Shortly after his appointment the attention of the department was directed to a weakness in administrative control which had already resulted in considerable financial loss. The Postmasters-General had always experienced considerable difficulty in collecting the postage on bye and cross road letters.[156] Since these letters did not reach London, no check was possible to ascertain whether the postmaster transmitted to headquarters the full amount of the postage collected on them. The difficulty had been met before 1711 by farming a large number of the country post offices.[157] In 1711 the leases under which the farmers had held office were cancelled and all the posts in the kingdom came again under the direct oversight of the Postmasters-General. The old farmers were made managers, with an allowance of 10 per cent from the net proceeds of the posts under their control, and the deputy postmasters were again paid directly by the state. The Government had refused o appoint surveyors when the act of 1711 was drafted and for a time these managers acted in that capacity.[158] The experiment was not a success and the Postmasters-General were at their wits' end to know what to do to save the revenue which was being diverted to the pockets of the country postmasters. [156] A bye-letter was the name given to a letter carried over one of the great roads but not passing to, from or through London. A cross post letter passed not over the great roads, but over subsidiary or minor roads. [157] Joyce, p. 136. [158] _Cal. T. P._, 1714-19, cxc, 26; ccvi, 29.