stamped cover in his reply. If to save another so small a charge as a penny were considered a matter of propriety, the means here described would soon be established by custom; the stamped cover being enclosed and received without remark. It appears, then, that the second class of letters, as well as the first, would not be affected by the obligation to pay the postage in advance.
The third class, that containing the detached letters which are paid for by the writer, is obviously provided for by the proposed arrangement.
The fourth class, or that containing the detached letters which are now paid for by the receiver, is therefore the only class which presents any difficulty.
With reference to this class it may be remarked that it is exceedingly small, containing, probably, not so many as one letter out of twenty; and even of this small number the probability is, that few would be affected by the regulation in question. The class consists chiefly of orders for goods, or instructions to tradesmen and others, which partake of the nature of orders. I can scarcely think that the necessity for paying the postage of one penny could interfere to prevent the sending of such letters to any appreciable extent; but should it ever so operate, the dealers, rather than have their business thus obstructed, would soon make it their practice to allow the postage of orders, &c., in deduction from the amounts of their bills.
The remainder of this class of letters consists, I believe entirely, either of such as ought not to be sent unpaid, as letters soliciting orders, subscriptions, &c.; or such as ought not to be sent at all, as those written by vindictive people for the purpose of putting the receivers to the expense of postage. If the postage were necessarily paid in advance, many of the first description of letters would be sent post-paid; the remainder, together with the whole of the second description of letters, would undoubtedly be suppressed: but this, so far from being an objection, is no inconsiderable recommendation to the proposed plan. It would deprive the thoughtless, the impertinent, and the malicious, of a means of annoying others, which is now but too often resorted to;
