The postmaster general was of opinion that this suggestion should not be entertained. Any proposal for allowing postage stamps to be used in the colonies had hitherto been resisted from a fear, amongst other objections, that forged stamps would find their way into circulation with little fear of detection. The solicitor of the post office was of opinion that if forgery were committed in the United Kingdom it could not be punished in the colonies, whilst on the other hand, if committed in any of the colonies, it could be visited with no penalty on parties in the United Kingdom. With the acquiescence of the Nova Scotia legislature in the view of the general post office as to the desirability of maintaining a centralized imperial postal system, and the only outstanding question on which there was disagreement that of a reduction of postage rates, it will be expedient to bring forward the narrative of events with respect to the post office in New Brunswick. The information amassed by the royal commission makes this an easy task. What strikes one at first glance is the little progress that had been made since 1825, when Howe made his official tour through the province. In 1825, the population stood at 75,000, and in 1841 it had risen to nearly 160,000. The increase was distributed with considerable evenness over every part of the province, though the preponderance found its way to the outlying districts. The numerous settlements thus established would seem to call for a wide extension of the postal service. But little was done to meet the requirements. There were nine post offices in the province in 1825: in 1841, when the population had more than doubled and was scarcely less than half what it is to-day, there were no more than twenty-three. Between Fredericton and Woodstock, a stretch of sixty-two miles of well-settled country, there were no post offices. The districts lying between Fredericton and Sussexvale, eighty-eight miles, and between Fredericton and Chatham, one hundred and fifteen miles, embracing many farming communities, were equally unprovided for, which is the more inexplicable since couriers travelled through all these districts to the several points mentioned, and the expense for post offices would have been more than covered by the revenues of the offices. The system of mail routes can be described shortly. From Halifax there was a main post road, which entered New Brunswick a few miles west of Amherst, and following in its general lines the course of the inter-colonial railway passed the bend at Moncton, and continued its way on to St. John. At a point near the present Norton station, called the Fingerboard, there was a route to Fredericton.