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    THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE IN
    BRITISH NORTH AMERICA



    CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
    C. F. CLAY, MANAGER
    LONDON: FETTER LANE, E.C. 4

    [Illustration]

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    TORONTO:    THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
    TOKYO:      MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA

    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED



    THE HISTORY
    OF THE POST OFFICE IN
    BRITISH NORTH AMERICA

    1639-1870

    BY
    WILLIAM SMITH
    SOMETIME SECRETARY OF THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT OF CANADA

    CAMBRIDGE
    AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
    1920



    PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
    RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
    BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1,
    AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.




PREFACE


My purpose, in the searches for material which led to the present
volume, has been to give as complete an account as it lay in my power to
do, of the beginnings and growth of the Canadian post office, with which
I was associated for thirty-six years. As my studies progressed,
however, I found it would be necessary to widen my field.

The Canadian post office did not come into being as an independent
organization. It was but the extension into newly-acquired territories,
of a system which had been in operation for nearly three-quarters of a
century, with well-established modes of administration. Obviously,
either reference should be made to well-known works on the older
colonial postal system, or an account of it must be attempted in this
volume.

Although careful studies of some aspects of this history have been made,
this part of colonial history has, on the whole, received less of the
attention of students than has been devoted to throwing light upon other
phases of that history; and, what was important for my purpose, little
has been done in the way of describing the relations between the
colonial postal system and the general post office in London, to which
it was subordinate.

The materials for this portion of the history are to be found in the
records of the general post office, London, the British Museum, and in
the journals of the colonial legislatures. A very interesting document
is Franklin's Account Book, which is in the Boston Public Library.

The materials for the history of the post office in the provinces now
composing the Dominion of Canada, are in the records of the general post
office, the larger portion of which have been transcribed for the Public
Archives of Canada; in the correspondence between the colonial governors
and the colonial office, which can be found either in the original or in
transcripts in the Public Archives, and in the Journals of the
Provincial Legislatures.

In the preparation of the chapter on the postal service of Newfoundland,
I had the advantage of a rather close acquaintance with that service,
due to my having had charge of it some years ago for a period of several
months. The material on which the chapter is founded has been gathered
from the records of the general post office, and the legislative papers
of the colony.

In collecting my material, I have received ready assistance from all to
whom I have applied. To all these my hearty gratitude is tendered. A
word of special acknowledgment is due to Mr. Edward Porritt, author of
_The Unreformed Parliament of Great Britain_, who kindly read the
manuscript, and to whose experience I am indebted for many valuable
suggestions.

                                                        WILLIAM SMITH.

_August 1920._




CONTENTS


                                                                   PAGE
  CHAPTER I                                                           1

    Beginnings of postal service in former American colonies.

  CHAPTER II                                                         18

    Colonial post office under Queen Anne's act--Early packet
    service.

  CHAPTER III                                                        37

    Communications in Canada prior to the Conquest--Extension
    of colonial postal service to Canada--Effects of colonial
    discontents on post office.

  CHAPTER IV                                                         58

    The post office during the Revolution--Its suppression.

  CHAPTER V                                                          74

    Beginnings of exclusively Canadian postal service--
    Administration of Hugh Finlay--Opening of communication
    with England by way of Halifax--Postal convention with
    United States.

  CHAPTER VI                                                         96

    Administration of George Heriot--Extension of postal service
    in Upper Canada--Irritating restrictions imposed by general
    post office--Disputes with the administrator of the colony.

  CHAPTER VII                                                       114

    Administration of Daniel Sutherland--Postal service on the
    Ottawa river, and to eastern townships--Ocean mails.

  CHAPTER VIII                                                      131

    Postal conditions in Upper Canada--Serious abuses--Agitation
    for provincial control.

  CHAPTER IX                                                        153

    Thomas Allen Stayner deputy postmaster general--Restrictions
    of general post office relaxed--Grievances of newspaper
    publishers--Opinion of law officers of the crown that
    postmaster general's stand is untenable--Consequences.

  CHAPTER X                                                         173

    The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime
    provinces--Complaints of newspaper publishers--Reception
    given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances.

  CHAPTER XI                                                        193

    Continuance of agitation in the Canadas for control of the
    post office--Much information obtained by committees of
    legislatures--Difficulty in giving effect to reforms.

  CHAPTER XII                                                       212

    Durham's report on the post office--Effects of rebellion of
    1837 on the service--Ocean steamships to carry the mails--The
    Cunard contract--Reduction of Transatlantic postage.

  CHAPTER XIII                                                      230

    Diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general--Commission
    on post office appointed--Its report--Efforts to secure reduction
    of postal charges.

  CHAPTER XIV                                                       243

    Continuation of account of post office in Maritime provinces--
    Departmental inquiry into conditions--Agitation for reduced
    postage.

  CHAPTER XV                                                        263

    Reversal of attitude of British government on post office
    control--Instructions to Lord Elgin--Provincial postal
    conference--Control of post office relinquished to colonies.

  CHAPTER XVI                                                       273

    Provincial administration of the post office--Reduced postage--
    Railway mail service--Arrangements with United States.

  CHAPTER XVII                                                      284

    Canadian ocean mail service--Want of sympathy of British
    government therewith.

  CHAPTER XVIII                                                     302

    Canadian ocean mail service (_cont._)--Series of disasters to
    Allan line steamers.

  CHAPTER XIX                                                       316

    Postal service of Manitoba, the North-West Provinces and British
    Columbia--Summary of progress since Confederation.

  CHAPTER XX                                                        333

    The post office in Newfoundland.

  INDEX                                                             347




PORTRAITS


  WILLIAM HENRY GRIFFIN, C.M.G.                   _To face page_    273
  WILLIAM WHITE, C.M.G.                                 "           284
  ROBERT MILLAR COULTER, M.D., C.M.G.                   "           326




HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA




CHAPTER I

     Beginnings of postal service in former American colonies.


Benjamin Franklin relates that when the news reached America in 1763
that peace had been concluded between England and France, he made
preparations to visit Canada, for the purpose of extending to it the
postal service of the North American colonies, and that the joy bells
were still ringing when he left Philadelphia on his journey northward.
Franklin has universal fame as a philosopher and statesman, but is
perhaps less widely known as one of the deputies of the postmaster
general of England. He had, however, a long and useful connection with
the post office a quarter of a century before this time. He was
appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737,[1] and for many years
combined the duties of this office with that of newspaper publisher. He
became deputy postmaster general in 1753.[2] Canada had been in the
hands of the British since 1760, and until a regular system of
government was established in 1764, its affairs were administered by a
military council, which among other matters provided a rudimentary
postal service. The merchants of Quebec were desirous of a regular post
office; and, owing to Franklin's promptness, the post office was the
first of the institutions of government which was placed on a settled
footing after Canada became a British province.

On arriving at Quebec, Franklin opened a post office there with
subordinate offices at Three Rivers and Montreal,[3] and established a
monthly service between the Canadian post offices and New York,
arranging the trips so that the courier should make as close connection
as possible with the packet boats which sailed monthly each way between
New York and Falmouth, England.

The postal system into which Canada was thus incorporated was of vast
extent. It stretched from the river St. Lawrence to Florida. New York
was its pivotal point, the mail couriers running north and south
connecting there with one another, and with the packets from England.
The system was under the control of two deputies, of equal authority,
one of whom was Franklin, and the other John Foxcroft. As this system
had a long history when Canada came to be comprised in it, it seems
essential to a proper presentation of the subject that a sketch of that
history should be furnished.

The first notice of a post office in North America appears in the
records of the general court of Massachusetts Bay for the year 1639. The
colony was just ten years old. Letters from home, always eagerly looked
for, were then awaited with double anxiety in view of the distracted
state of England.

King Charles was at this time midway in the course of his great
experiment in absolute government, which ten years before had driven
these people from their homes, and ten years later was to carry him to
the block.

Some effective arrangement for the exchange of correspondence between
New and Old England was a necessity. Until 1639 there was none. On the
English side, it was the practice for sea captains, who intended making
a trip to America, to give public notice of the fact, and to place a bag
for the reception of letters in one of the coffee houses. On the day of
sailing, the bag was closed and taken on board the vessel to America.

It was at this point that the scheme failed. There was no one in America
charged with the duty of receiving and distributing the letters; and
consequently, many letters were misdelivered, and many not delivered at
all. It was to provide a remedy for this state of things that an
ordinance[4] was passed on the 5th of November, 1639.

By this ordinance public notice was given that all letters from beyond
the seas were to be taken to the tavern kept by Richard Fairbank, in
Boston, who engaged that they should be delivered according to their
addresses. He was to receive a penny for every letter he delivered, and
was to answer for all miscarriages due to his neglect. The Fairbank's
tavern was a resort of some prominence. Through the correspondence of
the time, it appears as the meeting place for various committees of the
colony, and returns to the surveyor general were ordered to be made at
Fairbank's in 1645.

The ordinance of 1639, besides giving directions for the receipt and
delivery of letters coming to Boston from beyond the sea, also
authorized Fairbank to provide for the despatch of letters posted at his
house, and addressed to places abroad. He was licensed to receive
letters from the citizens of Boston for transmission across the sea; but
the ordinance laid it down carefully that "no man shall be compelled to
bring his letters thither unless he please."

This proviso is quite in keeping with the spirit of the time. At present
and for more than two centuries past, the exclusive right of the post
office to engage in the conveyance of letters is conceded without
question. But at that time, its claims to a monopoly in letter carrying
were contested on all sides.

Indeed anything presenting the appearance of a monopoly found small
favour. The natural jealousy with which every claim to exclusive
privilege is viewed, was heightened to the point of hatred during the
struggle for constitutional government, by the fact that trading
monopolies which were granted to courtiers, not only enhanced
unreasonably the price of many of the necessities of life, but also
furnished the means, which enabled the king to pursue his illegal and
arbitrary courses in defiance of parliament.

The privy council in England had adopted in 1635 a scheme for the
administration of the post office, one of the features of which was the
bestowal upon it of the sole right to carry on the business of conveying
and delivering letters in England. This was contested in the courts, and
in 1646 was pronounced illegal.

The claim had received an earlier blow at the hands of the long
parliament, which in 1642 condemned the post office monopoly. The
arguments for monopoly, however, were not long to be gainsaid; and when
Cromwell took up the question of the post office, and passed a
comprehensive act on the subject in 1656, the monopoly as regards the
conveyance of letters was conferred on the post office in express terms.

This act was confirmed after the Restoration in 1660; and the post
office has remained undisturbed in the enjoyment of its monopoly since
that date. In the North American colonies, the post office monopoly was
never popular, though, owing to the ease with which it was evaded, it
was regarded with indifference until close upon the war of the
Revolution.

In 1663, the English government began to see the necessity for a postal
service between England and its colonies in America. On the 1st of June
of that year, the king wrote to the governor of Barbados[5] that it had
become a matter of daily complaint that there was no safe means of
communication with Virginia, New England, Jamaica, Barbados and other
colonies in America; and he directed the governor to establish a post
office within Barbados and the Caribbee Islands.

The post office was to be under the control of the postmaster general of
England, to whom the accounts should be sent; and the rates of postage
were to be the same as those fixed for England by the act of 1660.
Nothing seems to have been done at this time towards establishing a post
office in either Virginia or New England.

So far as the interests and convenience of the people of New England
were concerned, these in no way suffered from the lack of attention on
the part of the home government. The coffee house on the one side, and
the tavern on the other, with the vessels passing between as often as
business warranted, answered every reasonable demand.

In Virginia it would not appear that the legislature at this period took
any steps towards providing a place of deposit and delivery, such as
Fairbank's, for letters passing between the colonists and their
correspondents beyond the sea. But the want of this convenience caused
little restriction on the exchange of letters by means of the trading
vessels which visited Jamestown.

New York contained the only other considerable group of settlers at this
time. It was a recent acquisition, having passed into the hands of the
English in 1664. The Dutch, the former possessors, had arrangements for
the exchange of letters with Amsterdam, not dissimilar from those in
force in New England. In 1652 the Dutch West India Company informed
their director general in New Amsterdam, that having observed that
"private parties give their letters to this or that sailor or free
merchant, which letters to their great disadvantage are often lost
through neglect, remaining forgotten in the boxes or because one or the
other removes to another place," they had a box hung up at their place
of meeting in which letters might be deposited for despatch by the first
vessel sailing; and they directed that the same step might be taken in
New Netherland.[6]

Seven years later, finding that the people of New Netherland persisted
in disregarding the measures taken for the safety of their letters, the
company repeated their order, and reinforced it by a fine of one hundred
Carolus guilders for each infraction.[7]

For some years after 1664, the trade between England and its new
possession was of small proportions, and the opportunities for sending
letters from one to the other, few. Lord Cornbury, as late as 1702,[8]
informed the Lords of Trade that there were so few vessels running
between New York and ports in England that he had to depend for his
correspondence on Boston or Philadelphia, which places had regular
communication with the mother country.

Nor was the case of New York materially improved in 1708. Cornbury, in
that year, pleaded with the board of trade for a regular packet service
to some part of the American continent. Sometimes many months elapsed,
without his hearing in any way from home. Before he received his last
letters in May, he had heard nothing from England for fifteen months.

There were but two safe ways of sending letters to England, which were
the Virginia fleet, and the Mast fleet of New England. From Virginia
there was no post, and it was very hard to know when that fleet would
sail. From Boston there was a post by which Cornbury could hear once a
week in summer, and once a fortnight in winter, so that they had a sure
conveyance by the Mast fleet. Advantage had to be taken, as opportunity
offered, Cornbury informed the board of trade, of the packets running
from the West Indies to England, but as several of the packet boats had
been captured, this was a very uncertain mode of communication.

But, although the three groups of colonies had each its own connection
with England, until 1672 there was no connection whatever between these
groups. Nor was any thought to be necessary. The groups were separated
from one another not only by space, but by social and political
differences.

The Puritans of New England and the Cavaliers of Virginia, had little in
common but the memories of a quarrel, which was still warm; and New York
was still largely Dutch, though even at that date it was taking on the
cosmopolitan character, which has since distinguished it.

As for the trade of the colonies, Mr. Woodrow Wilson stated--"the main
lines of trade run straight to the mother country, and were protected
when there was need by English fleets. Both the laws of parliament and
their own interest bound the trade of the colonies to England. The
Navigation Act of 1660 forbade all trade with the colonies except in
English bottoms; forbade also, the shipment of tobacco any whither but
to England itself; and an act of 1663 forbade the importation of
anything at all except out of England, which it was then once for all
determined must be the entrepôt and place of staple for all foreign
trade. It was the Dutch against whom these acts were aimed."[9]

As has happened so often, however, that which could not be accomplished
by reason of the feebleness of the common interest was brought about by
the presence of impending danger. In 1672, war broke out between the
English and the Dutch, the object of which was maritime supremacy and
colonial expansion. The stakes were the colonies in Africa, the East
Indies, the West Indies and America.

The English having ousted their rivals from New York presented a strong
front on the North American continent; and the only thing lacking was
cohesion among the several colonies. At the outbreak of the war, the
king directed governor Lovelace, of New York, to see what could be done
towards establishing a regular postal communication between the
colonies.

Lovelace arranged for a monthly service by courier between New York and
Boston.[10] There was no road between the two places; and governor
Winthrop was asked to provide an expert woodman, who would guide the
courier by the easiest road.

The courier was directed to blaze the route, and it was hoped that a
good road might be made along the route pursued. The courier made his
trips for a few months only, when New York was captured by a Dutch fleet
which came suddenly upon it. The town was restored to the English at the
conclusion of the war in 1674, and with the disappearance of the danger,
the communication also was dropped.

A few years later danger of a more serious character threatened from
another quarter, and again the colonies were compelled to recognize the
necessity of yielding something from the attitude of jealous
independence, which characterized them. Between the English colonies and
the French in Canada there was a steady rivalry for the possession of
the fur trade of the Western country. Each had Indian allies, whose
methods of warfare carried terror among their opponents.

The English were in numbers very much superior to the French; and if
united and determined could have overwhelmed them. The unwillingness of
the English to take any action in common was costing them dearly, as the
outlying parts of all the colonies were being constantly harassed by the
Indian tribes in league with the French.

In 1684 a conference took place at Albany between the representatives of
the several colonies and of the Iroquois nations. This conference was
important in several respects, but particularly in the fact that it was
the first in which all the colonies took part. Even remote Virginia sent
a delegate.

While the colonies were in this mind, Colonel Dongan, governor of New
York, determined to make an effort to establish a permanent postal
service among them. His plan was to establish a line of post houses
along the coast from the French boundaries to Virginia. The king, who
was much pleased with the proposition, directed Dongan to farm out the
undertaking to some enterprising contractor, for a period of three or
five years, and to turn over at least one-tenth of the profits to the
Duke of York.[11]

The duke appears to have had a claim on the revenues of the post office
on two grounds. He was proprietor of the colony of New York; and under
the post office act of 1660, he was recognized as entitled to a share in
the profits from the English post office.

How far Dongan succeeded with this extensive scheme does not appear. He
planned to visit Connecticut, Boston, and, if possible, Pemaquid. In
March 1685, he had an ordinance adopted in the council of New York for a
post office throughout the colonies, and fixed the charges for the
conveyance of letters at threepence for each hundred miles they were
carried, and for the hire of horses for riding post, threepence a mile.

Dongan's jurisdiction did not, however, extend beyond the colony of New
York; and the records of the other colonies are silent as to their
acquiescence in this arrangement. The only evidence that has appeared as
to the operation of the service, and it establishes the fact that the
service was performed for a time at least, is that Leisler, an
insurrectionary leader, who seized the government of the colony in 1689,
arrested the mail carrier on his way from New York to Boston, and
confiscated his letters.[12]

In July 1683, a weekly post was established in Pennsylvania. Letters
were carried from Philadelphia to the Falls of Delaware for threepence;
to Chester for twopence; to New Castle for fourpence; and to Maryland
for sixpence.[13]

As part of the scheme of James II for the confederation of the New
England States under a royal governor, a postmaster was appointed for
the united colonies. The choice fell upon Edward Randolph, who had just
previously been made secretary and registrar of the new province. The
appointment was dated 23rd of November, 1685.[14] He seems to have
discharged the duties of postmaster[15] until the fall of the Andros
government, which followed closely the deposition of James II in 1689.

Until this time, then, the post office would be classed generally among
the merely temporary conveniences of the state, and not among its
permanent institutions. When William III was settled on his throne, he
managed, amid his cares at home and abroad, to give some attention to
the affairs of the colonies. Those in North America had been growing
rapidly, and at the end of the period of the revolution in England, the
population is believed to have been about 200,000.

The greater part of the increase was in the middle states of New York,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania; though in the south, the colonies of
Maryland and Virginia showed considerable gain, and a beginning was made
in the settlement of the Carolinas.

The question of providing the American colonies with a postal system was
submitted to the king by Thomas Neale, Master of the Mint, who coupled
his representations on the subject with a petition for authority to
establish such a system in America at his own charges. He pointed out in
his memorial that there had never been a post for the conveying of
letters within or between Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New
England, East and West Jersey, Pennsylvania, and northward as far as the
king's dominions reach in America; and that the want thereof had been a
great hindrance to the trade of those parts.

The king thereupon, on the 17th of February, 1691, granted a patent to
Neale, conferring upon him authority to set up one or more post offices
in each of the chief ports of the several islands, plantations and
colonies in America, and to carry on all the functions of postmaster,
either in person or by deputy. He might collect as his own, the postage
accruing from the business, the rates being fixed by the English post
office act of 1660; or he was at liberty to charge such other rates "as
the planters and others will freely agree to give for their letters or
packets upon the first settlement of such office or offices."

In order to secure to Neale a monopoly of the postal business, the
patent imposed a prohibition on any person except Neale from setting up
post offices during the term of the patent, which was twenty-one years.
Neale was held bound to provide an efficient service; in case of
dissatisfaction, or of his failure to put the service in operation
within two years, the patent was to become invalid. The consideration
that Neale was to give for the patent was merely nominal; he was to
remit six shillings and eightpence to the exchequer each year at the
Feast of St. Michael the Archangel.

Having secured his patent, Neale sought a suitable person to act as his
deputy. His choice fell upon Andrew Hamilton, an Edinburgh merchant, who
after seven years' residence in New Jersey, was made governor of that
province in 1692. Hamilton was a man of energy and ability; and in the
difficult task of conciliating sensitive legislatures, and bringing them
into agreement with his views, he had much success. It was to him that
the colonies were indebted for their first effective postal system.

Neale's patent did not give him power to set up a postal service, and
fix his charges without regard to the will of the people. He might
either apply the rates fixed by the act of 1660; or come to terms with
the people or their representatives as to the rates they would agree to
pay. The latter was the alternative chosen.

Accordingly, during the year 1693, Hamilton addressed himself to the
several colonial governments, setting forth his plan, and begging that
they might "ascertain and establish such rates and terms as should tend
to quicker maintenance of mutual correspondence among the neighbouring
colonies and plantations, and that trade and commerce might be better
preserved."

The colonies having responded favourably to his overtures, Hamilton
prepared a draft bill, which he submitted to the legislatures for their
acceptance. This bill provided for a general post office or chief letter
office in the principal town of each colony, the postmaster of which was
to be appointed by Hamilton. The monopoly conferred on Neale by his
patent was enforced in the proposed bill by considerable penalties for
infringements.

The postal charges, as well as the privileges and appurtenances to be
granted to post masters and mail couriers, were discussed between
Hamilton and the several legislatures. There was some variety in the
privileges allowed to postmasters and couriers. In Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, the mail couriers were granted free
ferriage over the rivers and other water courses which lay along their
routes. In the acts passed by New York and New Hampshire, there was no
mention of free ferries, but in each of these acts a rather peculiar
exemption is made in favour of the postmasters, that they should not be
subject to excise charges on the ale and other liquors which formed the
stock in trade of their business as innkeepers.

The postmasters in all the colonies were made exempt from all public
services, such as keeping watch and ward, and sitting on juries.
Shipmasters on arriving at a port with letters in their care were
enjoined to deliver them to the nearest post office, where they would
receive one halfpenny for each letter.[16]

The principal postal rates, as settled between Hamilton and the
legislatures concerned were as follows: on letters from Europe or from
any country beyond sea, if for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and
Pennsylvania twopence; if for New York ninepence. In the interchange
among the colonies themselves, the charge on a letter passing between
Boston and Philadelphia was fifteen pence, and between New York and
Philadelphia fourpence-halfpenny.

There was a peculiarity in the postage on letters passing between Boston
and New York. It differed according to the direction the letter was
conveyed. A letter from New York to Boston cost twelvepence; while
ninepence was the charge from Boston to New York. This is one of the
consequences of the separate negotiations carried on by Hamilton with
the different legislatures.

The Massachusetts act fixed the charge on the letters for delivery in
Boston; and the New York act on the letters for New York. From Virginia,
to Philadelphia, New York and Boston, the charges were ninepence,
twelvepence and two shillings respectively. All the acts concurred in
the stipulation that letters on public business should be carried free
of charge.

The foregoing contains the substance of the acts passed by New York and
Pennsylvania. Massachusetts went a step further. To that legislature it
appeared desirable to put a binding clause requiring Hamilton to give a
satisfactory service. Massachusetts was as willing as the others to
grant a monopoly of letter carrying to Hamilton, but it was of opinion
that the exclusive privilege should carry an obligation with it. The
postal service was being established as a public convenience; and if
Hamilton was to have the power to prevent any person else from providing
the convenience, he should be bound to meet the public requirements
himself.

The Massachusetts legislature, after authorizing Hamilton to settle a
post office in Boston, fixing the postal charges, and conferring a
monopoly on him, accordingly added a clause binding Hamilton to maintain
constant posts for the carriage of letters to the several places
mentioned in the act; to deliver the letters faithfully and seasonably;
and it imposed a fine of £5 for each omission.

In order that the public might be in a position to detect any delays in
the delivery of letters after they reached a post office, the postmaster
was required to mark on each letter the date on which it was received at
his office. New Hampshire followed Massachusetts in adding this clause
to its post office acts.

The four acts were sent to London, and laid before the king in council,
as all colonial acts were. The acts of New York, Pennsylvania and New
Hampshire passed council and became law. On the advice of the governors
of the post office, the Massachusetts act was disallowed.[17]

The grounds for the discrimination against Massachusetts are difficult
to understand. The Massachusetts act undoubtedly contained departures
from the terms of the patent. But they were such departures as might be
expected when an act is drawn up, by a person unlearned in the law, who,
having the patent before him, aims at substantial rather than at literal
conformity therewith. There can be no question that the drafts presented
to the several assemblies were prepared by one person. Their practical
identity establishes the fact.

There can be equally little doubt that the draftsman was Hamilton
himself. The governors of the post office, who framed the
objections,[18] noted first that the patent provided that the
appointment of Neale's deputy should, at his request, be made by the
postmaster general; whereas the Massachusetts act appeared to appoint
Andrew Hamilton postmaster general of the colonies, independently of the
postmaster general of England, and not subject to the patent.

The patent required Neale to furnish accounts at stated intervals to
enable the treasury to establish the profits from the enterprize. It
also stipulated for the cancellation of the patent in certain
eventualities. Both these terms are omitted from the act. Insufficient
care was taken in safeguarding the post office revenue, and no
provision was made for a successor in case of the removal of Hamilton
from his position.

The points to which the post office drew attention were, as will be
seen, far from wanting weight; and if they had not been pressed against
the Massachusetts bill alone, would have excited little comment. But the
Massachusetts general court noted and resented the discrimination. When
Neale was informed of the disallowance, he begged the governors of the
post office to prepare a bill which they would regard as free from
objections, and to lend their efforts to have it accepted by
Massachusetts.[19]

A bill was drawn up; and Lord Bellomont, the governor of New England,
was instructed to invite the favourable consideration of the
Massachusetts legislature to it.[20] The bill was laid before the
general court on June 3, 1699, and it was ordered to be transcribed and
read.[21]

Five days later it came up for consideration, but it was resolved that
the committee on the bill should "sit this afternoon,"[22] and it
appeared in the assembly no more. The rejection of the bill, however,
was of little or no practical consequence. The post office was too great
a convenience to be refused; and so it was established and conducted as
if the bill were in operation, except that it had no monopoly in that
colony.

But the legislature, which was evidently desirous of extending in its
own way all reasonable aid to Hamilton, passed an order in 1703[23]
requiring shipmasters to deliver all letters they brought with them from
oversea at the post office of the place of their arrival, for which they
were to receive a halfpenny each from the postmaster. Massachusetts
equally with the other colonies made an annual grant to the post office
for the conveyance of its public letters.

So far the narrative deals only with the northern colonies. The
proposition for a post office, however, was submitted to Virginia and
Maryland as well. It would seem, however, that the mode of approaching
these governments differed from that taken in laying the proposition
before the northern colonies. In case of the northern colonies Hamilton
dealt with the legislatures in person. The draft bill which he prepared
was submitted as a basis for discussion. So far as it went it was
accepted, and Hamilton agreed to such additions as the legislatures
considered necessary in view of local circumstances.

Virginia and Maryland were approached quite differently. They were
advised of the scheme not by Hamilton, but by the English court. In the
minutes of council of both governments,[24] it is recorded that the
proposition was laid before them in a letter from the queen. This fact
will account for the very different consideration the proposition
received from these colonies. Maryland rejected it outright. On the 13th
of May, 1695, the scheme was laid before the house of burgesses. It was
set aside,[25] and nothing more was heard of it.

Virginia gave attentive consideration to the proposition to establish a
post office, though the ultimate results were no greater than in
Maryland. There had been since 1658 an arrangement for the transmission
of letters concerning the public affairs of the colony.[26] An order was
issued by the council that all letters superscribed for the public
service should be immediately conveyed from plantation to plantation to
the place and person directed, and that any delay should subject the
person at fault to a fine of one hogshead of tobacco.

No arrangements of a systematic nature were made for the conveyance of
private letters. When information of the patent granted to Neale reached
Virginia, the colony showed immediate interest. The council on the 12th
of January, 1693, appointed Peter Heyman deputy postmaster,[27] and
proceeded to draw up a post office bill. This bill, which became law on
the 3rd of April 1693,[28] authorized Neale to establish a postal system
in the colony, at his own expense.

The conditions were that he was to set up a general post office at some
convenient place, and settle one or more sub-post offices in each
county. As letters were posted in the colony or reached it from abroad,
they were to be forthwith dispersed, carried and delivered in accordance
with the directions they bore, and all letters for England were to be
despatched by the first ship bound for any part of that country.

The rates of postage were to be threepence a single letter within an
eighty mile radius; fourpence-half penny for single letters outside the
eighty mile radius; and eighteen pence for each ounce weight. Public
letters were to pass free of postage. No provision was made for postage
on letters addressed to places beyond the boundaries of the colony; and
it was expressly stipulated that the act did not confer a monopoly on
Neale. Merchants were not restrained by this act from employing the
services of shipmasters and others, to carry their letters abroad.

The Virginia act of 1693 was local in its scope and provincial in its
character. There is a certain simplicity in the extent of its demands as
compared with the paucity of its concessions. Neale, at his own cost,
was to establish a postal system, comprising a general post office at a
place agreed upon, and one or more subordinate offices in each county.
Couriers were to be available to take letters anywhere within the
colony--without postage if on public business, at rates fixed by the
colony if they were private letters. But no person need employ the post
office, should any other more convenient or cheaper mode of conveyance
offer itself.

A post office, like other kindred accommodations, creates business for
itself; but Virginia did not intend that Neale should have any assurance
of the business he had brought into existence. As soon as it reached a
point at which it was worth struggling for, a competitor might step in
and deprive Neale of the fruits of his enterprise.

The act of 1693 seems to have been adopted before the colonies were made
aware of Hamilton's connection with the American post office. When the
council of Virginia were advised of Hamilton's appointment, they opened
communication with him. The notes of the correspondence as they appear
in the minutes of council[29] do not give much information, but they
show that Hamilton's proposition when submitted to council was not found
acceptable; and as subsequent communications failed to remove the
difficulties, matters remained as they were until after the Neale patent
had expired.

In 1710, the subject was reopened, and the governor reported to the
board of trade, that for two months past he had been expecting Hamilton
to visit Virginia, for the purpose of opening a post office, and
connecting it with the other colonies. The governor believed that the
scheme was feasible, and would do his utmost to encourage it. He
foresaw a difficulty in the lack of small currency, tobacco which was
the only specie, being in the governor's words "very incommodious to
receive small payments in, and of very uncertain value."[30]

The line of posts established by Hamilton extended from Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, to Philadelphia. Over this long line, couriers travelled with
the mails weekly each way.[31] The volume of correspondence carried
cannot be ascertained, as the great mass of it, being on public
business, would be free of postage. But the postage collected throughout
North America during the first four years, from 1693 to 1697, was only
£1456 18_s._ 3_d._, an average receipt of considerably less than £400 a
year.

By way of comparison it may be noted that, in 1693, the revenue between
London and Edinburgh was £500; and it was explained that nearly the
whole of that amount was for government despatches. The expenses of the
Portsmouth-Philadelphia service during those years were £3817 6_s._
11_d._[32] The deficit of £2360 8_s._ 8_d._ fell upon Neale. Results
such as these would be sufficiently discouraging. But Neale and his
deputy, Hamilton, were hopeful, and drew comfort from the fact that the
revenue of New York which was quite insignificant the first year had
doubled itself in the third year.

At the end of the sixth year, the revenue had increased to the point at
which all the expenses were met, except Hamilton's salary.[33] In 1699,
Hamilton went to England, and joined Neale in an appeal to the
treasury.[34] After pointing out the benefits accruing to the colonies
from the post office--the increase in the transatlantic and
intercolonial trade, the rapid diffusion of intelligence in time of war,
and the facilities afforded for the delivery of public letters--they
declared that unless steps were taken to secure to them the transmission
of the whole, and not a mere portion of the oversea correspondence, they
might be compelled to abandon the undertaking.

The plan Neale and Hamilton proposed to this end, was to put a stop to
the collection of letters at the English coffee houses, and to compel
the shipmasters to take all their letters from the local post office,
where they would be made up in sealed bags.

Besides ensuring to Neale, by this means, the postage on all the
correspondence passing between the mother country and the colonies, the
measure proposed would prevent certain abuses which were incident to the
existing arrangement. Where the bag hung open in a coffee house, any
person might examine its contents on the pretext that he wanted to get
his own letter back, and when the ship had reached its destination it
was the practice of some captains to delay the delivery of the letters
in their hands until they are ready to sail again, and then they got rid
of their letters in any way they could.

If the mails were made up in post offices, and the captains were
compelled by law to deliver them to the post office at the port of
destination before they broke bulk, these evils would be corrected, and
a large revenue now lost to the post office would be saved.

Neale and Hamilton also submitted a revised tariff of postal charges, in
which there was a general increase. The postmasters general in England
rather deprecated the increased postal rates, stating that experience
had taught them that low rates were found to be more productive of
revenue than those which placed the post office beyond the reach of the
mass of the people. They approved of the suggestion that post offices
should be established in England for the handling of oversea mails, and
hoped that a few years of good management would make the service a
remunerative one.

At this point the postmasters general in London threw out a suggestion,
which was worth discussion. They doubted whether a post office in
private hands would ever commend itself to the colonies in the same way
as if it were directly in the hands of the king. The post office
depended for its prosperity on the maintenance of its monopoly, a thing
naturally distasteful. The monopoly was easily evaded, even if the
colonial governments supported it heartily, but any lack of inclination
on their part would leave it valueless. They were of opinion that it
would require all the authority possessed by the king to induce the
colonial governments to co-operate with the heads of the post office in
the efforts of the latter to put the service on a sound footing.

Neale, who was sinking deeper and deeper into debt, seized on this
expression of opinion, and offered to surrender his patent at any time,
on such consideration as seemed just. The treasury, however, were not
yet ready to take over the American posts, but they directed the
postmasters general to give Hamilton every assistance in their power,
and requested the governors of the colonies to do the same, adding that
when the value of the post office could be ascertained, they would give
the question of the resumption of the patent, further consideration.

Neale's indebtedness to Hamilton for salary now amounting to £1100, he
assigned his patent to Hamilton, and to one Robert West, who had made
some advances to Neale some years before. The new patentees besought the
government to extend their term, which in ordinary course would expire
in 1712. Their confidence in the eventual success of the scheme,
however, suggested to the postmasters general that the time was now ripe
for the crown to take back the patent, and manage the postal service
through the general post office in England.

The transfer was made; and John Hamilton,[35] son of the founder of the
American post office, who died in 1703, was entrusted with the
management of the service, as the deputy of the postmaster general. The
results were no better than when the service was privately administered.
In 1709, there was a yearly deficit of £200; and as the queen would not
allow her losses on this head to be augmented, the postmasters were not
being paid.[36]

The postmaster of New England made a strong representation to the
government of Massachusetts, pointing out that he had received nothing
from the government since 1706, although he had saved the colony £150 a
year by the delivery of the public letters. The remonstrance was
fruitless, and he renewed his application in 1711. The legislative
council on each occasion was prepared to pay what was due to the
postmaster, but the assembly could not be brought to authorize it.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Parton, _Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin_, I. 240.

[2] _Ibid._, p. 330.

[3] G.P.O., _Treasury Letter-Book_, 1760-1771, p. 95.

[4] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, third series, VII. 48.

[5] _Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies_, 1661-1668, no.
463.

[6] _New York Colonial Documents_, XIV. 186.

[7] _Ibid._, p. 446.

[8] _N. Y. Col. Docs._, IV. 1017.

[9] _A History of the American People_, II. 16.

[10] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, fifth series, IX. 83-84.

[11] _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._, 1681-1685, no. 1848.

[12] _N. Y. Col. Docs._, III. 682.

[13] Winsor, _Narr. and Crit. Hist of Am._, III. 492.

[14] _Edward Randolph_, I. 270 (Publications of the Prince Society).

[15] Samuel Sewall to Thomas Glover, July 15, 1686 (_Sewall
Letter-Books_, I. 21).

[16] The several colonial acts were as follows: New York, passed
November 11, 1692 (_Laws of Colony of N. Y._, I. 293); Massachusetts,
June 9, 1693 (ch. 3, 1 sess. _Province Laws_, I. 115); Pennsylvania, May
15, June 1, 1693 (_Duke of York's Laws_, p. 224); New Hampshire, June 5,
1693 (_N. H. Prov. Laws_, p. 561); Connecticut, May 10, 1694 (_Pub. Rec.
of Conn._, 1689-1706 p. 123).

[17] Note to this effect attached to the act (ch. 3, 1 sess. 1693,
_Province Laws_, I. 117).

[18] _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._, 1693-1696, no. 2234.

[19] _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._, 1696-1697, no. 505.

[20] _Ibid._, no. 1286.

[21] _Prov. Laws of Mass._, I. 263.

[22] _Ibid._, p. 420.

[23] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, third series, VII. 64.

[24] Minutes of council, Virginia, January 12, 1693, _Cal. S. P. Col.
Am. and W. I._, 1693-1696, no. 21; minutes of council, Maryland,
September 24, 1694, _ibid._, no. 1339.

[25] Minutes of council, Maryland, _ibid._, no. 1816.

[26] Hening's _Statutes at Large_, I. 436.

[27] Minutes of council, Virginia, _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._,
1693-1696, no. 20.

[28] Hening's _Statutes at Large_, III. 112; _Journals of the House of
Burgesses_, 1659/60--1693, pp. 444-446.

[29] Minutes of council, Virginia, May 25, November 10, 1693; October
19, 25, 1694; May 3, July 25, 1695; _Cal. S. P. Col. Am. and W. I._,
1693-1696, nos. 371, 671, 1430, 1454, 1804, 1975.

[30] _Spottswood Letters_ (published by Virginia Hist. Soc.), I. 22.

[31] Minutes of council, New Hampshire (_N. H. Prov. Papers_,
1686--1722), p. 100.

[32] G.P.O., _Treasury_, II. 256.

[33] _Cal. Treasury Papers_, 1697-1702, p. 289

[34] G.P.O., _Treasury_, II. 253.

[35] G.P.O., _Treasury_, VI. 205. John Hamilton was appointed deputy
postmaster general by the queen in 1707.

[36] _Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc._, third series, VII. 69.




CHAPTER II

     Colonial post office under Queen Anne's act--Early packet
     service.


For some years various circumstances had been arising which made it
necessary that the post office in Great Britain and the colonies should
be established on a footing different from that on which it then stood.
The legislative union between England and Scotland in 1707 called for a
uniform postal service throughout Britain; but without additional
legislation the postmaster general of England could not dispose of the
revenues of the post office in Scotland.

The colonies were in their infancy when the English law of 1660 was
enacted, and they were not mentioned in it at all. The only clause in
that act which affected the colonies in any way was that which required
all masters of ships who brought letters with them from beyond the seas,
to deposit them at the nearest post office. There was no penalty
attached to the disregard of this clause, and the attempt to induce the
shipmasters to obey the law by paying them a penny for every letter they
delivered in the English post office was pronounced by the auditors to
be illegal, and there was a threat made that these payments would be
disallowed in the accounts.

There were a number of other circumstances arising out of the growth of
the kingdom and its colonial expansion, which compelled the postmaster
general to take action in advance of legal authority. When the treasury,
after the union of England and Scotland, learned that a new post office
law was necessary, they determined to take advantage of the fact to
serve their own purposes. The war of the Spanish Succession, which began
in 1702, while ruinous to France, also seriously crippled England; and
the treasury saw that the enactment of a new post office act might be
utilized to increase the postal charges, and additional sums raised for
carrying on and finishing the war.

In 1710, accordingly, a post office bill was presented to
parliament.[37] It was passed by parliament; and this act was the first
measure which dealt in a comprehensive way with the British post office.
Substantially it was the law of the post office for more than a century
afterwards.

The effect of the new law on the colonial post office was profound.
Until 1710 the terms and conditions under which the post office in the
colonies was operated, were matters of arrangement between Hamilton and
the several legislatures. While the Neale patent enabled Hamilton to set
up post offices in the colonies, the postal charges were fixed by the
colonial legislatures at such rates as "the planters shall agree to
give."

The Neale patent had been resumed by the crown in 1706, but not
abrogated. Hence, until the new act came into force, the crown simply
stood in the place of the patentees, and operated under the legislation
agreed upon between Hamilton and the colonial governments. New York and
Pennsylvania, as their short term acts expired, renewed them with the
crown; and New Jersey, which established a postal system in 1709, fixed
the rates of postage by act of the legislature, but placed the
management of the service in the hands of the postmaster general.

The post office act of 1710 made it no longer necessary to consult the
colonial legislatures as to the charges to be made for the conveyance
and delivery of letters in North America. The supreme control of the
postal system throughout the British dominions, beyond the sea, as well
as at home, was vested in the postmaster general of England. The rates
of payment were fixed by the act, and the mode in which the surplus
revenues were to be disposed of was set forth in the same enactment.

In America, the general post offices at Boston, New York and
Philadelphia, which stood quite independent of one another, were reduced
to the rank of ordinary offices, and made parts of the system, the
headquarters of which were placed by the act in New York.[38] The
administration of the system, as reconstructed, was continued in the
hands of John Hamilton.

As in all other parts of the British dominions, the rates of postage
were sensibly increased.[39] Under the Neale patent, a letter from New
York for Philadelphia cost fourpence-halfpenny. The act of Queen Anne
raised the charge to ninepence, just double the former rate. A letter
posted in Boston, and addressed to Philadelphia, which under the Neale
patent cost for postage fifteen pence, cost twenty-one pence under the
act of 1710. But these figures give no adequate idea of the magnitude of
the postal charges as fixed by the act of Queen Anne.

An explanation of the system to which these rates applied will make the
matter clearer. At the present time the postage on a letter passing
anywhere within the British Empire, or from Canada to any part of the
United States or Mexico, is two cents per ounce weight, whether the
letter is addressed to the next town or to the farthermost post office
in the Yukon.

In 1710, and indeed in Canada until 1851, the distance a letter was
carried was an element which entered into the cost. It would have been
thought no more proper to ignore the element of distance in fixing the
postage on a letter than in fixing the charge for the conveyance of a
parcel of goods. By the act of 1710 the postage on a single letter
passing between two places sixty miles apart or less was fourpence;
where the places were from sixty miles to one hundred miles apart the
charge was sixpence.

Besides the distance, however, there was another factor which helped to
determine the amount of the postage. This factor will appear from a
description of the classes into which letters were divided.

Letters were single, double, and treble, and ounce. A single letter was
one consisting of one sheet or piece of paper, weighing less than one
ounce. If with this single sheet letter, a piece of paper was enclosed,
no matter how small, the letter was called a double letter. The treble
letter was a letter consisting of more than two sheets or pieces of
paper, under the weight of an ounce.

Whatever the postage of a single letter might be, the postage on a
double letter was equal to that of two such single letters; and that on
a treble letter was three times that on a single letter. There were no
envelopes in use at this period, and the sheet on which the letter was
written was so folded that an unwritten portion came on the outside, and
on this space the address was written.

The question will occur as to how the presence of enclosures could be
detected among the folds of the larger single sheet. There were several
means of detection born of ingenuity and experience. The approved method
and the one long in service, was to hold every letter up to a lighted
candle, and by some skilful manipulating, the taxable enclosures could
be seen.

But it was not only enclosures to which the attention of the officials
was directed. The postal charges were found so oppressive that several
merchants who had letters to send to the same town used to write their
several communications on the same sheet, which on reaching the person
addressed was by him passed on to the others, whose letters were on the
same sheet.

In the post office the practice was much condemned. As it was not
specifically provided against in the act, it had to be tolerated until
the act was amended; and thereafter when several letters were written on
one paper, each was to be charged as a distinct letter. The letter
inspectors then had to satisfy themselves that there was no more than
one person's handwriting in the sheet, which was, of course, carefully
sealed with wax.

The ounce letter needs no explanation. At present the ounce is the unit
of weight for letters sent from Canada to every part of the civilized
world. In this aspect it corresponds with the single letter of the
pre-penny postage days. But the ounce letter of 1710 and of over a
century afterwards was far removed from the single letter in the matter
of postage.

In that respect the ounce letter was equal to four single letters, and
was charged four times the rate of the single letter. Thus, while a
single sheet weighing less than an ounce could pass between two
neighbouring towns not over sixty miles apart for fourpence, if it
tipped the ounce weight it was chargeable with sixteen pence.

The act of 1710 offered a problem to the paper makers. A sheet of paper
had to be made stout enough to stand the handling of the post office
without the protection of an envelope, and be yet so light as to allow
the largest space possible within the ounce weight.

Under this system, in which distance, number of enclosures and weight
were all factors, the charges for letters, such as are posted by
thousands in our larger offices every day, were very high. An ounce
letter, which at the present time costs but two cents to convey to the
remotest post office in the North West of Canada, or to Southern Mexico,
in 1710 cost three shillings to carry from New York to Philadelphia.
From New York to Boston, the postage on the same letter was four
shillings. Between the outermost points of the North American postal
system in 1710--Portsmouth, N.H., and Charlestown, N.C.--the postage for
an ounce letter was ten shillings.

The act of Queen Anne's reign, so long the charter of the British postal
system, also greatly increased the charges on letters passing between
the mother country and the colonies. In place of the penny or twopence
which satisfied the captains for the delivery in America of the letters
which had been placed in the letter bags hung up in the London coffee
houses, the postage on a single letter passing from London to New York
became one shilling. If the letter weighed an ounce, the charge was four
shillings.

Captains of vessels, moreover, were no longer at liberty to disregard
the requirements of the post office that they should deliver their
letters at the post office of the port of arrival. If they failed, they
laid themselves open to a ruinous fine.

Remembering the resentment with which half a century later the Americans
greeted every scheme, which could be construed into imposing a tax
without their consent, one wonders how the post office act of 1710 was
regarded in the colonies.

The question is interesting enough to warrant some inquiry. The
legislative records have been searched carefully, and also, so far as
they were available, the newspapers of the period. With one exception
about to be mentioned, the only reference to the post office act which
has been discovered is in the New Hampshire records. There it is stated
that the act was read before the council on the 13th of September, 1711,
and afterwards proclaimed by beat of drum in the presence of the council
and of some members of the house of representatives.

The case in which the act came into question occurred in Virginia. This
colony had no post office in 1710, nor for a considerable period
afterwards; and it was the attempt to put the post office in operation
in 1717 which led to the protest and the countervailing action.

Virginia seems to have had no desire to be included in the American
postal system. In 1699 Hamilton reported on the proposition of extending
the system southward to Virginia.[40] The extension would cost £500; and
Hamilton declared that the desire for communicating with the northern
colonies was so slight that he did not believe there would be one
hundred letters a year exchanged between Virginia and Maryland and the
other colonies. Practically all the correspondence of the two colonies
was with Great Britain and other countries in Europe.

In the autumn of 1717, steps were taken to establish a post office in
the two colonies, and to connect them with the other colonies.
Postmasters were appointed in each colony. Couriers carried the mails
into several of the more populous counties; and a fortnightly service
was established between Williamsburg and Philadelphia. This was quite
satisfactory, until the people began to read the placards which they
observed affixed to every post office wall, directing that all letters,
not expressly excepted by the act of parliament, should be delivered to
the local postmasters. Here was matter for thought.

A glance at the tariff showed that the charge made by the post office on
a letter from England was one shilling for a single letter. The letters
from England were the only letters the people of Virginia cared anything
about, and they were accustomed to pay only a penny as postage for them.

There was some little trouble, and perhaps a slight risk attending the
safe delivery of letters by the existing arrangement. Virginians were,
however, used to it, and had no great fault to find. It might be that if
they could have received their letters at the post office for the same
charge as they paid for receiving them direct from the ship captains,
they would have preferred going to the post office.

But the difference in convenience between the two places of receipt was
not worth the difference between one penny and one shilling; and indeed
it looked uncommonly as if the government were using this means to tax
them elevenpence on every letter they received.

The people, on realizing the condition of things, made a great
clamour.[41] Parliament, they declared, could levy no tax on them but
with the consent of the assembly; and besides that, their letters were
all exempted from the monopoly of the postmaster general because they
nearly all, in some way or other, related to trade.

The Virginians were putting an unwarrantably broad interpretation on an
exemption, which appears in all post office acts, in favour of letters
relating to goods which the letters accompany on the vessel. It has
always been the practice to allow shipmasters, carrying a consignment of
goods, to deliver the invoice to the consignee with the goods, in order
that the transaction might be completed with convenience.

It would not be practicable, however, to confine this exemption to
invoices accompanying goods, as this would require a knowledge of the
contents of letters, which could not be obtained without an intolerable
inquisition. Consequently, it has been customary to allow all letters
accompanying consignments of goods to be delivered with the goods,
without asking whether they relate to the goods or not. But the scope of
the exemption is clearly defined, and has never been allowed to include
ordinary business letters, not accompanied by goods.

The Virginians, however, were not content to leave their case to the
precarious chances of a legal or constitutional argument. They set about
neutralizing the post office act by an effective counter measure. A bill
was submitted to the legislature which, while it acknowledged the
authority of the post office act, imposed on postmasters giving effect
to it certain conditions which it was impossible to fulfil, and attached
extravagant penalties for the infraction of those conditions. The
postmasters were to be fined £5 for every letter which they demanded
from aboard a ship--letters of a character which the British statute
exempted from the postmaster general's exclusive privilege.

Now every ship's letter bag would contain probably many letters relating
to goods aboard the ship, as well as many which were in no way so
related. But how was the postmaster to tell the letters accompanying
goods from those which did not? Even if the ship's captain assisted to
the best of his ability, which was more than doubtful, there would be
many letters about which the postmaster could not be certain, and with a
£5 penalty for every mistake, his position was not an enviable one.

Another clause in the bill of the legislature of Virginia contained a
schedule of hours for every courier. The terms of the schedule were so
exacting that compliance with it was impossible. The penalty attached to
every failure to observe the hours set forth, was twenty shillings for
each letter delayed.[42] As the governor pointed out, the difficulties
of travel during the winter season, owing to the number of great rivers
to be passed, would subject the postmasters to the risk of a fine for
every letter they accepted for transmission at that period of the year.

The bill of 1718, when sent up for the governor's assent, was promptly
vetoed; but on the other hand, the intention of the deputy postmaster
general to establish a post office in Virginia was not pressed. It was
not until 1732, when the governor had relinquished his office, and had
himself been appointed deputy postmaster general, that Virginia was
included in the postal system of North America.

Even after that date the post office in Virginia was on a somewhat
irregular footing, at least in regard to the conveyance of the mails. In
a gazetteer published in 1749,[43] it is stated that while regular trips
are made by mail courier from Portsmouth to Philadelphia, southward to
Williamsburg the courier's movements were uncertain, as he did not set
out until there were sufficient letters posted for the south, to
guarantee his wages from the postage on them. There was a post office at
this period as far south as Charlestown, but the post carriage for that
office was still more uncertain.

With the exception of the Virginian contretemps, the period from 1710
until after the middle of the eighteenth century was one of quiescence.
Deputy postmaster general succeeded deputy postmaster general; and the
annals of their administrations carry little that is interesting. After
the retirement of Hamilton in 1721, a change was made in the relations
between the deputy postmaster general and the general post office, by
which the post office in London was relieved of all expense in
connection with the maintenance of the North American postal system.

Hamilton had a salary of £200 a year. But the profits from the post
office did not quite cover that amount, as on his withdrawal, there was
due to him £355 arrears of salary. In recommending the claim to the
treasury, the postmaster general stated that the post office in America
had been put on such a footing that if it produced no profit, it would
no longer be a charge on the revenue.[44]

The facilities given to the public were not increased during that
period. Indeed, in 1714, they were diminished, as the courier's trips
between Boston and Philadelphia, which in 1693 were performed weekly
throughout the year, were reduced to fortnightly during the winter
months, and they remained at that frequency until 1753.

It is obvious that the post office was not used by the public any more
than was absolutely necessary, and that every means was taken to evade
the regulations designed to preserve the postmaster general's monopoly.
Thomas Hancock, in a letter written in 1740, to Governor Talcott of
Connecticut, told him that he saved the colony from forty shillings to
three pounds every year, through the interest he had with the captains
of the London ships, who delivered the letters to him instead of handing
them over to the post office.[45]

The line of undistinguished representatives of the British post office
in America came to an end in 1753, when Benjamin Franklin was made
deputy postmaster general, jointly with William Hunter of Virginia.

Franklin, besides being a man of eminent practical ability, brought to
his task a large experience in post office affairs. He had been
postmaster of Philadelphia for fifteen years prior to his appointment to
the deputyship; and for some time before had acted as post office
controller, his duty being to visit and instruct the postmasters
throughout the country.

At the time Franklin and Hunter entered upon their office they found
little to encourage them. The couriers who conveyed the mails were much
slower than most other travellers on the same roads. It took six weeks
to make the trip from Philadelphia to Boston and back, and during the
three winter months, the trips were made only once a fortnight.

The new deputies so reorganized the service that the trips were made
weekly throughout the year, and they shortened the time by one-half; and
many other improvements were made.[46] For a time the expenditure of the
post office largely outran the revenue. But the usual rewards of
additional facilities to the public followed.

In 1757, when the outlay had reached its highest point, and the public
response to the increased facilities was still but feeble, the post
office was over £900 in debt to the deputy postmasters general. Three
years later this debt was entirely cleared off, and the operations
showed a surplus of £278. In 1761 the surplus reached the amount of
£494, and this sum was transmitted to the general post office in London.

The receipt of this first remittance was the occasion of much
satisfaction to the postmasters general. For a generation the post
office in America had been nearly forgotten. Since 1721, it had cost the
home office nothing for its maintenance, and for long before that time
it had yielded nothing to the treasury, and so it had been allowed to
plod along unregarded.

A remittance from this source was quite unexpected, and one can imagine
the pleasure with which the entry was made in the treasury book, and the
words added "this is the first remittance ever made of its kind."[47]
But though the first, it was by no means the last; for until Franklin's
dismissal in 1774, a remittance from the American post office was an
annual occurrence. Franklin declared that, at the time of his dismissal,
the American office yielded a revenue three times that from Ireland.[48]

The success of the post office under Franklin's regime suggests the
question, as to the share Franklin had in that success. During the whole
course of his administration, he had with him an associate deputy
postmaster general, William Hunter, from 1753 until 1761, and John
Foxcroft, from 1761 until his connection with the post office ceased.

Little is known of the capacity of either of these officials; of Hunter,
practically nothing. Foxcroft was certainly a man of intelligence, but
nothing is known to warrant the belief that he possessed unusual
qualities. That the routine of post office management was left in the
hands of the associates, may be inferred not so much from the
multifarious character of Franklin's activities, for he seems to have
been equal to any demands made upon him, as from the fact that out of
the twenty-one years of his administration, fifteen years were spent in
England as the representative of the province of Pennsylvania in its
negotiations with the home government.

That Franklin's occupations in England did not absorb all his time is
amply proven by his voluminous correspondence which shows him to have
been engaged in abstruse speculations in science, and in economic and
philosophic studies. But to administer an institution like the post
office one must be on the spot, and the Atlantic ocean lay between him
and his work from May 1757, until November 1762, and from November 1764,
until his dismissal in 1774. Franklin was in America while the measures
were taken which put the post office on an efficient footing, and again
in 1763, when the treaty of Paris confirmed England in her possession of
Canada.

Franklin's contribution to the North American post office consisted
mainly, it would seem, in certain important ideas, the application of
which turned a half century of failure into an immediate success. It is
a commonplace that money spent in increased facilities to the public is
sure of a speedy return with interest, and in private enterprises
competition keeps this principle in fairly active employment.

This is not the case with an institution like the post office, until, at
least, each new application of the principle had been justified by
success. A post office is a monopoly, and at certain stages of its
history that fact has been its bane. To-day when the demands of social
and commercial intercourse make an efficient vehicle for the
transmission of correspondence a necessity, the evils inherent in
monopolies sink out of sight so far as the post office is concerned.

A peremptory public takes the place of competitors as a motive for
alertness. The faults of the institution are freely exposed, and
correction insisted upon; and, what is as much to the point, the public
contributes of its ingenuity for the improvement of the service. When,
towards the end of the eighteenth century, the British public was
disgusted with the slowness of its mail carts, and dismayed at the
number of robberies, Palmer, a Bath theatre manager, came forward with
his scheme for the employment of fast passenger coaches for the
conveyance of the mails.

A half century later the public united in a demand for lower postage
rates; and Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster, produced a scheme, which for
originality and efficacy, has given him a high place among the inventors
of the world. To-day the Universal Postal Union affords a medium by
means of which the results achieved by every postal administration are
brought into a common stock for the benefit of all.

But when Franklin took hold of the North American post office, he had
none of these aids to improvement. The measure of the public interest in
the post office may be taken from the fact that its total revenue during
the first three years of his administration, from 1753 to 1756, was £938
16_s._ 10_d._--but little more than £300 a year.

As for encouragement or stimulus from the outside, there was none. The
only connection the American post office had was with the home office;
and it is doubtful whether, even if it had been disposed, the British
post office could have lent any helpful advice in those days.

The British post office was at that time passing through one of its
unprogressive periods. It had come to know by long years of observation
what was the volume of correspondence which would be offered for
exchange, and it provided the means of transmission, taking care that
these should not cost more than the receipts.

Franklin's merit lay in his rising above an indolent reliance on his
monopoly, and in his generous outlay for additional facilities, by means
of which he not only drew to the post office a large amount of
business, which was falling into other hands, but called into existence
another class of correspondence altogether.

It is tolerably certain that had Franklin's work lay in England instead
of America, he would have anticipated Palmer's suggestion that the stage
coaches be used for the conveyance of the mails, instead of the wretched
mail carts which came to be regarded as the natural prey of the
highwayman.

At the beginning of 1764 the post riders between New York and
Philadelphia made three trips a week each way; and at such a rate of
speed that a letter could be sent from one place to the other and the
answer received the day following.[49] In reporting this achievement to
the general post office, Franklin states that the mails travel by night
as well as by day, which had never been done before in America.

Franklin planned to have trips of equal speed made between New York and
Boston in the spring of 1764, and the time for letter and reply between
the two places reduced from a fortnight to four days. When his
arrangements were completed a letter and its reply might pass between
Boston and Philadelphia in six days, instead of three weeks.

As a result of these arrangements Franklin anticipated that there would
be a large increase in the number of letters passing between Boston and
Philadelphia and Great Britain by the packets from New York. That the
fruits of his outlay answered his expectations is clear from the fact
that the revenues, which up to the year 1756 had scarcely exceeded £300
a year, mounted up to £1100[50] in 1757, and that became the normal
revenue for some time after.

It was during this period that the British government began to employ
packet boats for the conveyance of the mails to the American colonies.
Until this time there had been no regular arrangements for the
conveyance of the mails between Great Britain and the colonies. There
were no vessels under specific engagement to leave either Great Britain
or America at any fixed time.

This is not, of course, to say that there were no means of exchanging
correspondence between England and America, or even that the post office
had no control over the vessels by which letters were carried. Vessels
were continually passing between Falmouth or Bristol and New York or
Boston in the course of trade; and these were employed for the
conveyance of mails. Sometimes the letters were made up in sealed bags
by the post office before being handed to the shipmasters; and sometimes
they were handed loose to the captains, or picked up from the coffee
houses.

The captains were under heavy penalties to hand over to the post office
all letters in their possession, when they reached their port of
destination, and they were entitled to one penny for each letter so
delivered to the local postmasters. By this arrangement, the cost of
carrying the letters across the Atlantic fell in no degree upon the post
office. Indeed, after the act of 1710, the post office made a very good
bargain of the business. The postmasters paid the shipmasters a penny a
letter, and the act of 1710 authorized them to collect a shilling for
each letter delivered to the public.

A service so irregular had its disadvantages, however. Captains were of
all degrees of trustworthiness. Some could be depended upon to deliver
the letters at the post office as the law directed; others were careless
or unfaithful. These either did not deposit their letters with the
postmasters promptly as they should have done, or they had private
understandings with friends by which the letters did not go into the
post office at all, but were delivered by the captains directly to the
persons to whom they were directed.

In 1755 the board of trade called attention to the great "delays,
miscarriages and other accidents which have always attended the
correspondence between this kingdom and His Majesty's colonies in
America, from the very precarious and uncertain method in which it has
been usually carried on by merchant ships." The remedy sought was a line
of sailing vessels devoted entirely to the conveyance of correspondence.
Services of this class were not uncommon, although they were usually
confined to a time of war. During the war of Spanish Succession, packet
ships ran regularly to Holland and to France.

It was during this war when French and Spanish privateers held the
southern seas, that the first line of mail packets was established,
which ran to North America. In 1705, the British government contracted
for five vessels of one hundred and forty tons each, to carry the mails
to and from the West Indies.[51] Each vessel was to carry twenty-six men
and ten guns. The contractor was paid £12,500 a year.

A curious feature of the contract was that the contractor was required
to enter into a warranty that the receipts from the vessels for mails
and passengers would not be less than £8000. If they did not come up to
this amount, the contractor had to make up the shortage, up to the sum
of £4500 a year. The contract was for three years certain, with an
additional two years if the war should last so long.

The postal business of the West Indies was comparatively large at the
beginning of the eighteenth century. The receipts for the two years
ending January 1706--£10,112[52]--make the American continental
business, even under Franklin's capable management, very small by
comparison. In 1760 the receipts from the colonial post office of North
America were only £1100. This packet service to the West Indies was
maintained until the peace of Utrecht in 1713.

During the same period, repeated efforts were made by English merchants,
to have a packet service to the North American colonies. In 1704 a
petition was presented to the government for a mail service between
England and New York.[53] The petitioners asked that the vessels be
employed for letters only, in order that by their greater speed they
might outrun the merchant vessels on their homeward trips and by giving
timely notice, make it possible to send out cruisers to meet the
merchant vessels and escort them home in safety. They observed that, in
the year before, eighteen of the Virginia fleet were captured because
they had set out later than was expected.

The treasury were unimpressionable. They read the memorial, and after
adding to it the curt query "Whether the merchants intend to be at the
charge," they dismissed it from further consideration. In 1707, the
question was again brought to the attention of the treasury, and they
asked Blathwayt, a commissioner of trade, to give them a report upon it.

Blathwayt was hearty in support of the proposition.[54] He declared that
"Her Majesty's plantations in America are at present the chief support
of the kingdom without impairing their own proper strength and yet
capable of very great improvements by their trade and other means." He
pressed for the establishment of a service with trips six or eight times
a year. In view of the war, however, Blathwayt considered it inadvisable
to fix upon a certain rendezvous on either side of the Atlantic, as
this would enhance the opportunities for interception by the enemy.

The treasury were willing to have one or two experimental trips made to
ascertain what revenue might be expected from the service, if these
could be secured without expense; and they accepted a proposition, made
about this time, by Sir Jeffry Jeffrys, who was preparing to make two
trips to New York.[55] Jeffrys asked that his vessel might be
commissioned as a packet boat, and that he might be allowed to retain
the postage on all the correspondence which he carried between England
and America. There is no record of the result, but from what is known of
the postal business in America, it cannot be supposed that it would be
of a magnitude to encourage the establishment of a packet service.

Other offers were made to the government, but they were not seriously
considered until the outbreak of the war in America between England and
France in 1744. Orders were at once given for the restoration of the
packet service to the West Indies; and in 1745 armed packets again
carried the mails on this route.[56] The service was very expensive; for
though the revenue reached the respectable figure of £3921 in the first
year, this amount was far from covering the outlay; and as soon as the
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed in 1749, the packets were
discontinued.

The peace, which followed the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, was of short
duration. So far as America was concerned, the treaty did little more
than to impose upon the combatants a momentary suspension of arms. It
did nothing to remove the causes of war, and while these remained a
permanent peace was impossible.

The grounds of dispute were almost entirely territorial. The French
claimed the whole vast stretch of country to the west of the
Alleghanies, and set up a line of forts along the valley of the
Alleghany and Ohio rivers. The English disregarded these claims, and
their traders pushed over the mountains into the disputed territory. The
French displayed so much energy in dispossessing the encroaching
English, that the border country was kept in a state of alarm, and the
governors of the English colonies appealed to have a regular means of
communication established between the mother country and the colonies,
so that help might be obtained if required.

The representations of governors Shirley of Massachusetts, Delancey of
New York, and Dinwiddie of Virginia, were vigorously supported by
governor Lawrence of Nova Scotia.[57]

The situation of Nova Scotia was one of peculiar danger. The province
was hemmed in between Cape Breton, with its powerful fortress at
Louisburg, on the one side, and Canada on the other. The control which
the French exercised over the valley of the St. John, and over the
isthmus of Baie Verte, gave them a safe and easy passage from Canada to
Cape Breton, by way of the St. John river, the bay of Fundy, the isthmus
of Baie Verte, and the straits of Northumberland. The Acadians who were
scattered over Nova Scotia were naturally in hearty sympathy with their
own people in Cape Breton; and in order to send supplies of cattle to
the fortress, they made a small settlement at Tatamagouche, on the
straits of Northumberland, which served as an entrepôt.[58]

The first result of the appeal of the governors was the establishment of
a post office at Halifax, in the spring of 1755,[59] and the opening up
of communication with New England by the vessels which plied to and from
Boston. It required a ruder prompting before the government could be
induced to spend the money necessary for a packet service, and this was
not long in coming.

In the early spring of 1755, General Braddock, with two regiments, was
sent to America to oppose the large claims made by the French. In
concert with the governors of Massachusetts and Virginia, a plan of
attack was arranged which involved movements against four different
points as widely separated as fort Duquesne on the Ohio river, and
Beausejour on the bay of Fundy.

Braddock undertook the expedition against fort Duquesne, which if
successful would break down the barrier which was confining the English
colonies to the Atlantic seaboard, and relieve the more westerly
settlements of Virginia and Pennsylvania from the harassing attacks
which were making life on the frontiers unendurable. The execution of
his part of the campaign was beset by difficulties, arising partly from
the mountainous and woody character of the country through which he had
to pass, and partly from his ignorance of the methods of forest warfare,
in which his enemies excelled.

Whatever could be accomplished by dogged energy was done successfully.
Braddock managed to get his army within sight of his destination. But
here his good fortune left him. While still in the thick woods he was
attacked by the French and their Indian allies. Employing methods to
which Braddock was a stranger, methods which would have seemed to him to
be unworthy of soldiers, the French and their allies managed to keep
themselves in perfect cover, while the British army stood exposed, the
easiest of marks.

There could be but one outcome. The British were overwhelmed and
Braddock slain; and the only result of the campaign was to redouble the
fury of the enemy against the unfortunate border settlements.

The disaster and its consequences were brought home to the government
with a directness that put an end to all hesitation about establishing
the closest possible communication between the mother country and the
colonies. On the 18th of September, the board of trade, which
administered the affairs of the colonies, approached the treasury on
the subject. After emphasizing the inconveniences of the existing
arrangements, the board insisted that it was of the highest importance
that the king should have "early and frequent intelligence of what is in
agitation" in the colonies, and recommended that packet boats be
established to New York.[60]

The treasury approved, and directed the postmasters general to arrange
for regular monthly trips to New York, and to restore the West Indian
service, which was discontinued in 1749. Four vessels of 150 tons each
were provided for the latter route.[61] They were to carry twenty-six
men each, and be fully armed for war.

For the New York route, larger vessels were thought necessary, owing to
the roughness of the winter seas; the vessels placed on this line were
each of 200 tons, and carried thirty men. The carrying of any
merchandise was forbidden, so that the vessels were devoted entirely to
the service of the post office.

In the elaborate instructions which the commanders received, they were
directed, when they had a mail for a place at which a postmaster had not
been appointed, to open the bags themselves, and deliver the letters for
that place to a magistrate or other careful man, who would undertake to
have the letters handed to the persons to whom they were addressed. In
case the vessel was attacked, and could not avoid being taken, the
commander must, before striking, throw the mails overboard, with such a
weight attached as would immediately sink them, and so prevent them from
falling into the enemy's hands.

The new service was a most expensive one, and when peace was concluded
in 1762, the question of continuing it came up for immediate
consideration. During the seven years of its course, the New York
service cost £62,603; while the produce in postage was only £12,458. The
service was popular, however; and the revenue had been increasing
latterly, and an effort was made to reduce the cost.[62] In this the
postmasters general were successful, and as the treasury saw reasons for
indulging the hope that before long the service would be
self-sustaining, they sanctioned the amended terms.

So far as the district in the neighbourhood of New York was concerned,
the service was very satisfactory. But the people in the more remote
southern colonies had ground for complaint in the length of time it took
for their letters to reach them after arriving at New York.

No time was lost in despatching the couriers to the south; but, at the
best, between bad roads and no roads at all, there were great delays in
delivering the mails to Charlestown. In the fall of 1763, a proposition
was made to extend the West Indies service to the mainland, and to
require the mail packet to visit Pensacola, fort St. Augustine and
Charlestown, before returning to Falmouth.

The extended scheme, which was accepted in 1764, involved an entire
reorganization of the postal service of the southern colonies. The
colonies to the south of Virginia were separated from the colonies to
the north and, with the Bahama Islands, were erected into a distinct
postal division, with headquarters at Charlestown.[63]

A sufficient number of vessels were added to make a regular monthly
service,[64] but in spite of this, the arrangements did not give
satisfaction. The route was too long to make it possible to deliver the
mails at Charlestown within a reasonable time. The postmasters general
reported that letters for those parts often lay forty or fifty days in
London before starting on their way.

It was then resolved to break up the connection between the mainland and
the West Indies, and have a separate monthly service between Falmouth
and Charlestown. To secure the greatest measure of advantage from this
service a courier was sent off with the mails for Savannah and St.
Augustine as soon as they arrived at Charlestown from England.[65]

There were thus, from 1764, three lines of sailing packets running
between England and the North American colonies--one to New York,
another to Charlestown, and a third to the West Indies. There was but
one defect in these arrangements. They did not provide connections
between the several systems except through the mother country.

A letter sent from New York to Charlestown or to the West Indies had to
travel across to London and back again by the first outward packet to
its destination. To connect the two systems on the mainland, a courier
travelled from Charlestown northward to Suffolk, Virginia, where he met
with the courier from New York.

In dealing with the means for establishing communication between the
mainland and the West Indies, the treasury were called upon to consider
a petition from the merchants who traded to Florida. The termination of
the war was followed by the withdrawal of the troops which were
stationed at Pensacola, the principal trading settlement in Florida, and
the merchants feared the savages would plunder their goods, if succour
could not be easily obtained from the sister provinces.

The first step taken to meet the difficulty was to run a small
forty-five ton vessel from Jamaica to Pensacola and on to Charlestown.
This was satisfactory as far as it went, but as it took eighty-three
days to cover this route and return to Jamaica, this service had to be
doubled before the people concerned were content.

FOOTNOTES:

[37] Statutes of the United Kingdom, 9 Anne, c. 10.

[38] New York did not become the headquarters of the postal system until
the reconstruction of 1773.

[39] The postal rates as fixed by the act of Queen Anne were as follows:
London to Jamaica, Barbadoes, 1_s._ 6_d._; to New York, 1_s._ New York,
to West Indies, 4_d._; to New London or Philadelphia, 9_d._; to Boston
or Portsmouth, 1_s._; to Williamsburg, Va., or Piscataway, 1_s._ 3_d._;
to Charlestown, 1_s._ 6_d._; to within 60 miles, 4_d._; to within 100
miles, 6_d._ These charges were for single letters.

[40] G.P.O., _Treasury_, II. 253.

[41] Governor Spottswood to the board of trade, June 24, 1718 (_Va.
Hist. Coll._, new series, II. 280)

[42] _Journal of the House of Burgesses_, May 1718, _passim_.

[43] Douglas' _Historical and Political Summary_.

[44] G.P.O., _Treasury_, VI. 206-207.

[45] _Talcott Papers_, vol. 5.

[46] "The Ledger-Book of Benjamin Franklin," in the Boston Public
Library.

[47] G.P.O., _Treasury Letter-Book_, 1760-1761, p. 96.

[48] _Works of Benjamin Franklin_ (Federal ed.), I. 256.

[49] Franklin to Todd, January 16, 1764, Smyth, _Life and Writings of
Benjamin Franklin_, XII. 292.

[50] G.P.O., _General Accounts_, 1761-1770.

[51] G.P.O., _Treasury_, III. 236.

[52] G.P.O., _Treasury_ volume.

[53] Cal. Treasury Papers, 1702-1707, p. 267.

[54] _Treasury Papers_, CII. 120.

[55] G.P.O., _Treasury_, III. 127.

[56] _Cal. Treasury Books and Papers_, 1742-1745, p. 707.

[57] _C. O._ 5.

[58] _C. O._ 5, vol. 15.

[59] _Boston Evening Post_, April 28, 1755. (This note was furnished by
Mr. C. W. Ernst of Boston.)

[60] _C. O._ 5, Bundle 7.

[61] G.P.O., _Treasury_, VII. 248-249.

[62] G.P.O., _Treasury_, vol. 8.

[63] The first deputy postmaster general for the southern division was
Benjamin Barons, who was appointed December 19, 1764 (G.P.O., _Orders of
the Board_, II. 126). He resigned on August 26, 1766, and was succeeded
by Peter Delancy, who was killed in a duel with Dr. John Hale, in August
1771. His successor was George Roupell, who held office until displaced
by the Revolution (G.P.O., _Orders of the Board_, 1737-1770, II.
211_b_).

[64] G.P.O., _Instructions_, pp. 16-21.

[65] G.P.O., _Treasury_, June 6, 1768.




CHAPTER III

     Communications in Canada prior to the Conquest--Extension
     of colonial postal service to Canada--Effects of colonial
     discontents on post office.


Having described the several arrangements, which were made to enable the
older British colonists to correspond with the mother country and with
one another, we shall now turn to Canada.

In the first place an account must be given of the route pursued by the
courier, who was shortly to begin regular trips between New York and
Montreal. The route is the oldest in North America and the best known.
Before either Frenchman or Englishman came to America, the Indian
tribes, dwelling on the stretch of land which lies between the waters
running south and those running north, passed and repassed over this
natural highway in the prosecution of their perpetual wars; and in the
long struggle between France and England for mastery of the continent,
many of the most decisive battles were fought at different places on the
route.

The forts erected by each nation at the several strategic points on the
route within its territory indicate their conviction that this was the
ordinary course of passage from one country to the other.

A glance at the map confirms this view. From New York to the boundaries
of Canada, the few miles of watershed between the Hudson and the lake
Champlain systems are the only part of this long route, which could not
be easily travelled by vessel. The first long stretch on the journey
from New York to Montreal was that between New York and Albany. This
part of the trip was made in one of the sloops, which were employed by
the merchants of Albany to carry furs, lumber and grain to New York, and
which usually returned to Albany empty or with a cargo of brandy, which
was considered necessary in their dealings with the Indians. The trip up
the river occupied about three days.

From Albany northward, there was a good road on the west side of the
Hudson as far as fort Edward, which stood at the bend of the river,
where it made a sharp turn to the west. At fort Edward there was a
choice of routes, one leading directly north to lake George, and the
other to the north-east to Wood Creek, from which there was a navigable
course into lake Champlain.

The lake George route also led into lake Champlain, though the
difficulties of the passage from one lake to the other subjected the
traveller to the inconvenience of a portage. Lake Champlain offered an
uninterrupted course to St. John's in Canada, from which point there was
a pleasant trip by carriage to Laprairie, followed by a sail across the
St. Lawrence to Montreal. The time taken by travellers over this route
was from nine to ten days.

The population of Canada at the period when it became a British province
was about seventy thousand, all of whom dwelt on the shores of the St.
Lawrence and its tributaries. Travellers between Montreal and Quebec
taking the river passage were wont to declare that they seemed to be
passing through one long village, so closely were the settlements on
each side of the river drawn to one another.

Below Quebec, the country on the north shore in the _seigneuries_ of
Beauport and Beaupré, as far east as Cap Tourmente, was as thickly
populated as any part of Canada. Beyond that point settlement rather
straggled on to Murray Bay. On the south shore from Levis eastward, the
census of 1765 showed a population of over ten thousand. A gentleman
travelling from Rivière du Loup to Quebec a few years later stated that
there were from twelve to sixteen families to every mile of road.

Although people travelling in Canada preferred making their journey by
boat, there was a good road from Montreal to Quebec and, what was unique
in America at the time, there was a regular line of post houses over the
whole road, where _calèches_ or carrioles were always kept in readiness
for travellers.

Each _maître de poste_ had the exclusive privilege of carrying
passengers from his post house to the next, which was usually about nine
miles distant, his obligation being to have the horse and carriage ready
on fifteen minutes' notice during the day, and in half an hour, if he
were called during the night.

This facility for travel, the advantages of which are obvious, was a
gift from France, where it had been in operation since the fifteenth
century. When the road between Montreal and Quebec was completed in
1734,[66] the post road system was at once established upon it. It was a
convenience which cost the government nothing, the habitant who was
appointed _maître de poste_ receiving his pay from the persons whom he
conveyed within his limits. The government confined its attention to
seeing that the _maître de poste_ furnished the horses and vehicles
promptly.

In September 1760, when the English became masters of Canada by the
capitulation of Montreal, Sir Jeffery Amherst, commander-in-chief of the
British forces, issued new commissions to the _maîtres de poste_, and
fixed the rate at which they should be paid for their services, but gave
directions that they should let their horses to no person, who was not
provided with a written order from the governor.[67]

A question of much interest is suggested by the fact that the post road
between Montreal and Quebec had its origin during the French regime. In
France the post roads were part of the postal system of the country, and
the question occurs, by what means were letters conveyed within Canada
during the period of French rule? It is probable that there was a
considerable correspondence between Canada and France, and the lines on
which the business of the country was conducted would seem to call for a
fairly large interchange of letters within the colony itself. Though the
great mass of the people were unable either to read or to write, they
differed but little in this respect from the same class of people in
other countries. It was not the custom of the time to look to the
working classes for patronage for the post office, though even here it
is to be observed that the girls of Canada had many opportunities for
securing the elements of education, which did not fall in the way of the
young men, and with the instinct for graceful expression, which is
nature's endowment to French women, it is probable that many letters
came from this class. From the towns, however, there would be a
relatively large correspondence. Although the populations of Quebec and
Montreal were less than that of many of our country towns, and Three
Rivers would not bear comparison in that respect with many villages, the
social life in these towns was on a high plane. From Charlevoix to
Montcalm, every visitor to Canada expressed his astonishment at the
refinement and even elegance which he found in the towns. This society,
with its _seigneurs_, military officers, clergy and civil service, would
beyond doubt have an extensive correspondence with friends at home.
Indeed, mention of the clergy brings up that remarkable series of
letters written by Jesuit missionaries from the wilds of Canada, known
as the Jesuit Relations, which forms so large a part of the foundation
on which the history of the country in the seventeenth century rests.
The commercial correspondence was, also, considerable. All the trade
between Canada and France was carried on through the merchants of
Quebec. Montreal from its situation at the junction of the St. Lawrence
and Ottawa rivers had been the chief town for the Indian trade in furs
for over a century, but it did not send its furs directly to France. The
Quebec merchants had been the intermediaries for this trade, and they
held jealously to the profitable privilege. The imports from France
which included a large part of the necessities and conveniences of life,
were also handled by the Quebec merchants, who acted as wholesalers to
the merchants in Montreal and the other parts of the colony.

It will be obvious from a view of all these circumstances that there
must have been a large volume of correspondence to and from as well as
within Canada during the French regime. The greater part of it would be
between Quebec and the ports of France and the means by which this was
carried on, are known. In the _Royal Almanach_ for 1723, it is announced
that on letters to Canada there would be a charge of seven sols (about
seven cents) which would pay for the conveyance from Paris to Rochelle,
while between Rochelle and Canada, letters were carried free of all
charge. Between Old and New France, therefore, there was little
restriction on correspondence. If a letter going to France were destined
for Paris, it would be carried there for seven cents; if for other parts
of France, local and personal arrangements would have to be made for
their delivery. The case was the same with letters coming to Canada, but
addressed to other places than Quebec. Persons living in Montreal, Three
Rivers or any other place, who had correspondence with France would
arrange with friends in Quebec to take their letters from the captain of
the incoming ship, and send the letters to them by the first
opportunity. Kalm, the Swedish naturalist, who was travelling through
Canada as the guest of the governor, states that, on the way up to
Montreal on the governor's _bateau_, they put in at Three Rivers in
order that the officer in charge might deliver some letters, which had
been entrusted to him.

The question of establishing such a postal system as existed in France
was laid before the governor as early as 1721. In that year Nicholas
Lanoullier, a clerk in the treasury, made application for the exclusive
privilege of carrying on a postal system between Montreal and Quebec. He
pointed out that the only means for the conveyance of letters between
Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal was the canoe, and as there was no
regular canoe service, a person desiring to send a letter had either to
hire a canoe, or wait until some person would be found willing to take
the letter in the course of his journey. Either mode was obviously
unsatisfactory. Lanoullier proposed to open post offices at the three
towns, for letters and couriers, and to maintain _messageries_ or an
express service, and a line of post houses. There was no road between
Montreal and Quebec at this time, and as Lanoullier's scheme involved
the construction of a road, the governor granted the application, and in
addition gave Lanoullier the exclusive privilege of establishing ferries
over the rivers, which would cross the road he undertook to build. As
the total population of Canada in 1721 did not exceed 25,000, and the
towns of Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal contained no more than 2300,
325 and 3200 people respectively, an enterprise of that magnitude could
not possibly be profitable. Lanoullier no doubt realized this, for he
did nothing in pursuance of the scheme. It was ten years after this
period before any serious effort was made to construct a continuous road
from Quebec to Montreal, and by that time Nicholas Lanoullier's
connection with the work had ceased entirely. By a somewhat curious
coincidence, when the governor and intendant resolved that the road
should be constructed, the duty of superintending the work fell upon a
brother of Lanoullier, who was appointed grand voyer or general overseer
of the roads of the colony. The office of grand voyer had existed in the
colony since 1657, but until Lanoullier's time, it seems to have been
neglected, and when the habitants along the road were called upon to
work upon it, they obeyed with much reluctance. Lanoullier's
difficulties were increased by the hostility of the _seigneurs_ through
whose estates the road was to pass, and who resented his making his
surveys without deference to their wishes and opinions. He pushed
forward the work with much energy, however, and by 1734 the road was
opened. The intendant, Hocquart, who had followed the road building with
much interest, reported to the king that he himself had made the journey
in a carriage from Quebec to Montreal in four days. As soon as the road
was declared fit for travel post houses were placed upon it at intervals
of about nine miles, and ferries were established for transportation
across the broader rivers which crossed the road.

But although no regular postal system was in operation during the French
regime, an arrangement existed from an early period, by which the
letters of the governor and intendant were carried by an appointed
messenger, who was permitted to take with him, in addition to the
official letters, any that might be entrusted to him by private persons.
The fee allowed the messenger by the intendant's commission was ten sous
for a letter carried from Quebec to Montreal and five sous to Three
Rivers, with proportionate charges for greater or shorter distances. The
commission which was issued in 1705 by Raudot, the intendant, to Pierre
Dasilva dit Portugais, made no provision for regular conveyance, but as
the messenger conveyed all the governor's despatches within the colony,
it is probable that he made his trips with fair frequency. Another
messenger, Jean Morau, received a commission in 1727, though he had been
performing the duties of the service for ten years before that date.[68]

A curious fact is disclosed in a memorandum prepared during the period
between the capitulation of Canada in 1760 and the treaty of Paris,
which settled definitively the possession of the country. The writer,
who had hopes that the country would be restored to France, was
discussing several measures for improving the administration, when the
French returned to the government. Among these was the establishment of
a royal post office. In submitting his suggestion he pointed out that
the system of royal messengers was expensive to the country, as the
letters of private persons were carried and delivered free of charge. By
the establishment of a post office, the charges of maintaining it would
fall on the persons whose letters were carried, and the treasury would
be relieved of the expense.[69]

As has been already stated, when Franklin learned that Canada was to
remain a British possession, he came to Quebec to arrange for the
establishment of a postal service between Quebec, Three Rivers and
Montreal, and for a regular exchange of mails between those places and
New York. At Quebec he met with Hugh Finlay, a young Scotchman who had
been in the country for three years and who had been performing the very
important duties of justice of the peace. In 1765, Finlay was made a
member of the governor's council, and until his death, thirty-six years
later, took a leading part in the affairs of the colony. Franklin opened
a post office in Quebec with Finlay as postmaster and put under his
charge subordinate offices at Three Rivers and Montreal. A monthly
service by courier was established between Montreal and New York, whose
duty it was to have the Canadian mails in New York in time to place
those for Great Britain on board the outgoing packet. In making his
arrangements for the exchange of mails between the Canadian offices
themselves, Finlay sought and obtained the co-operation of the governor,
who directed the _maîtres de poste_ to provide saddle horses for the
mail couriers at sixpence a league, which was just half the charge made
to the public for the same service, and who issued orders to the
ferrymen along the route to pass the couriers over their rivers promptly
and without charge.[70] The captains of boats running on the river were
instructed in their duty to deliver the letters in their hands to the
nearest postmasters who would pay them one cent for each letter. The
courier's trips between Montreal and Quebec were made weekly each way,
and each trip took about thirty hours. As the distance is one hundred
and eighty miles, the advantages of the post house system in
facilitating the movements of the couriers are manifest.

