CHEAP POSTAGE REMARKS AND STATISTICS ON THE SUBJECT OF CHEAP POSTAGE AND POSTAL REFORM IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES. BY JOSHUA LEAVITT, COR. SEC. OF THE CHEAP POSTAGE ASSOCIATION. “The well-ordering of the Postes is a Matter of General Concernment, and of Great Advantage, as well for the preservation of Trade and Commerce as otherwise.”—Statute of Charles II. Boston Published for the Cheap Postage Association; By Otis Claps, Treasurer, No. 12, School Street. 1848 CONTENTS PUBLISHING DIRECTION. CHEAP POSTAGE. APPENDIX. Footnotes PUBLISHING DIRECTION. Subjoined are the proceedings under which the following sheets were prepared and are now published: “At a meeting of the _Board of Directors_ of the CHEAP POSTAGE ASSOCIATION, on the 31st of March, 1848, Dr. Howe, Dr. Webb, and Mr. Leavitt were appointed a Committee of Publication. And on motion of Dr. Samuel G. Howe, it was “_Voted_, That the Publishing Committee be authorized to procure the compilation of a pamphlet on the subject of Cheap Postage and Postal Reform. “At a meeting of the Board, on the 25th of April, 1848, Mr. Leavitt, the Corresponding Secretary, on behalf of the Publishing Committee, reported the copy of a pamphlet on the subject prescribed. And on motion of Mr. Moses Kimball, it was “_Voted_, That the pamphlet be printed for general circulation, under the direction of the Publishing Committee.” J. W. JAMES, _Chairman of the Board_. CHARLES B. FAIRBANKS, _Recording Secretary_. BOSTON, April 26, 1848. BOSTON: PRINTED BY FREEMAN AND BOLLES, DEVONSHIRE STREET. CHEAP POSTAGE. For more than eight years, the people of Great Britain have enjoyed the blessing of Cheap Postage. A literary gentleman of England, in a letter to his friend in Boston, dated London, March 23, 1848, says—“Our Post Office Reform is our greatest measure for fifty years, not only political, but educational for the English mind and affections. If you had any experience of the exquisite convenience of the thing, your speech would wax eloquent to advocate it. With your increasing population, a similar measure must soon pay; and it will undoubtedly increase the welfare and _solidarité_ of the United States.” Mr. Laing, a writer of eminence, said four years ago, “This measure will be the great historical distinction of the reign of Victoria I. Every mother in the kingdom, who has children earning their bread at a distance, lays her head upon her pillow at night with a feeling of gratitude for this blessing.”