post-Office Department. It further authorized the Postmaster-General to insure the lives of persons between the ages of 16 and 60 inclusive for any amount between £20 and £100. But little advantage was taken of the provisions of the act, only 6524 contracts for life insurance having been entered into up to 1882. In that year the act now in force was passed. By its terms annuities, either immediate or deferred, are issued to persons not less than 5 years of age for any amount between £1 and £100. Insurance, either life or endowment, may be taken out by any person between the ages of 14 and 65 inclusive. The amount of the insurance may vary from £5 to £100. Insurance for £5 may be taken out on the lives of children from 8 to 13 years of age. Insurance for £25 or less may be issued without a medical examination, provided the insured presents other satisfactory evidence of good health. Such policies provide, however, that, if the insured dies within two years of the issuance of the policy, the beneficiary shall not receive the full amount of his policy. Premiums may be paid in a lump sum in advance, or in installments. In 1896 new premium rates were