A difficulty for which provision had to be made was the extreme
magnitude of the postage charges. In 1763 the American post office was
still working under the act of 1710, which was enacted at a time when
Canada as an English colony was not in contemplation.

The system for which provision was made by the act extended from
Piscataway (now Portsmouth, New Hampshire) to Charlestown; and if
letters were sent beyond the range of this system, the charge for single
letters conveyed up to sixty miles was fourpence; and when the
conveyance was from sixty to one hundred miles the charge was sixpence.
At the rate of sixpence for one hundred miles, it cost two shillings to
send a single letter from New York to Montreal and three shillings from
New York to Quebec.

This rate was quite prohibitive. Governors Murray of Quebec, and Gage of
Montreal, in 1760, represented to the home government[71] that the
people of Canada were almost destitute of cash, and that they would not
write to their friends in England until they found private occasions to
send their letters to New York. The governors suggested that every
interest would be better served if the rates could be made so that the
charge on letters between any two places in America might not exceed one
shilling and sixpence for a single letter.

In 1765, the act of 1710 was amended to meet the governor's views.[72]
The scale of fourpence for sixty miles and sixpence for one hundred
miles was not changed, but an addition was made to it by providing that
for each one hundred miles or less beyond the first hundred miles, the
additional charge was to be twopence.

The reduction for the longer distances was very considerable. Between
New York and Montreal, the act of 1765 lowered the charge for a single
letter from two shillings to one shilling, and between New York and
Quebec from three shillings to one shilling and fourpence.

Halifax, which had had a post office since 1755, had until this time but
little benefit from it owing to the excessive charges. But the amendment
of 1765 provided a rate of fourpence on single letters passing between
any two seaports in America, and thus put Halifax in comparatively easy
communication with Boston and New York.

Here then in its entirety is the postal system of North America as it
was completed by the inclusion within it of the new province of Canada.
The most important communications were those between America and Great
Britain. Of these there were three: with New York, Charlestown and the
West Indies. Between each of these places and Great Britain, packet
boats carried the mails once a month. These several divisions were
united with one another by a small packet from Jamaica to Charlestown,
and by a courier from Charlestown to Suffolk, Virginia, where he met
with a courier from New York.

Within the northern district, the centre of which was at New York, there
was a well-organized mail service, in which all existing travelling
facilities were employed to the limit of their usefulness.[73] Mails
were transported regularly as far south as Virginia and as far north and
east as Quebec and Halifax. Within the better settled parts of the
country, the service was excellent. Before the Revolution, two trips
were made weekly between New York and Boston, and three between New York
and Philadelphia. From Quebec to Montreal, there were two trips every
week. The courier service at this time was quite equal, if not superior,
to the service in England.

The financial affairs of the American post office flourished. For the
three years ending July 1764, there was a surplus revenue of £2070.[74]
The succeeding years, though satisfactory, were not equal to those up to
1764.[75]

But the political troubles were rendering the post office an object of
unpopularity, and making it a duty on the part of the patriots to employ
agencies other than the post office for the transmission of their
letters. As these unofficial agencies were usually satisfied with a much
lower compensation than the post office demanded, the pleasant
circumstance arose for the patriot that the line of interest coincided
with the line of duty.

During the period between the establishment of the post office in Canada
in 1763, and the outbreak of the war of the Revolution in 1775, the post
office pursued on the whole an even, uneventful course. Canada did not
entirely escape the influence of the sentiments which in the older
colonies were leading to the Revolution; and, as the war approached, the
post office was made to feel the effects.

There were, at the time of the peace of 1763, along with the seventy
thousand Canadians which made up nearly the whole of the population, a
number of the older British subjects, most of whom had come from the
British American colonies. At this time they numbered about two hundred,
and when the war broke out in 1775, the number had doubled.

These new-comers to Canada were not without the usual practical ability
of Americans, and they very soon gathered into their hands the greater
part of the business of the colony. They were, however, a source of much
trouble and offence to the governor, and to their Canadian fellow
subjects. The governor reported that their arrogance, and repugnance to
the social and religious customs of the new subjects--the former
subjects of France--as well as the factious opposition they displayed to
the mode of government then existing, retarded seriously the progress of
the efforts which were made towards conciliating the Canadians to the
new regime.

Nothing short of the complete domination of these few hundred
English-speaking people over the French Canadians would have satisfied
them. The spirit of rebellion grew no faster in the older British
colonies than among the few of English extraction in Canada, and the
mutual distrust between these people and the government hampered the
work of the post office a few years later.

In 1767 Finlay was called upon to remove a certain friction which had
arisen between the _maîtres de poste_ and the travelling public. The
regulations, which confined travelling by post to persons having special
permits from the governor, were no longer insisted upon. Any person
desiring to do so was at liberty to hire horses and carriages at any of
the post houses for travel to the next post house.

The easing of restrictions enlarged the business of the _maîtres de
poste_. But it evidently did not give unmixed satisfaction, as
complaints were made that many persons riding post imposed upon the
postmen, "threatening and abusing them contrary at all law."

Finlay had no actual warrant for interfering on behalf of the _maîtres
de poste_, but as postmaster of the province, he had a strong motive for
picking up the reins of authority where he found them lying in slack
hands. He required the services of the _maîtres de poste_ to help him
with the conveyance of the mails, and as those services were rendered
for half the charge which was made to the travelling public, he kept the
_maîtres de poste_ under his influence by constituting himself their
champion. Finlay pointed to the fact that in England the postmaster
general was also general master of the post houses, and declared that as
deputy of the postmaster general he would take the same position in
Canada.

There was the essential difference between the situation in England and
in Canada that the postmaster general had statutory authority for
exercising control over the post houses in England, whereas there was no
such authority for control over the post houses in Canada. However,
Finlay was a member of the legislative council, and he assumed, without
opposition or question, the charge of the _maîtres de poste_, and in
1767 issued public notice that the post house system was to be under the
same regulations as were in force in England.[76] The _maîtres de poste_
were confirmed in their monopoly, and protected against imposition on
the part of the public.

Finlay's energetic management of the affairs of the Canadian post office
attracted the attention of his superiors, and as Franklin had resided
continuously in England since 1764 as agent for Pennsylvania and other
of the American colonies, the expanding scope of the American post
office demanded a greater degree of supervision than Franklin's
associate, Foxcroft, was able to give.

It was resolved to create another office, until then unknown in America,
called a surveyorship. The duties of the surveyor in England are the
same as those of the inspector in the Canadian or United States
services, and call for a general control over the postal service within
certain defined limits. The office of surveyor was established in 1772,
and Finlay was appointed to the position. He was allowed to retain his
charge of the post office in Canada, though his salary here underwent an
abatement.

The first duty assigned to Finlay as post office surveyor was to explore
the uninhabited country beyond the last settlements on the river
Chaudiere extending over the height of land into New England.[77] The
purpose of the trip was to ascertain the practicability of a direct road
between Quebec and New England. The merchants of Quebec had made much
complaint of the slowness and irregularity of the ordinary communication
with New York, which was by way of Montreal, and they hoped that the
proposed road would materially shorten the journey to the principal
places in the northern colonies.

The road which the merchants of Quebec desired to see built was a
project which had occupied public attention at various times for over a
century before this time. When Louis XIV, Colbert his minister, and
Talon the intendant, were devising schemes for the creation of a New
France in North America, they observed that the long Canadian winters,
which shut up the port of Quebec, made it desirable that there should be
free access to an ocean port.

The treaty of Breda confirmed England in 1667 in its possession of New
York and New Jersey, and also established the right of France to Acadia,
which in the French view comprised not only Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, but also that section of the state of Maine which lies east
of the Kennebec river. In 1671[78] the king directed Talon to see what
could be done towards constructing a road between the mouth of the
Chaudiere and fort Pentegoet at the mouth of the Penobscot, which was
the headquarters of the French governor in Acadia.

The purposes of the king were not unlike those of the fathers of the
present confederation. Canada was French and so was Acadia, and the
association of the inland with the maritime settlements could not but be
productive of good. The populations were small: Canada had six thousand
seven hundred, and Acadia four hundred and forty-one,[79] but, for a
short period, imperial ideas prevailed.

Talon in 1671 despatched two explorers to Pentegoet. They took different
routes, although following the watercourses, and their reports confirmed
Talon as to the desirability of establishing permanent communication
between the two provinces. His plans embraced a line of settlements on
the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers with a view to imposing a barrier to
the advances of the English. But Talon's health gave way, and he
returned to France in the fall of 1672, and as the king's ardour towards
Canada was cooling off, owing to his absorption in his European wars,
the road was abandoned.

The project was revived eleven years afterwards by de Meulles, a later
intendant. He was persuaded that if communication were opened, the
merchants of Quebec might secure the trade of the Acadians which went
entirely to New England, and the Acadians would become attached to
Canada. The road would have to be settled upon, and de Meulles' plan was
to place old soldiers upon it, as he did not think the Canadians could
be induced to give up their comfortable lives, to enter upon a venture
of that kind. De Meulles' proposition, however, fell upon deaf ears, as
did all others calling for the outlay of money, and the scheme was
allowed to lie until Finlay took it up.

From the New England side a movement towards the height of land
separating Canada from the English colonies was made in 1754.[80]
Governor Shirley of Massachusetts in the early part of that year, set
out from Falmouth (now Portland) with eight hundred men on an expedition
up the Kennebec river. His purpose was to dislodge any Frenchman who
might be settled on the height of land, and to establish a fort to
secure the country against attack.

Fort Halifax was erected at the junction of a stream called the
Sebastoocook with the Kennebec, and the Plymouth company built a
storehouse at the head of navigation on the Kennebec. A carriage road
was laid between the fort and the storehouse. The governor anticipated
that with fort Halifax as base he might secure the mastery of the
Chaudiere and even threaten Quebec.

As Talon in 1671, and Shirley in 1754, so Finlay in 1772 was persuaded
that a direct road from Quebec to New England was altogether desirable,
and that it might be made without unusual difficulty. It was not,
however, in the scheme of things that Finlay should succeed any more
than his predecessors. His preparations were soon made. He explained his
views to lieutenant governor Cramahe, who headed a subscription to pay
Finlay's expenses, and inside of twenty-four hours he had ample means at
his disposal for his purpose.[81]

Finlay set out in September 1773 with a party of Indians, and reached
Falmouth after seventeen days of canoeing and following trails. Having
become satisfied as to the practicability of the road, he addressed
himself to the task of securing the co-operation of those who might be
supposed to benefit by the enterprise.

At Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he discussed the subject with governor
Wentworth. The governor was eager to help with the scheme of
establishing a further connection between Canada and the colonies to the
south, but was of opinion that the best route would be over the tract of
country between the Connecticut river and the St. Francis river in
Canada.

This route had several advantages. It avoided the watercourses which
made the road from Montreal to New York, and the proposed Kennebec road,
useless for so long a period every year; the passage over the height of
land was easy, and the country along the line of the route between the
height of land and the St. Francis was favourable for settlement.

As Finlay was prepossessed with the governor's plans, the governor set
about putting them into execution. He laid a carriageable road along the
Connecticut to the boundary of his province, and by April 1774 had a
line of settlements along the road so that the post rider would always
have a stage at which to pass the night, and generally have one within
four hours' travel from any point on the road.

Governor Wentworth lent to Finlay the services of his own surveyor to
explore the country on the Canadian side of the route, but before
anything could be accomplished in this way, the discontents in the south
had broken out in acts of rebellion, and the post office was the first
of the institutions of government to be suspended.

At Boston, Finlay laid his plans before governor Hutchinson.[82] The
interview was not encouraging. The governor declared that, in the
existing temper of the people, it would be enough for the legislature to
know that the governor favoured a scheme, to ensure its defeat. The New
Englanders had, besides this, but moderate grounds for assisting in
establishing further communication with Canada.

The proposed road would be beneficial to Massachusetts in so far as it
aided colonization in the northern parts of the province, but as the
tract through which the proposed Kennebec road would run lay largely in
the grants of the Plymouth company, it would be this company which would
be the chief beneficiary of the enterprise, and the legislature
considered that the company should bear the burden of the expense.

The company were not averse from assisting, but they indulged the hope
that with their interest in the legislature the government might be
induced to bear the cost. Another circumstance that tended to cool the
interest of the legislature was the belief that in a short time this
northern country was to be detached from Massachusetts, and erected into
a separate government. Altogether Finlay concluded that unless the
British government undertook the scheme on the New England side, it
would not be accomplished at all.

Finlay's tour of exploration was ended by his arrival in Falmouth at the
beginning of October. He then entered upon the more extensive duty of
inspecting the whole postal service from Maine to Georgia.[83] He
travelled southward from Falmouth, inspected every post office, studied
the conditions under which the mails were carried, and made a full
report of his investigations to the postmaster general.

It is plain from his report that the service had deteriorated seriously
since Franklin and Foxcroft had made their last inspection ten years
before. Franklin, it will be remembered, had resided in England since
1764, and Foxcroft undoubtedly found it impossible to give proper
attention to the post offices throughout the country, and at the same
time to keep abreast of the official routine at the head office.

The postmasters on the whole impressed Finlay favourably. They
understood their duties and seemed to be making a commendable struggle
against the demoralization which confronted them however they turned.
Only a small proportion of the letters which circulated within the
colonies passed through the post office, although their conveyance by
any other means was illegal. The consequence was that the revenues of
the post office were small.

At Falmouth the greater part of the letters from Boston were delivered
by the masters of sailing vessels. The postmaster on one occasion
attempted to enforce the law against illegal conveyance by seizing the
letter bag on one of the incoming ships; but the populace made so marked
a manifestation of its displeasure that he did not venture on that
course a second time.

It was not so much, however, by direct defiance of the postal law,
although instances of this were not wanting, as by evasions of it, that
the monopoly of the post office was broken down. But in many cases the
evasions were so palpable that they could deceive nobody. A popular mode
of escape from the penalties attaching to the breach of the monopoly was
to seek shelter under one of the exceptions which the post office act
allowed.

In none of the acts, for instance, is objection made to a person sending
a letter to a correspondent by his own servant, or by a friend who
happened to be journeying to the place where the letter should be
delivered. Another exception to the monopoly was made in favour of
letters which accompanied merchandise to which letters related. Thus a
merchant in filling an order for goods has always been at liberty to
send with them the invoice, or any other communication, having
presumable reference to them. This was the excepted article, which
served the turn of those eluding the monopoly.

What Finlay saw at New Haven illustrates fairly what was going on
throughout the colonies. Riders came in from other towns, their carts
laden with bundles, packages, boxes and canisters, and every package had
a letter attached. Some of the parcels consisted of no more than little
bundles of chips, straw, or old paper, but they served their purpose. If
the postmaster made objection to the number of letters they carried, the
riders asserted their right to carry letters accompanying goods, and the
public saw to it that neither postmaster or magistrate took too narrow a
view of what constituted goods.

On the route between Boston and Newport the mail carrier was a certain
Peter Mumford, who did a much larger business in the illegal conveyance
of letters than as the servant of the post office. At Newport the
postmaster declared that there were two post offices--the king's and
Mumford's--and the latter did the larger business. There was no remedy,
as the postmaster declared that whoever should attempt to check the
illegal practice would be denounced as the friend of slavery and
oppression and the declared enemy of America.

Many of the couriers did so large a carrying business that the
conveyance of the mails became a mere incident with them. As he
approached New Haven, Finlay was accosted with the inquiry whether he
had overtaken the post bringing in a drove of oxen, which the courier
had engaged to do, when he came in with the mail.

In all respects but one, the situation described by Finlay presented no
unexpected features. There had been no general inspection since Franklin
made his tour in 1763, at the time he opened the post office in Quebec.
This fact fully explains the shortcomings of the postmasters and
couriers. That the postmasters were chargeable with so few
irregularities in their accounts, or were open to so little censure for
faults in management, is high testimony to their intelligence and
fidelity to duty.

Mail couriers have always been less completely identified with the
postal service than postmasters. They are held by contract, not by
appointment, and their engagements are for short terms. There is nothing
irregular in their practice of combining the conveyance of the mails
with other means of gaining a livelihood, but in the absence of
supervision there was a constant tendency to give undue attention to
what should have been merely auxiliary employments of carrying
passengers and parcels.

People employing the couriers demanded prompt service, while there was
no person to insist on the prior claims of the post office, and indeed
there were probably few people in any community at that time to whom an
hour more or less was of any consequence in the receipt of their
letters.

The evasion of the postmaster general's monopoly also was too common to
excite particular remark. It was beyond doubt a breach of the law, but
that it was wrong was a proposition to which few even good citizens gave
assent, at least by their practice. Thomas Hancock made a merit of his
saving the colony of Connecticut from thirty to forty shillings a year
through the interest he had with certain captains, which enabled him to
secure the colonial letters, as they came over in the ships, and thus
prevent their passing through the post office.

In England, also, the practice was wellnigh universal. The increased
rates imposed by the act of 1710 gave an immense impetus to clandestine
traffic. Every pedlar and driver of public coaches lent himself to the
profitable business of carrying letters for a few halfpence a letter. In
London an effort was made to stop the practice by having officials of
the post office frequent the roads leading into the city, for the
purpose of searching the vehicles of those who had made themselves
objects of suspicion.

It is interesting to note that the work for which the post office
surveyors or inspectors were first appointed was to detain the mail
couriers in the course of travel, and check the contents of the mail
bags, and thus prevent postmasters from becoming parties, as they too
frequently were, to frauds on the revenue, to their own great
advantage.

As late as 1837, when Rowland Hill[84] laid his penny postage scheme
before a public which was impatient for its adoption, Richard Cobden
declared to a committee appointed to report on the scheme, that
five-sixths of the letters passing between Manchester and London were
conveyed by private hand. This state of things continued until the
postage rates were brought down to a point, at which the service offered
by the post office was cheaper as well as better than any other. The
only certain means by which a government monopoly in a free country can
maintain its position is to outbid its rivals. There is no safe
dependence to be placed in legal process.

In ordinary times, then, the evasion of the exclusive privilege of the
postmaster general by any community would deserve no more than passing
mention. It is as part of a general boycott of the government that the
action of the Americans is worthy of note.

From the time of the passage of the stamp act in 1765, the attitude of
the colonies towards all schemes in which taxation by Parliament could
be detected was one of resistance active or passive. When this act went
into operation, the Americans bound themselves to import nothing from
England, a self-imposed obligation which in the undeveloped state of
their manufactures entailed much inconvenience and even distress.

There was an essential difference between the English and the American
methods of avoiding the penalties for infractions of the post office
law. In England, and to some extent doubtless in America as well, men
engaged in the illegal conveyance of letters did their best to conceal
their operations from the authorities. The efforts of a public coach
driver were directed to rendering the search made by the post office
inspectors fruitless. If letters were found in his possession, he
suffered the legal penalties as the smuggler does to-day. It was one of
the chances of his trade.

In the colonies men who were bent on circumventing the post office
pursued another course. They indulged their taste for legal
technicalities by carrying their letters openly, and maintaining that
the packages which accompanied them took them outside the monopoly, and
they gave scope to their humour by making the packages as ridiculous as
possible. They incurred no great risk, for the active spirits in every
community threatened a prosecutor with a coat of tar and feathers.

The stamp act was repealed in the year following its enactment, and for
the moment trade resumed its wonted course. But it was not for long. The
British government was determined that the legislative supremacy of
parliament should be recognized in America, and the colonies were
equally persistent in their denial of this supremacy; and in the
conflict which ensued the principle weapons employed by the Americans
until the outbreak of the war were non-importation and non-exportation
agreements.

As the British merchant exercised a preponderating influence with the
government, the stoppage of trade with America, as the result of a
constitutional dispute, was an effective instrument in making the
government consider the situation seriously. The difficulty with the
government was to understand the attitude of mind which prevailed among
the Americans.

The government had no quarrel with the principle that representation
should be a condition of taxation. It would have asserted the principle
on any occasion, but it could not see that the course it was pursuing
was a violation of that principle. Parliament, it declared, was the
great council of the nation, representing those parts beyond the sea as
well as those at home, and its measures bound the whole nation.

It was still, it must be remembered, half a century before the time when
the agitations which preceded the great reform bill of 1832 had
familiarized the country with the distinction between virtual and actual
representation. The British parliament was far from being, and indeed
made no pretence of being a representative assembly in the sense in
which the phrase is now used. The right to send members to parliament
had for centuries been exercised by the electors of counties and certain
ancient boroughs, and no enlargement of the representation was made from
1677 until 1832,[85] in spite of the great changes in population and
industrial importance which had taken place in the course of time.

Great manufacturing towns such as Manchester and Leeds sent no members
to represent them in parliament, while Old Sarum which did not contain a
single house elected two members. To a people, who saw nothing in this
state of things inconsistent with the theory of representative
government, the colonial view would be quite incomprehensible.

The colonist on the other hand with his strict representation in town
meetings and colonial assemblies, and without the historical aids to an
understanding of the point of view of the home government, saw little
of a truly representative character in the British system. But he did
see, what the home government did not, that a body of distinct and
separate interests had grown up in America of which parliament had a
very inaccurate conception, and with which it was in no way qualified to
deal.

The attitude of the colonists did not appear to the government to be
quite free from insincerity. For half a century and more, the government
declared, the colonists had been subject to taxes in the shape of post
office charges imposed by the act of 1710, and they had never raised a
question.

In the Newcastle correspondence, there is a paper, dated 1765,
containing a discussion on the legality of a tax on the trade with the
Spanish West Indies. In the course of the paper it is asserted that
parliament, by the post office act of Queen Anne, imposed an internal
tax on the colonies without their presuming to dispute the jurisdiction
of parliament over them.

The disturbances in America which followed upon the attempts to enforce
the stamp act surprised and alarmed the government, and a committee of
parliament was appointed to consider what their future course would be.
Franklin who, as the representative of several of the colonies, had been
in London for a considerable time, was among the witnesses examined by
the committee. His examination took a wide range, but the point of
interest was the question as to what ground in principle the Americans
stood upon in objecting to the stamp act, since they had accepted the
post office act of 1710.

For Franklin this was a crucial question, as he had been not only
administering the post office in America for twelve years past, but he
did not conceal his satisfaction that by his management he had been able
for several years to send substantial sums to Great Britain as profits
from the institution.

Franklin answered the questions with much ingenuity. The money paid for
the postage of a letter was not in the nature of a tax; it was merely a
_quantum meruit_ for a service done; no person was compellable to pay
the money if he did not choose to receive the service. A man might
still, as before the act, send his letter by a servant, a special
messenger, or a friend, if he thought it safer and cheaper.

The answer would have been quite just, if the postmaster general of
England had not held a monopoly of letter carrying in America. While a
person is free to use or not to use a certain service, the charge for
the service is not in the nature of a tax. If a person does not like
the price demanded by the post office for its services, he may seek
other means of having his letters carried. But the post office act does
not leave a person free to employ other agencies for the conveyance of
his letters. The monopoly has attached to it heavy penalties for its
infringement.

It is true, as Franklin said, that the post office act leaves it open to
a man to employ a servant, special messenger, or friend in the course of
his travel, to carry his letters. But the mention of these agencies
shows the absurdity of Franklin's contention. A merchant in New York
having business to transact by letter with a customer in Boston or
Philadelphia could not afford to pay the expenses of his messenger or
servant unless the transaction were one of considerable magnitude. Nor
could he await the chance of a friend's making a visit to either of
these places. He might, if he were free to do so, have entrusted his
letters to a coach driver who made a business of passing between New
York and the other two towns, but the monopoly of the post office stood
in his way, and the coachman would have made himself liable to a heavy
fine.

In short, if the merchant had to correspond with neighbouring places he
was compelled to employ the post office. With a country so extended and
so highly civilized as the American colonies were at that day, a postal
system was an absolute necessity; and if the system maintained by the
government were protected by a monopoly, its charges were a tax on the
users of the system in so far as those charges exceeded the strict cost
of carrying on the service.

Furthermore, since the post office act of 1710 was imposed on the
colonies without their consent, and since Franklin's good management had
enabled him to pay all the expenses of the service and send a
considerable surplus to England for some years past, it is plain that to
the extent of the yearly surplus the colonies had been subject to a tax
laid on them without their consent, and that Franklin himself was the
tax gatherer. This was undoubtedly where the point lay in the question
which was asked of Franklin.

Franklin's views on the constitutionality of the post office charges
were part and parcel of his views on taxation generally. For instance,
he drew a clear line of distinction between a tax on imported goods and
an internal tax such as the stamp act. A duty on imported goods it was
permissible for parliament to impose on the colonies, while an internal
tax could not properly be levied without consent.

The stamp act required that all commercial and legal documents and
newspapers should be written or printed upon stamped paper which was
sold by agents of the government at varying prices prescribed by the
law. As this was a tax which could not be avoided so long as men carried
on their business in the ordinary way and by the ordinary means, it was
one for which the consent of the colonies was necessary.

An import tax stood on a different footing. It was simply one of the
elements entering into the price of the goods imported. If people
objected to the price as enhanced by the tax, it was open to them to
decline to buy the goods. A tax of this sort was in Franklin's view
quite within the powers of the sovereign state.

The ultimate test applied by Franklin to determine whether a tax could
in a given case be constitutionally imposed, was whether or not there
was a legal mode of escape from the tax. If the tax were an avoidable
one, it was constitutional, since submission to it implied consent. If,
on the other hand, the tax were one which from the necessities of the
case could not be avoided, it ought not to be imposed until it had been
assented to by the people.

Opinions may differ as to which of the two classes the application of
the test would place postal charges in. They constituted a tax beyond
any question since they turned into the government a surplus of revenue
after all expenses had been met. Whether they were to be regarded as an
avoidable tax to be paid or not as one cared to employ the services of a
post office or not, or whether as a tax which the circumstances of the
community made it necessary to accept, will depend on one's views as to
whether a post office is indispensable to the community.

It is difficult to see how Franklin, who of all men of his generation
knew best the requirements of a highly developed industrial community,
could believe that the necessities for the interchange of correspondence
on the part of a people like the American colonists could be satisfied
by private messengers, or travelling friends, or indeed by any agency
less comprehensive than a national postal system.

FOOTNOTES:

[66] _Can. Arch._. C. 11, LXIV. 110 (Report of progress by grand voyer).

[67] _Mémoires de la Société Historique de Montréal_, 1870, pt. 5. I.
150.

[68] _Ordonnances des Intendants_, I. 54, and IX. 109.

[69] _Public Archives of Can._, C. 11, X. 338.

[70] Order of lieutenant governor Burton, to the _maîtres de poste_
(_Mémoires de la Société Historique de Montréal_, 1870, pt. 5. I. 268).

[71] G.P.O., _Treasury_, 1760-1771, p. 99.

[72] _Imperial Statutes_, 5, Geo. III. c. 25.

[73] Journal kept by Hugh Finlay, surveyor of the post roads on the
continent of North America, 1773-1774 (published by Frank H. Norton,
Brooklyn, 1867).

[74] G.P.O., _General Account Book_, Account April 5, 1765.

[75] _Ibid._, Account April 5, 1769. The net revenue for the four years
ending 1768 was £1684.

[76] _Quebec Gazette_, February 16, 1767.

[77] Finlay's _Journal_.

[78] _Lettres, Instructions et Mémoires de Colbert_, tome iii. pp. 514
and 520.

[79] _Census of Canada_, 1870-1871, p. xvi.

[80] _C. O._ 5, XIV. 300 (_Can. Arch._).

[81] _Can. Arch._, B. 26, p. 54.

[82] _Can. Arch._, B. 26, p. 75.

[83] Finlay's _Journal_, Brooklyn, 1867.

[84] _Life of Sir Rowland Hill and Hist. of Penny Postage_, by G.
Birkbeck Hill, 1880, I. 301.

[85] Cf. Porritt, _The Unreformed House of Commons_, I. 16-17.




CHAPTER IV

     The post office during the Revolution--Its suppression.


But the time was well past when the question as to what was or what was
not an allowable tax possessed any but an academic interest. Though the
stamp act was repealed a few months after it went into operation, the
trouble it aroused was not allayed. The gratitude of the colonists which
followed upon the repeal gave way to renewed irritation when it was
found that the ministry in London had only postponed, not definitely
abandoned, its schemes of taxation, and the late triumph gave vigour to
the determination of the colonists to continue their resistance.

Step followed step. All went to widen the breach, and diminish the
chances of a peaceful settlement. The post office soon became involved.
As we have seen, the ministry endeavoured to convict the colonists of,
at least, inconsistency when they objected to the stamp act, while
tolerating the post office. Franklin explained what seemed to him the
points of difference between the two things, without convincing the
ministry.

The colonists had fully shared Franklin's opinions, but the attitude of
the ministry caused them to look more thoughtfully into the matter. They
finally agreed that the ministry might be right in insisting that the
post office charges were a tax, and refused to use the institution any
longer. Finlay found that everywhere the view prevailed that the post
office was unconstitutional, and it was becoming hazardous to patronize
it.

While Finlay was in the southern states the Boston tea riots took place,
and before he reached New York on his return home, Franklin had been
dismissed, and he had been appointed to replace Franklin.

The reasons which led to Franklin's removal have been frequently stated.
They must be related again in order to complete the narrative. Franklin
had become possessed, by means still unrevealed, of a number of private
letters written by Hutchinson, governor of Massachusetts, and Oliver,
the lieutenant governor, to a friend in England. The letters dealt with
the condition of affairs in the colony, and discussed the situation
with the full freedom which a confidential correspondence is apt to
encourage.

Hutchinson and Oliver dwelt upon the turbulent disposition of Boston,
expressed grave doubts as to the possibility of allowing the full
measure of English liberty in the colonies, and asserted the necessity
of a military force to support the government. When these letters were
brought to Franklin, he saw the advantage that a knowledge of them would
give the colonists in the struggle then going on, and as the agent for
Massachusetts, he asked for permission to send the letters to the colony
for perusal by a few of the leading men. Permission was granted on
Franklin's express undertaking, that the letters should not be printed
or copied.

In Boston, the letters were passed from hand to hand among the popular
leaders, and were finally discussed at a secret sitting of the assembly.
The assembly adopted resolutions strongly condemnatory of Hutchinson and
Oliver, as sowers of discord between the mother country and the
colonies, declared the letters to be incitements to oppression on the
part of the ministry, and petitioned the king to remove Hutchinson and
Oliver from their government.

The publication of the letters gave rise to great astonishment in
England, and one of the consequences, before Franklin confessed his part
in the transaction, was a duel between a brother of the person to whom
the letters were written, and a gentleman whom he accused of disclosing
them to the public. In England Franklin met with universal condemnation,
and he was at once dismissed from his position as deputy postmaster
general in America.

It is noteworthy as illustrating, partly Franklin's good nature, and
partly the apparent inability of the officials of the post office to
understand the state of mind of the ministry, that in spite of his
dismissal or of the reasons for it, Franklin remained on good terms with
the heads of the post office.

There was some delay in settling the accounts of Franklin with the post
office, but that was due to a lack of promptness on the part of
Foxcroft, Franklin's official associate, in rendering the accounts. When
the balance due by Franklin was paid, his relations with the post office
did not entirely cease; for he offered himself, and was accepted, as one
of the sureties for Foxcroft on the re-appointment of the latter as
joint deputy postmaster general with Hugh Finlay.

For some time previous to the events which led to Franklin's removal
from the service, plans were being considered for putting the
administration of the post office on a better footing. Although New York
was, by the terms of the act of 1710, made the official headquarters of
the service, it had not been so up till this time. There seems to have
been no fixed official residence. In 1749, the deputy postmaster general
resided in Virginia, and his predecessor in North Carolina. Franklin and
Foxcroft both happened to live in Philadelphia, and that city
accordingly became the headquarters of the postal system.

It was determined in England that, after the 10th of October, 1773, New
York should be the permanent administrative centre. A central office was
to be established, a general secretary appointed, and suitable clerical
assistance provided for the carrying on of the work of administration.
When Finlay was made joint deputy postmaster general in Franklin's
place, he continued to act as travelling surveyor.

But the plans under contemplation did not come to maturity. Already
measures were on foot which in a short time deprived the post office of
its business in America. In March 1774, the colonists began a movement
to establish a postal system, which would be independent of the regular
post office.

The committee of correspondence in Boston, which was the organ through
which the opponents of government carried on their work, wrote to the
committee in Salem introducing William Goddard, and suggesting the
advisability of establishing a post office in America.[86]

The present post office, it was stated, was founded on an act of the
British parliament for raising a revenue from the colonies without their
consent, and for that reason was as obnoxious as any other revenue act.
The post office was being used as a precedent against the colonies when
they contested the right of parliament to tax them, and furthermore, was
now being employed to prevent the dissemination of popular intelligence.
Goddard, for whom the Boston committee bespoke good will, would explain
to their associates in Salem by what means certain newspapers identified
with the people's cause were prevented from circulating.

Goddard was not ill-fitted to take the lead in the agitation against the
post office. He was the son of the postmaster of New London, and had
been himself for two years postmaster of Providence, and in this way was
quite familiar with the details of work in a post office. Moreover,
during his residence in Providence, and afterwards in Philadelphia and
Baltimore, he was constantly engaged in newspaper enterprises.

As Goddard's schemes were, for the most part, unsuccessful, his wits
never lost the edge that adversity usually gives. His grievance was that
the post office charged rates so excessive on the newspapers he wished
to circulate that he was unable to send them to his readers throughout
the colonies.

What measure of truth there was in Goddard's statements we have no means
of ascertaining. But there was no doubt that the charge might be true,
without the post office exceeding its legal rights. The fact was that
newspapers had no special legal standing under the post office act.

That act was passed in 1710, when newsletters in manuscript were in
service and newspapers were too few and unimportant to engage the
attention of the post office or of parliament at the time the law was
being framed. Consequently no express provision was made for them in the
act. If newspapers were to be carried by the post office under the
authority of the act, it could only be by treating them as letters, and
a glance at the scale of charges will show the impossibility of
newspapers bearing so burdensome a tax.

The newspapers of that day were inconsiderable in size compared with
those that are now published, but few even at that time would weigh less
than an ounce, and an ounce letter passing between New York and
Philadelphia called for a postal charge of three shillings or
seventy-two cents. This sum was the lowest charge in the scale for ounce
letters passing between any two places of importance in America.

Clearly newspapers could not circulate by means of the post office if
they were to be regarded as letters. But as they were not mentioned in
the act, newspapers had at least the advantage of not being subject to
the postmaster general's monopoly. Publishers were free to turn to
account any means of conveyance that happened to be available, for the
distribution of their newspapers. Unfortunately, however, this freedom
was of little benefit at that period, as there were no courier services
regularly operating between the towns in America.

There was nothing for it but for publishers to take advantage of the
postal system if this were at all possible, and the possibility appeared
through one of those curious devices, which are the derision of logical
foreigners, but which afford a means of escape from the inconveniences
of a law, which it is not desired to alter at the time.

In England, where the situation of newspaper publishers was the same as
it was in America, the privilege of franking newspapers for transmission
through the mails was conferred upon certain officials of the post
office, called clerks of the road. Clothed with this privilege the
clerks of the road bargained with publishers for the conveyance of their
newspapers in the ordinary mails, and put the proceeds into their own
pockets.

It was a practice that was not regarded as in any way irregular. The
post office was quite aware that its vehicles were being used for the
conveyance of newspapers, from which it received no revenue, and it
congratulated itself that it had hit upon a contrivance for serving the
public without having to tamper with the act under which it operated.

The privilege of franking newspapers, which was enjoyed by the clerks of
the road in England, was also conferred upon the deputy postmasters
general in America, and colonial newspapers were distributed by the post
office under arrangements similar to those described. While the act
itself made no provision for the conveyance and delivery of newspapers,
this peculiar plan offered great advantages to the publisher.

There was, however, one serious objection to it. Not resting on the law,
but on the good will of those in authority, it could be terminated at
any time, and the post office might legally charge sums as high as the
postage on letters for the conveyance of newspapers. With this power in
its hands the post office had complete control over the fortunes of
newspaper publishers. If for any reason it desired to suppress a
newspaper, all that was necessary was to cancel the special arrangement
between the deputy postmaster general and the publisher, and leave to
the latter the option of paying letter rates or of finding some other
means of conveyance.

Whether this power was exercised in Goddard's case, is not known; that
it would be, if considered necessary, is beyond doubt. In 1737, the
clerks of the road in England were directed to take particular care that
no newspapers were sent by the post office which contained reflections
on the government,[87] and to assure themselves on the point, they were
to send no newspapers into the country at all, except such as were
purchased from a single dealer named in the order, whose loyalty and
judgment were not open to question. The possession of this power by the
government was quite sufficient to arouse reasonable apprehensions.

Goddard appears to have succeeded in his mission to Salem, as a few days
later the committee of that town, responding to the letter from Boston,
declared that the act of the British parliament establishing the post
office in America, was dangerous in principle and demanded peremptory
opposition.[88] A considerable sum was raised for the fund to set up a
colonial post office, although Salem was in financial straits at the
time.

Having succeeded in the first part of his campaign, Goddard went a step
forward, and drew up a plan for an independent American post office, and
laid it before the committees of correspondence in all the colonies.[89]
His proposition was that the colonial post office should be established
and maintained by subscription, and that its control should be vested in
a committee to be appointed annually by the subscribers. This committee
would appoint postmasters and post riders, and fix the rates of postage.
The immediate management of the service was to be under the direction of
a postmaster general to be selected by ballot, and who should hold his
office by a yearly tenure.

Goddard set about procuring subscribers for his scheme, and, it would
seem, with much success. In the meantime, however, events were taking
place which brought into being a body of more authority than the
committees of correspondence, and this body took over the establishment
of an American post office.

The punitive measures of the ministry which followed upon the Boston
riots had the unexpected result of uniting all the colonies into common
cause with Boston. In September 1774, the delegates of the colonies
assembled in congress at Philadelphia, and by degrees took upon
themselves all the functions of government. On the 29th of May, 1775,
the question of providing for the speedy and secure conveyance of
intelligence was submitted to the congress, and a committee, of which
Benjamin Franklin was the leading member, was directed to make a
report.[90]

With the report before it, on July 26, the congress resolved[91] to
appoint a postmaster general for the United Colonies, whose office would
be at Philadelphia, and who was empowered to appoint a secretary and as
many postmasters as seemed to him proper and necessary. A line of posts
should be established from Falmouth to Savannah, with as many cross
posts as the postmaster general saw fit.

Goddard was a candidate for the position of postmaster general, but
Benjamin Franklin was chosen. Goddard's friends then made an effort to
secure to him the secretaryship. In this, also, he was disappointed, as
Franklin selected his son-in-law, Bache, for the place, an appointment
which brought down upon Franklin a charge of nepotism.

It seems certain, however, that in no case would he have entrusted the
secretaryship to Goddard. Goddard had been postmaster of Providence, and
when he relinquished the office, he was a defaulter for a considerable
amount.[92] As the loss from Goddard's defalcation fell partly upon
Franklin, as joint deputy postmaster general, the latter would be
reluctant to place him a second time in a position of responsibility.
Notwithstanding the claims he would seem to have created for himself by
his work in organizing the colonial post office, Goddard had to be
contented with the surveyorship of the posts.[93]

Shortly after the service had been put in operation, the continental
congress discussed whether it would not be advisable to suppress the
king's post office.[94] Those in favour of the measure argued that the
ministerial posts were no longer necessary to the people; that they
merely subserved the interests of the enemy, and that the postmasters
held their offices by an illegal tenure. On the other hand, it was urged
that, closely watched as they were, the ministerial posts could not lend
themselves to harm, and that they furnished the people with so many more
means of communication.

The argument which finally prevailed, however, was presented by the
opponents of the proposition. They pointed out that this would be an
extreme and irretrievable measure, an act of hostility, which would not
be warranted by the position in which they stood. All that the colonies
desired, they declared, was a return to the conditions which prevailed
in 1763, when the conquest of Canada removed the last of the obstacles
which impeded their progress, and the relations of the colonies with the
mother country seemed permanently and satisfactorily established. Late
advices from England indicated that parliament was showing a renewed
spirit of conciliation, and any course was to be deprecated which would
prevent an easy return to the old conditions.

The matter was laid over, but it was settling itself in another way.
Great Britain was recognizing the futility of persisting in its efforts
to maintain the post office in the colonies. As early as March 1775, the
home office advised its deputies in America that all that was to be
expected from the postmasters in the colonies was that they should act
with discretion to the best of their abilities and judgment.[95] It
ceased for the time to give positive directions.

Finlay, who, at some personal risk, had gone to New York to make up his
accounts, reported that the post office was doing but little business,
as the rebels were opening and rifling the mails, and were notifying the
loyally disposed that it was unconstitutional to use the king's post
office.

There was swift punishment visited upon erroneous constitutional views
at that time. Finlay foresaw that the post office could not long
continue, and he proposed that the work of distributing the mails should
be done on one of the war vessels in New York harbour.[96] At last, on
Christmas day 1775, the secretary of the post office at New York gave
public notice that on account of the interruptions to the couriers in
several parts of the country the inland service would cease from that
date, and thus was closed an important chapter in the history of the
British post office in North America.[97]

With the outbreak of the war, the postal connection between New York and
Montreal instantly ceased. When this event took place the service to and
from Canada was in a very efficient state. Two couriers travelled each
week between Montreal and New York, one passing by way of lake George,
and the other pursuing the route through Skenesborough (now Whitehall);
and post offices were opened at Crown Point and Fort Edward.

It was far, however, from the wishes of the provincial congress of New
York to allow the communication with Canada to be broken. This body,
after a conference with Price, a gentleman from Montreal, despatched a
letter to the merchants of that place, expressing their strong desire
that the intercourse existing between New York and Canada should be
maintained.[98] They disclaimed any intention of aiming at independence,
protested their loyalty to the king, and their attachment to the house
of Hanover, which they ranked "among our most singular blessings."

All congress desired was the rights belonging to them as British
subjects. They proposed to establish a postal courier between New York
and either Ticonderoga or Crown Point, leaving it to Canadians to open a
communication between Montreal and such of these two places as might be
decided upon.

When the American troops, continuing their advance northward, captured
Montreal, Franklin established a post office there, appointing as
postmaster George Measam, who afterwards entered the American
service.[99] In the ledger kept by Franklin, as postmaster general of
the United Colonies, the account of the postmaster of Montreal appears
in its place among the colonial post offices. The postage on letters
from New York to Montreal was fixed at four pennyweight, and to Quebec
at five pennyweight.[100]

Until relief arrived, Finlay was confined within the walls of Quebec,
and Foxcroft's usefulness was equally curtailed by the fact that he and
Dashwood, the departmental secretary, were held prisoners at New
York.[101] While the British were being thus deprived of all the usual
means of communication, the American service was being put in a high
state of efficiency.

In this, as in other respects, the colonists were fortunate in having
the services of Franklin. In August, following upon the proclamation of
independence, Franklin was directed to arrange a system of
communications whereby post riders were placed at intervals of
twenty-five or thirty miles over the whole stretch from Falmouth (now
Portland) to Georgia, the mails being carried from post to post from one
end of the country to the other, three times a week.[102]

The riders were to travel night as well as day, and there was to be no
more delay at the changing posts than was necessary to pass the mails
from one rider to the other. Three advice boats, also, were employed to
run from North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to the place of
assembly of the continental congress.

After the royal post office was driven off the mainland, it took refuge
on one of the war vessels, which lay in New York harbour. The postmaster
of New York received and opened the mails on board the ship, and all
letters were advertised, so that they might be obtained either directly
or through friends. The Americans, however, had a keen sense of the
importance of communications, and from the beginning of the struggle,
made every effort to intercept the packets.

Early in May 1775, while the more cautious Americans were opposing any
step that would lead to extremities, Finlay reported that he was on
board the ship "King Fisher," and that a vessel manned by sixty resolute
fellows was cruising about Sandy Hook, in the hope of intercepting the
packet "Mercury," which was due to arrive.[103]

In consequence of the burning of Falmouth by a British naval expedition,
letters of marque and reprisal were issued in November by the province
of Massachusetts Bay; and in the following March, the continental
congress sanctioned the fitting out of private armed vessels to prey
upon British commerce.[104] Seaport towns were enjoined that on no
account should they furnish provisions to war vessels coming to them.

The ministry were under no delusions as to the situation. At the end of
September, the packets were withdrawn from general post office duty,
armed as for war, and placed at the orders of the war office. The
movements of the packets were clothed with secrecy, and it was only when
the vessels were bound for Halifax that the public were notified that a
mail was being despatched. From Halifax, the mails were taken by the
first opportunity to Boston or New York.

The attitude of the post office to all these preparations for war was
very curious. It seemed incapable of understanding why exceptional
measures were necessary at that time. A steady murmur of discontent was
kept up against the war office. Remonstrance after remonstrance was
directed against the commander-in-chief for the detention of the packets
beyond what seemed a reasonable delay, and there was continual complaint
against the restrictions placed upon the post office.

Until the middle of the year 1776, although the service had been on a
complete war footing for some months past, there had been no actual
clash between the British and American vessels. The correspondence,
however, reveals a state of great anxiety for the safety of the
despatches, and as the vessels put out, the masters were placed under
strict injunctions to sink the mails if there was any likelihood of
capture.

The first recorded engagement in which the packets on any of the North
American stations were concerned, took place on the 17th of July. The
master of the "Lord Hyde" reported[105] that on his passage from
Falmouth to New York, he saw at four o'clock in the morning of that day
a ship and a brig three or four leagues distant. They spoke to one
another, and then gave chase to the packet. The ship fell out of sight,
but the brig followed hard, and at four in the afternoon came up with
the packet and began to fire, at the same time running a red English
ensign to the topmast head.

The master of the packet, seeing no chance for escape, shortened sail
and prepared for action. The brig came up alongside, replacing the
English ensign by a flag of thirteen stripes with a small union in it,
and without more ado poured into the packet a broadside from eight
carriage guns, and a number of swivels and small arms. The packet
returning the fire, a warm engagement followed for an hour and a half at
a distance of fifty or sixty yards. The brig then bore away. The packet
was much shattered in her sails and rigging, but wonderful to relate,
the only casualties were the slight wounding of five persons.

The "Sandwich" packet, which left New York on the 20th of August,
reported[106] an encounter with a fast schooner bearing the New England
colours, a white field with a pine tree in the middle. After some
manoeuvring, in which it appeared that the plan of the schooner was to
keep in the wake of the packet outside the range of the latter's guns,
but near enough to take advantage of the superior weight of her own
guns, the packet managed to bring the schooner into an action which
lasted for nearly two hours. The rigging, sails and masts of both
vessels were much damaged, but the packet came out of the encounter
without any person being even wounded.

The third engagement was a more serious affair. The packet "Harriott,"
on the New York station, was attacked on the 17th of September by a
privateer of twelve guns and over one hundred men. The packet, which was
armed and equipped in the same manner as the other packets on this
station, had twelve guns, but only forty-five men. Of these five were
killed, including the captain, and nine were wounded. Through the
gallantry of the mate, Spargo, the packet managed to avoid capture. For
his good conduct on this occasion, Spargo was made master of the
"Harriott."

On the 1st of March, 1778, the "Harriott," in violation, it would seem,
of the instructions given to all the masters of packets to avoid a
fight, if possible, captured the American vessel "Sea Nymph," of one
hundred and twenty tons burden, laden with gunpowder, saltpetre, gun
flints and other wares, and brought it into New York.[107]

While the packet boats were thus occupied in foiling the enemy's
attempts upon them, the course of events had restored to the post office
a footing on land in America. The arrival of assistance from England in
May enabled Carleton to attack the American force which had held Quebec
in siege since the November previous, and the retreat of the Americans
which ensued was not stayed until they had been driven entirely out of
Canada.

Finlay, who had spent the winter in Quebec, and who has been credited
with one of the best anonymous accounts which have come down to us of
the conditions of the city during the siege, at once prepared to resume
his duties as deputy postmaster general. New York, also, fell again into
the hands of the British, owing to the withdrawal of Washington's army
in September, before the superior forces of Howe.

Here Foxcroft, the deputy postmaster general, and Dashwood, the
departmental secretary, were prisoners of war; and Antill, the
postmaster of New York, had taken up quarters in one of the war vessels
in the harbour. Antill lost no time in returning to the city; and
Foxcroft and Dashwood were set free by an exchange for two American
officers which took place shortly after.[108]

Like Finlay, Foxcroft made preparations for the resumption of business;
but for both Finlay and Foxcroft an unexpected thing happened. Vessels
with mails began to arrive at Quebec and New York, but the mails were
not taken to the post office, although the statute laid it upon
shipmasters as their duty to deliver the mails at the post office before
they broke bulk.[109] On the arrival of the vessels, the
commanders-in-chief directed the masters to send the letters up to their
headquarters, where they were gone over by confidential officers, on
whom were imposed the duties of handling the incoming mails.

The reason of this step will be sufficiently obvious, although the post
office professed that they had never seen any good purpose served by it.
Even where there was no suggestion of disloyalty among the citizens,
there were infinite possibilities of harm in the unguarded utterances,
which are constantly occurring in familiar letters. Matters, which it is
of the highest importance to keep concealed from the enemy, may be
within the knowledge of every citizen, and it becomes necessary either
to induce or to compel citizens not to write of such matters.

But it was not only against the undesigned harm which loyal people might
do, that it was necessary to guard. There was good reason to suspect
that in Quebec, as well as in New York, there was a considerable
proportion of English speaking people who were by no means well affected
towards the government, and who would not hesitate to impart to the
enemy any information which they thought might be of assistance.

The king, in his instructions to Carleton[110] as governor, enjoined him
to signify to the loyal merchants and planters the necessity for caution
against allowing their letters to become the means of conveying
information to the enemy, and directed him to use every possible effort
to frustrate the schemes of the disloyal carried on through the medium
of correspondence.

The method employed by the governor to forestall danger from this source
was the simple one of standing guard over the channel through which
correspondence must ordinarily pass. In this way, he would discover many
of the disaffected, and at the same time show such people the danger to
them of being implicated in matters of that kind.

To merchants, however, the governor's course was a great inconvenience.
All their letters were delayed, and many not delivered at all, for the
governor's staff had neither the training in post office work, nor the
sense of the importance of mercantile correspondence necessary to assure
the merchants of the safety of their letters, when these passed out of
the accustomed courses. The merchants remonstrated against the
governor's action, and called upon Finlay to assert the determination of
the post office to secure respect for the act, which was being violated
by the governor.

Finlay was a man of tact, and a member of the governor's executive
council as well, and he counselled patience to the merchants. They
acquiesced for a time, hoping that the governor's surveillance over
their correspondence would be relaxed, but the governor continued firm.
Each season as the vessels began to come up the river, orders were
issued for the renewal of the unpopular practice.

What took place at Quebec was repeated at New York; and during the short
period of the British occupation of Philadelphia, in that city, also.
The postmaster of Philadelphia, who had retired to England when the
British office was closed in 1775, returned on hearing that the city was
again in the king's hands, but only to find that the letters were
delivered to the commander-in-chief, who distributed them not only to
the army and navy, but also to the merchants, and no steps were taken to
collect the postage.[111]

At that time, and indeed until a quite recent date, the postage on
letters was not paid until the delivery of them was effected, and when,
as during the war of the Revolution, the mails were diverted from their
usual channel, the post office was unable to collect anything to meet
the expenses it was incurring.

To-day, owing to the greater cohesiveness among the departments of
government, the post office would rest content in the fact that the loss
of revenue was due to the action of the government as a whole, and could
not be imputed to any failure on its own part, but, at that time, it
viewed the situation as a private institution would. The loss of revenue
seemed to affect it alone, and again and again the post office declared
to the war office that, unless the revenue was maintained, it would be
obliged to cut off the internal services between Montreal and Quebec.

There was another matter arising out of the governor's lack of
confidence in the English-speaking people in Canada which was a source
of much inconvenience to the deputy postmaster general. It has been the
practice in Canada to grant exemption to postmasters from the billeting
of the troops upon them. The barracks which had been erected in Montreal
were destroyed by fire, and it was necessary that the soldiers should be
provided for by the citizens. But the duty was grudgingly undertaken,
and indeed the disfavour with which the soldiers were regarded in
Montreal was one of the chief grounds of complaint on the part of the
governors.

Exemption from billeting was an ancient privilege of postmasters. In
several of the colonies it was expressly granted, and the continental
congress relieved its postmasters from all military duties. In Canada
the advantages the post office was able to offer to its postmasters were
small and insignificant, and one of the most valued privileges was the
assurance of relief from billeting.

The postmaster of Montreal complained to Finlay that, in disregard of
the understanding on which he had accepted the postmastership, an
officer and his servant had been quartered upon him and he demanded
their removal. Finlay, nothing doubting, laid the postmaster's letter
before the governor, who, to Finlay's surprise, took exception to what
he termed the extraordinary and peremptory tone of the letter, and
commanded Finlay to dismiss the postmaster.[112]

To Finlay this order was a great embarrassment, as suitable postmasters
were difficult to find, and, besides, the postmaster had accepted the
office merely to oblige Finlay. Finlay laid these facts before the
governor and pleaded for a reconsideration, but the governor was
inexorable. Carleton relinquished the governorship at this time, and
Finlay appealed to Haldimand, who succeeded Carleton, but with no better
success.

The post office encountered the same kind of ill-will here as elsewhere
from the military authorities. With the greatest vigilance on their
part, much correspondence was passing backward and forward of which they
could know nothing, and the suspicions natural under the circumstances
were heightened by what they knew of the opinions of many of the people.

The regularity of the trips between Quebec and Montreal, which were
resumed soon after the Americans had withdrawn from the country, seemed
to Haldimand a source of danger. Although there was no large hostile
force in the province, affairs were still unsettled, and a mail courier
whose movements were known in every detail could easily be waylaid by
the marauding parties which infested the long route on the banks of the
St. Lawrence. Haldimand would have preferred holding the regular service
in suspense until peace was obtained, depending on occasional expresses
to maintain necessary communications.

During the year 1777 there was no material change in the situation. When
the British occupied New York in the autumn of 1776, the monthly trips
between England and New York were resumed. But the activity of the
privateers was greatly increased; and while none of the packets on the
New York station were taken, the "Swallow" on its way to Lisbon in
February was captured by the war vessel which had carried Franklin to
France,[113] and the "Weymouth," which was taking the mails from the
West Indies was obliged to strike to the "Oliver Cromwell" of New
London, a privateer carrying twenty guns and one hundred and fifty-three
men.[114]

France, though not at war with England, saw in the revolt of the
colonies an opportunity for revenge for late humiliations, and she
strained the laws of neutrality to the utmost in her effort to assist
the Americans. Cruisers bearing American names, but armed with French
guns, and manned by French sailors ranging the channel, wrought havoc
with British merchant shipping, and carried their prizes into the
harbours of Normandy and Brittany.

Some regard, however, had to be paid to appearances so long as France
had not actually broken with England; and it was not until the alliance
between the Americans and the French was consummated in February 1778,
that the hands of the French were quite free.

From that time England's position on the sea was changed greatly for the
worse, and the record of the packet service was one of almost unbroken
disaster. On the 15th of June the packet "Le Despencer" on her way from
Falmouth to New York, was set upon by two privateers, the "Nancy" with
sixteen guns and one hundred and twenty men, and another having fourteen
guns and one hundred and fifteen men. After an hour's fighting, in which
his vessel was disabled, the captain of the "Le Despencer" was obliged
to yield to superior force.[115]

In September, the "Duke of York," on one of the North American stations,
was taken by a French frigate of thirty-six guns;[116] and in the same
month, the "Harriott" and the "Eagle," the one bound for New York, and
the other for Carolina, both fell as prizes to the "Vengeance," a
privateer of twenty guns and one hundred and ten men, belonging to Paul
Jones' fleet and commanded by a Frenchman, Captain Ricot.[117]

From the year 1779 until 1782, nine packets on the several North
American stations were captured, and seven were more or less seriously
damaged. Some idea of the extent to which the packet service was
crippled during the war of the Revolution may be gathered from the fact
that of the five vessels on the New York station in 1777, four were
taken and one damaged. Of the six on the West Indian station, four were
taken and one damaged, and of the three on the Carolina station two were
taken.[118] The importance of these facts in their influence on the
outcome of the war has not so far received the attention the subject
merits.

FOOTNOTES:

[86] _Pickering Papers_, vol. 39 (_Mass. Hist. Soc._).

[87] G.P.O., _Document in Record Room_.

[88] _Pickering Papers_, vol. 33.

[89] _Ibid._, vol. 53.

[90] _Journals, Continental Congress_, II. 71.

[91] _Ibid._, II. 208.

[92] Foxcroft to Todd, _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.

[93] _Am. Arch._, fourth series, VI. 1012.

[94] _Journals, Continental Congress_, III. 488.

[95] G.P.O., _American Letter-Book_, 1773-1783, p. 62.

[96] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.

[97] _Am. Arch._, fourth series, IV. 453.

[98] _Ibid._, II. 1294.

[99] _Am. Arch._, fifth series, I. 725.

[100] Placard signed by Franklin, _Papers Cont. Cong._, no. 61, p. 121.

[101] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.

[102] _Journals, Continental Congress_, V. 719.

[103] Finlay to Todd, _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.

[104] _The American Revolution_, by C. H. Van Tyne, p. 69.

[105] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.

[106] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.

[107] G.P.O., _Treasury_, IX. 298-299.

[108] _Hist. MSS. Com._, 1904, Amer., I. 70.

[109] _C. O._ 5, vols. 136 and 137; also _Can. Arch._, B. 43, p. 95 and
G.P.O., _Treasury_, X. 14.

[110] _Can. Arch._, M. 230, p. 116, Art. 49.

[111] G.P.O., _Treasury_, X. 20-22.

[112] _Can. Arch._, B. series, CC. 8

[113] _C. O._ 5, vol. 134.

[114] _Ibid._, 136.

[115] _C. O._ 5, vol. 136.

[116] G.P.O., _Treasury_, IX. 345.

[117] _Ibid._

[118] _Ibid._, X. 171.




CHAPTER V

     Beginnings of exclusively Canadian postal service--
     Administration of Hugh Finlay--Opening of communication
     with England by way of Halifax--Postal convention with
     United States.


A point has now been reached, beyond which the sequence of events in the
American post office no longer forms an integral part of the narrative.
There had, indeed, been no actual postal connection between Canada and
the revolted colonies since the beginning of war. Communication between
Quebec, Montreal and New York had been interrupted in May 1775 by the
capture of Ticonderoga.

The abandonment of the colonial post office by the home authorities at
the end of the same year, left the four post offices on the banks of the
St. Lawrence the sole remnants of the system which had extended from
Quebec to Georgia. Though Finlay was nominally the associate deputy
postmaster general for the district between Canada and the southern
boundary of Virginia, his real authority was confined to the service of
Quebec, Three Rivers, Berthier and Montreal.

Finlay occupied important positions in the government of the country,
from his arrival in the year when Canada fell into the hands of the
British, until his death in 1801. His knowledge of the French language
procured for him a nomination as justice of the peace, the duties of
which office were, owing to the circumstances of the time, delicate and
responsible.

Two years after a regular government was established, Finlay was
nominated to the legislative council, and a glance over the proceedings
of that body will show that he always took an important, and often a
leading part in its transactions. He was clerk of the crown in chancery
and provincial auditor, and, for a number of years, chairman of the land
committee, the duties of which were to superintend the distribution of
the crown lands to the settlers, who came into the country in large
numbers.

Finlay was much attached to the French Canadians. He became their
advocate in council, and incurred some displeasure on the part of the
governor for his pertinacity on their behalf. The _maîtres de poste_
were the objects of his special attention. He endeavoured, though
unsuccessfully, to assimilate their position to that of the masters of
the post houses in England. As their standing and rights were but
roughly defined, they had to endure much hardship and oppression from
the ill-nature and rapacity of travellers, and Finlay's championship was
of substantial service to them.[119]

When Canada was invaded by the Americans in 1775, Finlay drew up a form
of pledge for the _maîtres de poste_ to sign, in which they bound
themselves to defend the country from the king's enemies, to give to the
government all useful information they might become possessed of, and to
render faithful service in the conveyance of the mail couriers. All the
_maîtres de poste_ except three signed the engagement.[120]

To Finlay, in truth, the maintenance of the organization of _maîtres de
poste_ was indispensable. Without them the mails could not be carried,
except at an outlay which the revenues were not able to bear. It has
always been the practice of the post office in this country to take
advantage of any carrying agencies which might be operating on a route,
to secure the transportation of the mails on approximately the same
terms as those at which ordinary freight of the same bulk would be
conveyed. Thus, by utilizing a stage coach, the cost of conveyance
between two towns was a mere fraction of what it would be, if the same
conditions of speed and security were required in a conveyance used
exclusively for the mails.

In the _maîtres de poste_ Finlay had a transportation agency, which was
unexcelled at that period, and by protecting them and confirming to them
the exclusive right to provide for passenger travel along the road from
Montreal to Quebec, he obtained not only all the ordinary advantages
accruing to the public from the operation of this agency, but secured
the conveyance of his couriers from stage to stage at half the charge
paid by travellers.

Finlay's efforts on behalf of the _maîtres de poste_ were first exerted
in the legislative council.[121] He desired to obtain an ordinance
defining their duties, and declaring their right to the exclusive
privilege of providing horses and vehicles to travellers. Having
succeeded in this, he endeavoured to have himself appointed
superintendent of the _maîtres de poste_.

In this he had to encounter the opposition of the governor who, though
personally friendly to Finlay, was unwilling to allow himself to be
occupied with the matter, while he was engaged with the more important
duty of providing for the defence of the country. Finlay was a man of
much persistence, and when he found the governor indisposed to give him
the appointment, he sought the aid of the postmaster general, to whom he
represented that on his control over the _maîtres de poste_ depended his
ability to secure the conveyance of the mails at a reasonable
charge.[122]

Governor Haldimand resented the pressure thus brought on him, declaring
that the postal service of Canada was quite equal, if not superior, to
the service in England. Not long afterwards, however, the governor
relented so far as to give Finlay a temporary holding of the position he
coveted, and when conditions became settled, his appointment was made
permanent.[123]

The stoppage of the service to New York made it necessary to provide
otherwise for the maintenance of the connection with Great Britain.
While navigation was open on the St. Lawrence occasional visits were
made to Quebec by war vessels and merchantmen, and all such
opportunities to send mails to England were taken advantage of.

With Halifax, also, communication was opened by means of a vessel which
ran from Quebec to Tatamagouche, on the straits of Northumberland, from
which point the journey to Halifax was an easy overland trip.[124]
During the summer, therefore, communication with Great Britain was
maintained without special difficulty. When navigation on the St.
Lawrence closed, however, and vessels could no longer reach Quebec, the
situation was entirely changed.

Haldimand, in a letter to a friend, written in November 1778, bemoans
his isolation. He will receive no news whatever, unless the rebels
should manage to get into the province, an eventuality he has done his
best to prevent by destroying their supplies on lake Champlain. The only
possible means of establishing a winter communication with Great Britain
was to send couriers by the inland route to Halifax.

At this period and for a long time afterwards, this route presented many
difficulties. It was very long, and at certain seasons the natural
obstacles in the way of travel were nearly insuperable. The connecting
links between the Maritime provinces and Quebec were the portages
between the waters running into the St. Lawrence and those running into
the St. John river. Of those there were several, but the one which was
adopted ran from Notre Dame du Portage, a few miles west of River du
Loup, in south-easterly direction until it reached lake Temiscouata.

During the French regime, despatches were not infrequently carried
between the governor of Quebec and the governor of Louisburg. The
courier, who had despatches from the governor of Quebec for Halifax,
would travel on foot over a fair road on the south shore of the St.
Lawrence, to the portage between Kamouraska and River du Loup. From this
point his course ran over the portage between the St. Lawrence and the
St. John river systems.

After a toilsome journey of thirty-seven miles over a country
alternating between mountains and swamps, the courier reached lake
Temiscouata. Having crossed this lake, he came to the entrance of the
Madawaska river, which runs due south until it empties into the St. John
river. From this point to fort Howe, the site of the present city of St.
John, there was a long river journey of two hundred and twenty-eight
miles.

The trip from St. John to Halifax took the courier across the bay of
Fundy to Annapolis, thence along the Annapolis valley to Windsor, and so
on to Halifax. The distance from Quebec to Halifax by this route was six
hundred and twenty-seven miles. This route was followed frequently by
couriers during the winters of the years of the war of the Revolution.

In 1775, Finlay proposed to introduce some system into the arrangements
by having couriers from Quebec and Halifax meet at fort Howe for the
exchange of despatches. While the war lasted, the arrangement was to be
kept secret. In 1781, the merchants in London who traded to Quebec urged
the adoption of this route for a regular winter service, but the danger
of having the couriers intercepted by prowling parties of Americans on
the long unprotected stretches made it impossible to have more than an
occasional trip. The trips, also, cost at least £100 each, a not
unimportant consideration in those days.

Finlay's activity as deputy postmaster general was confined to the
inland service in Canada, and he gave his attention to improving the
conditions under which the service was performed. The state of the roads
was a matter which occupied him considerably. They were probably, as
Finlay reported, as bad as they could be.

For many years before Canada passed into the possession of the British,
the habitants were fully occupied with the war, and when peace was
restored, the roads remained as the war had left them. Work on the roads
was never willingly undertaken by the habitants. When Lanoullier
constructed the great highway between Montreal and Quebec, it was only
by his personal superintendence that he was able to keep the habitant to
his task. As soon as his eye was withdrawn the work lagged.

Lanoullier lived until 1751, and during the last few years of his
service he failed to maintain the energy that had been an earlier
characteristic; and after his death, the country was in a constant state
of war, so that even if there had been an efficient grand voyer to
succeed him, the general neglect into which the domestic affairs fell
must have affected the condition of the roads.

The procedure employed in calling upon the habitants to work upon the
roads was that the grand voyer issued an order to the local captains of
militia, who published the order to the habitants by notice at the
church doors. The grand voyer complained to Finlay that it was
impossible to induce the habitants to work upon the roads. When the
order was read at the church, the habitants would dismiss the matter
with a shrug, and the remark "c'est un ordre anglais."

The consequence of this neglect was seen in the details of Finlay's
reports[125] as he travelled from Quebec to Montreal. As he passes from
post house to post house, his journals are a monotonous, though
indignant, recital of ruts, bogs and rocks.

The roads were unditched, and the bridges dangerous trap holes. The
bridges were no more than rows of poles lying crosswise, and scarcely
longer than the width of a _calèche_. When the water rose, the poles
were set afloat. The post houses should have been three leagues apart,
but the difficulty of inducing the habitants to undertake the irksome
and thankless duties of _maître de poste_, often compelled Finlay to
choose persons whose houses were at a considerable distance from where
they should have been, and consequently post houses were found quite
close together.

There were places where the post houses were no more than one league
apart. As a _maître de poste_ could not carry passengers beyond the next
adjoining post house, the inconvenience of the frequent changes of
horses was very great.

The mail couriers were bound to travel by night as well as by day; and
it is not difficult to believe Finlay when he says that the courier
travels by night at the risk of his neck. When other means of obtaining
help with the road work failed, Finlay offered to put the road in good
condition and keep it so if given the services of twelve soldiers of the
German legion, and a grant of £100.

An application was made to Finlay in 1781 for a postal service to the
settlements and forts along the Richelieu river. This was one of the
most prosperous sections of the country. When Catalogne made his report
on the state of Canada in 1712, he was particularly struck with the
evidences of comfort in some of the parishes bordering on the Richelieu.

It was not on this account, however, that it was thought necessary to
extend to this district the benefits of the postal service. The valley
of the Richelieu was the pathway along which travel from lake Champlain
pursued its course into the heart of Canada. Settlements were
established along the river at different times by French and English to
oppose a barrier to incursions from the south.

British forces were stationed in 1761 at St. Johns, Chambly and Sorel;
and it was to keep up a communication with these forces that a postal
service was desired. The detachments at St. Johns and Chambly received
their letters and despatches from Montreal, but as the most important
communications were with the governor, whose headquarters were at
Quebec, the commandant of the forces in this district, Colonel St.
Leger, wished to have a regular exchange with Sorel at the mouth of the
river.

Although Sorel was on the south side of the St. Lawrence, it had
maintained connection with the couriers on the grand route between
Quebec and Montreal, by means of a courier who crossed the river to
Berthier, where a post office had been established since 1772. The
postmaster general was disinclined to open a route between Sorel and St.
Johns, and the military authorities took the matter into their own
hands.

The conclusion of peace in 1783 and the recognition of the independence
of the United States was immediately followed by the dissolution of the
old establishment which administered the postal system of the northern
district of North America. The services of Finlay, as deputy postmaster
general of that system, ceased forthwith; and in July 1784, he was
appointed to the much humbler position of deputy postmaster general of
Canada.

Foxcroft, Finlay's associate in the deputyship was made British agent at
New York for the packet boat service, which was resumed between Great
Britain and the United States. Dashwood, the departmental secretary of
the old establishment, was appointed postmaster general of Jamaica in
1781.[126]

The first question of importance to occupy Finlay under the new order of
things was the means by which communication between Great Britain and
Canada was thereafter to be carried on. The merchants of Quebec and
Montreal hearing that a line of sailing packets was to be re-established
between Falmouth and New York,[127] at once demanded that the service
between Canada and New York should be restored.

Conditions were not favourable to its resumption. The rancours of the
war were not yet abated, and one or two messengers, who were sent down
to New York by Finlay, were insulted and maltreated by the Americans.
The postmaster general of the United States, Hazzard, also set up
difficulties.[128]

Finlay's plan was to have the Canadian mails taken down as far as Albany
by his courier, and to pay the American postage on them from Albany to
New York. But at this time there were no regular couriers between Albany
and New York; and consequently the Canadian mails, having to depend on
chance conveyance, would often miss the packet boats for which they were
intended. Finlay thought to overcome this difficulty by having his
courier take the mails past Albany and on to New York.

Hazzard, however, objected to this plan, and informed Finlay that he
would have the courier prosecuted if he attempted to go farther south
than Albany. Finlay met this objection, but at a ruinous cost. He
arranged with the postmaster at Albany that the Canadian courier should
go on to New York, and that at the same time Finlay would pay for this
privilege at the rate of three shillings sterling per ounce for the
mail, the bag being included in the weight. Thus, if the mail bag
weighed twenty pounds--no very great weight--Finlay had to pay £48, the
cost of wayleave for his courier to travel from Albany to New York. He
had, of course, to pay his courier's expenses as well.

Nor did the situation show a prospect of improvement. The United States
perceived that the toll which the Canadian post office would have to pay
for leave to pass over their territory might be greatly increased by the
simple expedient of establishing a post office near the Canadian
boundary, and compelling the Canadian post office to pay a wayleave
equal to the ordinary postage for the distance between that post office
and New York, as well as the courier's wages and necessary expenses, for
the Americans did not propose to be at any expense in the matter. This
scheme would net the Americans four shillings an ounce.

But as has happened so often since in the relations of Canada with her
neighbour to the south, the Canadian post office was driven by these
oppressive charges to the development of the alternative, though
naturally much less favourable, opening to the sea. The distance from
Quebec to Halifax by the Temiscouata route was six hundred and
twenty-seven miles as against rather less than four hundred miles, which
is the distance from Montreal to New York.

The route to New York was the natural highway, which for a century and
more had been pursued by Indians, soldiers and travellers on their way
from the British American colonies to Canada. On the journey southward
from Montreal to New York, there was a good road from Laprairie,
opposite Montreal to fort St. John, which was connected by the river
Richelieu with lake Champlain.

The trip down the lake from fort St. John to Crown Point (or fort
Frederic) was easily and pleasantly made by canoe or _bateau_. From
Crown Point, the traveller had a choice of routes to the Hudson river,
which bore him to New York. Kalm, the Swedish naturalist who visited
Canada in 1749, entered the country by the route described, and his
account of the trip suggests no unusual difficulties.[129]

Before the war the mail couriers from Montreal to New York made the
journey in from nine to ten days. The journey to Halifax was of a very
different character. At the best it could not be made in less than a
month, and during a considerable period at the beginning and the end of
each winter season the trip was very arduous and dangerous.

There has been preserved the journal of a courier, Durand, who carried a
mail from Quebec to Halifax and back in the early winter months of
1784.[130] His trip downwards, starting on the 11th of January, offered
no features unusual in a winter journey, most of which must be made on
foot through a country a large part of which was unsettled. He reached
Halifax on the 29th of February, seven weeks from starting.

The journey homeward was exceedingly toilsome and dangerous, and as
conditions remained unchanged for many years, at this season when winter
was relaxing its hold, it may be worth while to note some of the
incidents on the route.

At the Bay du Portage, on the lower St. John, Durand and his three
companions broke through the ice, and they with their mails were rescued
with difficulty. They managed to get as far as Presqu' Isle, partly on
the honeycombed ice, and partly in the woods, when they found themselves
face to face with an ice jam. As it was impossible for Durand to land
his dogs on the shore, he clambered up the hill of ice, and he and the
dogs had to make their way as best they could over the broken heaped-up
pieces for twenty miles, when they came upon a stretch of water as clear
as in summer.

Durand's guide had abandoned him and taken to the woods, but finding the
snow too soft for his snow-shoes, after a league's trudging, he rejoined
Durand on the ice. The swift and swollen waters, which they now reached,
compelled them to wait till they could build a canoe. Embarking they
poled their way for a couple of miles, as the speed of the current
prevented rowing, when the ice began again to come down upon them in
great masses.

Harnessing their dogs to an Indian cart, they hauled their canoe another
stretch, and on the 14th of April they reached Grand Falls. Above the
falls the ice, though bad, was firm enough; and having constructed a
sled, they carried their canoe and baggage on it for fifteen leagues.
From this point onward, although their difficulties were by no means at
an end, they struggled on to the St. Lawrence, and reached Quebec on the
24th of April.

The trip was a great disappointment to Finlay. He had no intention of
having it made at this time; but Sir John Johnston, superintendent
general of Indian affairs, had informed him that he was about to make a
trip to Halifax, and would be prepared to take a mail with him. Finlay
lost no time in advertising the fact throughout the colony, and had
gathered a large number of letters when Johnston changed his plans and
did not go to Halifax.

There was nothing for Finlay to do but to send a special courier. Durand
whom he engaged could not tell him what the cost would be, but from the
figures furnished by another courier who had frequently carried
despatches, he thought that £120 would be about the expense. Imagine his
dismay when the account was shown to be £191, and he had collected less
than £75 as postage on the letters contained in the mail.

There was no choice open to the colony. At whatever cost, an easy road
must be made between Quebec and Halifax. Dependence on a foreign, and,
at the time, hostile nation, for communication with the mother country
was not to be thought of, still less endured.

Indeed, in January 1783, before the peace was signed, Haldimand had
taken steps to establish a road between Canada and Nova Scotia. He sent
a surveyor with two hundred men down to work on the Temiscouata portage,
and at the same time urged governor Parr of Nova Scotia to do what was
necessary to facilitate travel in his province.

Haldimand had observed that a considerable part of the expense of a mail
service by this route arose from the extortionate charges for guides and
forwarding, which were made by the Acadians settled at Aupaque, a few
miles above Fredericton.[131] His plan, therefore, was to gather into
his own hands all the agencies for transportation on the route; and with
that end in view, he proposed to establish some experienced men at the
head of lake Temiscouata, with canoes and other facilities for travel,
whose business it should be to convey passengers and mail couriers
across the lake, down the Madawaska river, and on down the St. John
river as far as Grand Falls, where he intended to settle another post.

From an Acadian courier, named Mercure, whom Haldimand frequently
employed to convey despatches to Halifax, he learned that a number of
Acadians desired to take up land on the upper St. John, in order that
they might be nearer ministers of religion, in the parishes on the St.
Lawrence. The plan was to place these Acadians on the lands along the
river from Grand Falls up to lake Temiscouata, and it was hoped that the
settlement thus formed would extend eventually to the St. Lawrence.

The governor of Nova Scotia responded heartily to Haldimand's proposals,
and the settlement, once begun under their united efforts, made rapid
progress. When Finlay travelled by this route to Halifax in July 1787,
he found no settlers at all on the Madawaska, and only some twenty
Acadians huddled together on the south bank of the St. John, opposite
the mouth of the Madawaska.[132]

From this point downwards to the Grand Falls, a distance of forty miles,
the country was entirely unoccupied. In 1791, a gentleman from Scotland,
who was making a tour through Canada remarked with satisfaction on the
regularity of the settlement over an extent of fifty miles of very rich
country, and on the evidences of material well-being observable on every
side.[133] The people carried the modes of life of a self-dependent
community with them, as the traveller says that the settlement was
entirely isolated and self-contained, electing its own magistrates, and
that a high degree of comfort prevailed.

Governor Carleton, of New Brunswick, who had assisted materially in the
formation of the settlement, obtained a troop of soldiers from Lord
Dorchester, and by manning the posts at Presqu' Isle, Fredericton and
St. John, he provided the means for keeping the road in good order.

The section of the long route between Quebec and Halifax, which
commenced at the northern end of the Temiscouata portage, and ended at
the mouth of the St. John river, was the one presenting most
difficulties. But the other parts of the route, that is, the section
between Quebec and the Temiscouata portage, which was entirely within
the jurisdiction of the governor of Quebec, and the section from St.
John to Halifax, which was partly in New Brunswick, and partly in Nova
Scotia, remain to be mentioned.

The courier had a comparatively easy journey from Quebec down the south
shore of the St. Lawrence to the entrance of the portage. There had been
a fair road for some years through that part of the country, and in 1786
Finlay, by the governor's orders, settled post houses on the route in
order to facilitate the travel of mail couriers and others. The
gentleman whose travels through Canada have been mentioned, observed
that it was a comfortable trip through these parts, and that the country
was thickly settled, there being from twelve to sixteen families to the
mile.

The eastern end of the long route, that is, the part from St. John to
Halifax, consisted of a trip across the bay of Fundy from St. John to
Annapolis, and a journey by land through the Annapolis valley from
Annapolis to Windsor, thence to Halifax. The road from Annapolis to
Halifax is described by Finlay as very rough, but it was covered in
three days in a one-horse carriage, and in two days on horseback.

The maintenance of a continuous communication between Quebec and Halifax
was effected in the following manner.[134] Canada controlled the section
from Quebec to Fredericton, and provided couriers who made fortnightly
trips over this part of the route. The section down the St. John river
from Fredericton to St. John, and thence by the bay to Annapolis, was
under the supervision of the government of New Brunswick; while the
eastern part, which lay entirely in Nova Scotia, was naturally managed
by that government. In the summer of 1787, the governor, Lord
Dorchester, sent Finlay over the route to Halifax, to see what
improvements would be required in order to enable this service to
compete with the service over the shorter route from Montreal to New
York. Dorchester at the same time submitted the whole scheme to the
colonial office, intimating that if the home government saw fit to
establish a packet service between England and Halifax, the arrangements
for the inland conveyance through the provinces would be found
satisfactory.

Lord Sydney, the colonial secretary, expressed the king's approval of
the measures taken,[135] and stated that the postmasters general had
directed Finlay to carry the plans into execution in a manner
correspondent to Lord Dorchester's wishes. The lack of sufficient packet
boats would prevent the establishment of a regular service from England
for the moment, but it was hoped that vessels enough might be spared for
the route, to make the service though not exactly regular yet of
substantial benefit to the colonies.

Finlay in the course of his visit to St. John and Halifax found much to
encourage the hope that, with the improvement of the route, a
satisfactory outlet from Canada to the sea would be obtained at Halifax.
The chief trouble, he foresaw, lay in the divided responsibility for the
maintenance of an efficient service, owing to the fact that post office
authorities in the several provinces were entirely independent of one
another. Indeed, at that very time, the deputy postmasters general of
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were at strife with one another, and were
carrying on an active newspaper war as to which of the two was
accountable for certain defects in the service.[136] The distribution of
the expense of the part of the service they had undertaken to maintain
was another cause of complaint.

Finlay came back to Canada after his trip to Halifax bringing with him
two strong convictions. One was that the service to be successful must
be in the hands of one person. The other was that the correspondence
between the provinces themselves was not of sufficient volume to cover
the outlay, and that unless there were frequent English mails exchanged
at Halifax, the service would have to be dropped for lack of revenue to
meet the large expense. He considered that if six mails a year could be
exchanged between England and Halifax, the postage arising would more
than pay the expenses of the service.

Dorchester lost no time in transmitting to England the substance of
Finlay's recommendations, adding his own opinion that as soon as a
continuous road to St. John had been constructed, and a sufficient
number of people had been settled upon it to keep it open in winter, the
foot couriers would be replaced by horsemen, and then the mails would be
carried more speedily and securely than by way of New York.

The governor, also, suggested that the postal service in all the
provinces be put under the direction of Finlay, who was a man of much
experience, zeal, and practical ability, and who was entitled to this
consideration from having lost a similar appointment by the late
war.[137]

The home government approved of Dorchester's recommendation as to
Finlay, whose commission as deputy postmaster general was extended to
comprise the whole of the colonies in British North America. At the same
time Dorchester received the gratifying news that the post office had
managed so to arrange matters that commencing with March 1788 the packet
boats which ran between Falmouth and New York would pass by way of
Halifax, stopping there two days on both the inward and the outward
voyages.

The service to Halifax was to be limited, however, to eight monthly
trips between March and October, as the admiralty had been informed that
the prevailing winds off the Nova Scotia coast during the winter months
were so contrary as to make it impracticable for the packets to call
there during those months.[138]

In winter, therefore, it was still necessary to send the mails from
Canada for England by way of New York. The mails between Nova Scotia and
England during the winter months were exchanged by means of a schooner,
which the governor of Nova Scotia put on the course between Halifax and
New York.

In the winter of 1790, the conditions were made somewhat easier for the
Nova Scotians, by the British post office directing that the packet
agent at New York should send the Nova Scotia mails from New York to
Boston, so that the governor's schooner was not required to go further
south than Boston.

To Canada, the calling of the packet at Halifax, was a great boon. It
settled the seaport problem, which had many perplexing aspects. Canada
could never dispense with the New York route, unless the charges for
transmission through the United States were made quite extortionate, and
the success which had attended the efforts of Canada to make an outlet
through British territory would not be lost upon the Americans when it
became necessary to re-arrange the terms for transit through the United
States.

To merchants and others in Quebec who depended exclusively on the
Halifax post office for their correspondence with England, the service
of the packet boats, curiously enough, developed a grievance, which had
a real foundation, as will be seen from the following case.

The postmaster of Halifax reported to the postmaster general that the
admiral of the "Leander," which was on the point of sailing for England,
expressed much dissatisfaction because a mail was not sent by his
ship.[139] In explanation of his refusal to do this the postmaster
stated that before the packet boats began to call at Halifax, he made up
and despatched a mail by every ship of war and merchantman that sailed
from Halifax for England, but since the commencement of the packet
service, he despatched no mails by any other vessels than the packets.

The understanding of the arrangement by the postmaster was that the
packet boats would not have been sent to Halifax if they were not to be
employed exclusively, and he would no more think of sending a mail by
any other steamer than he would send the letters to Annapolis by the
first traveller who happened to be going in that direction. The
explanation was acceptable to both the post office and the admiralty,
but there can be no question that the employment of the packet boats
curtailed the opportunities which the Nova Scotians had enjoyed of
corresponding with England.

