Old times : $b A picture of social life at the end of the eighteenth centuryAshton, John
History
Old times : $b A picture of social life at the end of the eighteenth century
Ashton, John
Great Britain -- Social life and customs
"The late regulations in the Penny Post Office are certainly of
the most essential service to the public: but the conduct of the
Letter Carriers requires the most minute attention. They wall
defraud where they think they can do it with impunity; and as an
instance of this, we give the following fact. From any part of
the Metropolis, to the Borough of Southwark, and its adjacent
parts, is stated to be but _One penny_ per Letter. The Carriers,
however, uniformly charged 2d. per Letter. A Complaint of this
imposition was made to the Comptroller, by a Gentleman, whose
house is in the Blackfriars Road, and an immediate answer was
given 'that the Carrier had been severely reprimanded,' and the
surcharge had been returned. His removal from that walk, gave his
successor, who, perhaps, did not hear of this reprimand, an
opportunity to continue the same imposition, and the letters to
Blackfriars Road, and in other parts of St. George's Fields, were
again charged 2d. The Comptroller was again applied to, and on
the next evening, he wrote a letter to the person who sends this
for publication, 'that the Carrier was ordered to return the
surcharge.' The publication of this circumstance is requisite, as
no doubt, similar extortions are practised in other parts of the
suburbs. This is a matter that ought to be universally made
known, as cent. per cent., even on a _penny_, is rather too much
for a man, illegally, to pay."--(_Times, Oct. 27, 1794._)
"Franking," as the privilege of free postage was called, had already
assumed dimensions, so as to have become a scandal, which is well
exposed in the following notices:--
"Motion respecting Clerks in Office.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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