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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
236
During
the
month
of
May,
1863,
a
Postal
Congress--the
first
of
the
kind--originated,
we
believe,
by
Mr.
Rasson
of
the
United
States,
assembled
at
the
Bureau
des
Postes,
in
the
Rue
Jean
Jacques,
Paris,
under
the
presidency
of
the
French
Postmaster-General,
M.
Vandal.
The
object
of
the
Congress
was
"the
improvement
of
postal
communication
between
the
principal
commercial
nations
of
the
world."
As
we
find
that
the
little
republic
of
Ecuador
was
represented,
the
postal
affairs
of
little
kingdoms
were
also
not
overlooked.
Each
civilized
nation
was
asked
to
send
a
delegate,
and
all
the
most
important
States
responded.
Mr.
Frederic
Hill,
brother
of
Sir
Rowland
Hill,
and
Assistant
Secretary,
was
the
English
representative;
the
President
represented
France;
M.
Metzler,
Prussia;
Mr.
Rasson,
the
United
States;
M.
Hencke,
Hamburg,
&c.
&c.
The
prepayment
of
foreign
letters
was
one
of
the
most
difficult
subjects
discussed.
The
Congress
came
to
the
conclusion
that
it
would
be
best
to
leave
it
optional
with
the
writer
of
the
letter
whether
the
postage
should
be
paid
to
its
destination,
or
paid
on
receipt;
in
the
latter
case,
however,
it
was
thought
desirable
that
a
moderate
additional
postage
should
be
charged.
Another
important
matter
was
settled
in
a
conclusive
manner.
It
was
first
decided
that
the
postage
of
foreign
letters
should
be
regulated
by
weight:
it
then
became
highly
necessary,
in
order
to
the
carrying
out
of
this
decision,
that
the
postage
should
be
calculated
by
a
common
standard;
hence
the
following
resolution,
which
was
agreed
to--"The
metrical
decimal
system,
being
of
all
systems
of
weighing
that
which
is
best
suited
to
the
requirements
of
the
postal
service,
it
is
expedient
to
adopt
it
for
the
international
postal
relations,
to
the
exclusion
of
every
other
system."
Other
subjects
of
lesser
importance,
such
as
the
route
of
foreign
letters,
the
division
of
postage
rates,
the
transmission
of
coin
in
letters
(which
they
agreed
to
allow),
were
discussed
very
fully
and,
we
are
assured,
very
amicably.
The
Congress
seems
to
have
arrived
at
a
good
understanding
of
the
principles
of
postal
reciprocity,
and
good
will
doubtless
be
the
result.
The
Postal
Congress
of
last
year
was
a
Peace
Congress
of
the
most
efficient
kind,
and
in
every
sense
of
the
term.
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