Before leaving the Quebec-Halifax service, it seems proper to mention a
remarkable scheme which was submitted to the postmaster general by
William Knox, late under secretary of state, for a packet service
between England and North America, and between the several parts of the
latter.[140] Knox was under secretary of state during the war, and had
in a large measure directed the operations of the packet service on
behalf of the army in America.

The proposition, which was the result of a request by Lord Walsingham,
the postmaster general, for an expression of Knox's views, was based on
the sound principle that, until the post office provided facilities
adequate to the requirements of the correspondence which passed between
England and North America, it could never compete successfully with the
number of private ships continually crossing the Atlantic.

Knox pointed out that there was only a monthly service between England,
Halifax and New York, and that, at the very best, five months must
elapse before an answer could be returned to a letter written in England
and addressed to any of the interior parts of British North America.

The plan Knox unfolded to Walsingham was to have a fleet of fast sailing
vessels ply between England and Caplin bay, Newfoundland. At Caplin bay
there would be other vessels awaiting the British packets, and, on their
arrival, one of these would set off with the mails for Halifax and Rhode
Island, and another for Bermuda and Virginia, each vessel returning by
its own route, to Caplin bay. These services were to be looped together
by auxiliary services, and connected with other lines further south,
until Great Britain, Newfoundland, Canada, the United States and the
West Indies were all bound together by an elaborate system of
intercommunication, which would give an exchange of mails, between all
the parts three times a month. This scheme, it is needless to say, was
never carried into execution.

The results of the war had other important consequences for Canada,
besides that of forcing upon Quebec and the Maritime provinces the first
of the series of steps in the direction of common action, which led
eventually to confederation. When peace was concluded in 1783, the
disbanded soldiers and other adherents of the British cause came and
settled in Canada, and there was an early demand for postal
accommodation in the newly peopled districts.

The first settlement in Upper Canada was at Niagara, where four or five
families took up land in 1780. These were reinforced in 1784, by a
number of the men of Butler's Rangers, and at the end of that year, the
settlement was increased to over six hundred. Americans came over in
large numbers, and between them and the steady stream inwards of
loyalists, the district from Niagara to the head of the lake at
Hamilton was rapidly settled. A gentleman travelling through that part
of the province in 1800 remarked that it was all under settlement.[141]

At the other end of the province, settlement was going forward with much
rapidity. From the eastern boundary westward as far as the township of
Elizabethtown, near the present site of Brockville, there was a
continuous line of settlers. The extreme east was taken up by Highland
Scotch as far as Dundas county, and the western part of this county was
occupied by Germans. Both Highlanders and Germans came from the same
district on the Mohawk river in New York state.

Westward from Dundas county the settlers were more largely of
British-American origin. At Elizabethtown there was a break in the
settlement until Frontenac county was reached, as the land in that
intermediate district did not appear so favourable. At Kingston,
settlement was recommended, and from that point to the western end of
the bay of Quinte, farms were taken up with an alacrity that was
unsurpassed in any part of the province.

The incomers were all from the states to the south, and in their old
homes had enjoyed many of the conveniences of civilized life. In 1787,
as soon as they had become fairly established, they petitioned the
government for the extension of the post office into the new districts,
and two years later post offices were opened at Lachine, Cedars, Coteau
du Lac, Charlottenburg, Cornwall, New Johnston, Lancaster, Osnabruck,
Augusta, Elizabethtown and Kingston.[142]

This was as far as the regular mail couriers ran. Trips were made once a
year during the winter, and in summer, every opportunity afforded by
vessels going up to lake Ontario, was taken advantage of for the
despatch of mails.

In the first advertisement of the service of the new districts, it was
stated that the mails would be despatched every four weeks, but this
regularity could not be attained without a considerable outlay, and it
was found better to utilize such means of conveyance as happened to be
offering, for the carriage of the mails. Though the line of post offices
along the St. Lawrence terminated at Kingston, reasonable provision was
made for communication with the remote settlements of Niagara, Detroit
and Michillimackinac.

Detroit and Michillimackinac are in the territory of the United States,
but the forts at these places were detained in the hands of the British
until 1796 as security, until the obligations imposed on the Americans
by the treaty of Paris were fulfilled. Offices were established in each
of the three settlements mentioned, and the post office undertook to
send the mails forward from Kingston as opportunities occurred of doing
so with safety.[143]

In 1792 the first postal convention to which Canada was a party, was
concluded with the United States. Under its terms[144] the United States
post office engaged to act as intermediary for the conveyance of mails
passing between Canada and Great Britain. When a mail for Canada reached
New York by the British packet, it was taken in hand by the British
packet boat agent, who after assorting it, placed it in a sealed bag,
which he delivered to the New York post office.

The postmaster of New York sent this bag forward by messenger as far as
Burlington, Vermont, from whence it was taken to Montreal by a Canadian
courier, who travelled between Montreal and Burlington every two weeks.
In 1797 these trips were made weekly.

For this service the Canadian post office agreed to pay the United
States department the sum which the latter would have been entitled to
collect on the same number of United States letters passing between
Burlington and New York. As the mails were contained in a sealed bag,
the United States post office had no means of arriving at the amount due
to them for this service, and they agreed to accept the sworn statement
of the British and Canadian officials on this point.

The convention, also, provided for the interchange of correspondence
between Canada and the United States. According to the practice of the
period, a letter from Montreal for New York, for instance, was
chargeable with the postage due for conveyance from Montreal to the
United States boundary. This was collected by the Canadian post office.
In addition to this, the United States post office charged the postage
due to it for the conveyance from the boundary to New York.

The arrangements for the collection of the postage due to each
administration were somewhat peculiar. On a letter from Canada to the
United States, the Canadian postage as far as Burlington had to be paid
at the time the letter was posted. The United States postage was
collected from the person to whom the letter was delivered. On letters
passing the other way, that is, from the United States to Canada,
another arrangement was possible. The sender could, of course, if he
chose, pay the United States postage to Burlington, and the Canadian
post office would collect its own postage from the addressed.

But besides this arrangement, which was common to letters passing in
either direction, a person in the United States could post a letter for
Canada entirely unpaid, and the total amount due would be collected on
the delivery of the letter to the person addressed in Canada. In this
case, the postage due to the United States was collected by the
postmaster at Montreal, who assumed the duties of agent, in this
respect, for the United States post office. The United States did not
allow any of their postmasters to act as agents for the collection of
Canadian postage in the United States, alleging that there were too many
post offices in that country for Burlington to look after them properly.
The convention of 1792 contained a feature which was at that time novel
in post office arrangements. It provided for the conveyance of
periodical magazines between Canada and Great Britain, charging for its
services the unusually low figure of eight cents a magazine. The
convention was signed by the deputy postmaster general of Canada and the
postmaster general of the United States.

Under this convention the arrangements for the exchange of
correspondence between Canada and Great Britain were very satisfactory.
During the eight months when the packet boats called at Halifax, the
mails passed by the route through the Maritime provinces. In the winter,
while the packet boats did not visit Halifax, the mails were sent by way
of New York.

The improvements in the roads on the route through the United States,
reduced greatly the time of conveyance between Montreal and New York.
Travellers from Montreal to New York in 1800 noted that there was a
rough road as far as Burlington, and a rather better one to
Skenesborough (Whitehall), while from this place to New York, the
journey was made by coach.[145]

In Upper Canada, postal affairs were brought into some prominence when
that part of the country was erected into a separate province by the
constitutional act of 1791. As will be recalled, the service beyond
Kingston was conducted in rather haphazard fashion. It was maintained
largely in the interest of the little garrisons at Niagara, Detroit and
Michillimackinac.

The first governor of the new province, General Simcoe, was a man of
great energy, and zealous in the discharge of any duty laid upon him.
The total population in Upper Canada at the time did not exceed ten
thousand. But though these were not neglected, it was in preparation for
the thousands whom Simcoe foresaw thronging into the province, that his
attention was chiefly occupied.

Before he left London for Canada, Simcoe had written to the government
several letters, some of them of great length, discussing every
conceivable topic of colonial policy. In submitting the list of
officials which he considered necessary for the government of the
province, the newly appointed governor stated that he had in mind a
proper person who would go to Canada as printer, if he had a salary, and
the governor thought that by making this person provincial
postmaster[146] as well as government printer, a salary might be raised
from the two offices, sufficient to induce him to go.

When Simcoe reached Quebec in November 1791, he consulted with Finlay on
the subject, and was confirmed in his opinion as to the desirability of
a post office establishment in Upper Canada. There was, however, a
preliminary question of great importance which it appeared to him
necessary to have settled.

The question was akin to that which formed the subject of a later
controversy between the home government and the colonies, as to whether
sums collected from the public as postage were to be regarded as a tax,
and as such would require the consent of the colonies before they could
be appropriated to the use of the postmaster general in Great Britain.

Franklin, it will be remembered, contended that these sums were not a
tax, but simply compensation for services rendered by the post office.
The government, which founded an argument for the legality of its course
in laying taxes in America, on the fact that the colonies had hitherto
contentedly paid postage on the letters conveyed by the post office, and
made no objection that the profits of the American post office should be
sent to England, insisted that the postage collected was a tax.

Simcoe had no doubt on the subject himself. He fully shared the earlier
view of the British government, and proceeded to a further discussion of
the subject. In 1778, in a belated attempt to stay the progress of the
rebellion in the colonies by a course of conciliation, the government,
by an act of parliament,[147] renounced the right it had hitherto
claimed of taxing the colonies except so far as might be necessary for
the regulation of commerce; and in the case of such regulative duties,
the proceeds from them were to ensure to the benefit, not of the home
government, but of the colony from which the duties were collected.

Whether a post office tax was to be classed among duties for the
regulation of commerce was a point on which Simcoe could not quite make
up his mind. But if it were to be so regarded, then by the act of 1778,
which was embodied in the constitutional act of 1791, the net produce
from the Upper Canadian post office should be appropriated to the use of
the province, and the question Simcoe asked was whether it did not lie
with the general assembly of the province, rather than with the
parliament of Great Britain, to superintend the public accounts of
duties so levied and collected.[148] In order that the whole matter
might be placed beyond doubt, Simcoe suggested that when a post office
bill for the new province came to be drawn up, it should contain a
preamble describing its connection with duties for the regulation of
commerce, and vesting the collection of the tax in the deputy postmaster
general of Lower Canada, who should be made accountable for the revenue
so raised, to the legislature of Upper Canada.

Dundas,[149] the home secretary, to whom the matter was submitted,
expressed no decided opinion upon it, but suggested that bills of that
nature ought not to be passed upon by the governor, but should be
reserved in order that the king's pleasure might be signified regarding
them.

The question of a separate establishment for Upper Canada, as will be
seen hereafter, occupied the attention both of the local government and
of the general post office in England, but though several propositions
were submitted by both sides, the objections to it were found
insuperable.

The only other event of importance occurring in Upper Canada at this
period which affected the history of the post office was the founding of
the city of Toronto. Until 1794, when the lines of the present city were
laid out under the direction of governor Simcoe, and for some years
later, the future capital of Ontario[150] was in a state of the most
complete isolation.

On the way up lake Ontario, settlement reached no further than the
western end of the bay of Quinte. An official sent from York, as Toronto
was named in 1792, to Kingston, to meet and accompany immigrants to
York, found very few desirous of going so great a distance from all
settlements.

The country to the west of Toronto was equally unsettled. The line of
farm holdings from Niagara westward, came to an end at the head of the
lake about the site of the present city of Hamilton. From that point to
York, the country was occupied by the Mississauga Indians. When it was
determined to remove the seat of government to York in 1797, the chief
justice complained that the lack of accommodation of any kind was so
great that the larger part of those whom business or duty called to York
must remain during their stay there, either in the open air, or crowded
together in huts or tents, in a manner equally offensive to their
feelings and injurious to their health.[151]

The exact date on which the post office was established at York, and the
name of the first postmaster are unfortunately not disclosed by the
records, which are far from complete. There is a probability, however,
which amounts to practical certainty, that the post office was opened in
either 1799 or 1800, and that the first postmaster was William
Willcocks.

Lieutenant governor Hunter states that in 1799, excepting the single
trip made annually from Montreal to Niagara, there was no service beyond
Kingston, the mails for the posts west of that point being taken by the
king's vessels, and their distribution effected by the commandants at
the posts.[152]

In 1800, there was certainly a regular postmaster at York, as the
legislative council in that year directed the surveyor general to give
Wilcox, the postmaster, such information as would enable Finlay to
answer certain questions asked by the governor general respecting the
establishment of regular couriers between Quebec and York.[153]

Besides the inhabitants of the rapidly growing town of York, the post
office at that place served to accommodate for many years the German
settlement in Markham township, which was begun in 1797 under the
leadership of Berczy, an enterprising promoter.

In October 1799, Finlay's connection with the post office in Canada
ceased, and it is unpleasant to add that he was dismissed as a
defaulter. He admitted an indebtedness to the postmaster general,
amounting to £1408.

To the lieutenant governor Finlay explained[154] that a large part of
the debt arose in 1794 from the disallowance for a number of years past,
of certain items of credit, which had been accepted and passed at the
general post office. The death in bankruptcy of the postmaster at Three
Rivers increased considerably the amount of Finlay's obligations to the
postmaster general.

Finlay pointed out, with truth, that he had not only successfully
maintained the post office in Canada under very trying circumstances,
but that through the relations he had established with the _maîtres de
poste_, he had saved to the postmaster general not less than £12,000. He
pleaded, therefore, that as large an allowance as possible be made, on
account of these considerations, and that he might be given time to pay
any balance which might thereafter be found due.

Finlay's plea was strongly supported by the leading merchants in the
colony, and by the lieutenant governor, who represented that he was the
oldest servant of the crown in Canada, being senior executive and
legislative councillor. When the land committee was formed he was made
chairman, and on him fell practically all the onerous duties devolving
on the committee during that period. He was seventy years of age, forty
of which had been spent in the service of the colony, and was suffering
from an incurable disease, from which he died not long after his
dismissal.

Notwithstanding these pleas, judgment was obtained for the amount of the
debt, and some land which had been granted to him in Stanstead county as
a special recognition of his services, was attached by the orders of the
postmaster general. Either the claim was not pressed rigorously, or the
land did not suffice to cover the debt, for after standing on the
departmental books as uncollectable for many years, Finlay's debt was
finally wiped off in 1830.

FOOTNOTES:

[119] Notice in _Quebec Gazette_, February 16, 1767.

[120] _Can. Arch._, B. series, CC. 2.

[121] Finlay "Papers," _Can. Arch._, M. 412.

[122] _C. O._ 5, vol. 136.

[123] _Can. Arch._, B., CC. 114.

[124] _Ibid._, LXII. 164.

[125] _Can. Arch._, B., CC. _passim_.

[126] G.P.O., _Commission Book_, 1759-1854.

[127] _Quebec Gazette_, November 18, 1783.

[128] Finlay's _Report to Legislative Council_, July 9, 1785.

[129] Peter Kalm, _Travels into North America_, 1771, vols. 2 and 3.

[130] _Can. Arch._, B., LXXI 72.

[131] _Can. Arch._, B., CL. 187 and 204.

[132] Finlay Papers, _Can. Arch._, M. 411.

[133] P. Campbell, _Travels in North America_ (Edinburgh, 1793).

[134] Finlay's "Report," _Can. Arch._, M. 412.

[135] _Can. Arch._, Q. 28, p. 28.

[136] Finlay's "Report," _Can. Arch._, M. 412.

[137] _Can. Arch._, Q. 28, p. 152.

[138] Record Office, _Admiralty-Secretary In Letters_, Bundle 4072.

[139] Record Office, _Admiralty-Secretary In Letters_, Bundle 4073.

[140] _Extra Official State Papers_ (Knox), London and Dublin, 1789.

[141] _Freer Papers_, I. 47.

[142] _Quebec Gazette_, May 28, 1789.

[143] _Quebec Gazette_, May 28, 1789.

[144] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, I.

[145] _Freer Papers_, I. 54.

[146] _Can. Arch._, Q. 278, p. 283.

[147] 18, Geo. III. c. 22.

[148] _Can. Arch._, Q. 278, p. 44.

[149] The affairs of the colonies were at this period managed by the
home secretary.

[150] The province of Upper Canada became known in political geography
as Ontario in 1867.

[151] _Can. Arch._, Q. 283, p. 117.

[152] _Ibid._, C. 284, p. 21.

[153] _Ibid._, Q. 290, p. 200.

[154] _Ibid._, 87, pp. 251-268.




CHAPTER VI

     Administration of George Heriot--Extension of postal service in
     Upper Canada--Irritating restrictions imposed by general post
     office--Disputes with the administrator of the colony.


George Heriot, who succeeded Finlay, had been a clerk in the board of
ordinance for many years before his appointment as deputy postmaster
general. He was a man of some literary ability, his history of Canada
which was published in 1801 being a high-priced item in catalogues of
Americana. Of Heriot's zeal and intelligence the general post office had
no reason to complain, but he had a sensitive self-esteem, which was a
most unfortunate possession as matters then stood.

Ordinarily, personal characteristics such as these would call for no
mention, but the relations between the post office and the provincial
authorities at this time were so difficult that the utmost tact on the
part of the deputy postmaster general would scarcely gain more than a
tolerable success. The position of the deputy postmaster general towards
the governor and the legislatures was peculiar.

As an official of the general post office in London, he was subject to
the orders of the postmaster general and to no other authority whatever.
Neither the governors nor the legislatures had the least right to give
him instructions. Although the postal service was indispensable to the
conduct of the official and commercial transactions of the colony, and
its maintenance in a state of efficiency a matter of first importance to
the colony, the power of the colonial authorities went no further than
the submission of their views and desires to the postmaster general or
to his deputy in Canada.

To a community jealous of its rights of self-government, the situation
was irritating enough, but the natural annoyance might have been largely
relieved by an appreciative regard, on the part of the post office, for
the wants of the rapidly increasing settlements. This, however, was the
last trait the post office was likely to show at this period.

The post office was subordinate to the treasury, a relationship it
never permitted itself to disregard. The deputy postmaster general was
under strict injunctions not to enter upon any scheme for the extension
or improvement of the postal service, unless he was fully satisfied that
the resulting expense would be covered by the augmented revenue. Each
application for improvement in the service was dealt with from this
standpoint.

The fact that the service in any part of the country was very profitable
to the post office was held to be no justification for applying any
portion of the profits to make up the deficiencies of revenue in
districts less favourably situated. On one occasion, where the needs in
some new districts in course of settlement appeared to Heriot to demand
special consideration, he directed that for a time the whole of the
surplus revenue from Upper Canada should be applied to extensions and
improvements. When his action was reported to the postmaster general, it
was promptly disavowed, and he was compelled to cancel the arrangements
he had made.[155]

A policy of this kind was ill-adapted to colonies, which were steadily
expanding by the implanting of small, widely-separated communities, and
the man on whom devolved the duty of carrying on a postal service under
these conditions had no easy task. Finlay had certain advantages as a
member of the legislative council which Heriot did not enjoy, and
moreover his difficulties were not so great.

It was only after Finlay had ceased to be deputy postmaster general that
the settlements in Upper Canada began to insist on a regular postal
service; and in cases where demands were made upon him which his
instructions forbade him to grant, he could always depend on the good
will of his associates in the council to relieve him from unreasonable
pressure. As superintendent of post houses, his influence with the
_maîtres de poste_ enabled him to keep the cost of their services on the
main routes at a low figure.

Although Finlay's connection with the post office was terminated under
disagreeable circumstances, no attempt was made to deprive him of his
provincial appointments, which he held until his death at the end of
1801. Heriot then lost no time in applying to be appointed to the
vacancy in the legislative council, and to the superintendency of post
houses. He was successful in neither case.

Heriot was uniformly unfortunate in his relations with the governors of
the colony. His self-assertiveness irritated those who were accustomed
to look for nothing but deference from the persons about them. Heriot
seems to have accepted the decision as respects the council as final.
But he made a strong effort to force the hand of lieutenant governor
Milnes with regard to the post houses. He appealed to the postmaster
general in England, who made representations to the colonial office in
the matter.

The post office had already begun to feel the inconvenience of
separating the control of the _maîtres de poste_ from the office of the
deputy postmaster general, as these officials declined to continue to
carry the mail couriers on terms more favourable than those granted to
the ordinary travelling public.

The colonial office was inclined to the post office view on the subject,
but the lieutenant governor was firm in maintaining the position he had
taken. The _maîtres de poste_, he stated, were habitants who possessed,
each of them, a small property which rendered them quite independent.
Their service, which was to carry passengers on the king's road, was an
onerous one, and the advances in the price of the articles of life,
coupled with the fact that their exclusive privilege was systematically
disregarded, made them reluctant to take the appointments.

Men of this kind, Milnes declared, required management as they would not
submit to coercion. Finlay through his personal influence with the
_maîtres de poste_ had managed to obtain the conveyance of the mails at
sixpence a league, which was only half the charge made to the public for
the same service. For some time before his death, Finlay had difficulty
in inducing the _maîtres de poste_ to continue this favourable
arrangement, and on his death they refused to work under it any longer.

The _maîtres de poste_ had the full sympathy of the lieutenant governor
who saw no reason for the discrimination in favour of the post office.
Although he endeavoured to obtain a favourable arrangement for the mail
couriers, he considered it would be most impolitic on the part of the
post office to insist on continuing to occupy their position of
advantage.

But valuable as the post house system was in the early period of the
country's growth, it soon had to yield to a higher class of travelling
facility. As travel in the colony increased the two-wheeled _calèches_
drawn by a single horse and barely holding two persons would no longer
do. The changes at the post houses, every hour or little more, with the
long delays while the horses were secured and harnessed, were very
wearisome. Before Heriot's term expired, stage coaches had been placed
on the principal roads.

In leaving the old system and its ways, it will be interesting to record
the impressions of Hugh Gray, an English gentleman, who travelled from
Quebec to Montreal in 1806.[156] The mode of travel, he said, would not
bear comparison with that in England, and the inns were very far from
clean, but he found many things to lighten the hardships of travel in
Canada. If, leaving England aside, he compared the accommodations in
Canada with those in Spain, Portugal, or even in parts of France, he
found the balance in favour of Canada.

The politeness and consideration Gray received at the inns in Canada
offset many inconveniences. Often on the continent, after a day of
fatiguing travel, sometimes wet and hungry, he was obliged to carry his
own luggage into the inn at which he had arrived and see, himself, that
it was put in a place of safety. But in Canada he was charmed with the
politeness and urbanity with which he was welcomed at every inn:
"Voulez-vous bien, Monsieur, avoir la complaisance d'entrer; voilà une
chaise, Monsieur, asseyez vous, s'il vous plait."

"If they had the thing you wanted," continued Gray, "it was given to you
with a good grace; if they had not they would tell you so in such a tone
and manner as to show they were sorry for it." "Je n'en ai point. J'en
suis mortifié." "You saw it was their poverty that refused you, not
their will. Then if there was no inn to be had, you were never at a loss
for shelter. There was not a farmer, shopkeeper, nay, nor even a
_seigneur_ or country gentleman who, on being civilly applied to for
accommodation, would not give you the best in the house and every
accommodation in his power."

The determination of the lieutenant governor to hold Heriot at arm's
length, and allow him no part in the local government was unfortunate,
as it prevented the mutual understanding between the colonial
authorities and the post office which must have been beneficial to both.
Heriot made several later efforts to secure the control of the _maîtres
de poste_, but always without success.

The principal feature of Heriot's administration was the establishment
of a regular mail service to the settlements in Upper Canada. The single
opportunity for the exchange of correspondence afforded by the post
office authorities during the many months when navigation was closed was
absurdly inadequate to the needs of the rapidly increasing province.
The courier set out from Montreal in January of each year, travelling on
foot or snow-shoes with his mail bag slung over his shoulder. He did
very well when he covered eighteen miles a day. The journey to Niagara,
with the return to Montreal, was not accomplished until spring was
approaching, three months later.

The lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, General Hunter, was anxious to
improve the communication in that province, and opened correspondence
with Heriot on the subject.[157] Heriot laid the lieutenant governor's
proposition before the postmaster general with his warm commendation. He
pointed out that the rapid increase in the population, the salubrity of
the climate, and the fertility of the soil, all encouraged the belief
that Upper Canada would soon become one of the first of the British
settlements in North America.

General Hunter, Heriot also reminded the postmaster general, had in
course of construction a road from the bay of Quinte to York, which in a
few months would allow of easy travel by any of the common conveyances
of the country. More, his excellency when informed of the views held by
the post office on proposals involving expenditure, readily undertook
that the province should make up any deficiency arising from the
carrying of his schemes into execution.

This was the first considerable proposition submitted by Heriot since
his appointment, and the postmaster general made it the occasion of an
admonition as to the considerations Heriot should have in mind in
dealing with a proposition of that kind. He sent extracts of letters
addressed to Finlay on the question of establishing new posts, pointing
out that they served to show that unless any new proposition had for its
object both the public convenience and the interests of the revenue, it
was not to be encouraged.

The system of posts, the postmaster general went on to say, might be
made, comparatively speaking, as perfect in Canada as in Great Britain,
but the question was, would the board as a board of revenue be justified
in so doing when the amount of the revenue was so trifling. However, he
directed Heriot to report fully on the several aspects of the lieutenant
governor's proposition, not overlooking the general's offer of
indemnification in the event of the postage not amounting to sufficient
to defray the expense.

The lieutenant governor having repeated his assurance that any
insufficiency in the revenue to meet the additional expense would be
made up from the provincial treasury, Heriot set about improving the
service--but cautiously. At that time he contented himself with
providing monthly instead of yearly trips to Upper Canada during the
winter. In summer he continued to depend on the occasional trips of the
_bateaux_ on the river and the king's ships on the lake.

In order to assist Heriot, who had some difficulty in procuring the
services of suitable couriers for the winter trips, the lieutenant
governor directed the commandants at Kingston and York to place trusty
soldiers at the disposal of the post office.

There were few letters carried during this period except for the public
departments, and they found it less expensive to employ a messenger of
their own to visit the several posts and take the bulky accounts and
vouchers which constituted the greater part of their correspondence,
than to utilize the services of the post office. When it was pointed out
to the lieutenant governor that by his failure to employ the post
office, he was setting a bad example to the inhabitants who used every
means to evade the postmaster general's monopoly, the lieutenant
governor agreed to have the correspondence from the outposts carried by
the mail couriers.

The territory served by the regular post office did not extend beyond
Niagara. But at Amherstburg, the western end of lake Erie, and over two
hundred miles beyond Niagara, there were a military post and the
beginnings of a settlement, which it was desirable to provide with the
means of communication.

During his visit to Niagara in 1801, Heriot devised a plan[158] for this
purpose, which appears to have contained all the advantages of a regular
postal service, with the charges so much less than the ordinary postage
rates as to give the people of the district cause to regret the advent
of the regular postmaster and mail courier.

Heriot proposed that the postmaster of Amherstburg should receive
letters for despatch, and, from time to time as one of the vessels on
the lake happened to be going to fort Erie, at the eastern end of the
lake, make up a bag, seal it with the official seal, and deliver it to
the captain of the vessel.

At fort Erie the bag was to be placed on one of the flat-bottomed
_bateaux_, which traded between that village and Chippewa and the
Niagara river. Between Chippewa, Queenstown and Niagara, on the Niagara
portage, there were stage coaches running, and the bag was taken to
Niagara by this means. If the letters were intended for places beyond
Niagara, they were put into the regular post office at that point.

This arrangement was quite as safe and expeditious as the postal service
between Niagara and Kingston, and yet the charges were very much less
than if the letters had been carried the same distance within the
authorized system. The ordinary postage on a letter from Amherstburg to
fort Erie by land would be tenpence. Heriot did not consider that he
could properly charge more than twopence a letter. From fort Erie to
Niagara the postage would have been fourpence, which was the rate Heriot
proposed to charge.

The question will arise, in what regard this scheme differed from the
ordinary postal arrangements, the charges for which were fixed by
statute. The point of difference lay simply in this, that Heriot did not
propose to administer the oath of office to the courier, who effected
the transportation of the mails from Amherstburg to Niagara. There would
be none but trustworthy men employed to look after the mails, and the
couriers were under effective supervision in the fact that the
postmaster in making up the mail enclosed with it a certificate as to
the number of letters in it, which the receiving postmaster verified
before the courier was paid for his services.

Heriot's scheme, then, was identical with the ordinary arrangements in
all respects but one, and that one was purely formal. Heriot's scruples
would lead one to suspect a desire to show how excessive the ordinary
charges were.

There was no change in the arrangements for the postal service in Upper
Canada until 1810, though before that date there had been some agitation
for improvements. In 1808, the legislative assembly requested that a
regular service be established through the year, instead of monthly
trips during the winter merely.

Further representations were made on the insufficiency of the existing
service, and in 1810 Heriot provided fortnightly trips throughout the
year between Montreal and Kingston, but owing to the badness of the road
beyond Kingston, he was unable to give a regular service to York except
in the winter. During this period, however, the trips between Kingston
and York were made fortnightly.

Efficient roadmaking throughout Canada was attended with many
difficulties, owing to the great stretches of land which were in the
hands either of the crown or held as clergy reserves or which were held
by speculators. These absentee holders were not bound by the obligation
which lay on the residents to make and maintain good roads through their
property, and consequently, even where roads were made by the government
through the province, they soon fell into disrepair in those districts,
where there were no resident owners to keep them up.

General Hunter in 1800 and 1801 had a road made from Kingston to York,
and then on to Ancaster, near Hamilton, where it connected with the road
to Niagara, but at their best such roads were little more than bridle
paths through the woods. In the autumn of 1811 Heriot yielded another
step and placed couriers fortnightly on the road from Kingston to
Niagara by way of York. He also arranged for a courier to go to
Amherstburg or Sandwich as often as commercial requirements demanded it.

Heriot at this time took a step which drew upon him the sharp attention
of the home authorities. He directed the postmaster at York to hold the
surplus revenue from the western part of the province instead of sending
it to Quebec for transmission to England, and to apply it to improving
the arrangements in that section of the province.

The secretary of the general post office expressed a doubt as to whether
the whole of the revenue should have been applied towards improving the
service, and intimated that approval of his action should be held for
the postmaster general. Shortly after, Heriot was informed that his
action had not been approved, and that it would be necessary to cancel
his instructions to the postmaster of York.[159]

This incident fairly illustrates how far Heriot's hands were tied by
orders from home, and how little he deserved the censures so freely
meted out to him for his unwillingness to provide the country with a
system of communication adequate to its requirements. In yielding to any
extent to the reasonable demands of the provincial authorities, he was
courting disapproval and even reprimand from his superiors.

But in spite of the determination of the postmaster general that no
expenditure should be made for postal service, which did not promise an
immediate return equal to or greater than the outlay, the country was
growing too rapidly to permit of any great delay in providing increased
facilities for correspondence. While the post office held on to the
monopoly in letter carrying, it had to make some sort of provision for
doing the work itself.

In 1815, when peace had been concluded with the United States, Sir
Gordon Drummond, the commander of the forces, and administrator of
Canada, directed Heriot to arrange for two trips a week between Montreal
and Kingston, Heriot invited tenders for this service, and was dismayed
to find that the lowest offer was for £3276, an amount double the
anticipated revenues.

With his instructions from the postmaster general before him, an outlay
of that magnitude was not to be thought of, but Heriot did go the length
of authorizing weekly trips over the whole route between Montreal and
Niagara and arranged for fortnightly trips to Amherstburg from Dundas, a
village on the grand route between York and Niagara.[160] The mails were
carried between Montreal and Kingston by coach; between Kingston and
Niagara on horseback or by sleigh; and between Dundas and the
settlements at the western end of lake Erie on foot.

In reporting these arrangements to the postmaster general, Heriot
explained that, with the close of the war, military expresses had been
discontinued, and it became necessary to provide additional
accommodation to the commissariat and other military departments, but
the increased postage more than covered the expense incurred.

In March 1816 the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada pressed for
further improvements in order to facilitate communication between the
several courts of justice and every part of the province, so that
notices might be sent to jurors and others having business with the
courts.[161] In concluding his letter to the general post office
recommending the application of the lieutenant governor, Heriot added
that there was a strong desire on the part of influential people in
Upper Canada that there should be a deputy postmaster general for that
province, as well as one for Lower Canada.

Heriot favoured the idea and recommended William Allan, postmaster of
York for the position. The postmaster general, however, disapproved of
the proposal of an independent deputy for Upper Canada. He agreed with
Heriot that there would be advantages in having an official residing in
Upper Canada with a wider authority than that ordinarily exercised by a
mere postmaster, but thought that the postmaster of York might without
change of title be made to answer all the requirements of an assistant
to the deputy postmaster general.

Before leaving the service in Upper Canada, an incident should be
mentioned, showing the difficulties military men stationed far from a
post office had in corresponding with Great Britain. At the end of the
campaign of 1813 in the Niagara peninsula, the officers of the right
division, which was quartered at Stoney Creek, presented a memorial to
the governor general laying before him their hard case, and praying for
relief.[162] They desired to write to their friends and relatives at
home, but could not do so, owing to the post office regulation which
required that all letters sent to Great Britain should have the postage
paid on them as far as Halifax.

The sea postage did not require to be paid, as that could be collected
from the person receiving the letter, but unless the letter was fully
paid to Halifax, it was detained and returned to the writer. As the
nearest post office in operation was York, nearly fifty miles away, and
as they had no acquaintance there or at Montreal or Quebec, who might
pay the postage for them, they were without the means of relieving the
anxiety of their parents, wives and others who could not learn whether
they were alive or not. They asked that a bag be made up monthly, as
Lord Wellington did from Portugal, and sent free of expense to the
Horseguards in London, from which place the letters might be carried to
the post office for delivery.

The postal service in Lower Canada and eastward underwent no change from
the time of Heriot's accession to office until the war of 1812. As in
1800, the couriers between Montreal and Quebec still left each place on
Monday and Thursday mornings, and meeting at Three Rivers, exchanged
their mails, and returned, reaching their points of departure two days
later. The mails between Quebec and Fredericton continued to be
exchanged fortnightly in summer, and monthly in winter, and between
Fredericton and St. John, and St. John and Halifax, there were weekly
exchanges as in Finlay's time.

Lower Canada still found its principal outlet to Great Britain in the
weekly mail carried between Montreal and one of the towns of the United
States near the Canadian boundary. In 1810, the place of exchange of
mails between Lower Canada and Boston and New York was Swanton, a small
town in Vermont.

But, though the service arrangements remained unchanged, they by no
means escaped criticism. In 1810, Sir James Craig, the governor general,
complained of the slowness of the communication with the United States
and with the Maritime provinces.[163] Letters from New York seldom
reached Quebec in less than fifteen or sixteen days, and it usually
took a month for the courier to travel from Halifax to Quebec.

For the course of the post from New York, the governor was not disposed
to blame Heriot entirely, as he knew the connections from New York to
Swanton to be faulty, but he thought that, by a little exertion, Heriot
could do much to remedy the defects. As for the movement of the couriers
between Quebec and Halifax, the governor had been informed by certain
London merchants that the journey could be made in six days. He would
not insist on a speed equal to that, but sixteen or seventeen days ought
to be easily within the capacity of the couriers.

Dealing with the Quebec-Halifax complaint first, Heriot was aware that
the journey from Halifax to Quebec had been made in six days, but as the
distance was six hundred and thirty-three miles, three hundred and
sixty-eight of which could not be travelled by horse and carriage, he
regarded the trip as an extraordinary performance. The circumstances,
however, were unusually favourable. The weather was at its best, and no
expense was spared to make the journey as rapidly as possible.

But it was useless, Heriot insisted, to compare speed of that kind with
that which was within the power of a courier who had to carry a load
sometimes weighing two hundred pounds on his back, for a distance of
forty miles, after having rowed and poled up rivers and across lakes for
two hundred miles. If the contractor was able to disregard
considerations of expense, and employ as many couriers as could be done
with advantage, much time might doubtless be saved.

Heriot was sure there were no grounds for believing that there would be
any material increase in the revenue as the result of such expenditure.
The commerce between the Canadas and the Maritime provinces was so
trifling that it was all carried on by three or four small coasting
vessels. Indeed, were it not for the correspondence between the military
establishments, it would be better to drop regular trips between Quebec
and Halifax, as the British mails could be carried much more cheaply and
with greater celerity by expresses.

The connection with New York offered matter for criticism, but Heriot
could not be reproached for remissness in this regard. He had proposed
to the authorities at Washington that his couriers should carry the
mails all the way between Montreal and New York, offering to pay the
United States just as if their couriers had done the service within
their territory, but the United States department would not entertain
the proposition. He had also endeavoured, without success, to have the
British mails landed at Boston during the winter months, instead of at
New York. If this could have been accomplished, there would have been a
considerable saving in the time required for the delivery of the British
mails at Montreal and Quebec.

The war of 1812 had noticeable effects on the postal service. The mails
passing between Quebec and Halifax had to be safeguarded against attack
on the part of hostile parties from across the border and against
privateers, who infested the lower waters of the St. John river and the
bay of Fundy.

From the time the courier on his way eastward left the shores of the St.
Lawrence, he was in danger of surprise. The portage between the St.
Lawrence and lake Temiscouata was wild and uninhabited, and it would
have been an easy matter for the enemy to waylay the courier if he
travelled unprotected. When he reached the St. John river his course lay
along the United States border. Indeed a considerable part of his route
lay in territory which was afterwards adjudged by the Ashburton treaty
to belong to the United States.

Heriot facilitated the couriers' journey over the portage by placing
twenty-two old soldiers with their families at intervals on the route.
They were supplied with arms, ammunition and rations, as the country was
so mountainous, sterile and inhospitable, that no man could derive a
subsistence from the soil. The couriers on entering the portage were,
also, accompanied by an escort of two soldiers, who travelled with them
as far as the Madawaska settlement. From that point downwards, the local
captains of militia had orders to render all needful assistance and
protection to the couriers.

At Fredericton an entire change was made in the route. The route had
till then followed the course of the St. John river to the city of St.
John, from which place the couriers were taken across the bay of Fundy
to Annapolis, in a small sloop. In order to avoid the chances of capture
on the water stretches or in the bay, the couriers were sent across the
country through the centre of the province to Cumberland, as Amherst was
then called, and thence on to Halifax.

This arrangement left St. John unprovided with connection with either
Quebec or Halifax, but it was brought into the scheme by a separate
courier who met the couriers on the main route at Sussexvale. The travel
on the new route was at first very bad, but the lieutenant governors of
the two Maritime provinces, who were interested in the success of the
scheme, promised to do their best to induce their assemblies to put the
roads in good condition.

In changing the route from Fredericton to Halifax, and requiring the
couriers to travel inland, instead of along the waterways, the deputy
postmaster general was taking a measure in the direction of safety, but
those who had a particular interest in the transmission of their
correspondence intact could not look without concern at the exposure of
the mails on the long stretch between the foot of lake Temiscouata and
Fredericton.

The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia and the admiral of the Halifax
station were both uneasy at the possibility of their despatches being
intercepted by the Americans, and grasped eagerly at a suggestion thrown
out that the courier from Halifax should not go to Fredericton at all,
but on leaving Amherst should pursue a north-westerly course till he
reached the Matapedia river at the western end of the bay of Chaleurs.
From this point, the route would lie across the bottom of the Gaspe
peninsula to the St. Lawrence near Metis.

The suggested route encountered the strong opposition of Heriot.[164]
"The heights of the interior," he declared, "are more elevated than
those towards the sea, and some of them with snow on their summits which
remain undissolved from one year to the other. The land between the
mountains is probably intersected by rugged defiles, by swamps and by
deep and impracticable gullies. A region so inhospitable and desolate as
from its interior aspect, and its latitude as this may without
exaggeration be conceived to be, can scarcely be visited by savages.
Suppose a road were cut through this rugged desert, it would not be
possible to find any person who would settle there, and no courier could
proceed on foot for a journey of some hundred miles, through a difficult
and dreary waste alike destitute of shelter and of the prospect of
assistance."

Heriot's conviction was that the present route was the only possible
one, and if the enemy threatened to cut off communications, it might be
necessary to establish two additional military posts, one at the head of
the Madawaska settlement, the other between Grand Falls and Presqu'
Isle.

A blockhouse at each point, with a non-commissioned officer, a few
privates and two savages attached, would in Heriot's opinion afford
sufficient protection. The enemy would scarcely incur the trouble and
expense of marching one or two hundred men from an immense distance to
take or destroy these forts with the precarious and doubtful prospect of
interrupting a courier, to whom the nature of the country presented a
variety of means of eluding their utmost vigilance.

The idea of establishing a route between Nova Scotia and the St.
Lawrence, which would follow the northern shore of New Brunswick, was
not carried into effect at once, but as will be seen it occupied
attention from time to time and was eventually realized.

The war affected the postal service in Lower Canada to the extent of
causing the conveyance of the mails between Montreal and Quebec to be
increased from twice a week to daily.[165] Sir George Prevost having
pointed out to Heriot the necessity for more frequent communication on
account of the war, the latter expressed his willingness to increase the
trips, but stipulated that the men employed in the service should not be
subject to enlistment as it was very difficult to secure trustworthy
men.

The governor agreed, and directed the colonels of militia that they were
to impose no military duties on post office employees. On the conclusion
of the war, the couriers' trips were reduced from six to five weekly, at
which frequency they remained for many years.

The last year of Heriot's administration was marked by a disagreeable
quarrel with Sir Gordon Drummond,[166] who was administrator of Canada
on Prevost's retirement. In the beginning of 1815, the legislature of
Upper Canada adopted an address pointing out that the postal
arrangements were very defective, and expressing the opinion that the
revenue from Upper Canada was ample to meet the additional expense
necessary to put the service on a satisfactory footing. If an efficient
service were provided, and it turned out that they were wrong in their
anticipation of increased revenues, they were prepared to pay higher
rates of postage.

Herein lay a difficulty for the postmaster general. The postal charges
in Canada were the same as those in Great Britain, and were collected by
the authority of the same act of parliament. The postmaster general was
not free from doubts as to the legality of the proceedings of the post
office in taking postage in Canada, and he did not wish to raise the
question by the enactment of a special act for Canada. He intimated to
Heriot his disinclination to bring the question into prominence in
Canada, and asked Heriot to give his mind to the proposition for an
improvement in the service.

About the time the letter from the postmaster general containing this
instruction reached Heriot, Drummond himself wrote to Heriot, drawing
attention to the shortcomings in the service, expressing his conviction
that the necessary improvements would lead to enhanced revenues, and
concluding with an intimation that unless he were provided with adequate
facilities for communicating with that part of his command which was in
Upper Canada, he would be obliged to restore military expresses.

Sir Gordon Drummond's services to Canada during the war were such as to
entitle him to an honourable place in the memory of Canadians, but he
did not appear at his best in his controversy with Heriot. He exhibited
too much of that arbitrariness and impatience with other people's views
which is commonly observed among military chiefs.

Heriot replied promptly to the governor's letter, stating that he had
invited tenders for a semi-weekly service between Montreal and Kingston,
and that the offers he received were quite beyond any possible revenue
to be derived from the service. He had, however, accelerated the
existing service by having the couriers travel on horseback, the horses
being changed at convenient distances along the route.

As regards the service beyond York, Heriot directed the postmaster of
York to arrange for a regular weekly courier to Niagara, and to set
about securing a postmaster at Amherstburg to replace the former
incumbent, who had resigned. Heriot wound up his letter by stating that
he would have been particularly gratified if he had the power to meet
his excellency's wishes in every point, but expressed his regret that
his instructions obliged him to act on principles of economy.

The letter was courteously expressed, and showed an evident desire to go
as far as his instructions would allow, in meeting the governor's
wishes. But Drummond was not satisfied. His wrath rose at the appearance
of opposition. In repeating his views that increased revenue would
follow upon improvements in the service, he declared that the existing
arrangements were slovenly and uncertain, and, in the opinion of
merchants, insecure. Moreover, he did not believe that Heriot's
instructions were intended to be injurious to the interests of Upper
Canada.

Drummond then most unreasonably found fault with Heriot for leaving to
Allan the duty of attending to the requirements of Niagara and
Amherstburg, when his excellency had ordered Heriot to give the matter
his personal attention. Heriot's time was very fully occupied at Quebec
with the ordinary duties of his office, a fact of which Drummond could
not have been ignorant; and to order him to leave these duties, and make
a journey to the western end of the province, involving a travel of
scarcely less than twelve hundred miles, to do a piece of work which any
subordinate in the district could do equally well, argued either an
indifference as regards the daily calls upon Heriot's time, or a
determination to annoy him, either of which was discreditable to the
governor general.

Heriot was steadily respectful, however, but maintained that with the
powers entrusted to him it was impossible to meet Drummond's views. He
cited the incident of 1812, when his recommendation that the whole of
the revenue from Upper Canada should be expended on extensions and
improvements had been disapproved, and the arrangements founded upon
these suggestions had to be cancelled. As for his employment of Allan to
secure a postmaster at Amherstburg, Allan knew the district while he
himself did not, and in his circumstances he was compelled to rely upon
his officials as he did in the west and at Halifax.

The whole of the case was laid by Heriot before the postmaster general.
His situation, he declared, was very disagreeable, as people seemed to
imagine that he had carte blanche as to the disposal of the post office
revenue. Every governor on coming to Canada assailed Heriot with his
particular scheme for improvement. Prevost, who had come from the
governorship of Nova Scotia, insisted on a large expenditure on the
service in that province. Drummond, whose interests lay in Upper Canada,
was peremptory in regard to the claims of that part of the country. The
consequence of all this was correspondence always lengthy and frequently
unpleasant.

What Heriot desired to know was whether his conduct was approved or
condemned by his superiors. The official silence left him in uncertainty
and suspense. Heriot concluded by asking to be relieved of the office
and to be allowed some remuneration for past services.

After a short lull, trouble broke out afresh, and this time Drummond
managed to put Heriot clearly in the wrong. A very sharp letter from the
governor drew from Heriot the reply that the deputy postmaster general
in Canada was governed by several acts of parliament, and by
instructions from the general post office, and he was not subject to
any orders, but through the secretary of the post office. He would,
however, afford every necessary information when applied to in the mode
of solicitation or request.

This was not the tone to take in addressing the chief executive in the
colony; and the governor promptly laid the whole matter before the
colonial secretary, condemning Heriot for his incapacity,
insubordination and insolence, and declaring that nothing but the fear
of embarrassing the accounts prevented him from instantly suspending
Heriot. He urged his dismissal.

A fortnight later Drummond reported further grievances. Indeed, Heriot
seems now to have cast prudence as well as respect for the governor's
office to the winds. The governor had demanded to see the postmaster
general's instructions to Heriot, and it was not until the demand had
been twice repeated that Heriot saw fit to obey.

Among those instructions was one directing the deputy postmaster general
to keep the orders of the postmaster general and the table of rates in
his office, for his own guidance, and for the satisfaction of all
persons desiring to see them. This Drummond insisted on reading as a
direction to the deputy postmaster general to make all his
communications from the postmaster general public, and he dilates on the
disrespect of Heriot in withholding from the governor what he is under
orders to disclose to the first comer.

All this is, of course, manifestly disingenuous, and does not impose on
Heriot's superiors in the general post office. The secretary of the
general post office in discussing Drummond's complaints, has words of
commendation for Heriot's zeal and alacrity. He always considered Heriot
a judicious, active and efficient officer. Governors, he affirmed, too
commonly entertain the idea that the whole revenue of the post office
should be devoted to extending the communications. Whatever view might
be held as to the principle, Heriot at all events was precluded by his
instructions from acting upon it without the express authority of the
postmaster general.

While Heriot had, beyond question, given ample grounds for irritation on
Drummond's part, it should be remembered, in dealing with the demand for
Heriot's dismissal, Drummond was told that he had been sixteen years in
the service, and had on many occasions received the thanks of the board.
It might be sufficient to enjoin upon Heriot a more respectful attitude
towards the governor, and consult with him as to the extension of
communications, and the interests of the revenue.

The postmaster general concurred in the secretary's views. But the
quarrel was now past mending, and when after repeated requests to be
relieved, Heriot declared that no motive of interest or advantage could
induce him to stay in the service longer than was necessary to appoint
his successor, the postmaster general decided to accept his resignation.

FOOTNOTES:

[155] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. 388.

[156] Hugh Gray, _Letters from Canada_, London, 1809.

[157] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, pp. 1-16.

[158] _Can. Arch._, C. 283, p. 42.

[159] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. 388.

[160] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 172.

[161] _Ibid._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[162] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 114.

[163] _Ibid._, Q. 115, pp. 112, 113 and 121.

[164] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[165] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 105.

[166] _Ibid._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.




CHAPTER VII

     Administration of Daniel Sutherland--Postal service on the
     Ottawa river, and to eastern townships--Ocean mails.


On Heriot's retirement, a number of London merchants who traded to
Canada, recommended that the postmaster of Montreal, Daniel Sutherland,
be appointed as his successor, and the appointment was made in April
1816.[167] Sutherland entered upon his duties with full knowledge of the
postal service in Canada, as he had been postmaster of Montreal since
1807.

An effort was made at this time to remove the headquarters of the
department from Quebec to Montreal, but it was not encouraged. The
postmaster general was of opinion that, although there were no direct
official relations between the governor general and the head of the
postal service, it would be inadvisable to diminish in any way the
opportunities that then existed of enlisting the good will of the
governor towards the post office by the pursuit of a more tactful course
than had been taken by Sutherland's predecessor. If, while relations
between the chief executive and the deputy postmaster general were thus
strained, the office of the latter had been removed to Montreal, the
chances of establishing a more cordial feeling on the part of the
governor towards the post office would have greatly lessened.

The wisdom of the postmaster general in this matter was soon shown. It
was not long before the post office incurred the hostility of the
legislatures in both Upper and Lower Canada and its case would have been
hard indeed, if it had not obtained the steady support of the governors
and the executive councils in the two provinces.

A notable feature of Sutherland's administration was the extension of
the service into settlements, which lay far off the beaten lines. The
first of these to be provided with a post office was the settlement of
Perth. In the summer of 1815, a number of Scotch artisans and peasants
sailed from Greenock, attracted by the inducements held out to settlers
in British North America, and of these about sixty families spent the
winter in Brockville on the St. Lawrence. When spring opened, they
proceeded inland till they reached the Rideau river, and took up homes
about the site of the present town of Perth.

The new settlement was almost immediately joined by a large number of
disbanded troops, who were set free on the conclusion of peace with the
United States. By October 1816, there were over sixteen hundred settlers
in the district. They were fortunate in securing the interest of Sir
John Sherbrooke, the governor general, at whose instance a post office
was opened, and fortnightly trips were made with the mails from
Brockville.[168]

A road was broken between the two places, but little could be said for
it for some time. Dr. Mountain, the son of the first Anglican bishop of
Quebec, and himself afterwards third bishop of Quebec, accompanied his
father on an episcopal trip into Upper Canada in 1820. Among the places
he visited was Perth. Of the road he said: "All the roads I have
described before were turnpike and bowling green to this."[169] The road
was divided into three stages of seven miles each, and the best the
party could do was three hours for each stage.

In 1818, another settlement was formed in the same part of the country
about thirty miles north of Perth. It was a military settlement, being
made up of officers and men of the 99th and 100th regiments. This group
did not enter upon its lands by way of the St. Lawrence, but is notable
as the first considerable body to come into Upper Canada by way of the
Ottawa river. They landed on the site of the present city of Ottawa, but
did not stop there longer than was necessary to break a road through to
their lands, which were situated about twenty miles to the westward. The
settlement was called Richmond, in honour of the Duke of Richmond, the
governor general, and this circumstance gave Ottawa its first
name--Richmond Landing.

It was at Richmond that the duke came to his melancholy end that same
summer, as the result of the bite of a fox. The duke had shown his
interest in the settlement which bore his name in a number of ways, and
shortly before his death he induced the deputy postmaster general to
open a post office there. In order to provide it with mails, a blazed
trail was made between the new settlement and Perth.[170]

The settlement at Richmond was not the first, however, in the Upper
Ottawa district. In 1800, Philemon Wright, a New Englander, who had made
one or two exploratory tours into the country, determined to form a
settlement at Hull, on the Lower Canadian side of the river, and in that
year he brought with him a group of his neighbours from Malden,
Massachusetts.

These settlers were thrifty and intelligent, and by 1815, they had
brought their settlement to a pitch of prosperity, which won special
mention from Bouchette, the surveyor general. At that time there were
about thirty families in the district, whose farms were in a respectable
state of cultivation; and a large trade in timber, pot and pearl ashes
was carried on.

The little settlement was so far from Montreal--one hundred and twenty
miles--that it was at first impracticable to give it the benefit of the
postal service. The isolation did not last long. Little bodies of
settlers were taking up land at different points, both above and below
the Long Sault rapids; and for some time before 1819, there had been a
steamer running between Lachine and Carillon, at the foot of the Long
Sault.[171]

In 1819, a steamer was put on the Upper Ottawa, running between the head
of the Long Sault and Hull, and the Duke of Richmond appealed to
Sutherland to open post offices on the river route. The deputy
postmaster general at first demurred on the ground of expense, but he
withdrew his objections on a guarantee being given by a number of
gentlemen interested in the district, that the post office should be
saved against any loss which might ensue. Offices were accordingly
opened at St. Eustache and St. Andrews on the lower Ottawa, and at
Grenville, Hawkesbury and Hull on the upper part of the river.[172]

Another part of the country to which the postal system was extended
during this period was the eastern townships in Lower Canada. These
townships lie along the northern border of eastern New York, Vermont and
New Hampshire. Owing to their contiguity to the United States, the
settlement of these townships gave the British Government much concern.

Lord North, at the close of the war of the Revolution, desired to settle
this border country with old soldiers. Haldimand, the governor general,
was of another opinion, believing that the interests of peace would be
best served by keeping the country uncultivated, that it might serve as
a barrier to the restless spirits from the south. Some effort was made
to give effect to this view but without much success. Indeed the
governors who followed Haldimand made grants in the townships freely;
and in 1812, it was estimated that there were not less than 17,000
people settled there.

Lord Bathurst, the colonial secretary, on learning in 1816 the state of
affairs, was highly displeased that the policy of the government had
been disregarded in this manner, and directed the governor to do what he
could to discourage further settlement, and wherever possible to restore
the cultivated country to a state of nature.

Mentioning particularly the townships at the western end of the
province, the colonial secretary directed that no new roads were to be
run into them, and advantage was to be taken of any circumstances that
presented themselves of letting the roads already made fall into disuse.
For five years this desolating policy was carried into execution.

In 1821, Lord Dalhousie, the governor general reported that the result
was an utter failure. "These townships," he says "are the resort of all
the felons escaping from justice within His Majesty's province or from
the United States. Forgery, coining, and every crime is committed there
with impunity. American lumbermen are cutting everywhere the best
timber, and sit down where they please, and move about where they find
it convenient."

A reversal of the mistaken policy resulted from the Dalhousie report.
The first post office opened in the townships was at Stanstead,[173] the
centre of a comfortable, well-settled population of about 2500. The
village lay on the main stage route from Quebec into the state of
Vermont. The post office at Stanstead was opened in 1817, and with three
other offices opened at the same time had a weekly exchange of mails
with Quebec by way of Three Rivers.

During Sutherland's administration, there were a considerable number of
post offices opened, and many of them established at this period
afterwards attained great importance. In 1816, when he became deputy
postmaster general, there were only ten offices in Lower Canada and nine
in Upper Canada. When he retired in 1827, there were forty-nine in Lower
Canada and sixty-five in Upper Canada. In 1816, Belleville post office
was opened under the name of bay of Quinte: in 1825, Hamilton, London,
Brantford, and St. Thomas were provided with post offices.

In Lower Canada, besides those already mentioned, a post office was
opened at Sherbrooke in 1819, replacing an office established in Aston
township in 1817.

A curious fact appears in the post office list of 1819. At this date
Toronto was still called York, and Hamilton was without a post office
altogether. Nevertheless a post office called Toronto was on the list of
1819 as having been opened in 1817, with Charles Fothergill as
postmaster, and another called Hamilton was opened in 1819 with James
Bethune as postmaster. There was nothing to indicate where these post
offices were situated until changes were made in the names, and Toronto
was converted into Port Hope and Hamilton into Cobourg.

Fothergill, who had the post office established at Port Hope, appears
more than once in the course of post office history. He was member of
the house of assembly and king's printer, as well as postmaster. About
this time the house began to express dissatisfaction with the service
provided by the post office, and to demand information as to its
affairs, which the deputy postmaster general was not prepared to
furnish. Among the critics was Fothergill, who was speedily punished for
his independence. He was dismissed from the office of king's printer by
the governor.[174]

       *       *       *       *       *

The conveyance of the mails between Canada and Great Britain occupied
much attention during Sutherland's term. The packets, that is the
vessels employed expressly for the conveyance of the mails, had at this
date almost ceased to be employed for the transmission of any but
official correspondence. The interests of the governors and other
officials in British North America and Bermuda, and of the British
minister at Washington and consuls in the United States, were the only
interests considered in the arrangements for this service.

Speedy transmission was sacrificed without a thought, to provide against
imagined dangers to safe transmission. When the packet service was
established, the vessels made monthly trips during the summer from
Falmouth, in England, to Halifax and thence to New York, returning by
the same route. The mails for Bermuda were landed at Halifax, and taken
to their destination in a war vessel.

During the winter, the vessels from Falmouth did not run to Halifax, but
proceeded directly to New York. In 1806, at the instance of the
admiralty, orders were given that, whenever possible during the winter,
the packets should touch at Bermuda on their way to New York.[175] On
the eve of the war of 1812, Prevost, the governor general, who was
fearful for the safety of the mails, begged that this course might be
adopted as the regular winter course, and that mails for Canada and
other parts of British North America should be put off at Bermuda, and
conveyed from there to Halifax.

To make the mails for Canada go as far south as Bermuda seems
outrageous, but Prevost was willing to put up with any slowness in
transmission rather than have his despatches touch United States soil.
This course was pursued until the war ended in 1815, and continued for
many winters after that time.

But it was too bad to escape criticism from officials themselves. At the
end of the summer of 1816, when the packets were about to be taken off
the Halifax route, the rear-admiral on the North American station asked
that the packets should continue to call at Halifax during the winter,
and, by way of satisfying the post office of the feasibility of his
suggestion, furnished a list of some seventy vessels which had entered
Halifax during the previous winter, which was allowed to be the severest
for many years, and found no more trouble in making this port than the
port of New York.[176]

The suggestion aroused great opposition--an opposition which would be
quite incomprehensible to-day. The agent of the packet service at
Falmouth assembled all commanders who happened to be in port, and asked
them their opinion. They were unanimous in the belief that the only safe
course to Halifax would be to go first to Bermuda, thence to New York,
and finally to Halifax.[177] The prevalence of north-westerly winds
during the winter would make a direct sailing from Falmouth to Halifax
impracticable.

The commanders did not consider it advisable, however, to adopt this
course, as it would lengthen the trip by from two to three weeks, and as
the voyages would be much rougher, there would be few passengers. The
wear and tear on the packets would be greater, and besides the men would
require great coats and spirits. During the late war each packet took
sixty gallons of rum each way.

Lord Dalhousie became governor general in 1819 and he made bitter
complaint of the length of time taken in the delivery of his winter
despatches.[178] The despatches leaving England in November 1821 and
1822, did not reach him until the following February, and his February
despatches arrived in Quebec in May. He asked that the mails containing
his correspondence should not be put off the packet at Bermuda, but that
they be carried to New York, where he would have his messenger on hand
to receive them.

It is difficult to see why this should not have been done. Ever since
the establishment of peace in 1783, there had been a British packet
agent at New York, whose sole duty it was to act as intermediary for the
despatch by the outgoing British packet boat, of all correspondence
reaching him from the governors or other officials in British North
America, or from the ambassadors or consuls in the United States.[179]

Dalhousie's messenger took his outgoing despatches to the packet agent,
and the governor could not understand the objections to allowing the
same messenger to carry the incoming despatches back with him. The
packet agent at New York strongly supported the governor's request, and
pointed out how his own office might be made of much greater utility, if
he were employed freely, not only for the transmission of official
correspondence, but for the interchange of general correspondence
between Canada and Great Britain. He declared that the United States
government had shown the utmost courtesy to the governor's messengers.
They had not been molested in any way, and for some time past, the
earlier practice of requiring the couriers to be provided with passports
had been allowed to drop.[180]

The agent proposed that during the winter the English exchange office
should make up separate bags for Upper and Lower Canada, which on
arrival at New York would be delivered to his office. He would then see
that the bags were forwarded by special messenger without delay.

His plan, however, was open to strong objection, and the British post
office, which was averse to making any change in the direction proposed,
was quick to seize upon it. While acknowledging the good will of the
United States government regarding the conveyance of official despatches
through their territory by British messengers, the secretary stated that
the conveyance of ordinary mails by the same means was a very different
matter, which would give rise to a justifiable claim on the part of the
United States department, and if the charges which would have to be paid
to the United States department were added to the other postage rates,
the total postage to be collected from the recipients of the letters
would be very large.

But the argument of the secretary was based on the supposition that the
mails would be carried as the despatches were, by Canadian messengers
from New York, and that the letters they carried would be subject to a
double charge, viz:--the expenses of the messenger, and the sum which
the United States might exact for the mere transit over its territory.
If the British mails arriving at New York by the packet were handed over
to the United States post office for transmission, as had been the case
before the war of 1812, there would have been no such excessive charge.

This was what was desired on all sides in Canada. The service would have
been much faster, and for Montreal and all places in Upper Canada the
postage would have been lower. Since the spring of 1817, steamboats were
employed to carry the mails between New York and Albany twice a week,
and with other improvements on the route, the time between New York and
Montreal was shortened to three days in summer and five in winter.

From New York to York took from nine to eleven days by way of Montreal,
and a day less if the mails were carried from New York along the Mohawk
valley route to Queenston on the Niagara river, and thence to York.

Compare this with the time occupied between Halifax and Quebec. A month
was the average, and to that had to be added two days to Montreal and
eight days to York. No advantage enjoyed by Halifax over New York on the
sea trip could compensate for the disparity from which the land route
between Halifax and Montreal suffered in comparison with the route from
New York to Montreal, and as Montreal was the gateway to Upper Canada,
the whole of the new province suffered in equal measure with that city.

The gain in time by the New York route was submitted to the general post
office, but the proposition to land the mails at that port was opposed
by the secretary. He found that there would be eightpence less postage
on each letter to Quebec, if it were sent through the United States
instead of through the Maritime provinces, and, besides, he was doubtful
as to the propriety of sanctioning any scheme which would permit private
and mercantile letters to reach Quebec before the government despatches,
which in any case must come by way of Halifax.

But though the comings and the goings of the packets were a matter of
much concern to Lord Dalhousie and to others, whose correspondence had
to be carried by this means, they were of little moment to the general
public, who had found a very satisfactory means for the conveyance of
their correspondence.

In 1826, the treasury set on foot inquiries as to the arrangements for
the conveyance of correspondence across the Atlantic, and the
information they obtained must have surprised them.[181] There were
three modes of sending letters to Canada from Great Britain. The first
was by the official sailing packets. The usefulness of the packets,
however, was limited to the conveyance of official despatches.

The high charges and the slowness of the service abundantly account for
the failure of the public to employ this means of transmission. The
postage on a single letter, that is a single sheet of paper weighing
less than an ounce, was two shillings and twopence sterling from London
to Halifax by way of Falmouth. To this must be added the postage from
Halifax to points in Canada, which was one shilling and eightpence to
Quebec; one shilling and tenpence to Montreal; two shillings and
twopence to Kingston; two shillings and sixpence to York; and three
shillings to Amherstburg.

Thus, employing the more familiar decimal currency, the postage on a
single sheet, weighing less than one ounce, posted in London and sent by
packet to Halifax and thence to its destination in Canada was, to Quebec
ninety-two cents; to Montreal ninety-six cents; to Kingston one dollar
and four cents; to York one dollar and twelve cents; and to Amherstburg
one dollar and twenty-four cents. Remembering Dalhousie's complaint that
it took upwards of seventy days for one of these precious letters to
reach him, the unpopularity of the packet service can be appreciated.

The second agency for conveying letters from England to Canada, was by
private ship, but through the medium of the post office. A person
desiring to send a letter from London to a post office in Canada would
write on the cover a direction that the letter was to be sent by a ship
which he would name, and post it in the ordinary way.

The post office would accept the direction, and would charge just one
half the packet postage for the conveyance to Halifax or Quebec, that
is, instead of two shillings and twopence for the sea conveyance, the
letter would only be charged one shilling and one penny. But the high
charges between the port of arrival in British North America and the
offices in inland Canada prevented the extensive use of this means of
conveyance.

The third mode of conveyance was irregular, but it was universally
employed. There were lines of sailing vessels, called American packets,
running between Liverpool and New York, which were fast sailers, and
which would carry letters from England to the United States for twopence
a letter, without regard to its weight or the number of enclosures it
contained.

The agents of these lines kept bags in their offices in London and
Liverpool, and when the vessels were due to sail, the bags were sealed
and placed on board. The conveyance of the letter bags from London to
Liverpool by the messengers of the sailing lines was illegal, as the
postmaster general had the exclusive right to convey letters within the
United Kingdom. There could have been no possibility of carrying on the
traffic in a clandestine manner, as it was wholesale in character, and
comprised the correspondence of the most eminent merchants in London. On
inquiry it was learned that one merchant alone sent one thousand letters
by this means, and not one by the official packets, and the practice was
universal.[182]

On the arrival of the American packets at New York, the letters for
Canada were deposited in the New York post office, and forwarded to the
Canadian border office in the United States mails, and thence to their
destination. The postage by this course was very much less than by
either of the other routes.

It was made up of three factors: the ocean postage of four cents, the
United States postage of nineteen or twenty-five cents--according to the
point at which the Canadian border was reached--and the inland Canadian
postage. The charge on a single letter to Quebec was forty-seven cents
instead of ninety-two cents, which would be due if sent by the packet
route. To Montreal, Kingston, York and Amherstburg, the postage on a
letter from London or Liverpool was thirty-one cents, forty-seven cents,
forty-one cents and sixty-one cents, as against ninety-six cents, one
dollar and four cents, one dollar and twelve cents and one dollar and
twenty-four cents respectively.

Letters to York coming from New York had the advantage of a daily
conveyance to Lewiston, where the transfer to the Canadian border
office at Queenstown was made, and of the lower charges which the United
States post office imposed for long distances. These figures, the lowest
then attainable, inevitably suggest comparisons.

It is only a few years since good citizens were rejoicing that the
postage rate between the mother country and Canada was brought down from
five cents to two cents a letter. Here was a link of empire of daily
utility. Communication could be kept up between the British immigrant
and his friends at home without too heavy a draft on slender purses. His
heart would remain British, and as he prospered he would induce others
of his friends and neighbours to come over and settle.

A glance backward will show how little these agencies of empire were
able to effect in our grandfather's time. The lowest possible postage
charge from London to York fifty years ago was forty-one cents, and that
would carry no more than one sheet of paper weighing less than an ounce.
If within the folds of this sheet were found another piece of paper no
larger than a postage stamp, the charge of conveyance from New York to
York was doubled, and with the ocean postage of four cents, the poor
immigrant would have to pay seventy-eight cents for his letter.

If the letter weighed an ounce, that is, if it were such a letter as
would pass anywhere within the British Empire for four cents, the charge
for it coming from London to York would be one dollar and fifty-two
cents. Finally, if this ounce letter were sent by the All-Red route,
that is by the British packet to Halifax and thence over British soil to
York, the postage charge would be four dollars and forty-eight cents.
Imperial sentiment must have rivalled wit in economy of expression in
those days.

While the British post office was unwilling to encourage the use of the
United States mails for the conveyance of letters between Canada and
Great Britain, it was anxious to put the British packet service on a
better footing. But the service had been going from bad to worse, and it
had reached a stage where it satisfied nobody.

Of the three points to which mails were carried--Halifax, New York and
Bermuda--the last named always held the position of advantage during the
winter. Until the winter of 1826 the packet called first at Bermuda,
leaving Canadian mails there, and continuing on to New York. At the
beginning of the winter of 1826 a change was made.[183] The packet
sailed to Bermuda, put off the United States mails there, and sailed
northward to Halifax, omitting New York. The United States mails were
conveyed by mail boat from Bermuda to Annapolis, Maryland.

This scheme remedied none of the defects of its predecessor, and brought
with it the additional disadvantage that it cut off all direct
connection between the British minister at Washington, and the governors
of the British colonies.

The secretary of the post office in explaining the arrangements to the
postmaster general washed his hands of all responsibility for them. He
declared that the plan originated with the admiralty, and was sanctioned
by the foreign and colonial secretaries as a practical measure. The
postmaster general on reviewing the correspondence was not surprised at
the general dissatisfaction, and was glad that the arrangements could
not be laid at the door of the post office.

The ocean mail service was beyond the control of the deputy postmaster
general of Canada. The postal relations with the United States were not,
and he exerted himself to improve these. A hardship under which Canadian
merchants doing business with the United States laboured was that they
had to pay the postage on all their letters as far as the United States
border.

It will be difficult to-day to see wherein the grievance of the early
Canadian merchants lay. But at that time the postage was a considerable
item in every transaction, and the merchant could not afford to
disregard it. When he sold a bill of goods to a customer in the United
States, he was obliged to throw on the customer the burden of the
postage on the correspondence relating to the goods, and the only sure
way of doing this was to post the letters unpaid, and leave the customer
to pay the postage on the delivery of the letters. If he had to pay from
eight to twenty cents which were required to take each single letter as
far as the border, he was apt to lose this sum.

To protect themselves the Canadian merchants used to employ private
messengers to carry their letters as far as the nearest post office in
the United States, and post them there. From this United States office
the letters would go to their destination without pre-payment.

Sutherland informed the postmaster general that some of the leading
mercantile houses in Canada sent hundreds of letters into the United
States by private hand.[184]

The United States merchant selling goods in Canada stood in a better
position as regards his correspondence. He was able to post his letters
for Canada unpaid, and the letter came into Canada and went to its
destination, where the person addressed paid the postage on delivery of
the letter. This was made possible by an arrangement between the deputy
postmaster general of Canada, and the post office department at
Washington, by which the former undertook to collect and pay over to the
latter the share of the postage which was due to the United States
department, receiving twenty per cent. for his trouble.

The arrangement was a purely private one, for which Sutherland did not
feel called upon to account to the general post office. What he desired
was that there should be some postmaster in the United States who would
act as agent for the collection of Canadian postage on letters entering
the United States from Canada, and he found the postmaster of Swanton,
Vermont, quite willing to act in this capacity.

As Swanton was the United States post office through which all
correspondence passed from Lower Canada into the United States, the
postmaster was well situated for this duty. The only difficulty was
about the commission of twenty per cent., which would have to be paid to
the postmaster as compensation. It was necessary to obtain the consent
of the British post office to this arrangement, as the deputy postmaster
general had no power to make abatements in the postage due to Canada,
without the authority of the postmaster general.

But this consent the postmaster general was not disposed to give.[185]
Besides the objection that the Canadian post office would receive only
eighty per cent. of the postage due on letters going to the United
States, the secretary suggested to the postmaster general that it would
seem inadvisable, politically, to encourage unlimited correspondence
between all sorts of persons in the two countries, without possibility
of restriction or of learning (should it be necessary) with whom any
particular person was in correspondence.

Indeed, the secretary had his doubts as to the legality of the
arrangement by which Sutherland acted as agent for the collection of the
United States postage on letters coming from that country into Canada.
The rates of postage, said he, are distinctly specified in various acts
of parliament, and the Canadian post office had no power to demand more
than the sum required by the statutes. If it were thought advisable to
have Canadian postmasters collect United States postage, a new
legislative provision would have to be made, which would lead to
similar applications from other countries, and the result would be
confusion and loss of revenue.

Whatever might have been the consequence of a strict interpretation of
the law, as intimated by the postmaster general, the deputy postmaster
general did not discontinue the convenient, and, to him, profitable
practice of providing for the transmission of unpaid letters from the
United States addressed to Canada.

So far from that, Sutherland improved on this arrangement. At the
solicitation of Canadian merchants, he obtained the consent of the
United States department to having British mails, landed at New York,
passed on to Canada without being held for the United States postage.
The postage due for the conveyance of the letters through the United
States was collected by the deputy postmaster general, and transmitted
by him to Washington, and the delays incident to having this work done
in the United States were avoided.[186]

On the 15th of February, 1825, a memorial[187] was addressed to the
British government by the Marquess of Ormonde, the Knight of Kerry and
Simon McGillivray, proposing to establish communication between Great
Britain and the British North American colonies by steam vessels, and
asking for the exclusive privilege of providing such a service for
fourteen years.

At this time steamboats were in pretty general use in the inland and
coastal waters of Great Britain, United States and Canada, but nothing
had up to this time been done to demonstrate that it would be
practicable to cross the Atlantic by a steamboat.

In 1819, a sailing vessel, the "Savannah," fitted up with a boiler and
engine and provided with a pair of paddles which could be hauled on deck
at will, started from Savannah, Georgia, for Liverpool. The voyage
occupied twenty-seven days. Only for three days and eight hours was the
"Savannah" under steam.

There was nothing in this experiment to induce the conviction that steam
could be successfully employed as a means of propulsion on the
transatlantic service, and as a matter of fact the machinery was removed
from the "Savannah" on her return to her American port, and she spent
the rest of a short existence as an ordinary sailing vessel between New
York and Savannah.

Lord Ormonde and his associates were convinced of the practicability of
steam navigation across the Atlantic, but to make an enterprise of that
kind a success, they would have to satisfy the public on the point, and
this would involve a large outlay. In asking for a fourteen years'
monopoly, they argued that their proposition would not produce the
ordinary ill-effects of a monopoly, as any tendency they might exhibit
towards excessive charges would be held in check by sailing vessels, and
by steamships, which would inevitably be run between the United States
and ports on the continent of Europe.

The proposed line was to consist of six vessels, three of 1000 tons, and
three of 600 tons, which would make their way across the Atlantic in
pairs, one large and one small steamer. The vessels would sail together
between Valentia, Ireland, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. On arrival at
Halifax, the vessels would separate, one going to New York and the other
to Quebec. When the two vessels reached Valentia on the voyage home, one
would proceed to Glasgow, and the other to Bristol. The memorial was not
entertained, and the project dropped.

Sutherland, in his personal relations, showed much more tact than
Heriot; and in the controversies which arose between him and the
colonial legislatures, Sutherland contrived to range himself on the side
of the governors, thus making the post office one of the matters of
which the ultra-British parties undertook the defence against the
attacks of the Radicals.

But the situation of the deputy postmaster general was too difficult for
him to secure unalloyed success. The various interests he had to serve,
and, as far as possible, to reconcile, were too antagonistic for
complete success. On the one side was a country being settled rapidly
and clamouring for postal service in all directions. On the other stood
the general post office fixed in its determination that its profits
should not be diminished, and scanning anxiously every fresh item of
expenditure.

Any serious inclination in one direction was sure to arouse resentment
in the other. A curious instance of this occurred in 1819, three years
after Sutherland had taken office. A number of merchants and others in
Montreal appointed a committee to wait on the deputy postmaster general
with a memorial containing an expression of their opinions and desires
respecting the postal service in Canada.

The post office in Montreal it was urged had become unsuitable as
regards site and space for the accommodation of the public, and the
assistance employed by the postmaster was unequal to the requirements of
an efficient service. The communications with the United States, Upper
Canada and within the province, should be increased in frequency, and an
interchange of mails should be opened with the Genesee and other
settlements in New York state by way of Prescott and Ogdensburg. The
memorialists also desired that letters might be sent to the United
States without prepayment of postage.

Sutherland, in his reply to the memorial, dealt with the committee with
an engaging frankness.[188] He was well aware, he said, that the
accommodation in Montreal post office was inadequate, but what was to be
done? The postmaster had only £300 a year salary, and out of that he had
to pay office rent and stationery. It was not to be wondered at, that
the postmaster endeavoured to economize in every way possible. He,
himself, had on more than one occasion advised the postmaster general of
the necessity for greater clerical help, but so far without the desired
effect.

Only the year before, Sutherland told the memorialists, he had submitted
to the postmaster general with his strongest recommendation, a petition
from the postmaster of Montreal for increased salary and assistance, but
the petition was refused. As for the increase in the frequency of the
communications it was beyond his power to authorize such an expenditure.
He had done his best on two recent occasions to induce the postmaster
general to allow letters to go into the United States without the
prepayment of postage, but was told that British postage must be paid on
letters going into foreign states.

The memorial and Sutherland's reply were transmitted to the general post
office. There they excited much indignation. Freeling, the secretary, in
a minute to the postmaster general, professed his inability to
understand whether this unreserved disclosure of Sutherland's proceeded
merely from indiscretion or from some other motive. The postmaster
general was, in effect, accused of inattention and supineness in the
discharge of his duties. His decisions were placed in the most invidious
light before the inhabitants of Montreal.

Indeed the whole circumstance had to Freeling the air of an
understanding between Sutherland and the committee. The postmaster
general was equally indignant, and ordered Sutherland's dismissal. But,
as so often happened, Freeling changed his attitude, urging a number of
countervailing circumstances against this extreme measure, and the
postmaster general, who appeared to do little more than to convert the
opinions and suggestions which Freeling so humbly submitted into
departmental decisions, concurred in this recommendation.[189]

In 1824, Sutherland met with a serious financial loss. The postmaster at
Montreal became a defaulter to the extent of £1706. Sutherland took
action against the postmaster's sureties, but owing to informalities his
suit was thrown out. He appealed to the general post office, alleging
that the reason of his non-suit was its failure to answer certain
questions which he had put to the postmaster general. The appeal was not
allowed. In 1827, Sutherland retired owing to ill-health, and was
succeeded by his son-in-law, Thomas Allen Stayner, the last and, in some
respects, the most distinguished of the representatives of the British
post office in Canada.

FOOTNOTES:

[167] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[168] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 211.

[169] _Memoir of G. J. Mountain, D.D._, Montreal, 1866, p. 53.

[170] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[171] C. F. Grece, _Facts and Observations respecting Canada_, London,
1819, p. 52.

[172] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[173] _Quebec Almanac_, 1818, and _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts,
II.

[174] _Quebec Gazette_, July 17, 1826.

[175] Record Office, _Admiralty-Secretary In Letters_, Bundle 4073.

[176] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[177] _Ibid._

[178] _Can. Arch._, Q. 166, p. 371.

[179] _Ibid._, C. 285, p. 63.

[180] _Ibid._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[181] _Memorandum of W.B. Felton_, October 1826 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, II.).

[182] At the inquiry respecting Hill's proposition for penny postage,
the assistant secretary of the general post office stated that the
American packet, which sailed from England every ten days, carried 4000
letters each voyage, which did not pass through the post office (_Life
of Sir Rowland Hill_, by George Birkbeck Hill, I. 303).

[183] _Can. Arch._, G.P.O., Br. P.O. Transcripts, II.

[184] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[185] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[186] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[187] _Ibid._, Q. 173, p. 372.

[188] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[189] _Ibid._, II.




CHAPTER VIII

     Postal conditions in Upper Canada--Serious abuses--Agitation
     for provincial control.


To those who have followed the course of events thus far, noting the
uncompromising attitude of the general post office towards all
propositions for the extension of the postal system in Canada, it will
be obvious that a struggle for the means of communication impended,
which the rapid growth of the country was fast precipitating.

The general post office claimed that it, and it alone, had power to
establish a postal service in any part of the country, and it used its
arrogated powers in the same manner as any commercial monopoly would be
exercised. Post offices were opened in all the better settled parts of
the country, where they could be operated profitably. They were refused
in the newer districts, unless satisfactory guarantees were given that
there would be no loss in working them.

A population was coming into the country rapidly, and was tending
towards the inland parts of the province far from the line of post
offices which skirted the shores of the St. Lawrence and lake Ontario,
and the situation was becoming embarrassing, as well as humiliating to
the sensitive pride of the people.

It was easy enough to open post offices on the route pursued by the mail
courier from the eastern boundary of the province to Niagara. But it was
frequently expensive to open new routes, and the provincial government
of Upper Canada was disinclined to give guarantees against loss on
particular routes, while it had evidence that considerable profits were
being taken from the older routes, and sent to the general post office
in London.

Just how acute the position of matters was becoming will be clear from a
survey of the distribution of population in Upper Canada at this time,
with a view of the post offices provided for the accommodation of the
several parts. We are able to throw out our sketch of the state of
settlement in Upper Canada, by employing the results of the census of
1824.

The total population of the province in 1824 was 149,941, of whom 63,000
were in the western district, that is, west of York. Between the eastern
boundary of the province and York, there were twenty-six post offices.
Four of these--Perth, Lanark, Richmond and Hawkesbury--served inland
settlements, the nearest of which was over twenty-five miles from the
St. Lawrence. The line of settlements which these four offices served
was scattered over a territory over one hundred miles in length, and
from twenty to thirty in width. It comprised a population of 12,476.

The remaining twenty-two offices, east of York, were, with one
exception, situated on the shores of the river St. Lawrence and lake
Ontario. Each afforded accommodation to a district about fourteen miles
in length, and between twenty and thirty miles in depth. The mails were
carried twice a week over this route. These arrangements gave a fair
service to the settlements through which the couriers passed, but they
compared meanly with the daily service from New York to Buffalo, on the
other side of lake Ontario.

But it was the inland settlements west of York that had most reason to
complain of the lack of facilities for communication. The Niagara
peninsula, embracing the territory between lake Ontario and lake Erie,
and lying west of a line dropped perpendicularly from Hamilton to lake
Erie, contained a population of 20,000, distributed with fair evenness
over a stretch of country forty-five miles in length, and from
twenty-five to thirty in breadth.

The people of this district were served by four offices on its northern
border--Dundas, Grimsby, St. Catherines and Niagara--and one
office--Queenstown--on its eastern border. Although there were
settlements in every part of the district, there was not a single post
office within it on the lake Erie shore, or, indeed, anywhere farther
inland than three miles from the shore of lake Ontario, or of the
Niagara river.

Poorly provided as the Niagara district was, the people living in it had
less ground for grievance in respect of post office facilities than the
settlers in the London district. This district was an immense irregular
block made up of the counties of Middlesex, Oxford, Brant, Norfolk and
Elgin. It measured eighty miles in length, and from forty to fifty miles
in depth. It contained in 1824 a population of 16,588, which, as in the
other districts, was distributed through every part.

This great district had but five post offices in it, one in each county.
The two offices on the lake Erie shore--Vittoria and Port Talbot--were
sixty miles apart; while the three offices--Burford, Woodstock and
Delaware--were twenty miles from lake Erie.

As illustrating the difficulty of moving the general post office to
recognize the responsibility, which its claims of a monopoly seemed to
impose on it, Dr. Rolph, who represented the county of Middlesex in the
house of assembly, stated[190] that before the post office was opened at
Delaware, he had made application to the deputy postmaster general for a
post office in Middlesex county, and was told that the office would be
established in the county if he would guarantee the expenses of the
conveyance of the mails, but that his application could not be
considered on any other terms.

As individual effort was plainly hopeless, the subject was taken up by
the house of assembly of Upper Canada. The house dealt with the question
vigorously, but not on the lines suggested by the foregoing review of
the state of the postal service. More serious aspects of the case
engaged their attention. Men on the streets and in farm houses believed
that they were victims of imposition on the part of the deputy
postmaster general, and that he was charging them more for the
conveyance of their letters than the imperial statutes warranted, high
as the legitimate charges were.

Discussion on these grievances brought the people forward to another
point, and they asked themselves by what right the British government
imposed on a self-governing community an institution like the post
office, which not only fixed its charges without reference to the people
of Upper Canada, but which insisted on preventing the people from
establishing an institution of the same sort under their own authority.

It was to these questions that the house of assembly addressed itself.
The rates of postage which were charged in Canada, were collected under
the authority of an act of the imperial parliament passed in 1765. This
act amended the act of Queen Anne's reign, which was regarded as the
charter of the post office in British America.

The rates, as fixed by the act of 1765, were, for a single sheet of
paper weighing less than an ounce, fourpence-halfpenny currency, if the
distance the letter was carried did not exceed sixty miles; if the
distance were from sixty to one hundred miles, the charge was
sevenpence; from one hundred to two hundred miles, ninepence, and for
every one hundred miles beyond two hundred miles, twopence.

