[305] _Ibid._, 411, p. 14. [306] _Rep. Com._, 411, p. 280; 1 and 2 Vict., c. 98. [307] 56 and 57 Vict., c. 38. [308] 56 and 57 Vict., c. 38; _Rep. P. G._, 1898, pp. 9 f.; 1907, p. 3. The expenditure for the conveyance of mails by the railways for the year ending 5th January, 1838, amounted to only £1743. In 1840 this had increased to £52,860, in 1850 to £230,079, in 1860 to £490,223, in 1870 to £587,296, in 1880 to £701,070 and in 1890 to £905,968. By 1896 the million mark had been reached and after that year all the expenses for the conveyance of the mails are grouped together. For the following year this total was £1,453,517, the payment for mail coaches in the preceding year, which are here included, being £365,000. In 1906 the total expenditure for the "conveyance of the mails" was £1,821,541.[309] [309] _Parl. Papers_, 1852-53, xcv, p. 3; _Rep. P. G._, 1861, p. 20; 1872, pp. 26-27; 1884, p. 56; 1893, p. 78; 1896, p. 86; 1906, p. 92. In common with the members of other branches of the civil service the postal employees, prior to 1855, were political appointees. The appointment of a patronage secretary had relieved members of Parliament from the odium incurred as a result of this reprehensible method of manning the service, but it is doubtful whether any improvement in the personnel of the force actually resulted or was even anticipated. With the adoption between 1855 and 1870 of the principle that fitness should be tested by competitive examinations, the vast majority of the members of the postal establishment came under its influence. At the same time the postmasters of small rural communities, where the postal revenue was insignificant,[310] still continued to be nominated by the local member. In 1896 this power was abridged, but members still continued to exercise a limited right of recommendation. Finally in 1907 the Postmaster-General announced that, though due weight should continue to be given to the opinions of members in the case of the appointment of these rural postmasters, such recommendations should be based on personal knowledge and should carry no more weight than the opinion of any other competent person.[311] [310] Less than £120 in England, less than £100 in Scotland and Ireland. [311] D. B. Eaton, _Civil Service in Great Britain_, New York, 1880, pp. 75, 307, 308; _Parl. Deb._, 3d ser., ccxxxix, col. 211; cclv, col. 1575; _ibid._, 4th ser., clix, col. 397; clxx, col. 641.