The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance

We will mention one thing which, perhaps more than any other, excites the public to use the taunt of red tape. It is a printed reply to a complaint, commonly spoken of as the "stereotyped reply." The public do not know how carefully and conscientiously delays and reported losses of letters are investigated in the Post-office. Inquiries are made in every office through which the letters would pass in transit, and records made, lest an explanation should afterwards be forthcoming; but after all, in the eyes of some persons, the printed reply spoils all. These persons forget, however, that the printed letter conveys all that is to be said on the subject, and that it is used in the interests of economy. It may be admitted of the Post-office, that of all its characteristics, the most prominent is that of its method, routine, or red-tapeism, in the limited sense of what is necessary for the furtherance of the public service; but there is, perhaps, no concern of like magnitude in the world in which there is less of the musty fusty red tape of antiquity that has outlived its time, and no longer serves any useful purpose.