The first inquiry of the house was as to whether these rates, and no
more, were charged for conveyance in Upper Canada. On February 29, 1820,
William Allan, postmaster of York, was called to the bar of the house,
and questioned as to the rates charged by him for letters to the several
post offices in Upper Canada.

Allan did not know the distance to the post offices, but he furnished
the table of rates which had been given to him. The house asked one of
its members, Mahlon Burwell, a land surveyor, to state the several
distances, when it appeared that every rate charged by the postmaster of
York, was higher than the imperial act warranted.[191]

Thus the legal charge on a letter to Dundas was fourpence-halfpenny. The
charge made by the postmaster of York was sevenpence. On letters to
Grimsby, St. Catharines, Niagara and Queenston, the legal charge was
sevenpence--Allan charged tenpence. Amherstburg, which was at the
western limit of the province, was between two hundred and three hundred
miles from York, and the charge should have been elevenpence. Instead of
this sixteen pence was charged.

So far the house had made out its case, and on the following day it
adopted a resolution that for several years past the rates of postage
charged in Upper Canada had exceeded the charges authorized by law, and
that the lieutenant governor should be requested to submit the question
to the imperial authorities for a remedy.

Peregrine Maitland, the lieutenant governor, did as he was requested,
and, when the resolution came before the postmaster general in England,
Freeling, the secretary of the general post office, admitted, in
reply[192] to the postmaster general's request for information, that the
rates in British North America were regulated by the imperial act of
1765, but he held that there were other circumstances to be considered.

Freeling did not know whether the ordinary rates would produce
sufficient revenue to cover the expenses of the service. If not, then he
would refer the postmaster general to a letter written by General
Hunter, the lieutenant governor in 1800, which contained an undertaking
on the part of the lieutenant governor that, in case there was a
deficit, the amount of the shortage would be made good either from the
contingencies of the province, or by a vote of the legislature. Freeling
would call upon the deputy postmaster general in Canada to report
whether the legal postage would be equal to the expense. If so, there
was no reason to require the province to grant any aid.

This explanation, like so many which had to be made at that period,
lacked the essential element of sincerity. Hunter's engagement was to
make good deficits, not by allowing illegal postal charges to be made,
but by withdrawing the amount of the deficit from the provincial
treasury. This was a point on which Freeling himself insisted on several
occasions.

In Sir Gordon Drummond's time, there was an application from the
military authorities for a more frequent service between Kingston and
Montreal, which was coupled with an offer to pay such extra postage as
would be necessary to cover the cost of the service desired. Freeling
declared that such an offer could not be accepted, unless the additional
charges were sanctioned by the British parliament.[193]

Another case, involving the same principle, arose about this time.
Sutherland, the deputy postmaster general, desired to facilitate the
interchange of correspondence with the United States, and reported to
the postmaster general that he had arranged to have the American postage
on letters coming from the United States to Canada collected by
postmasters in Canada, at the same time as they collected the Canadian
postage. Freeling objected to this arrangement as of doubtful legality,
on the ground that the act of 1765 prescribed the amount which
postmasters should take on every letter, and it might be necessary to
amend the act to permit this scheme.[194]

The house of assembly, however, did not wait for the answer to their
remonstrance. In the following session they gave themselves up to the
consideration of the more vital questions, as to "how far the present
system is sanctioned by law, and whether and in what manner the same can
be beneficially altered." This was not the first occasion on which the
right of the British post office to collect postage in Canada was called
in question.

Governor Simcoe, in 1791,[195] assumed it as indisputable that, when a
postal system was established in Upper Canada, it would be under the
control of the legislature, unless the British government by express
enactment, retained the management of it in the hands of the British
post office, paying over to the local government all surplus revenues
arising therefrom. The question was not decided at that time, and it was
only when the course pursued by the general post office was so
unsatisfactory to Canadians that it was again raised.

A committee was appointed in 1821, to investigate the subject with Dr.
W. W. Baldwin as chairman. On December 10 the report was laid before the
assembly.[196] The committee had little help from the post office in
pursuit of its inquiries. The only official available, the postmaster of
York, was examined, but whether from unwillingness or want of knowledge,
he contributed little information to the inquiry.

Allan stated that he was appointed by the deputy postmaster general
under his hand and seal. He occasionally received instructions from the
deputy postmaster general, but had no idea as to the authority under
which the latter acted. He had never been referred to any particular
statute for his guidance, and, indeed, the postage on letters within the
province had been charged at arbitrary rates, which were fixed by the
deputy postmaster general.

Some valuable information respecting the revenue of his office was
submitted by Allan, which completely disproved the intimation of the
secretary of the general post office, that the offices in that part of
the country were conducted at a loss. The post office at York yielded an
annual revenue of between £800 and £900, which was remitted to the
deputy postmaster general at Quebec.

The committee found it impracticable to call the postmasters of the more
distant offices, but having regard to all the circumstances, they were
satisfied that there was remitted each year to the deputy postmaster
general at Quebec an amount exceeding £2500, of which perhaps ten per
cent. or eleven per cent. was foreign postage collected in Canada, and,
therefore, due to Great Britain or the United States.

Next the committee addressed themselves to the question as to how this
surplus was disposed of, which, after deducting the amount owing to the
other postal administrations was probably more than £2000. Allan
believed, though he was unable to give it as a fact, that the money was
passed over to London. What was beyond doubt, however, was that this
revenue in no way inured to the benefit of Upper Canada.

Assuming, as the committee felt they might safely do, that the surplus
from Canada was made part of the revenue of the general post office in
London, the committee then sought to ascertain how the revenue of the
general post office was dealt with, and whether any part of it was
employed for the benefit of the colonies.

The post office acts of 1710[197] and 1801[198] made this point clear.
It appeared that after certain deductions had been made for pensions,
the revenue of the post office was applied in various specified ways to
the service of Great Britain, the postal rates being avowedly levied for
raising the necessary supplies, and for making a permanent addition to
the public revenue. The committee could find no instance in which any
part of the post office revenues was devoted to the use of the colonies.

Taking it, then, as established that a sum exceeding £2000 was raised
each year in Upper Canada as profit from its post office, and that this
sum was applied, not for the benefit of Upper Canada, but for the
purposes of the public service in Great Britain, the committee next
turned its attention to the laws bearing on the situation.

There was an act passed in 1778[199] in the hope of staying the rising
rebellion in the American colonies entitled "an act for removing all
doubts and apprehensions concerning taxation by the parliament of Great
Britain in any of the colonies and plantations in North America and the
West Indies." It declared that the king and parliament would not impose
any duty, tax or assessment whatever, payable in any of the colonies in
North America or the West Indies, except any such duties as it might be
expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce.

But although the collection of such duties should be made by officials
of the British government, it was not intended that the proceeds should
go into the British treasury; for it was provided that the net produce
from them should be paid over to the colony in which they were levied,
to form part of the general revenue of such colony. This seems
sufficiently explicit, but that there might be no doubt as to the
applicability of the provisions of this act to the provinces of Canada,
they were expressly incorporated in the constitutional act of 1791,
which was the charter under which the provinces of Upper and Lower
Canada were established.

As in the act of 1778, there was reserved to the British parliament, in
the general interest of the empire, the power to make laws for the
regulation of commerce, but there was also the same stipulation that the
proceeds from such laws should be applied to the use of the province in
which the taxes were levied, and in any manner the legislature of the
province might think fit.

Applying the acts of 1778 and 1791 to the circumstances of the case in
hand, the committee were of opinion that the collection of postage could
not be regarded as a regulation of commerce, and as such within the
scope of imperial legislation.

But even if it should appear that they were wrong in this opinion, and
that the British government had the power to set up a post office in
Upper Canada with the exclusive right to carry letters within the
province, there was one thing the British government could not properly
do. While the constitutional act of 1791 remained unrepealed, the
British government could not take the net produce from the post office
in Upper Canada, and use it as part of the general revenue of Great
Britain.

Having satisfied themselves that, however strong the grounds might be on
which the postmaster general of England had proceeded in establishing a
post office in Canada, they could not prevail against the acts which
have been considered, the committee next gave their attention to
inquiring what those grounds might be, and how far they would bear out
the pretensions of the postmaster general.

The two acts, which it seemed to the committee the postmaster general
would most likely depend upon, were the acts of 1710 and of 1801. The
act of 1710, which was the charter for the post office in British
America, was dismissed from consideration as not even by its own
provisions applying to the colony of Canada, and as annulled so far as
concerned any of the colonies by the act of 1778, and as regards Canada
by the constitutional act of 1791.

The second of the two acts--that of 1801--repealed all the rates of
postage enacted by the act of 1710, and fixed new rates for Great
Britain, but made no mention of new colonial rates. Hence, since 1801,
there had been no colonial postage rates having the sanction of law, and
the committee concluded that the colonies were designedly omitted, when
the rates for Great Britain were fixed by the act of 1801, for the
reason that the act of 1778 supervened, which made it illegal for the
British parliament to impose a tax on a colony for the financial benefit
of Great Britain.

The committee admitted that it was a matter for argument whether the
unrepealed parts of the act of 1710 might not be held applicable to
Canada, but conceding the whole argument on this point, the utmost power
remaining in the act was to authorize the establishment of a postal
system in Canada. All power to fix the postal charges was taken away by
the act of 1801.

As for the act of 1801, which established a scale of rates, by no
liberality of construction could it be made to apply to Canada, because
the act of 1778 was against it, and the constitutional act of 1791 was
against it, and the fact that the revenues to be raised by the act were
to be appropriated to the purposes of the United Kingdom made it illegal
for the postmaster general to enforce it in the province.

There were other acts passed by the imperial parliament affecting the
postage rates, but an examination of these disclosed no intention to
make the acts operative in the colonies. Rates were fixed for conveyance
in the United Kingdom, and to and from the colonies in America, but
nothing was said as to the rates within the colonies. It was quite clear
to the committee, therefore, that the only acts, which by any
possibility could be made applicable to the colonies, were inoperative
in the Canadas.

The committee clinched the argument by a survey of the laws passed by
the British parliament, levying taxes on the colonies. They showed that
whenever such taxes were imposed, the proceeds were never applied to the
purposes of the United Kingdom, but always to the use of the colony
concerned. There was an act passed in 1764 imposing duties on the sugar
plantations. The revenue was devoted to the protection of their trade.

The Quebec revenue act of 1774[200] was the other case. This act imposed
duties on rum, brandy, and other liquors coming into the province, and
employed the proceeds for the establishment of a fund to aid in
defraying the charges of the administration of justice and of the civil
government in the province of Quebec. It was clear, then, that the acts
of 1778 and 1791 contained no new principle, but were simply declaratory
of the steady policy of the British government as disclosed by a review
of its earlier practice; and everything combined to satisfy the
committee that the legislature of the mother country never contemplated
the raising of a tax by inland postage in the colony of Upper Canada.

The committee concluded by submitting for the acceptance of the house a
resolution to the effect that the present system of public posts for the
conveyance of letters within the province had grown into use without the
sanction of law, and that a bill should be introduced establishing
public posts and fixing the rates of postage on letters and packets for
the purpose of raising a permanent revenue, applicable solely to the
improvement of the roads throughout the province.

The proposition of the assembly was thoroughly conservative. It was
simply that the profits from the post office should be devoted to
improving the means by which the post office was carried on. Settlements
were springing up in all parts of the province which reason and policy
made it necessary to connect with the more central districts, and it was
only proper that the profits arising from the system should be used for
improving and extending it.

At this period and for a long time afterwards the roads throughout the
province were in a wretched condition. One of the principal mail
contractors informed a committee of the house in 1829, that all the main
roads in the province were very bad, and that those in the neighbourhood
of York were bringing discredit on the inhabitants. The deputy
postmaster general informed the same committee that he had just been
advised that the contractors on the road from Montreal to Niagara had to
swim their horses over some of the rivers on the route, the bridges
having been carried away.

Peregrine Maitland, the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, forwarded
the report of the committee of 1821 to the colonial office, with a
letter in which he explained that what the legislature desired was to
have the control of the provincial posts vested in them, or at least to
have a deputy postmaster general for Upper Canada. With the latter
request he fully sympathised, as he was convinced that a deputy
postmaster general residing in Quebec could not possibly appreciate the
requirements of the rapidly rising communities, situated so far from his
headquarters.

The lieutenant governor shared the opinion of the legislature that it
was contrary to the acts of 1778 and 1791 to send remittances from
Canada to England, but he did not believe that the legislature would
have concerned themselves with the subject, if the post office
authorities had provided a satisfactory service.

At the general post office in London the report was turned over to the
solicitor with directions to prepare a case for submission to the law
officers of the crown. The law officers were requested to give their
opinion as to whether the postmaster general of the United Kingdom had
the right to control and manage the internal posts in the provinces of
North America, and, if so, whether the proceeds derived from the inland
conveyance of letters in North America ought to be paid into the
exchequer of the United Kingdom or whether they ought to be applied to
the use of the province from which they were taken.

But the case as prepared did not reach the law officers. The postmaster
general had the good sense to see that his case was precarious, and he
did not care to risk an adverse decision.

Freeling, accordingly, wrote to Maitland,[201] admitting that the postal
transactions of Upper and Lower Canada together showed a small surplus,
but he inclined to the view that the share of Upper Canada in the
surplus must be very small. A number of post offices had been opened in
Upper Canada and the impression in the general post office was that they
were unprofitable.

If, as Maitland had intimated, the wishes of Upper Canada would be
satisfied by the appointment of a separate deputy postmaster general for
Upper Canada, the postmaster general, Freeling informed the governor,
would make no difficulty on the point, but would naturally select for
the position one of the more experienced officers such as the postmaster
of York or of Kingston.

In the meantime, while the report of 1821 was being discussed by the
secretary of the post office and the lieutenant governor, the members of
the assembly were endeavouring to procure further information to
strengthen the position they had taken. They desired to learn definitely
the amount which was sent to London as postal revenue. The postmaster of
York could tell them little beyond the transactions of his own office,
but the contribution from that office made it clear that the revenue
from the whole province must be considerable.

No information could be obtained by direct inquiry of the deputy
postmaster general, but it was thought that the post office would not
refuse to answer a question on the subject asked by a member of
parliament.

A question was accordingly put in the house of commons in 1822, but
Freeling informed the representative of the post office[202] in the
house of commons that the information should not be given, as the
provinces were manifesting a disposition to interfere with the internal
posts, and to appropriate their revenues to their own purposes, instead
of allowing them to flow into the exchequer of the United Kingdom. The
maintenance of the packet service, he declared to be of the greatest
political importance, as ensuring despatches against passing through
foreign hands.

The course pursued by the post office under the influence of Freeling
was in no way creditable to it. At a time when it was making grudging
admissions that there was a small profit from the Canadian post offices,
there was being sent over to London from the two provinces a sum
exceeding £6000 a year, an amount which, wisely spent, would have been a
considerable contribution to the road fund of the provinces.

The packet, the importance of which Freeling emphasized, was scarcely of
any utility to the people of the Canadas. The service by the packets was
so slow and expensive that it was not employed at all for commercial or
social correspondence, the merchants in London and Liverpool using
exclusively the lines of sailing vessels running between Liverpool and
New York. But Freeling was obstinate and often disingenuous in
maintaining his view that it was proper that the surplus revenues from
the provincial post offices should be turned into the British exchequer.

The disinclination of the general post office to discuss the question of
the colonial post office was not likely to suppress the subject for
long. The assembly of Upper Canada had too strong a case. The political
grievances from which the province was suffering were bringing into the
political life of Upper Canada a group of men to voice the general
dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, and so undeniable an abuse
could not remain unexploited.

The house, which adopted the resolution of 1821, was on the whole
favourable to the lieutenant governor and his advisers. The succeeding
house, which was elected in 1825, contained a majority opposed to the
government. This fact did not, however, lead to the overthrow of the
lieutenant governor's advisers. They were his own choice and were in no
sense responsible to the house. It was not until sixteen years later
that responsible government, as now understood, was established in
Canada.

The turn of affairs in 1825, which placed the control of the house in
the hands of the opponents of the government had its effect on the
attitude of the parties towards the provincial post office. In 1821, the
lieutenant governor cordially supported the views of the house, and did
what he could to make them prevail with the postmaster general. In 1825,
when the post office grievance was brought up for discussion, the
lieutenant governor's party upheld the position taken by the postmaster
general in England.

The consequence was that, for the opposition, the post office was but
one more of the many matters calling for redress, while for the
government party it was another element in the burden which they had to
sustain in their resistance to reform.

In the beginning of 1825, William Lyon Mackenzie presented a petition to
the house of assembly to have the affairs of the post office
investigated. Mackenzie, who had come to Upper Canada in 1820, was
engaged in business until 1824, when, impressed with the various
political abuses from which the country was suffering, he abandoned what
had every appearance of a successful career, and gave himself to
agitation. He established a newspaper--_The Colonial Advocate_--in 1824,
and in 1828 secured a seat in the house of assembly. These vehicles of
publicity he employed in ceaseless attacks on the governing clique,
which from the intimacy of the ties binding its members together was
known as the Family Compact, and became the principal actor in the
abortive rebellion of 1837. The post office as then managed incurred his
unremitting hostility.

A committee was appointed having as chairman Captain John Matthews, who
represented the county of Middlesex along with Dr. Rolph, subsequently
one of the leaders of rebellion in 1837. Matthews was a retired army
officer, who entertained advanced political views, which were irritating
to the lieutenant governor. He was later on made to feel the lieutenant
governor's resentment for his opposition. As chairman of the committee
Matthews reported on the 9th of March, 1825,[203] that it was in
evidence that there were abuses which would be remedied, if the post
offices in the province were, as they should be, under the control and
supervision of the legislature.

The committee found that there were many populous districts, in which
post offices were much required; that many postmasters performed their
duties indifferently, letters and newspapers being opened and read
before being delivered; and that complaints to the deputy postmaster
general had no appreciable effect. The mail bags, the committee also
discovered, were often filled with goods, having nothing to do with the
post office, to the injury of contractors as well as of the post office
revenues.

Editors of newspapers, it was also ascertained, suffered from the
hardship of having to pay the postage on their newspapers in advance,
and the committee recommended that the postage on newspapers should be
collected as the postage on letters was, from those who received the
newspapers. Letters on public business should, in the opinion of the
committee, be carried free of postage; and the surplus revenue should
be expended on the public roads and bridges which were in a deplorable
state.

The final conclusion of the committee was that the provincial
legislature should take on itself the entire management of the post
office, even though this should involve some temporary expense. It was
not anticipated that such would be the case, but in any event the
deficits would be of short duration.

In the following session--1826--the post office was again discussed.
This time the discussion was on a motion of Charles Fothergill to take
into consideration the state of the province. Fothergill was king's
printer, and had been postmaster of Port Hope. He was dismissed from the
post office for his criticism of the administration, and was soon to be
deprived of the office of king's printer, on account of his advocacy of
measures distasteful to the lieutenant governor.

Fothergill in his attack on the post office,[204] had the advantages of
experience, and of some inside knowledge. Arguing from the revenue of
Port Hope, he declared his belief that the sum remitted to London each
year could not be less than £10,000, and that the business was
increasing so rapidly that in a few years the surplus revenue from the
post office would pay the whole expenses of civil government in the
province.

Some of the postmasters, Fothergill complained, acted with much
insolence towards those not in favour with the government. Their
newspapers were thrown about. Their letters were handed to them open.
The mails were often opened in public bar rooms. Sutherland, the deputy
postmaster general, had admitted to Fothergill that he was ignorant of
the geography of the province, which was a strong reason for the
appointment of a resident deputy postmaster general. Fothergill's great
objection to the existing arrangements was that they were
unconstitutional, and that the tax on newspapers was so oppressive as to
check their circulation. To test the feeling of the house Fothergill
offered a resolution declaring that the acts of 1778 and 1791 were part
of the constitution of the province.

John Beverly Robinson, the attorney general, traversed Fothergill's
statements, and desired the house to take satisfaction from the fact
that all the other colonies sent their surplus post office revenues to
the general post office, without remonstrance. He did not believe that
any large sum was sent from Canada. Indeed, Freeling told him (what was
quite untrue) that the Canadian post office was a burden on the home
department.

Fothergill was supported by Rolph, and also by Bidwell, one of the
leaders of the opposition, and afterwards speaker of the house. Rolph
recalled that the postmasters who had appeared before the committee
testified that the provincial post office was a remunerative
institution. He was satisfied that it could not be otherwise, as he had
learned by experience that a post office, however much required, would
not be opened until the deputy postmaster general was guaranteed against
any loss which might arise. But even if the post office could be shown
to be unproductive, he would propose to take it off the hands of the
mother country while it was a burden to her, and not to wait until it
began to be profitable.

Rolph moved an address to the king affirming that the present system was
being carried on contrary to the act of 1791, an act which was held by
the house to be a fundamental part of the constitution of the province;
that a well-regulated post office, responsible to the constituted
authorities of the province, and extended in the number of its
establishments would tend to correct and prevent abuses which were found
to exist under the present system, would facilitate commercial
intercourse, promote the diffusion of knowledge and would eventually
become an important branch of the provincial revenue. The assembly
therefore begged, with many expressions of loyalty and gratitude, that
the control and emoluments of the post office so far as they concerned
the province might be conceded to them. There was some opposition to
Rolph's motion. Eventually the address was adopted by a vote of nineteen
to five.

The address, which it will be recalled had originated with the
opposition, was laid before the colonial office under very different
circumstances from those attending the report of 1821. On that occasion,
the memorial was brought to the foot of the throne with the good wishes
of both the government and the legislature. It was accompanied by a
letter from the lieutenant governor, commending it to the favourable
consideration of the home authorities.

The address of 1826 was also accompanied by a letter[205] from the
lieutenant governor, but so far from commending it, the purpose of the
letter was to suggest an answer confuting the arguments of the assembly.
Dealing first with the allegation of the assembly that the postage
charges were a tax, and as such repugnant to the act of 1778, Maitland
recalled Franklin's contention before the British house of commons in
1765, that postage duty was not a tax, but rather a consideration for a
service performed, and exacted only from those who chose to avail
themselves of that service.

Assuming, as the governor did, that the revolted colonies generally
acquiesced in the justice of Franklin's view, while objecting to other
duties as unconstitutional, he could not see on what valid grounds the
legislature rested its case. This reasoning is directly the opposite of
the view expressed by the lieutenant governor in 1821. He then gave it
as his opinion that the acts of 1778 and 1791 made it illegal for the
Canadian post office to make remittances to London of surplus revenue,
but that the matter would not have been noticed in the province, if a
satisfactory service had been given by the deputy postmaster general.

Indeed, Maitland left no doubt that his real opinion was unchanged, for
he went on to intimate that he would not depend upon Franklin's
argument, if it could be shown that there was any considerable surplus
from the postal operations in Upper Canada. The lieutenant governor
enjoyed his little excursions among the statutes, however, and although
the postmaster general had the benefit of the advice of the law officers
of the crown, Sir Peregrine did not scruple to take on himself the rôle
of legal adviser of the general post office.

Even if the duties were declared to be a tax within the meaning of the
act of 1778, since the duties were collected under the amendment of 1765
to the act of 1710 which was anterior to the act of 1778, Maitland
argued that it was questionable whether their collection could be
regarded as a violation of the act of 1778. But there was one person to
whom this gratuitous argument carried no conviction, and that was the
propounder of it himself. He would still hark back to his underlying
idea, and intimated his persuasion that the British government had no
desire to raise a revenue from the colonies through the post office, and
suggested that if it could be shown that the post office yielded a large
revenue after paying the charges, the government would be prepared to
reduce the rates or to place the surplus at the disposal of the colony.

Although the assembly stated that it would be desirable in the interests
of the province to have the post office under the control of its
legislature, the lieutenant governor believed that the preponderance of
the better opinion, whether in or out of the assembly, would be found
opposed to that proposition. It would be impossible to carry on an
independent system in an inland province, and the attempt to do so
would involve the colony in heavy expenditure. The lieutenant governor
discredited entirely the allegations that there were abuses in the
service, and he had much reason for thinking that Sutherland, the deputy
postmaster general, discharged his duties to the general satisfaction of
the public.

Maitland's letter, which bears all the marks of having been written by
the attorney general, Beverly Robinson, is a capital illustration of the
vicious circle of deception sometimes practised by persons having a
common purpose with reference to a scheme. The official class in York,
as well as the secretary of the general post office, desired to defeat
the wishes of the house of assembly respecting the post office, the
family compact group, because any victory gained by the house threatened
the privileges enjoyed by that class; Freeling, secretary of the post
office, because it would diminish the revenues of which he was a most
zealous guardian.

Freeling told the attorney general that the Canadian post office was a
burden on the revenues of the general post office, and the attorney
general, accepting this statement, told the secretary that such being
the case, the statutes on which the house of assembly relied were not
applicable. The secretary's statement was demonstrably incorrect, but it
furnished the foundation for the opinion which he desired, that the law
did not require, nor did expediency suggest, the transfer to the Upper
Canadian legislature of the control of the post office in that province.

Robinson wrote to Freeling supporting the views of the lieutenant
governor; and at the same time Freeling received a letter from Markland,
a member of the executive and legislative council of Upper Canada,
protesting against the attempt on the part of the assembly to interfere
with the post office as the assumption of a right to which they had not
the least pretension. The best-intentioned and the best-informed people
in the province were against such interference.

By way of parrying the demand of the assembly for control over the post
office, Markland suggested that it would be well to appoint a post
office superintendent for the upper province. Upper Canada was entirely
distinct from Lower Canada in all matters of government. The post office
alone was subject to the control of a person, outside of the province,
who never visited it. The people of Upper Canada were, he declared,
energetic and enterprising, and immigration was coming in on a full
tide. Freeling considered this an important letter, and laid it before
the postmaster general.

The agitation in Upper Canada aroused a flutter of interest in London.
When newspaper reports of the discussions in the house of assembly in
December 1825, reached St. Martins-le-Grand, they fell under the notice
of the postmaster general, who was moved to ask Freeling what it all
meant. Freeling replied that the accounts related to great disputes in
Canada as to the application of the rates of postage levied in that
country, whether the rates should not be devoted to local purposes. At
that time, Freeling stated, the rates formed part of the consolidated
fund.

The colonial office and the treasury also made inquiries. The colonial
office was informed that the revenues of Upper and Lower Canada were
blended, and that for seven years previous there had been a surplus from
the two provinces which amounted on the average to £5790 a year.[206] It
was also pointed out that the estimated cost of the packet service was
£10,000 a year.

Robinson,[207] the chancellor of the exchequer, with whom Freeling had
an interview in October 1826,[208] did not fall in with Freeling's views
quite as readily as the others had done. He expressed the opinion that
Canada's contention was in the main sound. The net revenue from the
Canadian post office ought in fairness to be applied to colonial
purposes, not in the mode or on the principle put forward by the
assembly, but under the direction of the home government. It should be
in the nature of a civil list.

Freeling was alarmed at the chancellor's utterances, and reminded him
that what was granted to Canada could not be withheld from Jamaica. The
chancellor admitted this to be the case. Freeling insisted that there
could be no doubt as to the legality of the present practice, though he
confessed that the law officers gave no opinion on the case prepared in
1822. Indeed, it had not been submitted to them, as Lord Chichester, the
postmaster general, had an invincible reluctance to taking their
opinion, and would not do so unless positively instructed by the
government.

Then there were the packets. Freeling could not let the opportunity pass
of mentioning Canada's obligations with respect to the packet service.
He did not, however, endeavour to impose on the chancellor of the
exchequer his view that the cost of this service should be set against
Canada's post office surplus. In his memorandum of the interview,
Freeling merely notes that the opinion between them inclined to the
view that as the packets were maintained for the benefit of Canada as
well as of Nova Scotia, some part of the expense should be borne by
Canada.

Up to this point, the agitation against the post office was confined to
Upper Canada, which indeed was the more aggressive province during the
whole course of the dispute. In 1827, however, the legislative assembly
of Lower Canada took a hand in the controversy, contributing a strictly
legal and even technical memorandum embodying an argument in favour of
its contention that the colonies should participate with the United
Kingdom in the profits of the general post office.[209]

The memorandum pointed out that the act of Queen Anne established a
general post office for, and throughout Great Britain and Ireland, the
colonies and plantations in North America and the West Indies, and all
other of Her Majesty's dominions and territories; and that of the duties
arising by virtue of this act, £700 a week were to be paid into the
exchequer for public purposes in Great Britain. Certain annuities and
encumbrances charged on the postal revenues by earlier acts, were
continued by the act of Queen Anne. When these charges amounting to
£111,461 17_s._ 10_d._, and the £700 a week already mentioned were
satisfied, one-third of the remaining surplus was reserved to the
disposal of parliament "for the use of the public."

The house of assembly argued that this act, which by later acts was
declared to be in force in Canada, applied to the people of England,
Ireland and colonies of North America and in the West Indies. The word
"public," therefore, being used without limitation, or qualification,
could not signify exclusively the people of Great Britain and Ireland,
or of the colonies. On the contrary, being equally applicable to all who
were within the purview of the act, it designated the people of all the
dominions of the crown in which the postal revenue was to be levied. The
statute thus carried on the face of it a parliamentary declaration that
the colonies were entitled to a share of the post office revenues, and
it enacted, by implication, that the amount of the share should be
determined by parliament at some future period.

Here followed a novel and ingenious application of the statute of 1778,
which was enacted for the purpose of conciliating the colonies by
conceding the point at issue between them and the mother country.

The assembly stated that by this act it was declared that, for the
peace and welfare of His Majesty's dominions, the net produce of all
duties, which after the passing of that act were imposed by parliament
upon the colonies, should be applied to the use of the colony in which
it is levied. Unlike the assembly of Upper Canada, the assembly of Lower
Canada did not maintain that the act of Queen Anne was annulled by the
act of 1778.

It will be remembered that the British post office rested its claim to
collect the colonial postages on Queen Anne's act with its amendments,
while the Upper Canada assembly asserted that the act of 1778, which was
made part of the constitutional act of 1791, deprived the British
government of any right it formerly had to impose a tax on the colonies.

The Lower Canadian house of assembly made another use of the act of
1778. It submitted that, so far as postal revenues were concerned, it
was the complement of the act of Queen Anne. The earlier act, in the
view of the assembly, left the amounts of the shares of the postal
revenues to which the colonies were entitled, to be determined by a
future act of parliament, and the act of 1778 had this effect, if not in
the letter, at least in its spirit; and consequently Lower Canada, as
one of the colonies had a fair and equitable claim to the net produce of
the post office revenue levied within the province, after deducting the
expenses of the post office established therein.

Shortly before the house of assembly at York took into its consideration
the question of the legality of the postal system in operation in Upper
Canada, the home authorities were discussing a matter, which was a
source of much embarrassment to the deputy postmaster general. The
steamboats, which had been running since 1809, between Montreal and
Quebec, had so far improved that they outdistanced the mail couriers,
who travelled on the shore of the river, and a great many letters were
carried between the two towns by the steamers.

The deputy postmaster general made provision for the conveyance of
letters by steamers, by placing official letter boxes on the boats. He
allowed the captains twopence for each letter they carried, and charged
the public the regular postage rates. But the public paid little
attention to the letter boxes. They simply threw their letters on a
table in the cabin, and when the steamer reached its destination, those
expecting letters sent down to the landing and got them, paying a small
gratuity to the captain.

Moreover, in cases where the letters had been deposited in the letter
boxes on the steamer, and were delivered by the captain at the post
office, many of the people to whom the letters were addressed refused to
pay the same charges as if the letters were conveyed by land, alleging
that such charges were illegal.

The deputy postmaster general laid the facts before his superiors in
England in 1819, asking for some document of an authoritative character,
which, when published, would put a stop to the illegal practices. The
solicitor of the post office to whom the matter was referred had no
doubt that the acts complained of were illegal, and would render the
offenders liable to penalties, if the practice were carried on in
England, but he could not be sure that penalties for the infraction of
the post office act could be recovered in Canada.

Freeling, the secretary, thereupon made a suggestion[210] which must
have caused him some pain. The right of the post office to protect its
monopoly was quite clear, and the natural course of the postmaster
general would be to direct his deputy in Canada to enforce the law. But
as the legislatures had in several instances manifested an inclination
to interfere with the internal posts, he recommended that, instead of
taking proceedings to protect His Majesty's revenues, and, as he says,
to enable them to continue to flow into the exchequer of the United
Kingdom, the postmaster general should state the circumstances to the
colonial secretary, and request his opinion before instructions were
sent out to the deputy postmaster general.

Bathurst, the colonial secretary, fully concurred in the view of the
postmaster general that the subject was one of great delicacy, and wrote
to the governor general, Lord Dalhousie, setting forth the facts and
stating that under ordinary circumstances he would have had no
difficulty in recommending a prosecution.

In view of the attention which the house of assembly had been giving to
the revenues of the colonial post office, and of the doubt which had
been suggested as to the right of Great Britain to receive those
revenues, the colonial secretary thought it possible that the
enforcement of those rights at that time might embarrass the governor
general by giving the assembly an additional ground for contention with
the mother country. He, therefore, had given directions that the deputy
postmaster general should communicate with the governor general on the
subject, and should not institute proceedings without the full
concurrence of the latter.

The deputy postmaster general was instructed in this sense in September
1820, and matters remained in abeyance until 1826, when the deputy
postmaster general, presumably with the concurrence of the governor
general requested the opinion of the attorney general of Lower Canada on
the subject. The attorney general, James Stuart (afterwards Sir James)
advised that the right of the post office was clear, and he conceived
that there should be no difficulty in recovering pecuniary penalties for
the infringement of the postmaster general's privilege.

But no action was taken on this opinion. The relations between the
provincial governors and the assemblies were becoming more strained as
time went on, and the governor general had no desire to augment the
grievances of the assemblies by introducing irritating matters, in which
the right of the home government might with reason be held to be
disputable.

FOOTNOTES:

[190] In course of debate in assembly, December 16, 1825 (Report in
_Colonial Advocate_).

[191] _Journals, House of Assembly_, March 1, 1820.

[192] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[193] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[194] _Ibid._

[195] _Can. Arch._, Q. 278, p. 44.

[196] _Journals of Assembly_, U.C., 1821.

[197] _Imperial Statutes_, 9, Anne, c. 10.

[198] _Ibid._, 41, Geo. III. c. 7.

[199] _Ibid._, 18, Geo. III. c. 12.

[200] _Imperial Statutes_, 14, Geo. III. c. 88.

[201] _Can. Arch._, Q. 332, p. 95.

[202] Freeling to S. R. Lushington, June 3, 1822 _(Can. Arch._, Q. 162,
p. 165).

[203] _Journals of Assembly_, U.C.

[204] _House of Assembly_, December 16, 1825 (Report of the _Colonial
Advocate_).

[205] _Can. Arch._, Q. 340, p. 49

[206] Freeling to Horton, July 25, 1826 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, II.).

[207] Afterwards Earl of Ripon: well remembered in Canada as Viscount
Goderich.

[208] October 3, 1826 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, II.).

[209] _Can. Arch._, Q. 180, p. 258.

[210] Freeling to Goulborn, December 29, 1819.




CHAPTER IX

     Thomas Allen Stayner deputy postmaster general--Restrictions
     of general post office relaxed--Grievances of newspaper
     publishers--Opinion of law officers of the crown that
     postmaster general's stand is untenable--Consequences.


Owing to failing health, Sutherland retired from the service in 1827. He
was succeeded by his son-in-law, Thomas Allen Stayner, the last of the
deputies of the postmaster general of England, and in many respects the
most notable. Stayner was brought up in the post office, and at the time
of his appointment to the position of deputy postmaster general he was
in charge of the Quebec post office.

A man of unusual ability, Stayner gained the confidence of his superiors
in England, to a degree at no time enjoyed by his predecessors. What was
equally important, he managed to keep on good terms with the governments
of the two provinces.

When the houses of assembly in Upper and Lower Canada denounced the post
office as inefficient and unconstitutional, and proposed to take the
management of it into their own hands, the governors and legislative
councils in the two provinces took the side of Stayner, and while they
urged upon him and the postmaster general the expediency of meeting the
reasonable demands of the assemblies, they set their faces steadily
against any revolutionary propositions respecting the control of the
department.

This attitude was in a measure due to a change in the policy of the
postmaster general and his advisers in England. The earlier deputies
were held by so tight a rein, and their suggestions and recommendations
so little regarded, that they occupied a rôle scarcely more important
than that of being the hands and voice of a department, which, unpopular
at home on account of its illiberality, aroused general discontent in
Canada by adding to its administrative vices, an entire ignorance of the
situation with which it had to deal.

At the outset of his administration Stayner's powers were as much
restricted as were those of the deputies who preceded him. A few months
after his appointment, he opened a post office at Guelph. He assured the
postmaster general that he had not done so until he had satisfied
himself that the prospective revenue would more than meet the expense.
But he did not escape a warning and an intimation that the departmental
approval would depend on the financial results.

Shortly afterwards, Stayner established an additional courier on the
route between St. John and St. Andrews in New Brunswick, the point at
which the mails between the Maritime provinces and the United States
were exchanged. This action, though most desirable in the public
interest, brought down upon him a rebuke, and a reminder that the
postmaster general's sanction must be obtained in all possible cases,
before lines of communication were opened which were attended with
expense.

The circumstances of the country were making a continuance of this
repressive course impossible. Settlements were springing up too rapidly,
and the demands for postal facilities were becoming too insistent to
leave it possible to delay these demands until formal sanction was
obtained from England. In November 1829, Stayner informed the postmaster
general that, in Upper Canada, the lieutenant governor, the legislature,
the merchants, and indeed the whole population, were calling for
increased postal accommodation.

In the United States, Stayner pointed out, almost every town and village
had a daily mail, and this excited discontent with the comparative
infrequency of the Canadian service. He suggested that he be allowed to
expand the service, and to increase the frequency of the courier's
trips, wherever he was convinced that the ensuing augmentation of
correspondence would more than meet the additional expense.

Stayner had been so fortunate as to impress the postmaster general with
the fact that a very considerable discretion might safely be left with
him. Besides this, the postmaster general was under a growing sense of
the insecurity of the legal foundations of the post office in the
colonies. To Stayner's gratification he received a letter from the
postmaster general[211] enjoining him to make it his study to extend the
system of communication in all directions where the increase of
population and the formation of new towns and settlements seemed to
justify it.

This was a wise step. It gave the department a representative, zealous
in its interests, as intimately acquainted with local conditions as the
assemblies themselves, and thoroughly competent to undertake the
responsibility devolving upon him.

Stayner's commission placed New Brunswick as well as Upper and Lower
Canada, under his charge. But before the close of 1828 the service in
New Brunswick was transferred to the control of the deputy postmaster
general for Nova Scotia.[212] This change was made at the instance of
the deputy of Nova Scotia, who, being in England at the time, explained
to the postmaster general how much more closely New Brunswick was
associated with Nova Scotia than with Quebec, and pointed out that
orders from home affecting New Brunswick and requiring immediate
attention were delayed in that they had to pass from Halifax through New
Brunswick, and then return to New Brunswick. All the other branches of
the imperial service in New Brunswick had their local headquarters in
Halifax.

At the time Stayner was placed in charge of the postal service in the
Canadas, the system of communication was still simple enough to be
described in a few lines. There was a trunk line from Halifax, Nova
Scotia, to Niagara and Amherstburg on the western boundaries of Upper
Canada. The distances were to Niagara, one thousand three hundred and
fifty-six miles, and to Amherstburg, one thousand five hundred and
sixteen miles.

The frequency of the trips made by the mail couriers over the several
stretches of this long route varied considerably. Between Halifax and
Quebec, a courier travelled each way weekly. The section between Quebec
and Montreal, the most populous in the country, was covered by couriers,
who passed five times each way weekly between the two cities.

From Montreal westward along the shores of the St. Lawrence and lake
Ontario to Niagara and Amherstburg, there were semi-weekly trips.
Running out from this trunk line there were six cross routes, four in
Lower Canada, and two in Upper Canada. Two of these left the trunk line
at Three Rivers--one running to Sorel, by way of Nicolet, with
semi-weekly mails; and the other to Sherbrooke, Stanstead and other
places in the eastern townships. There was a weekly service over this
route.

Mails were carried up the Ottawa river from Montreal as far as Hull, and
southward to St. Johns; in both cases twice weekly. In Upper Canada, the
only cross routes were one from Cornwall to Hawkesbury, with weekly
mails, and another from Brockville to Perth, with mails twice a week.
From Perth there was a weekly courier to Richmond.

The two principal points of connection with the United States were at
St. Johns, south of Montreal, and Queenston on the Niagara river. As
early as 1828, the United States post office had a daily service by
steamer on lake Champlain, which ran as far northward as St. Johns. In
1831, Stayner made a notable improvement in the mail service from
Montreal to Niagara, increasing the frequency of the trips to five each
week, and reducing the time of conveyance between the two points to six
days.

The appointment of Stayner in no way diminished the energy with which
the houses of assembly pursued their campaign against the administration
of the post office. In March 1828, the assembly in Upper Canada named a
committee consisting of Fothergill, Ingersoll, Matthews and Beardsley,
to inquire into the state of the post office. Their report, which was
made in 1829, did not disclose any new facts. Indeed, it would not seem
that the assemblies, in the series of inquiries, which were ordered from
year to year, thought so much of obtaining new light on the question as
of keeping the public alive to the grievances, which they were made to
appear to suffer.

The committee of 1829, after affirming the illegality of the existing
system and declaring that the surplus revenue which was sent annually to
Great Britain, was the result of starving the service, recommended the
establishment of a provincial post office, subject to the legislatures.
Post routes should be opened to every court house, and the charges on
letters and newspapers conveyed by steamboats should not exceed twopence
and one farthing each respectively.

The lieutenant governor, Sir John Colborne, though friendly to Stayner,
and appreciative of his efforts to meet the demands of the public in
Upper Canada, was not altogether satisfied with the system. He
maintained that it was impossible for Stayner from his headquarters in
Quebec to follow the rapid changes in the conditions of settlement in
Upper Canada, and was of opinion that the remedy for the existing
shortcomings of the post office in that province was to appoint an
official of a rank equal, or nearly so, to that held by Stayner, and
station him in Toronto.

Colborne, in communicating the view to the colonial office,[213] also
requested that arrangements should be made for a regular interchange of
correspondence between Upper Canada and Great Britain, by way of New
York.

Freeling, the secretary of the post office, was quite willing to meet
the views of the lieutenant governor, but was inclined to the view that
the people on both sides of the Atlantic had already settled the
question their own way. He explained that there was a plan in full
operation by which the correspondence between Liverpool and Upper Canada
was conveyed across the ocean independently of the post office at
twopence a letter, and that there was little likelihood that the public
would seek the aid of the post office to have this conveyance done for
them, and thereby become subject to charges four times as great.

The people of Liverpool, who had the largest correspondence with the
United States, Freeling reminded Colborne, scarcely sent one letter per
week by post, though thousands were sent outside the post office, by the
same vessels as carried the mails for the post office. As for the
appointment of a resident deputy in Upper Canada, Freeling thought there
would be no objection to such an arrangement.

In this opinion Stayner by no means concurred. He could see no good
reason for such an appointment. The postmaster general was more
impressed with the representations on behalf of the province than
Freeling thought desirable. Freeling reminded the postmaster general
that his powers might not be equal to his desires. He observed that in
the lieutenant governor's letter, a question was involved as to whether,
and if so, to what extent, the revenues of the post office could be
devoted to the general improvement of communications for the public
advantage, and he conceived that this was a point of view from which the
postmaster general was not empowered to regard the subject.

But the forces were gathering for an attack on the post office, which
promised to be much more formidable than any which had preceded it.
Until that time, the assailants of the system had been confined to what
the official clique regarded as the radicals and republicans and
grievance-mongers. In the houses of assembly the grievances of which
they complained became the motive of highly effective speeches and
resolutions, but the injuries they alleged really hurt nobody.

The rates of postage on letters were, according to present day
standards, exorbitant. But they were no higher than those charged in
England; and after all the post office was but little used by the masses
of the people. It is doubtful if the post office were employed in 1830
any more freely than the telegraph is to-day. In their contention that
it was a violation of constitutional guarantees to send the surplus post
office revenue to England, the assemblies were undoubtedly correct, but
loyal people bear many things of that kind easily.

At this time, however, the question was taken up by a body to whom the
postage rates were a personal grievance, and who at the same time
possessed the means of successful agitation. In the beginning of 1829, a
number of newspaper publishers in Lower Canada approached the governor
general, Sir James Kempt, with a request that they might be relieved of
the payment of postage on the newspapers which they sent to
subscribers.[214] They did not ask that the postage be remitted
altogether. All they desired was that the postage should be collected
from the subscribers and not from themselves. They also suggested that
the charge might be fixed at one penny per copy.

Stayner declared that he had no power to enter into such an arrangement.
The publishers thereupon changed their request, and asked that they
might be put on the same footing as the newspaper publishers in England
stood, and be thus entirely exempt from postage on their newspapers.

British publishers had enjoyed this concession since 1825, but as they
still had to pay a heavy excise duty on the paper they used, they could
not be regarded as free from public charges. In Canada there was no
stamp duty on paper. This difference between their situation and that of
their brethren in England was pointed out to the publishers, but the
explanation failed to satisfy.

One of the publishers, who had some inkling of the fact that the
newspaper postage did not go into the public revenue, but formed part of
the emoluments of the deputy postmaster general, observed that with as
much consistency a toll keeper might insist on farmers paying high
charges to him, because they paid no tithes.

With the publishers awake to the fact that they had something to
complain of, they made the most of their grievance. They were experts in
this line of exploitation. They found that the newspaper charges, which
they were convinced had no legal sanction, had been steadily advancing
for forty years past. In 1790, a shilling a year was all that was
charged as postage for each copy of a weekly newspaper. This rate was
increased by degrees to one shilling and threepence, one shilling and
eightpence, two shillings, two shillings and sixpence, until, in 1830,
it had risen to four shillings a year on weekly papers, and to five
shillings for papers published twice a week. The discontent of the
publishers was not lessened by the knowledge that in the Maritime
provinces, the yearly rate for weekly papers was two shillings and
sixpence for each copy.

The agitation against the newspaper charges was set in motion by Robert
Armour, proprietor of the _Montreal Gazette_. It had come to his
knowledge that the sums collected from the publishers did not appear in
the accounts of the postmasters with the department, and he suspected
that in some way they were retained by Stayner, though on this point he
had no certain information.

After Armour learned that the rates had been subjected to a continuous
process of enhancement, he made diligent search for any warrant that
might exist for the successive advances or indeed for the original
charge. Finding none, he turned to the authorities for information. It
was he who led the deputation to the governor general for relief in some
form. When this step failed, Armour demanded of the deputy postmaster
general his authority for the newspaper charges.

Getting no answer from that quarter, Armour endeavoured to bring matters
to an issue by refusing to pay the postage on the copies of his paper
which he posted in Montreal. The postmaster declined to accept the
papers without the postage, and Armour appealed to the postmaster
general in London. In due time the reply from the department was
received, and while it offered no immediate relief, it put Armour in
possession of some exclusive information, which, as a newspaper man, he
must have considered valuable.

Freeling, the secretary, informed Armour that the postmaster of Montreal
had failed in his duty, in refusing to transmit the newspapers simply
because the postage was not paid. The postmaster should have sent the
newspapers forward, and since the postage demanded by Stayner was not
paid, it fell upon the postmasters of the offices to which the papers
were directed to collect the postage, at the same rates as were charged
on letters.

As each paper was under this ruling chargeable with the rate which was
due on four letters, it may well be imagined that no publisher would
offer to pay the post office for the distribution of his papers by that
means. On these conditions, the postage on each copy sent from Montreal
to any of the post offices on the island of Montreal, to St. Johns or to
the nearer settlements in Upper Canada would be thirty-two cents. Each
copy sent to Three Rivers or to any points between sixty and one hundred
miles from Montreal would cost the subscribers forty-eight cents.

It is needless to pursue the charges into districts where the copies
were sent over one hundred miles. Freeling went on to explain that, as
the post office act had no provision for the conveyance of newspapers,
the postmaster general, in order to accommodate the publishers permitted
the deputy postmaster general to make private arrangements with them for
the transmission of their newspapers. By ancient and authorized custom,
the deputy postmaster general was allowed to treat the receipts from
this source as his own perquisite. This information with the comments
thereon greatly enlivened many issues of the _Gazette_.

Freeling was denounced as a sinecurist, who permitted impositions in the
colonies which he dared not make at home. Armour announced that he would
carry the matter into the legislature, and, if necessary, into the
courts. He had no desire to escape the payment of postage. All he
demanded was the establishment of an equitable rate, placed on a legal
basis. His idea was that the postmasters who handled the newspapers
should be paid from five to ten per cent. of their cost. The rates
charged by Stayner amounted to from twenty to twenty-five per cent. of
the subscription price. Armour would resist Stayner's claim to be a
sleeping partner in his business, who, contributing neither capital nor
talent, dictated what his share of the revenue should be.

Armour could write well, and his onslaught caused Stayner much
uneasiness. In a letter to the postmaster general[215] he attributed it
to some neglect or indignity, which Armour fancied he suffered at the
hands of a former deputy postmaster general, while, he stated, other
newspapers were recognizing with gratitude Stayner's efforts to satisfy
the reasonable demands of the public.

Every side of Stayner's work was vigorously attacked in the _Gazette_.
Complaints were made of a lack of necessary mail routes, and of an
insufficiency of service on existing routes. It was charged also that
Stayner's attention was confined to the older and more thickly settled
districts, which yielded the largest revenues. But, according to
Stayner, Armour's silence could have been purchased by a share of the
official printing which Stayner declined to give him. Whatever grounds
Stayner had for making the insinuation, there can be no question as to
the energy with which Armour bent himself to the task of exposing the
methods of the post office. When his papers were held in the Montreal
post office on account of his refusal to prepay the postage, he entered
actions for large amounts against Stayner.

These failed, as the courts declined to deal with the cases. He then
addressed himself to the legislature. In the beginning of 1831, Armour
and a number of other publishers presented a petition to the house of
assembly of Lower Canada, setting forth the high rates they had to pay
as postage for the transmission of their newspapers, and the impropriety
of Stayner's practice in appropriating the proceeds; and asking that
they might be put on an equal footing with the publishers in Great
Britain.

The petition was handed over to a committee of the house, who proceeded
to investigate the facts. In this they were only moderately successful,
as the only person who was in a position to give them the information
they desired, declined to answer the interrogatories put to him.[216]

Stayner, in reply to inquiries as to the financial condition of the post
office and the disposition of the surplus revenues, pleaded that he was
employed by a branch of the imperial government, which in none of its
instructions had recognized the right of the assembly to institute the
inquiries being made. To answer the questions put to him by the
committee might lead to disclosures, which would involve him with his
superior officers until he had received specific instructions from them
on the point.

But though little was learned from Stayner, the committee had obtained
some useful information from inquiries made in the British house of
commons by Joseph Hume. It appeared that the large sum of £36,000 had
been received by the British treasury as surplus revenue for the years
1825 and 1826.

Stayner endeavoured to lessen the importance of this fact by declaring
that more than half the amount was postage paid by the army, which was
not properly chargeable with postage at all. The committee declined to
accept this view; and while perfectly friendly to Stayner, and admitting
that he had effected some considerable improvements, they were persuaded
that the service was far from being what the people had a right to
expect.

Looking outwards from Quebec, the committee observed that there was no
postal service whatever in the counties of Montmorency and Saguenay,
which embraced the earliest settlements in the country. On the south
shore of the St. Lawrence, and along the Etchemin and Chaudiere rivers,
there was a wide stretch of well-settled country entirely lacking the
means of communication with the capital, though but a short distance
from it.

From Quebec eastward to the New Brunswick boundary there were over
100,000 people, and the only postal accommodation for this great extent
of territory was afforded by seven post offices lying along the line of
the post route between Quebec and Halifax. The peninsula of Gaspe, with
a line of fishing settlements all along the coast, had but two mails
each year.

The committee regretted particularly the situation as regards the
conveyance of newspapers. The post office was under no legal obligation
to carry them except as letters, and yet there was no other means
available for their circulation. If the law had not conferred on the
post office a monopoly of carrying letters, the publishers would have a
resource. They might establish a transportation system, and meet their
expenses by carrying letters as well as newspapers.

The secrecy with which the affairs of the post office were surrounded
was much deprecated by the committee, as giving ground for speculation
and suspicion that could not fail to do harm to the institution. If,
under the present system of imperial control, an adequate service were
rendered, there would have been no just grounds for complaint.

But if the interests of the province were not regarded, the people were
entitled to object to their being limited to a means of conveyance which
did not meet their requirements, and to assume that the revenue arising
from the service was not properly applied. The committee in conclusion
expressed their confidence in the good will of both the postmaster
general and his deputy in Canada, and their belief that their complaint
had only to be laid before the governor general to secure favourable
consideration.

Before concluding to withhold from the house of assembly, the
information it sought, Stayner with characteristic prudence had enlisted
the support of the governor general, who coincided with him in his view
as to the impropriety of his submitting to the questioning of the house
regarding the affairs of a branch of the imperial service. When he laid
the course he had pursued before the postmaster general, Stayner also
gained his approval for the zeal and sagacity he had shown.

But Armour persisted in his attacks in the _Gazette_, and in the two
sessions which followed managed to alienate from Stayner a large measure
of the good will of the house of assembly. Stayner's determination to
withhold information from the assembly was a source of irritation. The
facts which had come to their knowledge through questions in the house
of commons at Westminster, the ungracious admissions which the
possession of these facts enabled the house to extort from Stayner, and
his specious and unconvincing defence of his perquisites, all combined
to change the house from an attitude of friendliness to one of
criticism and even hostility.

The house no longer rested in the belief that, to obtain satisfaction,
all that was necessary was to lay their grievances before the
department. In 1832, it denounced the methods of the department, and
presented an address to the governor general praying that the home
government might place the post office under the control of the
legislature.[217]

In the session of 1833, the pertinacious Armour again appeared before
the assembly. He had no new facts to present, but managed to sustain the
interest of the house in the facts already before it.

The assembly on this occasion set forth its views at greater length. In
an address to the king,[218] it represented that the post office should
not be a means of raising a revenue greater than was needed to enable it
to establish offices wherever they might be required; that if the rates
were higher than was necessary for that purpose they should be lowered;
and that any surplus revenue should be at the disposition of the
legislature for the improvement of communications by post throughout the
country; also, that newspapers should pass through the post office in
Lower Canada, free of postage.

In the assembly in Upper Canada the post office was also vigorously
assailed. There was general agreement on the proposition that the
existing arrangements were not satisfactory, but on the point of remedy
opinions differed sharply. The reformers, of whom Dr. Duncombe was the
spokesman, adopting the argument of the Baldwin committee of 1821,
insisted that the post office had no legal basis in Upper Canada.

Duncombe and his associates held that it was a violation of the
constitution to send any surplus revenue to Great Britain, and that it
was the obvious duty of the legislature to pass an act, taking to itself
the control of the provincial post office. They believed that the
revenues from the service would amply suffice to cover all its expenses,
but if it should turn out that such was not the case, they were prepared
to meet the deficiency from the general revenues of the province.

The government party, on the other hand, always ready to fight for
things as they were, did not accept the argument of the Baldwin
committee. They held that the post office was an institution necessary
to commerce, and, as such, it was not placed by the acts of 1778 and
1791 under the jurisdiction of the provincial legislature. They did not
believe that the provincial post office furnished a revenue sufficient
to cover the expenses, but if it should be shown that they were wrong,
and that the post office yielded a surplus, they were convinced that the
imperial government had no desire to retain the surplus for its own
purposes.

Colborne, the lieutenant governor, was in general agreement with the
government party. But he believed that, having regard to the great
distances between Quebec, and the rapidly rising settlements in the
remoter parts of Upper Canada, an administrator, having his headquarters
at Quebec could never understand the necessities of the new districts,
and that it was indispensable that there should be stationed at Toronto
an officer with powers nearly, if not quite, equal to those of the
deputy postmaster general at Quebec.

In the sessions of 1832 and 1833, the subject was warmly debated.[219]
The views of the reformers were presented by Duncombe and Bidwell. They
were opposed by the attorney general (Henry John Boulton), the solicitor
general (Christopher Hagerman), and Burwell, who was postmaster at Port
Burwell.

It was one of the complaints of the reformers that there were in the
house of assembly a number of postmasters who voted not according to
their own convictions, but according to the orders of Stayner.

As the result of the discussion, it was resolved to present an address
to the king, asking that an annual statement of the revenue and
expenditure of the department be laid before the legislature; that
newspapers should be distributed throughout the province free of
postage; that the correspondence of the members of the legislature
should pass free during sessions; and finally, that in the event of a
surplus being obtained, the postage rates should be reduced, or that the
surplus should be devoted to the improvement of the roads.

Stayner, in sending to the postmaster general, copies of the addresses
from Upper and Lower Canada, expressed his gratification that the
assemblies in both provinces appeared to have dropped the idea of
independent provincial establishments, and gave it as his opinion that
the legislatures would look for nothing further than such reasonable
modifications of existing laws and regulations as the imperial
government might determine.

That some changes were necessary Stayner was quite convinced. The
postage on newspapers, for instance, could not long remain in its
present position, as regards either the amount of the charges or the
mode in which the revenue therefrom was disposed of. As for the request
of the legislatures that newspapers should be distributed by the post
office free of charge, there seemed no sound reason why this should be
done. A moderate rate should be fixed, and some arrangement made for the
disposal of the revenue from this source. The present plan aroused
dissatisfaction, and indeed the amount collected was fast becoming too
large to be appropriated in the existing manner.

The postmaster general expressed his satisfaction with Stayner's report,
and indeed it appeared at that moment to be of more than usual
consequence to him that the colonies should be well affected towards the
post office.

It will be remembered that when the Baldwin report reached England in
1821, the postmaster general was sufficiently impressed with the cogency
of the argument against the legal standing of the British post office in
the colonies, to call for the opinion of the law officers upon it. When
the case was prepared by the solicitor for the post office, it was still
more impressive, and the postmaster general thought better of his desire
to have a definite opinion upon it, as it appeared more than probable
that the opinion might be against the post office. He accordingly
directed that the papers should be put away, and they lay undisturbed
for eleven years.

But the repeated remonstrances of the colonial assemblies, joined to the
rising dissatisfaction with the general political conditions in Upper
and Lower Canada, made it desirable to remove any real grievances which
might be found to exist in the control and management of the postal
system.

The first step taken in this direction was to ascertain whether there
was any foundation for the contention of the assemblies that the whole
system rested on an illegal basis, and that the revenues collected by
the post office in the colonies were taken in violation of the
fundamental principle governing the relations between the mother country
and the colonies.

The case was accordingly submitted to the attorney general and the
solicitor general in 1832; and on the 5th of November of that year a
decision was given, upholding the colonial contentions on all
points.[220]

The questions upon which the opinions of the law officers were required
were (first) whether the power to establish posts, and the exclusive
right to the conveyance of letters given by the acts of 1711 and 1765,
had the force of law in the Canadas, and (second) whether the postage
received for the inland conveyance of letters within those provinces
ought to be paid into the exchequer and applied as part of the revenue
of the United Kingdom, or whether it ought to be devoted to the use of
the province in which it is raised.

The law officers gave the case the attention its importance called for.
It appeared, they stated, to involve practical considerations of the
highest political importance, bringing directly into question the
principle of the declaratory act of 1778, respecting internal taxation
of the colonies by the mother country.

Their opinion was that the rates of internal postage could not be
considered as within the exception of duties imposed for the regulation
of commerce, but that if they could be so considered, they would by the
terms of that act be at the disposal of the province, instead of
constituting a part of the revenues appropriated for the general
purposes of the empire.

It had been contended, as a question of law, that since the act of 1765,
by which the colonial rates were finally determined, was in operation at
the time of the declaratory act of 1788, it had not been annulled by the
latter act, the language of which was, not that rates then existing
should be no longer levied, but that after the passing of the act of
1778, no tax or duty should be levied. But the law officers had no great
confidence in the argument. In their own words they were of opinion that
"it would not be safe to agitate the question as a question of law with
the colony, and if it could be so discussed, it would not succeed, and
that it could not be enforced."

The opinion of the law officers could not have been unexpected, but it
gave the postmaster general much concern. In a note appended to the
decision, he accepted the opinion of the law officers as conclusive. The
department, he said, was beaten off its first position, and his view was
that a plan should be drawn up by which the post office should
relinquish to the provinces any surplus revenue after the expenses were
paid, and permit an account of the receipts and expenditures to be laid
on the tables of the legislatures. While forced to concede this much the
postmaster general was convinced that the appointment of the officers of
the department should remain with the crown. Otherwise he foresaw the
ruin of the colonies, so far as correspondence was concerned; for the
postmaster general and legislature of Upper Canada would be at perpetual
strife with the postmaster general and legislature of Lower Canada.
However, he concluded that before taking any step in the matter he would
consult Goderich, the colonial secretary.

It was not until the following March that the postmaster general saw
Goderich respecting the post office. The interview was quite
satisfactory. The colonial secretary agreed to the propositions.
Legislation would be necessary, and to that end Stayner was called to
London to give his assistance.

At this time the government received assurances from an unexpected
source that the plan settled upon would be satisfactory to the Canadian
people. William Lyon Mackenzie, and Denis Benjamin Viger, representing
as they maintained, the body of the public in the two provinces, visited
England for the purpose of laying before the government the grievances
of the Canadian people.

On reaching London, Mackenzie and Viger wrote to the secretary of the
post office, requesting an interview with the postmaster general. The
request was refused on the ground that the postmaster general did not
feel authorized to communicate with any person but the colonial
secretary on colonial matters. The delegates then addressed themselves
to Goderich, who cordially invited them to lay their case before him.

Mackenzie, thus encouraged, prepared a statement, which, though long and
detailed, was studiously moderate in tone.[221] On all other points of
colonial policy, Mackenzie declared, people would be found to differ,
but as regards the post office there was absolute unanimity. There must
be a change. Stayner himself admitted that the arrangements were
imperfect.

The colonial governments were in favour of separate establishments, but
Mackenzie was of Stayner's opinion that such would be impracticable. His
own belief was that the only feasible scheme would be to bring all the
colonies of British North America under one deputy postmaster general,
who should be responsible to the postmaster general of England.
Mackenzie apparently would be quite satisfied to see the office of
deputy postmaster general vested in Stayner, whom he described as a
persevering, active officer.

The other suggestions of Mackenzie were in line with the more
conservative recommendations of the colonial assemblies. On one
subject, however, he expressed himself strongly. He said the packet
service between the Canadian provinces and the mother country was so
indifferent that it went far to convince Canadians that Great Britain
desired as little correspondence with Canada as possible.

As an instance of the inferiority of the packet service, Mackenzie told
Goderich that he had shortly before received a letter by the Halifax
packet, which was sixty-five days on the way, and which cost five
shillings and fourpence-halfpenny for postage, and another by way of New
York, which was only thirty-four days in coming, and cost only one
shilling and fourpence-halfpenny. The announcement of the arrival of the
English mail by the Halifax packet was scarcely heeded, whereas no
sooner was it known that the Liverpool mail had arrived from New York
than the Montreal post office was crowded. Mackenzie's statement on this
point was fully confirmed by Stayner on his arrival in London in June.

Stayner, when informed of the opinion of the law officers, was not
disposed to acquiesce in it as readily as the postmaster general had
done. Colonial lawyers, always more imperial and more conservative than
the Eldons and Lyndhursts in London, had assured him that the necessity
of imperial control of the colonial post office was the strongest reason
for believing that parliament never intended to divest itself of the
power by the act of 1778. The conviction of the necessity of imperial
control was held by all persons qualified to have an opinion, and,
Stayner declared, by the legislatures themselves.

The firm belief of Stayner was that, if the imperial parliament failed
to legislate on the present critical situation then they must give up
all idea of ever having the question settled. The several colonies could
never be brought to concur in their views on this or any other subject.
They knew this, and did not ask to have the matter submitted to their
own legislation.

Stayner certainly overstated the reluctance of the legislatures to deal
with the question of the provincial post office. But, as his opinion had
the support of so ultra a radical as Mackenzie, the postmaster general
could not be blamed for accepting, and, as far as possible, acting upon
it.

There was, however, a difficulty. Indeed, the way back into right
courses seemed beset with difficulties. The postmaster general was quite
willing to furnish the legislatures with annual statements of the
revenue and expenditure, to leave with the colonies all surplus
revenues, and to satisfy all the reasonable desires of the provinces.
But by what steps should he proceed, to legalize the course he proposed?

If the necessary legislation could be enacted by the imperial
parliament, all would be well. With a free hand, he would have no
trouble in satisfying all the interests concerned. But if the bills had
to originate with the provincial legislatures, the postmaster general
would despair of bringing the matter to a successful conclusion, as he
was convinced that the requisite action on the part of the several
provincial legislatures would never be taken. The postmaster general
again turned to the law officers. It was essential that they be
consulted on the question.

The points on which opinion was desired were two. The first was whether,
without any further authority of parliament, the surplus of any postal
revenue raised within the colonies under the act of 1765, could be
appropriated and applied under the direction of the respective
legislatures for the use of the province in which such surplus might
arise.

The second was whether it would be competent for the British parliament
to fix a new set of rates for the colonies, or whether the acts of 1778
and 1791 made it necessary that the authority for such rates should
proceed from the respective colonial legislatures.

Both of these questions were answered adversely to the hopes of the
postmaster general.[222] The law officers had no doubt that the act of
1778 was applicable to the Canadas, and that, if objections were raised
in the provinces to the payment of postages fixed by the British
parliament, whether by the act of 1765 or by an act to be thereafter
passed, the legality of the charges could not be maintained, nor could
payment of them be enforced in the absence of authority from the
legislature of the province concerned.

The proper procedure to be followed, in the opinion of the law officers,
was for the British parliament to repeal the act of 1765, and leave it
to the provinces to establish a new set of rates. The law officers were
aware of the difficulties which would arise, if after the act of 1765
had been repealed, the colonial legislatures failed to agree on a scheme
of rates or on the necessary arrangements for a uniform postal system
throughout the provinces. In such a case, there would be a period in
which there would be not even the semblance of legal authority for the
postal service within the colonies.

After a further interchange of correspondence between the postmaster
general and the law officers, it was decided to introduce into the
imperial parliament a bill repealing the act of 1765, but making the
operation of the bill contingent upon suitable legislation being adopted
by the legislatures of the several provinces. In order to facilitate the
passage of identical legislation by each of the legislatures, a draft
act was prepared by the solicitor of the general post office, and a copy
was sent to the lieutenant governor in each of the provinces for
submission to his legislature.

The act of the imperial parliament was passed and received the king's
assent on the 26th of March, 1834.[223] It contained but two clauses.
The first provided for the repeal of the imperial act of 1765, so far as
that act authorized the collection of postage in the colonies, but
stipulated that it should not become operative until acceptable
legislation had been adopted in the several provinces, authorizing the
collection of postage and making suitable arrangements for a postal
service throughout the provinces.

The second clause stipulated that, in the event of the revenues from the
colonial post offices exceeding the expenditures, the surplus should no
longer be sent to London to form part of the revenues of the United
Kingdom, but should be divided among the several colonies in the
proportion of their gross revenues.

The draft bill, prepared by the solicitor of the general post office,
provided for a complete postal system in each of the provinces.[224]
Under this bill, the postmaster general at St. Martin's-le-Grand was to
be the head of each provincial system, and the appointment of a deputy
postmaster general in each province, who should reside in the province
and manage the system therein, was to be in his hands.

The postage rates were to be the same in the several provinces; and in
the case of correspondence between the provinces, the charge for postage
was to be fixed in accordance with the entire distance the articles were
carried, without regard to provincial boundary lines.

It will be seen that if the provincial legislatures adopted the bills
framed in London for them, there would be no change whatever in the
practical working of the colonial system. The postmaster general in
London would, as theretofore, control the arrangements, and the charges
were fixed, regardless of provincial boundaries. As the imperial act
stipulated that any surplus which should arise from the system should be
distributed among the colonies, so the proposed provincial bills
provided for the contingency of a deficit in its operations.

Each provincial bill empowered the postmaster general to demand from the
legislature the amount, which it was agreed that the province should be
held responsible for, to make up the deficit. Upper and Lower Canada
were to bind themselves to pay in such a case up to £2000 from each
province. Nova Scotia was to pay up to £1200; New Brunswick up to £600;
and Prince Edward Island up to £200.

In anticipation of the adoption of the bills by the several
legislatures, the postmaster general appointed an accountant, who should
have general charge of the financial transactions of all the colonies.
He was to be established at Quebec. His position in relation to the
deputy postmaster general of Lower Canada was somewhat peculiar. While,
in general, he was subordinate to the deputy postmaster general, in all
matters touching the accounts, he was independent of the deputy, and
responsible only to the postmaster general in London.

There were also appointed two travelling surveyors or inspectors in the
Canadas, one of whom was stationed at Quebec, and the other at Toronto.
Nothing could have been more necessary for the proper administration of
the service, and for the expansion of the system to meet the
requirements of the new settlements. It was impossible for Stayner to
give personal attention to the duty of supervising postmasters, or to
inquiries into the merits of the numerous applications from all parts of
the country for new post offices.

The necessity for assistance in this direction was impressed on Stayner
by a number of robberies which took place on the grand route between
Montreal and Toronto--episodes in post office economy which he was
helpless to investigate.

Two of these robberies have incidents connected with them, which are
deserving of mention. In February 1835, on a stormy night, the mail bag
dropped off the courier's sleigh somewhere in the neighbourhood of
Prescott, and it could not be found. As the contents of the bag included
banknotes to the value of from £10,000 to £12,000, a reward of £200 was
offered for the conviction of the thief and the recovery of the money.

Within half an hour after the placard was on view in Prescott, a man who
heard it read, exclaimed excitedly: "I know all about it, I have the
bag at home." It turned out that this man had found the bag, rifled it,
and used part of the money, and, carried away with the prospect of the
large reward, had actually informed on himself.

The other case is noteworthy on account of the energy displayed by the
loser of a valuable letter, in pursuing and securing the conviction of
the thief. The letter, which contained £200, was posted in Toronto, and
addressed to a gentleman living near L'Original. As the department,
owing to the lack of effective aid, was limited in its efforts to
advertising the loss in the newspapers and by placards, the loser of the
letter took the inquiries into his own hands.

He spent nearly a year in his investigations, travelling up and down the
country between Montreal and Toronto, and in the state of New York,
covering a distance of upwards of two thousand one hundred miles. It is
satisfactory to be able to say that he managed to locate and secure the
arrest and conviction of the thief. So well had he done his work, that
the deputy postmaster general adjudged him to be entitled to the £50
reward offered by the department.

FOOTNOTES:

[211] Freeling to Stayner, August 7, 1830.

[212] Freeling to Stayner, September 25, 1828.

[213] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, II.

[214] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[215] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[216] _Journals of Assembly_, L.C., 1831, App. F.F.

[217] _Journals of Assembly_, L.C., 1831-1832, p. 415.

[218] _Ibid._, 1832-1833, p. 561.

[219] _Report, Journals of Assembly_, 1831-1832, App. 201. Address to
king, _Journals_, 1832-1833, p. 137.

[220] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, IV.

[221] _Can. Arch._, Q. 380, p. 417.

[222] November 27, 1833, _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, IV.

[223] _Imperial Statutes_, 4, William IV. c. 7.

[224] The bill for Upper Canada is printed in App. 8 to the _Journals of
the Assembly_ for 1835. Those submitted to the other provinces were
identical except as to the maximum to be contributed by the province in
the event of a financial deficit.




CHAPTER X

     The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime
     provinces--Complaints of newspaper publishers--Reception
     given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances.


Up to this point the narrative since the American Revolution has been
confined to Upper and Lower Canada. The Maritime provinces have been
mentioned only in so far as it was necessary to describe the means by
which the Canadas maintained communication with Great Britain. It is now
time to relate the events connected with the beginnings of the inland
posts in the Maritime provinces.

The post office in Halifax was the first opened in the provinces now of
the dominion of Canada. It was established as part of the general scheme
for closer and more regular communications between the colonies and the
mother country which was set on foot as a consequence of the general
alarm which seized the British colonies after the annihilation of
Braddock's army by the French and Indians at fort Duquesne.

With the placing of a direct line of packets on the route between
Falmouth and New York for the conveyance of mails and despatches a post
office was demanded at Halifax, in order that Nova Scotia might
participate with the other colonies in the benefits of the new service.
When in 1755 the post office was opened at Halifax, the English
settlements in the Maritime provinces were very recent and very few. The
city was founded but six years before, for the purpose of providing a
military and naval station; and in the year following, the capital of
the province was transferred thither from Annapolis.

In 1751 the only other settlement attached to the British interest at
this time was commenced. A number of Germans, attracted by the
advertising of the British government, arrived at Halifax. After a short
stay most of them re-embarked, and sailing along the southern shore
reached Malagash harbour, where they laid the foundation of the town of
Lunenburg. The settlement was augmented by further arrivals in the two
following years, and in 1753 its population numbered slightly over
1600. In 1755 the total population in the two settlements of Halifax and
Lunenburg was about 5000, and these comprehended all that could be
regarded as British subjects.

Few additions were made to the population within the next few years,
though the government made a strong effort to re-people the districts
from which the Acadians had just been expelled. The only other new
settlement founded in the Maritime provinces until the French power in
America was broken by the capture of Louisburg and of Quebec, was at
Windsor, where a group from New England entered upon the lands from
which their former possessors had been removed.

With the passing of the danger of molestation by the French, there was
an active movement into the provinces for a few years. The beginnings of
settlements were laid all along the Annapolis valley from Windsor to
Annapolis; also at several points on the south shore between Halifax and
Liverpool, and at the western extremity of the province in the present
county of Yarmouth. Little groups established themselves at Truro and
Amherst, and on the adjacent lands of New Brunswick, at Sackville and
Hopewell.

On the St. John river, a trading village was laid out in 1762 at
Portland, now part of the city of St. John; and in 1763 an important
agricultural community was formed farther up the river, at Maugerville,
a few miles below Fredericton. In 1767 a census was taken of the
province, and the total population was found to be over 13,000. Of these
1200 were in the territory afterwards forming part of the province of
New Brunswick, and there were 500 in Prince Edward Island. The remaining
number were in Nova Scotia proper. The first movement of immigration had
now spent itself, and it was not until after the revolting colonies had
gained their independence that any great accession was made to the
population.

The incoming of the Loyalists was an event of the first magnitude for
the Maritime provinces. During the years 1783 and 1784, the population
increased to threefold what it was when the migration from the revolted
American colonies began. They took up lands in all parts of the
provinces. Eighteen hundred householders made homes for themselves in
and about Annapolis, while Digby, which until that time was quite
unsettled, leaped into the position of a village with a population of
1300.

Nearly all the settlements formed at this period had within them the
elements of permanence, and they became the foundations of the towns,
villages and farming communities which cover the Maritime provinces.
Until the arrival of the Loyalists, there were practically no
inhabitants east of Halifax and Colchester counties. Pictou was not
entirely unoccupied, as a small group from Pennsylvania and Maryland had
come into the district in 1765, who were joined by a few Highland Scotch
families in 1773. But the total number was insignificant, and the two
counties to the eastward, Antigonishe and Guysboro, were still
practically in a state of nature. They were settled later by Scotchmen
who came to Pictou and Prince Edward Island.

New Brunswick benefited to a relatively greater extent than Nova Scotia
by the Loyalist movement. At the close of the war, the number of English
colonists in this province did not exceed 2500. These were scattered in
small groups on Passamaquoddy bay, on the St. John river, and on the
Chignecto bay and Petitcodiac river at the eastern end of the province.

By 1787, when the Loyalists had settled themselves, there was a
continuous line of settlements along the bay of Fundy from the United
States boundary at the St. Croix river to St. John harbour, and with
longer intervals onward to the eastern limits of the province. On the
St. John river and tributaries over 9000 people were settled. The cities
of St. John and Fredericton, and the towns of St. Stephen and St.
Andrews sprang into existence during this period.

On the north and east coasts of New Brunswick permanent settlement had
begun, the people being mostly Acadians. There were small Scotch fishing
settlements on the Miramichi and the Restigouche rivers.

Communication among these settlements was carried on mostly by water.
Fishing vessels ran constantly between Halifax and the harbours and
coves on the seaboard. The settlements on the bay of Fundy and the St.
John river were brought into connection with Halifax by way of Windsor,
which lies near the mouth of the Avon, one of the tributaries of the bay
of Fundy.

Between Windsor and Halifax a road had been built by the Acadians
shortly after Halifax was founded, to enable them to carry their cattle
and produce to the new and promising market. The inland settlements
along the Annapolis valley had the advantage of an ancient road, made by
the Acadians running from Pisiquid, as Windsor was first called, to the
Annapolis basin.

The Loyalists and disbanded soldiers settled in the provinces found
themselves not ill-supplied with facilities for communicating with one
another, but the means of corresponding with the mother country left
much to be desired. On the establishment of the packet service between
Falmouth and New York in 1755, the mails for Halifax brought out by the
packets were sent from New York to Boston, the postmaster of which town
was instructed to send them to Halifax by the first suitable war or
merchant vessel that offered.

Until the war broke out, there were numerous opportunities for sending
the mails to Halifax. The trade returns for 1759 show that during six
months of that year one hundred and forty-eight vessels entered Halifax
harbour, much the greater proportion of which were from New York or
Boston. But with the outbreak of the war, communication with the
revolted colonies was carried on at great risks, and the naval and
military authorities at Halifax made bitter complaint of the delays to
their correspondence with the home government.

With the restoration of peace, an immediate demand was made for a direct
packet line to Halifax, and there seemed every likelihood at the time
that the line would be established. Lord North wrote to the lieutenant
governor of Nova Scotia in August 1783[225] that Halifax would doubtless
increase in importance in becoming the rendezvous of the fleet, and that
he was asking the postmaster general to put on a monthly packet to
Halifax.

But other views prevailed. In November, the postmaster general
re-established the packet service to New York, and as there were not
sufficient vessels available for a separate line to Halifax, the
settlements in the Maritime provinces had to depend on the New York
service for their correspondence with the mother country. The British
post office maintained a packet agent at New York, whose duty it was to
take over the despatches and mails brought by the packets for the
British colonies, and send them forward by the first opportunity.

The difficulties Finlay found in maintaining correspondence between
Canada and Great Britain by way of the New York packets have been
related. The Nova Scotia post office had no less difficulty. There were
few British vessels running between Halifax and the ports of the United
States, and consequently the delays to the correspondence were often
intolerable. The complaints of the officials and of the merchants in
Halifax were incessant.

A memorial was presented to the government in 1785 by the merchants of
Halifax, pointing out the great injury to their trade from the faulty
arrangements. Lieutenant governor Parr, in forwarding the memorial,
expressed his entire concurrence in its terms, and added that the mails
which left England by the November packet did not reach Halifax until
the 11th of April following.

But fortunately Canada was now adding an insistent voice in support of
the demand of the Maritime provinces. Before peace was declared, the
governors of Canada and Nova Scotia were canvassing the possibilities of
facilitating communication between their provinces. Despatch couriers
passed between Quebec, fort Howe and Halifax, and efforts were made to
overcome the obstacles to travel, particularly on the portage between
the St. Lawrence and lake Temiscouata.

The results had not been specially encouraging, but the determination of
the Americans to exact the last farthing that could be got out of the
exchanges between Canada and Great Britain, which passed over their
territory, and their unwillingness to assist in expediting the exchanges
in any way, compelled the Canadian government to keep before it the
question of the connections by way of Halifax.

In 1785 the legislative council of Quebec discussed the question.
Finlay, who besides being deputy postmaster general, was a member of the
legislative council, impressed on his colleagues the necessity of
liberating Canada from its dependence on the United States in its
correspondence with the mother country. The refusal of the postmaster
general of the United States to allow Canadian couriers to travel to New
York, although there was no regular exchange between New York and any
United States post office on the road to Canada, led to delays and
exorbitant charges, which were unendurable.

Finlay urged as a first step that Canada should make a passable road as
far as the New Brunswick border, believing that the home government
would see that the governments of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia would
provide the facilities for travel within those provinces. Dorchester,
the governor general, who had taken much interest in the question, sent
Finlay in 1787 to make a survey of a route from Quebec to Halifax, and
to arrange for couriers to pass monthly between the two places. The
British government gave its approval to his efforts to establish a
connection between the British provinces, and on its part, arranged
that, commencing in March 1788, the packets which ran between Falmouth
and New York should call at Halifax during the eight months from March
to November of each year.[226]

The call of the packets at Halifax, and the exchange of the mails
between Great Britain and Canada at that port marked the commencement of
the inland services in the Maritime provinces. Post offices were opened
at the important points on the route between Halifax and Quebec.

The couriers passed through Fredericton and St. John in New Brunswick,
and Digby, Annapolis, Horton (now Wolfville) and Windsor in Nova
Scotia.[227] St. John post office was opened in 1784, the office of
postmaster and king's printer being combined. The courier between St.
John and Fredericton travelled over his route fortnightly, and a service
of the same frequency was maintained on the route in Nova Scotia.

In order that the post office should have the advantage of conveying the
military despatches between the posts on the route, the expresses which
had been employed in this duty were suppressed, much to the distaste of
the military authorities, who would henceforward have to pay the very
high postal charges on their letters.

These charges were prohibitive for all but very urgent letters. A letter
consisting of a single sheet cost twelve cents to carry it from St. John
to Fredericton if it weighed less than an ounce. If it weighed over an
ounce the charge was quadrupled. The following are the rates charged by
the postmaster at Halifax to the several post offices in Nova Scotia: to
Windsor fourpence; to Horton sevenpence, and to Annapolis and Digby
ninepence.

At the risk of repetition, the reader is reminded that these charges are
for letters consisting each of a single sheet, weighing less than one
ounce, and that in case the letters should weigh above an ounce, the
rates given were multiplied by four, as a letter weighing over an ounce
was regarded as equal to four letters.

The postage from Fredericton to London, England, was sixty-four cents
for a single letter. As one glances over the long newsy letters in the
published correspondence of the time, he is persuaded that those letters
did not pass through the post office. The lately published Winslow
correspondence[228] is full of such letters, but they let us into the
secret of how they came to be sent.

Leading Loyalists, men who had given up their comforts and taken on
themselves the severest hardships for the sake of the old connections,
thought no more than the merest rebels of evading the postal laws, and
sending their letters by any convenient means that presented themselves.
Ward Chipman, the solicitor general of New Brunswick, in writing to
Edward Winslow in London, tells him that he would write more freely if
it were not for the enormous expense, but he would tax the good will of
every person he could hear of, who was going to England. No person was
allowed to go on a journey, long or short, without a pocketful of
letters entrusted to him by his friends, unless he were unusually
disobliging. When he reached his destination, he either delivered the
letters in person, or posted them in the local post office, whence they
were delivered at a penny apiece.

The service as established in 1788 was carried on unchanged until the
war of 1812 made certain alterations in the routes necessary to secure
the safe conveyance of the mails. The presence of American privateers in
the bay of Fundy rendered the passage of the packets between St. John
and Digby hazardous. The course down the St. John river and across the
bay to Digby was, therefore, temporarily abandoned.[229]

The courier with the mails from Quebec did not continue the river route
farther south than Fredericton. At that point he turned inland, taking a
road which led to the juncture with the old Westmoreland road which ran
from St. John to fort Cumberland, on the eastern boundary of New
Brunswick. The road from fort Cumberland was continued on through Truro
to Halifax.

For a short period before the war and during its course, the deputy
postmaster general was under steady pressure on the part of the
provincial governors to extend the means of communication throughout the
province of Nova Scotia.[230] Population was increasing rapidly--the
census of 1817 gave it as 82,373--and settlement was well distributed
over all parts of the province.

The governors for their part were anxious to have the means of
corresponding easily with the militia, who were organized in every
county. The deputy postmaster general was in a position of considerable
embarrassment. His orders from the home office as respects the
expenditure of the postal revenue were as explicit as those under which
Heriot was struggling in Canada. He won through his difficulties,
however, with more success than attended Heriot's efforts, although he
did nothing that Heriot did not do, to meet the two incompatible
demands of the post office, on the one side, that he should establish no
routes which did not pay expenses, and of the local administration on
the other, that he should extend the service wherever it seemed
desirable to the governor.

