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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
220
Wires
having
been
laid
down
to
St.
Martin's-le-Grand
from
the
different
railway
stations,
telegraph
messages
were
first
used
to
expedite
post-office
business
on
the
31st
of
August,
1849.
All
important
matters,
such
as
bag
or
registered
letter
irregularities,
requiring
prompt
notice,
are
made
known
or
explained
through
the
medium
of
the
electric
telegraph.
Commissioners
were
appointed
from
about
this
year
to
secure
the
services
of
railways
on
the
most
equitable
terms,
and
to
arbitrate
for
that
purpose
between
the
Post-Office
and
the
railway
companies.
The
Committee,
on
the
conveyance
of
mails
by
railways,
suggested
this
course.
On
the
debate
which
followed
the
report
of
the
Committee
to
which
we
have
before
alluded,
Sir
Robert
Peel
frankly
acknowledged
"the
enormous
error"
into
which
he,
and
the
House
generally
"had
fallen
when
the
railroad
bills
were
under
discussion.
They
ought
to
have
foreseen,"
said
he,
"when
these
bills
were
before
them,
that
they
were
in
fact
establishing
a
monopoly,
a
monopoly
in
respect
to
which
there
could
be
no
future
condition.
They
ought
to
have
foreseen
that,
if
the
railroads
were
successful,
other
modes
of
internal
communication
would
almost
necessarily
fall
into
disuse,
and
they
ought,
therefore,
to
have
stipulated--as
it
would
have
been
perfectly
just
and
easy
for
them
to
have
done--that
certain
public
services
should
be
performed
at
a
reasonable
rate."
However,
as
this
had
not
been
done,
Parliament
could
only
fall
back
upon
its
inherent
right
to
say
on
what
terms
such
services
should
be
provided
from
time
to
time;
for
which
purpose
they
could
not
do
better
than
employ
arbitration,
as
it
was
the
same
course
pursued
when
the
companies
disputed
with
the
owners
of
property
the
value
of
land
compulsorily
taken
for
railway
works.
Sir
James
Graham[130]
moved
a
declaratory
clause
on
the
occasion,
that
arbitrators
should
take
into
consideration
the
cost
of
the
construction
of
the
particular
lines
in
awarding
the
sums
for
different
services.
Mr.
Labouchere,
the
Vice-President
of
the
Board
of
Trade,
speaking
for
the
Government,
wished
the
arbitrators
to
be
wholly
free,
but
he
gave
a
pledge
on
behalf
of
the
Post-Office
that
no
attempt
would
be
made
to
exclude
the
cost
of
construction
from
the
consideration
of
the
arbitrators.
With
this
assurance,
the
Opposition
expressed
themselves
satisfied.
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