The ratio between the total cost of handling (indoor) of 1 letter and the total cost of handling (indoor) of 1 parcel is therefore-- 1.2 × 1 : 1.26 × 12 = 1 : 12.6. The normal unit cost for indoor work is £15 (approximately). For outdoor work the ratio is 1: 10, and the normal unit cost £22 10s. The ratio for all indoor and outdoor services is therefore approximately 1: 11. * * * * * TABLE F ACTUAL COST OF STAFF FOR LETTERS AND PARCELS. The total cost of handling a parcel is 11 times the total cost of handling a packet other than a parcel (Table E). In 1913-14 the total number of parcels dealt with was 133,663,000 (Table A). The cost of handling these parcels was equivalent to the cost of handling 133,663,000 × 11 = 1,470,293,000 packets other than parcels. In 1913-14 the total number of packets other than parcels dealt with was 5,831,550,000 (Table A). And the total cost of staff engaged in dealing with all packets, including parcels, was £10,263,460 (Table C). Hence the total cost of handling 133,663,000 parcels was £10,263,460 × 1,470,293,000/7,301,843,000 = £2,066,642. And the total cost of handling 5,831,550,000 packets other than parcels was £8,196,818. TABLE G ANALYSIS OF COST OF STAFF. LETTER MAILS. _Total Cost_, £8,196,818. The handling of postal packets falls into the following groups of operations:-- (_a_) Collection and delivery, (_b_) Facing, stamping, and sorting, (_c_) Administration and accounting. The cost of administration and accounting when reduced to the individual packet is extremely small. In general also it varies to some extent with the size of the packet. Thus the newspaper packets and the halfpenny packets, which are considerably heavier than the ordinary letters, notoriously involve more difficulty and expense in administration; and the postcard, the lightest postal packet, notoriously involves least difficulty and expense in administration. Parcels undoubtedly involve much more expense for accounting than any other class of packet; so that if the expense for administration and accounting be divided in the ratio adopted for sorting, stamping, collection, and delivery, which also depends largely on the weight of the packet, no appreciable error is introduced. No attempt is made, therefore, to isolate the expense for administration and accounting. The total cost of collection and delivery is estimated to be double the total cost of facing, stamping, and sorting. The cost of delivery is estimated to be four times the cost of collection. The cost of sorting is estimated to be four times the cost of facing and stamping. The total cost of handling packets other than parcels (excluding cost of conveyance) = £8,196,818. Hence--