Howe brought a little more tact than Heriot seemed capable of, in
dealing with the provincial authorities. He laid the commands which had
been impressed on him by the secretary of the general post office before
the legislature, and obtained the assistance of that body in maintaining
routes, which did not provide sufficient postage to cover their
expenses. On his part he engaged, in disregard of the injunctions of the
secretary, to allow all the sums which were collected on a route to be
applied to paying the postmasters and mail couriers as far as these sums
would go, the legislature undertaking to make up the deficiencies.

In April 1817,[231] Howe made a comprehensive report of the mail
services in operation at that date, together with the arrangements for
their maintenance.

There were two principal routes in the province. The first in local
importance was that through the western counties from Halifax to Digby
and thence by packet to St. John. The section between Halifax and Digby
cost £348 a year, of which the legislature paid £200. The packet service
across the bay was maintained by the legislatures of the two provinces.
The settlements beyond Digby as far as Yarmouth and on to Shelburne,
were served by a courier who received £130 from the legislature, and all
the postage on letters going to the settlements, which amounted to £65 a
year.

The second leading route was that between Halifax and Fredericton by way
of Truro. This route, which was begun in 1812, was discontinued at the
close of the war. It had been found so advantageous, however, that it
was re-established in the beginning of 1817, as the permanent route
between Quebec and Halifax.

From Truro, a courier travelled through the eastern counties to Pictou
and Antigonishe. This was a district which Howe regarded with much
satisfaction. He wrote that the large immigration from Scotland and
other parts of Great Britain had increased the number of settlements and
thrown open the resources of this part of the province to that extent,
that the revenue of the eastern districts would soon surpass that from
those in the west.

Antigonishe collected the letters from all the eastern harbours and
settlements, and although the post office had been open for only about
nine months, the results, as Howe conceived them, were very encouraging.
The expenses of the courier at this period far outran the revenues, and
accordingly the legislature made a contribution of £130. The remainder
of the shortage was made up partly by postages and partly by private
subscriptions.

Howe, the deputy postmaster general, set forth the favourable aspects of
the service with an eagerness that betokened nervousness, and indeed
there was some reason for this feeling. When his statement reached
England, the secretary at once drew the attention of the postmaster
general to the fact that, while Howe had done extremely well, his
actions in appropriating the revenue to any specific object and in
establishing new routes and making new contracts without first receiving
departmental sanction were inconsistent with the principles which
governed the post office.

But it was something that, while Heriot's official zeal was embroiling
him with the governor general of Canada, Howe was managing to secure the
good will of the lieutenant governor of his province, and his
compromises with post office principles were passed over with a slight
warning. Howe retired in 1818 on account of old age, and was succeeded
by his son, John Howe, junior.

The postal service of New Brunswick did not advance with equal step with
that of Nova Scotia. Until 1820 there was no progress made in improving
the system, except that the conveyance between St. John and Fredericton
had been increased from fortnightly to weekly.

The first district off the established lines to manifest a desire for
postal accommodation was that on the Miramichi river.[232] There were
two flourishing settlements on the river--Chatham and Newcastle--largely
engaged in lumbering and fishing, and some means for the exchange of
letters was a necessity.

For some years before 1820 a courier travelled between these settlements
and Fredericton along the course of the Nashwaak river. He was paid
partly by a subsidy from the legislature of New Brunswick, and partly by
private subscription. Those who did not subscribe to the courier, might
or might not receive their letters. It depended on the caprice of the
courier. If he chose to deliver them, he exacted a payment of eleven or
twelve pence for each letter. This arrangement was far from
satisfactory, as the following illustration will show.

In February 1824, a brig from Aberdeen reached Halifax, bringing a mail,
which contained sixty letters for the Miramichi settlements. These
letters were forwarded to Fredericton by the first courier. It happened
that among the persons to whom the letters were addressed were a number
who were not subscribers, and the courier refused to take the letters
for these persons with him.

The consequence was that the letters had to be returned to Halifax, to
take the chance of the first vessel that might happen to be sailing in
that direction. To guard against any similar mishap in future, Howe left
the letters for the Miramichi districts with the captains who had
brought them over, and allowed them to arrange for their onward
transmission.

The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick urged the establishment of a
regular post office on the Miramichi. The trade of the district was of
considerable proportions. In 1823, four hundred and eight square-rigged
vessels from the United Kingdom loaded on the Miramichi. There was some
bargaining between the deputy postmaster general and the lieutenant
governor. The expense of the courier would be heavy, and the revenue
from it would not be large.

Howe proposed that the postages from the route be devoted to its
maintenance, and the balance be made up by the legislature. Howe does
not seem to have had his usual success in these negotiations, for the
governor declined to deal with him, insisting on corresponding directly
with the postmaster general in England. This caused some delay, and it
was not until 1825 that the post office was sanctioned.

The year 1825 was a notable one in the history of the New Brunswick post
office. In that year several important offices were opened. Howe, in his
report to the postmaster general, gives an interesting account of his
trip in establishing these offices.[233] He took a vessel from St. John
to Dorchester, where he opened an office; thence to Baie Verte, from
which point he sailed to Miramichi and to Richibucto. Returning to
Dorchester he travelled to Sussexvale.

Howe appointed postmasters at all these places. On arriving at St. John,
he was met by the request of the lieutenant governor to open an office
at St. Stephen. He finished up his tour by visiting Gagetown and
Kingston where offices were opened.

The very considerable enlargement of the system in New Brunswick gave
much satisfaction to the lieutenant governor. But as usual the deputy
postmaster general received a douche of criticism from the secretary of
the post office, who could not bear to sanction an extension of the
service which did not turn in something to the treasury. Howe had,
indeed, been careful that the post office should not be even a temporary
loser by his arrangements. He had gone no further than to apply the
postages collected at the new offices to pay the postmasters and
couriers, as far as these sums would go. The postmaster general took a
larger view of Howe's activities, and expressed his gratification at
what had been accomplished.

It was during this period that Cape Breton was brought within the postal
system of the Maritime provinces. This island, which had been the scene
of great exploits during the French and English wars, had not begun to
come under permanent settlement until after the close of the American
revolution. After the fall of Louisburg, in 1758, the island was
attached to Nova Scotia, and remained a part of that province until
1784, when it was erected into a separate government.

The first lieutenant governor of Cape Breton, Major Desbarres, in
casting about for a suitable site for his capital, had the advantage of
an intimate knowledge of the coast line of the island, acquired during a
series of surveys of the coasts and harbours of the Maritime provinces.
Contrary to what might have been expected, he turned away from
Louisburg, and placed his capital in a town which he established at the
head of the southern arm of Spanish river. Desbarres called the town
Sydney, in honour of Lord Sydney, the secretary of state for the
colonies.

After an inglorious career of thirty-six years, notable only for the
perpetual strife which reigned among the administrative officials,
during which the domestic affairs of the colony were almost entirely
neglected, the colony of Cape Breton was re-annexed to Nova Scotia in
1820.

The growth of population during this period was slow. In 1774 there were
1241 people on the island, including some roving bands of Indians. On
the west coast, about Arichat and Petit de Grat, there were 405 persons,
all French. About St. Peters there was a mixed English and French
population numbering 186; and on the east coast in a line running north
and south of Louisburg there were tiny settlements containing in all 420
persons, nearly all English.

So little progress had been made during the last quarter of the
eighteenth century, that at the end of 1801 the population was only
2531, of whom 801 were in the Sydney district, and 192 in and about
Louisburg. The remainder were strung along the west coast from Arichat
to Margaree harbour.

The increase on the west coast was due to a number of Highland Scotch
immigrants, who reached Cape Breton by way of Pictou, and took up land
between the Gut of Canso and Margaree harbour. In 1802, the Scotch
movement into Cape Breton began to assume considerable proportions. A
ship bringing 300 settlers into Sydney, was followed by others year
after year, until, at the date when Cape Breton again became part of
Nova Scotia, the population had reached between eight and nine thousand,
most of whom were Highland Scotch. The district about Arichat remained
French.

There was a post office in Cape Breton as early as 1801. It was at
Sydney, with A. C. Dodd as postmaster.[234] Dodd was a man of prominence
on the island, being a member of the legislative council and afterwards
chief justice. He held the postmastership until 1812, when he was
succeeded by Philip Eley, who was in office in 1817, when the lieutenant
governor, General Ainslie, pointed out to the home government the
necessity of improving the communications between the island and Great
Britain.

The exchange of correspondence was slow and uncertain. The Cape Breton
mails were exchanged by the Halifax packet, but it was usual for two
months to elapse between the arrival of the letters from England and the
first opportunity of replying to them. Half the delay, Ainslie thought,
might be avoided, if the packets on their homeward voyages would lie off
the harbour of Louisburg for an hour or two to enable a small boat to
reach the packet.

The commanders in port at Falmouth were consulted, and gave it as their
opinion that the fogs and currents, which prevailed about Louisburg
would make it inadvisable to attempt to land the mails there, and the
proposition was rejected. In the winter of 1817, an overland
communication was opened between Sydney and Halifax, an Indian carrying
the mails between the two places once a month during the winter.[235]
When the annexation of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia took place in 1820,
the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Sir James Kempt, managed to
obtain a weekly mail between Sydney and Halifax.[236]

The earliest period in which we find a postal service in operation in
Prince Edward Island is 1801.[237] John Ross is mentioned as postmaster
of the island in that year. He was succeeded by Benjamin Chappell, in
whose hands and in those of his family, the postmastership remained for
over forty years.

The connections with the mainland and the mother country were maintained
for some years by such vessels as happened to visit the island. The
postal service of the island was within the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia.
It was not, however, until 1816, that the deputy postmaster general made
any mention of the island service in his reports to the general post
office in London.

Howe then informed the postmaster general[238] that when Lord Selkirk
was in Nova Scotia some years before, that nobleman urged upon him the
necessity of a courier service to Pictou, and thence to Prince Edward
Island by packet. This service was established in 1816, and an
arrangement was made with the island government, by which the postage
was to be applied as far as it would go to maintain the packet and pay
the postmaster's salary, and the government would make up the balance.

There were no accounts between the island post office and the general
post office. The postmaster simply presented to the deputy postmaster
general periodical statements of the postages collected, and his
expenses, together with a receipt for the deficiency which was paid by
the government. This arrangement had the immense advantage that from the
very first the island service was in the hands of the local government,
which carried on the post office with no more than a formal reference to
the general post office. The postage on a single letter from
Charlottetown to Halifax was eightpence.

The communication between the Maritime provinces and the mother country
was the subject of some discussion. Halifax was determined to retain,
and extend the utility of the packet service at all costs. Owing to the
greatness of the charges, and the long delays, the Canadian merchants
made but little use of the Halifax packets, but had their letters sent
by way of New York.

The merchants of New Brunswick insisted on the same privilege. The
provincial government established two courier services between St. John
and Fredericton, and St. Andrews on the United States boundary, and the
United States post office arranged to have the British mails for New
Brunswick conveyed by its couriers to Robbinstown, a point in Maine a
short distance from St. Andrews.

Against this Nova Scotia protested. John Howe, the elder, came out of
his retirement in 1820, and made a strong plea for an exclusive packet
service between England and Halifax, the vessel to remain at Halifax for
one week before returning. He would have the public despatches for New
York and Bermuda brought to Halifax, and from that place forwarded to
their destination by one of the war vessels in the harbour or by a
packet kept for the purpose.

Buchanan, the British consul at New York, urged the opposite view, that
all the British mails for the colonies should be sent by way of New
York. Dalhousie, who was lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia, at the time
supported Howe's view, and matters remained as they were.

The question of newspaper postage was agitated in the Maritime
provinces, as well as in the provinces of Canada. Indeed it would be
inconceivable that publishers anywhere could be satisfied with the
arrangements then in operation. But, most curiously, when the question
came before the house of assembly in Nova Scotia, the sympathies of that
body ran, not with the publishers, but with the deputy postmaster
general.

In 1830, Edmund Ward, a printer, who published a newspaper in
Fredericton, petitioned the legislature to be relieved of the charges
for the conveyance of his paper. The post office committee of the house
of assembly in Nova Scotia took the application into their
consideration.

The committee reported[239] to the house that, having examined the
imperial acts, they were of opinion that it was no part of the duty of
the deputy postmaster general to receive, or transmit by post,
newspapers printed in the colonies, or coming from abroad except from
Great Britain. They found, moreover, that the secretary of the general
post office in London, under this view of the case, had for a long time
made a charge for each paper sent to the colonies by packet, the
proceeds from which he retained to his own use.

It also appeared that about sixty years before that date (that is about
1770), the deputy postmaster general made a charge of two shillings and
sixpence per annum on each newspaper forwarded to country subscribers by
post, which was acquiesced in by all the publishers at that time.

The committee believed, therefore, that the deputy postmaster general
was fully justified in the charges he made, but they were much in
favour of having newspapers transmitted free. In accordance with this
idea, the committee suggested that the assembly should take on itself
the charges due for the conveyance of newspapers. They found that there
were seventeen hundred newspapers of local origin distributed by post
each week, and three hundred British or foreign newspapers. The assembly
did not act on this suggestion.

Though the deputy postmaster general was fortunate enough to have the
support of the legislature in his contention with the publishers, his
position was by no means free from criticism. Indeed, there were certain
features in his case, which were peculiarly exasperating to the
publishers.

Howe was not only deputy postmaster general, but was king's printer, and
had in his hands the whole of the provincial printing. He was also
interested either directly or through his family in most of the
newspapers published in Nova Scotia.

_The Nova Scotian_, _The Journal_, _The Acadian_ and _The Royal
Gazette_, were all controlled by the Howe family, and it appeared in the
examination that all these newspapers were distributed by the post
office free of postage. There were two other newspapers published in
Halifax--_The Acadian Recorder_ and _The Free Press_--and the publishers
felt, not unnaturally, that in being compelled to pay two shillings and
sixpence for each copy transmitted by post, while their rivals had the
benefit of distribution by the post office free of charge, they were
being subjected to an unjust and injurious discrimination.

The publishers of _The Recorder_ and of _The Free Press_ presented a
petition to the king, asking that they, also, might be relieved from the
burden of paying postage on their newspapers.[240] Just as their claim
appeared to be, it had no support from the authorities in the colony.
The lieutenant governor in sending the petition to the colonial office,
took occasion to speak of the high character of Howe and of his father,
the preceding deputy postmaster general, and to express his opinion that
the small fee collected on newspapers could not be regarded as an
extravagant compensation for the trouble the deputy postmaster general
had in the matter.

The case of the publishers came before the postmaster general in 1834.
Freeling, the secretary, then reminded him that there was no urgency in
the matter, as they were engaged at the time in adjusting the relations
between the colonial governments and the post office, and if the
provincial legislatures accepted the settlement proposed by the home
government, the question of newspaper postage would be satisfactorily
disposed of.

In the meantime, the petition was easily answered. The practice, argued
the secretary, was not illegal as it was founded on an act of parliament
empowering the postmaster general to give to certain of his officers the
right to distribute newspapers by post. This right had been in existence
since the first establishment of a post office and of a newspaper in the
colony. Consequently the petitioners, in entering upon the business of
publishing a newspaper, must have been aware of the charges to which the
publishers would be liable.

The imperial bill of 1834, together with the draft bill prepared by the
post office for the acceptance of the provinces reached the lieutenant
governors of the provinces in January 1835. The object of the plans, it
will be remembered, was in effect to have the stamp of legality placed
on the existing arrangements, by obtaining for them the sanction of the
several provincial legislatures.

On the adoption by the legislatures of the several bills, which were
identical in form, the postmaster general would relinquish the powers he
had until that time exercised over the revenues of the provincial
system, and allow the surplus, if any should arise, to be distributed
among the provinces, leaving it also with them to make up the deficit in
case the expenditure exceeded the revenue.

The proposals of the postmaster general were received characteristically
by the different provinces. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had no fault
to find with the existing arrangements. So far from objecting to the
irregular emoluments of the deputy postmaster general for the Maritime
provinces, they recommended, when the question arose, that his
emoluments be increased. Whenever the lieutenant governor or the
legislature of either of the provinces desired the extension of the
postal system into sparsely settled and unremunerative districts, the
local governments without demur took the deficiencies on themselves, and
did not ask why the profits from the more populous districts were not
devoted to meeting these shortages.

When the imperial scheme for settling the difficulties of the colonial
postal system was laid before the legislatures of the Maritime
provinces, it found them quite unprepared to discuss it. Until then,
they had apparently not realized that any such difficulties existed. The
thirteen years controversy between the British post office and the
assemblies in Upper and Lower Canada appears to have excited no
attention in the lower provinces. When the proposition from the British
post office was submitted to the assembly in New Brunswick, it was put
aside until the following session, and then, as it appeared not to suit
the views of the assembly, it was dropped.

In Nova Scotia, the subject received more consideration. The draft bill
was referred to a committee of the legislature, which went thoroughly
into its merits. The committee were of opinion[241] that, if modified in
certain respects, the bill would be well adapted to accomplish the
object in view. In their view the bill should not be a permanent one,
but should be renewable every three years, in order that any defects,
which experience might disclose, could be remedied.

It also seemed advisable to the committee that the chief administrative
officer in the province should be selected, not by the postmaster
general, but by the governor of the province, who would be more
conversant with the character and abilities of persons qualified to
discharge the duties of the office.

As the legislatures of Canada and New Brunswick had declined to adopt
the bill, the committee would not recommend that any bill should be
adopted that session. The only point to which they invited the attention
of His Majesty's government was the salary of the deputy postmaster
general, which was not only inadequate, but would not bear comparison
with the emoluments of the deputy in the other provinces.

The Nova Scotian assembly did not, however, rest at this point. Though
they had acquiesced quite contentedly in the arrangements made by Howe,
the deputy postmaster general, and had shown no disposition to join the
Canadas in their agitation, the implied admission of the home government
that the surplus post office revenues belonged of right to the colonies,
put a different face on the subject.

The post office committee called the deputy postmaster general before
them, and on going over the accounts with his assistance, they
discovered that there was a considerable amount remitted annually to
England, as profit from their inland posts, and satisfied themselves
that if this amount were retained by the deputy postmaster general, and
devoted to paying for the unremunerative services, the sum contributed
by the province for the maintenance of these services would be much
reduced, if not wiped out altogether.

The legislature, thereupon, with a boldness which seemed to betoken
ignorance of the course of events in Canada, resolved to take over the
control of the provincial post office. A bill for that purpose was
adopted in 1838,[242] and received the assent of the lieutenant
governor. By it, the deputy postmaster general was directed to pay into
the provincial treasury any surplus revenue, and the legislature on its
part undertook to make good any deficiency, if such should arise.

The position of matters as regards the inland service of Nova Scotia was
complicated by the geographical situation of the province with reference
to the other provinces. The British packets, by which mails were
exchanged between Great Britain and the North American colonies, landed
at Halifax, and it was essential that the conveyance of the mails across
Nova Scotia between Halifax and the inland provinces should be
maintained unimpeded.

The legislature recognized this fact, and agreed to provide for this
through service at its own cost, on condition that the British post
office should pay the salaries of the deputy postmaster general and his
staff at Halifax, from the revenues of the packet service.

The home government disallowed the Nova Scotia bill as being
inconsistent with the objects sought to be accomplished by the imperial
act of 1834. The aim of that act was to secure a uniform code of laws
for the regulation of the posts in British North America. Any partial
legislation would be unacceptable, and this was particularly the case
with legislation on the part of Nova Scotia, the key to British North
America. By obtaining control over the expenditure for the mail service
through the province, the legislature of Nova Scotia would have the
entire power over the postal communications with the interior, and they
might not only object to defray the expense of particular services, but
might interdict them altogether, as, in their opinion, unnecessary.

The colonial secretary added another consideration to this argument of
the postmaster general. One of the chief advantages which the government
hoped to derive from the mission of Lord Durham, who was then in Canada,
was that of devising some plan for the regulation of questions, which,
like that of post office communications, was the subject of common
interest to the colonies collectively.

The assembly showed some resentment at the rejection of their bill. The
despatch informing the governor that the measure had been disallowed,
also contained notice of the refusal of the home government to sanction
several other acts adopted by the Nova Scotia legislature. In the
resolution expressing regret that the measures in question had not been
allowed to go into operation, the assembly were careful to intimate
their confidence in the disposition of Her Majesty to meet the
reasonable expectations of the assembly, and attributed the several
disallowances to a want of correct information on the part of the home
government due to its not going to the proper sources therefor.

In order to remove the misunderstanding which the assembly conceived to
exist between themselves and the home government, William Young and
Herbert Huntingdon were sent as delegates to confer with the colonial
secretary on this and other subjects lying open. In London the delegates
were brought into communication with the treasury.[243]

As the chief objection to the Nova Scotia bill for the regulation of the
post office was that it would give the government of that province
control over the posts to the provinces in the interior, the delegates
lost no time in disclaiming any desire to exercise control over any but
their own inland service. They were willing that the great through lines
should remain within the jurisdiction of the postmaster general of Great
Britain, and that the provincial authority should be confined to the
management of the side or cross posts. This proposed dual control was,
of course, obviously impracticable, as the whole provincial service,
with its main lines and cross lines, was so blended together, that any
attempt to treat them as under two different administrations could not
fail to lead to unfortunate results.

The mission of the delegates was, however, far from fruitless. The fact
that the legislature had without complaint paid out considerable sums
each year for the maintenance of the service, appeared to the British
government to entitle Nova Scotia to liberal treatment, as these
payments would not have been demanded if the post office had understood
the matter.

The treasury, therefore, decided that so long as the revenue from the
inland post office was sufficient to meet the expenditure for the inland
communications, no demand for that purpose should be made upon the
provincial funds. Should, however, the legislature deem it advisable to
add to the lines of communication, the treasury would rely upon the
legislature to defray the expenses of such additional communications,
so far as these were not covered by the augmented postage receipts.

There was no more than justice in this decision, but the concessions of
the treasury did not stop at this point. It also intimated its
willingness to allow all the packet or ocean postage collected in the
colonies to remain at the disposal of the local government, whenever the
imperial act of 1834 should come into operation.

The British government did not desire to force the imperial act upon the
colonies, if, as appeared to be the case, there were valid objections to
it. It was prepared to consider any amendments which might be proposed
to meet those objections. The packet postage, it should be explained,
belonged entirely to the British government which provided and paid all
the expenses of the packet service, so that the offer to allow the local
governments to retain for their own use the packet postage they
collected, was a real concession.

FOOTNOTES:

[225] _C. O. Rec._ (_Can. Arch._), N.S., A. 103, p. 134.

[226] See p. 86.

[227] _Quebec Gazette_, December 13, 1787.

[228] _Winslow Papers_, 1776-1826 (printed under the auspices of the New
Brunswick Historical Society, 1901).

[229] Heriot to Howe, August 30, 1812 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, III.).

[230] Howe to Freeling, June 20, 1816 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, III.).

[231] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, April 4, III.

[232] Freeling to postmaster general, August 11, 1823, with enclosures
(_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.).

[233] Howe to Freeling, October 18, 1825 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, II.).

[234] _Quebec Almanac_, 1802, p. 71.

[235] Capt. Im Thurm to Freeling, April 5, 1819 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, III.).

[236] Kempt to colonial office, March 26, 1821.

[237] _Quebec Almanac_, 1802, p. 71.

[238] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.

[239] _Journals of Assembly_, Nova Scotia, 1830, p. 717.

[240] Hay to Freeling, January 15, 1834, and accompanying papers (_Can.
Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, IV.).

[241] _Journals of Assembly_, Nova Scotia, 1836, App. 73.

[242] _Journals of Assembly_, Nova Scotia, 1839, App. 8.

[243] Letters from Young and Huntingdon to Baring, June 21, 1839, and
accompanying papers (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, VIII.)




CHAPTER XI

     Continuance of agitation in the Canadas for control of the
     post office--Much information obtained by committees of
     legislatures--Difficulty in giving effect to reforms.


The proposals of the British post office for removing the objections to
the existing arrangements without endangering the efficiency of the
colonial postal system had a very different reception in the assemblies
of Upper and Lower Canada from that which they met with in the Maritime
provinces.

Owing to a general indisposition on the part of the legislatures of Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick to push their contentions to extremes, and
doubtless also, to the fortunate relationship between the deputy
postmaster general of the Maritime provinces and Joseph Howe, the leader
of the reform party in Nova Scotia, the post office had been subject to
no authoritative criticism in those provinces up to the time when the
plans of the British post office were laid before the legislatures.

In the Canadas the situation was exactly the reverse, as regards both
the state of public feeling and the claims of the deputy postmaster
general upon the forbearance of the assemblies.

The discussion of political grievances was arousing in the popular party
a bitterness which was fast carrying the agitation for remedies beyond
constitutional bounds; and as for Stayner, he had quite alienated from
himself the good will of the assemblies in Upper and Lower Canada, by
his open identification of himself with the government party. When,
therefore, the British proposals were laid before the assembly of Upper
Canada by the lieutenant governor in 1835, they were rejected with the
contemptuous observation that the provisions of the proposed bill were
so absurd and inapplicable that no benefit could be expected from any
attempt to amend them.[244]

The legislatures were not aware of the circumstances which had led to
the British proposals. The fact that the views for which they had
contended had been upheld by authorities so eminent as the law officers
of the crown was withheld from them. The changed attitude of the
postmaster general was therefore regarded by the assemblies as a proof
of the success of their agitation, and they girded themselves up for
renewed efforts.

As a preliminary to fresh attacks the assemblies in both provinces
demanded from Stayner a mass of information, the extent of which filled
him with dismay. But no further refusals on his part were possible. The
colonial office was scarcely more pleased with Stayner and his methods
than the provincial assemblies were, and the postmaster general was
requested to see there were no more concealments.

The work which fell upon Stayner in the preparation of the returns
called for was enormous. As printed by the legislature of Lower Canada,
the documents produced filled two hundred and sixty-eight quarto pages.
Stayner appears to have withheld nothing. He became as effusive as he
had formerly been reticent. He published letters written by himself to
his official superiors, which must have proved embarrassing to them.

In the correspondence Stayner disclosed was a letter from the postmaster
of Montreal, pleading for a more suitable room for his post office.[245]
From this letter it appears that in 1835, the post office in Montreal
was in the upper storey of a building standing between the _Gazette_
printing establishment and a boarding house, and underneath it was a
tailoring and dry goods shop. To get to the post office the public had
to grope up an unlighted flight of stairs at the risk of their limbs,
and when they reached the top they had to make their way across a small
lobby half-filled with firewood.

As an inducement to the department to provide more suitable quarters,
the postmaster stated that the merchants were so sensible of the
inconvenience and danger from fire, that the postmaster thought they
would help with the erection of a proper building, if applied to.

Stayner also produced the copy of a letter he had written a short time
before, to the secretary of the general post office protesting his
inability to meet the wants of the provinces with the means which the
postmaster general had placed at his disposal. The letter deals chiefly
with the conditions in Upper Canada, and as a description of the
situation in that province it could not be bettered. The occasion of the
letter was a complaint made by a gentleman in England that it had taken
from the 12th of June until the 12th of October for a letter, addressed
by him to his son in Barrie, to reach its destination.

Stayner in reporting on the subject, admitted that this was quite likely
the case, but insisted that no blame was imputable to him. The nearest
post office to Barrie was from thirty to forty miles distant, and it was
probable that the letter had lain a couple of months at that office
before being called for.

The case of the Barrie settlers was typical of that of thousands of
well-educated people inhabiting the back parts of Upper Canada, where
they had formed thriving towns and villages from twenty to fifty miles
from the existing posts. These people with whom postal accommodation was
almost a necessity of life were entirely without the means of
corresponding with their distant friends, unless they sent and received
their letters by private agency.

Stayner declared that he was well within bounds in saying that at that
moment there were between two hundred and three hundred distinct
societies of people spread over the country in Upper Canada alone, who,
like the settlers in Barrie, were suffering from want of that
accommodation which he would fain give them, if he had the power to do
it. The case was to be the more lamented from the fact that the
reasonable wants of these people could be supplied without burdening the
post office revenue.

So active was the spirit of enterprise amongst the class of persons
crowding into the new settlements throughout the whole extent of Upper
Canada, as well as in many parts of the lower province, and so great was
their disposition for letter writing, that Stayner was sure in a short
time the increased revenue would amply repay the outlay required. But
with the assistance allowed him, it was impossible to meet those
demands.

It was indispensable that he should have at least two travelling
officers, whose duty it should be to examine into the merits of
applications, to settle questions of site, and arrange for mail
carriers. As for mail carriers, Stayner believed that the surveyors
would save their salaries by that item alone, as in the absence of
officials who would make arrangements on the spot, the post office was
being constantly exposed to imposition by carriers, against which it was
impossible to provide.

During the first five years he had been in office, Stayner had increased
the number of offices under his control from ninety to two hundred and
seventy, but beyond that it was impossible for him, with his present
assistance, to go. The parts of the country where new offices were
called for were so remote, and the means of information so
unsatisfactory that it would be improper for him to open offices and
make contracts for serving them, without the advice of persons acting
under his orders, upon whose judgment he could rely.

At that moment, Stayner further told the committee, the provinces of
Upper and Lower Canada required not less than five hundred offices, that
is, practically double the number then in operation, and in ten years,
at least one thousand offices would be necessary to provide the
requisite accommodation. With proper assistance he could establish and
put into successful operation all that were wanted at the rate of one
hundred a year. Less than that scale of advancement would fail to
satisfy the public.

The complaints of the people had become so loud and threatening that,
unless they were speedily met, Stayner was apprehensive they would be
engrafted upon the catalogue of provincial grievances. Before he left
England, Stayner had the postmaster general's promise that two surveyors
would be at once appointed. He had waited as long as he felt that he
dared, but the situation had become so alarming, that he had taken it
upon himself to appoint two surveyors who would act under his
directions, until regular appointments could be made.

After Stayner laid before the houses of assembly in the two provinces
the various returns they had called for, committees were struck in each
house to consider the information contained in the statements. The
committee in Lower Canada took the evidence of Stayner and of William
Lyon Mackenzie who happened to be in Quebec at the time, conferring with
the reform leaders in Lower Canada.

Mackenzie's statement was a general arraignment of the administration of
the post office. He declared that, as then constituted, the post office
in the opinion of the assembly of Upper Canada, was an illegal
institution, monopolizing the conveyance of epistolary correspondence
which it taxes heavily, and appropriating the proceeds in England,
without the knowledge and consent of the assembly.

It arbitrarily and often capriciously, the reformer from Upper Canada
complained, fixed the sites of post offices, and dismissed and appointed
the incumbents. It resolved that one section of the country, though
thickly settled, should have no post offices, while another part which
was almost destitute of inhabitants had regular mails. Newspapers were
taxed at such a rate as the post office thought fit, and the proceeds
were held by the deputy postmaster general as his perquisite.

In short, Mackenzie was emphatic in his declaration that the
establishment was a poor substitute for a provincial post office, which
would be regulated by law, and its revenues disposed of by the authority
of the legislature. He gave some curious illustrations of the
inequalities which marked the operation of the newspaper regulations.

While Mackenzie was in England, Joseph Hume secured the production of a
number of documents relating to the Canadian post office, which the
legislatures in Canada had tried in vain to obtain from Stayner. Among
these was a statement showing the amount paid by the several newspaper
publishers for the distribution of their papers by the post office. On
looking over the list Mackenzie was surprised at the very moderate
amounts paid by publishers of some of the most widely-circulated papers.
_The Montreal Gazette_, for instance, distributed nearly two thousand
copies by post, but paid postage on only two hundred and fifty copies.

Mackenzie made some further inquiries, and found that all sorts of
irregularities prevailed, which Stayner in the weakness of his position
was fain to connive at. The publisher of one paper in Kingston told
Mackenzie that he entered seventy-five copies as sent by post, while
mailing four hundred copies; another reported sixty copies and sent
three hundred. A third publisher, who objected to paying the usual
charge of four shillings per copy per annum, was let off with two
shillings and sixpence per copy; while a fourth publisher paid no
postage at all for several years.

Until that time Mackenzie had been paying the regular charges for all
copies of his newspaper--_The Colonial Advocate_--which he sent by mail.
But he determined to be no longer the victim of such barefaced
discrimination, and he accordingly began to enter for postage only a
part of the total issue distributed through the mails.

In order that he might not be open to a charge of dishonesty, and
perhaps also to help in the exposure of a vicious system, Mackenzie told
the postmaster at Toronto what he was doing, and at the same time
published the facts in his newspaper. This, of course, could not be
tolerated by Stayner, and he demanded from Mackenzie the full postage on
all his papers sent through the mails.

Mackenzie refused to pay, but declared that if Stayner would allow the
case to go before a jury in Toronto, Stayner might employ all the
counsel in the colony to support his demand, and if the jury could be
persuaded to render a verdict against him, he pledged himself to pay
the demand and all expenses. The offer was, of course, declined and the
claim was dropped.

In the course of a long examination, Stayner was taken over all the
points in controversy between the postmaster general and the Canadian
provinces. Dr. O'Callaghan,[246] who soon afterwards acquired notoriety
as a leader in the rebellion, was chairman of the committee. He and his
associates in the inquiry had sat on several earlier committees and were
well versed in the points at issue.

With the aid of the documents produced, the O'Callaghan committee
managed to elicit from Stayner a fairly complete statement of the
position of the post office in the Canadas in 1834-1835. Asked as to his
authority for appropriating to his own use the proceeds of the newspaper
postage, he was unable to point to it. But he stated that he knew it had
been repeatedly recognized by the head of the department in London, and
he had never considered it incumbent upon him or even proper to inquire
into the date or form of the authority.

To a committee convinced that everything appertaining to the post office
bore the marks of illegality, this answer could not be satisfactory.
Stayner was consequently next asked whether he considered that any
usage, precedent or custom could give him a right to tax any portion of
His Majesty's subjects without the express consent of parliament. To
this he replied in the negative, but added that he never doubted that
the postmaster general, in permitting his deputy in Canada to send
newspapers through the post for a compensation to himself, was borne out
by law.

What the statute was which the postmaster general held to be his
authority, Stayner could not, with confidence, say. But it occurred to
him that it might be an act passed in 1763,[247] which confirmed certain
officers attached to the principal secretaries of state and to the
postmaster general, in the privilege which they long enjoyed of franking
newspapers and other printed matter.

As a matter of fact, this was the statute cited by the postmaster
general when required to produce his authority for allowing Stayner and
other deputies to treat the proceeds from newspapers as their
perquisites, and as we consider this act, we may admire the prudence
with which Stayner declined an argument as to its sufficiency as
authority for the practice.

Stayner was on firmer ground when he pointed out that the post office
act had made no provision for the conveyance of newspapers, and that, as
things stood, the only alternatives before the publishers were to pay
the prohibitive letter rates on their newspapers, or to come to terms
with him, under the permission of the postmaster general.

The committee were loath to leave this controversial advantage with
Stayner and asked him whether, since the newspapers were carried in the
mail bags, he paid from the newspaper postage any part of the mail
couriers' wages. He said he did not, and then committed himself to the
extraordinary proposition that it cost nothing to carry newspapers
because they were in the same bags with the letters. The committee did
not waste any time arguing such a point as that, but called the
contractor for the conveyance of the mails between Montreal and Quebec,
who testified that if he were relieved of the newspapers, he could carry
the mails on horseback, at a saving of £200 a year.

The O'Callaghan committee in their report to the assembly--a report
which was made on the 8th of March, 1836, invited attention in the first
place to the large sums which were sent by the deputy postmaster general
to England from the revenues of the Canadian post office. During the
thirteen years ended in 1834, the large amount of £91,685 sterling had
been remitted to the British treasury on this account, and the
remittances for the last four years averaged annually £10,041 sterling.

These remittances, and the usage under which they were made, the
committee denounced as a violation of the fundamental rights of the
people of the colony, and as an instance of the disregard of the
declaratory act of 1778, which had cost Great Britain her American
colonies, "now the flourishing and happy United States of America."
Regarding the imperial act of 1834 as an admission that the British
government had acted illegally in appropriating to its own use the
surplus Canadian postal revenues, the committee assumed that the deputy
postmaster general would cease to make remittances of Canadian revenues
to England.

On discovering that this was not the case, the committee gave Stayner
notice that the assembly would probably hold him personally responsible
for any further remittances thus improperly made. Stayner, however, paid
no attention to this warning, as he had but a short time before
deposited $20,000 in the commissariat office for transmission to London.

Stayner's course in treating the newspaper postage as his perquisite
came in for the strongest reprobation. The statutory authority which he
ventured to put forward was easily shown to be no authority at all, and
the committee declared it to be a monstrous absurdity that the head of
the department should, in defiance of all law, presume to fix the
charges on newspapers, and put the proceeds in his pocket.

From the statement furnished by Stayner, it appeared that no less than
£9550 currency had been appropriated by him from this source during the
six years he had held the office of deputy postmaster general, and the
committee suggested that, as he had no shadow of right to any part of
this large sum, legal proceedings should be taken by the province to
recover the amount from him.

The total income which Stayner acknowledged having received was beyond
belief. In each of the three years ending with and including 1834, his
emoluments amounted on the average to £3185 currency. These emoluments
were described graphically by the committee as nearly equal to the
salary of the governor general, three times more than the salary of any
of the puisne judges in the province, almost equal to the whole amount
paid as compensation to the one hundred and thirty-seven postmasters in
Upper Canada, and one-third more than the total amount received by the
one hundred and seventeen postmasters in Lower Canada.

The committee endeavoured to convict Stayner of having misled the
postmaster general as to the magnitude of his income. They were
unsuccessful in this attempt, as the postmaster general was quite aware
of the amount Stayner was receiving, and had expressed no disapproval.

The committee as a conclusion to its report urged that the provincial
government should take over the control of the provincial post office,
and they submitted the draft of a bill which they had prepared for the
purpose of sanctioning the action recommended. The house of assembly
adopted the report of the committee, and having passed the bill, sent it
up to the legislative council for approval.

In the legislative council the bill was rejected. The majority of the
council were Stayner's friends, and they saw that he had a full chance
to express his views before a committee appointed by the council. He set
the draft bill prepared by the postmaster general beside the assembly
bill, and effectively contrasted the strong points of the former with
the weakness of the latter.

The imperial bill, Stayner emphasised before the committee of the
council, dealt with British North America as one territory as regards
regulations and charges, and in his opinion, unless the several
provinces were to be so regarded, an efficient service among the
provinces themselves, and between the provinces and other countries,
would be impossible.

In order to encourage correspondence between the distant parts of the
colonies, the imperial bill fixed the comparatively low rate of eighteen
pence for all distances beyond five hundred miles. Thus a letter could
be sent from Amherstburg to Halifax or Charlottetown for that sum. If
each colony had its own separate postal administration the charge on
letters passing between those places would, in the most favourable
circumstances, cost two or three times as much. Stayner was far from
agreeing that, in all its details, the imperial bill was perfect, but he
was convinced that the principle on which it was based was the only
practicable one.

The great objection Stayner saw in the bill of the assembly was that it
was a local bill operative only within the province. Intercourse between
Lower Canada and the other provinces had to be provided for, since where
there are several states under one supreme head, the free exchange of
correspondence between them is indispensable.

The British government, whose interests in the different provinces
required that communication between them and the mother country should
be uninterrupted, could never consent, Stayner was sure, to any local
arrangements by which those communications might be jeopardized. The
cost of communication between province and province would be
prohibitive, and the consequence would be moral isolation. The separate
states of the American Union, jealous as they were of any impairment of
their rights, recognized the necessity of a common postal service.

Stayner dwelt convincingly on the technical difficulties of accounting
and distributing the charges on inter-provincial correspondence, and on
correspondence between Canada and Great Britain. As it happened at the
time, most of the letters sent between Canada and England passed by way
of the United States. But that was a courtesy on the part of the United
States government which might be terminated at any time, and then the
Canadian provinces would be entirely dependent on the province by the
sea.

If each province charged its full local rates on correspondence passing
through it, and Stayner could see no reason why any of the provinces
should favour its neighbours at the expense of its own people, the
charge on a letter sent from Upper Canada to England would not be less
than six or seven shillings, while under the British draft bill, the
charge would scarcely ever exceed two shillings.

The legislative council adopted Stayner's reasoning entirely. It
admitted that if the post office were an institution of merely local
utility, there would be little to amend in the bill sent up by the
assembly. Since, however, there were several provinces concerned, whose
concurrent action was essential, the conflict of interest which must
inevitably arise would make the harmonious working of the separate parts
of the system difficult, if not impossible.

As an instance of the difficulties springing out of the divergence of
interest among the provinces, the council recalled the fact that it
became necessary to invite the intervention of the mother country to
settle the apportionment of the customs revenues between the provinces
of Upper and Lower Canada. The council suggested to the governor general
that if this line of reasoning were found acceptable, a satisfactory
settlement of the whole question would be reached by requiring the
deputy postmaster general to furnish annually full information as to the
conditions, financial and other, of the post office.

The free transmission of the correspondence of members of the
legislature, the council urged, should be provided for. The deputy
postmaster general should be removable on the joint address of the two
houses of the legislature; the salaries of all officials should be
fixed, and perquisites of every kind withdrawn. Finally such alterations
should be made in the rates of postage, such post offices established
and such arrangements adopted for the regulation and management of the
service, as were called for by the joint address of the two houses.

The plans elaborated by the British post office for the settlement of
the colonial difficulties found no more favour in Upper Canada than in
the other provinces. The assembly condemned the draft bill as unworthy
of consideration. The terms in which the scheme was dismissed by the
assembly were sufficiently slighting, but the colonial secretary was not
in the mood to be resentful.

Lord Glenelg was impressed with the substantial justice of the claims of
the assemblies in the two provinces, and would not make a stand on a
point of manners. As Sir Francis Bond Head was about to come to Upper
Canada to take up the lieutenant governorship in succession to Colbome,
Glenelg, in his letter of instructions[248] directed Head to make every
effort to bring the post office question to a satisfactory conclusion.

Noticing the opinion given by the assembly on the postmaster general's
scheme of settlement, Glenelg thought it right to say that the bill had
the very careful consideration of the postmaster general before being
sent to the several provinces. The government, however, had no desire to
urge the adoption of any measure to which well-founded objections
existed. They were content that the bill should be withdrawn, to make
way for any better bill that might be proposed by the house.

The assembly might find, on approaching the subject more closely,
continued Glenelg, that unexpected difficulties would crop up,
particularly with regard to intercourse by post with places beyond the
limits of the province. The lieutenant governor was authorized to assent
to any judicious and practicable measure which the house might
incorporate in a bill, and to regard as of no importance, when opposed
to the general convenience of the public, any considerations of
patronage or revenue derivable from this source.

Notwithstanding this conciliatory statement, the house proceeded along
the same lines as those followed by the assembly in Lower Canada. They
drew up a series of resolutions[249] providing for the establishment of
a post office department with headquarters in Toronto. Specified sums
were allotted for the maintenance of a head office, and for the salaries
of the postmaster general and his staff. The rates were fixed on letters
and newspapers, and the percentage of revenue to be allowed postmasters
as salaries was defined.

The house was unsparing in its condemnation of Stayner. They estimated
that during the ten years preceding, the large sum of £48,000 had been
withdrawn from the province through the exactions of the post office, an
amount which they said would have sufficed to establish five district
banks, suited to the wants of as many different sections of the country.

The advantages of a provincial establishment appeared to the house to be
very great. A large amount of wealth would be kept in the province,
which was sent to Quebec, either for transmission to England, or to make
up the perquisites of officials; post offices could be opened wherever
they were required, and no distant part of the province would be without
the means of cheap and convenient accommodation; postmasters would be
better paid, and the postage on letters and newspapers would be reduced;
and extravagance could be checked and abuses corrected.

The house was fully aware of the objections to a local post office
system, but in their opinion those objections were not to be mentioned
beside the numerous advantages the provincial post office would provide.
It would be far easier for the department to open accounts with the
present or any other post office department that might be organized,
than it was to arrange with the United States for the interchange of
correspondence with that country, and yet there was a very extensive
exchange between Canada and the United States without the aid of any law
whatever.

In considering the terms of a post office bill, the house had before it
a list of conditions--thirty-one in number--which a committee
recommended for consideration. Many of these were obvious. Others
concerned matters of detail. Some were trivial.

One peculiar condition was that £100 a year should be allotted for the
purchase of books and instruments, which might be useful in helping to
keep the roads in a proper state of repair. The plans for the
establishment of a post office department in Upper Canada did not reach
completion, as the assembly was dissolved a month after the resolutions
were adopted, in consequence of its refusal to vote supplies.

The termination of these agitations in the assemblies of Upper and Lower
Canada, mark the close of a period in the relations between the
provincial legislatures and the post office. The resolutions which were
directed against the constitutional status of the post office, and the
demands for separate provincial establishments ceased at this point.
This was due rather to the disappearance of the opponents of the
existing system than to the removal of the causes for complaint.

The Lower Canadian assembly held a session of less than a fortnight at
the end of September and the beginning of October 1836, and another of a
week in August 1837, when it was dissolved, not to be resumed. During
those sessions the affairs of the post office were not mentioned. In
Upper Canada the election, which followed upon the dissolution of May
1836, resulted in a great victory for the government party.

Before resuming the narrative of events in the British North American
provinces, it will be convenient to see how the late proceedings were
regarded by the home government. Lord Gosford, the governor general, in
transmitting to the colonial secretary the bill framed by the assembly
of Lower Canada, observed that it was intended as a substitute for the
imperial bill of 1834, which did not suit the ideas of the house.

One of the reasons adduced against the post office was that the money
which the deputy postmaster general sent to England was the produce of
an illegal tax levied in violation of the act of 1778. In December 1835,
some of the members of the assembly waited on Gosford, and requested him
to stop the remittance of about £3000 which was being made by Stayner to
the department in England.

Gosford declined to take such a step for reasons which he set forth. The
members, also, asked that the governor should take measures to recover
from Stayner the sums which he was shown to have taken as newspaper
postage. Gosford replied that as this allowance was permitted by the
imperial department, and had been sanctioned by the Duke of Richmond as
late as 1831, he could not assume to do what they asked, but he would
bring the subject to the attention of the home government.

The whole arrangement regarding newspapers appeared to Gosford to be
improper. He was of opinion that the emoluments received by Stayner were
unreasonably large, and that the practice of allowing the deputy
postmaster general to draw a considerable private income from the public
business was wrong in principle.

But the post office in London was already in possession of the Lower
Canadian bill. Stayner had sent a copy to the secretary immediately on
its adoption by the assembly, and before the legislative council had had
time to consider and reject it.

At the post office the receipt of the bill with the notice that it would
go into operation on the 1st of May, 1836, gave rise to great
perturbation among the officials. Freeling, in passing the bill on to
the postmaster general, declared it to be perhaps the most important
document he had ever received.[250] It was neither more nor less than an
entire suppression of the postmaster general's patent, and of the powers
of an act of parliament, authorizing the levying of certain rates of
postage and the payment of the amount of all such postages into His
Majesty's exchequer.

Freeling was a very old man--he was born in 1764--on the point of
retiring from the charge, which he had held for forty-five years, and it
may be that he had forgotten that four years before, the law officers
had given it as their opinion that there was no act of parliament giving
the postmaster general authority over the colonial post office and
postages. At Freeling's instance the postmaster general hastened to put
the matter into the hands of Glenelg, the colonial secretary. Having
taken time to consider the situation, the colonial office drew up a
statement of the subject for the attention of the postmaster
general.[251]

Observing that the assembly of Lower Canada, not being satisfied with
the imperial bill of 1834, had drawn up a bill of their own, and that
the legislative council, in declining to approve of this bill, had asked
the intervention of the home government with the British parliament, the
colonial secretary stated that the British government was not prepared
to accede to this proposition.

By the act of 1834, the regulation of the post office in the several
colonies was referred to the local legislatures, and His Majesty's
government, the colonial office concluded, could not call in the
authority of the imperial parliament for the solution of any
difficulties that may arise until it could be shown conclusively that
there were no other means of settling them; and then it would be only
with the concurrence of the legislatures to whom the matter had been
submitted.

But while determined that, in matters involving legislation, the
colonies should be left to work out their own salvation, the colonial
secretary observed that there were certain matters within the competence
of the postmaster general which, if given effect to, would ameliorate
the situation.

The legislative council had among their requests asked (1) that all
information required by the legislature should be furnished; (2) that
the accounts of receipts and expenditures should be laid before the
legislature annually; (3) that the officers of the department should be
placed on moderate fixed salaries, in lieu of all perquisites and fees.

These objects, Glenelg pointed out, would have been to a certain degree
attained by the bill of 1834. But as it had not become law, no time
should be lost in putting these changes into effect, as they did not
require legislative sanction. The colonial secretary also animadverted
on the emoluments of Stayner. These he considered entirely excessive,
and besides they were levied on an objectionable principle. The
postmaster general was requested to put an end forthwith to the receipt
by the deputy postmaster general of any fees on account of the
transmission of newspapers. His salary should not be excessive.

As a guide to the postmaster general in fixing it, the colonial
secretary gave a list of the salaries of the principal officers in the
colony. Omitting that of the governor general, the highest salary in
Canada was that of the receiver general which was £1000 a year. No other
salary exceeded £500 a year. As against these, Stayner's emoluments of
£3185 for each of the three preceding years were out of all proportion.

Glenelg further impressed upon the postmaster general the anxiety of His
Majesty's government that no time should be lost in removing any real
grievances which might be shown to exist. The postmaster general
concurred with Glenelg as to the necessity of removing all reasonable
grounds of complaint, and stated that steps had been, or were about to
be, taken to that end.

To the postmaster general the newspaper postage question was one of real
difficulty, in view of the absence of necessary legislation. As matters
stood, newspapers could only be sent as letters or under the deputy
postmaster general's privilege. If the law officers could see any way
out of the difficulty, the postmaster general would be glad to adopt it.

As the law officers' ingenuity was not equal to the difficulty, the
situation remained essentially unchanged for some years. Meantime
Stayner was enjoying to the full the peace and quiet which followed upon
the altered conditions in the two provincial assemblies. It was some
years since he had heard a complimentary reference to himself in either
house, though no man could have shown more zeal for the improvement of
the service he administered.

But an agreeable change was at hand. On February 17, 1837, the
legislative council of Upper Canada had before it the report of a
committee it had appointed to inquire into the post office. The chairman
of the committee was John Macaulay, formerly postmaster of Kingston, and
Stayner's chief support in Upper Canada. When there was a question of
appointing an assistant deputy postmaster general for Upper Canada, it
was Macaulay that Stayner desired for the position.

The burden of the report of the committee of the council of 1837 was
that the interests of the several provinces could be maintained only by
preserving to the post office its character as an imperial institution.
In Stayner's hands the service would be carried on efficiently, now that
he had been furnished with the assistance he had applied for. Indeed the
magnitude of his labour could be understood only by those connected with
the service.

The committee drew up a series of conditions which they considered
would place the institution on an efficient footing. The conditions were
very similar to those suggested by the legislative council of Lower
Canada in 1836. The bill of the Lower Canadian assembly appeared to the
committee to illustrate the impracticability of any scheme such as that
proposed by the imperial government in 1834.

If the acceptance of a post office bill was left to the provincial
legislatures, they would almost certainly insist upon a scheme of low
rates, based entirely on local considerations. The excessively reduced
scale of rates proposed by the Lower Canadian assembly could not fail to
leave a large deficit. Hence the wisdom of leaving the rates as they
stood until their effects could be seen.

Ten days after the committee of the legislative council made its report,
the house of assembly adopted an address to the king, in which the same
ideas were embodied, and in the following month a joint address was
prepared by the assembly and the legislative council.[252]

The address began with a recital of the facts making up the existing
situation, and then proceeded to an effective criticism of the imperial
scheme of 1834. It pointed out that the colonial secretary had stated
that, in order to conform to the imperial plans, a uniformity of views
should pervade the bills passed by the several provinces; that a careful
consideration of the bill prepared for the acceptance of the provinces,
and of the action taken upon it in the province discloses no reasonable
grounds for the hope that the legislatures would soon (if indeed ever)
arrive at such uniformity as would ensure the establishment of a
practicable system.

Even if such unanimity on the terms of a bill were reached, it would
doubtless happen frequently, the committee conceived, that amendments in
this bill would be necessary, but as all the legislatures would have to
be convinced of the necessity of the amendments which seemed desirable
or even indispensable to any one of them, the difficulties in the way of
making needful alterations to meet the changing conditions in
progressive communities would be insuperable.

These conditions led inevitably to the conclusion on the part of the
committee that the only means of securing a practicable system in which
all interests, provincial and imperial, would be considered, was to
maintain the supremacy of the British post office, and to continue to
entrust to it the supreme power of making laws and regulations for the
management of the post office in the several provinces. The interests of
the provincial legislatures would be amply safeguarded, the committee
was confident, if their demands for information respecting the post
office were acceded to, and if it were understood that complaints
against the deputy postmaster general, preferred by petition to the
legislature and supported by the joint address of the two houses, would
have the attention of the postmaster general in London.

The turn which affairs had taken was naturally gratifying to Stayner,
who urged the postmaster general to give careful heed to the terms of
the joint address, which, if carried into effect, would, in his opinion,
provide a remedy for all warranted dissatisfaction.

The secretary of the post office did not share Stayner's hopefulness. He
observed to the postmaster general that, however desirable uniformity of
system might be in the post offices of British North America, the
success of any act of the imperial parliament would be jeopardized, if
it involved the imposition of a tax upon the colonies. The secretary was
prepared, however, to listen to any suggestion Stayner might have to
make in the way of improving the existing system.

Although Stayner's friends were in control of both legislative chambers
in Upper Canada, his peace of mind on that account was not of long
duration. In April 1837, both houses passed a franking act, under which
the members were authorized to send their letters free, during the
sittings of the legislature. This act, as Stayner pointed out to the
postmaster general, subverted the imperial acts, upon which the
existence of the post office depended, and he was placed in a very
awkward situation.

Stayner, according to his letter to the postmaster general, had either
to violate the instructions from St. Martins-le-Grand or to bring
himself into collision with both the legislature and the executive. This
act appeared to Stayner to be a fresh illustration of the unfitness of
local legislatures to deal with an institution like the post office. If
part of the revenues could be withheld, as would be the case where
members did not pay their postage, any of the legislatures might, by
passing an act for the purpose, oblige him to pay into the local
treasury the whole of the revenue which came into his hands, or it might
in any other way supersede the laws of the British parliament.

The bill had received the assent of the governor. Constitutionally it
had thereby become an act. But on Stayner's remonstrance the governor
admitted to the colonial office that he should not have given his
sanction to it. The act was disallowed by the home government.

The question of franking the correspondence of the provincial
governments and of the members of the legislatures was one upon which
the legislatures in the several provinces had particularly strong
convictions. For a considerable period before 1837, the legislatures of
Upper and Lower Canada had not paid their accounts for postage.

The account against Upper Canada, which amounted to £1629, was paid in
the beginning of 1837; while the account against Lower Canada was not
paid until after the dissolution of the last assembly at the time of the
rebellion. It amounted to £4043.

The governor general, Gosford, in reporting the payment of the account
of Lower Canada, suggested to the colonial secretary that the sum might
be remitted as an act of grace on the part of the imperial government,
and he urged that if the home government should not feel warranted in
making this concession in its entirety, the correspondence of the
governor general and his civil secretary, which embraced all the
executive business of the province, might be exempt from postage
charges.

Gosford's suggestions were in harmony with the whole character of his
administration. Indeed his persistence in his policy of conciliation
brought down upon him the distrust of the ultra-Loyalists.

Stayner, to whom Gosford's suggestion was referred, opposed it
vigorously. If, he argued, this concession were made to Lower Canada,
immediate demands of the same character would be made by the other
provinces. This would be followed by requests for the free transmission
of members' correspondence, and the post office would speedily find
itself in a deficit.

It would be specially inadvisable to grant this privilege to Lower
Canada, Stayner averred, as the postage received from that province,
after deducting the British packet postage, which was the admitted due
of the British post office, barely sufficed to pay the expenses of the
service in the province. The revenues from Upper Canada exceeded the
expenses by a considerable sum, and any extension of the advantages now
enjoyed by Lower Canada, would be at the expense of the upper province.

The first of the annual statements of revenue and expenditure for which
the legislatures had been contending for many years was presented to
the legislatures on the 17th of January, 1838. The statement contained
an undivided account of the operations in Upper and Lower Canada. This
was not quite satisfactory to the house in Upper Canada, but as the
services for the conveyance of the mails ran from one province into the
other, it was impossible to assign accurately to each province its share
of the expense for their maintenance.

As the statement showed a surplus of £11,264 for the years 1836-1837,
the legislature of Upper Canada saw no reason for hesitating to press
its demand that the franking privilege be granted to its members. They
went, indeed, much further, and asked that the whole amount of the
surplus revenue, which arose from the post office business in Upper
Canada, be transferred to them.

In support of their request, the legislature pointed out that, in the
imperial act of 1834, it was provided that as soon as the consent of His
Majesty should be signified to the bills of the several colonial
legislatures, the net revenue from the post office in British North
America should be distributed among the several provinces in the
proportion indicated by their gross revenues; that the suspension of the
legislature in Lower Canada, in consequence of the rebellion, made it
impossible to procure joint legislative enactments; and the financial
condition of Upper Canada made it necessary that the province should
have at its disposal all the means to which it was legally entitled.

The terms of this memorial were entirely in accord with Stayner's views
as to the proper settlement of this long standing difficulty, and he
urged the postmaster general to do what was possible to give effect to
the petition. He pointed out that, with Mackenzie and Papineau out of
the country, and fugitives from justice, there was no further
disposition on the part of the legislatures to wrest from the imperial
post office the control of the postal systems in the provinces, and that
the appropriation of the surplus revenues to provincial purposes removed
the only valid argument against existing arrangements.

The postmaster general, however, was not to be moved from the position
he had taken. He replied to the address stating that no disposition
could be made of the surplus post office revenues, until the several
colonial governments had come to an agreement on the subject.

FOOTNOTES:

[244] Seventh report of the committee on grievances (_Journals of
Assembly_, 1835, App. 21).

[245] Second report of a committee of the house of assembly of Lower
Canada, 1835-1836.

[246] This gentleman was afterwards the editor of the monumental
_Documentary History of New York_.

[247] 4, Geo. III. C. 24.

[248] Glenelg to Head, December 5, 1835.

[249] _Journals of Assembly_, Upper Canada, 1836, p. 320, and Appendix,
No. 52, to these _Journals_.

[250] Freeling to postmaster general, March 28, 1836 (_Can. Arch._, Br.
P.O. Transcripts, VII.).

[251] June 6, 1836 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, VI.).

[252] _Journals of Assembly_, 1837, p. 580.




CHAPTER XII

     Durham's report on the post office--Effects of rebellion of
     1837 on the service--Ocean steamships to carry the mails--The
     Cunard contract--Reduction of Transatlantic postage.


The long controversy which had agitated the legislatures of the
provinces was approaching its end. The decision on the constitutional
point was given in their favour, though they did not know it; but the
specific thing for which they had contended, they were constrained to
relinquish.

The Upper Canada legislature which had commenced the agitation, and
elaborated the argument against the constitutional standing of the
British post office in the colonies, had become convinced that the
provincial system, which they demanded, was not in the interest of
either the mother country or the colonies. They therefore asked the
British government to put the stamp of legality on the existing system,
by suitable legislation in the imperial parliament.

But the argument of Upper Canada had done its work too well, and it
became the turn of the British government to employ it, to show the
impossibility of meeting the desires of Upper Canada. The difficulty
now, however, was not one of principle, but of ways and means.

The British government were quite willing that the colonial legislatures
should have full information as to the financial operations of their
post offices, and that the surplus revenue, if any, should be divided
among them. All they required was that the colonial legislatures should
by concurrent action devise the means by which the ends in view might be
effected. The British parliament was, in the opinion of the law
officers, precluded from interposing its authority in the settlement of
the difficulty.

Durham, who was sent out to Canada as high commissioner to inquire into,
and, if possible, remedy the defects in the system of government, which
kept the colonies in a chronic state of dissatisfaction, was directed to
give his attention to the condition of affairs in the post office.

In his general report, he dealt briefly with this topic, expressing full
sympathy with the colonial view, and giving it as his opinion that if
his proposition for a union of the provinces should be adopted the
control of the post office should be given up to the colonies.[253] But
he added the recommendation that, whatever arrangements of a political
nature might be made, the management of the post office throughout the
whole of British North America should be conducted by one general
establishment. This suggestion was not realized until the confederation
of the provinces in 1867.

The rebellion in Upper and Lower Canada in 1837 and the following year
was productive of much embarrassment to the post office. Many of the
postmasters, particularly in Lower Canada, were open sympathisers with
the rebels, and, through the opportunities afforded by their post office
duties, assisted largely in the carrying out of their leaders' schemes.

Stayner had realized the impolicy of many of the appointments to post
offices in Lower Canada. But as the local government was continually
appointing to the highest offices men who were conspicuous in the
support they lent to the views of Papineau, he did not conceive himself
warranted in noticing facts which were ignored by the governor.

There were at least from thirty to forty postmasters besides several
mail couriers in Lower Canada implicated in the rebellion. The governor
general in Lower Canada, and the lieutenant governor in Upper Canada
gave their attention to the conditions, each after his manner.

Gosford, the governor general, having been informed of the disloyalty of
the postmasters at Stanstead and Lacolle, suggested that these officials
should be dismissed as soon as it could be done without prejudice to the
service.[254]

Bond Head, the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, directed the local
surveyor to dismiss the postmaster at Lloydtown instantly, for having,
as he said, sent to Mackenzie a series of traitorous resolutions to
which the postmaster had attached his name as corresponding secretary of
the West King and Tecumseth Political Union. Head explained to Stayner
that he was aware that the usual course was to have the dismissal made
by the deputy postmaster general, but as he desired to produce a certain
moral effect by instant punishment, he was compelled to act through
Stayner's agent.

Furthermore, Bond Head asked that Stayner should delegate to Berezy,
the surveyor, the power to dismiss peremptorily any person connected
with the post office whom the lieutenant governor should judge to have
failed in loyalty. Head was an arbitrary personage, who never gladly
suffered the execution of his wishes to linger after their utterance.

A painful instance of the hardships inflicted upon innocent men in times
of political turmoil was the dismissal of Howard, the postmaster of
Toronto.[255] His offence was not disloyalty. Even Bond Head would not
venture to say that he was disloyal--but merely that his friendships
were so far inclusive as to embrace men of widely differing political
opinions.

James Howard had been connected with the post office in Toronto for
eighteen years, during eight of which he had been postmaster. Testimony
abounded as to his zeal and efficiency as a public official. Stayner
reported to the postmaster general that Howard was a man of excellent
character, and one of the best officers in the service.

An aspect of Howard's conduct, which won Stayner's warm commendation,
was his withholding himself from all forms of political activity.
"People in our department," wrote Stayner to Howard, some years before,
"cannot too carefully abstain from identifying themselves with factions
or parties of any kind."

Secure in the approbation of his chief, Howard, following his natural
inclination, moved quietly through the troubled times, which were
heading for an outbreak, and delivered the letters to Loyalist and
Reformer, to Tory and Radical, with even-handed indifference. It would
seem, too, that in the choice of his friends, he exhibited a like
insensibility to the explosive possibilities of some of their opinions.

A few days after the public disturbances began, it was intimated to
Howard that his general attitude towards affairs was not quite
satisfactory, and he at once demanded an investigation. There was
nothing to investigate. But a hint was conveyed to him that he was too
intimate with "those people."

It was decided to have the correspondence of suspects placed under
surveillance. But the duty was not confided to Howard. Letters supposed
to contain information of the rebels were sent to the bank of Upper
Canada, where they were subjected to scrutiny.

On December 13, 1837, eight days after the rebellion broke out, at
Montgomery's Tavern, Toronto, Howard was removed from his office by the
orders of the lieutenant governor. He was replaced by Berezy, the post
office inspector, who throughout the rebellion was active as the
confidential agent of Bond Head. Howard appealed to the lieutenant
governor, protesting his perfect loyalty, and declaring that so far from
concerning himself with politics, he had never voted in his life.

No statement could have been more unfortunate. Head, always a partisan,
was unable to understand how a man could suppose himself to be loyal,
and confess to such a degree of indifference, when the safety of the
country was at stake. The admonition of the deputy postmaster general
was pleaded. Bond Head would not listen. Friends of the government, of
the tried qualities of Fitzgibbon, vouched for Howard's loyalty. It was
to no purpose.

The lieutenant governor declared that he had his reasons for believing,
not only that Howard favoured the disaffected party, but that he had
actually become "subservient to the execution of the treasonable plans."
No evidence has ever been produced to support these accusations. But
Head, in his flamboyant style, prated about the struggle being waged
between monarchy and democracy, and contrasted Howard's indifference
with the zealous devotion of the chief justice and one of the judges,
who, shedding the ermine, took up their muskets in the defence of the
country--and their jobs and perquisites.

Head indulged himself in several similar excesses of authority, always
justifying himself on the ground that he was a protagonist in a death
struggle with the arch-enemy Democracy. When quiet was restored, Howard
renewed his appeals for redress, but the clique surrounding the governor
contrived to frustrate all his efforts in that direction.

In the spring of 1839, a robbery of the mails took place on the grand
route, at a point between Kingston and Gananoque, under circumstances of
peculiar aggravation.[256] The robbers, who lived on an island in the
St. Lawrence, within the territory of the state of New York, made no
attempt at concealment. They openly declared that this was only the
first of a series of similar interferences with the courier passing
between Upper and Lower Canada.

The New York state authorities, who were appealed to, were powerless to
act, but the secretary of state at Albany intimated that it would not
be regarded as a breach of amity if the Canadian officials arrested the
robbers on the island. In view, however, of the excitement which
prevailed at that period on both sides of the border, it was thought
prudent to refrain from so provocative a proceeding.

While Durham was occupied with his preparations for his mission to
Canada, events occurred which were not only of unsurpassed importance to
communication between Europe and America, but which seemed to promise a
strengthening of the relations between the mother country and her
colonies.

In April 1838, two steamships sailed from the United Kingdom for New
York--the "Great Western" from Bristol, and the "Sirius" from Cork--and
reached their destination safely, the former in fifteen days, and the
latter in seventeen days.[257]

As the voyages were made in the face of stiff, westerly winds, the speed
of the "Great Western" and the "Sirius" gave much satisfaction, and it
was accepted as settled that thereafter steam would be the motive power
in the faster vessels employed in the transatlantic trade.

The rapidity with which this conviction established itself was
remarkable. There is nothing surprising in the immediate recognition of
this new achievement of steam by speculative publicists, who saw in the
events only the realization of their visions, but the British treasury,
the arcanum of conservative caution, yielded with almost equal readiness
to the argument provided by the two vessels.

The British consul at New York was the first to bring to official
attention the importance of this advance in the art of navigation. By
the return of one of the vessels, he suggested to the colonial office
that all official despatches and commercial letters for the Canadas
should be directed to the consulate at New York. He undertook to assort
the correspondence, and forward it to Montreal and Toronto by queen's
messengers.

By avoiding the delays to which the regular couriers were subject, and
taking advantage, wherever possible, of the steamboats running on the
inland waters and of the railroads, which were beginning to be
constructed throughout the eastern states, the messengers would be able
to provide a greatly accelerated service. The answers to letters sent
from London or Liverpool to Canada should be back in those cities in
from thirty to thirty-five days--approximately the time taken by the
Halifax packets on a single trip.

The British post office saw reasons for declining the proposal, so far
as it regarded commercial correspondence. It was, however, prepared to
transmit official despatches by this means, and to arrange for their
conveyance from New York in the manner indicated by the consul.

The people of Halifax--who had always regarded with a jealous eye the
disposition of the inland British colonies, to use the port of New York
in preference to their own--managed, at this juncture in the history of
ocean transport, by an appeal to imperial considerations to make a
strong case for their port. By a happy chance, the "Sirius" on its first
homeward voyage, overtook the mail packet from Halifax, and the captain
of the packet, impressed by the higher speed of the steam vessel,
induced the captain of the "Sirius" to take the mails, with the result
that their arrival was advanced by several days.

Joseph Howe and some other gentlemen from the Maritime provinces who
happened to be passengers on the sailing packet when this incident
occurred, were struck with this demonstration of the superiority of
steam, and discussed among themselves whether this fact might not
indicate the means of overcoming, in favour of Halifax, the advantage
enjoyed by the port of New York.

On the arrival of Howe in London, a meeting was called of men interested
in the subject, and it was resolved to press their views on the
attention of the government. Several of the gentlemen wrote to the
colonial secretary, and a memorial of a more formal character was
submitted, bearing the signatures of Howe, as representative of Nova
Scotia, and of William Crane, a member of the legislature of New
Brunswick, as representative of that province.[258]

The views and arguments were of a character similar to those employed by
imperial federation leagues since that period--the shorter sea voyage,
the fostering of common interests among the provinces, and the
desirability of an interchange within the empire of news and
correspondence, uncontaminated by passage through a foreign channel.

At that period, the last of these points had a peculiar timeliness. The
rebellion in Upper Canada had just been subdued, but the embers were
ready to blaze up afresh with the first favouring breeze; while in Lower
Canada the outbreak was still unchecked. The fast sailing packets on the
New York-Liverpool route so far outsailed the post office packets which
ran to Halifax, that the news carried by way of New York was sometimes
weeks in advance of that which arrived by the Halifax packets.

As American popular sympathies, as distinct from official sympathy at
Washington and Albany, lay mainly with the rebels, and as newspaper
publishers were in general less scrupulous as to the veracity of their
news than they are to-day, it often happened that the British public,
and even the government in Downing Street, were grossly misled as to the
movement of events in the Canadas. The truth reached England eventually,
but it had the proverbial difficulty in catching up with the nimble
fiction, which had earlier circulation.

In September the treasury made its decision.[259] In the early part of
that month, the Great Western Steamship Company, which was organized in
1836 for the purpose of providing a steam service between Great Britain
and America, and which had been for some months past demonstrating the
entire feasibility of this class of service, applied to the government
for a contract for the conveyance of the mails to New York.

But the plea of Howe and Crane for a direct service prevailed. On
September 24 the treasury announced the substitution of steam vessels
for the sailing packets on the Halifax route, and directed that tenders
should be invited for such a service as the admiralty and post office
considered most suitable.

The treasury deprecated the haste with which the plans were being pushed
forward, suggesting that a winter's experience would be valuable in
dealing with so important a matter. But there were strong reasons for
avoiding unnecessary delay. Relations with the United States were
causing some anxiety, and as regards transatlantic correspondence, that
country stood in a position of advantage, which it seemed the business
of Great Britain to equalize as far as possible.

Tenders were invited for a steam packet service between Liverpool and
Halifax in November. But none of those submitted satisfied the
conditions prescribed by the government. Samuel Cunard, of Halifax, who
had had a large experience as a contractor for packet services, visited
England, and as the result of negotiations, entered into a contract with
the admiralty.

The contract called for two trips monthly each way between Liverpool and
Halifax, and for trips of the same frequency between Halifax and Boston,
and between Pictou on the gulf of St. Lawrence and Quebec: the vessels
to be employed to be of three hundred horse power for the transatlantic
service, and of one hundred and fifty horse power for the other two
routes. The contract was signed on May 4, 1839, the rate of payment
being £55,000 a year.

This rate underwent a rapid series of augmentations. Two months after
the contract was made £5000 a year was added to the rate on
consideration that the vessels should leave the American ports, as well
as Liverpool, on fixed dates. On September 1, 1841, the decision was
reached that vessels of a larger size than in the service should be
employed, and to secure these the rate was raised to £80,000.

Two years later, in consequence of representations by the contractors
that the amount of payment was insufficient to enable them to carry on
the service, £10,000 was added to the subsidy; and further additions
were made as the result of changes in the arrangements, which will be
detailed in their proper place.

In addition to the provision for the exchange of mails by the Cunard
steamers, between Great Britain and Canada and the United States,
arrangements were made for subsidiary services to Newfoundland and
Bermuda. Halifax, indeed, was being made the pivotal point of the most
extensive scheme ever attempted for the distribution of mails. All the
communications between Great Britain and the North American continent
were comprised in the plans.

The first trip by steamer between Liverpool and Halifax was made by the
"Britannia," which left Liverpool on July 1, 1840. The vessel reached
Halifax after a passage of twelve and a half days. The mails for Canada
were carried overland from Halifax to Pictou, from which point they were
delivered at Quebec five and a half days after their landing at Halifax.
As the vessel conveying the mails up the St. Lawrence from Pictou to
Quebec was delayed a day in the gulf by fog, there was reason for hope
that the passage from Liverpool to Quebec would not materially exceed
fifteen days.

The post office authorities at Halifax bent every effort to make the
enterprise a success. As an instance of their zealous energy, the
"Britannia," on its September sailing, reached Halifax on a morning at
seven o'clock. At a quarter to nine the mails for Canada were on their
way to Pictou; at ten the "Britannia" set out for Boston; and by noon
the vessels for Newfoundland and Bermuda had left for their
destinations.

Prince Edward Island did not at once enjoy the full benefits of these
efficient operations, but by a slight improvement in the arrangements,
the island was put on an equal footing with the other colonies.

The scheme, however, admirable as it was in conception, and successful
as it appeared to be in operation, had weaknesses, which were revealed
by time--weaknesses which before many years led to its abandonment.

The test of the success of such a scheme lay in its capability to
provide adequately for the exchanges with Canada. The mails to and from
Upper and Lower Canada were not only much greater in volume than those
exchanged with the other provinces, but owing to the existing political
conditions in the Canadas, were at the time of greater importance; and,
if, owing to any lack of co-operation on the part of the provinces
participating in the transmission of the mails between Halifax and
Quebec, or through other causes, these mails required a notably greater
length of time in their passage by the Halifax route than they would
have taken if landed at a port in the United States, the Halifax route
must be considered a failure.

This is exactly what happened. When the British government decided to
give the scheme a trial, it reminded the provinces concerned that there
were several months in every year when the mails must be carried between
Halifax and Quebec overland, and that this could be done successfully
only if the roads in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec, over which
the mails must pass, were put in a condition to permit of fast travel by
carriage, night as well as day.

At the time--1840--the steamships began to run to Halifax, the situation
as regards the land routes was as follows: the distance from Halifax to
Quebec--seven hundred miles--was rarely covered by the mail couriers in
less than ten days. In the depth of winter, when the sleighing was good,
and advantage could be taken of the ice road on the St. John river
between Fredericton and the mouth of the Madawaska river, the journey
was made in some hours less than six days.

But it was seldom that conditions combined to make so fast a journey
possible, and it was not considered prudent to reckon on an average of
less than ten days. In the spring and autumn this length of time was
often greatly exceeded. Stayner, who went over the route in the autumn
of 1838, after calculating the effect of all practicable ameliorations,
did not believe that the time could be reduced to less than seven days.
As against this possible time, there was the fact that the journey from
New York to Quebec occupied only six and a half days in winter.

The farther west the point of comparison was carried, moreover, the
greater the disadvantage at which Halifax stood. The shortest time to be
anticipated in conveying the mails from Halifax to Montreal, after all
improvements had been made, was nine days. The courier from New York,
who had but half the distance to travel, delivered his mails in Montreal
in five days. Toronto, the capital of Upper Canada, and the entrepôt for
the thriving and rapidly-spreading settlements in the west, was still
more easily reached from New York than from Halifax. The journey from
Halifax to Toronto covered a distance of one thousand two hundred and
twelve miles, and occupied more than two weeks. New York was only five
hundred and forty miles from Toronto, and the mails were carried between
the two places in seven days in winter.

Halifax is five hundred and fifty miles nearer Liverpool than is New
York, and consequently gained two days on the ocean voyage. But, in
point of time, the odds were hopelessly against Halifax, as the landing
port for the Canadian mails. The obvious political reasons, however, for
maintaining Halifax as the port of exchange between the North American
provinces, as a whole, and the mother country, provoked a determined
effort to remove, as far as possible, the natural obstacles which seemed
to prevent the achievement of that end.

Inquiry was directed first to the question of the best route. From
Halifax to Fredericton, the first important point at which the courier
arrived on his western journey, there were alternative routes, both of
which had been used in the conveyance of the mails to Canada. Since the
war of 1812, the courier had travelled along the northern shore of the
bay of Fundy, passing Truro, Dorchester and the bend of the Petitcodiac,
now Moncton.

This route was adopted first to avoid the necessity of the mails
crossing the bay of Fundy from Annapolis to St. John, with the risks of
falling in with American privateers, but after the termination of the
war, it was continued from choice.

The earlier route, from Halifax to Windsor and along the Annapolis
valley to Annapolis, still had its advocates, however; and inquiry was
made as to the advisability of returning to it. Under certain ideal
conditions, a better journey could be made by this route, but as these
involved heavy additional expense, and a nicety of connection between
the couriers and the packet boat at Annapolis, which was frequently
unattainable, the proposition was rejected.

The real difficulties for the courier began when he left Fredericton on
his journey to Quebec. The route lay along the shore of the St. John
river to the point where the Madawaska empties into it; thence in a
generally northern direction until the St. Lawrence is reached at the
head of the portage.

At this period--1840--there was no road whatever over any part of this
section of the route, though in 1839, a road called the Royal Road was
in course of construction between Fredericton and Grand Falls. The
schemes for the building of a road were embarrassed by the fact that for
nearly one hundred miles, the proposed road lay in the territory claimed
by the state of Maine, with the resulting risk that the expenditure upon
it might be lost.

The only mode of travel from Fredericton northward to the mouth of the
Madawaska was by canoe in summer. In the winter, when the ice was well
set, travel was very easy. But during the early spring and late autumn,
the floating ice made the journey in this part of the country one of
great hardship. On a trip made in April 1842, it required three men and
twelve horses to carry over this section a mail weighing not more than
seven or eight hundred pounds.

The Special Council of Quebec, which was in existence in 1838-1840,
owing to the suppression of the legislature due to suspension of the
constitution of 1791 in Lower Canada, at the urgent instance of
Sydenham, appropriated £5000 for a road over the portage between the St.
Lawrence and the St. John rivers. The legislature of New Brunswick also
made a liberal grant for the section lying in that province.

It is evident, therefore, that Halifax stood at an insurmountable
disadvantage as compared with the New York route during the winter
season. But, at least so far as concerned eastern Canada, the provincial
route was not greatly inferior to that through the United States, during
the period of open navigation on the St. Lawrence. The passage from
Liverpool to Quebec did not usually exceed sixteen days, and to Montreal
eighteen days.

An essential link in this conveyance was the overland route from Halifax
to Pictou. As this service furnished the connection between the steamers
on the Atlantic and those on the St. Lawrence, it was of the first
importance that the route should be traversed at a high rate of speed.
The route had been in use for many years for the exchange of local
mails, but the means of conveyance, which were sufficient for that
purpose, were entirely inadequate to the requirements of the ocean mail
service.

Cunard--who had every motive for expediting not only the mails, but the
passengers and freight passing to and from the Canadas--drew attention
to the necessity for ample provision for the new conditions. Unless he
were able to afford a fast and comfortable conveyance at a moderate
charge to his Canadian passengers, he could not hope to hold the
business. As it was desirable that he should be able to exercise control
over this part of the passage, he offered to provide the service between
Halifax and Pictou on terms, which were accepted by the deputy
postmaster general of Nova Scotia.

The service afforded left little to be desired in point of efficiency.
Four horse stages ran over the route three times each way weekly in
summer, and twice weekly in winter; the trip was to be made within
seventeen hours, and the charge to passengers was not to exceed £2
10_s_. The charge for each person had been, until the contract was made,
£6.

But accommodation such as this necessarily entailed considerable
expense, and the compensation to Cunard under the contract was so great
as seriously to embarrass the financial position of the post office in
Nova Scotia. This amount--£1550 per annum--was £1265 in excess of what
had been paid for this route before the British mails were carried over
it.

The revenues of the provincial post office were quite unequal to this
demand upon, them, and relief was sought from the legislature. That body
agreed to contribute £550, and Canada was asked to add £750 to that sum.
When Howe reported the facts to the postmaster general, the latter was
disposed to tax him with having acted without consideration, and
Sydenham was asked to give his opinion of the bargain.

The governor general laid the subject before the post office commission,
which was then sitting, and they denounced the whole arrangement. The
rate was extravagant, and the service provided for was entirely beyond
the necessities of the ocean mails. As the steamers were to sail only
twice a month, an express conveyance of that frequency was all that was
required.

As for Canada's being at any expense for this service, the commission
scouted the idea. The Cunard contract called for the transportation of
mails between Great Britain and Canada, which was to be effected by two
steamers, one running between Liverpool and Halifax, and the other
between Pictou and Quebec. Any expense there might be for overland
conveyance should fall upon the packet postage, that is, it should be a
charge upon the postage collected by the British post office for the
transmission of letters between Great Britain and Canada.

The British post office took a somewhat curious course in the
difficulty. It resented the criticism of the commissioners, and
sanctioned the agreement made by the deputy in Halifax, for a term of
eight years. It made no effort to convince the Canadian authorities of
the error in their views, which would indeed have been impossible; and,
on the other hand, it refused to allow the additional expense to be
thrown upon the packet postage. There was but one alternative--Nova
Scotia must bear the whole charge. And that was the decision of the
postmaster general.

The resentment throughout Nova Scotia at the injustice of this decision,
and the manifest inability of the provincial post office to carry the
added burden determined the postmaster general to make an effort to put
an end to the situation. In 1842 he sent an officer of the department to
Halifax to inquire into the whole provincial system, instructing him to
give his special attention to the question of the expediency of
continuing the use of the port of Halifax as the entrepôt for the
Canadian mails.

The thing to be avoided was the long carriage by land, and the agent was
directed to consider the ports of St. John, New Brunswick and Boston
with this end in view. Boston was regarded with particular favour on
account of the railway lines, which were being extended inland from that
port. St. John was dismissed from consideration on a report from the
admiralty that until some progress had been made in the survey of the
bay of Fundy, especially of its tides and soundings, it would be very
hazardous to send the mails by that route.

On the question of the comparative advantages of the Halifax and Boston
routes there was practical unanimity in Canada. All classes of the
mail-using public were agreed as to the superiority of the Boston route.
The editors of newspapers complained that the British newspapers on
which they depended for their foreign news--newspapers which were
transmitted by way of Halifax--were useless by the time they reached
Canada, as the news they contained had been received from New York or
Boston several days earlier.

As for the objection to having the exchange of mails between Great
Britain and Canada carried on through a foreign country, the publishers
made light of it. The mails from England for India, were carried across
the Continent through France and Italy; and there was no reason why the
mails from England for Canada should not be carried through the United
States.

These views were strongly presented by Stayner, and reinforced by the
secretary of the post office, who laid them before the postmaster
general. The Cunards also rendered assistance to the same end. They
represented to the postmaster general that the service proved to be much
more expensive than they had anticipated when they undertook the
contract, and that the steamer on the St. Lawrence was a very heavy
burden. In discussing the question of an increased subsidy, the company
expressed their willingness to regard relief from the river service as
equivalent to £10,000 a year.

These concurrent appeals, together with the fact that the change in the
seat of government from Kingston to Montreal, established the governor
in the city which would derive the maximum of benefit from the Boston
connection, decided the government to make Boston the landing port for
the Canadian mails; and the British minister at Washington was
instructed to open negotiations for an arrangement by which the British
mails would be permitted to cross the territory of the United
States.[260]

It had long been an object of desire with the United States government
to retain the hold its geographical situation has given it upon the
correspondence between Great Britain and Canada. Before steam service
was a practicable scheme, the president in a message to congress
suggested that, to that end, the sailing packets should be put under
post office regulations, and a greater degree of security to the mails
thereby effected.

The United States government consequently were prepared to accept very
moderate terms. They based their offer on the terms of the contract
between the British and French governments for the conveyance of the
Indian mails from Calais on the Channel to Marseilles on the
Mediterranean. The British government paid the French government two
francs per ounce of letters and ten centimes for each newspaper
transmitted across French territory, and as the distance from Boston to
St. Johns in Lower Canada was rather less than half that from Calais to
Marseilles, they proposed that the British government should pay them
half the rates paid to the French government.

