Attention was soon directed to Sir Rowland Hill's proposals for the reform of the English system. Before the reform had been introduced in England, the French Government were urged to improve the French service on the lines proposed by Sir Rowland Hill. In July 1839 M. Lherbette, member of the Chamber of Deputies, suggested the introduction of a Government measure, and in this he met with considerable support. The Government, however, contented themselves with remarking that it would be better to await the result of the projected reform in England. In the following years the question was frequently raised in the French Parliament, on the Budget, or on reports and petitions, and there was considerable public feeling in favour of the reform. In 1843, 65 _conseils généraux_ presented petitions in favour of reduced postage. In 1844 M. de St. Priest made a proposal to reduce the number of zones to two, and to fix the rate of postage at 20 centimes for distances up to 40 kilometres, and 30 centimes for greater distances. A parliamentary Commission, appointed to examine this proposal, made an estimate of the actual cost to the Post Office of the transmission of letters, and found that while the cost of a letter going 40 kilometres (postage 20 centimes) was 9·75 centimes, the cost of a letter going 900 kilometres (postage 1 fr. 20) was 14·75 centimes. The Commission reported in favour of a uniform rate of 20 centimes, but the proposal was not adopted. Other proposals for the introduction of a reformed system were made in February 1846 and January 1848. It was left to the Republican Government of 1848 to introduce the reform.[195] The National Assembly had under consideration at the same time two propositions for effecting the reform--that of M. de St. Priest, and that of the Government itself, both proposing a uniform rate of 25 centimes for single letters. These propositions were referred to a parliamentary Commission, of which M. de St. Priest was a member, and the report of the Commission, which recommended the reform, was adopted by the Assembly.