at the houses of the subscribers; but the penny charged for the magazine includes not only the cost of distribution, but the cost of eight large pages of letter-press and wood-cuts; and yet it is well known that the undertaking is a profitable one.
The carriers who ply between Birmingham and the neighbouring towns, to a distance of 12 or 13 miles, are in the constant habit of conveying letters, which they deliver at one penny each. It is very improbable that the carriers have any well-organised system of distribution, and of course they must be paid something for their risk in breaking the law; although, from the open manner in which they proceed, it may be inferred that the chance of penalty is not very great. I have been informed by a highly respectable merchant and manufacturer of Birmingham, that the number of letters distributed by these means very greatly exceeds, in his opinion, the number distributed within the same district by the Post Office.
It appears then that the cost of primary distribution can be reduced from 84 hundredths of a penny (p. 16) to 32 hundredths of a penny (p. 33) per letter, if the charge for postage can be reduced so low as to neutralise the objection on the part of the public to its being paid in advance; and if the assumed increase in the number of letters can be brought about. But the required increase in the number of letters must depend mainly on the extent to which the postage is reduced. An extensive reduction of postage appears