These rates were regarded by the postmaster general of England as
unusually favourable, and the proposal of the United States government
was at once accepted. Under this arrangement, the postmaster general
calculated that, besides the great saving in time that would be
effected, there would be a reduction in the charges for the inland
conveyance of the mails to and from Canada of £4600 per annum.

The course of conveyance across the territory of the United States was
to be, in summer, from Boston to Burlington, Vermont, towards which a
railway line was approaching completion, and from Burlington to St.
Johns by steamer on lake Champlain. In the winter, the mails were to be
carried from Boston to Highgate, Vermont, where they would be taken over
by couriers attached to the Canadian post office. The time occupied
would, under usual conditions, be forty-eight hours between Boston and
St. Johns, and fifty-three hours between Boston and Highgate.

Thus was the great experiment brought to its appointed end. It had its
origin in one of those imperial impulses, which seem to come most
frequently from the colonies, and which now and then carry the Briton
off his feet. But, as conditions stood, the scheme was foredoomed to
failure. It was not until the construction of the Canadian Pacific
railway in 1889, across the state of Maine between Montreal and St.
John, that a Canadian ocean port was able to enter into successful
competition with a United States port, as the point of exchange for
mails passing between Great Britain and Canada.

While the plans for substituting steam for sailing vessels were being
brought to maturity, the question of a substantial reduction in the
postage between Great Britain and the colonies in North America were
being discussed.[261] Stayner pointed out that it would be useless to
enter upon an expensive scheme for reducing the time occupied in
conveying the mails between Great Britain and Canada, unless the postage
were brought down to a figure that would place the steamship service
within reach of the farmers in western Canada.

As Sydenham observed, the new settlers, while living in great material
comfort, had little money at their disposal. To them it was an
impossibility to pay the postage--four shillings or more--which had
accumulated on a letter on its way from the inland parts of the United
Kingdom to the backwoods in which they were making homes for themselves.
They were served, and far from inefficiently, by the American ocean
sailing packets, which left Liverpool weekly for New York; and unless
the steam line were able to provide for the exchange of their letters at
rates as low as they were paying, they would no more patronize the new
line than they had the ten-gun sailing brigs, by which the British
packet service was then carried on.

Stayner, with full knowledge of the conditions he had to meet, was
convinced that the first step towards an effective reform was to sweep
away the cumulative rates made up of the inland charges in the United
Kingdom, the ocean postage and the inland colonial charge; and replace
them by one fixed rate which would carry the letter from any post office
in the United Kingdom to any post office in the colonies. When he first
laid the proposition before the postmaster general, the Duke of
Richmond, he recommended that this uniform rate should be two shillings
a single letter.

But after some years' opportunity for reflection, aided beyond doubt by
the argument of Rowland Hill for penny postage in Great Britain, Stayner
concluded that his proposed rate was too high, and that, at one shilling
and sixpence, or even one shilling and threepence, the increased
patronage of the line by the public in the motherland and the colonies,
would bring about an actual augmentation of the revenue.

How great the reduction in the charges would be, if Stayner's
proposition were carried into effect, may be gathered from the fact that
one of the elements making up the total postage was much in excess of
the whole sum suggested by Stayner. On the supposition that the
steamships landed the Canadian mails at Halifax, every letter brought by
that means to Toronto would be subject to a charge of two shillings and
ninepence for the conveyance from Halifax to Toronto, to say nothing of
the shilling charge for its passage from Liverpool to Halifax, and the
postage from the office of posting in the United Kingdom to Liverpool.

While negotiations with Cunard were still in progress, and the colonies
waited expectantly for what was to be achieved by the new service,
Stayner was much surprised and gratified to receive from the general
post office in London a circular addressed to the postmasters in the
United Kingdom stating that the postmaster general had decided to do
away altogether with the inland rate or rather to incorporate it with
the ocean rate which thenceforward would be one shilling.

This was beyond any anticipations Stayner had formed, and he lost no
time in apprizing the public in Canada of the boon conferred upon them.
There was rejoicing in Canada over the prospect of easy communication
with the mother country, and the postmaster general received many
commendations on his statesmanlike measure.[262]

But the rejoicing was not of long continuance. With the first intimation
at the general post office of the announcement made in Canada there was
despatched a letter from the secretary informing Stayner that he had
quite mistaken the purport of the circular. Though sent to Stayner for
his information, it was not intended to apply to Canada. The intention
was merely to take off the British inland postage, and to leave the
colonial inland postage to be collected as before. The reduction, in
reality, amounted to very little, as the bulk of the postage on letters
from Great Britain to Canada passing by way of Halifax had been that
part levied for the conveyance from Halifax to the office of delivery in
Canada.

Stayner was in no way to blame for the interpretation he placed on the
circular, and he had the satisfaction of knowing that his misconception
made the continuance of the high postage impossible. The public on both
sides of the ocean had tasted the blessings of communication with their
relatives on the other side, at an expense not considered beyond their
means, and they were determined not to have the benefit withdrawn.

Accordingly when Poulett Thomson, afterwards Earl of Sydenham, came out
as governor general with special instructions to remove all legitimate
causes of dissatisfaction, he addressed himself to this question, and
after a conference with Stayner, wrote to the colonial secretary urging
the adoption of the shilling rate.

The colonial secretary submitted the governor general's views to the
postmaster general, and in practical coincidence with the sailing of the
first steamer under the Cunard contract, instructions were issued to
make the total charge on letters to the British North American colonies
one shilling, if the letter was addressed to Halifax, and one shilling
and twopence, if its destination was inland, however distant.[263]

At the same time, a change of great importance was made in the principle
on which the postage was based. It had been the practice to charge
postage, according to the number of enclosures the letter contained.
When penny postage was introduced in England a few months previously,
one of the features of the new plan was the establishment of the weight
principle in determining the charge on a letter, in substitution of the
principle under which letters were taxed according to the number of
their contents.

The operation of the new plan in Great Britain caused much confusion and
loss in the correspondence with the colonies. The British or Irish
people, who had become accustomed to having their postage fixed by the
application of the rate of one penny for each half ounce, could not in
many cases be made to understand why the same principle did not apply to
their letters to their friends and relatives beyond the seas.

Hence many letters weighing less than half an ounce were sent to Canada,
which on examination were found to contain enclosures, and the postage
was, in accordance with the regulations, doubled or even trebled, though
their weight would not call for a charge of more than one shilling and
twopence.

Poulett Thomson drew attention to the obvious embarrassment occasioned
by the application of the two different principles, and he had the
satisfaction of finding a ready acquiescence in his views on the part of
the postal authorities at home. Accordingly, by the treasury minute of
July 6th, 1840, the rate on letters conveyed by direct packet from any
post office in the United Kingdom to Halifax was made one shilling the
half ounce. If, for any other post office, the rate was one shilling and
twopence.

FOOTNOTES:

[253] _Report on the affairs of British North America_ (Oxford, 1912),
p. 143.

[254] Stayner to governor general's secretary, December 8, 1837 (_Can.
Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[255] Maberly to postmaster general, March 29, 1838, and accompanying
papers (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts), and Q. 402-409 _passim_.

[256] _Can. Arch._, Q. 416, p. 49.

[257] Colonial office to post office, May 25, 1838 (_Can. Arch._, Br.
P.O. Transcripts).

[258] _Speeches and Public Letters of Joseph Howe_, 1909, I. 188.

[259] The succession of measures taken regarding the Cunard service may
be followed in the Br. P.O. Transcripts for 1838-1839-1840.

[260] Maberly to postmaster general, April 3 and September 28, 1844,
with accompanying papers (Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[261] The papers on the reduction of the ocean postage rates are
gathered together as accompaniments to a letter from Mr. Poulett
Thomson, the governor general, to Lord Russell, of April 16, 1840. See
Q. 271, p. 224.

[262] Stayner to Maberly, May 12, 1839, and accompanying documents (Br.
P.O. Transcripts).

[263] Treasury Minute, July 6, 1840 (Br. P.O. Transcripts).




CHAPTER XIII

     Diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general--Commission
     on post office appointed--Its report--Efforts to secure
     reduction of postal charges.


The arrival of Poulett Thomson as governor general marks the passing of
the uncontrolled authority of Stayner as administrator of the post
office in the Canadas. By the terms of their commissions, the deputies
of the postmaster general in the colonies, were responsible to the
postmaster general alone for the conduct of the affairs of the post
offices within their jurisdiction.

Subject to the approval of the postmaster general, the deputies opened
all post offices, appointed all postmasters and other officers of the
department, and made all contracts for the conveyance of the mails.
Until Stayner's time, the department at home exercised a watchful
oversight in one particular. It insisted that the deputy postmaster
general should not extend the system, or increase the accommodation
within it, unless he could satisfy St. Martins-le-Grand that the
additional outlay required should be met by a corresponding increase in
the revenue. Assured on this point, the department gave the deputies a
practically free hand.

Insistence on the point of finances brought the general post office into
sharp collision with the colonial legislatures for a number of years.
But shortly after Stayner's assumption of office, the department in
London loosened the reins, and directed him to study the wants of the
rising communities, and extend postal accommodation to whatever
districts seemed to him to require it.

The confidence bestowed by the postmaster general on his young deputy in
the Canadas was not misplaced. Stayner was a man of energy and
authority, who had grown up in the service under the administration of
his father-in-law, who was his predecessor in office, and his loyalty to
the interests of both the postmaster general and the community he served
stood unquestioned. With his appointment to his high office, he fell
heir to a dispute which had been waged for a number of years between the
general post office and the legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada,
involving the legal right of the post office to do business in the
colonies under existing conditions.

Stayner was fortunate in finding in each province differences between
the administration and the houses of assembly, which gave little promise
of settlement, and he promptly attached himself to the side of the
administration. This, indeed, was the only course open to him, in view
of his accountability to a department, which, in according him a certain
freedom of action, took jealous heed that he should not abuse it.

But Stayner had important interests of his own, which called for
protection by the government. His extra-official emoluments--from the
postage on newspapers, and from his agency for the collection of United
States postage, due in Canada--now far exceeding his official salary,
began to excite public attention, and he required all the support he
could gather to himself, to enable him to brave it out with the
assemblies, when they insisted on his showing by what right he took
these emoluments.

His position, however repugnant to popular notions, was officially
unassailable, and as he managed to identify his interests with those of
the administrations, the governors of the two provinces remained
steadily his friends and protectors. He had even the gratification of
being commended for his great services by the assembly of Upper Canada
in 1837.

But a change was coming for Stayner, and indeed had come. Ever since the
amount and the sources of his income became known to the home
government, there had been disapprobation. The secretary of the post
office, a large part of whose income had been derived from similar
extra-official sources, deprecated the criticism which began to spring
up, and the postmaster general weakly and reluctantly agreed that
Stayner's exceptional services entitled him to exceptional emoluments.

The colonial secretary, Lord Glenelg, however, was of another mind. The
two provinces were seething with dissatisfaction, and it was not clear
to him in what the grievances of the colonials consisted. A committee of
the house of commons had sat in 1828, heard evidence, and reported, and
the leaders of the assembly in Lower Canada had declared that if the
recommendations of the committee were carried into effect, the province
would be content.

Guiding his policy by that report, and seeking every opportunity to make
good its findings, the colonial secretary observed that the political
dissatisfaction and unrest, so far from disappearing, was spreading year
by year. His bewilderment sharpened his eyes, and as they rested on
Stayner's case, he saw a condition which offended his sense of justice,
and he at once demanded of the postmaster general that he should remove
this obvious wrong.

For a time Stayner's tactics, or his luck, held him scatheless. The
postmaster general and the colonial secretary had agreed that the remedy
for all the ills that afflicted the post office was to be provided by
the bill adopted by the imperial parliament in 1834. This bill, however,
could not become operative until the acceptance by the several colonial
legislatures of a common measure for the regulation of the post office
in the several provinces by the postmaster general of England. As all
the colonies had rejected this measure, the situation remained
unchanged.

Stayner continued to take his exorbitant emoluments, and the government
was helpless. The postmaster general asked the colonial secretary to
furnish him with an expedient for settling the matter, but the colonial
secretary could think of nothing, to which overriding legal or political
objections could not be made. While, however, Stayner enjoyed immunity
from attacks by the government, he was a marked man, and when Poulett
Thomson came to Canada, he lost no time in making Stayner realize that
the period of his exceptional fortunes was at an end.

Poulett Thomson's special mission to Canada was to lay the foundations
of responsible government in the country, and he began by taking things
into his own hands. In dealing with the post office he sent for Stayner,
and, instead of treating him as an officer of independent authority,
Thomson informed Stayner that it was his intention to reform the post
office in its construction and duties.

All the governor general required of Stayner was that the latter should
furnish him with any information he considered necessary. Although
Thomson had never had any actual experience in the workings of a post
office he had opportunities of acquiring a sound theoretical knowledge
on the subject. He was a member of the committee of the house of commons
which was appointed in 1837 to examine the proposition of Rowland Hill
for penny postage.

As Hill's scheme involved an entire change in post office methods, the
_modus operandi_ at that time pursued was thoroughly set out to the
committee, its weaknesses exposed, and the merits of the new proposition
fully discussed. No observant man could attend the work of that
committee without gaining definite views as to the principles upon which
a post office should be conducted.

In June 1840, Stayner reported to the secretary of the general post
office a state of affairs that indicated that Thomson had taken the
direction of post office affairs into his own hands. He had ordered
Stayner to enter into negotiations for the conveyance of mails by
steamer between Quebec and Montreal, and upon lake Ontario, and when the
negotiations failed, he expressed a determination to obtain authority to
build vessels for post office purposes. He also directed Stayner to draw
up a bill for the administration of the post office in British North
America upon principles to be determined by the governor.

The colonial secretary, in July, instructed the governor to appoint a
commission to investigate and report upon the post office in the
colonies in all its bearings. The committee as appointed consisted of
Dowling, legal adviser to the governor, Davidson, senior commissioner of
crown lands, and Stayner.

In point of ability the committee was a competent one. Its members all
had that sort of experience in public affairs, which would enable them
to apprize fairly the mass of information laid before them--evidence
which would satisfy the public as to the justice of their conclusions.

But having in mind the aims of the committee, its composition was not
such as to give hope for harmonious co-operation among its members. The
colonial secretary in instructing the governor general to appoint the
committee, directed that it should investigate and report on the state
of the British North American post office, including its administration.

The work of the committee was necessarily a scrutiny into the methods of
the administration of Stayner, and involved an attitude of defence on
his part. And the other members of the committee did not fail to make
him feel the difficulty of his dual position. Although he signed the
report as a commissioner, he appended a note to it stating that he did
so, merely because he conceived it to be his duty as a commissioner.

But he also intimated that he was far from agreeing with all the
conclusions of his associates; and a few months later he presented a
statement to the governor general, pointing out the respects in which he
differed from the other commissioners, and defending himself against
charges which were set forth in the report.

The committee entered upon their work by calling upon the deputy
postmasters general of Canada and the Maritime provinces for a body of
statistics and other matter, which, when furnished, provided them with a
survey of the whole colonial system, and its methods of operation.

Detailed information was given in tabular form of every post office in
the colonies--the name and date of appointment of its postmaster, the
revenue of the office, and the several items that composed the
postmaster's income; and of every mail route, with its cost of
maintenance. All regulations for the guidance of postmasters in the
management of their offices were submitted to the commission.

The commissioners addressed circular letters to all the postmasters, and
to prominent people in every section of the colonies, inviting them to
give their views on the post offices in their locality, and asking
particularly as to the extent letters were carried by agencies other
than the post office, and their opinions as to why these other agencies
were employed in preference to the post office.

The information obtained was most voluminous, and the report of the
commission based upon it was comprehensive.[264] It began with a
historical sketch of the post office in the colonies, from its origin
down to the time of the commission; passed on to a survey of the
institution as it then stood; pointed out the defects they discovered in
its arrangements; and concluded by a number of recommendations for the
removal of the defects, and the improvement of the system.

The defects which most impressed the commissioners were the want of
uniformity within the system, and the uncontrolled power of the
representatives of the postmaster general in the colonies. As
illustrating the lack of uniformity, they pointed out that though the
colonies were in postal theory an undivided whole, they were under the
control of two deputies of the postmaster general, who were entirely
independent of one another, and that no effort seemed to have been made
to co-ordinate the practice in the two jurisdictions.

The absence of organization was more noticeable in the Maritime
provinces, a condition which the commissioners attributed to the failure
of the deputy at Halifax to establish general regulations, and to the
want of travelling surveyors or inspectors, who might have introduced
uniformity of practice among the postmasters.

A striking instance of unauthorized variation from usual post office
practice was the existence of way offices. These were, to all intents
and purposes, post offices, and yet they had no official recognition as
such.

These way offices were set up at any convenient place along the line of
the post roads. They were put in operation, sometimes by local
magistrates, or other people of importance in the districts; sometimes
by neighbouring postmasters, and sometimes by the deputy postmaster
general. They had no accounting relations with the head of the
department, but carried on their work under the control of an adjacent
postmaster who was held responsible for the postage collected by them.

In spite of their anomalous character, these way offices had a
usefulness of their own; for they were not abolished until after the
Nova Scotia post office was absorbed in the post office department of
the dominion in 1867.

The commission in support of their second conclusion, that the power of
the deputies of the postmaster general were subject to no practical
control, and that the abuses usually associated with irresponsibility
were not absent from the administration of the colonial post office,
submitted two cases which had come under their notice, and which seemed
to show that in these cases at least Stayner was chargeable with
maladministration and nepotism.

Stayner in his rejoinder defended himself with vigour and success
against the imputations of his colleagues, and retorted upon Dowling,
the chairman, with charges of unfairness and studied discourtesy towards
himself. The bearing of Dowling was so offensive that Stayner was with
difficulty restrained from severing his relations with the commission.

The remedies proposed by the commission for the two cardinal defects to
which they had drawn attention, were simple and efficacious. They would
place the whole colonial postal system in the hands of a single deputy
postmaster general, who should own responsibility, not only to his
official superior in England, but also, in all points which did not
conflict with his primary duty, to the executive heads of the several
provinces, so far as related to the parts of the system within their
respective jurisdictions.

The headquarters of the deputy postmaster general, the commission urged,
should be at the capital of the province of Canada, and he should be
under the orders of the governor general. The authority of the deputy
postmaster general in the other provinces should be vested in local
inspectors, whose relations with the lieutenant governors were to be
identical with those which should subsist between the deputy postmaster
general and the governor general.

In cases occurring in the other provinces, which appeared to transcend
the powers of the local inspectors, the lieutenant governors might
correspond with the governor general, and the inspectors with the
deputy. Stayner objected to the plan proposed, in so far as it took the
appointments to postmasterships and other offices out of the hands of
the representative of the postmaster general, and made them the subject
of political patronage.

Having disposed of the questions relating to the organization and
administration of the department, the commissioners proceeded to discuss
matters bearing upon its operations.

The first of these was the rates of postage. In dealing with this
subject the commission had before them a mass of evidence from all parts
of the colonies, which convinced them that the great bulk of the letters
exchanged, did not pass through the post office. It was asserted by
responsible persons that, in some parts of the country, scarcely ten per
cent. of the letters written were conveyed by the post office, and in
few cases was the estimate of letters carried by private means less than
fifty per cent.

Though various other reasons were given for this systematic evasion of
the only lawful means of conveying letters--the infrequency of the
couriers' services, and the public distrust in the security of the
mails--there was practical unanimity in the declaration that the chief
obstacle in the way of the public's using the post office was the
excessive rates of postage.

The commission found that there was a strong sentiment among their
correspondents, favouring the adoption of the system then recently
introduced into England by the genius of Rowland Hill. Until 1840, the
postal rates in England were substantially the same as those which
hampered the post office in the colonies; and the general avoidance of
the post office by the merchants and other writers of letters in that
country was as marked as it was in Canada.

Richard Cobden declared that not one-sixth of the letters exchanged in
England were transmitted through the post office, and other observers of
equal authority bore similar emphatic testimony. The displacement of the
complicated system of charges based on the number of enclosures and the
distance the letters were carried, and the adoption of a penny rate
carrying letters to all parts of the United Kingdom, immediately turned
all the streams of correspondence into the channels of the post office.
Not only were the private letter-carrying agencies put out of business,
but the low, easily comprehended rate called into existence a vast body
of new correspondence.

Few people in Canada believed in the possibility of a rate as low as a
penny for the Canadian post office, but many were attracted by the
fascination of a uniform charge even though it should be higher than
that, which was so vastly augmenting correspondence in England.

To all such, whether the uniform rate they advocated were a penny or
higher, the commission addressed themselves, pointing out that the
geographical, social and industrial differences between England and the
colonies, made it impracticable to base an argument for the one upon the
experience of the other.

Uniform penny postage was an immediate success in the United Kingdom
because in the United Kingdom there were three thickly-populated
countries, with highly developed social and industrial systems. Hill
discovered, by a study of the postal statistics laid before the house of
commons, that in consequence of the great volume of correspondence
exchanged, the comparatively short distances letters were as a rule
carried, and the highly developed system of transportation, the average
cost of carrying a letter in the United Kingdom did not exceed one
farthing. A sum equally small covered the expenses of administration and
the maintenance of post offices.

A further discovery of equal importance, which surprised Hill as much as
it did anybody, was that the difference in expense between carrying a
letter the shortest and the longest possible distances in the kingdom
was so small that it could not be expressed in the least valuable coin
in use.

In these facts lay the whole case for uniform penny postage. At a penny
a letter, there was a clear profit to the post office, and the
augmentation in the number of letters as a result of this inducement to
correspondence made almost any imaginable profits possible; and the
insignificant difference in cost between carrying letters long and short
distances, led inevitably to the ideal uniform rate.

The conditions in the British North American colonies were in all
respects the reverse of those existing in England. The vast extent of
their territories, the sparseness of their populations, and their
undeveloped state, socially and industrially, all combined to make the
postal system very costly, and the returns meagre; and the great, almost
unsettled, stretches between the centres of population made the
difference in the cost of conveyance between long and short distances
very considerable.

The commission, with such statistics as were available before them,
estimated that the average expense of delivering a letter was threepence
for conveyance, and twopence-halfpenny for overhead and maintenance
charges. These figures showed the impracticability of either low or
uniform postage rates, unless the legislatures were willing to take on
themselves the yearly deficits, which were certain to occur.

The commission, however, were prepared to recommend considerable
reductions in the charges, even though these should result in a
noticeable shrinkage in the revenue. Indeed, it seemed to them a
distinct advantage that the revenue should be brought down to a point,
at which it would no more than meet the expenses. They took it as
settled that the British government would adhere to the principle of the
imperial bill of 1834, under which the surplus revenues were to be
divided among the colonies; and they foresaw serious difficulties among
the provinces in dealing with the problem of distributing the surplus.

The rates they recommended--ranging from twopence a letter when the
conveyance did not exceed thirty miles up to one shilling for a distance
over three hundred miles--were much lower than those charged at that
time by the post office.

Dealing with the question of newspaper postage, the commission condemned
the impropriety of allowing the sums accruing under this head to pass
into the pockets of the deputies of the postmaster general, and
recommended that newspapers should be charged at the rate of
one-halfpenny each, and that the proceeds should go with the other
postage into the treasury.

A point, interesting as illustrating one of the differences of view
between ourselves and our grandfathers, was that the commissioners
strongly recommended that the prepayment of postage on newspapers should
not continue to be compulsory, but that it should be optional whether
the sum should be paid by the sender or recipient of the newspaper.

It had never been held that the sender of a letter should pay the
postage; and to the public it appeared a hardship that there should be a
different practice as regards newspapers. Indeed the committee saw very
good reasons from the standpoint of the post office why the payment of
postage on newspapers should be deferred. If postmasters could add to
their revenues, and consequently to their salaries, by collecting the
postage when delivering newspapers, they would have a strong motive for
seeing that the papers were delivered.

The commission closed their report by noting a number of the details of
post office practice: the demand for more post offices throughout the
provinces, which they endorsed; complaints of the inconvenience of sites
of post offices; the hours post offices should be open to the public,
and the time for closing the mails; special handling of money letters,
and the enforcement of the terms of mail contracts, and the salaries of
postmasters. On all these matters they commented at length, and made a
number of helpful suggestions.

The report was presented to the governor general on December 31, 1841.
While it was in course of preparation--on November 29, 1841--the post
office building in Quebec was destroyed by fire.

For Stayner this was a serious misfortune. Not only was he compelled to
withdraw his attention from the affairs of the commission, in order to
make provision for carrying on the departmental work, but he was
crippled in drawing up his rejoinder by the fact that all his papers
were consumed with the building, and material upon which he had depended
for explanation and justification of transactions called in question was
no longer available. His statement was not laid before the governor
general until the April following.

In it, besides confuting the conclusions of the other commissioners on
the matters affecting his administration of the post office, Stayner
discussed a number of questions, in which he differed in opinion from
his colleagues. He expressed a qualified approval of the scale of
postage rates recommended in the report, and agreed entirely with them
in their proposals respecting the postage on newspapers.

But Stayner was convinced that his colleagues took entirely too
favourable a view as to the effect of the postage reductions on the
revenue of the department, and he strongly recommended that, before the
proposed changes should be approved, the whole scheme should be
submitted to the provincial legislatures, with its probable financial
consequences, in order that an assurance might be obtained from them
that the deficits which he foresaw should be made good by the provinces.

The first of the measures taken by the government on the report of the
commissioners was to deprive Stayner of a portion of his power. The
proposal to place him under the direction of the governor general was
not entertained in its entirety. But in August 1842, the appointment of
his postmasters was taken out of his hands, and transferred to the
governor general.[265]

Stayner protested that it would be out of his power satisfactorily to
discharge his responsibility as resident head of the post office if he
were deprived of the selection of his officials. The postmaster general
may have agreed with Stayner, but the decision of the matter was not
allowed to rest with him. Consequently, he had no choice, but to inform
Stayner that the question was closed, and that he would have to conform
to the new conditions.

So much freedom of action, however, was still left with Stayner that he
was not expected to retain the services of any official who failed to
satisfy his requirements. But he could no longer dismiss peremptorily.
The official under condemnation was to be afforded an opportunity for
defence before his case was finally disposed of. Thereafter, and until
the post office was transferred to the control of the Canadian
government, whenever a vacancy occurred among the postmasters, the
nomination was made by the governor, and the official appointment of the
person selected, was made by the postmaster general.

In August 1843, Lord Stanley, the colonial secretary, notified the
governor that on assuming office, he found awaiting him the report of
the commission, but owing to the complexity of the matters involved, and
to the fact that further representations on the same subject had been
received from the colonies, the government was unable to arrive at a
conclusion until that time.[266]

The decisions arrived at by the government and imparted to the governor
were of far-reaching importance. The practice which had prevailed ever
since the post office was established, of fixing the postage on letters,
according to the number of enclosures they contained was to be
abolished, and the weight system to be introduced to replace it. A
single letter thereafter was to be one which weighed less than half an
ounce, and the postage determined by the number of half ounces it
weighed. The rates themselves were not changed, nor was the principle of
regarding the distance a letter was carried any factor in the postage,
in any way affected.

But though the effect of the substitution of the weight system for that
based on enclosures was not great, so far as concerned the amount of
postage required on a letter, much was gained in the direction of
simplicity and propriety, when there was no longer the constant appeal
to the postmaster's curiosity, and, at times, cupidity, which was made
by the regulation requiring him to hold up every letter between him and
a lighted candle, in order to satisfy himself as to the number of its
contents.

Another reform, no less welcome to the public, was the abolition of the
privilege conceded to the deputy postmaster general of putting into his
own pocket the proceeds of the postage on newspapers. The recommendation
of the commission that newspapers should be charged one-halfpenny each,
the proceeds to form part of the post office revenue, was adopted by the
government.

These changes went into operation on the 5th of January, 1844. By way of
compensation to the deputy postmaster general for the loss of his
newspaper and other perquisites, he was given the not unhandsome salary
of £2500 sterling a year. This was an amount much beyond what the
treasury considered should be paid as salary for this office, in the
absence of the special circumstances of Stayner's case, and the salary
of his successor was fixed at £1500 a year.[267]

The merchants and other large users of the post office, while perhaps
not unmindful of what had been gained, still had little cause for
satisfaction with the results of the labours of the commission.
Substantial reductions in the postage were still unattained. The
movement in the colonies was greatly stimulated by the course of events
in England as regards penny postage.

Post office officials had, from various motives, decried the great
reform, and ministers of the crown, with their eyes on the diminished
revenue, doubted whether the public benefits had been commensurate with
the cost. Opposition to the continuance of the experiment had reached a
point when it became a question whether modifications in the direction
of higher charges should not be made.

In 1844 the government appointed a committee of the house of commons to
inquire as to the measure of public benefit that could fairly be
attributed to penny postage. The committee made no report, but they
submitted a mass of evidence taken from every quarter of the kingdom,
and from every walk in life, that effectually silenced objectors, and
aroused a desire in all civilized countries for the enjoyment of a
similar boon, to the extent that their circumstances would permit. The
United States, in 1846, after a period of agitation, reduced its charges
to five cents a letter, where the conveyance did not exceed a distance
of three thousand miles, doubling the charge for greater distances.

The British North American colonies shared to the full in the general
desire for the abatement of the impediments to the freer circulation of
correspondence. The Canadian legislature, in 1845, was called upon to
deal with a number of memorials on this subject, and asked Stayner for
his advice.

Stayner was prepared to welcome any reductions that the legislature
might be able to obtain, but he warned them that whatever might be the
ultimate effect of lowered postage rates on the augmentation of
correspondence, there would be an intermediate period, in which the
shrinkage of revenue would be considerable, and it was for the
legislature to determine whether the general financial condition of the
province would warrant their incurring even a temporary deficit in the
post office.

The legislature having in view the fact that the surplus revenue of the
post office was only £8000 at the time, decided that it would be unwise
to embark on any undertaking that threatened them with additional
financial burdens.[268] But the public in Canada were of a different
opinion. The boards of trade of Montreal, Toronto and Quebec petitioned
the postmaster general for a rate of twopence-halfpenny a letter, and,
in 1846, the legislature casting caution aside presented a strong
address to the queen. In it they pointed out the hardship endured by
British subjects in one portion of the empire, in being compelled to pay
extravagant charges for that which is enjoyed by others at merely
nominal cost; and begged to be put on an equal footing in this regard
with the citizens of the United States.

The legislatures of the Maritime provinces were pressing on the home
government demands of a similar character with equal vigour, and as the
policy adopted by the home government was the result of the combined
pressure, and affected all the colonies identically, it is desirable,
before dealing with that policy, to bring the narrative of events in the
Maritime provinces forward to this point.

FOOTNOTES:

[264] This report, with the data obtained by the commissioners, is
printed as Appendix F to the _Sessional Papers of Canada for_ 1846.

[265] Circular Letter of Instructions, August 1842 (_Journals of
Assembly_, N.B., 1843, p. 36).

[266] _Journals of Assembly_, Canada, 1843, p. 51.

[267] Maberly to Stayner, July 27, 1844 (Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[268] _Journals of Assembly_, Canada, 1844-1845, App. P.P.P.




CHAPTER XIV

     Continuation of account of post office in Maritime provinces--
     Departmental inquiry into conditions--Agitation for reduced
     postage.


The information elicited from Howe by the general post office in London,
and the house of assembly of Nova Scotia, in the course of the inquiry
as to the financial position of the post office in that province,
disclosed matter for considerable surprise to both of them.

The general post office learned for the first time that for some years
the provincial post office was carried on partly with the assistance of
the legislature. The assembly on its side was equally unaware of the
fact that, while they were making annual grants in aid of the provincial
establishment, a very considerable sum was being remitted each year by
the deputy postmaster general to the British treasury as surplus postal
revenue.

This anomalous state of affairs was corrected, and a more satisfactory
footing was established as the result of the mission of the Nova Scotia
delegates to England in 1839. But one is inclined to wonder how this
condition of ignorance could continue with Howe, a perfectly honest man,
in constant communication with his official superiors in England on the
one hand, and with the legislature on the other.

It would seem to have arisen from the fact that the post office in Nova
Scotia was a much more intimate institution than the post office was in
Canada. Circumstances, as has been seen, maintained a gulf between the
post office in Canada and the provincial legislatures. The antagonism of
the legislatures in the two Canadas towards the post office, arising
from their belief in the illegality of its foundation, and the steady
struggle on their part to bring the institution within the sphere of
their authority, operated to prevent the establishment of intimate
relations between the legislatures and the deputy postmasters general.

All these separative factors were absent in Nova Scotia. The Howes,
father and son, had administered the post office for nearly forty years.
They were constantly occupied with the public life of the province. They
published the principal newspapers, and Joseph Howe, son of the one,
and brother of the other, was one of the leaders in the legislature. The
younger Howe was also a commissioner for the summary trial of actions,
and for the poor, both of which appointments he held without salary.

The interests of the Howes were as much engaged to the affairs of the
province, as to those of the general post office, and this fact was
recognized by the legislature. When, therefore, there was a question of
extending the postal lines into new districts, Howe was fully
sympathetic, and it was felt, by the assembly, when he informed them
that they must be prepared to make up any deficiencies in the cost of
the new services, that he spoke as one of themselves, but with
authority, and there was no more question.

As a consequence, new routes sprang up gradually in different parts of
the province, under the simple arrangement that the postage collected on
the route would be applied as far as it would go to meet the expenses of
the postmasters and mail couriers, and that the legislature would make
up what was lacking.

Thus, on the western line, from Halifax to Yarmouth, and around the
shore to Lunenburg, the revenue collected was in 1839 only £378, whereas
the expenditure was rather more than £900 beyond this sum. On the
eastern line, the shortage to be made up by the legislature was over
£450. The northern line, that is, through Londonderry, Amherst, Wallace,
Dorchester and Parrsboro nearly paid its expenses. The province had to
contribute no more than £60, to cover the deficiency.[269]

All that the general post office had been informed regarding these
routes was that the revenues from them were being held to pay expenses.
They had no idea that there were heavy deficiencies, which the
legislatures provided for by annual votes, arranged between Howe and the
post office committee of the legislative assembly. Howe held, when
brought to account for his remissness, that as these routes were under
the authority of the province, and not of the postmaster general, there
was no object in embodying them in his accounts.

The general post office did not know of the existence of the post
offices of Yarmouth, Shelburne, Liverpool and Lunenburg on the west and
south coasts; Antigonishe, Wallace and Parrsboro on the north; and
Arichat and Sydney in Cape Breton, all of which had been in operation
for a number of years.

The only route in the province that yielded a revenue sufficient to meet
expenses was the grand route leading to Canada, with its branch to
Pictou. As the grand route was employed for the conveyance through the
provinces of the valuable mails exchanged between Canada and Great
Britain, it was naturally very remunerative.

The agreement with the treasury, satisfactory as it was in appearance,
had in it the seeds of misunderstanding. The treasury announced its
willingness that, so long as the revenue from the internal post office
was sufficient to meet the expense of the internal communications, no
demand for this object should be made upon the provincial funds. The
terms of the minute seem to lack nothing in clearness, unless some of
the words employed were held to have a significance other than that
usually accepted. That is what was the case in this minute.

The treasury, in selecting the words it used, meant nothing more or less
than that, if the revenue collected on letters passing within the
territories of Nova Scotia were sufficient to cover the expense of
maintaining the post offices and mail couriers within the province, the
provincial authorities would be exempt from all liability.

The legislature accepted this view of the case on all but one point.
They maintained that Halifax post office existed mainly for imperial
purposes,[270] in that its chief function was to provide for the
interchange of the mails between Canada and Great Britain, and that its
value as a provincial institution was fully offset by the advantages
extended by Nova Scotia to Great Britain and Canada in providing for the
transmission of their mails across its territory.

Holding this view, the assembly examined the accounts laid before them
by Howe, and satisfied themselves that, omitting the expenses of Halifax
post office from consideration, the internal postage practically covered
the expenses of the internal service. They therefore resolved that no
vote would be required during that session. They pledged themselves,
however, in case the revenue of that year should prove inadequate, to
provide for the deficiency, so that the services should not be
interrupted or diminished.

In the following year, 1840, there was an unquestionable surplus of
revenue over expenditure; consequently no demand was made upon the
legislature. In 1841, the friction, which was certain to develop when
Howe's loose methods were subjected to any strain, began to make itself
felt.

In April of that year, Howe advised the lieutenant governor, Lord
Falkland, that the funds available for the payment of the post office
expenditure were deficient to the extent of £546.[271] He, at the same
time, submitted to the lieutenant governor his correspondence with the
general post office in London, from which it appeared that the general
post office, fearing that the omission of the legislature to make any
provision for the service would lead to a deficiency, intimated that it
might be necessary to make some curtailments, and asked whether some of
the less productive routes might not be discontinued.

Howe, following his usual practice, had consulted with several members
of the legislature, and being satisfied that the legislature would make
up any shortage that arose, concluded that there would be no necessity
of abandoning any of the lines.

It was only when the legislature was prorogued without making provision
for a possible shortage, that Howe submitted the question to the
governor. Falkland was rather embarrassed by the responsibility thus
unnecessarily thrust upon him. But as he was of opinion that it would
cause much inconvenience to stop any of the mail routes, he directed the
amount of the shortage to be paid. The lieutenant governor, however, in
relating the circumstances to the colonial secretary, took occasion to
complain of Howe's methods.

The communications respecting the post office passed him by entirely,
unless some trouble arose which made an appeal necessary. In the present
case, if he had been made acquainted with the circumstances in time, he
would have laid them before the legislature, and left them to decide
whether any of the services were to be dropped, or the deficit made up.
As a result, Howe was admonished that his irregular practice must cease,
and that when recourse to the legislature was necessary, he should
approach them through the lieutenant governor alone.

In 1842, the situation became more acute. The assembly had before them
the accounts of 1841, in which figured the additional expenses due to
the ambitious transatlantic steamship scheme. At the best, the revenues
from the inland services were no more than sufficient to meet its
expenses, and the increase in the cost of the conveyance between Halifax
and Pictou from £285 a year to £1937 (£1550 sterling), and the
additional expense in the Halifax post office from £625 a year to £1694
due to a large augmentation in the staff, involved the legislature in a
situation, to which they were disinclined to submit.

The trouble was precipitated by a letter from Howe to the lieutenant
governor, informing him that, as the sum of £1143 had been advanced by
him from the packet postage, which belonged to the British treasury, and
as the legislature had appropriated only £550 to meet this advance,
there was still the sum of £593 due to His Majesty.

The assembly to whom Howe's communication was referred, took the
opportunity of reviewing the whole situation. It was beyond doubt that,
in 1839, the internal postal service was self-supporting. This condition
was disturbed to the detriment of the financial position of the post
office by burdening it with the total expense of the Pictou service,
which was maintained principally for the benefit of New Brunswick and
Canada, and of the Halifax post office, which since the establishment of
the ocean steam service for all the colonies was in reality much more an
imperial than a provincial institution.

As, in justice, the inland colonies were chargeable with the major part
of the outlay for the Pictou service, and the maintenance of Halifax
post office should properly be defrayed from the packet postage, the
legislature declined to meet the demand made upon it by the post office.

The lieutenant governor was in full sympathy with the legislature, and
after fortifying himself with the opinions of his law officers as to the
legal aspects of the case, appealed to the governor general to induce
the Canadian government to take on themselves the proper share of the
charge.

The Canadian government for the reasons given could not see the
propriety of their taking on themselves any part of the expense of
conveying mails to their outport at Quebec, and the British government
were powerless to bring pressure on the Canadians, since the treasury
was in receipt annually of large remittances from Stayner as surplus
post office revenues, which the British government, by their act of
1834, admitted to belong to the colonies, and which only awaited
colonial legislation to be handed over to the several legislatures.

The treasury was willing also as a measure of grace to allow the
colonial legislatures to retain the part of the packet postage collected
in the colonies, if they would only adopt the scheme involved in the act
of 1834. But it was not prepared to admit that any part of the packet
was, as a matter of right, chargeable with the maintenance of the post
office at Halifax or of the Pictou coach service, and as it was becoming
plain that the scheme of making Halifax the distributing centre for the
Canadas, was not proving the success they hoped for, they determined to
inquire as to the feasibility of having a port in the United States
utilized in the exchange between Canada and Great Britain.

To that end, an official of the British post office, W. J. Page, was
sent to Nova Scotia to investigate this subject, and at the same time to
make a thorough inquiry into the condition of the Nova Scotia post
office, which had been animadverted upon rather severely by the royal
commission, in its report of 1841.

By means of Page's reports and of the report of this commission, we are
enabled to give a clear account of the Nova Scotia post office in the
beginning of the forties. There were eighteen post offices in the
province at this period, and fifty-one sub-offices. The mails were
carried on the route from Halifax to Pictou and St. John three times a
week in summer and twice a week in winter.

From Pictou the mails were carried to Antigonishe twice a week, and with
the same frequency from Halifax to Annapolis. Mails were carried in all
directions throughout the province, but, with the exceptions mentioned,
only once a week.

The management of this considerable system was in the hands of the
deputy postmaster general and his assistant. It was impossible with the
work demanding their attention in Halifax, and the deficiency of
facilities for travel, that these two could give any attention to the
offices which were not under their immediate eye, and consequently all
attempts to exercise control over the operation of the system came by
degrees to be abandoned. When postmasters were appointed, all the
instructions they received were a few short directions from the deputy
postmaster general, or from an outgoing predecessor, whose knowledge was
a combination made up of the official instructions and the
interpretations placed upon them, when occasion arose that required some
action or decision on his part.

The way offices--those peculiar products of the Maritime
provinces--excited the ridicule of English and Canadian trained
officials. Page, in a letter to the secretary of the general post
office, expressed his despair of comprehending the varieties of origin
or practice of these offices. Not one in ten of the keepers of these
offices were appointed by Howe; nor did he or any one in his office know
the names of many of them, though Howe considered the offices to have
been sanctioned by him.

What happened was like this: a postmaster would write to Howe telling
him that there ought to be a house for leaving letters at, in such or
such a village or settlement. If any person were mentioned as willing to
take charge of the letters, Howe generally agreed to his being
appointed, and considered the matter settled. If no particular person
was mentioned, Howe agreed to the suggestion that there should be a
receiving house in the place indicated, and left the selection to the
postmaster.

The whole affair was considered as a private matter between postmaster
and way office keeper; no letter bills or forms of any description were
ever supplied to the way office keepers, and so long as they paid to the
postmasters the amount of postage due on letters sent to them for
delivery, the very existence of these offices was ignored.

These way offices were known locally as twopenny offices, that is, the
keepers charged twopence on every letter passing through their hands. An
instance will explain the mode of operation in these offices. A
gentleman living in Port Hood, on the west coast of Cape Breton, stated
that he had sent a double letter weighing less than half an ounce a
distance of fifty miles; and as it had to pass through five way offices,
the charge was one shilling and eightpence (thirty-three cents). He
received letters from England, which cost one shilling and fourpence
(twenty-seven cents) from England to the Straits of Canso; but the
conveyance from that point to his home, a distance of twenty-six miles,
cost one shilling and fourpence more.

The anomalies were due partly to the mixed character of the control of
the system in the province, and partly to the inability of the deputy
postmaster general, owing to his lack of efficient help, to supervise
the system. Howe was under the authority both of the postmaster general
in England, and of the provincial government, which provided for the
maintenance of a number of offices, which would not have been sanctioned
by the postmaster general on account of the expense.

Illegal conveyance of letters was the rule in this province, as well as
in all the others. The great proportion of the correspondence between
the towns and villages on the long coast was carried by trading vessels.
On some of the main routes, notably from Halifax to Pictou and to
Annapolis, there were fast four-horse coaches. They travelled eight
miles an hour in summer and five in winter. They were employed to carry
the mails, but it never happened that the mail bags contained as many
letters as the pockets of the passengers.

In Cape Breton there was not a single carriage road in the island. Most
of the roads were mere bridle paths, and in many parts there were no
roads of any kind. It took five days to carry the mail bag from Halifax
to Sydney during the summer, and from eleven to eighteen in the winter.

The deputy postmaster general had a salary of £400 a year, which was
supplemented by the amounts collected as newspaper postage. In 1841, the
amount of this perquisite was £330 a year. It was a cause of complaint
on the part of rival publishers that the _Nova Scotian_, the leading
newspaper in the province, paid no postage. As the circulation of this
paper--1400 copies a week--was more than double that of any other paper
in the province, the grievance was a real one.

In explanation of the exemption, Howe stated that for ten years before
he purchased the _Nova Scotian_, the proprietor, Joseph Howe, had
assisted him in the management of the office for eleven months while the
deputy postmaster general was in England, taking full management of the
provincial system. For these services Joseph Howe had asked no
compensation, and the deputy postmaster general had therefore taken no
remuneration for mailing the newspapers.[272]

There were only two towns in the province where letters were delivered
by carriers--Halifax and Yarmouth. In Halifax, the city was divided
between two carriers, whose pay consisted of the fees they were entitled
to take from the recipients of the letters they delivered, at a penny a
letter. They attempted to charge the same sum for the delivery of each
newspaper, but many persons would not pay the fee. The carriers received
£2 10_s._ and £2 a week respectively. Yarmouth also had two carriers,
whose penny fees gave them each about £12 10_s._ a year.

The relations between the deputy postmaster general and the provincial
government were the subject of much critical comment on the part of
Page. The fact that the government contributed to the maintenance of the
less remunerative routes and post offices gave the executive and the
assembly a colour of title to interfere in the management of the post
office, which was exercised, in Page's opinion, beyond all due bounds.

The governor's secretary was in the habit of giving Howe orders, and if
Howe showed any hesitation in complying with them, he became offensively
peremptory. Investigations into complaints against postmasters were
taken into the hands of a committee of the assembly, in disregard of
Howe's authority. As it appeared to Page, there was a determined effort
to set aside the authority of the postmaster general and to take over
the management of the system by the government. Howe at Page's instance,
took a firm stand and informed the governor that, in case of conflict
between the directions he received from England, and those given by the
governor, it was the directions from St. Martins-le-Grand he was bound
to obey.

The disappointment in the general post office over the failure of the
plan to remove the difficulties with the government of Nova Scotia,
which was largely due to the hopeless complication of the accounts,
changed the attitude of the officials at home towards Howe from one of
good will to one of censure, which reached the point that nearly
determined them to dismiss Howe.

Page pointed out the injustice of such a step. Howe's position was one
in which it was impossible to escape criticism from either the
provincial authorities or his official superiors, whose views were
frequently in sharp antagonism to one another. The part of the
provincial system under Howe as deputy of the postmaster general in
England had its accounting scheme, and the part, which was maintained by
the legislature, had another, separate and distinct.

But the passing of letters between the recognized post offices and those
established by the legislature, gave rise to accounts between the two
systems under Howe's management, which it was practically impossible to
adjust satisfactorily, unless by the adoption of a give-and-take system,
to which neither the general post office nor the legislature showed any
disposition.

Howe's death in January 1843 closed the question as to whether or not
his administration was deserving of censure. It also brought to an end
an era, within which the postal service had expanded from the single
route extending from Halifax to Annapolis and Digby, over which the mail
courier travelled but once a month, to the network of routes whose
ramifications covered every part of the province.

Judged by the only possible test, the administration of the Canadian
service under Heriot, Sutherland and Stayner, the administration of the
two Howes must be pronounced a conspicuous success. The deputies in
Canada were faithful to their superiors in London, but they were so at
the expense of the popularity of the postal service in the provinces.

The Howes managed to extend their service equally with their Canadian
colleagues, and at the same time held the good will of the authorities
in the province. Howe was a man who left no enemies. The governor, in
discussing the postal difficulties of the province with Page, expressed
the utmost good will for Howe himself, the only ground of complaint
against him being an embarrassing intimacy with the members of the
legislature.

Page, who visited Nova Scotia for the purpose of inspecting Howe's
administration, bore testimony, before Howe's death, to his kindly
disposition and to the high respect in which he was held, officially and
in private life. His rectitude in all his relations was never in
question.[273]

Howe's successor was Arthur Woodgate, who had served in the post office
in Jersey. Woodgate administered the post office in Nova Scotia until
the provincial system was absorbed in that of the dominion, when the
confederation of the several provinces took place; until 1851, he was,
as were his predecessors, deputy of the postmaster general in England;
after that date he was postmaster general for the province of Nova
Scotia.

An immediate consequence of the death of Howe was the removal of the
post office in Halifax from the site it had occupied to the Dalhousie
college building. The merchants objected to the continuance of the post
office in its former situation, and in the search of a more convenient
location, it was observed that the ground floor of the college building,
which was occupied as a tavern, offered advantages, which satisfied the
mercantile community.

A lease was effected for the new quarters on the 6th of July, 1844, and
the post office surveyor reported to the secretary that there was at the
disposal of the department, a large and capacious room solely for the
purposes of the inland sorting office; a delivery office, and a large
room for sorting papers, all on the ground floor; while in the second
storey there was ample accommodation for the deputy postmaster general
and his staff.[274]

The question of a reduction in the postage rates engaged the attention
of the legislature every session, after the beneficial results of penny
postage in Great Britain became known. In March 1842, the assembly,
which was at this time under the speakership of Joseph Howe, petitioned
to have the charges taken entirely off newspapers and pamphlets. As
newspapers were almost the only vehicles of information in the province,
and the postal charges were collected entirely from the rural parts,
they were a heavy burden on people who could least bear it.

The postmaster general in reply stated that the proposition to relieve
newspapers altogether from postage could not be considered, but a
reduction in the charge was at that time being considered by the
treasury. Newspapers were increasing so rapidly, at the existing rates,
that it was becoming a question, with the bad state of the roads, as to
how to provide for their transmission. Pamphlets were being charged as
letters in England, and it would be impossible to sanction their free
conveyance in the colonies.

At the same time the assembly requested the lieutenant governor to have
inquiries made as to the feasibility and effect on the revenue of a
uniform rate on letters of fourpence per half ounce within the province.
The deputy postmaster general, to whom the question was referred, was
strongly opposed to the proposition. He was convinced that the increase
in the correspondence would be slight, and that, at the rate mentioned,
the revenue would not be sufficient to pay the cost of any one of the
principal routes in the province.

At the beginning of 1844, the changes, already mentioned, of charging
letters by weight instead of number of enclosures, and of charging
newspapers a halfpenny per sheet, came into operation in the Maritime
provinces. These ameliorations went as far as the officials of the post
office were prepared to recommend, in the existing state of the finances
of the provincial post office. The assembly in Nova Scotia were
persistent in their demand for a reduction in the charges on letters.
They had before them the evidence taken that year in England as to the
effect of penny postage, which had then been in operation three years.

The resolutions the assembly adopted were fully borne out by that
evidence. They resolved that the experience of the parent state had
clearly established that "the introduction of a uniform rate of penny
postage has had a beneficial effect upon the social and commercial
classes of the United Kingdom; has largely increased the number of
letters passing through the post office and prevented the illicit
transmission of letters by private opportunities, and that its effect
has been fully counterbalanced by the other important consequences
resulting from it."[275]

The assembly were therefore satisfied that a fourpenny rate established
under the same regulations as to the use of postage stamps, would
promote the public interests, not add materially to the labour of
management, and ultimately increase the public revenue.

Coupled with this resolution was another to the effect that it would be
desirable to have the provincial post office under the control and
management of the legislature. With this point, the secretary of the
post office dealt at length in a memorandum to the postmaster general.

In his opinion very great advantage resulted from the present system, by
which the control of the post offices in the greater part of the British
colonies was vested in the postmaster general. To abandon it would be
extremely prejudicial, and would have the effect of breaking up the
existing organization (which he was at that time endeavouring to make as
uniform as possible for the whole empire) into various conflicting
systems framed according to the views and feelings of each separate
colony, to the great detriment of the general interests of the empire.

Loud complaints, the postmaster general was reminded by the secretary,
were being made respecting the post offices in Australia, where four
different scales of rates of postage were in operation, resulting in
inconveniences which a recently appointed commission of inquiry were
authorized to obviate. He regarded it as a great advantage that one
uniform system of management and one uniform scale of rates of postage
should prevail in the North American provinces, in Newfoundland and in
the West Indies.

The reply of the postmaster general, which was based on the secretary's
report,[276] received the cordial assent of the legislature. After
reviewing the condition of the colonial post offices in their relation
to the imperial system, the postal committee of the legislature declared
that "the promptness and celerity of intercourse is unrivalled in the
world, and has greatly contributed to the commercial advancement of the
nation. So complicated is the British postal system that, without the
details, it is not possible to obtain a conception of its present
perfection. Nowhere is inviolability of letters more respected than in
England and the United States, and by the constitution of the latter,
adopted in 1789, exclusive power is given to congress to establish post
offices and post roads, thus preventing the difficulties which would
have resulted from leaving this department to the several states."

On this point, then, the committee advised that the house should yield
to the wisdom of the imperial parliament. They returned, however, to the
question of a uniform fourpenny rate for letters, which in their opinion
would facilitate intercourse, and ultimately carry the revenue far
beyond the amount expended for the maintenance of the service. Since
Hill made the use of postage stamps an integral and important part of
his scheme for penny postage, the legislature, in again expressing its
faith in the benefits and feasibility of the uniform fourpenny rate,
directed attention to the merits of postage stamps.

The postmaster general was of opinion that this suggestion should not be
entertained. Any proposal for allowing postage stamps to be used in the
colonies had hitherto been resisted from a fear, amongst other
objections, that forged stamps would find their way into circulation
with little fear of detection. The solicitor of the post office was of
opinion that if forgery were committed in the United Kingdom it could
not be punished in the colonies, whilst on the other hand, if committed
in any of the colonies, it could be visited with no penalty on parties
in the United Kingdom.

With the acquiescence of the Nova Scotia legislature in the view of the
general post office as to the desirability of maintaining a centralized
imperial postal system, and the only outstanding question on which there
was disagreement that of a reduction of postage rates, it will be
expedient to bring forward the narrative of events with respect to the
post office in New Brunswick. The information amassed by the royal
commission makes this an easy task.

What strikes one at first glance is the little progress that had been
made since 1825, when Howe made his official tour through the province.
In 1825, the population stood at 75,000, and in 1841 it had risen to
nearly 160,000. The increase was distributed with considerable evenness
over every part of the province, though the preponderance found its way
to the outlying districts. The numerous settlements thus established
would seem to call for a wide extension of the postal service.

But little was done to meet the requirements. There were nine post
offices in the province in 1825: in 1841, when the population had more
than doubled and was scarcely less than half what it is to-day, there
were no more than twenty-three. Between Fredericton and Woodstock, a
stretch of sixty-two miles of well-settled country, there were no post
offices. The districts lying between Fredericton and Sussexvale,
eighty-eight miles, and between Fredericton and Chatham, one hundred and
fifteen miles, embracing many farming communities, were equally
unprovided for, which is the more inexplicable since couriers travelled
through all these districts to the several points mentioned, and the
expense for post offices would have been more than covered by the
revenues of the offices.

The system of mail routes can be described shortly. From Halifax there
was a main post road, which entered New Brunswick a few miles west of
Amherst, and following in its general lines the course of the
inter-colonial railway passed the bend at Moncton, and continued its way
on to St. John. At a point near the present Norton station, called the
Fingerboard, there was a route to Fredericton.

Over these routes the courier travelled twice each way weekly. Between
Fredericton and Chatham, there was a service of the same frequency.
Chatham was the distributing point for the line of settlements, skirting
the shore, northward to Campbellton, and southward to Dorchester. On the
former route, the trips were made weekly, and on the latter, twice a
week. Mails were carried daily between Fredericton and Woodstock,
Fredericton and St. John and St. John and St. Andrews.

Though, in comparison with the other provinces, the mail conveyance in
New Brunswick was not greatly open to criticism in point of frequency,
the post office was no more popular there than elsewhere. Steamers,
which ran daily between St. John and Fredericton, were employed by the
post office to carry the mails, but though the steamer carried many
every trip, there were few of which the post office got the benefit.

There was a practice of taking letters to the steamer and tossing them
on to the table in the cabin. On the arrival of the steamer in port, a
crowd of messenger boys who were awaiting it picked up the letters from
the table and delivered them through the town at one penny or twopence
each.

The stage coaches were laid under contribution in the same irregular
manner. Every passenger between St. John and Fredericton was expected to
take with him all his friends' letters, which he either delivered to the
persons to whom they were addressed, or deposited in the post office,
the postmaster receiving a penny each for delivering them. A stratagem
sometimes employed was to place letters in the midst of a bundle of
paper and sticks of wood, the freight of the bundle being less than the
postage on the letters it contained.

It was at this time that the legislature of New Brunswick began to
manifest an interest in the management of the post office. In 1841, a
special committee of the assembly reviewed the operation of the system,
and among the questions discussed was the authority.

The committee expressed the opinion that no arrangement could be
satisfactory which did not combine provincial control of the local post
office with a general imperial oversight over the whole system; and they
recommended that a deputy postmaster general should be appointed whose
duty it should be to prescribe mail routes, open post offices, appoint
postmasters, and generally to manage the business of the post office in
the province.[277]

The question of local management the general post office proposed to
solve, not in the manner desired by the assembly, but by separating New
Brunswick from the jurisdiction of the deputy postmaster general at
Halifax, and establishing a department in the province, under a deputy
postmaster general who should be stationed at St. John, and who should
be, as the deputies in the other provinces were, subject to the
postmaster general of England.

Local control was partially effected, as in the other provinces, by
vesting the appointment of all officials, except the deputy postmaster
general and the inspector, in the lieutenant governor. On the 6th of
July, 1843, a separate establishment was set up in New Brunswick with
John Howe, the son of the late deputy postmaster general for Nova
Scotia, in charge as deputy postmaster general.

The arrangement had, at first, only a qualified success. It was
criticized by the legislature as having nearly doubled the expense of
the establishment, and by the post office officials on the ground that
it introduced the local politician into the system.

As illustration of the introduction of local political mechanics, Page
reported to the secretary of the post office that the deputy postmaster
general, having had to dismiss a postmaster for very gross
mismanagement, applied to the lieutenant governor for a nomination for
the vacant office.[278] The lieutenant governor nominated the dismissed
man, and when the nomination was refused, he proposed to appoint the
late postmaster's son. The explanation was that the postmaster was a
leading politician, and his re-nomination had been insisted upon by the
political manager, whom the governor consulted.

The lieutenant governor viewed with no favour the independent powers of
the deputy postmaster general. In the course of a dispute over the
dismissal by the deputy postmaster general of a person whom he had
appointed, the lieutenant governor laid his opinions and desires
energetically before the colonial secretary. He requested that the
general post office should be removed from St. John to Fredericton in
order that the latter might be more effectually under the control of the
lieutenant governor; and that the post office surveyor or inspector
should make his reports to himself and not to the deputy postmaster
general. His views were held to be quite untenable, the postmaster
general pointing out that if carried into effect, they would make the
governor the deputy postmaster general.

St. John and Fredericton were the only towns in New Brunswick in which
correspondence was delivered by letter carrier. In St. John there were
two carriers, who covered the city together, one delivering letters, the
other newspapers. They were paid a penny for each letter or newspaper.
In Fredericton there was only one carrier, who was in the employ of the
postmaster, who retained the sums collected as his own perquisite.

New Brunswick was in no respect behind the sister provinces in its
demand for the essential thing--a reduced rate of postage. The chamber
of commerce of St. John, in 1841, petitioned the postmaster general to
reduce the rate on letters exchanged between any of the post offices on
the route between St. John and Halifax to threepence, arguing that
British letters for places anywhere in the colonies were carried from
Halifax inward for one penny (the rate was really twopence), and that
letters were exchanged between the remotest places in the United States
for one shilling and threepence.

To the point respecting the conveyance of British letters, the
postmaster general replied that this part of the service was carried on
at a heavy loss, which was only to be justified as an imperial measure.

A legislative committee sitting in the same year went beyond the chamber
of commerce in its recommendations.[279] It was of opinion that there
should be a uniform rate on letters circulating within the province, and
that that rate should not exceed twopence. They, also, recommended that
newspapers, legislative papers and small pamphlets, being for the
political education of the people, should be exempt from postage
altogether. They foresaw a temporary loss if their recommendations were
carried into effect, but considered that any such loss should be made
good by the legislature.

In 1843 the legislature took up the subject again, repeating their
desire for free newspapers, and requesting that the rate on letters
exchanged within the province be fixed at threepence a single
letter.[280]

The assembly, in 1845, addressed the king on the whole question of the
post office.[281] After remonstrating on the large increase in the cost
of the provincial service, as the result of erecting a separate
establishment, they complained that, in order to bring the expenditure
within the revenue, the department had cut off several routes and
reduced the frequency of the couriers' trips on others. The charges on
letters and newspapers were so high as to impede correspondence.

The assembly in this address gave it as their opinion that if the
charges on letters were reduced by one-half, and were abolished
altogether as regards newspapers, the receipts would soon be greater
than they were. The legislature had expended £145,000 on the main roads
during the preceding ten years, and it was disheartening that the postal
accommodation was less than it had formerly been.

In their requests in 1845 for reduction of charges, the legislature were
more conservative than they had been in earlier sessions. Still
maintaining that newspapers should circulate free of postage, they were
content to ask that the charges on letters should range from sixpence to
twopence, according to the distance they were carried. They asked that
the deputy postmaster general be required to establish such additional
service as the legislature might see fit to demand; that the accounts of
the provincial system be laid annually, in full detail, before the
legislature, and that any surplus revenue be devoted to extending the
facilities for inter-provincial communication. In consideration of the
foregoing requests being granted, the legislature pledged themselves to
provide such additional sums as might from time to time be required to
defray the current charges.

The colonial office replied to this address in October of the same
year.[282] The principal points dealt with were the petition for free
newspapers, and the complaint that the accommodation to the public had
been diminished.

On the latter point, the colonial secretary stated that no services had
been affected, except where they were unnecessary. As for the question
of free newspapers, if New Brunswick could be dealt with separately from
the other provinces, there could be no objection to meeting their
wishes, but in view of the fact that the effect on the other provinces
had to be considered, the request of New Brunswick could not be granted.

The legislature in the following session took issue with the colonial
secretary on this point. It was quite open to Nova Scotia or any of the
other provinces to adopt the same policy as New Brunswick considered
advisable. The legislature took a course, which had not hitherto been
pursued by the other provinces. They besought the co-operation of a
sister province in an effort to have their desires carried into effect.
They sent a copy of the address of the previous session to Canada and
suggested a joint effort to secure reduced rates for the North American
colonies, by guaranteeing a sufficient sum in proportion to the business
of the respective provinces to make up any deficiency of a temporary
nature that might be caused by such reduction.

The post office in Prince Edward Island was involved in none of the
controversies, which agitated the people of the other provinces. It owed
its immunity to its low estate. Its revenues were never equal to the
cost of its maintenance, and consequently it was not a subject for
exploitation. A post office was opened at Charlottetown in the beginning
of the nineteenth century, and until 1827 it was the only institution of
the kind in the island.

Letters addressed to persons dwelling outside of Charlottetown, no
matter how far, remained in the post office in that town until called
for. This state of things led to many inconveniences, but it was not
until 1827 that it received official attention.

Lieutenant governor Ready, in the course of his speech at the opening of
the legislature in that year, pointed out the necessity of establishing
a postal system in the island, "as affording the means of a speedy and
safe communication with our distant population, and of conveying to them
a knowledge of the laws and proceedings of the government, which, while
it contributes to the security of the people, serves also to guard them
against the effects of misrepresentation and misconception."[283]

The legislature having expressed their concurrence in these views, the
postmaster of Charlottetown was directed to open a number of post
offices, and establish the necessary courier routes. The system began
operations on the 1st of July following.

There were three routes established. The western courier exchanged mails
at New London, Malpeque, Traveller's Rest and Tryon River, his route
being nearly ninety miles in length. The eastern courier served St.
Peter's Road, St. Peters, Bay Fortune and Grand River. This route was
upwards of one hundred miles. The south-east courier travelled
fifty-three miles, and exchanged mails at Seal River and Three Rivers.

The couriers performed their services weekly in summer and fortnightly
in winter. The rates of postage were fixed by the legislature without
regard to the postmaster general of England, and were twopence a letter
and one-halfpenny a newspaper. The report of these proceedings rather
disturbed the deputy postmaster general at Halifax, whose jurisdiction
included Prince Edward Island and who expressed his disapproval of the
course pursued by the authorities. He notified the postmaster of
Charlottetown that there was no power possessed by the government of any
colony of Great Britain to establish post offices and set up couriers,
and demanded to be furnished with the orders under which the postmaster
had acted.

The secretary of the general post office, in a letter to the postmaster
general, pointed out that the measures taken by the legislature of
Prince Edward Island were entirely illegal, but that it was a question
how far it might be expedient or politic to interfere in a settlement
where the deputy postmaster general had not thought it necessary to
establish internal communications; particularly when the communications,
if established, would probably not produce revenue sufficient to cover
the expenses.

He therefore suggested no interference be made for the present with the
arrangements in the island, and that Howe, the deputy postmaster
general, should watch the financial results of the system. If it should
appear that a revenue should arise, then the local authorities might be
advised that the postmaster general would take the arrangements into his
own hands, under the powers given by his patent, and by various acts of
parliament.

The postmaster general concurred, and Howe was duly instructed. As it
appeared at the end of the first year's operations, that the revenue
derived from the posts set up by the legislature amounted to £268, while
the expenses were £383, the postmaster general decided to leave the
service in the charge of the legislature, with instructions to Howe to
keep his attention alive to the subject in case a change in the
financial results might make it desirable for the postmaster general to
assert his authority.

The outcome of the negotiations was that the revenue collected by the
post office in its internal system was passed over to the provincial
treasury, which defrayed the cost of maintaining the couriers. The
situation remained unchanged until 1851, when the control of the post
office was formally transferred to the colonial legislature. The
financial results of the system were at no time of any considerable
magnitude, and the expenses constantly outran the revenue, though not
sufficiently to make the post office a serious burden on the provincial
revenues. In the year 1850, the total net receipts were £1441, and the
expenditure was £1528.

FOOTNOTES:

[269] Howe to Lawrence, September 2, 1839 (Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[270] _Report of Committee of Assembly_, February 25, 1842 (enclosure in
Howe to Maberly, April 4, 1842, Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[271] Falkland to colonial office, April 30, 1841 (Br. P.O.
Transcripts).

[272] _Journals of Assembly_, Canada, 1846, App. F. (E).

[273] Howe's death took place on January 18, 1843.

[274] Watson to secretary, G.P.O., July 17, 1844 (Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[275] _Journals of Assembly_, 1844.

[276] _Journals of Assembly_, 1846, and Br. P.O. Transcripts for 1845
and 1846.

[277] _Journals of Assembly_, N.B., 1841, p. 266.

[278] Page's _Inquiry_, II. 72 (Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[279] _Journals of Assembly_, N.B., 1841, p. 266.

[280] _Journals of Assembly_, N.B., 1843, p. 285.

[281] _Ibid._, 1845, p. 334.

[282] _Ibid._, 1846, p. 54.

[283] Howe to Freeling, June 10 and September 29, 1827 (Br. P.O.
Transcripts).




CHAPTER XV

     Reversal of attitude of British government on post office
     control--Instructions to Lord Elgin--Provincial postal
     conference--Control of post office relinquished to colonies.


The ministry formed by Lord John Russell, which took office on July 6,
1846, gave its immediate attention to the condition of the post office
in the North American colonies, and a few weeks after taking office,
Lord Clanricarde, the postmaster general, laid a proposition before the
treasury[284] which had for its object the severance of the relations
between the colonial system and the general post office and the
withdrawal of the latter from all responsibility respecting the service
in the provinces.

The reversal of policy in this case was as remarkable for suddenness as
that which, in the same year, had brought about the abolition of the
Corn Laws. As late as June 9, the secretary of the post office submitted
a proposition from Stayner for a substantial reduction in the rates,
with many doubts as to the propriety of accepting it. He pointed out
that it would involve, at least temporarily, so great a shrinkage in the
revenues, that the treasury would be faced with alternatives almost
equally distasteful, but one of which it would be obliged to adopt. The
treasury must be prepared either to take on itself the deficits certain
to arise, or must call upon the colonial legislatures to meet them.

While the treasury was deliberating, a new postmaster general
supervened, who was quite prepared to face the idea of colonial postal
systems over which he ceased to have control. With the insistent
petitions from Canada and New Brunswick before him, he came to the
conclusion that the time had arrived when it was no longer expedient for
the general post office to continue responsibility for postal systems,
which had to subserve interests understood only by those whom they
concerned. With certain safeguards, he had no fear for the impairment of
imperial interests.

The course of reasoning by which Clanricarde reached the conclusions he
communicated to the treasury were as follows: The unanimity of the
demands of the colonial legislatures left no doubt that the postage
rates must undergo a very considerable reduction; and there was equally
little doubt that the consequences of this reduction would be a
diminution of revenue so considerable that a large deficit would be
inevitable. New Brunswick, the new postmaster general recalled, had
undertaken to make good its portion of the deficiency, and there was
every probability that the other provinces would assume the same
obligation.

In these deficiencies, however, in spite of the utmost good will on the
part of the provinces, lay the seeds of certain trouble. The principle
governing the establishment of a postal system, and its expansion to
meet local requirements, was fundamentally different in a new country
from the principle by which they were guided at home. In a new country a
postal system was expected to afford the means of extending
civilization, and to advance with equal step with settlement, whereas in
a long settled country, the postal system followed in the train of
civilization.

The consequence of this difference is naturally a frequent clashing of
opinion between the authorities at home and the public in the colonies.
Disputes were constantly arising as to the extent of the accommodation
to be given to new settlements, the amount of the salaries to be paid to
officials, and above all as to the principle upon which new and
expensive posts should be established.

As to this last point, the general post office had just disposed of an
application, which threw a strong light on the different elements, which
had sometimes to be taken into consideration in dealing with questions
of extensions of the system in a country like Canada.[285]

Sir George Simpson, the deputy governor of the Hudson Bay Company,
represented that the company had a post at Sault Ste. Marie, for which
postal accommodation was desirable. The post office having but one test
to apply was disposed to reject the application on account of the
insufficiency of the prospective revenue to cover the cost of the
service.

Gladstone, at that time colonial secretary, sought information from Lord
Cathcart, administrator of the government, as to the merits of the
application and learned that, besides the Hudson Bay interest, there
were prospects of large mining developments in the district, and that a
body of troops was about to be sent to fort Garry, which would
certainly require regular communication with headquarters.

These were considerations which post office officials in Great Britain
would seldom have to take into account, and while the accommodation was
authorized in this case, owing to the standing of its advocates, there
would be many cases, where the necessity would appear equally great to
local authorities, which would not impress the authorities at home
sufficiently to cause them to disregard their customary regulations.

Parenthetically it may be stated, as instances, that when the North-West
territories were taken over by Canada in 1869, it became necessary to
establish a mail service over a stretch of nine hundred miles between
Winnipeg and Edmonton, at a cost of $10,000 a year, while the revenue
from the route would scarcely exceed as many hundreds; and for many
years after the Canadian Pacific railway was carried to Vancouver in
1886, the expenditure of the post office for the conveyance of mails
into that country exceeded the revenue by some hundreds of thousands of
dollars.

On this point the postmaster general says: "there is no more fertile
source of contention in the North American colonies than the
establishment of new posts; and if the means of extending such posts
throughout the colonies were provided by funds not of the post office,
but granted from the general colonial revenue, however well administered
a department might be, I fear it would constantly be subjected to
accusations of favouritism and of undue influences."

Clanricarde conceded that it would only be reasonable to expect that the
legislative assemblies would endeavour to ascertain whether by
rearrangements, or other alterations in the administration, the
deficiency would not be diminished, and whether economy could not be
introduced with respect to salaries. The struggle of members for local
advantages would heighten the feeling with which the department
administered from England would be regarded.

The postmaster general summed the situation up by declaring his
conviction that any measure producing a large deficiency in the post
office revenue would be tantamount to a surrender of the administration
by the postmaster general; and as he was of opinion that the general
colonial interests called for a large reduction in the postage rates, he
considered that it would be better that the postmaster general should
resign his control over the post offices at once.

The imperial interests, which had determined the department in the past
to retain its control over the arrangements remained in undiminished
strength; and in order to safeguard these, it would be necessary to
stipulate for certain conditions to which the colonies would be required
to agree, before the colonial post offices were relinquished to the
colonial legislatures.

The first was that correspondence passing between two colonies through
the territory of a third, should not be subject to a charge on the part
of the latter for transportation. This stipulation ensured that an
intermediate colony should not have the power to compel the colonies on
either side of it to raise their charges to meet exorbitant rates for
transportation.

The second condition was that, in the case of correspondence passing
between Great Britain and the colonies, the postage on which was one
shilling and twopence, the part of this amount, which was for the inland
conveyance, viz. twopence, should remain in operation, unless the
ordinary inland rate should be less than twopence. In this case the
correspondence to and from Great Britain should have the benefit of the
lower rate.

The third condition was that prepayment or payment on delivery should be
optional with respect to correspondence passing from one province to
another, and, in order to avoid complicated accounts between the
provinces, the practice should be for each province to treat as its own
all the postage it collected whether it were on letters paid at the time
of posting, or on letters from other provinces, the postage of which,
being unpaid at the office of posting was collected at the office of
delivery. The postmaster general also suggested, as highly desirable,
that a uniform system and rate of postage should be maintained
throughout the provinces.

As the proposition of the postmaster general provided for the
reservation to the treasury of the full amount of the packet postage,
part of which had until that time been used in the colonies to defray
the expenses of their services, there could be no objection in point of
finances to leaving to the colonies the control of their post offices.

Lord Elgin, who came out as governor general in the beginning of 1847,
brought with him instructions to convey this information to the several
legislatures. In these instructions Lord Grey, the colonial secretary,
after alluding to the great change in the economic policy of the United
Kingdom towards the colonies as a consequence of the adoption of the
principle of free trade--the abolition of the preferential tariff which
the colonies had hitherto enjoyed, and the concomitant removals of the
restrictions, which had existed on their trade with foreign
countries--pointed out that in order that they might reap the largest
measure of benefit from the greater freedom of trade, it was necessary
that they should be united for customs purposes, on lines perhaps
similar to those of the German Zollverein.

Grey further intimated that it was also desired, in order to complete
the commercial association of the colonies, that some arrangement should
be come to for settling the affairs of the post office. He suggested
that a conference of the representatives of the colonies should be held
in Montreal, to discuss these important subjects, and to endeavour to
arrive at some agreement as to the principles to be adopted in giving
effect to united colonial action.

Elgin delivered his message to the Canadian legislature in opening the
session of 1847, on the 4th of June. He stated that he was enabled to
inform the legislature that His Majesty's ministers were prepared to
surrender to the provincial authorities, the control of the department
in the colonies as soon as, by consent between the several legislatures,
arrangements should be matured for securing to British North America the
advantage of an efficient and uniform postal system.

But before this official intimation reached the colonies, action had
been taken in one of them, on lines so closely parallel to those defined
in the letter of the postmaster general to the treasury, as to suggest
that Elgin, on his arrival in Boston on the 25th of January, had at once
despatched a message to Halifax, since, on the 27th of January, the
question of the post office was brought up for discussion in the
legislature of Nova Scotia.

A committee was appointed to inquire generally into the conditions of
the post office, and, particularly, into the advantage of one general
system being adopted for the colonies, and the best means of
accomplishing such an object.[286] Their task was to submit such a
scheme as should be likely to command the approval of the other colonies
and of the imperial authorities. This scheme should be founded upon some
principle of central supervision and management of the various colonial
post offices that would ensure uniformity in their operations, security
against conflict with the general post office of the empire, and a
proper degree of responsibility of the local heads to their
legislatures.

Addressing themselves first to the question of postage rates, the
committee at Halifax decided, though with some misgivings, to recommend
for adoption the rates proposed by the commission approved by Sydenham
to investigate the affairs of the post office. These rates were based
on the principle of charging according to the distance letters were
carried.

The preference of the committee was for a single uniform rate. But they
were prepared to waive it, and adopt the rates proposed by the
commission, "because those suggestions had already received the sanction
of able men well acquainted with the subject, because they believed
their adoption would involve very great benefits to the people of this
colony, and because they believed those suggestions were more likely to
be concurred in by the authorities in England, and by the other
colonies, than would be any that proceeded directly from themselves."

The concurrence of the legislatures of the other provinces should be
obtained in the recognition of common principles, and of the necessity
for an independent authority placed in one of the colonies, whose
function it should be to organize and centralize the department within
certain limits to be prescribed and defined.

The report of the committee was submitted to the assembly of Nova Scotia
on the 29th of March, and was adopted on all points, except the
important one of the rates of postage. The house was not disposed to
concur in the continuation of a system of postal charges, which had been
definitely abandoned in Great Britain and the United States, and which
had been condemned by every public body in the colonies, which had
considered the subject. The assembly substituted for the rates proposed
by the committee the uniform rate of threepence, and were prepared to
face such deficits as should result. The lieutenant governor was
requested to send the resolutions to the other colonies, with the
earnest desire that they would be pleased to give them consideration.

On the 30th of June, the Nova Scotia resolutions were laid before the
Canadian legislature, and no time was lost in carrying into effect the
suggestion of a conference between representatives of the colonies on
the mainland. Wm. Cayley, the inspector general of Canada (in practice
the minister of finance), J. W. Johnston, the solicitor general of Nova
Scotia and R. L. Hazen, of the executive council of New Brunswick, were
appointed representatives of their respective provinces.

These representatives of three of the four provinces met in Montreal, on
the invitation of Elgin; and in October, the result of their
deliberations was presented to the governor general.[287]

In considering the question of the establishment of an independent
management within the provinces, thus taking over the functions of the
general post office so far as they related to the colonies, the
delegates discussed the relative advantages of a scheme of a central
department for the four provinces with united revenue and management
such as then existed, or of one that would place the management of the
postal arrangements in the hands of the local governments of each
province, with no greater central control than should be necessary for
securing imperial and inter-colonial interests.

The former of the two alternatives was rejected, as open to practically
all the objections that had arisen from the control being continued in
England. There was the further consideration that the most practical
security against an imprudent excess in postal accommodation would be
found in the consideration that undue encroachments on the general
revenue for the benefit of the postal service would diminish the means
required for other and not less valuable purposes. This motive, powerful
when confined within the limits of a single province, might lose much of
its force, were the postal revenues of the four provinces gathered into
one fund.

The other alternative appeared free from the objections mentioned. The
delegates, therefore, recommended that the post office departments in
the several provinces should be separate and distinct from one another,
and under the control, each, of its own provincial government, which
should appoint all officers, make arrangements for mail service, pay all
expenses, and retain all collections, except the balances due to Great
Britain on packet postage.

For expenditures common to all the provinces, there should be an office
of central audit in Canada of which the postmaster general of Canada
should be the head. The duties of the office were to audit the accounts
of the several provinces, returns of which should be presented annually
to the different legislatures; to collect and transmit to England the
balances due from the four provinces on the packet service; and, in
concert with the postmaster general in each province, to make all
necessary arrangements for the transmission of the mails along the chief
or central route from Canada to Halifax and between Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island.

This office was anomalous in character, implying the inability of the
several independent provincial departments to make all necessary
business arrangements among themselves, and when the provinces assumed
control of their post offices, it was not established.

In dealing with the question of the rates of postage, the delegates had
before them the various representations from the several provinces as to
the desirability of establishing, if possible, a low uniform rate of
postage; and the success of penny postage in Great Britain and of the
rates adopted in the United States in 1846 encouraged the belief that a
low uniform postage would not only confer immeasurable commercial and
social benefits, but would within a reasonable time be productive of a
revenue ample for all the needs of the service.

It was, therefore, agreed to recommend to their respective governments
the adoption of the threepenny or five-cent rate for each half-ounce
letter. Lest, however, any of the provinces should fear for the
financial results of conveying letters over the greater distances for
this sum, they confined their recommendation to letters carried less
than three hundred miles, leaving it optional to charge a double rate
for letters carried beyond that distance. For the purpose of fixing the
charge the provinces were to be regarded as one territory.

No change was recommended in the charges on newspapers, parliamentary
documents, or other printed papers, but the several legislatures were
left free to exempt these from postage, if they thought fit to do so.
Prepayment or payment on delivery of letters should be optional, and
franking abolished.

The treasury to whom this report was submitted, approved of the
arrangements proposed, except that relating to the payment for the
British mails to and from the port of destination in America. But they
contented themselves with observing that this remained a matter of
negotiation between the home and the colonial departments; and stated
that as soon as the arrangements had been sufficiently matured, the
requisite steps would be taken for the transfer of the postal
communications to the provincial authorities.

Nova Scotia, which had taken the leading part in the negotiations which
had brought matters to the point they had reached, again took up the
leadership. On the 21st of March, 1848, the legislature adopted the
report of the commissioners, and directed the attorney general to
prepare a bill based on the view of Grey and Clanricarde, pledging
themselves to make good any deficiency which might take place in the
post office revenue of that province.

The bill to effect this arrangement was adopted by the legislature on
April 4.[288] Thus all necessary action on the part of that province was
complete, and the measure was ready to be put into operation, as soon
as the British government and the other colonies had taken the necessary
action on their part.

Following up the enactment of this measure, the Nova Scotia legislature
appointed James B. Uniacke, the chairman of the post office committee,
to visit Canada, and lay before the governor general the views of Nova
Scotia on the subject of the provincial post office and to endeavour to
settle with Canada the questions necessary to be disposed of before the
post office could be established.

Uniacke arrived in Montreal on the 8th of June, and had interviews with
Elgin and the executive council. Two days later the council adopted a
report drawn up in terms differing but slightly from those of the
commission of 1847, and recommending the adoption of a uniform rate of
threepence (five cents) throughout British North America.

The other recommendations were the same as those submitted by the
committee, with the addition that postage stamps should be issued for
the use of the public. The council were of opinion that the provisions
recommended should be introduced in a bill, to be laid before
parliament, and expressed the hope that the postmaster general might be
given full discretionary powers in matters referring to the colonial
post office, and that Her Majesty's government might be persuaded to
adopt the above rates and regulations without further delay, the council
pledging the administration to make good any excess of expenditure over
revenue which may possibly arise in carrying out such arrangement.[289]

The government of Nova Scotia then approached that of New Brunswick, the
lieutenant governor at Fredericton being informed of the result of
Uniacke's visit to Canada and that all that was now required was the
assent of the government of New Brunswick and the approval of the
imperial authorities. The governor general added a word to the
intimation of the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, and it was settled
that legislation would be introduced into the New Brunswick legislature
in accordance with the terms agreed upon.[290]

All requisite measures for establishing the colonial post offices on an
independent footing were matured, so far as could be done, by the
legislatures themselves, and nothing now remained but the imperial
sanction. This the law officers were of opinion would require an act of
the imperial parliament, and on the 28th of July, 1849,[291] an act was
passed empowering the legislative authorities in any of the colonies to
establish and maintain a system of posts, to charge rates of postage for
the conveyance of correspondence, and to appropriate to their own uses
the revenue to be derived therefrom. With this action taken, the control
of the imperial government over the colonial posts should cease and
determine.

The government of Prince Edward Island, though invited by Elgin to
participate in the conference at Montreal in October 1846, took no part
in it. In November 1847, Johnston, one of the representatives from Nova
Scotia, sent to the lieutenant governor a copy of the report of the
Montreal commission, requesting an expression of his sentiments, and
inquiring as to the prospect of the legislature concurring in the
opinions contained in the report.

The deputy postmaster general in the course of an examination of the
report pointed out that the only valid objection the government of
Prince Edward Island could have to the adoption of its conclusions, was
that the uniform charge of threepence on inter-colonial correspondence
would make a serious inroad in the receipts of the Prince Edward Island
post office.

The island post office had been in the practice of adding to the postage
charged on inter-colonial letters, the inland rate of twopence a letter.
If the terms of the report were adopted in their entirety, and a uniform
rate were charged throughout the provinces of threepence a letter, the
island would have to relinquish its inland charge.

The deputy postmaster general took a serious view of the effect of the
proposed relinquishment of the inland postage. The revenue for 1850 was
£1440. Applying his estimates of the proportions by which the receipts
from the several classes of correspondence would be reduced, he
concluded that, under the scheme submitted, the revenue would probably
not exceed £660.[292]

Notwithstanding this unfavourable anticipation, the government gave its
assent to the scheme agreed upon by the other colonies, and the rate of
postage on letters exchanged with other colonies became threepence per
half ounce, while the charge on letters exchanged within the island
remained twopence per half ounce.

