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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
380
[203]
The
Chancellor
of
the
Exchequer,
in
his
place
in
Parliament,
has
just
adverted
(April)
to
the
argument
indicated
above.
"If
the
Post-Office
revenue
be
abandoned
in
whole,
or
in
part,
a
gap
will
be
created
which
will
have
to
be
supplied
by
direct
taxation."
That
our
postage
rates
may
be
regarded
as
a
kind
of
mild
taxation,
not
unfairly
levied,
and
that
the
work
is
done
by
the
State
with
more
uniformity
of
purpose
and
greater
regularity
than
would
be
possible
under
any
private
company,
our
senators
agree,
perhaps
with
the
single
exception
of
Mr.
Roebuck.
That
gentleman,
however,
it
will
be
remembered,
held
that
Sebastapol
might
have
been
reduced
more
easily
had
the
business
been
made
a
subject
of
contract!
With
respect
to
the
state
monopoly
and
the
advantages
derived
from
it,
political
economists
are
also
pretty
well
agreed.
Blackstone
has
been
referred
to
previously.
Sergeant
Stephens,
in
his
Commentaries,
endorses
Blackstone's
views.
Mr.
M'Cullagh,
in
his
Principles
of
Political
Economy,
is
so
clear
on
this
point
that
we
venture
to
make
a
quotation:
"Perhaps,
with
the
single
exception
of
the
carriage
of
letters,
there
is
no
branch
of
industry
which
Government
had
not
better
leave
to
be
conducted
by
individuals.
It
does
not,
however,
appear
that
the
Post-Office
could
be
so
well
conducted
by
any
other
party
as
by
Government;
the
latter
only
can
enforce
perfect
regularity
in
all
its
subordinate
departments,
can
carry
it
into
the
smallest
villages
and
even
beyond
the
frontier,
and
can
combine
all
its
separate
parts
into
one
uniform
system
on
which
the
public
may
rely
for
security
and
despatch.
Besides
providing
for
the
speedy
and
safe
communication
of
intelligence,
the
Post-Office
has
everywhere
almost
been
rendered
subservient
to
fiscal
purposes,
and
made
a
source
of
revenue;
and
provided
the
duty
on
letters
be
not
so
heavy
as
to
oppose
any
very
serious
obstacle
to
the
frequency
and
facility
of
correspondence,
it
seems
to
be
a
most
unobjectionable
tax;
and
is
paid
and
collected
with
little
trouble
and
inconvenience."
Fourth
Edition,
1849,
pp.
296-7.
See
also
M'Cullagh's
Commercial
Dictionary,
where
he
speaks
still
more
decidedly,
and
Mr.
Senior's
Political
Economy.
Sydney
Smith,
who
with
Mr.
M'Cullagh
was
opposed
to
the
penny-postage
movement,
was
favourable
to
the
Government
monopoly
of
the
Post-Office.
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