The History of the Post Office in British North AmericaSmith, William
History
The History of the Post Office in British North America
Smith, William
Canada. Post Office Department; Postal service -- Canada -- History; Postal service -- Great Britain -- Colonies
By the act of 1834, the regulation of the post office in the several
colonies was referred to the local legislatures, and His Majesty's
government, the colonial office concluded, could not call in the
authority of the imperial parliament for the solution of any
difficulties that may arise until it could be shown conclusively that
there were no other means of settling them; and then it would be only
with the concurrence of the legislatures to whom the matter had been
submitted.
But while determined that, in matters involving legislation, the
colonies should be left to work out their own salvation, the colonial
secretary observed that there were certain matters within the competence
of the postmaster general which, if given effect to, would ameliorate
the situation.
The legislative council had among their requests asked (1) that all
information required by the legislature should be furnished; (2) that
the accounts of receipts and expenditures should be laid before the
legislature annually; (3) that the officers of the department should be
placed on moderate fixed salaries, in lieu of all perquisites and fees.
These objects, Glenelg pointed out, would have been to a certain degree
attained by the bill of 1834. But as it had not become law, no time
should be lost in putting these changes into effect, as they did not
require legislative sanction. The colonial secretary also animadverted
on the emoluments of Stayner. These he considered entirely excessive,
and besides they were levied on an objectionable principle. The
postmaster general was requested to put an end forthwith to the receipt
by the deputy postmaster general of any fees on account of the
transmission of newspapers. His salary should not be excessive.
As a guide to the postmaster general in fixing it, the colonial
secretary gave a list of the salaries of the principal officers in the
colony. Omitting that of the governor general, the highest salary in
Canada was that of the receiver general which was L1000 a year. No other
salary exceeded L500 a year. As against these, Stayner's emoluments of
L3185 for each of the three preceding years were out of all proportion.
Glenelg further impressed upon the postmaster general the anxiety of His
Majesty's government that no time should be lost in removing any real
grievances which might be shown to exist. The postmaster general
concurred with Glenelg as to the necessity of removing all reasonable
grounds of complaint, and stated that steps had been, or were about to
be, taken to that end.
To the postmaster general the newspaper postage question was one of real
difficulty, in view of the absence of necessary legislation. As matters
stood, newspapers could only be sent as letters or under the deputy
postmaster general's privilege. If the law officers could see any way
out of the difficulty, the postmaster general would be glad to adopt it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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