FOOTNOTES:

[284] _Can. Arch._, G. series v. 126 (August 18, 1846).

[285] Cardwell to postmaster general, June 10, 1846, and accompanying
papers (Br. P.O. Transcripts).

[286] _Journals of Assembly_, N.S., 1847.

[287] _Journals of Assembly_, Canada, 1849, App. B.B.B.

[288] _Journals of Assembly_, N.S., 1848.

[289] _Journals of Assembly_, Canada, 1849, App. B.B.B.

[290] _Ibid._, N.S., 1849

[291] _Imperial Statutes_, 12 and 13 Vict., c. 66.

[292] _Journals of Assembly_, P.E.I., 1850, App. H.


  [Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY GRIFFIN, C.M.G.
  (_Deputy Postmaster General_ 1857-1888)]




CHAPTER XVI

     Provincial administration of the post office--Reduced
     postage--Railway mail service--Arrangements with United
     States.


The several provinces took over the post offices within their
territories in 1851, Canada on the 6th of April, and Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick three months later. The postmaster general of Canada was made
a member of the executive council--the provincial cabinet--from the
beginning. The postmaster general of Nova Scotia was never a member of
the council, but administered the department as a subordinate official.
In New Brunswick, the department was administered on the same plan until
1855, when the postmaster general was made a member of the government.

During the period of separate provincial administrations, which
continued until 1867, when they were merged in the post office
department of the dominion of Canada, the record is on the whole one of
steady uneventful progress. Postal accommodations were extended, always
as occasion demanded, and seldom as immediate prospective revenues
warranted, with the result that the expenses generally outran the
revenues. This condition, however, caused little or no discontent, as
the provincial governments realized, as the British government could
not, that on the efficiency of the postal service depended in no small
measure the welfare of their people.

Stayner, in his valedictory to the postmasters of Canada, took credit
for the thriving and effective state in which he left the post office.
He believed that the improvements had fully kept pace with the growth of
the country during the period of his administration. In that period, he
pointed out, the increase in the number of post offices, amount of
revenue, and in the number of miles annually travelled with the mails
was more than six hundred per cent., a measure of progress not exceeded
by any public institution within the province.

Stayner's words contained no more than the truth. When he entered on the
office of deputy postmaster general he brought with him considerable
experience as a subordinate in the service. He gained early, and
retained to the end, the esteem and confidence of his superiors in
England, and if he lost popularity for a period in this country, it was
because he saw the folly of trying to serve two masters.

No one perceived more keenly than Stayner the inadequacy of the
accommodation he was permitted to extend to the rapidly expanding
settlements of the country; and no one could be more persevering in
bringing the facts to the attention of the postmaster general. The
contrast between the mail service on the north and south side of lake
Ontario affected him, as it did the people of Kingston and Toronto, and
he risked the regard of St. Martins-le-Grand by expressing sympathy with
the general feeling. The postal accommodation, which did not hold out
the prospect of, at least, self-maintenance, the authorities there did
not desire to have brought to their notice.

While sharing the general sense of the necessity of postal communication
in many parts of the country, Stayner took on himself the blame that
they were not provided. Fortunately for him, he was abundantly able to
take care of himself. By attaching himself to the government party he
earned a measure of the odium, which fell on them. But he entrenched
himself against too violent attack, and secured champions whom the
British government would willingly listen to. He managed to secure a
very large income from obnoxious perquisites, but it would seem from
later developments that this was rather a matter of good fortune, than
of any deliberate effort on his part.

The postmaster general and the colonial secretary had the strongest
objections to these perquisites, but when they sought the means to get
rid of them, they tried for some years in vain. The perquisites would
fall to somebody, since they were of the appurtenances of that position.

That Stayner served the country, as well as his relations with the
department in England would permit, admits of no doubt. William Lyon
Mackenzie, who abhorred the post office and all its ways, was fain to
concede that Stayner was the man, whom, of all he knew, he would most
readily support for the position of deputy postmaster general.

With how vigorous a hand the postmaster general of Canada set about his
task of providing adequate postal accommodation for the country, may be
judged from the fact that the number of post offices which in 1851 was
six hundred and one, was increased to eight hundred and forty-four
during the first twelve months.[293] The system was extended in Canada
as far west as Kincardine. The courier services to Sarnia and Goderich
on lake Huron were made daily, as was that to Bytown (afterwards
Ottawa).

Within five years the number of post offices had risen to one thousand
three hundred and seventy-five; and in 1861, ten years after the postal
service was taken over by the Canadian government, the number had been
augmented to one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five offices,
practically threefold the number in operation in 1851. When Canada
entered confederation it took into the postal system of the dominion two
thousand three hundred and thirty-three post offices.

The people of Canada responded with great readiness to the invitation to
use the post office, which was offered through the reduction in the
charges. When the Canadian post office was taken over, the rates varied
according to the distance letters were carried. The postmaster general
estimated that they yielded on the average ninepence a letter. The
reduction to threepence was, therefore, a diminution of two-thirds.

It is noteworthy how completely fulfilled was the prediction that the
low rates would so increase the number of letters carried that, in a
short time, the revenue, which was certain to fall for the moment, would
recover itself and return to the figures of 1851. For the year ending
April 1851, the last year of the high rates, the revenue was $335,208.
In the following year, with the reduction of the rate to one-third of
what it had been, the revenue fell to $239,608. But it was observed that
the number of letters posted had increased by over fifty per cent.

In 1855 the effect of the reduction, coupled with the extension of the
facilities to the public, was to produce a revenue of $368,168. Ten
years after the great reduction in the rates the revenue had risen to
$683,035, and at the time of entering confederation it was $914,784.

Among the most important of the facilities introduced in 1851 were
postage stamps, the values being threepence, sixpence, and one shilling.
Curiously enough, the obvious advantages of postage stamps did not
strike the people at the time. This is in large measure accounted for by
the fact that the use of stamps involved a change in attitude on the
question--who should pay the postage.

The old theory was that the service rendered to an individual by the
post office should not be paid for until the letter was actually
delivered. There was always a certain proportion of letters the postage
of which was paid at the time they were handed in at the post offices,
but the proportion was small. The regular practice was to allow the
recipient of the letter to pay for it.

This attitude had to be overcome, and natural conservatism delayed the
change for some time. Indeed, it was not until a fine in the shape of
additional postage was imposed in cases where letters were not prepaid,
that the practice was entirely changed.

The charges on the transmission of newspapers in Canada were among the
matters that received early attention. There was a strong feeling
throughout the colonies, that, in the absence of libraries, the high
price of books precluded their general diffusion in the several
communities, and it was therefore necessary that newspapers, the only
remaining means for extending public information should be distributed
at the cost of the government.

In the agreement on the conditions, under which the several colonies
should assume the administration of their post offices, it was
stipulated that, while threepence should be the charge on letters, and
one-halfpenny on newspapers, the several legislatures should have the
power to provide for the free circulation of newspapers through the post
offices.

Nova Scotia abolished the charges altogether when she took over control;
and New Brunswick took the same measure with the restriction that the
newspapers to which the free conveyance would apply should not exceed
two ounces in weight.

In Canada the same end was reached but with more deliberation. The rate
charged at the close of the old regime--one-halfpenny per sheet--was
continued until 1854. In that year this rate was reduced on general
newspapers, and was abolished altogether on periodicals devoted
exclusively to the furtherance of the special objects of agriculture,
education, science and temperance. The postmaster general calculated
that this measure would reduce the revenue by $32,000. In the year
following, the final step was taken, and the charges on provincial
newspapers circulating within the British North American colonies were
removed altogether.

The money order system was established in Canada in 1855, on the plan of
that in operation in the United Kingdom. The amount which might be sent
by a single order was limited to $40, and there was a uniform charge of
twenty-five cents for each order. In 1857, the amount transmissible by
single order was raised to $400, but after a short experience, it was
reduced to $100, and the charges were fixed at one-half of one per
cent. for the smaller amounts, and at three-quarters of one per cent.
for amounts above $30.

On the 1st of June, 1857, a money order exchange was established between
Canada and the United Kingdom, the limit of a single order being fixed
at $20. This was an accommodation which had been called for for a number
of years.

The colonial secretary, as early as 1852, wrote to the postmaster
general of England, pointing out the large increasing emigration to the
colonies, and the desire of persons prospering there to assist their
relatives to follow them. He estimated that over £1,000,000 was sent
yearly through the agency of private firms for this purpose. This the
colonial secretary declared to be worthy of encouragement, and he asked
the postmaster general to consider the question of extending to the
colonies the system of money orders which had proved so successful in
Great Britain. This appeal produced no immediate result.

In 1855, a registration system was introduced. Long previous to this
time, there had been a practice of entering money letters on letter
bills accompanying the mails, but as receipts were not given to those
posting such letters, nor taken from those to whom they were delivered,
the practice was defective as a measure of safety. Under the regulation
of 1855 receipts were given and taken, the charge being two cents.

The greatest advantage the post office was enabled to extend to the
public during this period was due to the opening of railway lines. For
some years progress in this respect was tardy. The first line built ran
from Laprairie, opposite Montreal to St. John's. It was constructed in
1836, and its purpose was to improve the communications between the
Canadian metropolis and the cities of New England and of the state of
New York.

No further steps were taken in this direction until 1847, when another
link was laid in the connections between Montreal and the eastern states
by the building of a line between Montreal and Lachine. These two short
lines, with one opened the same year between Montreal and St. Hyacinthe,
were all the railway lines in operation in Canada until 1851.

During this and the following year, additional lines were laid, but
their object was still the same, to improve the facilities for
transportation between Montreal and the cities of the United States. The
line from Montreal to St. Johns was extended to Rouse's Point, New York,
on lake Champlain, and that to St. Hyacinthe was carried on to
Sherbrooke and the international boundary, where it joined with the
Atlantic and St. Lawrence railway (an American line), and opened a
connection by railway between Montreal and the Atlantic seaboard at
Portland. This city became the winter port of the Canadian steamship
line, the operations of which began in the winter of 1853.

Until 1853, no part of what could be described as the Canadian railway
system had been built. The lines then under operation were all for the
purpose of bringing Montreal within the benefits of the American system.
But this year--1853--three extensive schemes of communication were
begun: the Grand Trunk Company started building the line running from
Quebec to the western limits of the province at Sarnia; the Great
Western Company built a line across the Niagara peninsula from the
Niagara river to Detroit river; and the Northern Company, a line from
Toronto northward to Georgian Bay at Collingwood. These lines brought
the advantages of railway communication to every rising settlement in
Upper and Lower Canada.

As construction progressed the new lines were utilized by the post
office department until the completion, in October 1856, of the Grand
Trunk from Brockville and Toronto brought Quebec into direct
communication by means of the Great Western railway with Windsor at the
western end of the province.

The reduction in time, which the railways had made it possible to effect
in the delivery of the mails between Quebec and the leading points in
the western part of the province was great. In 1853 the ordinary time
for the winter mails to travel from Quebec to Kingston was four days; in
1857, they were carried between the two places in thirty-one hours; to
Toronto the saving in time was the difference between seven days and
forty hours. Before the era of railways ten and a half days were
occupied in the journey from Quebec to Windsor. The railway carried the
mails regularly in forty-nine hours.

The use of travelling post offices, with mail clerks assorting and
distributing the mails from the railways in the course of their trips,
was an early feature of the postal service in Canada. This mode of
utilizing the railways had been in operation in England since 1838, and
before the leading railways in Canada were completed, an officer of the
post office department was sent to England to study the system. Thus, by
1857, this system, which is the leading feature of mail conveyance and
distribution, was in full course in this country seven years earlier
than in the United States.

But gratifying as were the results from the use of railways in the
conveyance of mails, through the sparsely-settled districts over the
immense stretches of our territory, the substitution of steam for horse
conveyance introduced a perplexing financial problem. The postmaster
general noted the peculiar fact that while passengers and merchandise
reaped the benefit of improved speed with an accompanying reduction in
the expense, the change threatened to burden the public with a vastly
augmented charge for the mail service.

Comparing the service by railway with that by stage, it was noted that,
while the stage driver waited at each office he visited, until the mail
he brought was assorted, and arranged for his farther conveyance, it was
impossible owing to the brevity of the stops at the stations, to do this
in the case of the mails carried by railway.

The post office consequently was compelled to train and employ a
distinct class of clerks to travel on the trains, and perform that duty
while the train was in movement. A portion of a car--generally about
one-third--was partitioned off and fitted up exclusively for postal
service. The salaries of these clerks constituted what the postmaster
general regarded as the enormous expenditure of $32,000 a year; and the
necessity created by the nature of the railway service for the provision
of an office on the trains, formed the principal ground on which a
comparatively high rate of compensation was claimed by the companies.

But that was not all. The railways not being able, like the stage coach,
to exchange the mails directly with the post offices of the towns along
the line, side services of an expensive character were required to
maintain the connection between the post offices and the stations. The
expenditure for this class of service, coupled with that for the
employment of the clerks who travel on the railway, exceeded, in most
cases, the whole of the previous expenditure for the superseded service
by stage; and then there were the demands of the railways to be
satisfied.

The rate of compensation for the conveyance of the mails was a subject
of dispute between the postmaster general and the railway companies. The
claims of the latter, however legitimate, were considered by the
postmaster general as out of the power of the department to meet from
its revenues. Several tentative settlements were made, but the final
adjustments were not reached until the appointment of a royal commission
in 1865, which, after hearing the statements of both sides, decided the
terms on a basis which lasted practically unchanged for nearly half a
century.

Nova Scotia entered on the administration of the postal service of the
province with much energy.[294] There were one hundred and forty-three
offices in the province in 1851. These were rapidly augmented and on the
more important routes, that is, those radiating from Halifax to the
eastern and western ends of the province, and to New Brunswick, were
given a frequency, conformable to the importance of the communications.

The number of post offices was in Nova Scotia doubled in four years;
trebled in ten years; more than quadrupled in fifteen years; and had
reached a total of six hundred and thirty when the provincial office was
absorbed into the postal service of the dominion.

Communication with Canada was confined to the land route, seven hundred
miles in length, over which it took ten days travel to reach the nearest
point of importance. By 1854, two other modes of communication had
presented themselves. The Cunard steamers, which called at Halifax on
their way to Boston and New York, were laid under contribution to carry
mails between Halifax and Canada; and the completion of the railway
between Montreal and Portland, Maine, afforded an opportunity of a
connection which was made by a steamer running between Portland and St.
John, New Brunswick.

The value of this service was not as great as it afterwards became when
there was a complete railway connection between Halifax and St. John,
but it nevertheless effected a considerable reduction in time. Thus, in
November 1855, mails were carried between Quebec and Halifax by way of
St. John and Portland in four days, though the average, through the
winter, was about a day more. The steamer carried the mails between St.
John and Portland three times a week in summer, and twice a week during
the balance of the year.

The postage on letters circulating throughout the North American
provinces was threepence a half ounce, and newspapers were transmitted
free of all postage. The registration of letters was introduced in 1852,
the fee being sixpence; and a money order system established in 1859.
The limit on the amount of a single order was fixed at the low sum of
$20 and the charge on each order was the rather high one of tenpence an
order.

By 1860 a fully equipped postal system was in operation in Nova Scotia.
The revenue of the department responded with fair readiness to the
accommodation afforded to the public. For the last year under the old
system, when rates were excessively high, and the accommodation limited,
the revenue was $28,260. The immediate consequence of the great
reduction was a shrinkage in the revenue by $4856 in the following year.
Five years after the low rates were established, the revenue for the
year 1851 was surpassed, and in thirteen years it was practically
doubled. In 1866, the last complete year under the provincial regime the
revenue had reached the respectable sum of $69,000.

The steady expansion of the service entailed an outlay which
considerably surpassed the revenue. In 1852, the first complete year
under the provincial administration, the deficit was $10,500. This
deficiency steadily mounted until for the years 1859 to 1861, it
averaged $29,000. Thereafter it descended as steadily as it had risen,
and during the last three years before the provincial system was
absorbed by the post office department at Ottawa the shortage was
$17,500 a year.

Neither Nova Scotia nor New Brunswick had the advantage of an extended
railway mail service until some years after Canada had been in enjoyment
of it. The service by railway began at the commencement of 1857, the
mails being carried between Halifax and Grand Lake, a distance of
twenty-two miles. In the following year it was extended to Truro and
Windsor, which was the total extent of the railway mail service at the
time of confederation.

It was resolved at the time New Brunswick assumed the administration of
its postal system, to make the postmaster general a member of the
provincial cabinet. But the legislature did not act on its resolution
until 1855, the postmaster general in the interim being, as in Nova
Scotia, merely an officer of the government. In 1851, the post office in
New Brunswick had, in regular post offices and way offices, exactly one
hundred offices.[295] These were increased with much rapidity. After
five years, the number had increased to two hundred and forty-six
offices; and at the period of confederation, there were four hundred and
thirty-eight post offices in New Brunswick.

The conditions under which letters and newspapers were carried in New
Brunswick were the same as those which prevailed in the other provinces.
The postage was threepence per half ounce for letters, and newspapers
were carried without charge. The effect on the revenue was the same as
in the other provinces.

In the first year after the low charges were introduced, the reduction
in the revenue was considerable. On comparing the revenue for the first
six months under the reduced rates with the revenue for the
corresponding period of the preceding year, there was found to be a
diminution of $3959. But the rebound was as rapid as it was in Canada.
In 1853, the revenue had nearly attained the figures of 1850-1851.
Thereafter the progress of the revenue was steady, reaching the sum of
$50,769 in 1866.

As in Nova Scotia, the cost of maintaining the service at its existing
efficiency outran considerably the revenue produced. The deficiency of
revenue to meet expenses amounted in 1854 to $15,316. This shortage
increased to nearly $24,000 in the years 1856 and 1857. There were
variations during the years that followed, but in the last three years
the average annual deficit was rather more than $20,000.

The department at Fredericton took a philosophical view of these
deficits which the government were called upon annually to make good.
The large expenditure, it was maintained, might be fairly viewed in the
same light as the amounts annually granted by the legislature for roads
and bridges and for the support of common schools. "The mail carriage to
all parts of the province secures to the travelling public conveyances
which would not otherwise exist, and the very large amount of
newspapers, etc., which passes through the post office affords strong
evidence that the department may be considered a branch of our
educational system."

Some friction existed between the three provinces, arising from their
geographical relations to one another. The British government made an
arrangement in 1845 for the conveyance of the Canadian mails through the
United States to and from the port of Boston, paying the United States
on the basis of the weight of mails carried. The letters were carried
under this arrangement. But, as the newspapers were not regarded as so
important, the government decided that they should not be carried on to
Boston, but landed them at Halifax, leaving them to be carried by the
couriers who conveyed the mails overland from that city to Quebec.

It was an arrangement which gave no satisfaction to any of the
provinces. Nova Scotia complained that it had to bear the expense of
conveying this mail matter for Canada and New Brunswick across its
territory without any sort of compensation. New Brunswick declared its
case was no better than Nova Scotia's, as it had to forward the Canadian
matter through that province, while Canada protested that the matter
complained of was due to no action or desire on its part, as the
arrangements delayed the delivery of the newspapers until they were
useless. A combined representation to the British government removed the
grievance, by the newspapers as well as the letters being thereafter
sent by way of Boston.

The relations between Canada and the United States were, as was to have
been expected, cordial. A convention was made in 1848 between Great
Britain and the United States, providing for the conveyance of the mails
exchanged between Canada and Great Britain, and in this convention it
was stipulated that the letters and newspapers exchanged between Canada
and the United States should be subject to the combined postage of the
two countries.

Thus the postage on any letter weighing not more than half an ounce, and
sent from Canada to any part of the United States was ten cents. An
exception was made in the case of letters passing between Canada and
California and Oregon. The charge in these cases was fifteen cents.

The construction of the Great Western railway between Niagara Falls and
Windsor afforded an opportunity to the United States to improve its
postal communications between the eastern and the western States, while,
on the other hand before the Grand Trunk railway was built, Canada took
advantage of the lines in the United States running along the south
shore of lake Ontario to accelerate the mails exchanged between Toronto
and Montreal.

FOOTNOTES:

[293] The facts respecting the growth of the post office in Canada are
to be found in the reports of the postmaster general, which began in
1852.

[294] The facts respecting the post office in Nova Scotia are to be
found in the reports of the department, in the appendices to the
_Journals of the Assembly_ from 1852 onwards.

[295] The facts respecting the post office in New Brunswick are to be
found in the reports of the department, in the appendices to the
_Journals of the Assembly_ from 1852 onwards.




CHAPTER XVII

     Canadian ocean mail service--Want of sympathy of British
     government therewith.


The progress of the Cunard line had a consequence which was neither
anticipated nor welcomed by the British government. The plan of the
government to concentrate its transatlantic communications on Halifax
had been given a thorough trial and had proven a failure, and as the
expressed wish of the Canadians to have their correspondence with the
mother country exchanged at either Boston or New York coincided with the
interests of the owners of the steamers, the principal port of call on
this side of the Atlantic shifted through a series of arrangements from
Halifax to New York.

In 1852, the contract between the British government and the Cunards
provided for a direct service of weekly frequency between Liverpool and
New York, with a subordinate service by slower steamers to Halifax and
Boston. The subsidy had also undergone successive augmentations until,
in 1852, it reached the immense sum of £173,340 a year.[296] But
although the service was now to all appearances Anglo-American in
character the British government assumed to regard it as Anglo-colonial,
as imperial, because it provided the means for exchanging the mails
between Great Britain and Canada.

In 1855, the British government set on foot one of those large colonial
schemes which ought to have excited mistrust both as to its
practicability and its expediency. It proposed to establish a low and
uniform rate between Great Britain and all her dependencies excepting
India, Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius and Van Diemen's Land. The postage
was to be reduced from one shilling to sixpence per half ounce
letter.[297]

Coupled with the reduction in rate was a proposal that arrangements
should be made by which the maintenance of the services, which had
hitherto fallen entirely upon the mother country, should be shared by
the colonies having the benefit of them.

  [Illustration: WILLIAM WHITE, C.M.G
  (_Deputy Postmaster General_ 1888-1897)]

Canada's participation in the scheme was invited, and the arrangement
made by the British government with the Australian colonies was
submitted to the Canadian government.[298] Under this arrangement the
British government was to make the contract for the service, and the
colonies should pay half the expense involved.

The proposal found no favour in Canada. The Cunard service, the expense
of which Canada was expected to share, was far from being an unmixed
advantage to the British North American provinces. It was indeed a most
serious obstacle to the realization of plans, which Canada conceived
essential to its expansion on the lines marked out by nature.

For many years the thought of Upper Canadians had turned to the
advantages which were to be derived from the utilizing of the great
water system extending through lake and river, from the head waters of
the lake Superior to the ocean, and measures had been carried forward to
overcome the obstacles caused by the falls and rapids on the course of
the passage.

By 1849, the canal system was completed, which permitted the free
passage of inland vessels from the upper lakes to Montreal, and it was
anticipated that the greater part of the movement of immigration and
freight to and from Upper Canada and the western states, would be upon
Canadian waterways. Merchandise could be carried from lake Erie to
Quebec at less cost than from Buffalo by the Erie Canal to New York. But
in spite of these facts, trade on the Erie Canal increased largely and
steadily, while the trade on the Canadian water routes increased but
slowly.

The principal reason for the apparent disregard of the economic law that
trade will follow the superior route was found in the fact that for a
large proportion of the traffic the destination was Europe, and that the
charges to the out-ports of New York and Quebec were only a part of the
total charge to which the traffic were subject. If, for any reason, the
conveyance across the Atlantic from New York to Europe was so much
cheaper than the conveyance from Quebec, that the total charge from lake
Erie to Europe was lower by way of New York than by way of Quebec, then
it is obvious that the trade would not be attracted to the route which
seemed to be naturally the superior one.

This was the case at that time. Owing to the large subsidies given by
the British government to the steamers sailing to and from New York,
vessels running to and from Quebec could not compete with those from the
rival port. The assistance to the Cunard line, therefore, which the
British government desired Canada to give in part, was a positive
detriment to the development of the transport business of upper and
lower Canada.

The question of establishing a steamship line from a St. Lawrence port
had engaged the attention of the legislature of the United Provinces as
early as 1851. In that year a resolution was offered to the house of
assembly, setting forth the advantages of the Canadian route, and the
fact that these advantages were offset by the aid given by the British
government to the Cunard and Collins lines (the latter was owned by an
American company), and asking that the British government be approached
with a request that they grant assistance to a Canadian line similar to
that given to the lines running in and out of New York.[299]

A committee of the assembly took the subject into consideration, and in
the following year a contract was made with a British firm,[300] which
was shortly afterwards converted into the Canadian Steam Navigation
Company, for a service from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal during the
season of open navigation in the St. Lawrence, and to Portland, Maine,
during the five months when the river route was not practicable. The
trips were to be fortnightly to the Canadian ports and monthly to
Portland; and the steamers to be employed were to be of at least 1200
tons burthen.

Twenty-four thousand pounds a year were to be paid to the company by way
of subsidy--£19,000 by the government of Canada, £4000 by the Atlantic
and St. Lawrence railway (later a section of the Grand Trunk railway)
and £1000 by the city of Portland.

Trips were made during the winter of 1853, and throughout the summer of
1854, but there was so general a disregard of the terms of the contract,
that it was terminated, and a contract was made with Hugh Allan in
September 1855.[301] The new contractor entered upon his engagement with
laudable energy; and at the end of the first season the postmaster
general of Canada was able to make a comparison between the Canadian
service and that to the port of New York.[302]

On the westbound voyages the Canadian steamers were practically a day
slower than the Cunard steamers--the Allan steamers taking twelve days,
twenty and a half hours, to eleven days and twenty-two hours occupied by
vessels of the Cunard line. The Canadian steamers were also slower than
the Collins line on these trips by four hours. But on the voyage to
Great Britain, the Canadian line made the speediest trips of the three.
These steamers took but eleven days two hours, while the Cunard steamers
were eleven hours and the Collins thirty hours longer in reaching
Liverpool.

It was with the successful inauguration of the Canadian service that the
friction with the British government began. There developed immediately
a clash of interests.

The first note of dissatisfaction came from Great Britain. The
postmaster general communicated to the colonial secretary[303] the
information that the earnings of the packet service were much reduced by
the fact that the Canadian post office was sending its correspondence by
the first steamer that sailed whether it was British or American, and
not confining its despatches to the steamers of the Cunard line.

To the British post office, the Canadian line was an American line, and
in spite of all protests and remonstrances, it insisted on treating the
Allan line steamers as foreign. Ordinarily there would be no practical
consequence of this wilful misunderstanding, but as letters conveyed by
the Cunard line were charged eightpence the half ounce, while those
carried by the American lines were made to pay fourteen pence, the
hostility to the Canadian enterprise was marked.

The postmaster general did not stop at this point, and leave the public
on both sides of the Atlantic to consult their own interests as to
whether they would send their letters by the Canadian or British
subsidized lines. Taking up the case of interests adversely affected by
the discriminatory rates, he pointed out that, as many unpaid letters
were sent by the American lines, recipients of these letters had to pay
sixpence more than if the letters were sent by the Cunard line.

That the remedy lay in the hands of the postmaster general, of reducing
the rates on letters carried by the Canadian (or American line as he
persisted in calling the Allan line) was not to the point. He called
upon the colonial secretary, if the secretary concurred in his views, to
remonstrate with the Canadian government as to the course it has chosen
without reference to the home government. These views do not seem to
have been communicated to Canada. But shortly afterwards the British
government submitted for the consideration of the Canadian government,
the Australian scheme for a postal service to practically all the
self-governing colonies of this period.

The postmaster general of Canada had doubts as to the applicability of
the Australian arrangement to the Canadian service.[304] He presumed the
proposition was limited to the Cunard line, and would not be extended to
the equally British line running directly from Canadian ports to
Liverpool. Special interests, similar to those which had induced the
British government to subsidize the Cunard line, had led the Canadian
government to extend assistance to the Allan line, and it seemed
scarcely expedient for the Canadian government to lend aid to the
British government in the maintenance of the Cunard line in the absence
of any evidence of intention on the part of the British government to
reciprocate with regard to the Canadian line.

It was further observed by the postmaster general of Canada that even if
the Canadian government should concede the equity of the British
proposition it would be impossible to determine satisfactorily the
proportion of the cost which should be borne by the North American
provinces, since much the larger part of the mails carried by the Cunard
line was exchanged between Great Britain and the United States.

The position taken by the Canadian government gave rise to great
irritation in Great Britain. Fortunately the expression of this feeling
was not communicated to the Canadian government until some years later,
when the question, though by no means settled, had passed out of the
irritation and friction phase.

It is fortunate, also, that the intermediaries between the two
governments were men of good sense, with an appreciative understanding
of the view of the colonial government. The Duke of Argyle, postmaster
general, in the Palmerston government of 1855-1858, declared that the
measures taken by the Canadian government afforded no relief whatever to
the British government. They had, indeed, withdrawn from the British
government part of the postage it was entitled to expect when it
embarked on the Cunard contract. If on the expiration of the contract
existing, which had still five or six years to run, the Canadian
government should undertake to perform half of the effective service, it
might fairly claim exemption from all share in the other half of the
service, and furthermore might claim a right to apply the amount
received by way of sea postage, towards defraying the cost of the
Canadian packets.

But, Argyle affirmed, the British government could hardly admit the
propriety of a demand made upon it for assistance to a line of steamers,
which was established by the colony--a line which had no other effect
than to diminish the postal revenue upon which the British government
relied to meet the outlay occasioned by the contract with the Cunard
company.

Labouchere, the colonial secretary, to whom the duke's views were
communicated, declined to submit them in their existing shape to the
colonial government. If the British government had been in no way
parties to the agreement made by the Canadian government with Allan, the
Canadian government were equally unconsulted when the British government
entered into the contract with the Cunard company; and Labouchere
pointed out that the British government were without the means of
enforcing its views on the Canadian government.

If the postmaster general or the treasury, which coincided in his views,
were of a different opinion, Labouchere desired to know what steps they
proposed to take in the highly probable case that the province declined
the responsibility it was sought to impose upon it. On the whole, the
colonial secretary thought the preferable course would be to allow the
present arrangements to subsist until the Cunard contract had expired,
and then enter upon negotiations with the Canadian government for
sharing with it upon equitable terms in the general expense of the
transatlantic service.

The correspondence between the departments of government in London--the
tenor of which has been described--was submitted, confidentially, to the
governor general of Canada for his opinion on the 17th of July, 1856.
Sir Edmund Walker Head replied, confidentially, to Labouchere, and set
out Canada's position with gratifying clearness. A Canadian, he
observed, looked at the circumstances from a point of view rather
different from that in which they had presented themselves to the
postmaster general at St. Martins-le-Grand. The Canadian asked: "Why are
we Canadians obliged to pay a subsidy at all for a line of steamers
running into the St. Lawrence to a British port, by a route which we
hold to be the most advantageous route? The merits of the route itself
might make our bounty unnecessary, were it not that Her Majesty's
government gives a large bounty to a line running into foreign ports."

"It might be admitted," continued the governor general, "that Canada was
benefited by the rapid transmission of mails through the United States;
but she was no party to an arrangement as one that could never be
revoked. Canada, then, thought that she could arrange for the conveyance
of her own mails to and fro by way of Quebec in summer and Portland in
winter, more rapidly and advantageously than by Boston and New York. Why
should Her Majesty's government discourage this new enterprise on behalf
of Her Majesty's subjects and by a large subsidy drive the business to
the United States ports?

"Canadians entertained the hope," the governor general further observed,
"that no course would be pursued by the British government adverse to
the principles of free trade, by the continuance of a large bounty to
the Boston and New York lines. Leave the natural resources of the
Canadian route to find their own level, and in the meantime do not use
all the influence of the British post office so as to bear as hardly as
possible on the first effort of the colony to open the St. Lawrence to a
regular line of British steamers."

Head disclaimed the idea of giving these arguments as his own, but
stated that, they expressed the opinion of many Canadians, among whom
were some of the members of his council. In December, Labouchere
informed the governor general that his view had prevailed, and that it
was decided to leave the matter as it stood, until the Cunard contract
expired, when it was hoped that an arrangement might be made more in
conformity with what was regarded as an equitable consideration for the
finances of the United Kingdom.

The lack of cordiality displayed by the government of the mother country
towards the ocean transport enterprise of her colony in its initial
stages yielded to no warmer feeling with the progress of the scheme. The
Allan service was performed during 1856 and 1857, as the postmaster
general stated, with meritorious punctuality.[305]

In the beginning of 1858 the Quebec-Portland service attracted the
attention of the British post office, which intimated a desire to
utilize it for the conveyance of mails between Great Britain and the
United States during the period of the year when the Allan steamers made
Portland their port of arrival and departure.[306]

Sidney Smith, the postmaster general of Canada, was of the opinion that
the Canadian line would be found the preferable one during all seasons,
particularly for those parts of the United States bordering on the Great
Lakes, as they were brought into direct connection with the ocean at
Quebec by means of the Grand Trunk railway.

As an additional attraction to use the Canadian line, Smith offered to
reduce the charge for sea postage, that is, the portion of the total
postage between Great Britain and North America, which was allocated to
the ocean conveyance, from eightpence to fourpence a letter. This would
enable the public on both sides of the Atlantic to send their letters
for eightpence instead of twelvepence.

On consideration of this proposition by the governments of Great Britain
and the United States, it was found open to the objection that the
postage of letters carried by the Cunard line must remain at one
shilling, owing to the sea postage claimed by the British government on
letters carried by that line. Until arrangements could be made between
the British government and that of the United States by which the charge
on letters passing between the two countries by the Cunard line could be
reduced from one shilling to eightpence, it was deemed inadmissible to
accept the Canadian proposition.

That seemed a reasonable decision, and it would have been supposed that
until the Canadian proposition could be accepted the amount of sea
postage paid for the Cunard service would be applied to the Canadian
service.

The British post office took no such view. It maintained that the
Canadian post office was entitled to no more than the rate which it
offered to accept, viz., fourpence, and as this rate added to the land
postage in Great Britain and the United States, would only call for an
eightpenny postage, it proposed that the difference between the
eightpence and the shilling, which the public were actually charged,
should be divided equally between the post offices of Great Britain, the
United States and Canada.

Smith protested that his proposition was part of the scheme to reduce
the postage from a shilling to eightpence sea postage, and that until
the reduction of the postage between Canada and Great Britain to
eightpence was affected, the Canadian government were entitled to
eightpence sea postage as much as the British government were for the
letters carried by the Cunards.

Alexander Tulloch Galt, inspector general of Canada, who was in London
at the time, laid the whole case before the colonial secretary, pointing
out that the attitude of Great Britain, in attempting to make the United
States a party to the scheme to force Canada to take one-half the amount
for sea postage that was claimed by and conceded to the United States
and Great Britain in respect to their subsidized lines, was the more
objectionable, as there was no reason for believing that the United
States had attached any such stipulation to their consent to use the
Canadian line.

Galt's remonstrance had the effect of inducing the British government to
withdraw from its untenable position in this instance. In the course of
his communication Galt mentioned the disappointment with which it was
learned in Canada that the Cunard contract, which would not have expired
until January, 1862, had been renewed in June 1858.

This action on the part of the British government, Galt insisted, did
not seem consistent with the assurance given by the colonial secretary
to the governor general in December 1856, when he wrote that the lords
of the treasury had apprised him "that the existing arrangements with
respect to the Canadian mail service will continue until the expiration
of the Cunard contract, when they hope arrangements may be affected more
in conformity with what they would regard as an equitable consideration
for the finances of this country."

The Canadian legislature on the first opportunity, voted an address to
the queen, expostulating strongly against the course of proceedings so
injurious to the interests of Canada.

The action of the British government in prolonging the arrangements with
the Cunards was set in a strong light by a review of several
circumstances connected with it.[307] The application of the Cunard
company, for an extension of their contract, was made in October 1857,
only nine months after the discussion with the Canadian government. It
was referred by the treasury to the admiralty and to the postmaster
general.

The treasury recommended that it be granted, while the postmaster
general deprecated an extension, for reasons not connected with the
Canadian representations. On March 2, the treasury decided that it was
premature to discuss either an extension or a renewal of the contract,
though they expressed their readiness to consider favourably, any
application that Cunard might make when the contract had advanced nearer
to its termination.

On the 20th of the same month, Cunard made another application on the
same general grounds; and this time the treasury, without further light
on the subject, yielded, and directed the extension, requesting the
postmaster general to communicate his views as to any modifications
that might be introduced into the contract, without materially affecting
the basis of the existing agreement.

The postmaster general, in reply, pointed out that the rate of payment
made to Cunard was considerably higher than that for any other packet
service, also that he had before him another offer for the conveyance of
the transatlantic mails for an amount much less than was paid to Cunard.
The new offer was from Inman, agent for the Liverpool, New York and
Philadelphia line, whose vessels made their voyages at a speed not much
inferior to Cunard's, and who agreed to convey the mails for the amount
of the sea postage.

The offer had been received on the 1st of March, nineteen days before
the application of Cunard; and as the postmaster general had had
occasion to correspond with the postmaster general of the United States
respecting Inman's offer, he had not thought it necessary to communicate
this proposal to the treasury, nor did the treasury consider that their
duty required them to make any further investigation before awarding the
contract for £173,340 a year.

These facts are taken from the report of a select committee appointed by
the house of commons in 1860, to inquire into the manner in which
contracts have been made for the conveyance of mails by sea. The
committee found that, in the making of these contracts, there was an
extraordinary division of duty and consequent responsibility, between
several departments of government.

The parties by whom these contracts were actually entered into, were the
lords of the admiralty, but the authority for making them rested with
the treasury, who prescribed their terms and conditions. The treasury
before coming to the decisions which they communicated to the admiralty,
consulted with the postmaster general, the colonial secretary, and with
the admiralty themselves, in reference to the postal, colonial and
nautical questions involved.

Theoretically, the arrangements were scarcely open to criticism. It was
proper that the information necessary for a decision, respecting, in the
first place, whether a service was required at all, and, in the next
place, what the terms and conditions should be, on which the service
should be performed, should be concentrated somewhere, and there seemed
no place more fitting as a focal point than the lords of the treasury,
who were responsible for obtaining and spending the money required for
the maintenance of all the services called for by the government.

But the fault lay not in the organization. It was to be found in the
lack of co-ordination among the contributory departments. Several
instances are given of the results of the failure of the departments to
co-operate with one another. One which has a certain piquancy is the
provision for the mail service to Australia.

It will be remembered that the first jarring note in the relations
between Great Britain and Canada concerning mail services arose when
Canada declined to fall in with the proposition that the British
government should arrange for the conveyance of the mails across the
Atlantic, and that Canada should pay its share of the resulting outlay.

The colonial secretary submitted, as the model arrangement, one which
had been made between the governments of Great Britain and the
Australian colonies, under which each government should pay half the
cost of the service. The contract was to be arranged for entirely by
Great Britain, and the colonies were assured that such care should be
exercised in the arrangements that they could depend on their interests
being safeguarded.

How the government acquitted itself of the trust it assumed on the
behalf of Australia, the parliamentary report shall relate. "That
contract involved a yearly subsidy of £185,000, of which one-half was to
be paid by the Australian colonies, who had no opportunities of being
consulted in the framing of the contract; so that special circumspection
was required. The tender accepted was that of a new company without
experience, and who had no ships fit for the work.

"One of their vessels," continues the report of the committee, "the
'Oneida' which was reported against, by the professional officer of the
admiralty, and had not the horse power or tonnage required by the
contract, broke down on her first voyage. Time was not kept, and though
the colonies complained, it appears that no steps were taken to ensure
the fulfilment of the contract with suitable vessels."

"The company," added the report of 1860, "in one year lost their
capital, £400,000; the service proved a complete failure, and great risk
of an interruption in postal communication was incurred. This contract
had been entirely arranged by the then financial secretary, whose acts
in these matters do not appear to have received confirmation by any
other authority."

It is not perhaps surprising, with the Australian venture in mind, that
an explanation involving the same sort of incompetence on the part of
the departments of government should be made regarding the Cunard
contract.

The explanation of the Cunard contract was that when the decision of the
treasury granting the renewal was made, the then financial secretary,
who had only entered office with the change of ministry in the month of
March immediately preceding, was not aware of the existence of the
correspondence between the home government and that of Canada in 1856;
nor, though that correspondence was among the records of the treasury,
and the authority on which the colonial secretary had written his
despatch of December 3, 1856, was a minute of the treasury, did the
proceedings appear to have been known to any of the officers of the
department charged with this branch of the business.

The committee observed that they had not received any satisfactory
explanation of the circumstance that a matter so recent, and of such
importance, should have been lost sight of.

But the painful story of the relations between the government of the
mother country and that of her North American colony with respect to the
ocean transport enterprise set on foot by Canada, does not end here. In
the autumn of 1858, an Irish company known as the Lever or Galway
Company, which had a contract with the Newfoundland government for a
mail service between Galway and St. Johns, proposed to the British
government to establish a service with fortnightly frequency between
Galway and America.

This scheme excited considerable interest, particularly in Ireland; and
several representations were made to the government, by deputations and
by memorials from chambers of commerce, setting forth their sense of the
advantages which it would confer on the trade of that country. The
publicity given this project brought into the field the two applicants
who had been disappointed when the Cunard contract had been extended in
1857.

Inman on October 15 protested against the granting of a subsidy to a new
line, and expressed the hope that, if it should be decided to give
assistance to a line from Galway, the proposed service should be put up
to public competition. The treasury replied to Inman, informing him that
when a new service was about to be established by the government it was
their practice to invite tenders by public advertisement, thereby
affording to all parties the opportunity of tendering therefor. Inman
heard no more from the government on the subject before the contract
with Lever was concluded.

The Canadian government, also, advanced its claims for consideration.
Galt wrote to the colonial secretary on November 11, 1858, and the
London agent of the Canadian line on January 18, 1859, submitted an
application to the treasury. He pointed out that the effects of this
subsidized line would be disastrous to the prospects of his company, and
expressed the trust of his principals "that before interfering to crush
a provincial company of such magnitude, your lordships will at least
afford the company we represent an opportunity of being heard."

This appeal was so far successful, that it obtained for the company the
honour of an interview at the treasury. They were promised that their
representations would be considered; but no further notice was taken of
their application.

On the same day on which the Canadian company's letter was dated, viz.,
January 18, the Lever company submitted an offer for the conveyance of
the mails from Galway to Portland, Boston and New York, calling at
Newfoundland for £3000 a voyage. The treasury, following the practice
laid down for their guidance, asked the postmaster general for his
opinion on the proposal.

The postmaster general reported adversely, observing that it was not
expedient to enter into any contract for the service, which would bind
the government to a heavy annual payment. He was also of the opinion
that the vast mercantile traffic between the two countries afforded
abundant opportunities to secure additional service that might be
desired on favourable terms.

Here then were three strong reasons to call for the government staying
their hands from entering into a contract with Lever: the remonstrance
of Inman, coupled with the intimation from the treasury that in the
event of their deciding to establish the service, they would put it to
public tender; the expostulation of Galt on November 11, 1858, and the
appeal of the Canadian company for an opportunity to be heard on January
18; and the unfavourable report of the selected adviser of the treasury.

Yet, in the face of all these circumstances, the treasury on February
22, authorized a contract to be made for a fortnightly service to Galway
and New York, and Galway and Boston, alternately, at the rate of £3000 a
voyage. The parliamentary committee in seeking an explanation for this
extraordinary course, examined Lord Derby, the chancellor of the
exchequer, as to the reasons which moved him to authorize this service.

Derby stated that he was influenced mainly by the consideration of the
social and commercial advantages which this service would confer on
Ireland, and of the preference due to the Lever Company on account of
its enterprize, in first establishing a line of steamers from Galway.

Derby stated, however, that when he authorized the service he had not
before him some materials, nor had he in view some considerations,
which, the committee believed, should have been held essential elements
in the determination of the question. He had no knowledge of the
correspondence which had passed between the home government and that of
Canada, and between the treasury and Inman.

Consequently then, in the words of the committee of the house of
commons, Derby's decision was given "in ignorance of the strong feeling
in Canada as to the injury done to their interests by the system of
subsidizing what they deemed rival lines; of the assurance given in
1856, on which the Canadian government relied, as a pledge that they
would have an opportunity of being heard before that system was renewed
or extended; and of the surprise and dissatisfaction already occasioned
by the renewal, without hearing them, of the Cunard contract; and in
ignorance, also, of the implied pledge given to Mr. Inman, that the new
service would be thrown open to public competition.

"It was likewise given," the committee added, "without any consideration
of the question, whether, assuming the interests of Ireland warranted
the establishment of the service from Galway, that object might not have
been secured by an arrangement which would, at the same time, have
provided for the wants, and satisfied the just claims of Canada."

The round condemnation by a committee of the house of commons, of the
course pursued by the government, gave Smith, the postmaster general of
Canada, a handle of which he was not slow to make full use. The report
of the committee was laid before the house of commons on May 22, and on
the 30th of the same month, Smith again approached the government on the
subject, setting forth the grounds of his appeal to the British
government, and concluding by asking that the government should aid the
Canadian line by a subsidy of £50,000 a year. He pledged the Canadian
government to give a like amount for the same purpose.

The application was refused, and Smith, whose resources seemed endless,
approached the subject from another angle.[308] The contract which was
made with the Lever Company called for a fortnightly service, the
consideration being £3000 a trip, or £78,000 a year. The Lever Company
was in no position to fulfil the terms of its contract, and Smith opened
negotiations with the company to take over their contract, stipulating
to allow the company £35,000 of the £78,000 which the contract would
bring, as the consideration for the assignment.

An agreement was concluded on these terms, and the deeds were signed on
July 6, 1860. The only condition now was the consent of the British
government to the arrangement, which was required by the contract, but
which under the circumstances was regarded as purely formal. The terms
being laid before the secretary of the treasury and the postmaster
general, secured the approval of both those authorities; and on the 11th
of July, the sailing arrangements under the contract were settled
between Smith and the official in charge of the post office packet
service. Success seemed now assured, but before the day was over, the
situation had undergone an entire change, for the British government had
refused its assent to the assignment of the contract.

No reason was given for the refusal of the British government to
sanction the transfer of the Lever contract to the Canadian line. Smith
wrote to the secretary of the treasury for an explanation. He pointed
out that the negotiations were made with the assent of Lord Palmerston
and the treasury, that the arrangements had all been made on the
secretary's assurance, and that in view of the strong feeling already
existing in Canada on account of the treatment meted out to Canada in
regard to its ocean mail service, he would be wanting in respect to the
imperial authorities if he accepted the secretary's intimation
literally, and in its full significance.

The secretary in his reply, gave away the whole case of the government.
He admitted that for himself he had never concealed his opinion that the
arrangement proposed by the Canadian government would have been a
desirable one, but insisted that he had not used Palmerston's name
beyond that. He had ascertained Palmerston's views as to the importance
of meeting the wishes of Canada, sufficiently to warrant him, not in
concluding negotiations, but in advancing them to the point where a
definite proposal might be made to the government.

The ground on which the treasury based refusal of assent to the
agreement made between the Lever Company and the Canadian government,
was that the contract contemplated the grant of £78,000 a year for a
fortnightly service from Galway, in addition to the other ocean services
which were then in operation, while the transfer of the Lever contract
to the Allan's would have the effect of merely substituting one contract
for another, leaving the service just where it stood before--with an
additional charge of £78,000 a year against the government.

There was another consideration and an extraordinary one. The government
had suffered severe condemnation at the hands of the committee of the
house of commons for their disregard of the pledge given, that, before a
contract was awarded it would be put up for public competition. Their
action in awarding the contract to the Lever Company without tender was
an undeniable injury to the interests of Canada, and now this censure
was made the cover for another blow at those same interests.

The secretary of the treasury observed that the pledge formerly given
and unfortunately overlooked had acquired much notoriety and must in any
contingency afterwards arising be treated with rigour. "If the Galway
contract be considered binding," he concluded, "the government cannot be
accused of breaking this pledge as long as they simply continue to pay
the subsidy for the same services and to the same parties." But the case
became different if they sanctioned a new arrangement involving material
modifications, particularly when the arrangement transferred the
contract to a party of undoubted, from one of questioned, solvency.

Smith next addressed Palmerston, and his letter shows clearly the
incomprehensible and provoking course pursued by that statesman. At
every step in the negotiations the treasury was consulted, and its
approval gained. The solicitor of the Galway Company was also in
frequent communication with the treasury, and he actually altered the
form of the deed of transfer upon the suggestion of the secretary.

The resolution of the Galway Company, accepting the proposal of the
Canadian government, was adopted, and on the same day the treasury was
informed of the fact. A week later--on July 5, 1860--Smith and Galt, the
Canadian minister of finance, waited on the secretary of the treasury,
who informed them that Palmerston was much gratified that the
arrangements had been made, and on the strength of these assurances
Smith executed the assignment of the contract, and provided securities
for the purchase money, of all of which Palmerston expressed his high
approval.

The matter was regarded as so far concluded that on July 9 a meeting
took place between the Canadian representatives and the officials of the
treasury and post office, the details of the scheme were reduced to
writing, and the secretary of the post office received the approval of
a communication to the postmaster general of the United States informing
him of the arrangement, and that thereafter the Canadian ships would be
considered as British and not as United States packets.

Considering the arrangements as completed, Smith and Galt decided to
return to Canada, and on the 11th they called on Palmerston for the
purpose of taking their leave, when, to their utter stupefaction, they
were informed that the government peremptorily refused to sanction the
transfer.

The reasons put forward for this unusual action on the part of the
government lacked even the merit of plausibility. It was first argued
that the Lever contract contemplated the grant of £78,000 a year for a
fortnightly service from Galway, in addition to all the ocean service
which might be existing, while the transfer would have the effect of
substituting the Galway service for one of the existing services, and
thus continuing the charge of £78,000 a year with a positive diminution
of public accommodation.

Smith had a conclusive reply to this argument. He pointed out that at
the time the Galway contract was entered into, that is on May 21, 1859,
the Canadian service was only fortnightly; and the arrangement for which
the sanction of the government was sought would have given exactly the
accommodation contemplated when the contract was given--a weekly service
between Ireland and America.

As for the modifications in the contract, which formed part of the
ground of the government's refusal to sanction it, the first was that
"the arrangement transferred the contract to a party of undoubted, from
one of questioned, solvency." Smith's only comment on this was to
complete the sentence by adding "or in other words would ensure its
performance efficiently."

The only other important modification sought by Canada in the terms of
the contract was the substitution of Canadian for United States terminal
ports in America. Apart from the slight to Canadian interests involved
in putting forward such a reason, it must be clear that the Cunard line,
in which the British government did not conceal its interest, would have
been benefited and not injured by the withdrawal of a line running to
United States ports. Smith concluded his protest by pointing out the
distinction which the Canadian people could not fail to draw in
comparing Palmerston's refusal, with that of previous governments.

The grants to the Cunard and Galway lines were stated to have been made
in ignorance of the Canadian interests, and the inability of the
government to remedy these and other evils was deplored. In the case
under consideration the British government, Smith pointed out,
deliberately opposed themselves to that which would have benefited
Canada, and had determined that the competition of which they complained
should be maintained. The protest was quite without avail. The Galway
Company entered on the performance of its contract, but its service was
marked with so much irregularity, that the postmaster general was
compelled to cancel it.

FOOTNOTES:

[296] First report of select committee on packet and telegraphic
contracts, May 1860 (_Br. Parl. Papers_, No. 328).

[297] Report of P.M.G. of United Kingdom, 1855.

[298] _Sess. Papers_, Canada, 1859, No. 26.

[299] _Journals of Assembly_, 1851, p. 85.

[300] Report of commissioner of public works, 1852-1853.

[301] Report of P.M.G. to council, December 7, 1863 (_Sess. Papers_,
1864, No. 28).

[302] Annual report of P.M.G., 1856.

[303] _Br. Parl. Pap._, 1859, XXII.

[304] _Br. Parl. Pap._, 1859, XXII.

[305] Report of P.M.G., 1857.

[306] _Sess. Papers_, Canada, 1859, No. 26

[307] First report of the select committee on packet and telegraphic
contracts May 1860 (_Br. Parl. Papers_, No. 328).

[308] _Sess. Papers_, Canada, 1861, No. 21.




CHAPTER XVIII

     Canadian ocean mail service (_cont._)--Series of disasters to
     Allan line steamers.


The year 1859 was a notable one in the history of transportation in
Canada. In May, the steamers of the Allan line commenced their weekly
trips between Liverpool and Quebec. In November, the completion of the
Victoria Bridge over the St. Lawrence carried the lines of the eastern
division of the Grand Trunk into Montreal, thus connecting by
uninterrupted railway communication the cities of Quebec and Portland
with the metropolis, and establishing a continuous line of railway from
the Atlantic seaboard to the western boundary of the provinces. In the
same month, also, the Grand Trunk extended its line across the border as
far as Detroit, bringing, by means of allied systems in the United
States, the cities of Chicago and New Orleans into communication with
the eastern states and with Europe by the railway system along the
shores of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence.

The system of land transportation between the ports of the Atlantic and
the cities on the Mississippi being thus perfected, and available for
the conveyance of mails between Europe and the heart of North America by
practically continuous conveyance, the postmaster general of Canada,
Sidney Smith, proceeded to Europe to improve, as far as possible, the
communication between the important cities of Great Britain and the
sailing ports of the Canadian vessels, and to arrange for the
exploitation of this transportation system, in the interests of Canada.

Before leaving for England Smith paid a visit to Washington, and laid
before the postmaster general there the advantages offered by the system
under his control. He pointed out that, by the Grand Trunk railway, the
journey between Portland and Chicago was made in forty-nine hours, and
between Quebec and Chicago in forty-five hours, and, by making Cork a
port of call for the mails, the voyage between land and land would be
several hundred miles shorter than by any other route.

Smith's proposition was to convey the United States mails to and from
Europe for the sea postage only, and to allow these mails to be carried
across Canada without charge on the understanding that the Canadian
mails to and from Great Britain should be carried free across the United
States territory during the period of winter when the steamers called at
Portland. The proposition was accepted by the postmaster general of the
United States.

In London, where he arrived at the end of November, Smith submitted his
scheme to the postmaster general,[309] who made the objection that the
sailing arrangements interfered with the plans made for the other
transatlantic mail steamers. Fortunately Smith had the support of the
postmaster general at Washington, who was much impressed with the merits
of the Canadian scheme, and who, in his annual report expressed the
opinion that it would afford the most direct and probably the most
expeditious communication between Chicago and Liverpool.

At the instance of the department at Washington, the general post office
agreed to send by the Canadian steamers the correspondence for both the
eastern and western States, and also agreed to Smith's request for
special trains for the mail service from London to Cork. This special
railway service, with its connecting mail boat service across the Irish
Channel gave the British public a full business day more to prepare
their correspondence for the States.

The mails had, in ordinary course, to be prepared in London early
Wednesday morning to catch the outgoing steamer which left Liverpool the
same evening, but the special train from Dublin to Cork enabled
correspondents to hold over their urgent letters until Wednesday evening
and send them by the evening mail to Ireland, where connection was made
on Thursday morning with the steamer which had left Liverpool on the
previous evening.

But this was not the only, or perhaps the greatest, of the advantages of
the scheme. Transatlantic cables were still in the future, but the
telegraphic systems on both sides of the Atlantic were fully developed,
and messages for New York or Montreal could be addressed to the steamer,
which would deliver them at Father Point, on its way up the St.
Lawrence, from there they were sent by telegraph to their destination.

One of the leading London papers declared that the plan would save two
full days for telegrams, and permit transactions on the stock exchange
in London up to Thursday afternoon to be communicated to the stock
exchanges in the United States on the Saturday of the following week,
and the action taken in these centres transmitted to London by the
Canadian steamers leaving Quebec the same day.

Having completed these arrangements in London, Smith next addressed
himself to the postal administrations of France, Belgium and Prussia. In
the month that had elapsed since the negotiations with London had been
concluded, the steamers had crossed the Atlantic both ways, and the
Canadian postmaster general was able to inform the continental
administrations that on the first voyage the mails from Chicago had
reached London in twelve days, and that the conveyance from New Orleans,
in which France had a special interest, ought to be effected in less
than fifteen days.

The French government, to whom Smith offered the same terms for
conveyance by steamer and railway in Canada as had been accepted in the
United States, immediately closed with Smith on these terms, subject to
the consent of Great Britain. In a few days Belgium took similar action,
while Prussia deferred acceptance until the postmaster general of Canada
could confer with the United States.

Entirely satisfied with the success of his mission to the Continent,
Smith returned to London to conclude the transaction by obtaining the
permission of the British post office to act as intermediary for the
payments which would be made by the French and other Continental
governments to Canada for the conveyance of their mails to America.

The necessity for having Great Britain as the intermediary for the
settlement of these accounts arose from the following considerations.
Great Britain had open accounts with all these countries. The mails from
these countries were carried to the United States by British steamers,
for which they became indebted to the British government; while on the
other hand mails from Great Britain for the countries of eastern Europe
and for India, passed over one or other of these countries through their
postal systems, which gave rise to an indebtedness on the part of Great
Britain.

Under conventions with each of them, settlements were made from time to
time. None of this accounting machinery existed between Canada and any
of these countries. The only country in Europe with which Canada had an
open account was Great Britain.

In consequence of Canada's isolation in this respect the only way these
countries could settle their debts to Canada was by direct payments.
This, however, would involve legislation, at least in the case of
France, which would have delayed the beginning of the plans for many
months. Canada, therefore, had but one way open, which was to ask the
British post office to receive from France the amounts due by that
country to Canada, and apply these sums to the account between Great
Britain and Canada.

The favour to Canada appeared slight enough but the British post office
refused to grant it. First, it objected that the arrangements would
involve a great deal of trouble; and afterwards, when driven from that
ground, it took an extraordinary position. The British post office
declared that the British mails exchanged with the United States were
treated in that office as mails carried by packets under contract with
the United States, and that it would be inconvenient and objectionable
to treat French mails, carried by the same Canadian vessels, as mails
conveyed by British packets.

It maintained, furthermore, that the postmaster general of the United
States, having entered into an agreement with the Canadian post office
for the transmission of United States mails by the Canadian vessels,
might very naturally object to any arrangement between the British and
French post offices under which the French mails were paid for as mails
conveyed by Great Britain's packets.

The pettifogging of disobliging illwill could go no further. In no
single respect did the service rendered to the United States by the
British government, in conveying the mails of that country to Great
Britain, differ from the services rendered to the United States by the
Canadian government in the conveyance of the United States mails to
Great Britain by the steamers of the Canadian line. Both were paid by
the United States for the service, and the fact that the British took
pay from the United States no more rendered the Cunard an American line,
than a similar fact regarding the Canadian government made the Canadian
an American line.

Smith, in dwelling upon this point, affected to discover that the ground
of the British official objection, was that the Cunard Company received
a subsidy from the British government, while the Canadian Company did
not. If this were indeed the difficulty at which the British office
stumbled, and the Canadian line could be made British by granting a
subsidy for its maintenance, it was important that it should have
impressed upon it this distinctive mark of British nationality.

But these arguments fell upon deaf ears. The French office tried to
make the British officials see reason, but their success was no better.
The situation became one of real difficulty. The French could have
invoked the assistance of the United States and asked that country to
act as intermediary in the settlement of the account between France and
Canada, but there would have been much delay, as the United States would
almost certainly seek an explanation of the attitude of Great Britain
toward her colony, and that would not have been easy to give.

The British post office, however, suggested a way out of the difficulty.
Taking its stand on the ground that the Canadian steamers were part of
the United States packet service, the British post office held that the
proper course for France was to arrange the matter of payment with the
United States post office. But as the negotiations between the United
States and France might delay the start of the service, the British
expressed its willingness as a temporary measure to take from the French
government the sums due to Canada, and pay them over to whom? To the
Canadian government to whom alone they belonged? Not at all. It would
pay these sums to the postmaster general of the United States.

Smith, the postmaster general of Canada, contended no further. He
thanked the postmaster general of England for his consideration, and
addressed himself to the director of the French posts, and to the
postmaster general in Washington. But the director was completely
puzzled, and sought an explanation of the British post office.
Disclaiming the right to interfere in any agreement between the British
and Canadian offices, he declared himself unable to understand why this
payment should be made to the United States, or how it could possibly
happen that the United States should have any right to claim any sea
rate. He set out all the facts of the case, and after looking them over
carefully, he repeated that he did not understand why the amount paid by
the French government to the British office for conveyance under the
British flag by Canadian packets should be paid over to the United
States office.[310]

By the middle of February 1860, Smith was back in the United States,
and at Washington. Within a day he concluded arrangements by which,
among the other matters, the United States post office agreed to accept
the sums due to Canada by France and the other Continental countries.
Provision was also made for the exceptional handling of correspondence
for New Orleans and other southern cities by the officials of the
Canadian service.

The matter of accounting having been arranged on this basis the Canadian
line began to be employed extensively on both sides of the Atlantic. Two
changes were made in 1860, which augmented its efficiency. As it was
found that Cork was out of the way of steamers from Quebec to Liverpool,
in May, Londonderry, at the north of Ireland was substituted as the last
port of call.

This change had the additional advantage that it enabled the steamers to
take a later mail from Scotland, and it avoided the rivalry with the
Cunard and Inman lines, which made Cork their port of call in Ireland.

The other amelioration in this arrangement was the taking on and the
disembarkation of mails at Riviere du Loup, a point on the St. Lawrence
one hundred and twenty miles below Quebec. The extension of the Grand
Trunk railway to this point shortened the sea-voyage by some hours, as
the stretch of water between Quebec and Riviere du Loup present
difficulties, and not infrequently dangers, which prevent rapid travel.

With the arrangements thus complete, the St. Lawrence route was much
superior to any other as far as the Canadian mails were concerned. In
1863, four-fifths of the mail carried between Canada and Britain were
carried by the Canadian steamers, the remainder being taken by the
Cunards. In order to participate in the exchange between Great Britain
and the United States, it was necessary to make its arrangements conform
with the arrangements made by those countries.

Under this scheme, the week was divided into two parts, Great Britain
providing for the total conveyance for one of the parts and the United
States the other. Thus the United States took upon itself the
accumulated mails for the first three days of the week from England, and
the Cunard steamers, which left England on Saturday, took those of the
last part.

There was an American steamer which sailed from Southampton on
Wednesday, which took all the mails for the United States that could be
gathered at that point until the time of its departure, and the Canadian
steamer, which was adopted by the American post office, took those which
could be gathered at Liverpool for the sailing from that point on
Thursday and at Londonderry on the following day.

The Canadian steamers offered great advantages to northern England and
to Ireland and Scotland. In the conveyance from this side of the
Atlantic, the arrangements were reversed, the British steamers sailing
from New York on Wednesday, and the American later in the week. The
Allan Company were fortunate in securing Saturday as their sailing day
from Quebec, as their steamers were able to take a large American mail
as well as nearly all that from Canadian offices.

Most of the foreign correspondence of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa,
Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana were carried by the Canadian route,
while, during the winter months, half the mail from New England and a
large volume from New York were despatched by this line. By the
arrangements with the post offices of France, Belgium and Prussia, a
considerable quantity of mails were exchanged by this line between the
United States and nearly every country in Europe.

The achievement of the Canadian steamship line, in the face of unusual
difficulties, was a matter of pride to the people of Canada, and the
postmaster general, who had exhibited noteworthy energy in exploiting
the possibilities of the service, dwelt with much satisfaction, in his
several reports to the legislature, on the measure of success attained
in competition with the lines running to the ports of the United States.

But these successes were bought at a heavy price. In the weekly race
across the Atlantic, much was sacrificed to speed. Risks were taken
which, with the imperfect knowledge then existing of the sailing route,
could lead to but one result. Vessel after vessel was lost under
circumstances that excited a growing horror and resentment among all
classes of the people. During the seven years between June 1, 1857, and
February 22, 1864, no less than eight of the finest vessels in the
service went down, carrying with them many hundreds of human beings.

The first mishap took place within six months of the commencement of the
service by the Allan line. In November 1856, the "Canadian," in her
course up the St. Lawrence, ran ashore, owing to either the negligence
or the ignorance of the pilot. She was got off without injury. But the
"Canadian" was less fortunate in June 1857, when, from the same cause,
she again ran ashore. This time it was impossible to free her, and she
had to be abandoned, a total loss. The year 1858 passed without trouble
of any kind, and as the voyages were increased from fortnightly to
weekly, confidence was high that the superiority of the Canadian line
was to be demonstrated, and the supremacy of the Atlantic wrested from
the Cunards.

But with the inauguration of the weekly service, and of the declared
competition with the steamers sailing in and out of New York, a series
of disasters commenced, which threw a shadow over the whole enterprise.
In the five years following the establishment of weekly service, the
Canadian line lost more first class vessels than all the other companies
engaged in transatlantic conveyance, and during the same period, as if
to remove any doubt as to the locality to which these disasters were
attributed, every vessel lost went down on this side of the
Atlantic.[311]

In the winter of 1859, two of the finest vessels of the line were lost,
and with them a great number of lives. The winter route of the Allan
steamers between Liverpool and Portland ran westward from Ireland to
Cape Race, the south-eastern extremity of Newfoundland, thence to the
waters between Sable Island and Nova Scotia, the coast of which the
steamers skirted for its whole length. After getting clear of Cape
Sable, the southerly point of Nova Scotia, vessels had a deep water
passage for the rest of the voyage.

The Nova Scotia coast was a source of much anxiety to navigators. The
"Columbia," the only vessel of the Cunard line which was lost until this
time, was wrecked on this coast, as were also the "Humboldt" of the
American line and the "City of Manchester" of the Inman line. It was on
this coast also that the two Allan ships were wrecked. On the 29th of
November, the "Indian," on her way out from Liverpool, ran ashore on the
"Deal Ledges" near the fishing hamlet of Marie Joseph. Parting
amidships, some sixty of her passengers were lost. It was made clear
that the captain had taken every precaution after leaving Cape Race, but
he had been misled by defective charts.

Three months later, on the 20th of February, 1860, the "Hungarian" went
down among the rocks off Cape Sable, and not a soul on board was saved.
This steamer was the pride of the fleet. She was a new vessel, and had a
record of three consecutive passages in twenty-seven days and
twenty-three hours. The facts disclosed by the investigation were few.
But it did transpire that the captain was noted for a certain dash
rather than for seamanly prudence. It was said that by his skill in
shaving sharp corners and scudding over shoals, and by his recklessness
in keeping up a head of steam, he had converted the slowest of the
Canadian steamers into the fastest.

News of the disaster to the "Hungarian" soon reached Montreal. It was
melancholy news for the city, and public grief was soon followed by
popular anger with the Allan Company and with the postmaster general.
Smith was denounced by the legislature as _particeps criminis_ in the
destruction of the lives which had been lost on the "Hungarian."

A parliamentary investigation was ordered into the circumstances, and
the report[312] of the committee is instructive in the information it
gives on the coast lights, and on the problems, which the substitution
of iron for wood in the construction of steam vessels raised for those
dealing with questions of navigation.

Neither Sable Island nor Cape Sable, on the winter route, were provided
with lighthouses; and the lower St. Lawrence was most inadequately
furnished with the indispensable guides for sailing by night. From
Forteau Bay on the straits of Belle Isle, a vessel ran four hundred and
fifty miles before it passed a lighthouse, and it then entered a stretch
of one hundred and twenty miles which it was obliged to make without the
assistance of lights.

On the comparative merits of iron and wooden vessels, expert opinion was
unanimous in favour of wooden vessels. It was considered that, in the
event of a vessel being wrecked or stranded, there was less liability of
loss of life in the wooden vessel. There was also the effect of the
material of which the vessels were built on the working of the compass.
In iron vessels, the compasses were a source of great and continued
anxiety.

Before the vessels proceeded to sea, the local attraction from the ship
was neutralized by magnets and, thus adjusted, the compasses acted with
tolerable accuracy while the vessel was at sea and beyond the influence
of land attraction. But when approaching the land the compasses were not
to be depended upon. There was, it was asserted, an attraction from the
land, but whether the mass of iron in the vessel was first acted upon by
the land attraction, was a problem of which the existing state of
science did not afford a solution.

The Cunard line at this time--1860--consisted of ten vessels. Only two
were of iron; and it was noted that the irregular action of the compass
on the iron vessel "Persia," after it left Cape Race, led the vessel
into danger which was only averted by unusual care with the soundings.
The committee of the legislature concluded by expressing a fear that,
until new light had been thrown on the susceptibilities and workings of
the mysterious magnetic forces, it might be necessary to abandon the
construction of iron vessels.

Misfortune continued to dog the course of the Canadian steamers. In 1861
two more vessels were lost--both on the St. Lawrence route.

The "Canadian," the second of the name, launched in 1860, set out from
Quebec for Liverpool on the 1st of June. Reaching the straits of Belle
Isle two days later she encountered a heavy gale and great masses of
ice. About eight miles from Cape Bauld, the northernmost point of
Newfoundland, the vessel was struck by a sunken floe, which tore a hole
in her side under the water-line, and she sank in two hours. Twenty-nine
of the passengers and crew were drowned, including James Panton, the
mail officer, who neglected the means of safety in his endeavours to
save the mail.

The only criticism made by the board of trade court was that the straits
route being a perilous one except at the height of the season, the
sailing instructions which gave masters a discretion of taking this
route after the 20th of May ought to be amended by fixing the earliest
date at a month later.

At the end of the season--on the 5th of November--the "North Briton" ran
ashore in an attempt to make the passage between the Island of Anticosti
and the Mingan Islands. The circumstances that the vessel entered the
passage an hour after midnight, with a heavy sea running, were noted by
the marine court. But they confined themselves to a censure on the
captain for some lack of vigilance, not considering it necessary to
deprive him of his certificate.

Again there was a burst of public indignation, and a demand that the
government should dissociate themselves from the contract. The
postmaster general pleaded that such action would, in the eyes of the
foreign governments, be tantamount to a confession that Canadians had
lost faith in their route. He assured the legislature that he was
bringing effective pressure on the Allan Company to compel them to
perform their contract satisfactorily.

The complete immunity from accident during 1862 seemed to indicate that
the measures forced upon the company by the postmaster general were
successful. But the faith of the Canadian in the superior advantages of
their route was soon to be put to further trials.

Between the 27th of April, 1863, and the 22nd of February, 1864--a scant
ten months--three vessels of the line were lost. The first of these, the
"Anglo-Saxon," which crashed into the rocky coast of Newfoundland, a few
miles above Cape Race, gave some point to the observations of the
commission as to the disturbing influences operating upon the compasses
of vessels as they approached land.

The "Anglo-Saxon" left Liverpool on the 16th of April, and for the first
nine days made an uneventful voyage. A clear, bright day on the 26th
gave the captain an opportunity to make observations, and ascertain the
ship's position; and as the weather was steady, he was able to run under
full steam and sail.

Next morning it was foggy; and John Young--a former commissioner of
public works, and one of the chief advocates of the Canadian ocean
service--asked the captain if it was his intention to make Cape Race.
The captain said it was not, as by noon they would be twenty miles south
of the Cape. About eleven o'clock Young's attention was directed to what
appeared to be a huge iceberg close at hand. He ran towards the deck,
but before he could reach it the ship struck, and he found himself
facing a precipitous mass of rock so lofty that in the fog he could not
see the top of it.

Instead of being sixteen or seventeen miles south of Cape Race, the
vessel was four miles above it. Though they were so close to land that
many passengers saved themselves by creeping along the mast to the
shore, 238 passengers were drowned, including the captain, whose faulty
seamanship had brought about the calamity.

This shore is the most dangerous on the north Atlantic. Besides the
magnetic influences, there is an underplay of powerful currents, which
makes navigation in these waters difficult and dangerous. The
Newfoundland government published a list in 1901 showing that
seventy-seven vessels, great and small, had been lost on the Cape or
within a few miles to the north or west of it.

Not quite two months later than the disaster of April 27, 1863, while
excitement in Canada was still running high, the public were dumbfounded
by the news of another disaster. The "Norwegian," a vessel built only
two years, left Liverpool on the 4th of June. On the 10th she entered a
dense fog which continued at short intervals until the 13th. At noon
that day the fog lifted and the steamer put on full steam. At two
o'clock in the morning land was sighted, which the captain took to be
Newfoundland.

The ship's course was altered in accordance with that view, and although
the fog fell densely, speed was not reduced. At seven o'clock there was
a cry of breakers, and before the steamer could be checked or turned,
she struck heavily upon the rocks of St. Paul's Island, a point in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, a few miles north of Cape Breton. The ship's
position was so dangerous that the passengers were landed on the island.
Afterwards the cargo and mails were secured.

The public were bewildered by the accumulation of disasters. The captain
of the "Norwegian" was especially known as a careful and skilful
navigator, and there was a persistent and vigorously expressed demand on
the Allan Company for an explanation. To their plea of the danger of the
route, the answer was that the "Hungarian," "Indian," and "Anglo-Saxon"
were wrecked on a route over which the Cunard steamers had been passing
in safety for years.

Iron vessels accordingly came in for condemnation. Except two, all the
Cunard steamers were of wood, and these iron vessels were run only
between Liverpool and New York, over a route all the way on the broad
ocean.

The wreck of the "African" of the Cunard line on the coast of
Newfoundland, which took place about this time, under circumstances
similar to those attending the loss of the "Anglo-Saxon," showed, it was
claimed, the superiority of the wooden vessels, when overtaken by
accident. She was pierced in several places, but was not smashed as an
iron hull would have been. Consequently, when the vessel got free of the
rocks it was able to reach St. Johns where it put in for repairs.

The remainder of the summer of 1863 passed without incident, and a
considerable part of the winter, when on the 22nd of February, 1864, the
"Bohemian" in her passage to Portland, struck on Alden's Rock, close to
her destination, and overturned, sinking within an hour and a half. The
passengers and crew numbered 317 persons, and of these forty-three were
drowned by the capsizing of one of the lifeboats. The court of inquiry
attributed the catastrophe to the neglect of the captain to take the
ordinary precautions, when confronted with a perilous situation, and he
was deprived of his certificate for twelve months.

During the period between the wreck of the "Canadian" the first, in
1857, and the sinking of the "Bohemian" in 1864, there were thirteen
vessels lost, of all lines engaged in the transatlantic trade, and of
these eight were of the Canadian line.

The Canadian government and the Allan Company were subjected to a
pitiless condemnation; and, with a change of administration in 1863, the
new government lost no time in taking steps to end the contract.

Oliver Mowat, the new postmaster general, on the 12th of August, 1863,
presented a report to the executive council recounting the attempts of
the Canadian government to establish a Canadian line of steamers from
1853, when the first contract was made with the Liverpool firm of
Mackeen, McLarty and Company. The contract with this firm called for a
fortnightly service in summer and monthly in winter, with screw steamers
of not less than 1200 tons, the subsidy from which was to be £24,000 a
year.

In consequence of the default of the contractors, a new contract was
made with Hugh Allan. The frequency of the service, and the amount of
the subsidy remained unchanged, but Allan engaged to employ vessels of
1750 tons, instead of 1200.

On the 12th of October, 1857, a new contract was entered into with Allan
for weekly service to commence on the 1st of May, 1859. The size of the
vessels required was again increased, and the new steamers had to be
built to 2000 tons. The subsidy was to be £55,000. By 1860, three
vessels had been lost, and Allan, having found that the loss in carrying
on the weekly service was far beyond his calculations, notified the
government of his intention to terminate.

The government, believing that it was essential to hold public
confidence in the route, and that this could be best done by enabling
the contractor to provide larger and more powerful vessels to replace
those which had been lost, determined to offer a much larger subsidy,
and to stipulate for vessels of 2300 tons. A new contract embodying
these conditions was made, and the compensation was fixed at £104,000.

In brief this was the situation when Mowat became postmaster general,
though there had been negotiations between Smith and the Allan Company
for a reduction of the subsidy. With the sanction of the government,
Mowat cancelled the contract on April 1, 1864, and began negotiations
for a new contract.

Mowat perceived that, unless there was to be a lapse in the service on
the 1st of April, he must make his arrangements with Allan, since there
was no other vessel owner in a position to take up the service on the
termination of the contract. Mowat was the less reluctant to renew an
engagement with Allan, as he recognized the courage, energy and
perseverance of the latter, and was convinced that Allan's experience
would give him a great advantage over any other contractor.

The new contract contained provisions which were a confession that the
government had been far from blameless for the losses of the several
vessels of the Allan line. The mail steamers were expressly forbidden to
approach Cape Race when the weather was so foggy or tempestuous as to
make it dangerous to do so; when the presence of fog or ice should
render it perilous to run at full speed the captain was to be impressed
with the duty of slackening speed or of stopping the vessel as the
occasion dictated, and the time so lost was to be allowed to the
contractor in addition to the time specified for the length of the
voyage.

Other precautions were taken by the contractor. The first vessel
lost--the "Canadian" in June 1857--was cast on shore by the incompetency
of the pilot, and the contractor made it his business to secure the best
pilots, instead of taking the first that presented himself, as the
practice had been. Another vessel was wrecked on a dangerous shore of
the Island of Anticosti. This channel was thereafter abandoned by the
vessels of the line.

As a consequence of these provisions and precautions, aided, doubtless,
by greater care on the part of the sailing masters, accidents to the
vessels ceased altogether. During the twenty-five years that ensued
there was but one vessel lost. The outstanding feature of the whole
business was the dogged resolution of Allan to justify his faith in the
possibility of the Canadian route, and in his ultimate success he
rendered an incalculable service to Canada.

FOOTNOTES:

[309] _Sess. Papers_, Canada, 1860, No. 8, contain all the papers
bearing on the continental negotiations narrated.

[310] A lengthy review of the papers included in the _Sess. Papers_, No.
8, of 1860, appears in the _Toronto Leader_, the leading government
organ of March 8, 1860. The writer notes that "Lord Elgin and Rowland
Hill seem to have been firmly convinced, in their own minds, that a
Canadian steamer is an American steamer," and observes that "the English
officials shifted the grounds of their objections several times, till
finally, as rheumatism is said to do after shifting from one part of the
body to the other, they vanished altogether before the force of Mr.
Smith's arguments, till nothing but naked obstinacy remained."

[311] P.M.G.'s report to council, December 7, 1863 (_Sess. Papers_,
Canada, 1864, No. 28).

[312] _Journals of Assembly_, Canada, 1860, App. 14.




CHAPTER XIX

     Postal service of Manitoba, the North-West provinces and
     British Columbia--Summary of progress since Confederation.


When Sir Adams Archibald, the first lieutenant governor of the
newly-formed province of Manitoba, reached Winnipeg in the summer of
1870 for the purpose of taking over his government, he made a survey of
the administrative system which he found there.

The postal arrangements were very simple.[313] There were but four post
offices in the province, and three mail routes. The principal route,
that upon which the settlement depended for its communication with the
outer world, ran down the Red River from Pembina, on the border, to
Winnipeg. The second followed the river down as far as St. Andrew's; and
the third connected the town of Portage La Prairie with Winnipeg, by a
weekly-courier service along the Assiniboine river. The mails on the
other two routes were carried twice each week.

The carriage of the mails between Pembina and Winnipeg was originally a
private enterprise, but was afterwards assumed by the government of
Assiniboia. There was a postage charge of one penny on all letters and
of one-halfpenny on all newspapers, passing in and out of the territory,
in addition to the postage due for conveyance between Pembina and the
place of origin or destination.

The system in the settlement was not recognized by the United States
government, and letters were not considered as regularly posted until
they were deposited in Pembina post office. Consequently the only
postage stamps were those of the United States, which were sold in the
post offices of the settlement.

The letters and newspapers passing between Winnipeg and Pembina during
the month of August 1870 were counted, and it was found that within that
period, there were 1018 letters and 196 newspapers sent from Winnipeg to
Pembina, and 960 letters and 1375 newspapers passed into the settlement.

The opportunity afforded by the extension of the United States postal
service into the northern parts of Minnesota was a great boon to the
inhabitants of the isolated settlement. Until that time, the only
communication between the Red River and the world outside was by means
of the semi-annual packets, by which the Hudson's Bay Company maintained
its communication with its posts, which were scattered over its vast
territories.[314]

Once in each year a vessel sailed from the Thames for York Factory on
the western shore of Hudson's Bay bringing the goods used for barter
with the Indians, and carrying back to London the peltries which were
the produce of the previous year's trade. To meet this vessel, a brigade
of dog-sleighs set out from fort Garry about December 10, when, the ice
having formed and the snow fallen, travelling was easy. The first
stopping place was at Norway House, at the northern end of lake
Winnipeg. The distance, about 350 miles, was travelled in eight days.

Here the contents of the packet were separated, one portion being
detained for the posts in the west, and the other for York Factory. The
couriers with the mails from the ship in Hudson's Bay connected at
Norway House with those from Red River, and after mails had been
exchanged, each returned to his point of departure. The mail from
England reached fort Garry in February.

The other means of communication was by the packet which was despatched
overland in the winter to Montreal. The courier returned to the
settlement in the spring, travelling by canoes from Lachine up the
Ottawa river and along the Mattawin to lake Nipissing, thence down the
French river to Georgian Bay. Crossing the bay and lakes Huron and
Superior, the travellers entered the Kaministiquia at fort William, and
passing by alternate water stretches and portages into the Winnipeg
river, they made their way by canoe to lake Winnipeg, and landed at the
outlet of the Red River, eighteen miles north of fort Garry. This
journey occupied about six weeks.

The extent of the isolation of the settlement during the early period is
thus vividly described:--[315]

"Thus matters went on during the first forty years of our existence as a
settlement. We were kept in blissful ignorance of all that transpired
abroad until about eight months after actual occurrence. Our easy-going
and self-satisfied gentry received their yearly fyles of newspapers
about a twelvemonth after the date of the last publication, and read
them with avidity, patiently wading through the whole in a manner which
did no violence to chronology. Wars were undertaken and
completed--protocolling was at an end and peace signed, long before we
could hear that a musket had been shouldered or a cannon fired."

The Hudson's Bay packets were placed at the service of the settlers, but
not quite without reserve. The company, which employed the packets
primarily for the conduct of their business, did not intend that they
should be used against their interests. They had a monopoly of the
fur-trade, which they proposed to hold, as far as possible, intact.
There were a number of traders in the settlement, who bought on their
own account, and made use of such means of transport as they were able
to discover, to get their furs out of the country.

To prevent the operations of these interlopers, the company had recourse
to a measure which was vastly unpopular in the settlement. The governor
of Assiniboia, in a proclamation, dated December 20, 1844, directed that
all letters intended to be despatched by the winter express, must be
left at his office on or before the 1st of January. Every letter must
bear the writer's name, and if the writer was not one of those who had
lodged a declaration against trafficking in furs, he was obliged to
deposit the letter open, to be closed at the governor's office.[316]
This obnoxious order remained in force until 1848.

This arbitrary measure on the part of the company excited intense
feelings among the settlers, and disposed them to hail with satisfaction
the approach of the lines of the American postal service towards the
company's southern borders. In 1853, when the American government
established a post office at fort Ripley, a number of the settlers in
the Red River settlement formed a post office at fort Garry, and opened
a monthly communication with the post office in Minnesota.[317] At the
same time a post office was also opened in the settlement of St.
Andrews, fourteen miles further down the Red River. In 1857, the United
States postal service was extended to the company's border, at Pembina,
and the infant system in the settlement was connected with this office.

The relation of dependence, which the Red River settlement was beginning
to assume towards the United States, attracted attention in Canada, and
fears were expressed as to the political future of the great
hinterland. In 1857, the Toronto board of trade addressed a memorial to
the government,[318] pointing out the situation in the north-west, and
urged the expediency of establishing a post route and telegraph line
between Canada and British Columbia, over Canadian and Hudson's Bay
territory.

The government acted upon the suggestion without loss of time. A mail
service was opened in the summer of 1858 to the Red River
settlement.[319] Mails were carried twice a month between Collingwood
and fort William by steamer, and from the latter point to the Red River
by canoe. When winter closed the water routes, a monthly packet by
dog-sleigh carried the mails, the carrier travelling along the north
shore of lakes Huron and Superior.

But this effort to establish a direct connection between Canada and the
north-west was not a success. The difficulties of travel placed this
route at a hopeless disadvantage with that through the United States,
which gave the people of the settlement a direct communication with but
seventy miles of transportation on their part. The service was abandoned
after two years, and shortly afterwards the improvements in the service
of Pembina in the United States system, enabled the settlers on the Red
River to exchange mails with the outer world twice each week.

But the failure of this scheme was merely the prelude to the greater
scheme, advocated by the Toronto board of trade. The Canadian government
opened a correspondence with the Hudson's Bay Company on the questions
of a post road and telegraph across the Continent.[320] On its part, the
government was prepared to adopt any measure which would facilitate
travel over the stretch which lay between the settled parts of Canada
and the Hudson's Bay territory. Appropriations were made for roads
through to Red River, and it was hoped that free grants of land would
induce people to settle along the route.

The discovery of gold on the Saskatchewan, with the anticipated influx
of gold-seekers from the United States made the question one of great
urgency. The only access to the territories was through the state of
Minnesota, and it was feared that the settlement at Red River would
inevitably imbibe principles inimical to the British interests. Unless
Canada could offer a passage into the territories, equal in
accommodation to that afforded by the United States, the territories
would in no long time be occupied by foreigners, British rule would
virtually have passed away, and the key to the trade to British Columbia
and ultimately to China surrendered to rivals.

Dallas, the resident governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, looked at the
question from the standpoint of the company's interests. He pointed out
that the establishment of a line of communication across the territories
of the company would be seriously prejudicial to those interests. The
Red River and Saskatchewan valleys, though not in themselves fur-bearing
districts, were the sources from which the main supply of winter food
were procured for the northern posts, from the produce of the buffalo
hunts.

A chain of settlements through these valleys would not only deprive the
company of these vital resources, but would indirectly, in other ways,
so interfere with their northern trade as to render it no longer worth
prosecuting on an extended scale. It would necessarily be diverted into
various channels, possibly to the public benefit, but the company could
no longer exist on its present footing.

The Canadian government was far from satisfied with this answer. As they
saw it, the question resolved itself into simply this: Should these
magnificent territories continue to be merely the source of supply for a
few hundreds of the employees of a fur-trading company, or be the means
of affording new and boundless contributions to civilization and
commerce? Should they remain closed to the enterprise and industry of
millions, in order that a few might monopolize all their treasures and
keep them for all time to come, as the habitation of wild beasts and the
trappers engaged in their pursuit?

The postmaster general in making his report to the council estimated
that the cost of a road and water connections with Red River would cost
£80,000, and from that settlement to the passes of the Rocky Mountains,
£100,000, and recommended that the Canadian parliament should
appropriate $50,000 a year for a number of years for this project.

The Red River settlement approached the Canadian government on the
subject, undertaking to build a road to the head of the Lake of the
Woods, if the Canadian or British government would construct a practical
passage from lake Superior to meet this road. The British government, to
whom a copy of this memorial was sent by Sandford Fleming, replied that
plans were almost matured for establishing a postal and telegraphic
communication with British Columbia, and it was expected that with the
aid of the two colonies, the scheme would be entered upon at no distant
date.

An obstacle to the settlement of the plans lay in the indeterminate
nature of the claims of the Hudson's Bay Company to the territory over
which the means of communication should pass, and the Canadian
government declined to participate in the project while these claims
remained unsettled. They opened correspondence with the British
government with the view to determine the questions in dispute,
maintaining at the same time the right of Canada to take over all that
portion of central British America which was in the possession of the
French at the period of the session in 1763.[321] The question of postal
communication was as a consequence postponed to the larger question of
Canada's acquiring these territories, and this was not settled until
1870.

In 1865, the Hudson's Bay Company sent Dr. John Rae, the Arctic
explorer, to ascertain the practicability of establishing communication
by telegraph across the continent. His report was favourable, and the
company went so far into the scheme as to send a quantity of telegraph
wire into the territory. But as their continued ownership and monopoly
of the territory became increasingly uncertain, the company suspended
operations, and these were not resumed.

In April 1862 the governor and council of Assiniboia by an ordinance
established a postal system in the settlement. James Ross was appointed
postmaster in the middle section of the settlement, with a salary of £10
per annum; and Thomas Sinclair, postmaster of the lower section, with a
salary of £6 per annum. A mail was to be carried between the settlement
and Pembina at the public expense, in connection with the United States
mail to Pembina. The postal charges between the settlement and Pembina
were fixed at a penny per half ounce for letters, twopence for each
magazine or review, and one-halfpenny for each newspaper. For books, the
charges were fivepence for half a pound or under, one shilling for one
and a half pounds, and twopence for each additional half pound.[322]

This embryo system was in operation when Sir Adams Archibald arrived in
the new province as lieutenant governor. He lost no time in putting the
system on as efficient a footing as the circumstances permitted, and in
incorporating it into the postal system of the dominion.

The postmaster general arranged with the post office department of the
United States for the transmission across its territory by way of
Chicago and St. Paul, of mails between Windsor, Ontario and Winnipeg.
The postal rates in force in the dominion were applied to the new
province; and in November the post offices were provided with Canadian
postage stamps, to replace those of the United States, which had been
used until that time.

The means of transportation through the United States was gradually
improved, and advantage was taken of these ameliorations to improve the
communication of Manitoba. In 1879 the completion of the railway between
the Pembina and Winnipeg left little to be desired in the facilities
enjoyed by the province for the exchange of correspondence. But it was
still dependent on the good will of the United States for these
facilities. It was not until 1884 that the completion of the Canadian
Pacific railway between Winnipeg and eastern Canada provided a
connection across Canadian territory.

       *       *       *       *       *

The need for a regular postal service in British Columbia did not arise
until 1858, the year in which the gold discoveries in the mainland
brought large numbers of miners to seek their fortunes in that country.
The colony of Vancouver Island had been in the process of settlement by
the Hudson's Bay Company since 1849, but the success of the company had
been but moderate. The whole population in 1856--scarcely equal to that
of a small town--was gathered together in Victoria and its environs, and
their requirements as regards correspondence were limited to a
communication with Great Britain.

The home government gave early attention to the question of providing
these means. On August 3, 1858, the day after the act providing for the
government of the new colony had been adopted, the colonial secretary
wrote to the treasury, pointing out that the establishment of the new
colony, and the large influx of immigrants thereto, made it desirable
that some safe and regular communication should be formed between the
colony and the kingdom, and asking that the lords commissioners should
consider the possibility of such a suggestion.[323]

The treasury consulted the admiralty and the post office. Neither
department could suggest a scheme which would not involve an outlay
much beyond the ideas of the treasury as to the importance of the
objects to be attained. The post office proposed sending mails to Colon,
at the entrance to the Panama railway by the steamers of the Royal Mail
Packet Company, thence to Panama by railway. The voyage occupied from
sixteen to twenty days and the passage across the isthmus about five
hours.

The conveyance from Panama to Victoria offered greater difficulties. The
connection between British mail steamers arriving at Colon and the
United States steamers running from Panama to San Francisco, was so
faulty, that the mails would have to lie at Panama as long as two weeks
before they were taken forward. The passage to San Francisco occupied
two weeks, and from this point to Victoria from four to five days. The
delay at the isthmus was usually avoided by taking the steamer from
England to New York, from whence a line of steamers ran to Colon in
close connection with the Pacific steamers from Panama. By the latter
route the journey from London to Victoria was made in about forty-five
days.

But the important consideration with the treasury was the very
considerable cost. The preference of the government was for an
all-British conveyance. This could be arranged by having a steamer,
subsidized by the government, take the mails from the Cunard vessels at
either Halifax or New York, and carry them to Colon, and by providing
other vessels under its control to make the conveyance from Panama to
Victoria. The enormous cost of these services precluded the adoption of
this scheme, until the colony had grown to an extent that it could bear,
at least, part of the cost. It was estimated that the steamer on the
Atlantic coast would call for an outlay of £25,000 a year, while the
Pacific line would cost not less than £100,000 a year.

A solution of the difficulty was found through the good offices of the
United States government. There was a service carried on twice a week
between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco. The route was 2,765 miles
in length, and it was covered by four-horse coaches with great
regularity in twenty-two days.

This service, the United States government placed at the disposal of the
British post office for the exchange of its correspondence with its
distant colony. The mails on their arrival at San Francisco were
delivered to the British consul, who arranged for their transmission to
their destination.

At the best, the isolation of the new settlement was extreme. There had
been a newspaper in Victoria since June 1858. It was published weekly,
and for two weeks out of three, its columns were confined to purely
local news. The third issue presented the appearance of a modern
newspaper. The steamer "Eliza Anderson" had arrived from Olympia,
bringing with it the despatches from San Francisco, containing news from
all parts of the world.

How belated the news was may be gathered from a glance over one of the
issues. The issue of March 9 contained news from San Francisco, not
later than February 8, and from St. Louis, the latest date was February
5. As St. Louis was within the eastern telegraph system, the papers from
the city contained despatches from all parts of the United States and
Canada. It was observed that among the items of news was the arrival of
the steamer "Bohemia" at New York, with the Liverpool newspapers of
January 18. So that under ordinary circumstances, news from England was
fifty days old before it reached the public in Victoria.

The construction of a telegraph line to the Pacific in the autumn of
1861, and the extension of the lines of the California State Telegraphic
Company to Portland, Oregon, in 1864, did much to relieve the situation,
so far as concerned news important enough to be sent by telegraph to the
newspapers in San Francisco.

But the ordinary news from Canada did not reach Victoria by telegraph,
and the length of the delay in the transmission of news from Canada by
letter may be seen from the fact that the _British Colonist_ of November
11, 1864, contained a newsletter from Canada, dated September 30--six
weeks earlier. Governor Kennedy in his annual report to the colonial
secretary on the state of the colony in 1864 observed that "expensive
and defective postal and other communications are the great bar
to progress, and reflect but little credit on the two great
nations--England and America. A _Times_ newspaper costs fourpence
postage, and that for a book is entirely prohibitory."

Arrangements of a simple character were made for the conveyance of
letters into the sections occupied by the miners. In November 1858,
governor Douglas reported that the men at the mines--nearly all of whom
were on the course of the Fraser river--numbered 10,500. He also stated
that he had arranged a postal system on a small scale, which provided
for the wants of the country, at an expenditure which was fully covered
by the receipts.

The earliest letter delivery in this region was carried on by the
express companies, whose operations were extended from California to
British Columbia, with the migration of the miners to the
newly-discovered gold districts. This mode of delivery is described by a
British naval officer, who spent four years in the country, as one of
the safest imaginable. He states that "so great is his faith in them
that he would trust anything in even that most insecure country
(California) in an envelope bearing the stamp of the Wells Fargo and
Company's express."[324]

In May 1858 the colonial administration arranged with the private
expresses for conveyance of letters anywhere within the colonies of
British Columbia and Vancouver Island on condition of the prepayment of
five cents per letter, as colonial postage.[325]

This rudimentary arrangement was replaced in 1864 by a regular
departmental postal service with headquarters at New Westminster.[326]
The charges on letters and newspapers sent by post were fixed as
follows: for every letter to and from British Columbia and Vancouver
Island, delivered at Victoria or New Westminster, threepence per half
ounce; on every newspaper posted under the same circumstances, one
penny; on every letter from a post office at any one place in the colony
to a post office at any other place in the colony, sixpence per half
ounce; for a newspaper posted for delivery under the same circumstances,
sixpence; on letters from any other place than Vancouver Island,
threepence in addition to the foreign postage.

The year following the union of the two governments of British Columbia
and Vancouver Island, an ordinance was passed by the government, dated
April 2, 1867, in which a new set of rates were established. On a letter
passing between any two post offices in Vancouver Island or between any
of these offices and New Westminster or any port in the colony, the rate
was five cents; between Vancouver Island or New Westminster on the one
side and Clinton or Savona's Ferry, the rate was twelve and a half
cents; where letters pass beyond those distances the charge was
twenty-five cents.

For letters exchanged between any two post offices above Yale, Hope or
Douglas, the rate was twelve and a half cents. In each case the unit of
weight was an ounce. The charge on newspapers passing between any two
post offices in the colony was two cents each. At this period there were
eighteen post offices on the mainland and eight on the island.

The situation of the post office in British Columbia stood thus when the
colony became one of the provinces of the dominion. By the act of
confederation the postal service was incorporated into the Federal
system which was administered by the post office department at Ottawa.
The rates of postage in British Columbia were made uniform with the
charges in the other provinces, viz., three cents per half ounce for
letters, and one cent for newspapers.

Communication between British Columbia and Canada east of the Rocky
Mountains was far from satisfactory. Until the completion of the
Canadian Pacific railway in 1885, the eastern provinces had to depend
entirely upon the United States postal system for the means of
communication with British Columbia. At the time of the entrance of the
province into the confederation, the opportunities for an exchange of
correspondence were limited to twice a week.

The mails were conveyed from San Francisco by railway and stage to
Olympia, between which point and Victoria, semi-weekly trips were made
by steamer. There was also a service twice a month, between Victoria and
San Francisco. The maintenance of these connections between San
Francisco and Vancouver Island was stipulated for among the conditions
of union of British Columbia with the dominion of Canada.

Within the province, the mails were carried by the steamer "Sir James
Douglas" along the east coast of Vancouver Island and Comox. The
mainland was supplied with mails by a steamer which ran twice a week
between Vancouver and New Westminster. In the interior of the province,
the mails were carried by steamer up the Fraser river to Yale, thence
northward to Barkerville. The distance between New Westminster and
Barkerville was 486 miles. The service from Yale to Barkerville was by
means of stages, drawn by four or six horses. This service was carried
on weekly during summer, and fortnightly during the winter. Striking off
westward from this route at Quesnelle, there was another to Omenica, 350
miles, over which the mails were carried monthly.[327]

       *       *       *       *       *

In bringing the narrative to a point where the several provincial
systems were incorporated into one system controlled by the post office
department at Ottawa, I have completed the task I undertook. It remains
only to note in a summary manner the progress that was made by the post
office from Confederation to the Great War.

  [Illustration: ROBERT MILLAR COULTER. M.D., C.M.G.
  (_Deputy Postmaster General since 1897_)]

On the formation of the present department, there were 3477 post offices
in the system. In 1914 this number had been increased to 13,811. The
expansion of the lines of the service in the four older provinces,
though considerable, is not comparable with that in the provinces
comprehended in the territories west of the Great Lakes. In Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, and the better settled parts of Quebec and Ontario, the
characteristic of the increase is the greater frequency of travel on
already established roads, and, particularly, the acceleration of
correspondence by the introduction of railways into the parts of the
provinces.

In 1867 there were but 2278 miles of railway in Canada. In the
forty-seven years which followed this mileage was augmented to 30,795.

The narrow line of settlement in Ontario from the Quebec boundary to
Toronto had expanded to a breadth, covering the extent of country from
lake Ontario to the watershed, dividing the waters flowing south from
those running into Hudson's Bay.

But the great expansion has taken place in the provinces on the plains
between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains--in the New Canada
beyond the Great Lakes. On entering Confederation, the postal
arrangements in this vast territory comprised but six post offices, with
a system of mail service of no more than 145 miles. Since 1867 a system
has been created in these western provinces containing in 1914 over
42,000 miles, of which 16,500 miles are of railroad. The number of post
offices in this year was 3402.

The expansion in British Columbia if not equal in magnitude to that in
the prairie and grain-growing provinces, keeps full pace with the
requirements of that province. There were thirty post offices in the
province in 1871 when the colony entered Confederation. These had
increased to 799 in 1914. The system in the earlier period comprised
3412 miles. This had increased to over 12,000 miles in 1914; of these
3200 were by railroad, and 5000 by steam or sailing vessel.

The outstanding feature of the interchange of correspondence between the
several provinces at the time they entered Confederation is the
dependence on the postal service of the United States for the means by
which it was carried on. As between the old province of Canada and the
Maritime provinces, there was indeed a mail service by coach between
Truro, sixty miles west of Halifax, and Riviere du Loup, 120 miles east
of Quebec. But, apart from the fact that the trips were made no more
frequently than three times a week, the utter inadequacy of such a mode
of conveyance over a route 485 miles in length was obvious to those who
could use the railways of the United States for the same purpose.

The provinces had been united politically for nine years before the
completion of the inter-colonial railway provided the means of direct
communication between them. Until 1876 the usual course for the mails
between the Maritime provinces and the old province of Canada was by
railway from St. John, New Brunswick to Bangor, Maine, thence to
Portland, where connection was made with the Grand Trunk system.

As the western provinces came into the Confederation they exhibited in
an even more marked degree the dependence on the good will of the United
States for communication with the older provinces. The construction of
the Canadian Pacific railway westward around the head of lake Superior
and the continuance of its course across the plains of the north-west
territories, and over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean,
gradually relaxed that dependence.

But Manitoba had been a province of the dominion for fourteen years
before the first train ran over an all-Canadian route between that
province and Ontario, and it was two years later before British Columbia
was linked up with its sister provinces by this means.

During these periods the mails for Manitoba were despatched from Windsor
by way of Chicago, St. Paul's and Pembina, Dakota: those for British
Columbia, by way of San Francisco. Fortunately, the geographical
position of Canada with reference to the western and north-western
states, enabled the post office of this country to reciprocate, more or
less adequately, the services rendered in the maintenance of
communication between the several provinces.

Concurrently with the expansion of the postal system has gone a steady
reduction in the postal rates. The charge of five cents per half ounce
on letters was lowered to three cents per half ounce in the first
session of parliament after Confederation. The effect of the reduction
on the volume of correspondence exchanged was manifested in the fact
that, although the reduction was the very considerable one of forty per
cent., the revenue in 1871 was greater by $55,000 than the amount
collected three years before.

The rate of three cents per half ounce, which was fixed in 1868,
remained unchanged for twenty-one years, when the unit of weight was
changed from half an ounce to one ounce, the rate becoming in 1889 three
cents per ounce. The final reduction in the rate was made on January 1,
1899, two cents being substituted for three cents as the rate of postage
for an ounce letter.

In 1878 Canada became a member of the Universal Postal Union, an
organization whose purpose it was to make in effect a single postal
territory of the whole world. The obstacles to the interchange of
correspondence between the various countries owing to differences in
charges and regulations, had long been felt as a serious impediment to
the cultivation of social and commercial relations which there was a
general desire to foster, and some tentative efforts had been made,
notably by the United States, to ameliorate the conditions governing
international correspondence by the establishment of uniform regulations
for this class of correspondence.

Twenty-two states, comprising the leading countries in Europe, the
United States, and Egypt sent delegates to a conference that assembled
at Berne in 1874, and the result of their deliberations was a convention
which established a code of regulations and fixed uniform postage rates
respecting correspondence passing anywhere within the union.

The benefits conferred by the union on those, who, for any reason, had
to carry on correspondence with foreign countries were inestimable. Some
illustrations drawn from the case of Canada will be enlightening. In
1873 letters sent to India were subject to two different rates,
according to the route by which they were directed. If sent by Canadian
steamers to Great Britain, and thence on to their destination, the
charge was twenty-two cents; if sent by the United States, the charge
was thirteen cents. To Chili, Peru, and Ecuador, there were two routes
and two rates; by way of England, the charge was forty cents, by way of
the United States, twenty-five cents.

The extreme instance of variation in the charges according to the route
chosen was in the case of letters from the United States to Australia.
There were six different routes, and the postal guide set out the
different charges: five cents, thirty-three cents, forty-five cents,
fifty-five cents, sixty cents, and one dollar, according to the route by
which the letters were sent.

Difficulties of an accounting nature arising from different standards of
weights hampered the operations of the officials in preparing the
mails. Thus a letter from Great Britain to Germany, passing through
France was taxed at a certain rate per half ounce in England, another
rate per ten grams in France, and, finally, a third rate per loth[328]
in Germany.

Many of these trammels to correspondence were removed by special
conventions before the Postal Union came into being. But how many
remained may be judged from the fact that the Canadian postal guide,
issued shortly before Canada was admitted to the Postal Union, contained
a list of rates to 127 different countries, which must be consulted by
correspondents and postal officials before the charge on a letter going
abroad could be ascertained.

The immediate effect of coming into the union was the removal of these
extensive and complicated lists from the postal guide, and their
replacement by a single sentence, in which the charge on letters for all
the countries in the union was stated to be five cents per half ounce.
The Postal Union did not at that time comprehend all countries, though
it did all the most important, but since then adhesions have been made
from year to year until to-day there is scarcely a country to which
letters are written, which does not come within its scope.

In 1898, at Canada's instance, a closer union was formed for penny
postage within the British Empire. It went into effect on Christmas day
of that year. It did not include all parts of the Empire at the time it
was formed, Australia being deterred from associating itself with the
scheme, by financial considerations.

A few years ago Australia found itself able to adjust the difficulties
with which it was confronted when the union was formed, and the imperial
penny postage scheme is operative in all parts of the Empire.

In 1903 the postmaster general of Canada opened negotiations with the
administrations of the various parts of the Empire for a reduction of
the postal rates on newspapers. His proposition was to allow newspapers
to circulate throughout the Empire at the same rates as were charged for
their transmission within the countries from which they were sent. The
proposition encountered much opposition at the outset, but it made
gradual progress, and to-day a newspaper may be sent from Canada to
Great Britain and several other portions of the Empire at the same rate
as would carry it from one place to another in Canada.

The auxiliary postal services--the money order and the savings
bank--have expanded in their operations enormously between the period of
Confederation and the present time. In 1868 there were 515 money order
offices in the provinces comprising the dominion, and the amount of the
orders issued by them was $3,342,574. The corresponding figures for 1914
were 4274 offices, which issued orders to the amount of $118,731,966.

The post office savings bank was not in operation prior to
Confederation. It was established in April 1868, and at the end of the
first year 213 post offices were charged with the duty of receiving and
paying out savings deposits. The deposits at the end of the first year
amounted to $861,655. In 1914 there were 1250 post offices doing savings
bank business, and the deposits amounted to $11,346,457, and the balance
standing at the credit of depositors was $41,591,286.

The financial operations of the Canadian post office have undergone a
great expansion. The revenues which at the end of the first year of
Confederation were $1,024,711, have, in spite of the steady reduction in
the charges, been multiplied sixteen-fold within the forty-eight years
since that period. In 1914 the amount collected for its services reached
$16,865,451.

It is interesting, as illustrating the much greater use made of the post
office by the public in Canada, to note that while the revenue has
increased sixteen times, the population has not much more than doubled
within the same period. In 1868, when the population of the four
original provinces was given as 3,879,885, the amount paid to the post
office was $1,024,711; in 1914, when the population was 8,075,000 the
revenue was $16,865,451. Thus, notwithstanding the fact that for every
letter posted during the first year of Confederation five cents was
exacted by the post office, while in 1914 two cents only was demanded,
the average expenditure for each member of the population was in 1868,
rather less than twenty-seven cents, while in 1914 it was a small
fraction over two dollars.

The Canadian post office has been on a sound footing as a business
institution for a number of years past. This fact is more notable than
would perhaps appear. The postal system of this country embraces a
territory more extended than that served by any other system on earth,
except the United States and Russia; and the population to utilize its
services, and thereby furnish its revenues, is very much less than that
of either of these countries.

Circumstances, incident to the expansion of settlement or the providing
of new facilities, are constantly arising, which compel the department
to embark on expenditures from which adequate returns can be expected
only in the distant future.

As instances, when Manitoba and the north-west territories were added to
the dominion, one of the early measures of the department was to
establish a line of mail route from Winnipeg to Edmonton, at a cost of
$10,000, while the receipts from the whole north-west territories was
considerably less than $100. The completion of the Canadian Pacific
railway to Vancouver in 1885 involved the department in outlays, which
exceeded the revenues by over $200,000 a year.

Nor has it been only by the weight of unavoidable expenditure that the
department has been impeded in its efforts to make ends meet. The policy
of the government has also operated to deprive it of what in all other
countries is regarded as a source of legitimate revenue.

Newspapers have always been circulated through Canada by the post office
on terms most advantageous to the public. In 1875 publishers were
permitted to send their papers to subscribers at the rate of one cent
per pound. Even this small charge was removed in 1882, and for the
following seventeen years newspapers addressed to subscribers were
exempt from all charges.

In 1899 a small charge was imposed, which, after some variations, was
fixed at a quarter cent per pound. As the cost to the post office of
handling and transmitting newspapers is estimated as from four cents to
six cents per pound, it is clear that the loss to the department on this
head reaches a large amount each year. In spite of these facts, however,
the revenues of the department have steadily increased, and since 1903,
when they first surpassed the outlay, they have maintained an ascendancy
which it is improbable will be overcome.

FOOTNOTES:

[313] _Sess. Papers_, Canada, 1871, No. 20.

[314] Hargrave's _Red River_, p. 155.

[315] _The Nor'-Wester_, January 28, 1860.

[316] Minutes of evidence taken before the select committee on the
Hudson's Bay Company, Ques. 4772 (_House of Commons Papers_, 1857).

[317] Hargrave's _Red River_, p. 100.

[318] _Journals, Leg. Assy._, Canada, 1857, p. 207.

[319] Report of P.M.G. of Canada, 1859.

[320] _Sess. Papers_, Canada, 1863, Nos. 29 and 31.

[321] _Sess. Papers_, Canada, 1864, No. 62.

[322] _Ibid._, 1871, No. 20, p. 132.

[323] _House of Commons (British) Papers_, 1859.

[324] Mayne's _Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island_
(1862), p. 71.

[325] Begg's _History of British Columbia_, p. 311.

[326] Postal act of British Columbia, May 4, 1864.

[327] Report of the P.M.G. of Canada, 1872.

[328] Varying from 225 to 270 grains troy.




CHAPTER XX

     The post office in Newfoundland.


The position of Newfoundland, as regards postal requirements, was very
similar to that of the other colonies situated on the Atlantic seaboard.
The social and commercial relations of the island were almost
exclusively with the mother country, and the trade was from an early
period very considerable. A number of vessels sailed each year from the
ports of Great Britain to those of the colony, which provided the means
for the interchange of correspondence.

On this side but one thing was needed--a fixed place in St. Johns at
which letters for despatch by outgoing vessels could be deposited, and
at which captains on their arrival could deliver the letters with which
they had been entrusted in Great Britain.

The first post office was established in 1806 by Sir Erasmus Gower, who
appointed Simon Solomon postmaster. The governor communicated with the
secretary of the general post office, who though not prepared to include
Newfoundland in the British postal system, promised to forward all
letters addressed to the island, by the first outgoing vessels. Three
years later, the number of merchants settled at Brigus, Harbour Grace
and Carbonear on Conception Bay made necessary an arrangement, by which
the letters reaching St. John for any of those places were forwarded to
their destination by any vessels which might be going thither.

The charge on letters passing through the London post office to
Newfoundland was one shilling and threepence, if conveyed to Halifax by
packet, and eightpence, if sent by private vessel, to which sums was
added the postage from the place in Great Britain at which the letter
was deposited, to London. There can be little doubt that but a small
proportion of the correspondence passing between Newfoundland and Great
Britain was exchanged by these expensive means. Advantage would be taken
of the departure of any vessel, to place the letters in charge of the
captain, who would collect the sum of a penny or twopence for each
letter from the person to whom he delivered them at the port of
arrival.

The course of post within the island was also very expensive. The owners
of sailing vessels running between St. John's and ports on Conception
Bay collected a shilling for each single letter they delivered.

Governor Cochrane, in 1826, appealed to the postmaster general in London
to establish a regular post office in St. John's, in order that his
despatches from the colonial office might reach him with security.
Failing that, he asked that the despatches might be sent, to a company
in London, which was in constant communication with Newfoundland.

The chamber of commerce of St. John's, in 1836, presented a memorial to
the colonial office, asking that the sailing packets running between
Falmouth and Halifax might call at St. John's on their voyages. But the
governor, in forwarding the memorial, deprecated the application, on
account of the fogs and gales which prevail on those coasts, and the
ignorance of the sailing masters regarding the localities. The admiralty
refused to entertain the application.

With the establishment in 1840 of the Cunard steamship line to run
between Halifax and Liverpool, and the inauguration of the scheme to
make the Nova Scotia port the distributing centre for the mails for all
parts of North America, provision was made for a sailing vessel of not
less than 120 tons to leave Halifax for St. John's in connection with
the steamer arriving at Halifax, and the post office at St. John's was
incorporated into the imperial system. The postmaster, Simon Solomon,
who had died in December 1839, was succeeded by his son, William Lemon
Solomon, and the latter was placed on the pay-roll of the general post
office with a salary of £100 per annum.

Governor Prescott gave his attention to the inland post office and
endeavoured to have established a regular colonial system, but the
assembly to which he directed his recommendation did not act upon it.
The governor had, however, managed to secure to the postmaster some
regular compensation for his services in attending to the exchanges on
the island.

There was at this period a communication every second day with the ports
of Brigus, Harbour Grace and Carbonear, by a sailing vessel, which
carried passengers and letters. The postmaster received a payment of
sixpence each upon all letters, and twopence on all newspapers received
from other places, and twopence each upon letters despatched from his
office. This brought him an income of between £30 and £40 a year.

The establishment of the post office and its peremptory intervention in
the exchange of communications between the merchants of St. John's and
their correspondents abroad was a novelty, which was not wholly welcomed
in that city. Although the post office had been at their service for
thirty-five years, it was without official authority to claim exclusive
right to the transmission of correspondence. The merchants could use it
or not as suited their convenience.

There were few communities that could dispense with the benefits of a
post office more easily than St. John's. The merchants all did business
on Water Street, and their warehouses looked out on the harbour;
consequently the arrival or departure of a vessel was known to every
person interested, and letters could be placed in the hands of an
outgoing captain or received from one who had just arrived, with the
least possible inconvenience. They could be delivered up to the last
moment before the vessel left the harbour, and received as soon as it
had been made fast at the docks.

The necessary formalities of a post office proved inexpressibly irksome
to the merchants of St. John's, and Solomon was made to feel the
irritations of their impatience. He seems to have been one of those
officials who make much of the functions of their offices. He delighted
in the parti-coloured pencils, which his regulations prescribed. He was
indignant with the merchants, who could not be made to understand why he
used a red pencil to indicate that a letter had been prepaid, and a blue
one to show the receiving postmaster in England that the postage had not
been paid. All the trappings dear to the accountant's soul, were to them
merely hindrances to the prompt posting and receiving of their letters.

Then there were difficulties of another sort. One of the merchants was
notified that there was a packet in the post office for him, on which
postage to the amount of five shillings and threepence was due. He, at
first, refused to accept the packet, declaring that it could only
contain newspapers, but, yielding to curiosity, he took it, and finding
his surmise to be correct, endeavoured to return the packet to the
postmaster, declining to pay the postage. The postmaster reported the
case to England for instructions. He was told that the acceptance of the
parcel carried with it the necessity on the part of the merchant of
paying the postage, but whether the postmaster succeeded in bringing the
recalcitrant merchant to a sense of his obligation is not recorded.

The postal situation in Newfoundland remained unchanged until 1848, when
Elgin, the governor general, of the British North American provinces
announced to the government of the island, that the British government
had decided to grant autonomy to the several administrations in the
colony, and called a conference in Montreal to settle the questions
arising from this concession.

Newfoundland was not represented at the conference, but the decisions
adopted and the course taken by the other colonies stimulated the
Newfoundland government to establish a postal system within the island.
On April 26, 1850, a committee of the assembly was appointed to inquire
into the subject. That the question had been fully discussed before this
action was taken by the assembly is evident from the fact that three
days later the report of the committee was presented to the house.

The interval between the time of its appointment and the date on which
it made its report precluded the committee from making anything like
exhaustive inquiries. They were satisfied, however, from the information
they had obtained as to the volume of correspondence passing to and from
the ports of Conception Bay, that a scheme would be practicable for
establishing a system, which should carry postal facilities to the
principal settlements as far north as Twillingate and as far as Gaultois
on the south-west coast. They were encouraged to make the proposition by
the rapid progress made by the post office at St. John's during the
eight years of its operation. The revenue of this office had increased
from £595 in 1841 to £1545 in 1849.

The committee proposed as an interim measure that the stipendiary
magistrates in the ports at which post offices should be established,
might be called upon to act as postmasters in those places. The
foundation of the service to the north would be a conveyance by
messenger from St. John's to Portugal Cove. From this point, a sailing
vessel would carry the mails to Brigus, Harbour Grace and Carbonear;
from Carbonear, a messenger would cross the peninsula to Heart's Content
on Trinity Bay; a sailing vessel would serve Trinity and Catalina on the
other side of the bay, and from the latter point a messenger would
continue the transmission to Bonavista. From Bonavista, the mails would
be carried to the outermost points of the system, Greenspond, King's
Cove, Cat Harbour, Fogo and Twillingate, by vessel and messenger. It was
estimated that the several services within this part of the system would
cost £575 a year.

To the south, there would be couriers down the coast to Trepassey,
serving Ferryland on the way; and to Placentia, by way of Salmonier and
St. Mary's; thence on to Gaultois with stopping places at Burin and
Garnish. The southern route should be covered for £325 a year. These
routes would displace services by vessel to Placentia, Bonavista and
Fogo, as well as couriers to Ferryland and St. Mary's, which with
expenses for the incidentals were a charge of £520 upon the colony. It
was expected that the improved services proposed would provide
travelling accommodation for the judges, school inspectors and other
officials, and by the savings thus effected, the increased outlay for
the postal system would be largely made up.

In the following year (1851) an act was passed by the legislature
providing £1000 for the establishment and maintenance of the inland post
office proposed by the committee. The appointment of all postmasters was
vested in the governor, and the management of the system was to be
placed in the hands of the postmaster of St. John's. His salary was to
be £75 a year (doubtless in addition to the £100 sterling, which he held
under his imperial appointment), the postmasters of Harbour Grace and
Carbonear were to receive, each, £15 a year, and the other postmasters
£10.

The postage on letters passing anywhere within the island was fixed at
threepence per half ounce; and on books, twopence where the weight did
not exceed six ounces, and threepence on greater weights up to sixteen
ounces. The scheme outlined came into operation on October 15, 1851.

The first report of the postmaster general was a serious disappointment.
The total receipts for the year amounted to no more than £52 2_s._
11_d._, and this amount was received entirely from St. John's and the
three offices on Conception Bay. Letters, on which postage somewhat
under £6 was due, were sent to other offices, but not one penny was
collected upon them. The committee of the assembly which examined the
accounts inclined to the opinion that the postal system might, for the
time, be restricted to the offices on Conception Bay.

Solomon was rather alarmed by these expressions of the committee, and in
his next report he dealt, in some fulness, with the peculiar
difficulties that attended the establishment of a postal system in the
colony. No very great regularity, he declared, could be anticipated
while the couriers were retarded by the marshy and swampy nature of the
roads on the most important lines. Under the most favourable
circumstances, their journeys were made over mere tracks or footpaths,
while the less frequented routes lay through wilds where neither roads
nor paths had been formed and where unbridged rivers and streams had to
be crossed, the couriers being often obliged to wade to a considerable
depth, exposed to strong, rapid currents.

The postmaster general acknowledged that it was on his advocacy of the
system that Delaney, the chairman of the committee, introduced the
subject into the assembly. He was under no illusions as to the rapid
growth of the revenue; his object was to secure to the inhabitants, who
were excluded for the greater part of every year from the advantage of
communication with the capital, a ready means of maintaining intercourse
with the centre of the social and commercial life of the island. He was
encouraged by the increasing revenue to believe that his efforts were
being crowned with success.

The step the committee feared might be forced upon them was not taken.
On the contrary, the postal system was extended liberally in every
direction in which it seemed to be required, in adherence to the
principle which guided the postmaster general in advocating the inland
service.

In 1858, the colony, having decided on the desirability of direct
communication with the mother country, sent to England two
delegates--Little, the attorney general and Lawrence O'Brien--to confer
with the government and leading shipowners on the subject of a steam
service from a British port to St. John's. When the delegates made their
first report, they had not succeeded in their objects, but they were
encouraged by the recognition accorded to the scheme by the British
government and by the promise of a subsidy of £3000 a year to any
satisfactory service the government of Newfoundland might arrange for.

It was not long before plans were submitted for their consideration. In
the same year, the North Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company
laid before Little a proposition for a regular service between
Liverpool, St. John's and a port in the United States. The company were
prepared to undertake a contract for trips of a frequency of not less
than one every four weeks, with additional trips during April, July and
August, for £10,000 a year. A contract was made on this basis, the
understanding being that the British government would contribute £3000
of this amount. But the British government, being satisfied from earlier
experiences with the personnel of this company that they could not be
depended upon to fulfil their arrangement, declined to sanction the
contract, and the arrangement fell through.

In intimating to the Newfoundland government their refusal to endorse
the contract, the British government expressed their willingness to
assist in procuring a competent contractor; and in October of the same
year, an agreement was made with the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam
Navigation Company, known more generally as the Lever or Galway Company,
for a service of virtually the same frequency as that provided for in
the earlier contract, between Galway, St. John's and a United States
port. The rate of compensation was to be £13,000 a year, of which the
British government was to contribute £4500 a year.

Though for political reasons, this company enjoyed an unusual degree of
favour on the part of the British government, it failed entirely to
satisfy the conditions of the contract, and after a short period of
futile effort, it ceased altogether. It was not until 1872 that an
arrangement with the Allan line provided the first direct communication
with Great Britain.

In 1860, on the death of Solomon, John Delaney, who had made the postal
service his special care while a member of the assembly, was appointed
postmaster general. His first measure was to provide for St. John's what
he described as a penny delivery service. After consultation with the
chief post office inspector in Canada, he submitted his scheme to the
legislature. He proposed to divide the city into two sections, to each
of which he proposed to appoint a letter carrier to deliver the letters
from door to door, not gratuitously as at present, but for a
compensation of a penny for each letter delivered. The plan was put into
operation on September 1, 1863, but it had little success at the time.

Steps were also taken in 1863 to improve the accommodation to the
outports by substituting a steam vessel for the sailing boats, by which
the exchange of mails was effected. In November 1860, a contract was
made with Aaron DeGraw, of New York, for a service north and south from
St. John's. The steamer "Victoria" was to run twice in each month to
Twillingate on the north, and to La Poile on the south-west coast,
calling at all the post offices _en route_. The consideration was £3750
a year.

The contract provided for the service for five years. But a few months
after it went into operation, the contractor represented that he was
unable to continue, unless the terms were modified. He asked that the
trips on the northern section might be reduced from fortnightly to
monthly during the winter, and that he might omit certain of the ports
of call; or, if the legislature were unwilling to lower their
requirements, that he might have his compensation increased by £1500 a
year.

The application of DeGraw was not entertained by the legislature, and
the contractor dropped his service shortly after. Recourse was had to
the sailing vessels until 1863, when a more satisfactory arrangement was
concluded with Robert Grieve on June 2, 1863. The contract stipulated
for fortnightly trips in each direction, and the compensation was fixed
at £4500. The "Ariel" was the steamer employed by Grieve for the
service.

The coastal service, thus satisfactorily established from St. John's
down the east and along the south coasts as far as La Poile, was
extended to Port aux Basques on the south-west corner of the island by a
sailing vessel. This completed the postal communications on the southern
shore of the island.

The west coast was still to be comprised in the system. In 1873,
arrangements of an experimental nature were made to send mails from Port
aux Basques (or Channel as the post office was called) to St. George's
Bay, Bay of Islands and Bonne Bay on this coast. A courier service was
also set in operation to provide communications to those settlements
during the winter, but many difficulties were encountered owing to the
inacquaintance with the country on the part of the couriers, who had to
pass on their way between Channel and these bays.

The arrangement thus experimentally entered upon continued until 1881,
when the sailing craft, which carried the mails to Bonne Bay was
withdrawn, and the steamer "Curlew," by which Channel post office
received its mails from St. John's, extended its trips up the north-west
coast as far as Bonne Bay.

The conveyance of the mails up this coast was carried on to the top of
the island in the following year. Two trips were made by couriers from
Bonne Bay to Flower Cove at the gulf entrance to the straits of Belle
Isle. From Flower Cove, the journey of the courier ran along the shore
of the straits to Pistolet Bay at the northernmost point of the island,
and thence on the Griquet which looked from the north of the island on
the Atlantic, and down the Atlantic coast to St. Anthony.

Another courier set out from Flower Cove and travelling due east across
the island carried the mail to Conche, which served the settlements on
Hare Bay. At the same time that the process of encirclement was
proceeding from the western side, the settlements of Western Cove, Mings
and Coachman's Cove on White Bay, the northernmost of the series of
great bays by which the Atlantic coast is indented, were having the
benefits of communication extended to them from Bett's Cove, in Notre
Dame Bay.

The benefits of these trips were so greatly appreciated by the fishermen
in the northern parts of the island that the department arranged for
regular fortnightly services during the winter from Bonne Bay along the
west coast to the top of the island, and thence down the east coast as
far as Canada Bay. On the other side the steamers which carried the
mails northward from St. John's to the settlements on Notre Dame Bay,
also conveyed bags for the settled districts in White Bay. These were
sent forward monthly from Bett's Cove. Thus was completed the system of
coastal service by which every part of the island was brought into
communication with the capital of the colony.

On the larger and more thickly settled bays, it was obviously impossible
for the steamers which sailed from St. John's to stop at any but the
more populous villages, and within each of these bays smaller craft
plied to the less important settlements. In 1881, there were eight such
sailing vessels in the service of the post office: one each in Bonavista
and Trinity Bays, three in Placentia Bay, two in Fortune Bay, and one
which effected the exchange of mails at Harbour Breton. In Conception
Bay, where there were two towns and several villages a steamer was
employed.

But though the settlements in Newfoundland were at this period
practically all on the coasts, and depended mainly on seacraft for the
means of communication, the conveyance of mails to the northern
settlements was in the winter one of great danger and difficulty.

As early as 1863, it was determined to make the experiment of serving
these settlements by couriers who should travel over an overland route.
In February of that year, Smith McKay undertook the delivery by land, so
far as that was possible, to Greenspond, on the stretch of coast between
Bonavista and Notre Dame Bay, and to Fogo and Twillingate, islands in
Notre Dame Bay. The success attending this trip induced the postmaster
general to make a contract for three trips each winter.

The government also planned the construction of a road, which would make
communication easier between the northern outports and St. John's. The
work was entered upon with vigour, the reports of progress making an
interesting feature of the annual papers of the legislature. In 1868, a
serviceable road was constructed to Gander Bay, an inlet of Notre Dame
Bay, whence the mails were conveyed to the important villages of
Twillingate and Fogo by sailing vessel.

In 1870 the road was complete. It was estimated to be 210 miles in
length. There were six relay stations on the route, and ten men employed
in the conveyance. The course pursued by the courier took him from
Harbour Grace, his starting point, down the shore of Conception Bay;
thence along the isthmus separating Trinity from Placentia Bay, serving
the settlements on each side of the isthmus. From the top of the
isthmus, the road maintained a northerly direction, running generally
parallel with the Atlantic coast, as far as Greenspond, from which point
it turned westward across the country to Gander Bay.

The postal accommodation on the peninsula of Avalon was greatly
augmented by the completion of the railway between St. John's and
Harbour Grace in 1884. On January 1, 1885, all the principal offices at
the bottom of Conception Bay were supplied with mails daily, and Heart's
Content and other offices on Trinity Bay had their mails three times a
week. The extension of the branch to Placentia in October 1888 gave that
village the benefit of an expeditious service three times a week.

The northern settlements were given the benefit of the more speedy
service afforded by the railway. The winter arrangements were expedited
and extended. In 1870, when this service was put on a settled footing,
ten couriers were employed. In 1890, their number was increased to
fifty-four. The mails for the northern districts were despatched from
St. John's by railway to Broad Cove station, where they were taken over
by the couriers. Their greater number enabled the couriers, not only to
shorten their relays, but to establish a trunk line to the settlements
of Hall's Bay and Little Bay on Notre Dame Bay, with branch lines
running to the more important settlements to the east and west. The
overlapping of the western and northern courier systems at White Bay
gave the dwellers in those remote regions the opportunity of replying to
their letters without loss of time.

Communication was established with the settlers on the Labrador coast in
1875. Previous to that time, mails were sent as the opportunity was
afforded by sailing vessels visiting that coast. In that year, a regular
fortnightly service was put in operation, the steamer by which the mails
were carried connecting with the steamer on the northern route.

The "Ariel," which was first employed on this route having been lost in
September of the same year, its place was taken by the "Walrus," whose
work gave much satisfaction to the department. In 1881, an arrangement
was made by which the steamer running on the northern route from St.
John's extended its trip to Battle Harbour, where it was met by the
Labrador vessel, which served all the settlements as far north as Nain.

A money order system was an early adjunct to the primary functions of
the post office. In 1862 the postmaster general of Prince Edward Island
proposed on exchange with Newfoundland, on the basis of the arrangement
between that colony and Canada. The postmaster general, Delaney, was
eager to accept the proposition, but there were delays, and it was not
until 1864 that an exchange was adopted. This exchange was not with
Prince Edward Island, however, but with Great Britain.

At the beginning of 1865 exchanges were established with Canada, Nova
Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and in 1867 with New Brunswick. In 1866
a domestic exchange was set on foot, the system embracing the twelve
leading post offices besides St. John's.

Delaney endeavoured to come to an arrangement of the same character with
the United States, but the department at Washington was unable to adopt
the proposition at the time, and it was only in 1876 that arrangements
were completed for an exchange through the intermediation of the
Canadian service.

The comparative lack of banking facilities in the island gave the money
order system an unusual utility. At the end of 1865, the amount of the
money orders exchanged was $13,112. In the first ten years the business
expended to $58,712; in twenty years, its volume had increased
thirteen-fold, being $174,740.

Though a steam vessel could make the voyage from the shores of Cape
Breton to the south-west coast of Newfoundland in a few hours, the
course of communication between the island and Canada and the United
States was lamentably infrequent. As late as 1895, mails were exchanged
with these countries no more frequently than once a week.

The completion, however, of the railway across the island in the autumn
of 1896, changed the aspect of affairs. Trains travelled from St. John's
to Port aux Basques, three times a week, touching in their course the
bottoms of the great bays, which mark the coast lines on either side of
the island. On each of the bays, steamers plied in close connection with
the trains, thus giving all the settlements of the island the maximum of
benefit to be obtained from a single line of railway. A steamer ran from
the western end of the line at Port aux Basques to North Sydney in Cape
Breton, and by a night's voyage, Newfoundland was brought into
connection with the system of communications on the continent of North
America.

The exchange of mails between Canada and Newfoundland remained at a
frequency of three times a week until 1914 when it was increased to a
daily service each way; and the inland service has been so improved that
there is no district in the island, however remote, has not at least a
weekly communication with the capital, while nearly all the towns and
villages of any importance exchange mails with St. John's every day.

In the sphere of telegraphy the progress has not been less marked.
Unlike Canada and the United States, but as in the mother country and
most other countries, the telegraphs are under the control of the
government, and administered by the postmaster general. Until 1901, this
was not the case. By a concession granted by the legislature in 1854,
the Anglo-American Telegraph Company obtained the exclusive privilege of
communicating abroad by telegraphy, and of erecting and operating lines
within the colony.

The system established under this privilege was naturally confined to
the more populous districts, and indeed, it covered little beyond the
peninsula of Avalon. The outlying parts of the island, embracing all the
settlements on bays north of Trinity, and west of Placentia Bays were,
in general, without the means of communicating with the capital by
telegraph.

The company turned a deaf ear to all appeals which did not promise an
augmentation of their profits. They had no objection to the government
running lines to the remoter regions, as such messages as would be sent
to St. John's from those parts must pass over the company's lines when
they came within the system marked out by the company for themselves in
virtue of their monopoly. The government would, in that case, bear the
loss entailed by the maintenance of these lines, and the company would
absorb the additional revenue arising from the transmission of these
extra-territorial messages over their lines.

With the development of the fishing, mining and lumbering industries in
all parts of the island, the extension of the means of telegraphic
communication beyond the peninsula of Avalon became a necessity, and the
government had no option but to provide these means, wherever the
importance of the districts seemed to demand it.

Thus there grew up two systems, an inner and an outer one, the latter
depending on the former for the means of access to the capital of the
island. All messages to and from the outer system were subject to a
double charge, for transmission over both systems. While messages
circulating within the peninsula of Avalon had the advantage of the
moderate charge of twenty-five cents for ten words, messages from
outside the peninsula were subject to double that rate.

The government were helpless in the matter. They endeavoured vainly to
come to terms with the company by which they might erect a line of their
own from St. John's to Whitbourne, a village about sixty miles from St.
John's, at which the lines of the outer system connected with those
belonging to the company. The company, however, stood firmly on the
letter of the bond, and it was not until the approach of the time when
the monopoly, which was for a period of fifty years, would expire, that
they became at all unbending.

An event of far-reaching importance took place in November 1901 in the
arrival of Marconi to experiment as to the possibility of opening
communication across the Atlantic by his wireless system of telegraphy.
Early in December, he caught at his station on Signal Hill near St.
John's some signals sent out from the Lizards in Cornwall, thereby
establishing a new agency for conducting communication between Europe
and America. When he had assured himself of the success of his
experiments, he set about obtaining a site for a permanent station on
Cape Spear. But no sooner had the Anglo-American company become aware of
his intentions than they notified him that his proposed measures would
be an infringement of their monopoly.

Thus blocked, Marconi resolved to return to England, but an opportune
invitation from the Canadian government led him to turn his attention to
the advantages that might be obtained on the eastern coast of Cape
Breton. He was not long in selecting a site at Table Head, near Glace
Bay, where he erected a station, and has demonstrated the feasibility of
wireless communication across the Atlantic for commercial purposes.




_INDEX_


  Allan, William, postmaster of York, recommended to be deputy
  postmaster general of Upper Canada, 104

  Amherstburg, post office opened at, 101

  "Anglo-Saxon" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 312

  Annapolis, post office opened in, 178

  Antigonishe, distributing office for all settlements to eastward, 180

  Antill, (John), postmaster of New York, 69

  Augusta, post office opened at, 89


  Bache, Richard, appointed secretary of the revolutionary post
  office, 64

  Baie Verte, post office opened at, 182

  Barbadoes, postal arrangements for, 4

  Barons, Benjamin, deputy postmaster general for southern division,
  35, note 2

  Belleville, post office opened at, under name of Bay of Quinte, 117

  Bermuda, Canadian mails from Great Britain, sent to, 124

  Berthier, post office opened at, 79

  "Bohemian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 313

  Boston, post office opened in, 2;
    communication with New York, 6;
    postage between Philadelphia and, 10;
    postage from Virginia, 10;
    Cunard steamers land Canadian mails at, 225

  Brantford, post office opened at, 117

  "Britannia," Cunard steamer, makes first trip to Halifax, 219

  British Columbia, beginnings of postal service to, 322;
    inland service, 324, 326;
    rates of postage, 325;
    incorporation into dominion postal service, 326;
    completion of Canadian Pacific railway, 326;
    expansion of service between Confederation and, 1914, 327

  British North America, royal commission recommends postal systems
  in, be put under one superior, 235

  Buchanan, James, British consul at New York, advocates communication
  between colonies and Great Britain by way of New York, 186


  Canada, Post Office in--
    _Pre-revolutionary Period._
      Post office established by Franklin, 1;
      connected by mail service with New York, 1;
      arrangements under French régime, 39;
      postage rates as fixed by act of 1765, 43

    _Revolutionary Period._
      Connection with New York discontinued, 65;
      Americans make proposals for its continuance, 65;
      service between Montreal and Quebec resumed after expulsion of
      Americans, 72;
      Haldimand's objections to resumption of regular service, 72

    _Post-revolutionary Period._
      United States forbid Canadian couriers to carry mails over its
      territory, 80;
      Canadian post office obliged to send mails for England by
      Halifax route, 81;
      its disadvantages, 81;
      sketch of postal system in 1827, 155;
      financial statements to be submitted to legislatures, 206;
      fixed salaries to be paid, with exclusion of all
      perquisites, 206;
      difficulties in way of satisfactory arrangements for
      administration, 207;
      first financial statement laid before legislature, 210;
      legislature of Upper Canada demands surplus revenues, 211;
      Lord Durham's recommendations regarding post office, 212;
      defects of postal administration disclosed by royal
      commission, 234;
      legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal
      conference, 271;
      provincial governments assume control of post office, 273;
      great expansion of, 275;
      reduction in postage rates, 275;
      revenue from 1851 to 1867, 275

    _Post-Office of Dominion of Canada._
      Number of post offices in 1867 and 1914, 327;
      railway mail service expansion, 327;
      reductions in postage, 328;
      Canada becomes a member of the Universal Postal Union, 329;
      imperial penny postage introduced, 330;
      imperial scheme of newspaper postage proposed by postmaster
      general of Canada, 330;
      expansion of money order and savings bank system, 331

  "Canadian" (the first) steamship of Allan line wrecked in St.
  Lawrence, 308

  "Canadian" (the second) steamship of Allan line, wrecked, 311

  Cape Breton, establishment of postal service in, 183

  Cayley, William, inspector general of Canada, representative at
  postal conference in Montreal, 268

  Cedars, post office opened at, 89

  Chambly, arrangements for delivery of mails at, 79

  Charlestown, delays in postal service of, 35;
    included in packet system, 35

  Charlottenburg, post office opened at, 89

  Chester, Pa., postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7

  "City of Manchester" steamship of Inman line lost off Nova Scotia
  coast, 309

  Colonial Postal Systems,
    in their relations to Great Britain, policy regarding extensions
    of service, 97, 100, 103;
    remonstrance of Upper Canada against excessive and illegal
    postage, 133;
    reply to these remonstrances, 134;
    legality of control of colonial systems by Great Britain, 135, 136;
    Great Britain refuses information as to revenues, 141;
    considerable profit on colonial service, 142;
    reception given to address from Upper Canada, 148;
    attack on administration of Canadian post office, 160;
    contentions against imperial absorption of surplus revenue from,
    sustained by law officers, 165;
    acceptance of decision by postmaster general, 166;
    course of procedure to establish proper relations, 169;
    act of imperial parliament, 4, William IV. c. 7, 170;
    draft act for adoption of legislatures, 170;
    accountant appointed, 171;
    how the British proposals were viewed in Maritime provinces, 188,
      in Upper Canada, 193, 202,
      in Lower Canada, 199;
    Stayner on British proposals, 200;
    Stayner's views accepted by legislative council of Lower
    Canada, 202;
    British government willing to amend proposals, 203;
    royal commission appointed to investigate conditions in colonial
    service, 233;
    commission recommends that postal system in British North America
    be put under one resident deputy postmaster general, 235;
    proposition of postmaster general to withdraw from control of, 263;
    conditions of withdrawal, 266;
    Lord Elgin instructed by colonial secretary on subject, 267;
    his message to Canadian legislature, 267;
    legislative committee in Nova Scotia consider the subject, 267;
    conference of provincial representatives in Montreal, 268;
    their report, as laid before governor general, 269;
    British treasury approves generally conclusions of report, 270;
    Nova Scotia legislature adopts terms of report in act, 270;
    Canada and New Brunswick concur, 271;
    act sanctioning arrangement passed by imperial parliament, 271;
    Prince Edward Island enters arrangement, 272

  "Columbia" steamship of Cunard line lost off Nova Scotia coast, 309

  Committees of Correspondence take measures to establish colonial
  post office, 60

  Connecticut, terms of first post office bill in, 9

  Cornwall, post office opened at, 89

  Coteau du Lac, post office opened at, 89

  Crane, William, urges direct steamship service between Great Britain
  and Halifax, 217

  Crown Point, post office opened at, 65

  Cunard, Samuel, awarded contract for transatlantic steam service, 218


  Dashwood, secretary of colonial post office prisoner of war, 66;
    liberated by exchange, 69;
    appointed postmaster general of Jamaica, 79

  Delancy, Peter, deputy postmaster general for southern division,
  35 note 2

  Delaware, Falls of, postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7

  Deputy postmaster general, relations to governor, 96;
    limitations on his freedom of administration, 97;
    agent for collection of United States postage, 126;
    newspaper postage, perquisite of, 160;
    nomination of postmasters withdrawn from, 239

  Detroit, postal communication opened with, 89

  Digby, post office opened in, 178

  Dongan, Thomas, governor of New York, endeavoured to establish
  postal service in colonies, 7

  Dorchester, New Brunswick, post office opened at, 182

  Durand, details of his journey between Quebec and Halifax with
  mails, 81

  Durham, Lord, recommendations respecting Canadian post office, 212


  Eastern Townships, mail communication opened between Three Rivers
  and, 117

  Elizabethtown, post office opened at, 89


  Fairbank, Richard, first postmaster in Boston, 2

  Falmouth, Maine, defiance of post office monopoly at, 50

  Finlay, Hugh, appointed postmaster of Quebec, 42;
    interferes on behalf of _maîtres de poste_, 46;
    appointed post-office surveyor, 46;
    explores country between Quebec and New England, 47;
    inspects postal service from Maine to Georgia, 50;
    appointed joint deputy postmaster general of northern division of
    North America, 58;
    reputed author of account of siege of Quebec, 69;
    his activities outside post office, 74;
    appointed superintendent of _maîtres de poste_, 76;
    loses position of deputy postmaster general of northern division
    of North America, and becomes deputy postmaster general of
    Canada, 79;
    report on route between Quebec and Halifax, 85;
    appointed deputy postmaster general of British North America, 86;
    removal from this position, 94;
    death, 74

  Fort Edward, post office opened at, 65

  Fothergill, Charles, postmaster of Port Hope, 144;
    attacks post office management, 144

  Foxcroft, John, joint deputy postmaster general, 2, 27;
    prisoner of war, 66;
    liberated by exchange, 69;
    appointed British packet boat agent at New York, 79

  Franking Act, passed by legislature of Upper Canada, 209;
    on Stayner's objections it was disallowed, 210

  Franklin, Benjamin, postmaster of Philadelphia, 1;
    deputy postmaster general, 1, 2, 26;
    established post office in Canada, 1;
    increases postal facilities, 26;
    nature of his influence in administration of post office, 27;
    his views on post office revenues as taxes, 55;
    his dismissal as joint deputy postmaster general, 58;
    his continued good relations with officials of general post
    office, 59;
    appointed postmaster general of revolutionary post office, 64;
    his views on nature of postage quoted in support of imperial
    control, 145

  Fredericton, post office opened in, 178


  Gagetown, post office opened at, 182

  Gaspé, slender postal accommodation in, 162

  Goddard, William,
    labours for establishment of revolutionary post office, 60;
    his career, 60;
    draws up scheme, 63;
    unsuccessful candidate for postmaster generalship, 64; appointed
    surveyor, 64

  Grand Trunk Railway, construction of, 278

  Great Western Railway, construction of, 278

  Grenville, post office opened at, 116

  Guelph, post office opened at, 153


  Halifax, post office established at, 33, 173;
    postage rates to, by sea, in 1765, 44;
    petition that Halifax be terminal port of transatlantic
    steamers, 217;
    British government agrees, 218;
    contract awarded to Samuel Cunard, 218;
    scheme for concentrating all mails from Great Britain for North
    America at, 219;
    its failure, 220;
    Nova Scotia asks that the post office at, should be maintained
    by imperial post office, 245;
    removal of post office to Dalhousie college building, 252

  Hamilton, post office opened at, 117

  Hamilton, Andrew, deputy of patentee for American post office, 9;
    his plans for establishment of postal service, 9;
    his death, 17

  Hamilton, John, succeeds his father, Andrew Hamilton, as deputy
  postmaster general, 17

  Hawkesbury, post office opened at, 116

  Hazen, R. L. of executive council of New Brunswick, representative
  at postal conference in Montreal, 268

  Head, Sir Francis Bond,
    orders dismissal of postmaster of Lloydtown, 213;
    demands authority to dismiss postmasters whom he deemed guilty of
    disloyalty, 214;
    orders removal of postmaster of Toronto, 214

  Heriot, George, succeeds Finlay as deputy postmaster general, 96;
    personal characteristics, 96;
    unsuccessful aspirant to seat in legislative council, and to
    superintendency of _maîtres de poste_, 97;
    in disfavour with governor, 98;
    altercation with Sir Gordon Drummond, 109;
    retirement, 113

  Heyman, Peter, appointed postmaster of Virginia, 13

  Horton, post office opened in, 178

  Howard, James, dismissed from postmastership of Toronto, on charge
  of disloyalty, 214

  Howe, John, the elder,
    deputy postmaster general of Maritime provinces, 180;
    his capable management, 180;
    his retirement, 181

  Howe, John, the younger, succeeds his father, 181;
    controlled majority of newspapers in Halifax, 187;
    criticism of, 251;
    his death, 251

  Howe, Joseph, urges direct steamship service between Great Britain
  and Halifax, 217

  Hudson's Bay Company,
    conveys the mails to and from Manitoba and North-West
    territories, 317;
    limitations on correspondence, 318

  Hull, post office opened at, 116

  "Humboldt" steamship of the American line lost off Nova Scotia
  coast, 309

  Hume, Joseph, M.P., obtains information respecting Canadian postal
  service, 161

  "Hungarian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 309

  Hunter, Peter, Lieutenant Governor,
    had road constructed from Bay of Quinte to York, 100;
    endeavours to secure mail service to Upper Canada, 100

  Hunter, William, joint deputy postmaster general, 26

  Huntingdon, Herbert, confers with general post office respecting
  Nova Scotia post office, 191


  Illegal conveyance of letters in Canada, 150;
    in Nova Scotia, 249;
    in New Brunswick, 256

  "Indian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 309


  Johnston, J. W., Solicitor General of Nova Scotia, representative
  at postal conference in Montreal, 268


  Kennebec route, Finlay explores, 47

  Kingston, Upper Canada, post office opened at, 89

  Kingston, New Brunswick, post office opened at, 182

  Knox, William, scheme of communications between England and North
  America, 87


  Labrador, mail service opened between Newfoundland and, 342

  Lachine, post office opened at, 89

  Lancaster, post office opened at, 89

  Lanoullier, Nicholas,
    obtained privilege to establish post office in Canada, 40;
    his plans, 41;
    failure, 41

  Lanoullier de Boisclair,
    his difficulties in maintaining roads, owing to popular
    indifference, 78;
    his death, 78

  Letters, mode of calculating postage on, 20

  Lloydtown, postmaster of, dismissed for part in affairs of 1837, 213

  London, post office opened at, 117

  Lovelace, Francis, Governor of New York, arranged for postal service
  between New York and Boston, 6

  Lower Canada,
    condition of route between Montreal and Quebec, in 1783, 78;
    mode of communication with Great Britain, 105;
    frequency of service between Quebec and Montreal, 105, 109;
    report of assembly on surplus postal revenues, 1827, 149;
    Stayner declines to give information to committee of assembly, 161;
    lack of postal accommodation in, 161, 196;
    address of assembly to King respecting post office, 163;
    report of legislative committee on postal affairs, 1836, 199;
    Stayner admonished to cease sending surplus revenue to England, 199;
    agitation caused in general post office over post office bill of
    Lower Canada, 205


  Macaulay, John, former postmaster of Kingston, chairman of committee
  of legislative council on postal affairs, 207

  Mackenzie, William Lyon,
    presented petition for investigation of post office, 143;
    interviewed Colonial Secretary respecting postal affairs, 167;
    his views on administration of post office, 167;
    evidence of, before Lower Canada committee on newspaper
    postage, 196;
    challenges action on underpayment, 197

  _Maîtres de Poste_, lack of regulations for, 45;
    Finlay's interference on behalf of, 46;
    unsuccessful efforts to assimilate their position to that of
    masters of post houses in England, 75;
    indispensable for the carrying of mails, 75;
    character of their service, 97;
    amenities on post road, 99

  Manitoba, and North-West provinces,
    early postal arrangements in, 316-321;
    proposition for direct overland service with Canada, 320;
    Manitoba incorporated into Canadian postal system, 322;
    United States postal service utilized for communication with other
    provinces, 322;
    direct railway communication with Eastern Canada, 322;
    expansion of service between Confederation and, 1914, 327

  Marconi, Guglielmo, proved success of transatlantic wireless system
  of telegraphy in Newfoundland, 345

  Maritime provinces,
    early means of communication between places in, 175;
    with Great Britain, 176

  Maryland, postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7;
    proceedings of legislature respecting establishment of post
    office, 12

  Massachusetts, terms of first post office act in, 9, 10;
    postal rates to, 10;
    post office act of, disallowed, 10;
    rejects draft of new bill, 12

  Matthews, Captain John, chairman of post office committee of
  assembly of Upper Canada, 143

  Michillimackinac, postal communication opened with, 89

  Miramichi, arrangements for delivery of mails at, 181;
    post office opened at, 182

  Money Order System, establishment of, in Canada, 276;
    in Nova Scotia, 280;
    in Newfoundland, 343;
    expansion of operations between 1868 and 1914, 330

  Montreal, post office opened at, 1, 42;
    description of route between New York and, 37;
    post road between Quebec and, 38;
    mail service opened between New York and, 42;
    mail service opened between Quebec and, 43;
    frequency of service between New York and Montreal at outbreak
    of revolutionary war, 65;
    embraced in revolutionary postal system, 66;
    postmaster resents having soldiers billeted on him, 71;
    governor orders his dismissal, 72;
    Daniel Sutherland postmaster of, 114;
    conditions in post office at, 128;
    mean situation of post office, 194

  _Montreal Gazette_, proprietor of, begins attack on Stayner
  respecting newspaper postage, 159


  Neale, Thomas, given patent for American post office, 8;
    assigns his patent, 17

  New Brunswick, postal system of,
    transferred to control of deputy postmaster general of Nova
    Scotia, 155;
    establishment of inland service in, 178;
    postal charges in, 178;
    changes in routes as result of war of 1812, 179;
    no additions to service until 1820, 181;
    communication with Great Britain by way of United States, 185;
    objections of Nova Scotia to arrangement, 186;
    condition of, in 1841, 255;
    report of legislature, 256;
    erected into separate department, 257;
    demands for reduced postage, 258;
    legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal
    conference, 271;
    provincial government assumes control of, 273;
    expansion of postal service, 281;
    rates of postage, 281;
    revenue and expenditure, 282;
    attitude of government towards deficits, 282

  New Castle, Pa., postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7

  New England, confederation of, postmaster appointed for, 7;
    direct route from Quebec to, surveyed, 47;
    Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire assists in establishment of
    another route to Canada, 49;
    Governor Hutchinson of Massachusetts not encouraging as to route, 49

  Newfoundland, post office in,
    early mode of communication with England, 333;
    postage rates to, 333;
    connection with England by Cunard steamers at Halifax, 334;
    inland postal system established, 336;
    efforts to secure direct service to England, 338;
    improvements and extensions of inland service, 339-342;
    railway available between St. John's and Harbour Grace, 342;
    communication with Labrador, 342;
    money order system established, 343;
    government telegraphs, 344

  New Hampshire, terms of first post office act in, 9, 11;
    postage rates to, 10;
    act allowed by privy council, 11

  New Haven, modes of evading post office monopoly at, 51

  New Johnston, post office opened at, 89

  Newspapers, transmission of,
    not provided for in imperial postal act, 61;
    arrangements for distribution of, by post, 61;
    defects in scheme, 62;
    agitation for change in method of collecting postage, 158;
    rates charged, 158;
    postage is perquisite of deputy postmaster general, 160;
    attack on this system, 160;
    Stayner advises change of system, 165;
    question of postage in Maritime provinces, 186;
    W. L. Mackenzie's evidence on evasions, 196;
    Stayner's defence of his practice in taking perquisites, 198;
    abolition of postage, as perquisite, and establishment of fixed
    rate, 241;
    postage after provinces take control of post office, 276;
    imperial scheme of postage proposed, 330;
    rates between 1875 and 1914, 332

  New York, city of, earliest postal arrangements for, 4;
    communication with Boston, 6;
    postage rates from Philadelphia, Boston and Virginia, 10;
    headquarters of colonial postal system, 19, 60;
    John Antill postmaster of, 69

  New York, colony of, terms of first post office act in, 9;
    postage rates to, 10;
    act allowed by privy council, 11

  Niagara, postal communication opened with, 89

  North American Colonies (now United States),
    extent of postal system, 1;
    first post office, 2;
    mode of communicating with England, 2, 5;
    early attempts at postal service between, 6, 7;
    patent for postal service granted to Thomas Neale, 8;
    line of posts established in 1693, 15;
    revenue of postal system, 1693-1697, 15;
    proposed arrangement for exchange of mails with England, 15;
    effect of imperial act of 1711 on status of colonial post
    office, 18;
    deficient revenues from postal system, 25;
    evasion of postmaster general's monopoly, 25, 50;
    increase in facilities under Franklin, 26, 29;
    prosperous condition of postal system, 26;
    sailing packets established between England and, 29, 34;
    arrangements for service to southern colonies, 35;
    establishment of southern division of the postal system, 35;
    summary of packet service in 1764, 36;
    summary of whole postal system, 44;
    surplus revenue in 1764, 44;
    unpopularity of the post office, 45;
    inspection report of system from Maine to Georgia, 50;
    New York, administrative centre, 60;
    proposition to suppress colonial post office, 64;
    post office ceases its function, 65;
    Foxcroft and Dashwood, prisoners of war, 66

  "North Briton" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 311

  Northern Railway, construction of, 278

  "Norwegian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 312

  Nova Scotia, establishment of inland postal service, 178;
    postal charges in, 178;
    changes in route as result of war of 1812, 179;
    difficulties of deputy postmaster general in complying with demands
    for increased service, 179;
    his success, 179;
    state of postal service in 1817, 180;
    legislature assisted in maintaining mail service, 180, 244;
    legislature determines to take control of postal service, 190;
    bill to that end disallowed, 190;
    satisfactory arrangement arrived at, 191;
    mail service between Pictou and Halifax improved at greatly
    augmented cost, 223;
    friction with Canada over maintenance of this service, 223;
    defects in postal service disclosed by royal commission, 234;
    characteristics of post office as compared with the Canadian post
    office, 243;
    demand of legislature that Halifax should be maintained by
    imperial post office, 245;
    deficit in revenue of, 246;
    investigated by British post office official, 248;
    findings of investigation, 248;
    salary of deputy postmaster general, 250;
    interference of local government with, 250;
    Arthur Woodgate succeeds Howe as deputy postmaster general on death
    of latter, 252;
    agitation for reduced postage, 252;
    legislative committee discuss question of provincial control, 267;
    legislature adopts conclusions of interprovincial conference, 270;
    provincial government assumes control of, 273;
    expansion of service, 280;
    mode of communication with Canada, 280;
    postage rates, 280;
    registration, and money order system introduced, 280;
    revenue and expenditure, 281;
    railway mail service in, at Confederation, 281


  O'Callaghan, Dr. E. B., chairman of legislative committee on postal
  affairs, 198

  Ormonde, Marquess of, makes proposals for ocean steamship service, 127

  Osnabruck, post office opened at, 89

  Ottawa, first known as Richmond landing, 115

  Ottawa River, steamer on river between Long Sault and Hull, 116


  Pennsylvania, beginnings of postal service in, 7;
    terms of first post office act in, 9;
    postage rates to, 10;
    act allowed by privy council, 11

  Pensacola, included in packet system, 35

  Perth, opening of post office at, 114

  Philadelphia, postal arrangements between, and outlying places, 7;
    postage rates from Boston, New York and Virginia, 10

  Postage Rates,
    in former colonies (now United States), 7, 8, 10, 13, 16, 20, 22;
    mode of calculating postal charges, 20, 178;
    in Canada under act of 1765, 43, 133;
    under revolutionary postal system, 66;
    general practice to collect on delivery, 71, 238;
    mode of collection between Canada and United States, 91, 125;
    Governor Simcoe's view as to disposal of surplus postage, 93;
    between Canada and Great Britain, under post office regulations,
    and by private ship, 122, 123;
    postage rates in New Brunswick, 178;
    great reduction in rate between Canada and Great Britain, 227-229;
    royal commission report on inland rates, 236;
    weight system introduced, 240;
    agitation for reduction, 242, 252, 258;
    recommendations of Nova Scotia legislature, 268;
    recommendations of interprovincial conference, 270;
    reductions in Canada, 275,
      in Nova Scotia, 280,
      in New Brunswick, 281;
    rates in British Columbia, 325;
    imperial penny postage, 330;
    imperial newspaper rates, 330;
    inland rates two cents per ounce, 331;
    between St. John's, Newfoundland, and England, 333;
    inland postage in Newfoundland, 334;
    rates under colonial postal system, 337

  Postage Stamps, introduced in Canada, 275

  Postal Revenues, from 1693 to 1697, 15;
    surplus in 1764, 44;
    surplus from Canada in 1822, 142;
    average surplus from Canada for seven years ending 1825, 148;
    average surplus from Canada for 1825 and 1826, 161;
    imperial act of 1834 to transfer revenues to provinces, 170;
    reception of act in Maritime provinces, 188,
      in Upper Canada, 193;
    surplus for period ending 1834, 199;
    governor general declines to stop remitting to England, 205;
    legislature of Upper Canada petitions for surplus, 211;
    surplus from Canada, 242;
    expansion of revenue, 1868-1914, 331

  Postmasters, exempt from billeting, 71;
    postmaster at Montreal represented that he had been excepted from
    regulation, 71;
    nomination of, removed from deputy postmaster general to governor
    general, 239;
    Stayner's fruitless objections thereto, 240

  Post Office Commission, personnel, and duties, 233;
    report of, 234

  Post Office Convention, between Canada and United States, 90;
    between Great Britain and United States, 283

  Post Office Surveyorship, established, 47;
    Finlay appointed to, 47;
    two appointed, 171

  Post Road, between Montreal and Quebec, account of, 38;
    constructed by Lanoullier de Boisclair, 41

  Post Roads, arrangements with _maîtres de poste_ for conveyance of
  post office couriers, 43

  Prince Edward Island, early arrangements for postal service, 185;
    condition of postal service, 1827-1841, 260;
    post office managed by provincial government, 261;
    legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal
    conference, 272


  Quebec and Halifax mail service, details of route, 76;
    trip by Durand in 1784, 81;
    measures to open communication by land, 83;
    improving New Brunswick section of route, 84;
    proposition to follow Bay of Chaleurs route, 107;
    conditions of service in 1840, 220

  Quebec, post office opened at, 1;
    post road between Montreal and, 38;
    mail service opened between Montreal and, 43;
    route from, to New England surveyed, 47;
    account of earlier explorations of this route, 47;
    expense of journey met by subscription in Quebec, 48;
    post office building in, destroyed by fire, 239


  Railways, beginnings and development in Canada, 277;
    economy of time effected by use of, 278;
    postal cars employed on, 278;
    augmentation of expenses through using, 279;
    rates of payment for mail service on, fixed by royal
    commission, 279;
    railways in Nova Scotia at Confederation, 281;
    uninterrupted line between Atlantic seaboard and Chicago and New
    Orleans, 302

  Randolph, Edward, postmaster of confederation of New England, 8

  Rebellion of 1837, effects of, on post office, 213

  Registration, introduced in Canada, 277

  Revolutionary Post Office, suggested, 60;
    scheme for, 63;
    Franklin made postmaster general, Bache, secretary, and Goddard,
    surveyor, 64;
    extended to Montreal, 66;
    postage rates to Canada, 66;
    arrangements for mail service, 66

  Revolutionary War, mails taken possession of, by Commanders-in-Chief,
  who direct their distribution, 69

  Richelieu River, efforts to obtain mail service to settlements on, 79

  Richibucto, post office opened at, 182

  Richmond, Upper Canada, post office opened at, 115

  Roads, between Montreal and Quebec, 38, 41;
    between Bay of Quinte and York, 100;
    between York and Kingston, and York and Ancaster, 103 (see Quebec
    and Halifax).

  Robbery of mail, between Montreal and Toronto, 171;
    curious disclosure by robber, 171;
    by sympathizers with disaffected, 215

  Robinson, John Beverly, defends imperial control of Canadian postal
  service, 144, 147

  Rolph, Dr. John,
    correspondence with deputy postmaster general about opening post
    office at Delaware, 133;
    advocates provincial control of postal system, 145

  Roupell, George, deputy postmaster general for southern division,
  35, note 2


  St. Andrews, Lower Canada, post office opened at, 116

  St. Augustine, Fort, included in packet system, 35

  St. Eustache, post office opened at, 116

  St. John, N.B., post office opened in, 178

  St. John's, Newfoundland, post office opened at, 333;
    embraced in imperial system, 334;
    objections of merchants to regular post office, 335;
    revenue from 1841 to 1849, 336

  St. John's, Quebec, arrangements for delivery of mails to, 79

  St. Stephen, post office opened at, 182

  St. Thomas, Upper Canada, post office opened at, 117

  Sault Ste Marie, post office opened at, 264

  Savings Bank, post office, opening of, and expansion of
  operations, 331

  Sherbrooke, post office opened at, 118

  Sorel, arrangements for delivery of mails at, 79

  Stanstead, post office opened at, 117

  Stayner, Thomas Allen,
    succeeds Sutherland as deputy postmaster general, 153;
    gains confidence of superiors and a freer hand in
    administration, 154;
    declines to give information to committee of Lower Canada
    assembly, 161;
    sustained by governor general and postmaster general in his
    refusal to give information, 162;
    convinced that arrangement by which newspaper postage became his
    perquisite should cease, 165;
    compelled to disclose information regarding post office, 194;
    disregards admonition of Lower Canada legislative committee to
    cease sending surplus revenue to England, 199;
    his income from newspapers and other sources, 200;
    powers curtailed by governor general, 230;
    his character 230;
    nomination of postmasters withdrawn from him, 239;
    perquisites abolished, and fixed salary substituted, 241;
    relinquishes control of post office in Canada, 273;
    his administration characterized, 273

  Steamboats, illegal conveyance of letters by, 150;
    no action taken upon, 152

  Sussexvale, post office opened at, 182

  Sutherland, Daniel, succeeds Heriot as deputy postmaster general, 114;
    retires, 130, 153

  Sydney, Cape Breton, post office in, 184


  Telegraphs in Newfoundland, sketch of system, 344

  Three Rivers, post office opened at, 1, 42

  Toronto, postmaster of, dismissed by Bond Head for lack of
  loyalty, 214 (see York).

  Transatlantic Mail Service--
    _Old Colonial Period._
      Earliest arrangements for exchange of correspondence with
      England, 2;
      regular packet service established, 29, 34;
      service between England and West Indies, 30;
      re-arrangement, 35;
      summary of system in 1764, 36

    _Revolutionary Period._
      Packets withdrawn from regular routes, 67;
      attacked by privateers, 67;
      "Lord Hyde" attacked, 67;
      "Sandwich," 68;
      "Harriott," 68;
      "Swallow" captured, 72;
      "Weymouth" captured, 72;
      "Le Despencer" captured, 73;
      "Duke of York" captured, 73;
      "Harriott" and "Eagle" captured, 73;
      number of packets captured or damaged, 73

    _Post-revolutionary Period._
      Packet service resumed between England and New York, 80;
      merchants in Canada demand re-opening of service to England by
      way of New York, 80;
      established between England and Halifax, 85, 86, 173;
      winter arrangements for British mails to Halifax, 87;
      elaborate scheme proposed by William Knox for communications
      between England and North America, 87;
      conditions of service between 1806 and 1819, 118;
      proposition of Marquess of Ormonde for ocean steam service, 127;
      communication between colonies and Great Britain almost entirely
      through United States, 156;
      comments of W. L. Mackenzie upon, 168

    _Steamship Service._
      Steamers "Great Western" and "Sirius" carry mails from British
      ports to New York, 216;
      petition that Halifax be terminal port for steamers, in North
      America, 217;
        British government agrees, and contract is awarded to Samuel
        Cunard, 218;
      comprehensive scheme for concentrating all mails from Great
      Britain for North America at Halifax, 219;
        its failure, 220;
      advantages of Boston as terminal port for Canadian mails, 224;
      Boston substituted for Halifax, 225;
      arrangements with United States post office for transit across
      its territory, 225;
      Cunard steamers make New York principal port of call, 284

    _Canadian Ocean Mail Service._
      Canada invited to join imperial scheme for colonial service, 284;
      objections of Canada, 285;
      beginnings of, 286;
      contract made with Hugh Allan, 286;
      comparison in speed of Canadian, Cunard and Collins lines, 287;
      unfriendly attitude of British government towards Canadian
      line, 287;
      views of Canadian government on this attitude, 289;
      negotiations for employment of Canadian steamers for conveyance
      of British and United States mails, 290;
      favourable treatment accorded to Cunard line, 292;
      report of select committee of house of commons, on steamship
      service, 293;
      partiality to Galway line at expense of Canadian and Inman
      lines, 295;
      condemnation of government of Great Britain by select committee
      of house of commons, 297;
      disingenuous conduct of British government towards postmaster
      general of Canada, 297;
      weekly service of steamers between Quebec and Liverpool, 302;
      postmaster general of Canada negotiates with governments of
      Great Britain and France for use of improved facilities, 302;
      and with governments of France, Belgium and Prussia, 304;
      difficulties owing to hostility of general post office, 304;
      great proportion of mails between Canada and Great Britain
      carried by Canadian line, 307;
      series of disasters to steamships of Canadian line, 308-313;
      parliamentary investigation, 310;
      new contract with Allans, 314


  United States Post Office, postal convention with, 90;
    goodwill of, towards communication between Canada and Great
    Britain, 120;
    cordial relations with, 283;
    convention of 1848 with, 283;
    its services utilized for conveyance of mails to Maritime
    provinces, 280,
      to Manitoba, 322,
      to British Columbia, 323;
    dependence on, for interprovincial correspondence, 327

  Universal Postal Union, Canada becomes member of, 329;
    beneficent results of, 329

  Upper Canada, opening of post offices in, 89;
    Simcoe's plan for separate post office department in, 92;
    regular mail service established in, 99;
    arrangement between Amherstburg and Niagara, 101;
    increased service to, 102, 104;
    deputy postmaster general recommended for, 104;
    difficulties of correspondence in, 105;
    postal conditions in, in 1824, 132;
    legislature begins agitation for improvements, 133;
    exorbitant charges on letters circulating in, 133, 134;
    protest of legislature, 134;
    raises question of legality of imperial control of Canadian postal
    system, 135;
    report of assembly on subject, 136;
    report of committee of assembly in 1825, 143;
    recommendation that postal system should be controlled by
    province, 144;
    lieutenant governor opposes pretentions of legislature, 145;
    report of assembly in 1829, 156;
    proposition for high administrative officer in, 156, 157;
    continues agitation against postal administration, 163;
    legislature rejects imperial act respecting disposition of surplus
    revenues, 193;
    lack of postal facilities in, 195;
    legislative assembly of, draw up scheme for provincial post
    office, 203;
    report of legislative council on post office, 207;
    address to King on post office, 208;
    legislature passes franking act, 209;
    legislature demands surplus revenue, 211;
    time occupied in conveying British mails to, by Halifax and by New
    York, 221


  Victoria, British Columbia, extreme isolation of, 323

  Viger, Denis Benjamin, interviewed Colonial Secretary respecting
  postal affairs, 167

  Virginia, proposition to establish post office in, 4;
    rates of postage to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, 10;
    proceedings of legislature respecting establishment of post
    office, 12;
    early arrangements, 13;
    efforts to attach to colonial system, 22;
    frustration of scheme to impose act of 1710 in, 23;
    included in colonial system, 24


  Way Offices, a peculiarity of Maritime provinces, 248;
    explained, 249

  West Indies, packet boats established between Great Britain and, 31;
    large postal revenues of, 31;
    packet service restored, 34

  Windsor, Nova Scotia, post office opened in, 178

  Wolfville, post office opened under name of Horton, 178

  Woodgate, Arthur, succeeds Howe as deputy postmaster general of Nova
  Scotia, 252


  York, first post office at, 94

  York, Duke of, claim of, on American postal revenues, 7

  Young, William, confers with general post office respecting Nova
  Scotia post office, 191


       *       *       *       *       *




TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES


1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.

2. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved from the middle of the text
to the end of the chapters in which they appear.

3. Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired.

4. The following misprints have been corrected:
    "Temiscoueta" corrected to "Temiscouata" (page 83)
    "Horten" corrected to "Horton" (page 178)
    "govenorship" corrected to "governorship" (page 202)
    "inofrmation" corrected to "information" (page 234)
    "be a hugh" corrected to "be a huge" (page 312)
    "that that of either" corrected to "than that of either" (page 331)

5. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
spelling, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.